IMPROVEMENTS IN CARBURETT- ING LOW PRESSURE SUPERHEATED STEAM, AIR, OR COAL GAS FOR LIGHTING AND HEATING PURPOSES, FOR GENERATING STEAM OR HYDROCARBON VAPOUR, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joshua Kidd, of Battersea Rise, in the County of
Surrey, Gas Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CARBURETT-
ING LOW PRESSURE SUPERHEATED STEAM, AIR, OR COAL GAS FOR LIGHTING
AND HEATING PURPOSES, FOR GENERATING STEAM OR HYDROCARBON VAPOUR,
AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN."
Scaled the 14th August 1866, and dated the 17th February 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joshua Kidd at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 17th
February 1866.
I, JOSHUA KIDD, of Battersea Rise, in the County of Surrey,
Gas Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
CARBURETTING Low PRESSURE SUPERHEATED STEAM, AIR, OR COAL GAB
LIGHTING AND HEATING PURPOSES, FOR GENERATING STEAM OR HYDROCARBON VAPOUR,
AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," to be as follows:-
My improvements consist in the application of a novel form of steam-tight
vessels called a vaporiser for bolding petroleum or other heavy hydrocarbon
oils, made round, square, or other convenient shape, with a tubular or

page_text: conical shaped chimney or aperture through its centre. This vaporiser is
heated by a flame placed under the aforesaid chimney, and is applied with
an outlet and an inlet pipe. When used for carburetting gas or air I
prefer to attach to it an adjustable funnel-shaped heat conductor so formed
and affixed to the vaporiser that the heat in passing up through its centre
will induce a second current of air to pass upwards round the outer periphery of
the heat conductor. By this arrangement of heating the deposit of tary matter
at the bottom of the apparatus does not obstruct the heat, which may be
regulated to the greatest nicety so as to give the required amount of carbura-
tion to the gas or air passing through the vaporiser. When my improvements
are required to be used for the generation of steam or other heating purposes,
I keep the vaporiser partly filled with oil by connecting to it by means of a
pipe an intermittent fountain feeder, as described in my former Specification
and Letters Patent dated January 5th, 1864, No. 33, or if not convenient to
use this arrangement the vaporiser may be filled at intervals as required.
This vaporiser may be heated by condensed steam, a small fire, or in any other
convenient way. The inlet pipe attached to the vaporiser I connect to a
ventilator, fan, or other appliance for forcing a continuous current of hot or
cold air. Superheated low-pressure steam may be used, or air and steam
combined, and either together or separately may be passed over the surface of or
mixed with the heated hydrocarbons; a quantity of heated vapour is taken up by
this current of air or steam, held in mechanical suspension and conveyed by
the outlet pipe to the furnace, where it is consumed either separately or in
conjunction with coal or coke by means of a bye pass or regulating tap
attached between the air forcing apparatus or steam generator and the outlet
pipe of the vaporiser. The required proportions of the mixed air, gas, and
vapour may be very nicely regulated so as to obtain the required intensity of
flame from the combustible compounds.
The second method I adopt for generating steam or vapour is by a slight
modification of the apparatus without bird cage fountain arrangements marked
A, C, E, in Figure 1 of my former Specification dated February 5th 1864,
No. 33. A contains the liquid to be vaporised, and is so formed that a heavy
pressure can be placed upon the liquid by steam, compressed air, or in any
other convenient way; the said liquid is forced down the pipe C, which is
supplied with an adjustable tap and a self-acting valve that will open and shut,
admitting or stopping the entry of the liquid into the heated retort E as the
pressure increases or diminishes. The aforesaid liquid must enter the heated
retort, which must be made strong and of any required shape, either through
a rose with small holes or through a fine one-hole jet, and made to impinge

