IMPROVEMENTS IN GENERATING GAS FROM PETROLEUM AND OTHER OLEAGINOUS SUBSTANCES, AND IN THE APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1870

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Alexander Prince at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 12th
August 1870.-A communication from abroad by Augustin Irel
Ambler, of the City of Washington, District of Columbia, United
States of America.
I, ALEXANDER PRINCE, of the Office for Patents, No. 4, Trafalgar
Square, Charing Cross, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN GENERATING GAS
FROM PETROLEUM AND OTHER OLEAGINOUS SUBSTANCES, AND IN THE APPARATUS TO
BE EMPLOYED THEREIN,' a communication to me from abroad by Augustin
Irel Ambler, of the City of Washington, District of Columbia, United
States of America, to be as follows:-
The first part of this Invention relates to the production of gas or
vapor from petroleum and other oleaginous substances for heating
purposes by means of the ordinary steam in use for general purposes
introduced into a suitable vessel containing a certain quantity of
petroleum or other oil which may be perfectly cold, and leaving in the
vessel a certain space or room for steam, vapour, and gas. Heated oil is
not necessary by this process other than the heat incident to the steam.
.

page_text: admitted therein, that is to say, no auxiliary heating surface in the oil
or about the same whatever is needed or required. Suitable conducting
pipes having suitable valves convey the gas or vapour to a perforated
tube or pipes in the fire-box for use.
gas.
-
The second part of the Invention relates to the production of gas or
vapour substantially in the same way for illuminating purposes, but with
the addition of a certain amount of heating surface to rarify the gas
after it leaves the vessel in which it is generated, and by enriching the
same in its passage to the heating chamber or fire-box as may be
found desirable in practical use. For these purposes I use suitable
vessels for holding and mixing the oil and steam and generating the
These vessels should be constructed of iron or any suitable
material with a diameter of about one quarter or one fifth of their length
but other proportions may be equally practical. Suitable pipes or tubes
are used with valves and stop-cocks for the induction of steam therein
and the eduction of gas or vapour therefrom, also pipes, valves, and force
pumps for the induction and supply of oil with oil tanks and their
appendages as a reservoir for continual use, combining therewith a fire-
box and boiler and burners for the utilization of the gas and the
generating of the steam. An auxiliary boiler may be employed for the
gas generating apparatus, or the steam from the boiler may be used by
tapping the same.
The apparatus consists of a common upright boiler with its ordinary
attachments, tubes, and water space, and of two vessels in com-
munication therewith, which are the carbureters; an enriching tank is
applied between the boiler and carbureters for enriching the gas passing
through it from the carbureter to a coil in the fire-box, or this tank
may be used for deodorizing or empoverishing the gas or vapour passing
through it as in practical use may be desirable for illuminating or
heating purposes. The vapour enters the tank and passes out by the
eduction pipe and is thus conveyed from the carbureter to the spiral
coil pipe in the fire-box to the gasometer and the burners or a perforated
pipe for light and heat. The gasometer is placed at the side of the
boiler, and below the gasometer is a rotary or other force pump for
supplying air to the fire-box, or by reversing it to pump hot air into the
gasometer. Guages are applied for indicating the pressure and for
shewing the contents of the carbureters and enriching tank, and glass
tubes shew the current of gas from the carbureters to the fire-box or

page_text: "
furnace and the burners. A steam pipe conveys steam from the high
steam of the boiler to the carbureter. The induction pipes for the
supply of oil should descend from the top to near the bottom of the
carbureters, and through the gas and oil space, or, when supplied, through
the gas and oil. The oil remains at the bottom of the vessel and the
steam ascends through the oil and the gas, or vapour generated in the
steam passing through it remains at the top and is then ready for use:
The perforated pipe in the fire-box may be of any form or size, the
perforations being directed inwardly a pipe runs outside the boiler to
the eduction pipe joining the perforated pipe thereto. The spiral coil
pipe within the perforated pipe supplies a moderate heating surface to
the gas in its passage through the same to the- gasometer or burners it
rests below the flame on grate bars through which there is a free current
of air which prevents them from burning, and the carbonization of the
gas passing through them. An outside pipe conveys the gas outside the
boiler, and the flame of the flues from the carbureter to the spiral coil:
Proper exhaust pipes, stop-cocks, and valves should also be used.
Steam being first made in the boiler by any suitable means is let on to
the carbureters previously supplied with oil, the valves are arranged, and
the gas gradually produced from cold petroleum with less than ten
pounds pressure of steam in about one minute and a half. There is no
metallic heating surface in or about the oil by this process as auxiliary
means of heating the oil whatever, and no such heating of the oil is
required where steam is used as indicated. The steam must be con-
tinued as long as the gas and flame are desired, for as soon as the steam
is shut off the gas will almost immediately cease to flow. For making
gas for illuminating purposes. the steam is also let on to the carbureters,
but in the coil pipe there are no holes or perforations for the escape of
gas in the fire-box and the gas consequently continues on through the
spiral coil pipe to the gasometer or auxiliary pipe for use.
The con-
nection with the fire-box may be made by running the connecting pipes
conveying gas from the carbureter outside of the flues and boiler
altogether. There is also a pipe connecting the gasometer with the
perforated pipe so as to supply the burners in the fire-box until steam
is got up to a pressure in the boiler sufficient to commence the
geuerating of gas in the carbureters, and thus by means of the supply in
the gasometer keep up the operation without other fuel or auxiliary
The steam in passing through the oil generates or liberates the
and carries with it that portion for which it has an affinity, and the
means.
gas

page_text: elements of bydrogen and carbon are combined and pass out on the
opening of the valves to and through the pipes and burners for use.
High heat applied by any metallic surface to the petroleum direct is
injurious and tends to carbonization and the saturation of the gas. As
soon as the steam passes through the oil and rises above it, the oil
cannot again pass the steam or ascend above it, so if the steam is let on
at the bottom and the gas is taken out at the top of the vessel the gas or
vapour must flow in the quality substantially of the combination
aforesaid, producing a fine flame and an intense heat, and filling the
furnace and flues of the boiler in use. The steam is not materially
condensed in passing through the petroleum, and thus forms a perfect
packing above it, and prevents it from rising into the dome and passing
into the tubes, and this feature is made available in solving the problem
of generating gas practically and safely from petroleum. The steam
parts with a portion of its heat as long as the oil is capable of receiving
and retaining the same, and rises above it, and there remains till other
causes combine to produce a gradual condensation, when as water it will
descend to the bottom, and the oil being lighter in specific gravity will
ascend to the top, the steam by its expansive force keeping it down
previously to condensation as indicated.