US1200719A - Method of making gas rich in carbon monoxid. - Google Patents

Description

- H. FOE-RSTE-RLING.

METHOD OF MAKING GAS RICH IN CARBON MONOXID.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 9,1912. I

1 00,? 1 9 Patented Oct. 10, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l- 6 WITNESSES: %fl% INVENTOI? A TTOR/VEV H. FOERSTERLING.

METHOD OF MAKING GAS RICH IN CARBON MONOXID.

APPUCATION FILED NOV. 9. 1912.

SSHEETS-SHEET 2- 1,200,719. Patented Oct. 10,1916.

W ITNESSES: I %M INVENTOR KM By 19. MW v ATTORNEY H. FOERSTERLING.

METHOD OF MAKING GAS RICH lN CARBON MONOXID.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 9| I912.

Patented Oct. 10, 1916.

3 SHEETSSHEEIT 3.

\1 WITNESSES: g9 nvvavm UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HANS FOEESTEELING, 0F PERTH AMBOY, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE ROESSLER & HASSLACHER CHEMICAL CO., OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW I YORK.

METHOD OF MAKING GAS RICH IN CARBON MONOXID.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 10, 1916.

Application filed November 9, 1912. Serial No. 730,317.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HANS FoEnsTEnLmo, a subject of the German Emperor, and a resident of Perth Amboy, county of Middlesex, State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methdds of Making Gas Rich in, Carbon Monoxid, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a new and improved method for making a gas rich in carbon monoxid. V

It particularly refers to a method of making such carbon monoxid gas from the carbon dioxid contained in waste gases, which otherwise would be lost, and the object of the invention is to obtain practically all of the available heat units in the original fuel as well as other products, such I as carbon dioxid, for further utilization toward the purpose in View thus effecting great economy in operation.

' For a clearer understanding of my invention I shall describe the same in connect-ion with the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification and illustrating in a rather diagrammatic way one form of apparatus by which my method may be carried into effect.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a portion of said apparatus, Fig. 2 is an elevation partly in section of the apparatus adjoining that shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 3 is an elevationpartly in section of the apparatus adjoining that shown in Fig. 2. The three figures whenjoined together, end to end, in the order given illustrate the complete apparatus.

Similar letters of reference indicate similar parts throughout theseveral views.

Referringto the drawings, A and A indicate retorts, made of fire clay and placed in a suitable oven B connected with a gas generator 0 supplying gas for heating the retorts A and A Bituminous coal, lignite, peat or the like fuel is charged into the retorts A and A and is split up by dry distillation, due to the high heat generated by combustion of the gases coming from generator G, into tar, gas and coke. The gases,

heavily loaded withtar, escape at opening D and are cooled in a suitable condenser- (not shown)? thus liquefying the tar, while the incandescent residue of coke is discharged from the retorts and delivered into the combustion chamber F of gas-producer G. It is essential for the success of my inventlon that the discharge of the coke from the retorts into the gas-producer be done quickly and be efi'ected without exposing the coke t0 the air, so as to avoid ignition. Thls manipulation may be easily carried out by means of a movable conduit H which, by any suitable means, may be arranged with 1ts upper end beneath'normally closed discharge openings E, E, in thebottoms of the retorts and its lower end in air-tight connection with feed-hopper I of gas-producer G.

