IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PRODUCTION OF GAS FOR LIGHTING AND HEATING, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Michael Henry, of 84, Fleet Street, in the City
of London. Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
PRODUCTION OF GAS FOR LIGHTING AND HEATING, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED
THEREIN." A Communication. from abroad by Louis Cyrille Bureau, of 33,
Boulevard Saint Martin, Paris, France.
Sealed the 14th August 1860, and dated the 18th February 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Michael Henry at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th February 1860.
I, MICHAEL HENRY, of 84. Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent Agent,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for. "IMPROVEMENTS .IN
THE PRODUCTION OF GAS FOR LIGHTING AND HEATING, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED
THEREIN," communicated to me from abroad by Louis Cyrille Bureau, of 33,
Boulevard Saint Martin, Paris, France, to be as follows:-
According to this Invention gas for lighting is produced by injecting steam
into incandescent fuel, and may be obtained in apparatus for producing gases
for heating.
The apparatus or furnace constructed and arranged according to the method
for which British Letters Patent were granted to me, bearing date 10th May

page_text: 1859, and numbered 1174, is improved and adapted for being employed for the
production of gas for heating or gas for lighting, separately or exclusively, or
for the production of gas for heating, and gas for lighting in the same appa-
ratus simultaneously or consecutively; arrangements may be adopted for
admitting atmospheric air through horizontal tubes into a closed chamber
below the fire-bars, so as to distribute the draught in an uniform manner
beneath the fire. It is proposed to apply the method of injection, in which a
steam jet is blown into the mouth of a pipe provided with bell mouths or
conical surfaces arranged in a converging direction, whereby the resisting
air is driven and disturbed, and a vucuum produced, thus sucking in the air
behind which enters through the outer cone or bell mouth, the combined air
and steam again producing a current, and sucking in air through an inner
conc, thus supplying a vigorous current.
In the arrangement preferred a furnace is employed, the lower part of which
is constructed of fire-brick or other refractory material, and the upper part of
iron, kept continually surrounded by water, using for the purpose a sheet iron
water casing or jacket, communicating at bottom with a cold water feed pipe,
and at top when the apparatus is used for heating with the generator, to which it
conducts steam, or when it is used for producing gas for illuminating with the
air injection pipe, which it supplies direct; both upper and lower parts of the
furnace are charged with coal, the lower being filled, but the upper only
charged up to a certain height. The fuel is introduced through a hopper
or box having a sliding bottom, which is opened from without when the hopper
has been filled and its cover closed, so that the fuel may be fed in without
opening the furnace direct to the air. The air injection pipe may be arranged
and branch off in such manner as to supply air both to the furnace and to the
generator, or the arrangements connected therewith when, required. The air
is not injected into the furnace vertically, but through openings, which bring it
into the ash-pit or below the fire-bars through horizontal orifices or tubes.
The ash-pit is closed, by a register withdrawn from without for the cinders to
fall through. Communication between the furnace and the fire-place or part
where the gas is to be consumed, or the gasometer, purifier, or gas apparatus,
as the case may be, may be closed by a valve, and a tube is provided for
carrying off the gas into the atmosphere when the apparatus has to be started,
or the draught increased, &c.,, but is usually kept closed by a valve. One or
more tubes are employed for injecting steam into the furnace and into the
heart of the fuel when desirable. Arrangements are provided for mixing the
gases produced in the furnace with atmospheric air, and bringing them into

