US991180A - Gas-pressure regulator. - Google Patents

Description

G. M. S. TAIT. GAS PRESSURE REGULATOR. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 11. 1910.

Patented May 2,1911.

' z SHEETS-SHEET 1,

ATTORNEY THE NORRIS PEYERS cm, WASHINGTON, n. 13.

GODFREY M. S. TAIT, OF MONTCLAIR,

COMPANY, OF NEW NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO TAIT PRODUCER YORK, N. Y., A. CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

GAS-PRESSURE REGULATOR.

991,1SG. Specification of Letters .Eatent.

Application filed January 11, 1910.

Patented May 2, 1911.

Serial No. 537,385.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GODFREY M. S. TAIT, a subject of the King of England, and a resident of Montclair, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gas-Pressure Regulators, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to apparatus for forcing gas, air, or the like, through pipes or mains, and is particularly intended for handling air and gas in large volumes as the delivery of gas from producers to a gas engine.

My invention comprises ing and maintaining on the delivery side of the apparatus a practically constant pressure regardless of the amount of air or gas pumped and regardless of the pressure, if any, at which it is supplied to the apparatus.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple and compact air or gas forcing apparatus by which a substantially constant pressure is maintained at the delivery end of the apparatus regardless of variations in the pressure at which such air or gas may be supplied to the apparatus, and regardless of the amount of air or gas pumped.

My invention involves other features of importance and all features of the same will be fully set forth hereinafter and particularly pointed out in the claims.

I will now proceed to describe, as an example, the preferred form of my invention making reference to the accompanying drawings and to the reference characters marked thereon.

In said drawings ;--Figure lshows a top view of the apparatus; Fig. 2 a side view thereof with a portion of the front of the lower part of the apparatus broken away; Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the apparatus with the major portion of the end plate of the lower portion of the apparatus broken away; and Fig. 1 shows a detail elevation and partial section of an alternative form of pressure-balancing conduit.

According to my invention I provide a suitable blower or equivalent air-forcing device; and in order to insure a uniform pressure at the delivery of this air-forcing device I provide a bypass which opens upon exceeding the intended pressure and relieves the same, allowing the excess to pass back through the said air forcing device. Preferably this by-pass means consists of a liquidcontaining chamber into which the air or gas to be handled is passed before passing to the inl-t of the air-forcing device; and in connection with this liquid-containing chamber one or more conduits extending from the delivery conduit of the air-forcing de vice into the liquid in said chamber and immersed therein to a depth corresponding to the pressure which the apparatus is to maintain. In case the apparatus shall tend to produce a pressure at the delivery in excess tained, a portion of the air or gas handled will break the water seal formed by the immersion of the conduit mentioned in the liquid, and so will by-pass to the inlet of the forcing apparatus, thus relieving excess pressure in the delivery conduit thereof.

In the drawings, 1 designates a driving motor, which may be considered a generic illustration of driving means for the apparatus, and 2 designates an air-forcing device, which may be considered as a generic illustration of means for maintaining flow of air or gas or the like, the particular forcing means shown being a positive blower of well known type, arranged to be driven by motor 1.

3 designates the final discharge conduit and 4 the inlet conduit thereof.

15 designates a liquid containing chamber, located, in the construction shown, in the base of the apparatus, the inlet conduit 4. connecting with the upper portion of this chamber 15 above the normal level of liquid therein. In this chamber 15 is a secondary chamber 7, the bottom of which is above the normal level of the liquid in chamber 15; and pipes or conduits S extend downward from the bottom of chamber 7 into the liquid in chamber 15. The outlet 3 passes from this secondary chamber 7.

The blower 2 has a supply conduit 5 connecting with the portion of chamber 15 which is above the normal level of the liquid therein, and said blower has also a discharge conduit 6 connected with the secondary chamber 7.

9 designates a gate valve arranged above the normal level of the liquid in chamber 15, and arranged to establish communicameans for creatof the predetermined pressure to be main res tion between chambers 7 and 15, when said valve is opened.

