Improvements in Furnaces, chiefly designed for Destroying Waste Organic Substances.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 30th Apr., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 30th Jan., 1891-Accepted, 21st Mar., 1.91
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Furnaces, chiefly designed for Destroying Waste
Organic Substances.
1, MICHAEL MARY BROPHY, of the firmn of James Slater & Co., 251, High
Holborn, in the County of Middlesex, Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to improvements in furnaces for destroying waste organic
substances.
In carrying out my invention I arrange regenerating chambers on each side of
the fuel chamber and connected by flues with the same, the said chambers being
provided with a series of perforated plates of fire clay or other refractory material
or with fire bricks suitably spaced. The regenerating chambers are connected by
flues to the main or chimney flue, a suitable reversing valve being arranged at
their point of junction which valve causes the products of combustion to pass from
the fuel chamber through each of the regenerating chambers alternately into the
said chamber thue.
This valve is operated by a fly or fan on the chimney flue by means of the
chimney draught which fly by suitable gearing reverses the said valve such reversal
being instantaneously effected by a tumbling weighted lever or its equivalent
arranged in connection with the said gearing.
Air valves are arranged to admit air alternately to the regenerating chambers
by means of the said tumbling lever, the air passing to the fuel chamber to
support combustion. A valve is also provided for the same purpose to admit
air below the fire bars.
A flue connects the fuel chamber with the chimney flue and is only used when
the fire is first started, a suitable damper being employed to cut off the connection
when the heat is sufficiently intense. This is effected through the medium of a
portion of the gearing connected with the fly.
By this construction of furnace the products of combustion from the burning
fuel and waste organic substances are caused to pass through and impart their
heat to each of the regenerating chambers alternately, the heat being again
imparted to the air which passes afterwards through each of the said chambers to
the fuel chamber, thereby resulting in perfect combustion.
I sometimes arrange beneath the fire bars a vessel containing water which is
vapourized and passing through the incandescent fuel is decomposed, the gases
resulting therefrom assisting combustion.
Dated the 30th day of Auril 1890
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Furnaces, chiefly designed for Destroying Waste
Organic Substances.
I, MICHAEL MARY BROPHY, of the firm of James Slater & Co., No. 251, High
Holborn, in the County of Middlesex, Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to improvements in furnaces chiefly designed for destroying
waste organic substances

page_text: In carrying out my invention I arrange regenerating chambers on each side
of the fuel-chamber and connected by flues with the same, the said chambers being
provided with a series of perforated plates of fire-clay or other refractory material or
with fire-bricks suitably spaced. The regenerating chambers are connected by flues to
the main or chimney flue, a suitable reversing valve being arranged at their point
of junction, which valve causes the products of combustion to pass from the fiel
chamber through the regenerating climbers alternately into the said flue.
This valve is operated by a fly or fan in the chimney flue by means of the
chimmey draught, which fly by suitable gearing reverses the said valve, such
reversal being in-tantaneously effected by a tumbling weighted lever or its equivalent
arranged in connection with the said gearing.
Air-valves are arranged to admit air alternately to the regenerating chambers
by means of the said tumbling lever, the air passing to the fuel-chamber to support
combustion. A valve is also provided for the saine purpose to admit air below
the fire-bar.
A flue connects the fin l-chamber with the chimney-flue and is only used when
the fire is first started, a suitable damper being employed to cut off the connection
when the heat is sufficiently intense. This is effected through the medium of a
portion the gearing connected
of
with
the
Hy.
By this construction of furnace the products of combustion from the burning
fuel and waste organic substances are caused to pass through and impart their hent
to the regenerating chambers alternately, the hent being again imparted to the air
which passes afterwards through each of the said chambers to the fuel-chamber,
thereby resulting in periect combustion.
