US1489100A - Oil atomizer - Google Patents

Description

E. RODRGUES OIL ATOMIZER Filed Sept.' 144. 192.0 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ill MMIII l lll( IHHI A TTORNEY April 1 1924.

E. RQDRIGUES OIL ATOMIZER Filed Selm.

14, 1920 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 HEURES W .s @am Patented Apr. l, 1924.

UNITED STATES ELOY RODRIGUES, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., KENT, or NEW YORK, N. Y.

AssIGNoR oF ONE-HALF To NATHANIEL OIL ATOMIZER.

Application filed September 14, 1920. Serial No. 410,182.

To all 'whom it may concern.:

Be it known that I, ELOY RoDRIGUEs, a citizen of the United States, residing in New York city, N. Y., have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Oil Atomizers, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to oil atomizers; that is, to means for reducing combustible oil'to a condition specially suitable for its thorough combustion, and for injecting' it, while in said condition, into the burner.

More particularly stated, my invention is especially adapted for handling crude petroleum as well as lighter oils, the idea be ing to increase the thoroughness of the com bustion and thus greatly increasing the efficiency of the fuel.

In this connection, attention is invited to the fact that the heavy and cheap oils, including crude petroleum, are of higher grade, from the standpoint lof fuel value, than the lighter oils, refined or otherwise. That is to say, the heavy and cheap oils are inherently capable of giving off more heat unit-s, per unit of volume for the oil7 than is the case with the lighteroils.

While, therefore, my invention admits of general use upon oils rof many different kinds, it is of especial value for use in connection with crude petroleum; and while my invention may be successfully used in connection with burners of various kinds, it is peculiarly adapted for use upon burn ers employed in the furnaces of locomotives and steam vessels.

In the construction of my improved apparatus I have in mind quite a number of distinct'objects, among which are the following:

I. To give the various parts such form as to give to the complete device a maximum of eiiiciency in reducing the oil to linely divided particles and in so injecting these particles into the burner as to cause the oil to be thoroughly consumed.

II. To render the various parts readily accessible, `for purposes of inspection, repair, and replacement.

III. To so form the parts that they may be easily and cheaply reproduced in quantity, and may be standardized without difficulty in the few instances in which they can not be cut, stamped, or punched from standard stock, in such manner as to need no further standardizing.

IV. To provide improved mechanism for atomizing the oil and mixing it with steam before it leaves the oil tank.

V. T0 provide lan improved superheater, and so locate the same that it heats the flowing mixture of steam and atomized oil before the stream leaves the oil tank.

VI. To provide an oil atomizer and parts associated therewith so that they act practically as an injector for forcing the oil into the burner pipe.

VII. To provide an improved injector mechanism, for the purpose here contemplated.

VIII. To make a number of specific improvements in the mechanism used for atomizing heavy oils, and particularly crude petroleum, and for delivering the same in a form suitable for thorough combustion.

Reference is made t0 the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specifica'- tion, and in which like reference characters indicate like parts' throughout the several figures.

Figure l is partly a side elevation and partly a central vertical section, showing my device as applied to a locomotive oil tank and as suitable for use upon an oilburning locomotive.

Figure Q is a section on the line 2--2 of Figure l, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

Figure 3 is a substantially central horizontal section 0n the line 3-3 of Figure l,

looking in the direction indicated by the ar- y f nuts 9, 10, and fitted oil-tight. The pipe 8 leads to the burner, not shown, but is here illustrated as broken away. The `pipe 8 is provided with a threaded portion 8a.

Mounted upon the threaded portion 8a of the pipe 8 is a cap l1, vserving as a cylinder head, and connected with this cylinder head 1 is a cylinder 12, to which the cylinder head is secured by bolts 13. The cylinder carries another cap 14, serving as a sieve, and for this purpose provided with perforations 15 and held in position by bolts 15. An annulus 17, of hollow form, encircles and is carried by the threaded portion 8a of the burner pipe, and serves as a superheater, as hereinafter described.

