US2261669A - Gas main treating oil - Google Patents

Description

Patented Nov. 4, 1941 GAS MAIN TREATING 011.

Minor Plecker Andrews, Brooklyn,'N. YQ, assignor to Sun Oil Company, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of New Jersey No Drawing. Application May 5, 19 37,

' Serial N0. 140,959

6 Claims. (Cl. 106-285) The invention herein disclosed relates to the I treatment of gas mains having bell and spigot joints. These joints, due to the dehydration of the yarn employed as packing, have a tendency to develop leaks, particularly with the use of the drier, stripped refinery, natural and coke oven gases now largely employed in the manufacture of gas for domestic and industrial purposes.

Various methods and means to overcome such leaks have been proposed and to some extent practiced, but so far as known, these have not been entirely successful or have been too expensive. In particular, it has been found difficult to successfully treat soaped yarns or yarns that have been caked with the hard gum which frequently forms in the mains and the results of treating in the larger sized mains have not been satisfactory.

Special objects of the present invention are to overcome difliculties and shortcomings of meth ods and materials heretofore proposed and to accomplish effective elimination of leaks in the packed joints of gas mains in a simple practical way and with readily procurable materials, which will be of reasonable cost for the results accomplished.

These and other desirable objects are attained in this invention by the novel features, steps and combinations hereinafter disclosed and broadly claimed.

Briefly stated, the invention involves the treatment of the packing of gas main joints with a mixture or mixtures of soluble petroleum oil, high boiling point naphtha solvent and paracresol, usually combined with a larger volume of water.

As a practical example, one mixture which has proved particularly satisfactory includes the following:

' v Per cent by weight Soluble petroleum oil 100-115 Saybolt second viscosity at 100 F- 15 Petroleum naphtha 400-550 F. boiling point 10 Paracresol, commercial pure distilled 1 to Water 74 to 70 Usually the soluble oil, high boiling point naphtha solvent and paracresol are first mixed to form a concentrate and such concentrate is shipped to the point of use and there combined with approximately three parts water.

For the soluble oil any one of a number of different so-called soluble oils now on the market may be employed, these being known to comprise a major amount of a petroleum oil of vis'cosities of the order of that above specified together with a minor amount of an emulsifying agent such as sodium rosinate, a sodium salt of sulphonated oil, or the like, to give them the solubility, miscibility or self-emulsifying characteristic. The high boiling point naphtha preferably is a fractionated petroleum solvent having a boiling point in the general range of the naphtha group. For the paracresol, the commercial distilled product of crystallin purity is satisfactory. This is a solid in the form of crystals, differing thus from cresol, metacresol, and orthometacresol which are liquid, and which do not have the same wetting and swelling effect upon the yarn.

While'any two of the three mainingredients may be combined and used to advantage, it has been'found best to use all three, combined in about the proportions given in the above example. The yarn, such as jute or the like, is usually impregnated, or in some cases soaped. The gas has the effect of gradually dehydrating and dissolving out the impregnant, causing in efiect a shrinkage of the packing material. Much of the manufactured gas now in use is a dry gas largely free of dissolved hydrocarbon or suspended moisture of any sort. This gas carries an appreciable quantity of dust. As a result, the drying out of the yarn of the packings is accompanied by a gradual deposit of heavy tar and more or less hard gum, which interfere with or prevent access of ordinary restorative materials to the yarn. The high boiling solvent in the present mixture has the ability to out these heavy tar and gum deposits or coatings, providing access for the oil and the paracresol, which have the effect of swelling the yarn and restoring its resiliency. The wetting action of the paracresol is particularly important in the treatment of larger sized mains, such as 16 inch diameter and up, the capillary action being such that the liquid mixture contacting the yarn at the bottom of the joint will rapidly rise throughout the packing. In addition, the paracresol has a marked swelling effect on jute and similar yarns. This composition works with the same results on the soaped yarns.

The usual mode of application is to introduce the water combined mixture at a high point in a main, permitting it to flow by gravity to the joints and collecting recoverable treating medium at low points in the line. Such treatment may be repeated as many times as found necessary. The material may be sprayed instead of being simply poured into the main or be introduced by a hose passed into the main or otherwise. The mixture described is of special advantage also in dissolving accumulations of tars and gums at the low points or traps in the main.

While desirable ordinarily to use the compound as a water mixture because of the distributing, flowing and wetting efiects gained with the water, it is possible to use the concentrate as such and this may be desirable under extreme conditions of leakage or where recovery can be effected without objectionable waste of the material. For average use however, the water mixture is preferred, providing as it does a relatively inexpensive composition which flows readily and which will cure the ordinary leaks and hold the joints tight over long extended periods. This mixture is non-corrosive and does not harm rubber or other packing medium which may be encountered. Also, it has no detrimental effect on the leather diaphragms in gas meters, it actually apparently having a beneficial softening effect on leathers which have been long subjected to dry gas.

What is claimed is:

1. The herein disclosed composition for treatment of the packing used in bell and spigot joints of gas mains, comprising soluble oil approximately 15 parts by Weight, high boiling point naphtha approximately parts by weight and paracresol approximately 1 to 5 parts by weight.

2. A composition, for the treatment of the packing in joints of gas mains to prevent leakage, composed of about 3 parts of water and one part of a mixture comprising a major proportion of a petroleum oil having a Saybolt viscosity of 100- 115 seconds at 100 F. and a naphtha solvent having a boiling range of 400550 F., a rosin soap emulsifying agent and a small percentage of paracresol.

3. The herein disclosed composition for treatment of the packing used in bell and spigot joints of gas mains, comprising, by weight, soluble oil about 15%, high boiling point naphtha about 10%, paracresol 1% to 5%, and water about 74% to 4. The herein disclosed composition for treatment of the packing in bell and spigot joints of gas mains, comprising soluble petroleum oil approximately 15 parts by weight, a fractionated petroleum solvent having a boiling point in the general range of the naphtha group approximately 10 parts by weight and paracresol approximately l to 5 parts by weight.

5. A composition for the treatment of the packings in joints of gas mains to prevent leakage including a mixture of a soluble petroleum oil and paracresol which together act to wet and swell the fibre, and a high boiling point naphtha solvent adapted to cut the heavy tar and gum deposits and promote access for the oil and paracresol, the percentage by weight of said oil being greater than the amount of naphtha and the percentage of paracresol being sufiicient to give a pronounced capillary action to the mixture but being present in a percentage not over one sixth by weight of the mixture.

6. The herein disclosed composition for treatment of the packings in joints of gas mains comprising a major proportion of water and a minor but substantial proportion of a mixture including a soluble petroleum oil, a high boiling point naphtha and paracresol; the percentage of the naphtha by weight being multiple times that of the paracresol, the percentage of soluble petroleum oil being greater than the percentage of the naphtha by weight, the naphtha being adapted to cut the heavy tar and gum deposits and the said oil and paracresol being adapted to wet and swell the yarn, the proportion of the paracresol being not over five per cent. but adequate to have a pronounced capillary action promotive of said wetting and swelling effect.

MINOR PLECKER ANDREWS.