US231287A - Electric heater for oil-wells - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

LKW. DINGMAN e H, H. ARGUB.

vElectric Heater for Oil Wells. No. 231,287.

Patented Aug. 17, 188.0..

H.PETERS, PHOTO-LxTHoGRLPHER, WASHINGTON. D C.

NITED STATES PATENI Ormea ARCHIBALD DINGMAN, OF TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, AND HENRY H. ARGUE, OF DERRTCK CITY, ASSIGNORS OF ONE- THIRD OF THEIR RIGHT TO JOHN J. CARTER, OF TITUSVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA.

ELECTRIC HEATER FOR OIL-WELLS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 231,287', dated August 17', 1880.

Application filed May 3, lSSO.

To all whom tt may concern:

Re it known that we, ARCHIBALD YY. DING- MAN, a citizen ot' the Dominion ot' Canada, and HENRY H. ARGUE, a citizen of the United States, residing, respectively, in the city of Toronto, `county of York, Province of Ontario, and Derrick City, county of McKean, State of Pennsylvanim have invented a new and useful Improvement in Electrical Apparatus, ot

1o which the following is a description.

The object ot our invention is to heat and liquefy the paraftine in the tubing and in the rock of oil-wells, to start the tlow ot' gas and oil, thereby increasing the production, and to heat the oil in oil-tanks, t'orthe 'purpose of freeing it from the ice-water and other t'oreign substances, which retard the ready liow of oil from the tanks through pipe-lines 5 and to that end our invention consists in an apparatus 2o through which acurrent of electricityis passed,

whereby suflicient heat is evolved in the machine to melt the paraftlne in the tubing and rock of oil-wells and heat the oil in oil-tanks when brought into contact with the paratline and the oil. We attain these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a vertical section through the entire apparatus or machine, and Figs. 2 and 3o 3 vertical sections of parts thereof.

Similar letters refer to the same parts in the different gures.

In the drawings, a represents a carbon rod surrounded by a layer of mineral asbestus, b

3 5 b, and inclosed in a brass tube, c. At opposite ends of the brass tube c are b 1ass screwcaps d and c, with circular openings j" and g in their centers. The carbon rod a is suspended in the brass tube c by means of brass head- 4o pieces h and h', iittin g exactly the ends of the carbon rod a. The opposite ends of these headpieces h and h, reduced in circumference from a shoulder and threaded, pass through the openings fand g in the brass screw-caps d and c and 4 5 are adjusted by the brass nut t' and the brass screw-cap j. On the screw-caps el and c are lugs k and l, through which passes the copper rod m, the opposite ends of which are threaded. Through the screw-cap j passes a brass pin, a,

(No model.)

adjusted by abrass nut, o, and terminating at 5o the opposite end in a threaded socket, p, into which the one end ot' the copper rod vm screws. The screw-cap c is extended in the form ot or has attached thereto ahollow cone, q, which terminates in apoint,.r. Anextensionot'one 5", side ot' the cone q forms a recess, in which the connection otl the copper rod m with the screwcap j is made' by means ot' the brass pin In. The copper rod 'n1l is insulated with asbestus and wound with lille brass wire, to protect 6o itfroln possible abrasion. The connections through the openings are protectedt by the brass caps t and u, vertical sections of which are given in Figs. 2 and 3.

The brass head-pieces fand g, brass nut fz', 65 and screw-cap j are insulated with asbestus from contact with the brass screw-caps l and e and brass tube o, and the covers or caps t and a are also insulated by asbestus from contact with the connection at o and l).

To carry our invention into et't'ect we connect the machine with the positive and negative cond uct-in g-wires ot'an electrical generator by means of flexible insulated copper cables at w and y. A current of electricity passes into the machine at w, through the screw-head f, into the carbon rod a, from the carbon rod a into the screw-head 7L', through the screw-cap j, into the pin a, to the copper rod m, back to the negative conducting-cable at y.

The resistance which the electric current meets with in its passage through the semiconducting carbon rod a evolves in the carbon a volume of heat'. This is transmitted to the non-combustible asbestus packing b l), which conducts it to the surrounding brass tube c. The asbestus l) l), while being non-combustible, readily conducts the heat generated in the carbon a., and at the same time, being a nonconductor of electricity, insulates the carbon 9o rod against possible contact with the brass tube-c.

By ruiming this machine or apparatus down into an oil-well we bring it into contact with the parafline, which soon heats and melts, allowing the gas coniined below it to ascend and causing the oil to flow.

By placing the apparatus in the oil in tanks sufficient heat is evolved to free the oil from foreign substances, thereby allowing it to iiow readily from the ta-nks into the pi pe-lines.

As the parafine becomes hardened at different depths in different wells, by having our electrical heater arranged to evolve the required heat within itself without the aid oi' any exterior apparatus, we are enabled to raise and lower the machine at will by means ofthe flexible conducting-cables w and y, thereby bringing it in contact with the paratine in the well at whatever depth it may have become hardened in the tubing without in any way breaking the circuit of the electrical current.

The conical lower portion of the machine, composed of the hollow7 cone q and the covers t u, serves to puncture any thick accumulation of paraiiine contained in the well, and, in connection with the tube c, protects the lcarbon rod or circuit-interrupter and its connections from any possible short-circuitin g against the tubing ot' the well.

`Having fully described our invention, what we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, in an electrica-l machine or apparatus, of the carbon rod n, the asbestus packing I) b, and the brass tube c, for the purpose of evolving heat by electricity, substantially as specified.

2. In an electrical machine or apparatus for liquefying oil in wells and tanks, the combination, with a tube, c, of the screw-caps d e, having circular openings fg, and the adjustable head-pieces h h', for the purpose of suspending the carbon rod a, substantially as shown and described.

3. The combination, in an electrical heater, of the copper rod m and the screw-caps d e, having 'lugs or bearings k l, with the pin a, screw-cap j, head-pieces h 7L', and carbon rod a', all arranged substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. In an electric heater, the combination, with a metallic tube, 0, of the screw-cap c, hollow cone g, and covers or caps t u, all constructed and arranged substantially as and for the purposes described.

5. The electrical machine or heater herein described, consisting7 essentially, of a metallic tube containing a carbon rod, connected by suitable devices with a copper rod on the exterior, the various parts being provided with a non-combustible insulating material, and the whole suspended by means of ilexible conducting-cables arranged in such a manner that the machine may be raised and lowered at will within the tubing of oil-wells, so as to come in direct contact with and liquefy the parafine and oil at any depth, substantially as specified.

ARCHIBALD W. DINGMAN. HENRY H. ARGUE. Witnesses:

JNO. J. CARTER, W. rl. BIX.

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