Improvements in the Means or Apparatus for Supplying and Burning Petroleum or other Inflammable Liquids for Illuminating Purposes.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application (in United Kingdom), 16th June, 1897
Improvements in the Means or Apparatus for Supplying and Burning
Petroleum or other Inflammable Liquids for Illuminating Purposes.
I, JEAN BAPTISTE ISIDORE JULIE, of 95, Boulevard Beaumarchais, Paris, France,.
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
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This invention has reference to means or apparatus for supplying and burning
petroleum or other inflammable liquids for illuminating purposes such as for light-
ing houses, places of public resort and generally where gas pipes are usually
employed.
My invention is based on the use of a reservoir provided at its lower part with a
pipe union of sufficient size to receive a sufficient quantity of wool or wadding for
filtering the petroleum which is to pass through it. From this pipe union extends
a system of piping, consisting of pipes of very small cross section, to each burner.
Each burner is controlled by two spindle or needle cocks: the first cock acts as
a regulator; I locate it at a certain distance from the burner proper on a branch
pipe and I place it in a position which allows of the maximum flow for the flame
which it is desired to obtain; the other cock is situated under the burner, and it is
sufficient for lighting and extinguishing purposes to open and to close said cock
without having to consider the quantity of liquid which it will allow to flow through.
The burner proper, is essentially formed of a small annular basin of from 5 to 15
millimetres in height according to the diameter adapted.
The annular space of
the basin is about from 2 to 4 millimetres. From the lower part of this basin and
at the ends of one and the same diameter there extend two small pipes which unite
together in the interior of a button or knob which is formed with a screw thread to
permit of connecting the burner to the service pipe above the spindle or needle cock.
The vacant annular space of the basin, at the bottom of which are connected.
two small pipes, is provided with a wick formed by the coiling of a fine ribbon or
tape of cotton of a width somewhat greater than the height of the basin, in such a
manner that, when placed in position, it will project for about two millimetres above
the edge of the basin. The coiling of the cotton tape or ribbon must be very
tightly done, and the wick should be driven a tight fit into the annular space.
When the wick is in place, it is impregnated with silicate of potash, then dried at
about 150° C. and finally calcined, either by means of a blow pipe or by means of
a cast iron plate of sufficiently hot temperature. In consequence of this mode of
treatment the organic matter is destroyed to a thickness of about one millimetre,

page_text: and there remains in the place thereof a skeleton of silicate of potash which preserves
the wick from all further oxidation. As the wick is very dense and occupies the
whole of the internal portion of the basin, as soon as the cock is opened, the first
drops of petroleum which are supplied saturate the wick completely, and the burner
or jet will ignite immediately. On closing the cock, the quantity of petroleum
which saturates the wick is so small that the flame becomes almost immediately
extinguished. The basin allows of the igniting, without removing the glass.
It will be noted that on the wick prepared as I have stated above, no black is
deposited from the smoke because the crown of silicate of potash which is exposed to
the flame is not raised to the temperature of decomposition of the petroleum.
Besides, if any black were formed, it would disappear at the time of extinguishing
because this extinction. produced by the closing of the cock, causes a rapid diminu-
tion of the flame which turns. blue before being extinguished, and consequently
removes the smoke black.
The wick has thus an indefinite duration, unless any cause foreign to the working
of the burner, shall aid in destroying the same.
Although the circulation of the petroleum in the pipes of small cross section is
rather rapid, it may happen that when the reservoir is far from the burner, it is
necessary that several seconds shall elapse before the circulation is established.
In order to obviate this drawback and to effect almost instantaneous ignition I
arrange near the burner a small reservoir of air which communicates with the
piping. When the burner is closed, the petroleum passes into this reservoir and
compresses the air.
When, on the contrary the cock is opened, the air in the
reservoir expanding therein pushes at once the small column of liquid interposed
between it and the burner, before the petroleum in the piping has even begun to
move.
In order to impart greater brilliancy to the flame, I sometimes introduce into the
cylinder formed by it a very fine metallic net work of oval or cylindrical shape and
of a diameter such that the meshes are situated in the hot and oxidizing zone of the
flame. This net work is supported by an iron wire placed in a hole formed in
the button which connects the two small pipes which lead to the basin.
The position of the reservoir will obviously determine the construction of the
same. If it is situated at the top of the piping, a simple glass gauge tube on the
side will serve to show the quantity of petroleum it contains, and the flow will be
effected by the weight of the petroleum. But if on the contrary, the reservoir is
situated below the piping, it must be supplied with compressed air to produce an
ascending flow, and a gauge tube will similarly indicate the amount of petroleum
contained therein.
Dal
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T
J. C. MEWBURN & ELLIS,
55 and 56, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.
Improvements in the Means or Apparatus for Supplying and Burning
Petroleum or other Inflammable Liquids for Illuminating Purposes.
I, JEAN BAPTISTE ISIDORE JULIE, of 95, Boulevard Beaumarchais, Paris, France,
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement:-
This invention has reference to means or apparatus for supplying and burning
petroleum or other inflammable liquids for illuminating purposes such as for light-

