US520687A - Gas-making apparatus - Google Patents

Description

(No Modelj 2 sheets-She 1.

W. A. KONEMAN.

v GAS MAKING APPARATUS. No. 520,68'7. Patented May 29, 1894.

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheetvf.V w W. A. KONEMANIV i GAS MAKING APPARATUS.

WILLIAM A, KQNEMAN, or cHIoAGo, IILINoIs.

v'J l-WTTE'D STATESPATENT OFFICE.-

' oAst-MAKING APPARATUS..v

' V sPEcI'FIcATIoN ferming part of Lears'ratet No. 520,687, datea May 29, 1894.

Application fiiea Jun-e 24,

Too/li whomvitjmay corwerwfv V Be it known that I, WILLIAM'A. KONEMAN, a citizen of theUnited States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have vinvented a new and' useful Improvement in Gas-Making jApparatus, of which the following is a specification.

i The object of'myinvention is to provide an 1mproved apparatus for manufacturing gas according to a process'for simultaneou'sly and continuously generating, in the same apparatus, a retort-gas and a producer or water gas. The process referred to involves blasting a bed of bituminous coal to incande'scence with air, or air and steam, forced through it to generate a producer-gas,'or i a water-gas, and leading it of from av point belowthe top of the bed, the portion of .which above the leading-o point'of such gas is heated by conduction from below, theV passagebeing prevented of the blast-currents through the upper portion of theb fuel, from which gas is thus distilled, by a more gradual heating of the coal, andpassed ofi at thel top, the upper portion of the bed of coal beingthereby coked and allowed to sink by gravity into the lower or generating portion of the chamber for subjection to the blast for producing the gas led ofi from a point below the base'of the retortingchambe'r as aforesaid.

More particularly stated, the object of my present improvement is to provide anapparatus, in which to carry on the process referredto, with means whereby the gas of distillation, or retorted gas, shall be withdrawn from the top of the bed and passed, on its way to the outlet from the apparatus, through and subjected to the heat of, the lower incandescent mass of the bed of fuel, thereby to fix the retort-gas and the more intimately to mix it with theb produc'er or water gas product led off from below the top of the bed. It is particularly in the pro'vision of suitable means for thus directing the gas of distillation through the lower incandescent mass of the bed of fuel to the outlet, that the construction of my present apparatus differs from tlat of my patent, No. 500,333, of June 27,

93. v Referring to the accompanying drawings-- Figure 1 shows my improved apparatus in Vertical sectional elevation. Fig. 2 is a plan 18 93. $erial No. 478,685. (No model.)

v sectional view of the same, the section being taken at the line 2 on Fig. 1 and regarded as indicated by an arrow, with the steam-supply and air-blast apparatus in dotted representation; and Fig. 3, a plan section' taken at the line 3 on Fig. 1 and viewed in the direc-Ar vdownward from about its transverse center,

the lower taper, however,extendingto a point short of the base, from which the Walls of the chamber should be straight and forma pit A' provided with doors ir through'whic'h to remove the contents of the pit, which may be ashes, though I also provide a spout r' for drawing off liquid'slag formed with the ashes if a flux be fed with the coal, in which latter case the steam-supply throughthe tuyeres, hereinafter referred to, is shut off.

`About the exte'rior of the chamber A near and preferably above its center I form what may be termed a gas confining and mixing chamber B, communicating through ports g with the generating chamber, from theupper end of which, on one side, a connecting passage B' leads to the chamber B; andl I prefer to provide the passage B' with. a draw-ofi outlet p. lVithin the chamber B and flanking the communication therewith of the passage B' are walls B4 which obstruct the fiow through that chamber of the gas of distillation from the top of the fuel-bed, thereby forcing it to pass through the lower incandescent portion of the fuel-bed to reach the ultimate outlet shown as a down-take B2, extending from the under side of the chamber B at the side thereof `farthest from the passage B' and which is preferably duplicated, as represented.

An air-blast leads into the chamber A near its base through tuyeres o, the air being conducted thereto through branches n of a conduit O encircling the generator-shell andinto VIO which leads tlie blast-outlet pipe O' of a fan D. The steain-supply may come through the exhaust-pipe E of an engine serving to drive the fan D and of which the cylinder F isV indicated in Fig. 2; and the exhaust-pipe E leads into a brancli E' encircling the structure below the air-pipe O, and from it lead siib-branches m into the chamber A through its Walls soine distance above the plane of the tuyei'es and preferably also branches-Z into the tuyeres and branches k downward into the top of the generator.

The generator should be surinounted, as shown, by a hopper G of the automatic-feed variety, which may involve any suitable or well-known construction of such a hopper.

