The Sun.
London, England, 1854-08-24 00:00:00

HOW TO SUBDUE SMOKE.

Of useful, of practicable, and yet comparatively
useless, and of utterly impracticable schemes, for
smoke-consuming or smoke-preventing, about fifty
patents have been taken out in less than seven
years, chiefly since the new patent laws came into
operation on the Ist of October, 1852 ; of which the
assumed effects of a large majority of them were
dependent on either continuous or intermitting
motion ; and supposing the absolute failures, un-
der trial or otherwise, to bear about the same re-
lative proportion, our task in considering those of
the motionless or simple class must be correspond-
ingly limited. Of that description the smoke-
preventing and fuel-economising furnaces of Lee
Stevens claim our earliest attention—not as
the earliest brought into public notice, but un-
questionably as the most extensively successful,
and as the least variable as regards the anticipated
results. The main feature of his system is the
introduction of a current of heated air at the ex-
treme inner end of the fire-place, which, whilst
extending from side to side of the furnace in an
ascending stream, intercepts and mingles with the
carbonaceous gases from the coal fire (or the as-
similated gases of other sorts of fuel), and thus
supplying them with the requisite quantity of
oxygen in a heated state, converts them, by more
perfect combustion, to the required purposes,
instead of allowing them to escape in the murky
form of useless and destructive smoke. It is not
our intention minutely to describe a system that, •
under every conceivable variety of modifications, has
been proved to be available for all descriptions and
sizes of furnaces that come under the application of
acts of Parliament for the suppression of the smoke
nuisance ; since to do so would be to trace its
progress, under the consecutive patents covering
the several inventions or combinations of which it
is comprised, through all the difficulties with
which the inventor of any comprehensive plan
has first to contend. But the principle by which
each application is governed is the use of caloric
plates, made of cast-iron, and in most cases pro-
tected in front by fire-bricks, which plates rest
against and extend the whole width and to within
a short distance of the top of the bridge over
which the flame passes out of the furnace and
into the flue, in such a manner as to admit
underneath them and between their surface
and the front of the bridge the proper
quantity of air ; that arrangement existing some-
times with, and at others without, the addition of
a supplemental set of fire-bars, just as the inven-
tor may deem to be best adapted to any condi-
tions peculiar to the purposes of the furnace or
the locality, or of the description of fuel to be
used. The supply of heated air, by this means,
is not attempted to be regulated by moveable ap-
paratus, but is left to the more certain accomplish-
ment of a simple law of nature. In proportion
with the intensity of combustion is the increased
rapidity with which the air ascends, the rushing
onward of the flame itself acting by way
of exhaustion, and the greater heat of the
parts surrounding the current of air adding"

to its velocity. Were the air spaces made
at the outset injudiciously large, so good a
result could not possibly ensue ; but herein,

it appears, Lee Stevens prudently availed himself
of practical experiences in a steam-boiler furnace
of large dimensions, on the premises of an engi-
neer, before he set out the proportions for his
specification drawings. With these facts, and
with the working of the invention in many parts
of the metropolis, we made ourselves acquainted
preliminarily to giving him an order to adapt his
system to The Sun steam-engine boiler ; and
in which, as far as satisfactory demonstra-
tion would go, we were preceded by those
to whom is delegated the superintendence
of the engineering department of the
Times, where the same invention had been
already in nightly and daily use for several months.
The saving in fuel from its adoption, like every
other economy, will vary considerably with other
circumstances ; but we credit the assurance given
of its fairly averaging 15 per cent. , Miller, Ra-
venhill, and Salkeld, the engineers, take it at 10,
and Keens and Welch at 20 per cait. ; but much
higher than either is the ratio mentioned by coun-
lry manufacturers, and London confectioners,
bakers, and' others. In no accurately ascertained
case can a possible waste of fuel be found ; inas-
much as whatever extra quantity of the combtis-
tible gases is converted into heat must be so much
clear gain ; and with respect to the diminution
of smoke caused by the invention, it is a
palpable fact. On lighting the fire, even,
the smoke is much less dense, and of very much
shorter duration than before ; and when the fire
is fed, the light, vapoury smoke emitted, dis-
appears in about half a minute after the door of
the furnace is closed. It is not our province to
record the vast number and variety of Lee
Stevens' successful efforts; nor, seeing that they
form a percentage so insignificant, to cavil at the
very few assumptions of a contrary nature, being
very probably such as may best support the apho-
rism, that "the exceptions prove the rule ;" whilst
we unaffectedly feel, that, in merely doing justice
to him, we are performing nothing beyond our
duty to our readers, as public journalists, guided
by a spirit of impartiality alone.
We have yet to mention other inventions of
the same class
preventing furnaces andprobably to show why smoke,-
have not general
become general
amona the steamers on the Thames, and are not
at present in full operation ashore.
fur ;

LIVERPOOL, WEDNESDAY.—This forenoon the United
States mail steam-ship Pacific, Captain E. Nye, sailed
from the Mersey for New York with the usual bi-weekly
mails, 220 passengers, and a full cargo of valuable mer-
chandise on freight. Amongst the passengers were 11Ir.
W. Harrison, Miss Louisa Pyne, Miss Pyne, and Signor
Borrani, who go out for a professional tour in the
United States. The Herald of the Morning, belonging
to the Golden line of packets,
bourne, with sailed to-day
merchan-
dise Me-
lon freight.
300 passengers and 1,600 tons of
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