page_text: the fire-place of the generator or other part, to be there consumed for heating
purposes. Thus the gases pass through (preferably) a cylindrical, conical, or
tubular passage into a cylindrical. conical, or tubular chamber and thence
through horizontal chambers to the place where they are to be consumed,
and as they pass along they are brought into contact and intimately combine
with atmospheric air entering through orifices formed in chambers into
which it is forced by an injecting apparatus, of the description before
referred to. Thus, when the furnace is used for producing heating gases,
the fuel in the lower part is consumed upon the fire-bars. combustion
being assisted by draughts of atmospheric air, the carbonic acid produced
becomes converted into oxyde of carbon while passing through the layer of
non-ignited fuel above, and carbonized hydrogen and oxyde of carbon are
obtained from the decomposition of the steam injected into the furnace,
and into the heated and partially ignited fuel.
Gases may be produced for illuminating purposes by suitably applying the
action of steam. When the furnace, duly charged with fuel, is ignited at the
lower part (the upper part in front being unkindled and "black"), and oxyde
of carbon is produced, it is proposed that steam, either in its ordinary condition
or superheated and dry, shall be injected and brought into contact with the
incandescent fuel, preferably by a tube surrounding the furnace, and provided
with mouths, orifices. or nozzles (the steam may be superheated by causing it
to circulate around the furnace in flues, or by passing it in tubes into the
boiler, furnace, or otherwise, and there may be arrangements to admit the
steam through two taps; for example, to supply ordinary or superheated
steam, as desired). The steam should be injected in as divided a state as may
be, so that it may act upon the incandescent fuel at as many points as possible,
and on coming in contact therewith it will be immediately decomposed, and
will produce hydrogen and oxyde of carbon, the combustion of which with hot
air will yield very elevated temperatures. The steam so admitted increases
the volume and richness of the gases; it should be injected within the furnace
and at the sides in such manner as to act upon the incandescent fuel at a
certain height, that is to say, not at the upper or lower parts of the mass. but
at the centre of combustion. Resins, tars, and other suitable matters may be
added to the fuel to increase the yield and richness of the gas, which may
other usual
be led off into a purifier, hydro-carburator, gasometer, or
receiver

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Michael Henry in the Great Seal Patent Oflice on the
18th August 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I. MICHAEL
HENRY, of 84, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent Agent, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did. for Herself. Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Michael Henry, Her special licence that I, the said Michael Henry,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I. the said
Michael Henry, 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 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
THE PRODUCTION OF GAS FOR LIGHTING AND HEATING, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED
THEREIN," Communicated to me from abroad by Louis Cyrille Bureau,
of 33, Boulevard Saint Martin, Paris, France, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Michael Henry, 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 Michael Henry, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof as communicated to me, reference being had to
the accompanying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon,
that is to say:-
According to this Invention, gas for lighting is produced by injecting steam
into incandescent fuel gas for lighting may be obtained in apparatus contrived
also for producing gas for heating. The present Invention includes improve-
ments on the apparatus or furnace constructed and arranged according to the
method for which British Letters Patent were granted to me, bearing date 10th
May 1859, and numbered 1174, which furnace. as so improved, is adapted for

page_text: i...t
being employed for the production of gas for heating or gas for lighting separately
or exclusively, or for the production of gas for heating and gas for lighting in
the same apparatus simultaneously or consecutively (or alternately): arrange-
ments are adopted for admitting atmospheric air through horizontal tubes into
a closed chamber or space below the fire bars, so as to distribute the draught in
an uniform manner beneath the fire. In this improved apparatus it is also
proposed to apply the method of injection, in which air is forced in by means
of a steam jet blown into the mouth of a pipe provided with bell or funnel
mouths or conical surfaces arranged in a converging direction, whereby the
resisting air is driven and displaced or disturbed, and a vacuum produced, by
which means the air behind is sucked or drawn in, and enters through the outer
comb or bell mouth, the combined air and steam in turn producing another
current and drawing in the air through an inner cone, by which means a
strong inflowing current is obtained.
The arrangement of furnace preferred is exemplified in the accompanying
Drawings; Figure 1 being a transverse vertical section Figure 2, a front
elevation; and Figure 3, a horizontal section. The lower part A of this furnace
is constructed of fire brick or other refractory material, and the upper part A¹
of iron kept constantly surrounded by water, for which purpose a sheet iron
water casing or jacket E may be used at this part, communicating at bottom
with a feed pipe, which keeps it continuously supplied with cold water, and at
top when the apparatus is used for producing gas for heating with the generator,
to which the steam that it produces is carried off, but when the apparatus is
used for producing gas for lighting only, this part E communicates with the
pipe for injecting air into the furnace, to which it supplies a jet of steam direct.
Both the upper and lower parts of the furnace are charged with fuel, the lower
A completely, and the upper A' only up to a certain height; fuel is admitted
through a hopper or feed box B. having a sliding bottom C, which is opened
from without, after the hopper has been filled, and its cover D closed, so that
the fuel may be fed in without opening the interior of the furnace direct to the
atmospheric air; G is the pipe for injecting or blowing in air; this pipe, when
the furnace is combined with a generator, may be placed and branched off in
such manner as to supply air both to the furnace A, A', (through the pipes F)
and to the generator (through a pipe not shewn in the Drawings); F, F, are the
pipes leading from G, and bringing the air or draft into the furnace A, A¹; air
is not injected into the furnace vertically, but through openings, such as at I;
which lead into the ash-pit or part J below the fire-bars a, through horizontal
pipes or passages h. The ash-pit J is closed by a register j, which may be
withdrawn from without for the ash-pit to drop, in order to be removed and