12 indicates a gage glass or water column by which the height of the liquid in chamber 15 is indicated visually.

l3 and 1% designate respectively a liquid supply pipe and a drain pipe.

11 designates the liquid within chamber 15.

10 designates a series of tubes, similar to tubes 8, and likewise extending from chamher 7 down into the liquid 11, but extending into said liquid to a depth greater than do the pipes 8.

The operation of this apparatus is as follows: The chamber 15 containing liquid to about the level indicated in the drawings, and the blower 2 being in operation, so long as said blower maintains in chamber 7 a pressure not in excess of the pressure corresponding to the depth to which the tubes 8 are immersed in the liquid in chamber 15, the blower will operate in the ordinary man ner, the air or the other gas handled, entering at 4:, into the upper portion of chamber 15, and thence passing through conduit 5 into the blower and thence through conduit 6 into chamber 7, and thence out through discharge conduit 3. If for any reason the pressure so produced in chamber 7 should begin to exceed the pressure due to the depth of immersion of pipes 8 in theliquid, the liquid in said pipes 8 will be blown out and a portion of the air or gas in chamber 7 will pass down through these pipes into the liquid and thence upward and again entering conduits 5 and passing through the blower. In this way it will be seen that excessive pressure in chamber 7 and in main discharge conduit 3 is avoided through by-passing of a portion of the air or gas pump, through the pipes 8 and the liquid. The proportion of air or gas so bypassing will be in practically uniform and in exact proportion to the excess pressure which the blower would otherwise produce. The height of the water in the chamber 15 may be regulated easily, thus regulating the pressure in chamber 7 and main 3. If for any reason the pressure in chamber 7 should ecome greater than can be relieved through pipes 8, a very slight further rise in pressure in chamber 7 will cause the pressure to be relieved through the deeper pipes 10 which will operate in the same manner as pipe 8.

It will be seen that with this apparatus a practically uniform pressure will be maintained, regardless of the pressure at which the air or other gas is supplied to the apparatus through conduit 4; for the pressure at which air or gas is determined by the specific gravity of the liquid in chamber 15 and the depth of immersion therein of pipes 8 and 10. In ordinary practice the pipes 8 will be of such capacity that they in themselves can pass the entire excess of air or gas which must be by-passed, during normal operation, to maintain a uniform pressure in outlet conduit 3, and therefore the pressure in that conduit will remain constant. The object of the employment of the deeper pipe 10, is to provide for emergency or un usual conditions, when it may happen that there will be a flow of air or gas through the apparatus in excess of that which can be controlled pipes 8.

The gate valve 9 is provided so that the apparatus may not prevent the flow of gas or air in case of possible cessation of operation of motor 1 or blower 2. In such case, the valve 9, if open, permits the air or gas handled to pass directly from conduit at to conduit 3, without first passing through the blower.

As an alternative to the arrangement of pipes 8 and 10, immersed to different depth, shown in Figs. 2 and 3, I may employ one or more pressure balancing pipes 16, such as shown in Fig. 4, notched at the bottom, so that the liquid in chambers 5 will be forced down below the tops of these notches, in case pressure in the chamber 7, to a depth proportional to that required to permit bypassing of the air or gas through such conduit to such extent as is required to maintain constant pressure in the main discharge conduit 3.

The device through the agency of the herein described is of particular value in connection with gas power plants, for delivering gas from the producer or other source of gas supply to the engine of such a plant. hen so used, the variation of pressure in the delivery conduits 3 and 6 will ordinarily be due to varying demands of the engine for gas, and in case the load 011 the engine is decreased suddenly, so that the customary governor controlled throttle valve 0' the engine is closed more or less, the resulting slight excess in pressure in conduits 3 and 6 will be relieved through the water-sealed conduit 8, and possibly through water-sealed conduit 10 as well, so that the pressure at which the gas is supplied to the engine will remain nearly constant.