page_text: against some part of the heated retort. In practice this arrangement will give
an intermittent supply of steam, but if required a continuous supply may be
obtained by throwing the aforesaid self-acting valve attached to pipe C out of
action, and the quantity of vapour may be regulated by the aforesaid
adjustable tap fixed to the said pipe. Steam thus generated may be carburetted
and burned for steam fuel or used for any other useful purpose. When my
improvements are applied for heating purposes and superheated steam is
passed over the surface of the oil contained in the first-named vaporiser, its
pressure must not be more than sufficient to raise a column of water a few
inches. Air may be supplied as before described or mixed with the vapour
by an induced current caused by the escaping force of the mixed vapours in
any convenient manner. A suitable burner for heating purposes may be
made of a tubular form fitted with metallic cover and perforated bottom. This
tubular case must be perforated round its outer periphery, about three-quarters
of an inch in depth from the top; a small tube or jet must be fitted through
the centre of the perforated bottom for the escape of gas or vapour into the
interior of the case, which mixes with the air rising through the perforated
bottom, and burns round the perforated circle at the top of the case with
great intensity. The heavy oils for the purpose of this Invention may be the
heavy oils of tar, napthalene, petroleum, rosin, or other oils rich in carbon
that have hitherto been comparatively useless on account of the difficulty
of combining with them at the burning point sufficient air to effect proper
combustion.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joshua Kidd in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 16th
August 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSHUA
KIDD, of Battersea Rise, in the County of Surrey, Gas Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
the said Joshua Kidd, Her special licence that I, the said Joshua Kidd, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Joshua Kidd,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and
no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term

page_text: therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CARBURETTING
Low PRESSURE SUPERHEATED STEAM, AIR, OR COAL GAS FOR LIGHTING AND HEATING
PURPOSES, FOR GENERATING STEAM OR HYDROCARBON VAPOUR, AND IN APPARATUS
EMPLOYED THEREIN," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Joshua
Kidd, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my
or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was
to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Joshua Kidd, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
This Invention has for its object improvements in vaporising apparatus,
which improvements are applicable and intended to be used for increasing the
lighting properties of gas, for generating steam or gas, and also for generating
hydrocarbon vapours, which vapours I mix with air or steam, either separately
or combined, and use the same as fuel for heating steam boilers, or for
obtaining motive power. One essential feature of my Invention is that I
apply the heat to the top instead of to the bottom of the column of liquid as
at present adopted. By this method of heating the liquid the surface is kept
at a higher temperature than the under volume of liquid, consequently it is
not agitated by rising bubbles of vapour. When liquid hydrocarbons are
evaporated the heat and evaporation are not checked by the deposit of tarry
matter.
My improvements include two novel methods of generating vapours, together
with the construction and arrangement of apparatus employed therein
First, I heat and evaporate liquid hydrocarbons from the top of their vertical
column and there mix them with air, steam, or gas as required, in suitable
vessels so arranged that the heat can be applied to the apparatus through the
centre of the same and its intensity there regulated; or I draw up the liquid
hydrocarbon by capillary attraction to the point of combustion, and there
mix it with gas for lighting and steam for heating purposes. Second
I heat and evaporate the liquid from the top of its vertical column and injec
it by pressure into a heated vaporiser or retort, and thus generate steam o
hydrocarbon vapour; the steam I use as a motive power, and the hydro

page_text: carbon vapour I mix with steam in the retort, and burn it as an auxiliary fucl
for heating steam boilers or for other purposes, by ejecting the mixed vapours
over or upon the burning coal or coke in ordinary furnaces. The construction
and operation of the same will be better understood by reference to the
annexed Drawings making part of this Specification, where the same letters
refer to similar parts, or parts performing the same office in the several
Fig. 1 shews an elevation in cross section; Fig. 2, a bottom view; Fig. 3,
a top view; Fig. 4, an elevation of a street lamp, vaporiser, or carburettor P
made round and of sheet metal with my improvements applied thereto. B shews
the inlet and C the outlet pipe which is made crooked to increase its heating
surface; E, oval-shaped chimney or aperture through which heat is applied to the
carburettors. This chimney through the apparatus may be made round, square,
conical, or other convenient shape as desired. D shews a reflector fixed to the
bottom of carburettor for throwing down the light that at present is lost out of the
top of the lantern; E shews the flame; G, the liquid, and II, feeder for filling the"
carburettor. This carburetting vessel should be made to hold about a pint of oil,
leaving room for the passage of gas over the surface of the liquid. Fig. 5 shews.
an elevation in cross section of my improvements in vaporising or caburetting"
apparatus applied to a description of light called a sun light, which is affixed
to the ceiling and intended to light a large space underneath. I prefer in'
this case to make the chimney E conical as best adapted to thes form of
carburettor; I shews the hot air intercepter made round and to slide up and
down upon outlet pipe C, and made to cover the top of the aforesaid chimney E;"
J, J, shew the connecting wires and method of regulating the height of the
hot air intercepter I at any required part of a building by the moveable slide
and lock nut K, which is similar to the common bell-hanging arrangement.
This carburettor like Fig. 6 should be made round and to hold from one to
two gallons of oil as required. Fig. 6 shews an elevation in cross section of
my improved vaporiser or carburettor P applied to a large public lamp
suitable for light-houses, squares, quays, or crossings, where a large body of
light is required. The chimney E for this description of carburettor I prefer
to make round, but if made conical it will give the same result. I make this
chimney, to the top of which I fix the intercepter I, to rise above the
carburettor. The liquid hydrocarbons most suitable for this method of
carburetting gas by the application of heat are such as have about the same