page_text: emptied. The communication between the furnace and the fire-place of the
boiler or the gasometer purifier or part where the gas is to be consumed or
received, as the case may be, can be closed by a valve m: when required, a
tube K is provided for carrying off the gas into the atmosphere when the
apparatus is to be started, or the draught increased or otherwise, when required;
but during the ordinary operation of the furnace, this tube is kept closed by a
valve z; one or more tubes u are employed for injecting steam into the furnace
'and into the heart of the fuel when desirable. In order to effect an intimate
admixture of the gases produced in the furnace with atmospheric air. and to
bring them into the fire-place of the generator or other part. to be there con-
sumed for heating purposes, the gases may be caused to pass through the
cylindrical or conical tube or passage R, and expand in a cylindrical, conical, or
tubular chamber, and thence pass through horizontal channels to the fire-place
of the generator or place where they are to be consumed, and as they pass
along they are brought into contact and intimately combined with atmospheric
air passing through orifices in a chamber, into which the air is forced by the
injecting or blowing-in apparatus before referred to. When the furnace A, A.
is used for producing heating gases only, the fuel in A is consumed upon the fire-
bars a. combustion being assisted by draughts of atmospheric air forced in by
the injection apparatus: the carbonic acid produced becomes converted into
oxide of carbon as it passes through the layer of non-ignited fuel above, that is,
in the upper part A', and carbonized hydrogen and oxide of carbon are
obtained from the decomposition of the steam injected into the furnace, and
into the heated and partially ignited fuel.
The gas produced by employing this apparatus. and by suitably applying
the action of steam, is an excellent gas for lighting purposes; it may be
obtained in considerable quantities, and has special illuminating properties.
When the furnace is charged with fuel to the required height, and ignited
at the lower part (the upper part being unkindled or "black"), and oxyde
of carbon is produced as described, the Inventor proposes to inject steam
through the tube U, either in its ordinary state, or in a superheated and dry
condition, and to bring it in contact with the incandescent fuel by conducting
it through a tube surrounding the furnace, and provided with mouths, orifices,
or nozzles. This injection of steam is complementary to the mode described
of supplying air, and is an arrangement applicable to apparatus for producing
gas. The steam may be superheated by causing it to circulate around the
furnace in flues, or by conducting it in pipes into the boiler furnace or
otherwise. The steam pipes may be so arranged as to admit steam through
two taps, for example, supplying ordinary or superheated steam as desired.

