US291085A - Safety apparatus for oil-tanks - Google Patents

Description

1 -Bauman,

SAFETY APPARATUS POR OIL TANKS.

` (No Model.)

No. 291,085. Patented Jan. l, 1884. I'

N. PETERS. Pmm-Lmwgnme. wnhingtun. D. a

UNITED STATES 'PATENT OFFICE..

JOHN I?. REINECKE, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVAIA.

SAFETY APPARATUS FOR OIL-TANKS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 291,085, dated January 1, 1884.

` vApplication filed November 22, 183. (No modela To MZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN P. REINECKE, of Pittsburg, in the county-of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania7 have invented a new and useful Improvement in Safety Apparatus for Oil-Tanks; and Ido hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof. A My invention relates to an improvement in apparatus for removing iniiammable gases from oil-tanks; and it consists in devices which cause an induced current of air to pass into the tank above the surface of the oil, and at the same time conduct the displaced gases to a point where they may be used as fuel or discharged with safety into the atmosphere.

I will now describe my invention, so that others skilled in the art may manufacture and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming part of this specication, which is a vertical section through\ the tank, showing my improved apparatus.

It is well known that the gases developed or evolved from the oil in oil-tanks are often of two classes-viz., those which are heavier than the air and thosewhich are lighter. There' fore, in applying my invention, the ow of the gases may be rendered automatic in two ways-in case of the lighter gases, by a draft such as can be produced by a stack or other means, and displacement, and in the case-of the heavier gases, either in alike manner by a draft and displacement or by siphonic action and displacement.

rIhe essential features of my improved apparatus are an inlet for the air, arranged so as l to deliver the air at the desired point in the tank, (either at the surface of the oil, beneath the gases, or at the top of the tank, above the gases, according' as to whether the specific gravity of the gases is less or greater than the specic gravity of the air,) an outlet and conduit for the gases, arranged either at the surface of the oil or at the top of the tank, and a discharge-orifice in the conduit, preferably situated at a point `distant from the tank, and arranged on such al level with relation to the gas in the tank as to produce a draft or siphonic action.

In the drawing, c represents the tank, in the lower part of which is the oil b. On the surthe telescopically-j ointed tubes d. These tubes dextend'from the iloats cinto stacks e, ar-

ranged on the cover or roof of the tank, and

they are attached to the iioats in such a many ner as to leave an opening for the passage of the air from the tubes into the tank at the surface of the oil. The tubes d and stacks e are also united by a telescopic joint. 'Ihe stacks e are open at their upper ends, which are protected by the hoods f. 4 I

In the stacks e, between the roof of the tank and the top of the stacks, are valves g.

lExtending from the upper portion of the tank a to a point below the level of the ground, and thence to a point distant from the tank, is a gas outlet and conduit pipe, i', which is -open at its upper end. Ihe other end of the pipe i opens into a valve-chamber, 7c, in which is a hinged gate, m, which prevents the backward flow of the gases through the pipe i,- and communicating with the chamber k is a vertical stack, n, which extends above the level of the tank. This stack should extend to a point sufficiently high above the tank to produce a draft through the pipe i.

On the roof of the tank a is a gas-chamber or casing, o, fromwhich a telescopically-j ointed tube, p, extends downward toa float, q, on the surface of the oil, which tube and "iioat are similar to the oats c and tubes d.' This casing o communicates with the pipes by a pipe, r, outside of the tank, and in the pipe i, between the tank and the pipe r, is a valve, s. A valve, t, is placed in the pipe r, just above the intersecting point of the two pipesr and t', and an outlet or dischargepipe, u, leads from the pipe r, just above the valvet. An air-inlet pipe, w, extends from a pump, o, to and into thetop of thetank, and inthe pipe, at the level of the top of the tank, is an inlet-opening, fr, which may be closed by the valve x.

The operation is as follows: In order to remove the lighter gases from the upper portion of the tank, the inlet-pipe w and the outlet-pipe r are closed by means of the cocks or valves w', t, and a. The air passes through the open ends of the stacks c down through the tubes d and into the tank at the surface of the oil. Ait the same time the lighter gases in the tank pass through the pipe 13 into and IOO through the stack a, the induction of the air and the displacement ofthe gases being caused by the draft from the stack.

In order to remove the heavier gases from the tank, the stacks c are closed by the valves g and the pipe z'by the valve s, and the valves in the pipes w and u are opened. The air passes through the inlet x into vthe upper portion of the tank, and the heavier gases pass through the tube p, easing q, and pipe r into the discharge-pipe n, the induction of the air and dispiaeement of the gases being caused by siphonic action, By shutting the valve u in the pipe u and opening the valve t, the heavier gases may also he removed from the tank by the draft through the stack n.

rIhe air-pump r may be used to start the siphonic iow of the gases, or to aid in the displacement of the gas through either or both ofthe gas-outlet devices.

The gas, as it is discharged from the pipeu, ma5T be used as fuel or for illuminating` purposes.

The advantages of my invention are that the inflammable `gases are drawn away from the tank, and the danger of fire from the igniting of the same, either by lightning or from other causes, is greatly lessened.

I do not herein claim the method of pre4 venting the accumulation ofinilannnable gases in oiltanks, as the same forms the subjectmatter of a prior application filed August 3, 1883, Serial No. 102,669.

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

l. The combination, with an oil-tank, of an air-induction pipe and a gaseduetion pipe, said pipes arranged with their open ends on different horizontal planes within the tank, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. The combination, with an oiltank, of an air-induction pipe and a gas-eduction pipe, said pipes arranged with their open ends on different horizontal planes within the tank, one of said pipes being provided with a ioat, soas to be automatically adjustable, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

3. The combination, with an oil-tank, of an air-inducti0n pipe, a gas-eductiou pipe, and a pump for creating a draft through the tank above the surface of the oil, substantially as specified.

In testimonywhereof I have hereunto set my hand this 17th day of November, A. D. 1883.

JOHN I. REIECKE.

\Vitnesses:

W. B. CORWIN, .lures K. BMU-:WELL

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