US1478479A - Process and apparatus for utilizing liquefied gases - Google Patents

Description

5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 25,1923.

W. LACE-IMANN PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR UTILIZING LIQUEFIED GASES Filed Jan. 1921 Icicle-dill iiiii 111.1

Deco 25, 1923.

W. LACHMANN PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR UTILIZING LIQUEFIED GASES 1921' 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 5

lliif A-rry.

Dec, 25,, 1923.

w. LACHMANN PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR UTILIZING LIQUEFIED GASES Filed Jan. 5, 1921 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Dem:a 25, H9230 3,478,479

W. LACHMANN PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR UTILIZING LIQUEFIED GASES Filed Jan. 5, 1921 5 .Sheets-Sheet 4 5 Sheets-She et 5 W. LACHMANN Filed Jan. 5.

PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR UTILIZING LIQUEFIED GASES Dec. 25 11923,

Patented Dec. 25, 19230 amas" PTNT QFFHQEO WALTER LACHMANN OF DRESDEN, GERMANY.

PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR UTILIZING LIQUEFIED GASES.

Application filed January 3, 1921. Serial No. 434,834.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VALTER LACHMANN, a citizen of Germany, residing at. Dresden, Germany, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes and Apparatus for Utilizing Liquefied Gases, of which the following is aspecification.

Tn autogenous welding and cutting only the highly compressed oxygen gas contained in steel cylinders, which are cumbersome and costly to transport, has hitherto'been employed.

The present invention relatesmore especi ally to the afore-mentioned working of metals and is chiefly intended for factories where blasting air and the like is produced. The object of the invention is to enable factories of this kind to substitute gaseous oxygen obtained from suppliers by liquid oxygen produced by themselves, which may be stored and transported in the known extremely light vessels for liquid air with exceedingly small loss by evaporation.

Theidea underlying the invention is as followsz' The liquid oxygen is poured into" an auxiliary vessel, which is capable of resisting high, pressure and in which no direct contact occursbetween the liquid oxygen and the wall of the vessel. From the auxiliary vessel the liquid oxygen is conducted to some other desired place or transferredto suitable vessels such as ordinary steel cylinders which are then'used in the known manner. During.

thistransferring process heat'is supplied causing evaporation whereby a pressure of;

say. 50 atmospheres or more is reached.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawingin which- Fig. 1 is a vertical section of a vessel con structed in accordance with the present invention, the dash lines indicating a cap or closing member;

Figs. 2, 3, and 4 are views similar to Fig. 1, but each illustrating a modified form of vessel; i

, Figs. 3 and 4 are transverse sectional views taken respectively on the lines A-A of Fig. 3, and 13-13 of-Fig. 4;

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view ofa ca adapted for closing either of the vesse s shown in Figs. 1 to 4, said capbeing provided' with means for charging the vessel;

Figs. 6 to 14, inclusive are views similar to Fig. 5,-each illustrating a modification of the charging means, the interior or receiving vessel being indicated diagrammatically in these figures.

Referring to the drawings, and especially to Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, the vessel comprises a double-walled vessel, the space between the inner wall 1 and the outer wall 2 of which is evacuated, whereby the insulat-,

ing qualities of the vessel are rendered as perfect as possible and spontaneous evaporation reduced to a minimum, while the desired evaporation may be regulated and controlled at will. The inner wall 1 is of sufficient strength to sustain a pressure of at least atmospheres. The vessel may be spherical, but it is preferably of tall cylindrical form as illustrated in the drawings, and provided with the usual dome-shaped bottom and top asin the well-known steel cylinders or bottles, the top or cover being either formed'integral-with the main cyline der or body portion or secured thereto by means of annular flanges as shown in the drawings.

e, For further retarding the radiation of heat to the liquid oxygen, and consequentlyv of, a thin walled vessel is provided adapted to be placedwithin the double walled vessel above described, and which constitutes the receiving vessel proper. This receiving vessel may itself be formed of a material stance as pressed paper and vulcanite, porcelain as shown at 4 in \Fig 1, or any other suitable material, such as quartz or thin glass, or the receiving vessel may be made of thin sheet metal, as shown at 4 inFig. 2,

'and separated from the outer vessel by a reducing the spontaneous evaporation there-' which is a poor conductor of heat, such for in to avoid all contact when thereceiving vessel is made of sheet metal, in Fig. 2 I have shown an insulating material 5 inter osed between the two vessels, which insu ating material may consist of leather, felt, canvas, asbestos, cork, compressed paper or vulcanite. In Figs. 3 and 4, the receiving vessel 4 is shown with the outer surface of its wall smooth. In Fig. 3, however, a wire netting 6 is inserted between the insulating material and the inner wall of the outer or auxilthus be seen that 'in all forms of the vessel provision is made for the rapid propagation of pressure, so that any pressure arising within the vessel is permitted to spread quickly into the space between the receiving vessel and the outer vessel.