Having thus described my invention what claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. The combination of means for enforcing the flow of gas, a by-pass around the same, and a liquid chamber for sealing such lay-pass, opening automatically upon the development of a predetermined pressure at the outlet side of such means for enforcing the flow of gas.

2. Air or gas forcing apparatus comprising pressure producing means, a liquid containing chamber normally only partly filled with liquid and from the upper portion of which the pressure producing ineans draws its supply, and a pressure-balancing conduit extending from the discharge of said pres sure-producing means and terminating below the level of said liquid at a depth proportionate to the pressure to be maintained, and open at said terminal, whereby in case of creation of excess pressure such excess will be relieved through the escape of a portion of the air or gas through the liquid seal formed beyond the liquid surrounding the pressure-balancing conduit.

3. Air or gas forcing apparatus comprising pressure producing means, and a liquid sealed by-pass, one portion of which communicates with the discharge of said pressure producing means, and another portion of which communicates through the liquid sealing it with the inlet of said pressure producing means.

4. Air or gas forcing apparatus comprising pressure producing means, a liquid containing chamber to the upper portion of which the inlet of said pressure producing means is connected, a secondary chamber connect-ed to the discharge of said pressure producing means, and a pressure-balancing conduit extending from said secondary chamber into the liquid in said liquid containing chamber, and normally sealed at its free end by the liquid in said chamber, but otherwise open.

Air or gas forcing apparatus comprising pressure producing means, a liquid-containing chamber to the upper portion of which the inlet of said pressure producing means is connected, a secondary chamber within such liquid containing chamber and located above the normal level of the liquid therein, and connected to the discharge of said pressure producing means, and a pressure-balancing conduit extending from said secondary chamber downward into the liquid in said liquid containing chamber and normally sealed at the lower end by the liquid in such chamber, but otherwise open.

6. Air or gas forcing apparatus comprising an air or gas impeller, a hollow base upon which said impeller is mounted, comprising a liquid containing chamber and a secondary chamber, the former chamber connectedto the inlet of the impeller and the latter chamber connected to the discharge of the impeller, and a pressure-balancing conduit extending from said secondary chamber into the liquid in said other chamber and normally sealed at its free end by the liquid in such other chamber, but otherwise open.

l l l 7. Air or gas forcing apparatus comprising pressure producing means, and a plurality of liquid-sealed by-passes, communieating with the discharge of the said pressure producing means, and communicating through the liquid sealing them with the inlet of said pressure producing means, said by-passes terminating at different depths re spectively in the sealing liquid.

8. Air or gas forcing apparatus comprising pressure producing means, a liquid containing chamber to the upper portion of which the inlet of said pressure producing means is connected, a secondary chamber connected to the discharge of the said pressure producing means, and a plurality of pressurebalancing conduits extending from said secondary chamber and terminating within the liquid in said liquid-containing chamber to different depths respectively, and normally sealed at their lower ends by the liquid in said chamber, but otherwise open.

9. Air or gas forcing apparatus, comprising pressure-producing means, a liquidsealed by-pass, the upper portion of which communicates witl the discharge of said pressure-producing means, and the lower portion of which communicates through the liquid sealing it, with the inlet of said pressure producing means, and another by-pass directly connecting the inlet and discharge sides of said pressure producing means and forming a bypass around said pressure-producing means, and means for normally closing said latter by-pass.

10. Air or gas forcing apparatus comprising pressureproducing means, a liquid con taining chamber to the upper portion of which the inlet of said pressure producing means is connected, a secondary chamber connected to the discharge of said pressure producing means, and a pressure-balancing conduit extending from said secondary chamber downward into the liquid in said liquid containing chamber, and normally sealed at its lower end by the liquid in said chamber, but otherwise open, and a valve between said liquid containing chamber and secondary chamber which valve, when open, forms direct passage through the apparatus.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GODFREY M. S. TAIT. Witnesses:

B. BIGGE, G. U. UNA.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

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