US402242A - Process of burning hydrocarbon oil - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

p0. L. HBVERIN. PROCESS 0E' BURNING HYDROGARBON OIL. No. 402,242.

Patented Apr. 301889.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES L. HEVERIN, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

PROCESS OF BURNING HYDROCARBON OIL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 402,242, dated April 30, 1889.

Application filed December 5, 1887. Serial No. 257,038. (No model.)

To all 071.07111 it may concern Be it known that I, CHARLES L. HEVEEIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Process of Burning Hydrocarbon Oils, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the generation of heat by the combustion of liquid hydrocarbons; and it consists in a method or'process of generating heat, which consists in saturating a quantity of comminuted or fibrous refractory material with two liquids--one a hydrocarbon and the other a fluid-Which will When decomposed yield oxygen, whereby both the hydrocarbon and the liquid (such as water) yielding oxygen are in intimate contact or close juxtaposition to each other at such f time as they are converted into the gases which go to support the combustion, so that when they reach the place of ignition they are thoroughly commingled,vthereby rendering the combustion more complete and the heat produced more uniform and intense.

In hydrocarbon-burners as heretofore constructed it has been common to saturate comminuted and fibrous material with hydrocar# bons Which are burned at the surface of said material and to inject steam into the iiame of the burning hydrocarbon to aid the combustion thereof, This is objectionable because of the cooling action of the steam upon the ame, inasmuch as it is impossible to secure an intimate admixture of the particles of steam with the particles of hydrocarbon gas before they take the form of flame, the result being that a portion of the carbon is chilled into smoke or solid carbon and the heating effects are to a certain extent lost.

By the process of operation hereinbefore referredto, and which constitutes the subjectmatterof this invention, the liquid which supplies the oxygen-for instance, the water-is taken up in small particles mechanically with the hydrocarbon to the surface of the absorbing material and is in contact with the hydrocarbon at the moment it 4is converted into gas by the heat and is vaporized at the same time, so that there are, so to speak, minute partiticles of aqueous vapor in juxtaposition to each minute particle of vaporized hydrocarbon before and at'the time the ignition takes place, so that there is not only a thorough decomposition of the hydrocarbon, but also of the steam, resulting in supplying to the flame the oxygen required to support combustion and also a portion of hydrogen, which is also consumed and adds to the intensity of the ame.

A better understanding of the improved method constituting my invention Will be had by the description and illustration of an apparatus by which it may be practically carried out, and I have illustrated in the drawing an apparatus adapted therefor, and which forms the subject-matter of another application of mine tiled April 5, 1887, Serial No. 233,77 9.

Referring to such drawing, Which is a sectional elevation of the apparatus, A designates the burner, adapted to contain a quantity of refractory material, B, such as asbestus, mineral Wool, fire-clay, or sand.

C represents a hydrocarbon-reservoir, and D a tank for containing the Water or other iiuid, which Will Whenhighly heated and decomposed yield oxygen to the burning hydrocarbon.

The burner consists of a slightly-tapering' vessel having, preferably, a removable cap or cover, a, and a neck for connection with the liquid-supply pipes. The walls of the burner are provided with perforations, through which the vapor generated in the burner passes to be burned upon the outside of the burner.

. F designates asupply-pipe leading from the hydrocarbon-reservoir to the bottom of the burner, While d represents a supply pipe, Which in this instance surrounds the supplypipe F, also leading into the bottom of the burner and conducting the oxygen-yielding liquid thereto.

It Will thus be seen that liquid hydrocarbon and water or other fuel having an oxygen supply will be fed simultaneously to the burner in any suitable manner, it being obvious that the connections for and regulating devices in the supply-pipe may be varied in many particulars.

The operation of the apparatus thus described will be as follows: The reservoir C IOO having been supplied with a suitable quantity of hydrocarbon and the tank D with water, the water from the tank will be allowed to pass through pipe d into the bottom of the reservoir C and will tend to force the liquid hydrocarbon upward into the pipe F. The valves of the supply-pipes F and d being 110W open, the liquid hydrocarbon will pass into the burner, saturating the material, B, therein, while the water, rising by pipe (Z from the bottom of the reservoir C, will also pass into the bottom of the burner where it will be diffused by the refractory material. rlhe two liquids entering the burner at nearly the same points, and at the lower part thereof, will be caused to intimately commingle as they are diused by the refractory material, so that by the time they are sufficiently heated for the purpose of ignition the commingling of the gases will be practically perfect.

It will be understood that the flame will completely envelop the burner, and thereby intensely heat the same, converting the liquids into vapor and decomposing them preparatory to their issuing from the orifices in the sides of the burner.

As the hydrocarbon and water are consumed they will be constantly replaced by liquids forced through the supply-pipes in such manner as to keep the material B more or less saturated therewith. The amount of liquid hydrocarbon and water or other suitable liquid permitted to pass to the burner may of course be controlled in any desired manner, and I do not wish to be limited in the use of my invention to the apparatus which I have shown herein, as it will be understood that it may be used in connection with many forms of devices.

While water preferably is used to supply oxygen to the burning hydrocarbon, I do not wish to be limited thereto, as I may employ any suitable liquid, or even vapor, which, when decomposed in the presence of heat, will yield oxygen.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s-

The herein-described method or process of generating heat, which consists of saturating a quantity of comminuted refractory material with two liquids, one a hydrocarbon and the other a liquid which, when decomposed, will yield oxygen, conducting said liquids intermingled each in a diffused state outward from the body to the surface of the refractory material, and burning the same at the surface of the material, substantially as described.

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

CIIARL )S L. HEVERIN.

litnessesz WM. S. DARLINGTON, F. L. FREEMAN.

Images