To enable my invention to be fully understood I will describe the same with
reference to the accompanying drawings, in which
:-
Figure 1 is an elevation of a furnace provided with my improvements :
Figure 2 is a longitudinal sertional el.
vation:
Figure 3 is a section on the line A A, Figure 2: and,
Figure 4 is a section on the line B B, Figure 3:
Figures 5, 6 and 7 are a transverse section, a longitudinal section and a horizontal
section respectively of a modified form of apparatus.
Similar letters of reference indiente corresponding parts in the several figures.
a, a indicate the walls of the furnace, & the fuel-chamber, e the ash-pit, d, d' the
regenerating chambers containing the perforated plates or bricks e, e of refractory
material, and the main flue, gare doors alfording access to the fire-chamber
and ash-pit respectively, and h, hare valves for allowing the admission of air into
the regenerating chambers d. d. is the reversing valve for causing the products
of combustion to pass through one or the other regenerating chamber as required.
is the fly or fan arranged in the flue in such a manner that it will be rotated by
the current of air passing through the said flue, the motion of which fan is utilized
for operating the reversing valve As shown in the drawings the motion of this
fan is utilized as follows, a worm k is secured upon the shaft of the fan and engages
with a worm-wheel on a horizontal counter-shaft, the motion of which is com-
municated by gear-wheels 1, 1, 12, 13 to a wheel or disc, a crank-pin, upon which,
has connected to it one end of a connecting rod m the other end of which is jointed
to a lever or crank m³, the throw of which is greater than that of the crank-pin l,
whereby the continuous rotary motion of the said dise will be caused to impart an
oscillating motion to the crank m'.
Upon the shaft m³ to which the crank m³ is secured is also secured a quadrant m³²
having at its ends two lugs or projections m², m²; and loosely mounted upon the
anid shaft is a second quadrant, having at its extremities lugs or projections n', n²
and provided with a lover-arm a connected by a rod to an arm a secured upon
an axle or shaft connected to the reversing valve i.
Between the two
quadrants is a weighted levero also free to move independently of the shaft m
and provided with lugs o, o' designed to engage with the lugs m², m and a³, a² on
the quadrants m and n respectively.

page_text: The operation of this apparatus to reverse the valve is as follows; assume the
valve to be in the position shewn in Figure 3. and the levers and cranks in
the position shewn in Figure 1: if now the wheel rotates, the crank m¹ and
consequently the quadrant will be moved in the direction of the arrow 1,
Figure 1, so that the lug m upon the said quadrant will engage with the
corresponding lug ol on the lever o and lift the same to a vertical position, when,
owing to the lever being loose upon the shaft mit will fall to the opposite side
of the shaft to that which it previously occupied, striking the lug n upon the
quadrant and thereby moving the lever in the direction of the arrow 2,
Figure 1, and the valve in the direction of the arrow 3. Figure 3, the crank mi
in the meantime having reached its highest position. Upon the next downward
movement of the crank m², the lug me of the quadrant m lifts the lever o to a
vertical position, the latter then falling and striking the lug n of the quadrant n to
again reverse the valve i.
In order that the air-valves h, shall be operated simultaneously with the
reversal of the valve the said valves h, h' are connected by a rod p to which is
jointed a lever p¹ formed integral_with_the_lever so as to move therewith.
As shewn in the drawings, the valve is closed and the valve is open.
is the damper which serves to allow the products of combustion to pass directly
to the chimney-flue whilst starting the apparatus. This damper, as shewn, is
operated through the medium of the rod g, the lever and a pull-bar . and in
order that the damper shall be automatically closed after the furnace has been
working for a given time I provide the following arrangement, that is to say, I
form in the pull-bar and in a bracket through which the same slides,
holes respectively. The damper is retained in its open position by means of
a pin which is inserted through the holes 7, as shewn in Figure 1. This pin is
formed at one end of or attached to a bar connected to a lever s, which lever is
provided with an extension arranged in such proximity to the wheel /* that the
crank-pink or the connecting rod i will, at a certain point in its rotation, impinge
against the said extension so as to move the lever and thereby withdraw the pin
on the bar from the hole 9' in the pull-bar q³ when the damper will close by
reason of its weight.
