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THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 1ST APRIL, 1899.
THE SCHEDULE.
NATURE OF THE TEST APPARATUS.
The apparatus is known as the Abel Petroleum Tester and consists of the following parts :-
1. The oil-cup;
2. The cover, with slide test-lamp and clockwork arrangement for opening and closing the holes in the cover and
for dipping the test flame;
3. The water-bath or heating vessel ;
4. The tripod stand, with jacket and spirit lamp for heating the water-bath;
5. The thermometer for indicating the temperature of the oil in the oil-cup;
6. The thermometer for indicating the temperature of the water in the water-bath;
7. The thermometer for indicating the temperature of the oil before it is poured into the oil-cup;
8. The dropping bottle or pipette for replenishing the test-lamp; and
9. A barometer.
The oil-cup is a cylindrical flat-bottomed vessel, made of gun-metal or brass, and tinned or silvered inside. A gauge is fixed to the inside of the cup to regulate the height to which it is to be filled with the sample under examination.
The cup is provided with a close-fitting overlapping cover, which carries the thermometer, the test-lamp, and the adjuncts thereto. The test-lamp is suspended upon two supports, by means of trunnions, which allow it to be easily inclined to a particular angle and restored to its original position. The socket in the cover, which is to hold a round bulb ther- mometer for indicating the temperature of the oil during the testing operation, so adjusted that the bulb of the latter is always inserted in a definite position below the surface of the liquid.
The cover is provided with three holes, one in the centre and two smaller ones close to the sides. These are closed and opened by means of a pivoted slide. When the slide is moved so as to uncover the holes, the suspended lamp is caught by a projection fixed on the slide, and tilted in such a way as to bring the end of the spout just below the surface of the lid. As the slide moves back so as to cover the holes, the lamp returns to its original position. Upon the cover, in front of and in a line with the nozzle of the lamp, is fixed a white bead, the diameter of which represents the size of the test-flame to be used.
The water-bath or heating vessel is so constructed that, when the oil-cup is placed in position in it, an air-space or air-chamber intervenes between the two; consequently, in applying the test under ordinary circumstances, the heat is transmitted gradually to the oil from the hot water through the air-space. The water-bath is fitted with a socket for receiving a long bulb thermometer, to indicate the temperature of the water. It is also provided with a funnel, an over- flow-pipe, and two handles.
A
The water-bath rests upon a tripod stand, which is fitted with a copper cylinder or jacket, so that the bath is surround- ed by an enclosed air-space, which retains and regulates the heat. One of the legs of the stand serves as a support for a spirit lamp, which is attached to it by a small swing bracket.
The clockwork arrangement, by which during the operation of testing the slide is withdrawn, and the test-flame dipped into the cup and raised again as the slide is replaced, is provided with a ratchet key for setting it in action for each test, and with a trigger for starting it each time that the test-flame is applied.
DIRECTIONS FOR PREPARING THE SAMPLE FOR TESTING.
PREPARING THE SAMPLE FOR TESTING.-About ten fluid ounces of the oil, sufficient for three tests, are transferred from the bottle into which the sample has been drawn to a pint fläsk or bottle, which is to be immersed in water artificially cooled until a thermometer, introduced into the oil, indicates a temperature not exceeding 50° Fahrenheit.
DIRECTIONS FOR PREPARING AND USING THE TEST APPARATUS.
1. PREPARING THE WATER-BATH.-The water-bath is filled by pouring water into the funnel until it begins to flow out at the overflow-pipe. The temperature of the water at the commencement of each test, as indicated by the long bulb thermometer, is to be 130° Fahrenheit and this is attained in the first instance by mixing hot and cold water, either in the bath or in a vessel from which the bath is filled, until the thermometer which is provided for testing the tempera- ture of the water gives the proper indication; or the water is heated by means of the spirit-lamp (which is attached to the stand of the apparatus) until the required temperature is indicated.
2. PREPARING THE TEST-LAMP.-The test-lamp is fitted with a piece of cylindrical wick of such thickness that it fills the wick-holder, but may readily be moved to and fro for the purpose of adjusting the size of the flame. In the body of the lamp, upon the wick, which is coiled within it, is placed a small tuft of cotton wool moistened with petroleum, any oil not absorbed by the wool being removed. When the lamp has been lighted, the wick is adjusted by means of a pair of forceps, or a pin, until the flame is of the size of the bead fixed on the cover of the oil-cup; should a particular test occupy so long a time that the flame begins to get smaller, through the supply of oil in the lamp becoming exhausted, three or four drops of petroleum are allowed to fall upon the tuft of wool in the lamp from the dropping bottle or pipette provided for that purpose. This can be safely done without interrupting the test.
3. FILLING THE OIL-CUP.-Before the oil-cup is filled, the lid is to be made ready for being placed upon the cup, i.e., the round bulb thermometer is to be inserted into the socket (so that the projecting rim of the collar with which it is fitted touches the edge of the socket), and the test-lamp is to be placed in position. The oil-cup, having been previously cooled by placing it bottom downwards in water at a temperature not exceeding 50° Fahrenheit, is now to be rapidly wiped dry, placed on a level surface in a good light, and the oil to be tested is poured in, without splashing, until its surface is level with the point of the gauge which is fitted in the cup. The lid is then put on the cup at once, and pressed down so that its edge rests on the rim of the cup.
4. APPLICATION OF THE TEST.-The water-bath, with its thermometer in position, is placed in some locality where it is not exposed to currents of air, and where the light is sufficiently subdued to admit of the size of the entire test- flame being compared with that of the bead on the cover. The cup is carefully lifted, without shaking it, and placed in the bath, the test-lamp is lighted, and the clockwork wound up by turning the key. The thermometer in the oil-cup is now watched, and when the temperature has reached 56° Fahrenheit the clockwork is set in motion by pressing the trigger. If no flash takes place the clockwork is at once re-wound, and the trigger pressed at 57° Fahrenheit, and so on, at every degree rise of temperature, until the flash occurs, or until a temperature of 95° Fahrenheit has been reached.