Gas producer G is provided in its lower portlon with pipe K for the admission of air or other suitable gases or a mixture of air and such other gases. The hot gases generated 1n producer G pass off through pipe L into a boiler M where they give off their heat to the Water or other liquor within the boiler. The water or other liquor under pressure enters the boiler by means of pipe M from any suitable source (not shown), and any gas or steam generated inside of boiler M may pass olf and may be controlled by means of the valves provided in pipe M at the top of the boiler. Pipe M may convey a portion of the steam or gas generated in boiler M to generator G, where it may be discharged into pipe K, the remainder of said steam or gas being conducted elsewhere for useful purposes as desired. The hot producer gases entering the boiler M through pipe L travel up along the tubes M pass over wall'M, dividing gases escaping there is transformed into motive power by the engine in which the gases are exploded and the gases thus, according to their constituents and their quantities respectively, producing certain other well known gases, viz. carbon dioxid and sulfur dioxid. It is evident that the gases resulting from the explosion and exhausted after the explosion are at high temperature, whichfact may be taken advantage of. I prefer to conduct the exhaust gases by pipe L into a boiler P, constructed similarly to boiler M, in which said gases are cooled by transferring their heat to the contents of boiler P. A pipe P conducts certain liquid substances into the middle container'of preheater P a pipe P at the top of boiler P permitting the warm from to pass around said middle container thus preheating the liquors therein, which through pipe P finally enter boiler P at the bottom. Overflow pipe I? maintains the contents of boiler P at a constant level. The gases escaping from boiler P through pipe P and, cooled in the preheatenP leave the preheater P by means of pipe P, connecting with pipe P discharging into pipe K at the lower porlatter a fan S is connected by means of pipe tion of the gas producer. The exhaust gases from the engine traveling in the other direction, cool down during their passage through boiler P and leave the same by means of pipe L and enter a washing vessel Q. filled with a concentrated solution of sodium carbonate, supplied from tank Q A like absorption vessel R is connected with by means of pipe L so that the gases may travel from vessel Q to vessel R; to the L so asto remove certain gases, which are of no consequence in connection with the subject matter of this invention. A cooling tower T, provided with suitable connections T and T .for the circulation of a suitable cooling fluid, is connected to absorption vessel R- by means of pipe W in order to provide a solution of potassium carbonate for filling vessel R.

I shall now describe one way of practising my invention in connection with the apparatus disclosed.

As already 'mentioned above, bituminous coal, lignite, peat or the like fuel is charged into the gas retorts A and A and submitted there to dry distillation whereby coke and some by-products such as gas,'tar, etc., are produced. What is done with the by-products of the distillation, after they have escaped through D to a condensing apparatus, etc., is of no consequence in connection with the subject matter of my invention, as they may find various uses The incandescent coke left as residue in the into the combustion chamber of producer G to be there treated in a special way with the retorts is charged purpose in view which will be more fully explained below.

If regular producer gases are utilized in a gas engine for the generation of'power, the gas is mixed withair in order to create an explosive mixture and the more nearly this explosion conforms to theoretical combust on the more nearly do the exhaust gases consist of an ideal composition of nitrogen and carbon dioxid gas, with only such admixtures as are due to impurities in the fuel, for instance a small content of sulfur dioxid due to the sulfur in the original combustible.

The subject matter of my invention is chiefly centered in the carbon dioxid of the exhaust gases with reference to its utilization in connection with the considerable heat stored in the incandescent coke with a desire to produce a gas rich in carbon monoxid at the lowest cost. It is evident therefore that the carbon dioxid of the exhaust gases should be brought into a suitable and proper form so as to cause a reduction of said carbon dioxid into carbon monoxid by means of the highly incandescent coke.

If it be assumed that the gas producer G is already running as described, to give the supply of fuel gas to the gas engine, the exhaust gases from the engine would of course continuously have a certain composition consisting chiefly of nitrogen and carbon dioxid. In order to obtain these latter gases in the most beneficial form and without wasting the heat carried by the same, the exhaust gases are conducted from the gas engine into boiler P where they give off heat; the cooled contalning a solution bonate, where the sulfur dioxid is removed by the simultaneous generation of carbon' dioxid. The remaining exhaust gases containingthe carbon dioxid from washing vessel Q then pass into absorption vessel R which contains potassium carbonate solution and whicheagerly absorbs all the carbon dioxid gas, ge'ngas and the excess of oxygen is removed by fan S. The potassium carbonate solution as it comesfrom cooling tower T, which is connected with boiler P by means of overflow pipe P has a temperature sufiiciently low to allow complete absorption of the carbon dioxid. After such absorption the saturated solution is conducted by pipe P from vessel R to preheater P and thence into the boiler P by pipe P to be heated in the boiler by the hot exhaust gases, whereby the carbon dioxid is driven out of the potassium carbonate'solution and passes through pipe P around preheater P to pipes P, P which discharge into-pipe K at the lower portion of the gas producer G, the carbon dioxid passing thence into the coke bed of theprowhereupon the remaining nitroe ducer to be reduced there into carbon monoxid gas by the highly incandescent coke."