page_text: density as water, viz., the dead oil of tar, napthaline, heavy naptha, rosin, or
rock oil. These heavy liquid hydrocarbons are heated by the flame F and
give off vapour which mixes with the gas entering at pipe B, and greatly
increases its illuminating power.
Fig. 7 shews an elevation in cross section of a circular vaporiser P shewing
my improvements applied for carburetting atmospheric air intended to be used
instead of gas for forming an explosive compound for working the Lenoir or
other gas motive-power engine. For this purpose light petroleum spirit may
be used having a specific gravity ranging from 650 to 750. The outlet C is
attached to the gas engine cylinder. Air is drawn into the carburettor P,
which may be partly filled with coke ro other porous material; the air
combines with the vapour of the spirit, and thus mixed passes to the cylinder,
where it is exploded at every alternate stroke of the piston, the same as a
mixture of gas and air. Heat is furnished by the spirit lamp F, and its
intensity regulated by the circular cap or hot air intercepter I so as to charge
the air with the required amount of vapour. The spirit is supplied to the
carburettor by the intermittent fountain feeder L, which is a vessel for
holding the spirit, made similar to a bottle or carboy inverted with its outlet
sealed by the liquid in the regulating chamber M; as this liquid falls below
the outlet in vessel L air enters the vessel, and a proportionate amount of
liquid descends into chamber M and keeps the spirit always at one level, like
the common bird-cage fountain. The liquid is supplied to the carburettor P
by the pipe H, H, where it is also kept at the same level as in chamber M.
By this method of supplying the spirit it never impoverishes, and the amount
of vapour to a given quantity of air may be regulated to the greatest nicety.
The arrangement shewn in Fig. 7 may be used for burning petroleum or
other heavy liquid hydrocarbons for heating steam boilers, &c., and for this
purpose it is simply necessary to supply the carburettor with oil instead of
spirit, and when the oil begins to evaporate low-pressure superheated steam
may be forced into the carburettor P through the inlet B, which will combine
with the hydrocarbon vapour, and thus mixed may be conveyed over burning
coal or coke in an ordinary furnace; or the covering or lid of vessel P with
the outlet and inlet B and C may be removed, the spirit lamp F dispensed
with, and the oil burned from the top of its vertical column on the surface of
the aforesaid porous material with which vessel P is filled, and there supplied
with the necessary amount of air and steam to cause perfect combustion. A
number of those apparatus made any convenient shape may be combined and
used as a furnace.

