US739367A - Gas-producing system. - Google Patents

Description

heat economically, and it has even been pro- -or Water otherwise used; but the heat thus UNITED STATES v Patented september 22, 1903. l

PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

GAs-PRoDUclN'G SYSTEM.

SPECIFICATIONvformng part of Letters Patent No. 739,367, dated September 22, 1903.

Application iiled April l0, 1900.

.To all whom it may concern,.-

Beit know-n that LGEORGE WEsTINeHoUsE, a citizen of the United States, `and'aresident of Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, haveinvented certainv new and useful Improvements in a Combined Gas-Engine and Gas-Producing System, of which the followingis a specification. Y

My invention relates to a combined gas-engine and gas-producing'system, the object of the invention being to provide a highly-efflcient and convenient organization of apparatus for converting the energy to be obtained from coal into mechanical power.

In the ordinary operation of gas-engines the products of combustion passont to the atmosphere and the sensible heat and gaseous carbon compounds which they carry are Wasted. l It is usual also to cool the products of combustion Within the engine or as they pass therefrom by means of a Water-jacket imparted to the water is usually Wasted, the purpose being merely tocool the engine.

In the production of gas from coal a largev quantity of heat is required, and various means have been proposed for obtaining this posed to utilize a portion of the sensible heat from the products of .combustion of gas-engines for heating a gas-producing apparatus byV causing the products of combustion to pass the atmosphere through heating-stoves,

subsequently employing the heat thus storedl as an increment to the heat requirement of the producer.

My invention involves the utilization of a portion or all of the gaseous productsV of com-V bustion themselves and the heat which they carry as material and energy for the produc! tion of what is commonly known as producer-gas. A large portion of the products of combustion from a gas-engine consists of carbon dioxid, (002,) and the temperature at which they may pass from the engine is usually in excess of 1,000O Fahrenheit. If, therefore, the hot carbon dioxid can be so acted.` upon as to transform it into carbon monoxid, it becomes evident that an economy of great importance should result. By passmonoxid ina very efficient manner.

vtical tubular heater.

ing the hot products of ncombustion intoa Serial No. 12,311. (No model.)

suitable gas-producer containing coal I am able to convert the carbon dioxid into carbon Not only is the sensible heat .carried by the products of combustionutilized, but the carbon In some cases it may be desirable to convert all of the carbon dioXid carried by the products of combustion into Y fuel-gas, While in other instances only a portion may be thus advantageously converted. If the purpose is merely to provide suicient fuel-gas forcontinuing the operation of the engine itself, then it is usually sufficient if approximately one-third of the products of combustion are passed through the producer,

sensible heat of the remaining two-thirds beucts of combustion maybe passed through., the producer and the excess of gas thus obtained may be stored or utilized. 4

The invention will be described more in detail in connection with the accompanying drawings, in Which- Figure l illustrates a combined gas-engine In cases and producing system, and Figs. 2, 3, and 4 illustrate modified organizations.

Referring to the drawings, l represents a gas-engine of any suitable character.V In this l instance it is shown as having th ree cylinders 2 3 4, organized in any Well-known convenient manner for successively receiving air and gas, exploding the same, and delivering the products of combustion to the discharge-pipes 5,

V6, and 7, respectively. The discharge-'pipe 5 is shown as entering an air-heater 8 of any convenient form-such, for instance, as a ver- A suitable injector 9 is provided for permitting the necessary air to be entrained with the gas, and the mixture of 'air and products of combustion passing downthe bottom of a suitable gasproducer 1l,

which is represented as containing'a'charge TOO of coal. The products of combustion and the air passing upward through the coal are con-. verted into producengas, which passes out through the pipe 12 into a dry coke-scrubber or other suitable device for removing the tar and ash from the gas. Such a device is represented at 13. From the scrubber the gas passes through a pipe 1t to a suitable gascooler 15 and thence by pipe 1G to the engine 1. In practice I prefer to use in most cases a dry coke-scrubber 13 to avoid saturating the gas with moisture, and, furthermore, the tar deposited on the coke or carbon within this scrubber will be continuously gasified, thus adding the volatile hydrocarbons of the coal in a practically fixed condition to the carbon-monoxid gas. It is not, however, always necessary to use a dry scrubber, as in some instances it may be preferred to use a wet scrubber to cool the gas and to extract the moisture and the tar from the gas before it reaches the engine in any convenient wellknown way.

Any convenient means may be employed for regulating the amount of air supplied through the injector Q-such, for instance, as inlet-valve under the control of the enginegovernor, as diagrammatically represented at 17.

To conserve as much of the heat as practicable, it is desirable to jacket the pipes 5, 6, 7, 10, and 18 and to provide proper means for preventing a material radiation of heat from the ain-heater 8 and gas-producer 11.

In the arrangement shown in Fig. 1 the pipe 7 leads to the pipe 6, which enters the space around the tubes of the air-heater 8, and a pipe 18 leads from this space to an annular jacket 19 in the producer-wall, so that the heat from the products of combustion from the cylinders 3 and et is first utilized for heating the air admitted at the injector 9, and then the remaining heat is utilized in maintaining the temperature in the producer 11. From the jacket 19 the products of combustion escape to the air through a suitable iiue 20.