Fitted upon the end of the threaded portion 8a of the burner pipe is a casting 18, constituting the trame of the oil atomizer, to be described. Integral with the casting 18 are two walls 19 and an end portion 194. Two other walls appear at 21, and have the form of two heavy or massive plate-s, secured in position upon the walls 19 by means of bolts 23. The casting 18 is provided with a concavity 24 of substantially rusto-conical form, and which I designate as an atomizing chamber.

A nozzle appears at 25, and is provided with a contracted end portion 27. This nozzle extends inwardly from the end portion 19a of the atomizer, and is so proportioned and arranged that the end portion 27 eX- tends to a point only a short distance Yfrom the atoinizing chamber. The walls 19, the end portion 19Et and the walls 21 are provided with holes 20v. Such of the holes 20 as are in the walls 19, 21, are disposed oblique relatively to the length of the walls, and thus in a general way extend toward the atomizing chamber.

The nozzle 25 is connected with the steam pipe 26, this pipe leading also to the superheater 11. Steam is admitted by means of a steam pipe 2S, which extends through the wall of the tank and is secured oil-tight relatively thereto by means oi nuts 28a, 281. The super-heater 17 is provided with an inner wall 17u and with a compartment 17" of annular form. To facilitate connection with the pipes 26 and 28 the super-heater is further provided with nipples 17c and 17d.

The nozzle 25 is so arranged, and so proportioned relatively to the atomizing chamber that when steam under considerable pressure is admitted through the nozzle and the burner pipe 8 is left open, a strong aspirating e'liect is produced within and adjacent to the atomizin(r chamber. This being the case, and oil zbeing present within the atomizer, this oil is gradually broken up into liquid particles oit microscopic lineness and thus carried with the steam passing out of the atomizer through the burner pipe 8. As the oil is thus gradually atomized and removed along with the steam, vwhich fiows continuously, more oil enters the atomizer, flowing in through the holes 20. These holes are so proportioned that with the device in action and properly adjusted, there is a tendency to maintain a partial vacuum within the atomizing chamber, and this nasale@ tendency causes the oil to flow in through the holes 2O at the same rate that the atomized oil is removed by the steam, which of course issues as a high velocity. Thus the action of the device is automatic, and to a great extent self-regulating.

The superheater 17 heat-s the atomizer, and more particularly the portion thereof immediately adjacent .the burner pipe, and in so doing heats the contents of the atomizing chamber. Thus heat is applied locally to the burner pipe through which passes the mixture of steam and finely divided liquid oil.

In Figure 5 is shown ragmentarily a form of my device differing from the one just described, in that the superheater, shown at 29, is somewhat wider than the one above described. Figure 4 shows a cross section through the superheater 29. The steam pipe tor admitting steam into the super heater appears at 31, and at 30 is the steam pipe for connecting the superheater with the nozzle. A threaded sleeve 33 connects the superheater 29 with the atomizer, and the burner pipe 8, extends a slight distance into the superheater, and fitted thereto. Except as just stated, the structure and action of the mechanism shown in Figure is identical with that above described with reference to the other iigures.

It will be noted that throughout my device the various parts may be readily assembled or taken apart; that they can be easily inspected, repaired, or replaced; that they are of such form that they may be cut, stamped, or otherwise prepared from standard stoclr, and thus need but little standardizing; and that to the extent that they must be specially cast or prepared otherwise than by the slight alteration of standard stock, they may be easily standardized. Y

By closingthe burner pipe 8 and admitting steam through the pipe 28 or 31, as the case may be, the steam can be caused to issue through the holes 2O and 16. This renders it easy to free the sieve 14 of any sediment which may lodge against it during the time the device is normally in action. 1t will be understood, of course, that while my device is in active use the oil is continuously passing in through the holes 1G, so that any lioating bodies carried by the oil are stopped by the sieve and thus collected upon its surface.

The purpose of my invention is not to ialre an oil gas or an oil vapor, but is to rather thoroughly atomize the oil.

The operation of my device may be readily understood in the light of the foregoing description.