In Figs. 5 to 14, I have illustrated a suitable cap 8 for closing the vessel, said cap having an annular flange at its lower end adapted to be bolted to the flange of the vessel. The cap provided with an interiorly threaded neck 9 adapted to receive the threaded lower end of a funnel-shaped member 11 (as. shown in Fig. 5), by means of which the vessel may be filled or charged. To accelerate the charging operation, a small gas injector actuated by compressed oxygen may be used, which injector comprises a small tube 12 that enters the funnel member 11 through-theside wall thereof and extends downwardly in said member,

- the opposite end of the pipe 12 being connected with a convenient supply of oxygen, such as a steel bottle (not shown). The funnel is preferably of double wall construction, the space between the walls being evacuated. By this construction, a jet or stream of oxygen gas is led from the source 'filled, thus considerably of supply into therfunnel 11, and by reason of the expansion of said gas a current is induced at the delivery end of the funnel, which current carries along with it the liquid oxygen with which the funnel is kept facilitating the charging of the vessel. During the charging operation, and particularly at the beginning, oxygen vapor will develop within the vessel. To take care of this vapor the cap is provided with a neck or port '10 in communication with a pipe 14, which in turn is connected to a convenient oxygen holder or tank (not shown). The cap is also provided with another port or neck 10 sure gage. The oxygen holder with which the pipe 14 is connected may be caused to have a sucking effect on the vapor in the vessel by placing the pipe 141 also in communication with the tube 12 through a tube 13, whereby the liquid oxygen. will be caused to flow in much faster. It is important that the charging funnel he constantly kept filled with liquid oxygen during the charging operation, or provision must be made for quickly closing it so as to prevent air from being sucked into. the vessel.

For discharging the oxygen from the vessel hereinbefore described into the vessel for ordinary use, such as the usual steel cylinders for connection with a suitable pres-v end through the neck 10 or bottles, either of two preferred methods may be used, namely, the oxygen may be vaporized within the receiving vessel before transferring it to the bottles, or it may be discharged from the receiving vessel in liquid form and vaporized either on its way to the bottles or after it reaches the bottles.

in the present instance I have illustrated apparatus for delivering the oxygen in either or both of these forms". Referring first to Fig. 6, an apparatus is shown therein which threaded sleeve 16-which is substituted in the neck 9 of the cap in place of the funnel 11, and which sleeve is provided with a hexagonal collar that seats on the end of said neck, as shown in Fig. 6. The pipe 17 ex-v tends down nearly to the bottom of thevesse1'4. For the sake of economy in the use of the auxiliary oxygen" gas, said gas may be heated before introduclng it into the vessel, by any suitable means,- such for instance as a burner'18, as shown in, Figs. 6 and 7. A further extremely large saving of auxiliary oxygen may be effected by providing'a device resembling an injector, by means of which a current will be induced by the auxiliary oxygen so as to carry along with it the aseous oxygen vaporized within the vessel itself. Such a device is illustrated at 20 in Figs. 6 and 7, wherein the portion of the pipe 17 extending near to the bottom of the vessel is-encirc1ed by a larger pipe 19, the upper end of'which is funnel-shaped, and the lower end of which extends below the pipe 17. From this construction it will be obvious that as the'so-c'alled auxiliary oxygen is discharged at the end of pipe 17 within the portion 20 of the pipe-19 a current will be induced which will suck into the funnel-shaped upper'end of said pipe the gaseous oxygen immediately around and above it thereby causing a circulation of said oxygen as'indicated by the arrows. As the oxygen becomes vaporized and the pressure increases within the vessel, the vaporized oxygen will ,passout through the neck 10 and pipe 14 to the place of use, or into the usual steel bottles or cylinders.