The generated gases obviously leave the gas producer at a very high temperature which is taken advantage of in boiler M to which they pass through pipe L. As I have already shown in U. S. Letters Patents Nos. 1,015,549, and 1,015,550, granted to me J anuary 23, 1912, I am able to produce steam of high pressure in boiler M, and to produce such steam in such great quantities that a part of it is fully sufiicient to supply the gas generator if, in case of emergency, it should be run in the well known method of blowing in a mixture of air and steam; for this purpose pipe M connects with pipe I discharging into pipe K at the lower portion of the producer, the operation of said pipes being controlled by suitable valves as shown.

It is evident that the considerable amount of heatcarried into the gas producer with the chargeof highly incandescent coke goes a long way to cause the reduction according to the equation\C+CO =2CO. As this reaction, however, requires a great amount of heat, I blow a limited supply of air into through pipe X. The gas thus produced is very rich in pure carbon monoxid inasmuch as the exhaust gases from the engine 0 were carefully freed from im- "purities and the absorption of carbon dioxid in and subsequent liberation from the potas- I sium solution results in a pure carbon dioxid. If this rich gas, the production of which I have now described, is exploded in the gas engine 0, I arrive again at the production of exactly the same kind of exhaustgases to which I have hereinabove referred in describing the operation of my invention.

It is obvious that my invention is not limited to the exact apparatus shown or described, but that I am entitled to any fair, equivalent thereof whereby my method may be carried out, it being requisite only that practically pure carbon dioxid coming from whatever sources, as for instance combustion, limekilns, fermentation processes, etc., be reduced by highly incandescent coke, that said incandescent coke be transferred in this state from a suitable apparatus, such as an apparatus for dry distillation, into the producer and that the reduction of a regulated amount of carbon dioxid gas be effected by the heat stored in the incandescent coke, and by the residual heat left by the gas making process.

It is immaterial in which way some details, which however are very important to economical success, are carried out; for instance it is immaterial whether gas retorts are used for the generation of coke or whether this is done in regular coking ovens, inasmuch as these factors are largely decided by the size of the gas producer plant. It is immaterial whether the gas retorts are erected above the gas producer inasmuch as the gas retorts may be erected in a suitable oven beside the gas producer; in this case the incandescent coke for example may be dlscharged into a basket having an air-tight cover and thus charged into the gas producer or be distributed in suitable portions over the gas-producer; it is also immaterial at which periods I add incandescent coke tolthe gas producer to replenish the gasified co to.

It is furthermore immaterial as to what kind of a gas producer I gasify the coke in as any "such apparatus for the production of gas for technical and domestic use from fuel by gasifying the same will answer my purpose; in what kind of washers and absorbers the removal of the impure gases and the final absorption of the carbon dioxid respectively takes place, the most material point being the utilization of the waste heat for the liberation of the carbon dioxid gas from the absorbing liquid.

It is obvious therefore that I do not restrict myself to the arrangement or kind of apparatus shown or to the steps of the process described in connection therewith, further than the scope of the appended claims demand. 7

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1; The cyclic process of making and burning gas having a high and substantially constant content of carbon-monoxid consisting in providing a body of incandescent coke,

conducting carbon-dioxid, steam and air therethrough whereby a gas rich in carbonmonoxid is produced, cooling the off-going producer gas containing carbon-monoxid and; forming steam thereby, burning the cooled producer gas containing carbonmonoxid, cooling the products of said combustion, separating the carbon-dioxid from the other products of said combustion and injecting a portion of the steam derived from the cooling of the producer gas with an admixture of air and said carbon-dioxid into the body of incandescent coke.

2. The cyclic process of making and burning gas having a high and substantially constant content of carbon-monoxid consisting in intermittently providing a body of of combustion of the producer gas, return- In testimony whereof I have signed this ing the carbon-dioxid-freed absorbent to 1111- specification in the presence of two subscribsorb other carbon-dioxid and injecting a ing Witnesses.

portion of the steam derived from the cool- HANS FOERSTERLING. 5 ing of the producer gas with an admixture Witnesses:

of air and said freed carbon-dioxid into the v ARTHUR L. GARDNER,

body of incandescent coke. F. W. WEBER.

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