Since the cylinder 12 and parts contained therein are totally submerged in the body of crude oil contained within the oil tank, it follows that when the device is idle the insegno atomizer is completely filled with liquid oil, and consequently contains no steam whatever. During this time, the burner pipe is closed.

When, however, the burner pipe is opened and the steam is turned on, as above described, the steam rushes out of the nozzle and into the atomizing chamber, driving before it the small volume of oil which for the moment happens to be housed within the atomizing chamber. This volume of oil is driven through the burner pipe, along with any oil already in the burner pipe, and consumed by the action of the burner. This leaves the atomizing chamber filled with steam issuing at a high velocity, and producing the aspirating action above described. To all practical intents and purposes, the liquid oil within the atomizer acts like it is being worn away. The medium leaving the atomizer and passing out through the burner pipe is merely a mixture of finely-divided oil particles and steam. The mixture being heated by the action of the superheater and just as it leaves the superheater, and being driven at a high velocity, there is no chance for the oil to collect in large drops within the burner pipe.

It is a fact well known in this art that live, dry steam, in a suitable proportion to the volume of oil to be consumed, is beneicial in aiding the combustion of the oil.

It is a fact not generally known in this art that heavy oils, and among them crude petroleum, become quite limpid when subjected to the action of hot and dry steam. The heat of the steam, and its aqueous vapor, appear to act collectively in causing the oil to become separated into microscopic drops. The abrasive action of the steam as it acts upon the oil appears to reduce the oil to small particles, and the surface tension of these particles causes them, in the presence of the steam, to become spherical and to become uniformly diffused throughout the steam as it issues, and thus to retain their microscopic form. The mixture thus prepared is ready for the burner.

I do not limit myself to the precise mechanism described, as variations may be made therein without departing from my invention, the scope of which is commensurate with my claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is as follows:

l. A device of the character described, comprising an oil tank for holding a body of oil, a cylinder located within said tank and normally submerged within said body of oil, said cylinder being provided with an atomizing1 chamber and with means for admitting t ereinto a portion of said body of oil, a burner pipe connected with said cylinder and communicating directly with the atomizing chamber thereof, and a superheater connected with said burner pipe.

2. A device of the character described,

Acomprising a tank for holding a body of oil in the form of a liquid, a steam-operated oil atomizer located within said tank and normally submerged within said body of oil, said atomizer being provided with an atomizing chamber communicating with said body of oil and normally submerged therein, means for admitting steam into said atomizing chamber, a burner pipe connected with said atomizer and leading from said tank, and a super-heater connected with said burner pipe and located within said tank.

3. A device of the character described, comprising an oil tank for holding a volume ofoil, a cylinder mounted within said oil tank and normally submerged within said volume of oil, said cylinder being provided with a sieve for screening the oil as it Hows into said cylinder, an oil atomizer 4located within said cylinder and adapted to be operated by steam, means for admitting steam into said atomizer for the purpose of atomizing the oil, and heating mechanism located within said cylinder.

4. In an oil atomizer the combination of a hollow member provided with an atomizing chamber and with means for admitting into said atomizing chamber the oil to be atomized, a burner pipe communicating with said atomizing chamber for delivering therefrom a mixture of steam and atomized oil, a nozzle connected with said hollow member, and extending into proximity to said atomizing chamber, a pipe for supplying steam to said nozzle in order to cause the steam to act upon oil within the atomizing chamber and thus atomize said oil, and means for superheating said atomizing chamber and the portion of the burner pipe immediately adjacent thereto.

5. In a device of the vcharacter described the combination of means for holding a volume of oil, a box-like member to be submerged within said volume of oil, said boxlike member being` provided with means for admitting oil and further provided with an atomizing chamber, means for discharging steam into said atomizing chamber in order to atomize the oil therein, a burner pipe connected with said box-like member and communicating with said atomizing chamber for the purpose of conveying therefrom a mixture of steam and atomized oil, a hollow annulus encircling said burner pipe, and means for admitting steaminto said hollow annulus for the purpose of heating said burner pipe. c

ELOY RODRIGUES.

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