page_text: The steam should be injected in as divided a state as. may be, so that
it may act upon the incandescent fuel at as many points as possible, and
on coming in contact therewith it will be immediately decomposed, and will
produce hydrogen and oxyde of carbon, the combustion of which, with hot air,
as herein-after described, will yield very elevated temperatures, much beyond
those obtained by oxyde of carbon alone. The steam so admitted into the
incandescent fuel increases the volume and richness of the gases, and allows
of the temperature being regulated at pleasure. The steam should be injected
within the furnace and at the sides in such manner as to act upon the incan-
descent fuel at a certain height, that is to say, not at the upper or lower parts
of the mass, but at the centre of combustion. If the steam were admitted
into the fuel at the lower part it would excite combustion at first, but this
activity would not be continuous, and the fire would soon be damped and
eventually extinguished; moreover the fusing of scoria would be prevented if
the steam were admitted into the fuel at the upper part, the gases would be
saturated with moisture, and on reaching the part where they would have to
be consumed, would burn badly and often not at all. Resins, tars, and other
similar matters may be added to the fuel to increase the yield and richness of
the gas. The gas may be led off through the tube R, or through a pipe or
pipes or passages branching from or communicating therewith into a purifier,
hydrocarburator, gasometer, or other usual receiver of gas. Figure 4 shows the
arrangements for blowing in air by a steam jet; the steam is admitted through
the pipe V into the centre of the tube S, and the force which it exerts drives
and agitates the air which resists it, producing a vacuum, and drawing in air
through the outer conical mouth L; the air and steam combined induce a
fresh current which in turn draws in air through the internal cone A¹.
In large manufactories this apparatus may be employed during working
hours for producing gas for heating purposes, and while the men are off work
for producing gas for lighting the workshops. The mixture of air may be
admitted into the apparatus at the sides and the middle; the fire-bars may be
so arranged that they may be cleaned above through the Blues by means of a fire
iron, and by a slide or groove beneath. Resins, tars, and such like matters
may be often added to the fuel with advantage, in order to carburet the gases,
while hot, and at the time of their being produced; the illuminating properties
of the gases are increased by thus intimately combining the carburetting
matters with them, so that these matters may become as it were integral
portions thereof; the brickwork inay be constructed with straight instead of
sloping edges, thus allowing of a grate of larger section. To accelerate or
slacken draught the inner cone K' may be so constructed that it may be moved

page_text: forward or backward in the tube S, and thereby increase or reduce the
amount of contraction of the passage. Also in order to wash or purify the
gas more satisfactorily and obtain a better draught, the blowing-in apparatus
may be used for driving the gas forcibly into the water.
Although the furnace represented in the drawings is described as con-
structed of metal at the upper, and of fire brick or other refractory material at
the lower part, the method of producing gas herein described may never-
theless also be applied with advantage to furnaces constructed wholly of metal
or wholly of fire brick or other refractory material.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and the manner
in which the same may be performed, I declare that what I claim is,—
First, the various improvements, herein described and represented in the
Drawings, upon the furnace specified in my Patent of 10th May 1859, par-
ticularly the method of admitting atmospheric air through horizontal tubes in
a closed space or chamber situated below the fire-bars, whereby a more uniform
distribution of the air or draught is obtained.
Second, the employment in or application to apparatus for producing gas
for lighting of the method wherein or of arrangements whereby steam and air
are caused to act on fuel heaped up in a closed space or chamber, composed
wholly of metal or wholly of firebrick or other refractory material. or partially
of metal and partially or firebrick or other refractory material, and this I
claim, however the arrangement of furnace to which the same may be applied
may be varied.
Third, the production of gas for lighting by means of admitting steam under
the conditions herein-before described, and this I claim, however the arrange-
ments of the gas-producing furnace may be in other respects varied.
Fourth, the manufacture or production of an improved gas for lighting in
the manner and by the means herein-before described.
Fifth, the arrangement of the gas-producing apparatus for the production of
gás fór heating, and of gas for lighting alternately, as herein described.
:
In witness whereof, I, the said Michael Henry, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Eighteenth day of August, One thousand eight hundred
"and sixty.
M. HENRY. (L.S.)