In Fig. 7 is illustrated one form of apparatus for delivering the oxygen from the vessel in liquid form. The device is substan tially like that shown in Fig. 6, the only difference being that an additional tube 21 is provided at the interior of the vessel, and which. tubereaches nearly to the bottom of the vessel and communicates at its upper with the tube 14.

ravaa'm In this case the oxygen that is vaporized ates in the same manner as that illustrated in Fig. 5, except that the liquid oxygen is delivered at the bottom of the vessel. When the contents of the vessel are to be discharged in gaseous form, the funnel 11 is removed from the sleeve 22 and: the pipe 17, shown in Fig. 12, which in this instance is provided with a swivelled head interiorly threaded for connection with the sleeve, is substituted in place of said funnel. The apparatus will then operate in a manner similar to that described in connection with Fig. 6. That is to say, the so-called auxiliary ogygen led in by the pipe 17 is delivered by pipe 23 at'the-bottom of the vessel, the heat thereof causing vaporization of the liquid oxygen, the gaseous oxygen being conducted away through the pipe 14 to the place of use. When, however, the oxygen is to be dis charged in liquid form, the apparatus shown in Fig. 9 may be substituted for that of Fig. 12. In this form, a head 26 is provided which fits on the upper end of the sleeve 22, which head carries a tube 17 for admitting auxiliary oxygen to the tube 23, and also carries a tube 21 which is smaller than and passes down through tube 23 to the bottom of the vessel. This apparatus operates in a manner similar to that shown in Fig. 7. In other words, the auxiliary oxygen passes down through tube 23, around tube 21*, and bubbles up through the liquid oxygen, thereby heating the same and causing vaporization, the vaporized oxygen exerting pressure on the surface of the liquid oxygen and forcing the latter up through pipe 21 to the place of use. In this instance,

the neck 10 may be sealed by a suitable disk 27 secured thereto in any suitable manner.

In Figs. 10, 11, 13, and 14 are illustrated various forms of combined apparatus for charging and dischargin the vessel, the discharging apparatus Tming valve-controlled, whereby at the will of the operator,

and without the removal of any parts, the

vessel may be made to discharge either gas.- eous or liquid oxygen. In the device shown in Fig. 10, for example, the filler funnel and liquid oxygen inlet tube are identical with that of Fig. 8, and a valve-controlled additional tube 21 passes through the wall of the sleeve 22 and extends down through tube 23 to the bottom of the vessel. A

valve housing 28 is threaded into the neck I 10 of the cap for controlling the flow of gaseous oxygen to the pipe 14. In this form of the apparatus, when the vessel is to be filled the valve in pipe 21 is closed and the valve controlling the pipe 14 may or may not be left slightly opened to carry off the vaporized oxygen thereby to relieve the pressure and facilitate the charging of the vessel in the manner described in connection with Figs. 5 and 8. If after the vessel is filled, it is desired to discharge.

the oxygen therefrom in liquid form, the valve in housing 28 is closed, while the valve controlling the pipe 21 is opened, where-' upon pipe 12 may be used to supply the auxiliary oxygen hereinbefore referred to for increasing the surface pressure and forcing the liquid oxygen up through the pipe 21". On the other hand, if the oxygen is to be discharged in gaseous form, the valve in pipe 21" is closed while that in housing 28 isfully opened, whereupon the vaporized oxygen will flow freely through pipe 14, the vaporization bein facilitated by the auxiliary gas supplied pipe 12. Tu Fig. 11, the apparatus is the same as that of Fig. 10, excepting that the pipe 21', instead of passing down through pipe 23, passes through the valve housing- 30 in neck 10. The location of'the pipe 21 in this instance in similar to that of pipe 21 in Fig. 7; The valve housing 30 is provided with an enlarged chamber and an admission port communicating with the interior of the vessel, whereby gas is freely admitted to the chamber around the pipe 21*. The pipe 14 communicates by means of a valve controlled port with said chamher. The operation of this device is sub stantially the same as that of Fig. 10. The devices illustrated in Figs. 13 and 14 are identical with those of Figs. 10 and 11 respectively, except that in place of.;the fuhnel 11 and pipe 12, a pipe 17 similar to that described in connection with Fig. 12 is used. In this case, the pipe 17 may be used for filling the vessel, and may also be used for supplying the auxiliary oxygen v 'hereinbefore referred to for heating the oxygen from one vessel to another but also for dealing in a similar manner with other gases that are hard to condense such as nitrogen, carbonic oxide, methane, hydrogen, and easily-condensed gases and Va- -portation and other advantages.