The operation of the furnace herein before described is as follows, that is to say,
the damper q is opened and the fire lighted; after the furnace has become sufficiently
heated the damper 7 is closed by the means hereinbefore described, so that the
products of the combustion can then only reach the chimney-flue through one
regenerating chamber, the air for supporting the combustion passing through the
other regenerating chamber and impinging against the materials in the fire-
chamber, a portion also passing down one of the channels, beside the
fire-chamber and thence upward through the grate. As shewn in the drawing
the mechanism is in such position that the air enters the regenerating chamber
through the valve, whilst the products of combustion escape through the
regenerating chamber d into the chimney, the refractory material in the said
regenerating chamber being thereby highly heated; when owing to the rotation
of the fan the valve i is reversed, the valve h¹ closed and the valve h opened, the
direction of the currents is reversed, that is to say, the air for supporting combustion
passes through the regenerating chamber d whereby it is highly heated whilst the
products of combustion escape into the flue ƒ through the regenerating chamber d¹
heating the refractory material therein.
In the modification of my invention shewn in Figures 5, 6 and 7 the arrangement
of the fire-grate and regenerating chambers is substantially the same as that
hereinbefore described, that is to say, the regenerating chambers are arranged one
on each side of the grate, but instead of providing automatic mechanism for
periodically varying the direction of the currents 1 have shewn an arrangement
of dampers adapted to be operated by hand. These dampers are indicated by
the letters u, u, u², u³, u², u³, uº. u³ and are connected with suitable operating
chains and counterbalanced.

page_text: The operation of this modified form of apparatus is as follows, that is to say
during the initial henting of the apparatus the dampers u, u¹ are opened so that the
products of combustion can escape directly to the chimney: when, however, the
apparatus is sufficiently heated the said dampers a, are closed and, say.
the dampers n², «ª opened. The air-current then passes as follows, that is to
say, through the opening uncovered by the damperaud up through the
regenerating chamber d', thence into contact with the material upon the grate and
thenee down through the regenerating chamber d and through the opening
uncovered by the damper u² into the chimney
When it is desired to reverse the direction of the currents the dampers u² and w
are closed and the damper u, opened so that the air-current passes up through
the previously heated chamber d. thence over the material upon the grate, then
down through the regenerating chamber and thence through the opening
mcovered by the damper into the chimney.
e is a tube or funnel through which the substances to be consumed are introduced
into the fire-chamber.
I sometimes find that it is unnecessary to pass the air through the heated
regenerating chamber previous to its coming into contact with the material to be
burnt. In this case I simply arrange over the furnace a series of perforated plates
or bricks of refractory material which become highly heated by the passage of the
products of combustion therethrough, so that any unconsumed gases which may
leave_the_furnace will be consumed by passing through the perforations of the
heated refractory material.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1. A furnace for the destruction of waste organic substances, having a chamber
containing perforated plates or bricks of refractory material which become highly
heated by the passage of the products of combustion therethrough, substantially as
described.
2. A furnace of the kind referred to in the preceding claiming clause provided
with two chambers, each of which contains a series of perforated plates or bricks
of refractory material, and through or between which the products of combustion
and the air for supporting the combustion are alternately caused to pass, substantially
in the manner described.
3. The combination with a furnace of the kind referred to in the preceding
claiming clause, of mechanism for automatically reversing the direction of the
currents therethrough, substantially as described."
4. The combination with a furnace of a fly or fan located in the chimney or
fue and adapted to be operated by the air-currents therethrough, the motion
of the said fly or fan being utilized for operating a damper or valve for varying
the direction of the products of combustion escaping to the chimney, substantially
as described.
5. A furnace for the destruction of organic substances constructed substantially
in the manner hereinbefore described and illustrated in Figures 1 to 4 of the
accompanying drawings.
6. The modified form of furnace constructed substantially as described with
reference to Figures 5 to 7 of the accompanying drawings.
ניב
.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, l'insbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.