Following is a description of the Operation of my improved apparatus: The chamber A being charged with coal and the charge (which should bemaintained to extendnearly to the top of the chamber) being blasted through the tuyeres, steam is admitted from thepipes m and also, if desired, froin the pipes l; and the hopperis actuated to deposit fresh supplies of coal, as required, on the bed in the generatorchamber. The resultant gas passes through ports g into the chamber B and thence discharges through the down-takes 132, suicient,however, rising in the passage B' to the top of the bed in the generator to eXert and maintain a degi'ee of pressure thereon, against the uprising ciirrents, sufiicin g to prevent such intense heating of the upper portion of the bed as would tend to suddenly disintegrate the fresh coal deposits, the result of which would be to liberate and drive off the volatile constituents before they undergo adequate subjection to heat to be thoroughly gasified. The pressure, on the top of the fuel-bed, of the gas so generated, by preventing the currents generated by the blast from rising through the fuel above the line of the ports g, causes that fuel to become heated by con-` duction from below and by the sensible heat of the gas on top, thereby effecting slow distillation of the fuel above the ports q; and the gas-product of such distillation, which rises through the mass against the gas-pressure from the passage B' on the top of the bed, enters that passage as a pure, high-grade illiiminating gas. From the passage B' the retorted gas passes through the incandescent portion of the fuel-bed to the down-takes 132, by entering the chamber B, whence the walls 134 direct it out of that chamber into the adjacent portion of the fuel-bed, through which it must pass, and be thus the more tlioroughly fixed and mixed with the lower grade of gas, in order to reach the down-takes.

Inasmuch as the more important feature of' grade gas resulting from the described distillation and passing it through an incandescent portion of the fuel-bed to the downtake, it is not indispensably necessary that the apparatus shall involve the incircling chamber B as means wliereby to lead olf the low-grade gas and of enforcing the described passage through the incandescent portion of the fuelbed of the high-grade gas of distillation, since the passage I' may lead into the cliamber A at theA plane where the ports q are shown to be provided in the encircling-chamber consti'uction, as through a chamber forining that much of the chamber B as extends between the walls 134. ar

A valve 133 may be provided in the passage B' to regulate the How to and pressure on the top of the feel-bed, or to entirely close the passage, as in generatingthe gas of upper distillation, which is largely of the nature of marsh-gas, to be led oif by itself, through the outlet p, if desired, for separate use, as for purposes requiring especially high illuininating and heating gas prov'ision in the form of test-tubes h being madefor drawing o the upper gas from the chamber for examination; and the mixture of the different grades of the generated gases in the-apparatus affords a fuel-gas of very good quality.

The downward and upward flaring coiistruction of the chamber A is advantageous in maintaining the'mass of the bed, which tends to shrink by consumption, compact 1 n the lower tapering portion, whereby lt is crowded against the walls and thus prevents the currents generated by the air-blast from passing up mainly along the walls and forces their inore uniforin distribution through the entire inass of the bed. .The downward flare of the upper portion, on the other` hand, is afforded to providegreater area for the fuel in its descent to accommodate its expansion during the coking action; and, especially, to aiford a passage to the lower or generating portion of the chamber at least as great in horizontal area as the coke-reoeiving upper end of such generating portion of the chamber, whereby the coke may freely feed into it by gravity from the retort-chamber.

The grateless pit A', with the doors r, is a feature of advantage, since it permits the reinoval of any ashes at the base of the fire to be laecomplished without injnry to the condition of the bed. Then the fuel is fluxed, however, as hereinbefore mentioned, a bottom may be formed in the pit, of ashes or other material, extending up to the line o, which is near the plane of the spout r'.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a gas-manufacturing apparatus, the combination of the shell containing a lower generating chamber and an upper retorting chamber, a circumferential chamber B surrounding the shell externally thereof and containing the walls 134, ports q affording communication between the said generating chamber and. circuinferential chamber, a passage B' connecting the chamber B, from between said walls therein, with the upper end of the retorting chamber, blasting means for So O IOO

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the lower genera'ting chamber and an ontlet for the gas from the said circumferential chamber, substantiaily as described.l

2. In a gas-manufacturing apparatus the combination of the shell containing a'cha'mber A having its walls tapering in opposite' directions from near the transverse center of .the said chamber and forming an npper retortin g chamber and a lower generating chamber, a circumferential chamber B surrounding the'shell externally thereof and contain- I erating chamber -and an outlet forthe gas from the said circumferentiai chamber, snbstantially as described. 1

3. In a gas-manufacturing apparatns, the

combination of theshell containing an ashpit in its bas'e provided With' cleaning-doors lr, a lower generating chamber above the ashpit and having unobstructed communication therewith for the free passage of ashes, and an upper retorting chamber, a circumferentiai chamber B surrounding the shell externaily thereof and containing walls B4, ports q affording communication between said gener- 30 i ating chamber and circumferential chamber,

a passage B' conneetng the chamber B from between the said .walls therein with the I ipper end of the retorting chamber,-blasting means for the lower generating chamber, and

an outlet for the gas from the said circumfer- `entia1 chamber, substantia1ly as described.

WILL'IAM A. KONEMAN.l

In presence of M. J. FROST, W; N. WILLIAMs.

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