page_text: ing houses, places of public resort and generally where gas pipes are usually ·
employed.
In order to enable the nature of this invention to be fully understood I shall
describe by way of example an arrangement of piping and distribution on my
system, with reference to the annexed diagrammatic drawing which is a vertical
section of the apparatus employed.
My invention is based on the use of a reservoir for the petroleum or other liquid
provided at its lower part with a pipe union of sufficient size to receive a sufficient
quantity of wool or wadding for filtering the petroleum which is to pass through it.
From this pipe union extends a system of piping P P¹, consisting of pipes of very
small cross section, to each burner. The petroleum reservoir which does not offer
any peculiarity, is not shown in the annexed diagrammatic drawing.
Each burner is controlled by two spindle or needle cocks. The first cock A acts
as a regulator; I locate it at a certain distance from the burner on the pipe P and
I place it in a position which allows of the maximum flow for the flame which it is
desired to obtain; the other cock A' is situated under the burner proper on the
pipe P1, and it is sufficient for lighting and extinguishing purposes to open and to
close this cock without having to consider the quantity of liquid which it will
allow to flow through.
.The burner proper, is essentially formed of a small annular basin C of from
5 to 15 millimetres in height according to the diameter adopted. The annular
space of the basin is about from 2 to 4 millimetres. From the lower part of this
basin and at the ends of one and the same diameter there extend two small
pipes N N which unite together in the interior of a button or knob T which is
formed with a screw thread to permit of connecting the burner to the service pipe
above the spindle or needle cock A¹.
The vacant annular space of the basin, at the bottom of which are connected the
two small pipes N N¹, is provided with a wick M formed by the coiling of a fine
ribbon or tape of cotton of a width somewhat greater than the height of the basin,
in such a manner that, when placed in position, it will project for about two milli-
metres above the edge of the basin. The coiling of the cotton ribbon must be very
tightly done, and the tape or wick should be driven a tight fit into the annular space.
When the wick is in place, it is impregnated with silicate of potash, then dried at
about 150° C. and finally calcined, either by means of a blow pipe or by means of a
cast iron plate of sufficiently hot temperature. In consequence of this mode of
treatment the organic matter is destroyed to a thickness of about one millimetre,
and there remains in the place thereof a skeleton of silicate of potash which
preserves the wick from all further oxidation. As the wick is very dense and
occupies the whole of the internal portion of the basin, as soon as the cock is opened,
the first drops of petroleum which are supplied saturate the wick completely, and
the burner or jet will ignite immediately. On closing the cock, the quantity of
petroleum which saturates the wick is so small that the flame becomes almost
immediately extinguished. The basin as shown allows of the igniting, without
removing the glass.
It will be noted that on the wick prepared as I have stated above, no black is
deposited from the smoke because the crown of silicate of potash which is exposed
to the flame is not raised to the temperature of decomposition of the petroleum.
Besides, if any black were formed, it would disappear at the time of extinguishing
because this extinction produced by the closing of the cock, causes a rapid diminu-
tion of the flame which turns blue before being extinguished, and consequently
removes the smoke black.
The wick has thus an indefinite duration, unless any cause foreign to the working
of the burner, shall aid in destroying the same.
Although the circulation of the petroleum in the pipes of small cross section is
rather rapid, it may happen that when the reservoir is far from the burner, it is
necessary that several seconds shall elapse before the circulation is established. In
order to obviate this drawback and to effect almost instantaneous ignition I arrange

page_text: near the burner a small air reservoir R which communicates with the piping P!.
When the burner is closed, the petroleum passes into this reservoir and compresses
the air. When, on the contrary the cock is opened, the air in the reservoir expand-
ing therein pushes at once the small column of liquid interposed between it and the
burner, before the petroleum in the piping has even begun to move.
In order to impart great brilliancy to the flame, I sometimes introduce into the
cylinder formed by it a very fine metallic net work (not shown) of oval or cylindri-
cal shape and of a diameter such that the meshes are situated in the hot and
oxidizing zone of the flame. This net work is supported by an iron wire (not
shown) placed in a hole t formed in the button which connects the two small
pipes N N which lead to the basin.
The position of the petroleum reservoir will obviously determine the construction
of the same.
If it is situated at the top of the piping, a simple glass gauge tube
on the side will serve to show the quantity of petroleum it contains, and the flow
will be effected by the weight of the petroleum. But if on the contrary, the
reservoir is situated below the piping, it must be supplied with compressed air to
produce an ascending flow, and a gauge tube will similarly indicate the amount of
petroleum contained therein.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim
is:-
1. For the purpose of supplying and burning petroleum or other inflammable
liquids. for illuminating purposes, the combination with illuminating burners, of a
reservoir provided with a filter and containing petroleum or other inflammable
liquid, and a system of piping of very small diameter for conveying the petroleum
or other inflammable liquid from the reservoir to the burners, the said piping being
provided at each burner with a regulating spindle or needle valve and with a shut-off
spindle or needle valve and also with an air chamber situated between the two valves
all arranged and operating substantially as described.
2. A wick for petroleum or other inflammable liquid burners, made of any
suitable textile material pressed very tightly together, and afterwards impregnated
with silicate of potash, and then calcined so as to destroy the organic matter to a
depth of about one millimetre, substantially as described.
3. A burner for petroleum or other inflammable liquids, composed of an annular
basin connected by two or more pipes of small diameter uniting together at a
regulating spindle or needle valve, and of a wick composed of suitable textile
material coiled very tightly and driven a tight fit into the annular basin, the said
wick being impregnated with silicate of potash, then dried, and finally calcined so
as to destroy the organic matter to a depth of about one millimetre, substantially as
described and shown.
.
1
1000
J. C. MEWBURN & ELLIS,
55 and 56, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.