pors such as ethylene, ethane, hydric sulphide, chlorine, methylic ether, ammoniac,

carbonic acid, sulphurous acid, and nitrous.

oxide. It is well known that the last named gases are used in large quantities for the artificial production of cold, as well as ethylene and ethane are employed for illumination, welding and all'manners of processes of combustion. The application of the described process and devices to these gases results in reduced costs for trans- Under certain circumstances the vessel for holding liquid air may be made in the shape and sizeof the tank carriages used for the transportation of petroleum and the like.

llhe consideration that led to the inven tion hereinbefore described was that the construction of vacuum vessels which will resist high pressure and at the same time give rise to only the small losses by evaporation caused in the known vacuum vessels appears to be quite out of the question.

I claim: 1. An auxiliary containing-vessel for liquefied gascomprising a shell, a gas receiving vessel com sed of a poor conductor of heat in the sa1d shell, and an intermediate body sandwiched in between the shell and the receiving vessel, the intermediate body being adapted to permit of a rapi'l propagation of pressure in the space between the receiving vessel and the shell.

2. An auxiliary containing-vessel for l quefied gas comprising a shell, a gas recelvmg vessel composed of a poor conductor of heat in the said shell and a strong metal network sandwiched in between the receiving vessel and the shell, whereby a rapid propagation of pressure between the receivlng vessel and the shell is rendered possible.

3. An auxiliary containing-vessel for liquefied gas comprising a shell, a thinwalled receiving vessel in the said shell, and a poor conductor of heat sandwiched in between the shell and the receiving vessel, passages being formed on the wall of the receiving vessel for the rapid propagation of pressure. f l

4. An auxiliary containingwessel for liquefied gas oomprisin a shell, and a recelving vessel with a thln wall formed with protuberances in'the said shell, whereby advantage is taken of the heat-insulating properties of air.

5. An auxiliary containing-vessel for liquefied gas comprising a shell, a thinwalled receiving vessel in the said shell and corrugated insulating material sandwiched in between the shell and the receiving vessel, whereby passages are formed fpr the rapid propagation of pressure in the intermediate space between the shell and the re oeiving vessel, and advantage is taken of the heat-insulating properties of air.

6. An auxiliary containing-vessel for liquefied gas comprising a vessel of gooo heat-insulating properties, a permanently fixed pipe extending almost to the bottom of the vessel for conducting liquefied gas into the vessel and for subsequently blowing auxiliary gas into the said vessel and a secondary pipe inserted in the permanently fixed pipe extending to the bottom of the vessel during the transference of liquefied gas from the containing-vessel, and adapted to operate as an ascension pipe .for the liquefied gas, a clear space being left beduct liquefied gas into the vessel, and the outer pipe being adapted for subsequently blowing in warm auxiliary gas, and the inner ipe being adapted for conducting lique ed gas out of the vessel.

8. An auxiliary containing-vessel for liquefied gas comprising a vessel of good heat-insulating properties and two permanently fixed pipes one within the other, the outer pipe being adapted to conduct liquefied gas into the vessel, and the two pipes being adapted for subsequently blow lng 1n warm auxiliary gas, and conducting liquefied gas out of the vessel, either of the pipes being adapted for either of these two functions.

9. An auxiliary containing-vessel for liquefied gas comprising a vessel of good heat-insulating properties, and two permanently fixed pipes one beside the other, the one pipe being adapted to. conduct liquefied gas into the vessel, and the two pipes being adapted for'subsequently blowing in warm auxiliary gas and conduct1ng liquefied gas out of the vessel, elther of the pipes being adapted for either of these two purposes.

10. An auxiliary containing-vessel for, 115

liquefied gas comprising a vessel of good heat-insulating properties, and two permanently fixed pipes one beside the other extending to the bottom of the vessel, the one pipe being adapted to conduct liquefied gas into the vessel, and for subsequently blowing in warm auxiliary gas and the other pipe being adapted for conducting liquefied gas out of the vessel.

In testimony whereof I have slgned this specfication in the presence of two w1tnesses.

1 WALTER LACHMANN." Witnesses: i I

DR. HERMANN'HAHLE, DR. VoLKMA z KLorrnR.

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