In Fig. 2 a modification is illustrated in which the pipe 5 leads directly from the cylinder 2 to the bottom of the producer 1l instead of passing first to the air-heater 8. In this instance air is forced into and through the air-heater by means of a suitable blower 21, connected by a pipe 22 with the airheater. The heated air passes then through the pipe 23 into the producer independently of the products of combustion. The air admitted to the blower 21 is regulated as described with reference to Fig. 1.

In Fig. 3another modification is illustrated in which a suitable air-pump 24 is employed for forcing a circulation between the gascooler 15 and the engine, the pipe 16 leading from the gas-cooler to the pump and a pipe 25 leading thence to the engine. In this instance the arrangement of pipes from the engine to the air-heater is similar to that shown in` Fig. 2, except that the pipe 5 is shown as passing to the air-chamber of the air-heater 8, so that the air and hot products of combustion are mixed in the air-heater and pass thence through the pipe 10 to the producer 11. The positive blower 2t may serve also to compress the gas for the gas-engine in case a type of gas-engine is used in which compressed gas is desirable. Another feature is alsoshown in this iigure consistingin utilizing the gas from the producer to prevent loss by radiation. For this purpose the produced gas passes from the top of the producer through a passage 2G into the annular chamber 19 and thence through the pipe 12 to the scrubber 13. This construction is preferable when the temperature and total amount of heat in the gas passing from the producer are greater than the temperature and amount of heat in the exhaust-gases passing from the heater 8. In this organization the exhaust gases passing to the heater S through the pipe G escape to the air from the heater through the flue 27. In Fig. 4 a modification is illustrated wherein the exhaust-gases from one or more of the three cylinders of the engine pass into the single pipe 28, leading directly to the producer 1l, the air-heater 8 being dispensed with. The producer in this instance is jacketed by an annular space 19, as before, and air-pipes 29 extend through this jacket-space, terminating in an annular chamber 30 near the bottom of the producer, this chamber opening into the producer through one or more passages 31. A shell or covering l2, of sheetiron or other suitable material, arranged to guard against loss of heat by radiation, may incase the producer, the air being admitted into the space 33 between the shell and the producer, and, passing upward, it enters an annular chamber Set at the top of the producer, in which chamber the pipes 29 terminate. The air in thus passing upward through the space 33 takes up the radiated heat and then passing downward through the pipes 29 becomes highly heated before it passes out from the chamber 30 into the producer through the passages 31. In the drawingsIhave shown the producer as having the passage 26, as in Fig. 3; but the method of jacketing described in connection with Figs. 1 and 2 may be employed, if desired. The arrangement ot' jacketing, however, wherein the gases from the producer pass through the jacket 19, has the advantage, usually, that any slight leakage of air from the pipes 29 will produce no harmful results.

The arrangement described in connection with Fig. 4 in some cases results in the pro duction of a greater amount of gas than that which is required by the engine itself, and this excess may be utilized for any desired purpose, either locallyat the time it is being produced or it may be stored in a holder ICO IIO

35 or any other desired apparatus. It appears that thirty per cent. of the exhaust-gas of an engine with a proper proportion of air passing through the producer will restore the original volume consumed in the engine, so that where it is desired to produce only as much gas as is required for operating a threecylinder engine it is only necessary that the exhaust-gases from one cylinder should be passed to the producer. In the case of a twocylinder engine or an engine having any other number of cylinders an appropriate portion Vof the total products of combustion may be thus utilized.

It Will be seenV that the quantity of exhaust will depend upon the load of the engine; so

will the quantity of gas produced varyin like manner, the apparatus as organized becoming self-regulating.

For the purpose of steadying the supply of gas to the engine a suitable holder 36 may in some instances be included in the system-as, for instance, in the pipe ylo. It will be understood'that instead of using air for Isupporting the combustion within the producer oxygen in a more or less pure state maybe employed.

In the drawings I have shown a common form of producer and illustrated methods of heating air. My invention is useful, however, in connection with any well-known form of producer, while heaters of the regenerative character may be utilized for raising the ternperatu re of the air used in the producer. The saving of loss by radiation or the utilization of radiated heat within the producer is-imi portant, and therefore by covering the pipes y with an appropriate non-conducting material and in addition thereto surrounding the same with air-jackets, the current of air passing therethrough entering at the point of lowest temperature and passing to the points of highest temperature and greatest radiation of heat into the producer, is within the scope of my present invention.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination with a gas-engine, of a gas-producer, means for passing a portion of the exhaust-gases from the gas-engine into and through a jacket surrounding the producer, and means for forcing laportion of such exhaust-gases into and through the producer.

2. The combination with a gas-engine, of a gas-producer, means for heating air by a portion of the exhaustgases from the gas-engine, and means for independently passing a portion of the exhaust-gases into the producer.

3. The combination of a gas-engine having two or more cylinders, a gas-producer, means for supplying the exhaust-gases from one cyl.

inder of the engine to the gas-producer forproducer, means for passing more or less of the hot products of combustion from the gasengine into the gas-producer for the conversion thereof into combustible gas, an airheating jacket for the producer, a connection from the producer to the gas-engine and means j for establishing a circulation through the gas engine and producer.

6. A producer for converting hot products of combustion, air and coal into combustible gas consisting of a prod ricer-chamber, an inlet for the hot products of combustion, a jacket surrounding the producer-chamber, and air- 4passages therethrough for passing heated air into the producer.

Signed at NewYork, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 4th day of April, A. D. 1900.

GEo. wEsTINGHoUsE.

Witnesses:

CHARLES A. TERRY, WM. H. CAPEL.

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