Improvements in the Manufacture or Production of Acetylene Gas, and in Apparatus therefor.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 9th June, 1896-Accepted, 11th July, 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture or Production of Acetylene Gas,
and in Apparatus therefor.
1, HENRI ADOLPHE DEROY, fils ainé, of 75, Rue du Théâtre, Paris, in the
Republic of France, Engineer, 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 :-
My invention relates to the manufacture of acetylene gas and to apparatus
therefor.
According to my invention I treat calcium carbide in a manner similar to that
employed in diffusion, exhausting and extracting apparatus employed for obtaining
saccharine matters contained in sugar cane and beetroot and in the manufacture of
colouring, pharmaceutical and other extracts.
The accompanying drawings illustrate some arrangements of apparatus I employ
for treating calcium carbide.
Figure 1 represents an apparatus composed of two main portions the number of
which, however, may be increased.
The calcium carbide is placed in the parts A and B in removable baskets or
upon gratings. I commence by moistening the contents of the vessel A. by
introducing water or steam therein at the base of the cylinder through the
cock 7 opened in the direction of the said vessel. The gas which is disengaged
passes off through the cock 8 and tube 9 to the gasometer, compressor or the like.
As soon as the carbide in the vessel A is spent the excess of water which is
not required for further action passes off through the tube 11 and cock 10 into
the vessel B which then disengages its gas which also passes off through the
tube 9.
When it is required to empty and recharge the vessel A it is isolated by operating
the cocks 8, 10, 7, this latter action causing water to be introduced into the second
vessel.
The vessel A being recharged is then ready to commence working, and this takes
place as soon as the calcium carbide in the vessel B is spent. At this moment the
water in the vessel B reaches the base of the vessel A through the tube 12 and the
gas is disengaged as already explained.
When it is deemed advisable the vessel B is emptied and recharged after having
isolated it by operating the cocks 8, 10, 7 in order that it may be ready to work as
soon as the contents of the vessel A are spent.
The charge of the vessels can be calculated for a period of several hours or
several days.
The baskets containing the calcium carbide may be perforated throughout the
whole of their surface or only over the lower part, the action of the water taking
place from the bottom. They can also be provided with a centrally perforated
or simply split tube by which the water enters at one end and the gas egresses
at the other. These baskets can be hermetically closed at the upper part by a
cover whence only the tube for the disengaged gas issues. This tube should be
stopped by a valve of india-rubber or other suitable elastic material which on being
opened would allow the water and gas to pass off and on being closed would
prevent the moisture of the surrounding gas from coming in contact with the upper
part of the other baskets.

page_text: Figure 2 shews the same apparatus also composed of two vessels with another
arrangement of cocks and pipes and comprising also other supplementary parts.
The carbide is spread in the perforated baskets in thin layers separated from one
another by a layer of suitable inert substance such as gravel, slag or the like.
A partition, divides the basket vertically into. two portions so that the separated
layers are acted upon immediately after one another.
For the sake of clearness of description I have represented the layers of carbide.
and inert material as plain and hatch lined squares in the section of the basket 10,
Figure 2. The vertical dotted lines represent the separating partition and the
curved dotted lines indicate the order of the successive actions.
This system of charging has the advantage of regulating the production of the
gas by operating on small quantities of carbide and preventing the swelling in the
basket the contents of which are maintained at about the same level until they are
completely spent.
The baskets 10 are placed in the compartments of removable buckets 9.
These buckets form a double casing and isolate the baskets from the condensations
yielded by the gas and which by accumulating in the vessel would attack several
baskets at a time.
The covers 7 of the vessels are provided with gutters 71 which collect the
condensations.
The water enters through the tube 1 and the cock 2 opened in the direction
of the vessel at work, and drops on to an overfall 15 which directs it to the
bottom of the basket of the compartment in which the action upon the carbide is
commenced.
When the carbide in the first basket is spent the compartment is filled with water
which overflows through a small aperture a and enters the bottom of the following
compartment, and so on from compartment to compartment (in any required number)
until the water having run through the whole of the bucket reaches the other
vessel and causes the action in the compartments of the same.
!
The acetylene gas in becoming disengaged draws aqueous vapours along with it
and if the condensations resulting therefrom fill the space between two receptacles
these condensations are drawn off through an aperture 6 made in the outer wall of
the bucket at the right hand side of the compartment first acted upon. Into this
compartment also pass the condensations formed beneath the cover.
OPERATION OF THE APPARATUS SHEWN IN FIGURE. 2. :
:
:
:
After having charged the vessels the cock 3 between the two vessels and the
purifier 4 must first be opened, then the cock 5 for opening communication between
the two vessels; then the water inlet cock 2 must be opened to the vessel A.
The water coming from the reservoir C through the tube 1 ceases to enter under
. a certain pressure and is only caused to again enter when the said pressure is
slightly lowered so that the carbide becomes automatically moistened just
sufficiently to supply the consumption of the gas. When all the carbide in the
. vessel A is exhausted the water passes through the cock 5 and its tube to the
vessel B which then comes into action. From this time forward the vessel A
can be emptied and recharged during the working of the vessel B. For this
purpose the communication with the vessel A is closed by operating the cock 3,
communication only being left between the purifier 4 and'the vessel B; the cock 5
is then closed.
The cover of the vessel A is removed and the bucket containing the baskets is
then lifted out and recharged. The bucket and cover are replaced, the cocks
which have been closed are again opened, except the water inlet cock, which
remains open only to the vessel B; it is only when the latter vessel is to be
emptied after having closed the cocks that communication is re-established between
the water and the vessel A and the operations are continued always in the same
manner.