page_text: The Figures marked 8 shew an arrangement of three burners drawn full
size for applying this method of vaporising for carburetting gas,
which may
up
be used for railway carriages or small street or other lights. The oil is drawn
to the burning point and its vapour mixed upon the top of the wick with
gas issuing out of very fine No. 0 Cannel, fish-tail, or batswing burners, con-
suming from half to one foot of gas per hour. A' shews a front view of wick
tube with gas jet V and flame F. A', end view of the same shewing the
position of gas jets V. A³, end view with jet placed at right angles to wick
tube to form an horizontal flame. This arrangement when the gas jets and
wick tubes are multiplied and formed into a circle make a beautiful sun light.
When it is desired to mix gas with the vapour from a lamp having a circular
wick like the moderator or other oil lamp I prefer to conduct the gas to the
point of combustion by a circular burner formed with small tubes and known
as Leslie's burner, which is made to fit snugly round the wick tube as shewn
in perspective at A', Fig. 8.
Fig. 9 is a longitudinal section through the centre of cast-iron retort and
fire-box shewing my second method of vapourising, which is applicable for
generating either steam or gas, also for generating hydrocarbon vapour, and
mixing it in the retort with steam for fuel. Fig. 10 shews a cross section
of retort W, made about 27 inches long by 18 inches broad, but the size may
be increased or varied as required. Fig. 11 shews a bottom view of the
same; Fig. 12, an end view with plate A, Fig. 13, removed; the V-shaped
iron projections upon the interior and exterior of retort W are for in-
creasing its heating surface, and may with the shape of retort be varied as
required; the liquid is injected into the retort through the inlet pipe B and
dispersing rose Y, and the quantity of liquid injected is adjusted by the
regulating tap or screw R, which is a conical pointed screw working in a cone
similar to the regulating screw attached to the common street naptha lamp
and fixed upon pipe B². This pipe by being attached to the heated retort W
gets very hot, and heats the liquid from the top of its vertical column as it
rises in the interior of the said pipe, so that when the liquid is injected
into the retort it is at or near the boiling point. B³ shews inlet for steam,
and is only used when steam is required to be mixed with hydrocarbon
vapour for fuel; U shews the chimney, and S, S, the fire and furnace
arrangements; N, projections from the side of retort for fixing and supporting
the same; 0, 0, shew channels or recesses for the escape of hot air and the
results of combustion. When steam is required it is simply necessary to
raise the retort to a dull red heat, and connect the outlet pipe C to the valve

page_text: box of the engine; the water entering at the injection tap X must have the
required pressure put upon it by any well-known method or appliance. This
tap is actuated by lever Q, which lever is attached to and moved by the
engine, and made to open and close the injection tap twice for every revolution
of the engine shaft. By this means water is injected into the heated retort,
and thus steam is generated at every alternate stroke of the piston, the quantity
of water injected is regulated by the conical screw R.
This arrange-
ment will give an intermittent supply of steam, but if a constant supply
be required the injection tap X must be opened and disconnected from
the engine. When it is required to use this vaporising apparatus as
shewn at Fig. 9 and 10 for generating steam fuel, I mix the vapour of
petroleum or shale oils with low-pressure superheated steam in the retort W.
The oil vessel as shewn upon a shelf or stand at Fig. 14 should be elevated
from six to eight feet above the retort W to give pressure to the column of
oil entering the aforesaid retort. This oil vessel is connected to injection tap
X' by pipe H2, as shewn at Fig. 10, and a current of low-pressure super-
heated steam is supplied to the retort through pipe B³; the cock B* is for
regulating the supply of steam. The hydrocarbon oil thus injected into the
retort is instantly converted into vapour and mixed with and held in
mechanical suspension by the steam formed by the water entering through
pipe B³, and in this state it is conveyed to the furnace for consumption by
forcing the mixed vapours over or upon burning coal or coke, when it takes
fire and burns with great intensity; or the vapours thus mixed may be forced
under and through porous matter placed in the furnace and burned in any
convenient way. This apparatus may also be used for generating gas.
Having now described my improvements in vaporising apparatus and in
what manner the same is applied for the purposes of my Invention I would
have it to be particularly understood that I do not confine myself to the exact
details shewn and described, as the same may be slightly varied without
departing from my Invention; but what I do claim is,―
Firstly. The method, application, and arrangement of vaporising apparatus
formed with a chimney through the centre of the same; also with heat
regulator as described and shewn at Figures from 1 to 7 for utilising the
lighting, heating, and explosive properties of liquid hydrocarbons.
Secondly. I claim the method, application, and arrangement of vaporising
apparatus as shewn and described at Figures 9 and 10 for generating steam.
I also claim the application of this apparatus for generating hydrocarbon
vapour and mixing it with superheated steam, and burning the vapours thus

page_text: mixed after forcing them through porous substances, or over or upon burning
coal or coke in ordinary furnaces.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joshua Kidd, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord
1866.
JOSHUA KIDD. (L.S.)