Weekly Trinity journal., 1878-12-07
THE AGE OF INVENTION.


er-room at the Brooklyn Navy Yard for
seven hours the other afternoon. although
but four pounds of coal were burned in
the great furnace. The light came from
apsrtures in the furnace walls, made by
removing bricks that visitors might see
the fame within, which completely fill
ed the body of the furnace. 1t was al
mos: white and dazzling as calcium
light. A long iron rod was thrust into
one of the apertures at three o'clock. As
it was withdrawn a molten ball clung TO
the end of it, which presently, by ferce
of its own weight, dropped to the stone
iooring, leaving thread behiAd it.
LET us see how long that is" tho c lean
handed fireman said, and he walked of
sixteen feet with the rod before the thread
broke. you won't find any specks or
impurities in that glass;" exclaimed a
stout, ruddy-faced man in blue flannel
shirt, and eyes bright with the CLEAN of
triumph, as he passed piece of the
WI onu aihOHS tho Flsltoist DcChuSc
there's no sulphur in it and it is almost
perfectly annealed'" The glass had
been put in the furnace but two hours
before-the time allowed for melting
glass by the common method is sixteen
hours, and even then it is usually tainted
with sulphur.
The results illustrated by this simple
experiment-many others were after
wards made-and the appearance as
described of the fame inside of the fur
mace, are due to the invention Of pro-
cess for producing steam by the use of
petroleum as fuel. To all appearances,
the process is a simple one, although it
cost the inventor twenty years of study
to perfect it. A gaspipe beginning at a
tank OF petroleum on the floor above the
boiler room ends in short funnel, the
mouth of which protrudes into the fur
mace door. When the valves in the pipe
are open a fierce but delicate spray Of
liquid-a mixture of petroleum, coal tar
and patent ngredient-shoots out of
the mouth Of the funnel. When this
spray touches flame, ignition and com
bustion occur, and the heat finally re-
solves itself into body of white fame.
which the inventor says would fill a fur
mace as long as from the Battery to Cent
raj Park, If a furnace so long could be
constructed. The nel-shaped end of
the pipe has much to do with the nature
of the spray. When mixed with coal
tar the petroleum assumes the consisten-
cy Of molasses, and in this form it passes
nearly TO the end OF the iron pipe, where
it is joined by the other ingred lent, about
which the inventor speaks reservedly.
Its effect is to destroy, at least partially,
the volatile and infiammabls properties
of the oil. At the entrance to the funnel
the liquid comes in contract with cur
rent of super heated steam, which ato-
mics it. This produces the spray which,
as it leaves the funnel, ignites and bursts
into fame. 1t is claimed that, the in
fammable properties Of the liquid itself
have been destroyed, and that so far
from exploding, it would have the effect
of water and tend to extinguish the fire
if thrown upon a bed Of live Goals. 1t is
only sfter atom ization that the spray is
oxydized or burned. When the appara-
tus is in full blast the tenn perature reach
es heat of 5000 degrees, which will
melt pig iron in less than fifteen minutes
and glass in tive hours. By an ordinary
blast furnace it takes two hours to melt
iron.
The application of this invention is
designed to extend to all the industries,
particularly those in which heat and
steam are important agents. The imme
mediate results of its application are per
feet com bustion, intense heat, quickly
produced, extraordinary evaporation of
water and pressure of steam and freedo m
from dust, cinders, sulphur and other
impurities that are necessarily present
when coal is burned. All this involves
great saving in the cost Of fuel, since
little or no coal would be required 10 keep
furnace in blast, saving in room usu-
ally taken up by such fuel and saving
in the labor required to handle it. The
daily capacity of the furnace will, more
over, be tripled. Apart from the i'm
portaht item of economy in time, in the
manufacture of glass, the absence Of sui
phur in the fame will permit of the Use
OF open instead OF closed pots. so that Il e
heat may be used directly and thus i'm
prove the quality of the glass to such an
extent that manufacturers may cut itinto
large plates, avoiding the severe losses to
which they are now subjected by having
TO cut it into small pieces to escape the
imperfections which sulphur now pro-
duces. The pots, moreover, in furnace
Of this kind may be each kept separate.
80 that one may be removed at any time
without disturbing any Of the others.
In melting iron by this process, tive
furnaces are used, one foot below the
other. The pig metal is thrown into the
first, and the sulphur is eliminated in frsm
six to eight minutes. Then i: is run into
the second in such way that the cold aiz
cannot come in contract with it. the part
icles thus become united. 1t is there
subjected to a fresh heat, which keeps
the liquid iron in constant agitation
and drives the carbon from it in from
six to eight m inutes longer. Then it is
ready for the puddlcr. In addition to
this, owing to the intense heat, one pud
d der will turn out in ten hours the amount
ten charges that four puddlers and
helpers turned olt by the common meth
nds In tmentv- four honre. the lahnr of