page_text: The charges of the vessels can be calculated so as to suffice for lighting for a
given number of hours or days..
Safety tubes 6, 6-serve to guard against any wrong manipulation of the cocks;
their closure is hydraulic seeing that their ends are immersed in the water
reservoir C. A tube 14 extending outside the place where the apparatus, is.
installed and which is terminated by an alarm whistle allows of discharging any
gas which may be accidentally disengaged by the safety-tubes.
The water inlet pipe 1 can be partly of glass to allow of following the action
on the carbide:
. The purifier 4 placed upon the gas outlet cock, and which can be filled with.
wood fibre, coke or other suitable material, serves for purifying and drying the
gas which as it is freed always carries aqueous vapours along with it. The
condensations can pass back into the vessels or be conducted towards the reservoir
or even be ejected through a syphon tube. The purifier shewn in the drawing-
could be replaced by a tubular drum or. any other condensing. apparatus such as
those employed in distillation. To allow of establishing automatic communication
between the closed compartments of a single vessel, or of separate vessels by a
rotary movement, and obviating the errors of manipulation when opening or
closing the cocks I apply special cocks 4 and 5 on another arrangement of apparatus,..
Figure 3.
Through the passage 6 the water in the compartment 1 passes to the carbide-
with which it is charged and the gas passes off through a tube 7 into the
compartment 2 and finally egresses through the passage 8 of the cock 5 whence it
is conducted to a gasometer or the like.
When the water has filled the compartment 1 and the carbide is exhausted of its.
gas, the water takes the same course as the gas and through the interior tube and.
the second passage 9 reaches the compartment 2.
When it is ascertained that one of the compartments is exhausted the apparatus,.
which I have shewn provided with three compartments, is turned one third round.
This partial movement of rotation acting upon the cocks 4 and 5, the body or
shell of which moves while the plug remains fixed, closes communication between
the compartments 1. and 2 and opens communication between the compartments 2:
and 3 charged with carbide.
At the same time that the rotary movement opens communication between the-
compartments 2 and 3 through the cock 4, it closes the communication between the
compartment 2 and the outlet pipe through the cock 5, and establishes communi-.
cation with the compartment 3. The water then coming through the cock 4 passes
directly into the compartment 2 and acts as already described when referring to.
the first compartment and the same action takes place with respect to the
compartment 3 when the compartment 2 is exhausted of its gas and another third
of a turn has been given to the apparatus, and so on, as the exhaustion takes place-
of the compartments which are emptied and recharged in succession. Removable
baskets or gratings are placed in the compartments.
The advantage of this arrangement will be seen from the fact that the necessity
of closing and opening the cocks is avoided; this manipulation being effected
automatically by simply giving a third of a turn to the apparatus.
Instead of employing a cylinder divided into compartments, the apparatus may
comprise a suitable number of separate receptacles connected to the cocks 4 and 5.
The number of passages in the said cocks would vary according to the number of
receptacles.
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. The improvements in the manufacture of acetylene gas from calcium carbide,.
the said improvements consisting in treating the calcium carbide in vessels.

page_text: communicating with one another and in which the calcium carbide is placed and
contained, substantially as herein before described.
2. The apparatus for the manufacture of acetylene gas comprising a number of
vessels provided with removable baskets adapted to contain the calcium carbide,
the said vessels being in communication with one another in such a manner that
when the calcium carbide in one vessel is spent the water flowing through this
vessel is caused to automatically overflow into another vessel, substantially as
described.
3. The manufacture and use of the improved apparatus for the manufacture of
acetylene gas as herein before described and illustrated in Figure 1, Figures 2 and 2ª
and Figure 3 respectively of the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 9th day of June 1896
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.