New or Improved Method and Apparatus for Cleaning the External Surfaces of the Pipes of Fuel Economisers and Feed Water Heaters.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 21st Mar., 1895
Complete Specification Left, 21st Dec., 1895-Accepted, 8th Feb.,
1896
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
New or Improved Method and Apparatus for Cleaning the External
Surfaces of the Pipes of Fuel Economisers and Feed Water
Heaters.
I, JAMES GARDNER CALVERT, of 19 Kyrkogatan, Gothenburg, in the Kingdom
of Sweden, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
--
These
It is well known that the pipes of certain kinds of fuel economisers and feed-
water heaters are liable to become coated with soot and that mechanically-actuated
scrapers are frequently employed to remove such soot from the pipes.
scrapers and their actuating mechanism are not only costly to apply in the first
instance, but the actuating mechanism is liable to get out of order and it and the
scrapers themselves are subject to considerable wear and tear.
The object of my invention is.to avoid the use of scrapers and their attendant
mechanisin altogether, and for this purpose I employ jets of steam directed
along the flue in which the pipes are placed in a direction from the furnace end of
the flue towards the chimney end, or in any other direction that may be found
desirable or necessary. These jets of steam produce a very powerful draught, that
is to say the steam issuing from the jets rushes against and past the pipes with very
great velocity, and also imparts a great velocity to the gases passing at the same
time through the flue. The rapidly moving steam and gases impinging upon and
rushing past the pipes blows and sweeps the soot off the pipes without the application
of mechanical scrapers of any kind.
The jets of steam may be applied in a variety of ways, for example I sometimes
arrange a set of pipes, similar to a set of the pipes forming the economiser or feed-
water heater, united together at top or bottom, or both, by connecting boxes in
much the same way as the pipes of the economiser or feed-water heater. These
pipes are provided with holes, narrow slits, jets or nozzles facing more or less
in the direction of the chimney or in any other required or desirable direction, and
the top or bottom connecting box is connected by a pipe and valve with the steam
space of the boiler. When it is desired to clear the pipes of the economiser or
feed-water heater of soot, it is only necessary to admit steam to the aforesaid
perforated pipes, and the beforementioned powerful draft is thereby created which
effectually sweeps off the soot.
Any other suitable arrangement of pipes for supplying the jets of steam may be
employed, and several such arrangements may be placed at various points in the
flue, especially when the economiser or other heating apparatus is of considerable
length, as in such case a single set of steam jets may not be sufficient to clear the
soot from the pipes beyond a certain distance from such jets.
In order to facilitate the production of a powerful draught by means of the
steam jets, the latter may be combined with any suitable kind of ejector nozzle
adapted to produce an induced current of the air or gases in the flue.
Dated this 21st day of March 1895.
J. G. CALVERT,
Per W. H. Beck,
115 Cannon Street, London, Agent.

page_text: .
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
New or Improved Method and Apparatus for Cleaning the External.
Surfaces of the Pipes of Fuel Economisers and Feed Water
Heaters.
I, JAMES GARDNER CALVERT, of 38 Kyrkogatan, Gothenburg, in the Kingdom
of Sweden, Engineer, 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:-
It is well known that the pipes of certain kinds of fuel economisers and feed-
water heaters are liable to become coated with soot, and that mechanically-actuated
scrapers are frequently employed to remove such soot from the pipes. These
scrapers, and their actuating mechanism, are not only costly to apply in the first
instance, but the actuating mechanism, is liable to get out of order, and it, and the
scrapers themselves are subject to considerable wear and tear.
The object of my invention is to avoid the use of scrapers and their attendant
mechanism altogether; and for this purpose I employ jets of steam directed along the
flue in which the pipes are placed in a direction from the furnace end of the flue
towards the chimney end, or in any other direction that may be found desirable or
Decessary. These jets of steam produce a very powerful draught, that is to say the
steam issuing from the jets rushes against and past the pipes with very great
velocity and also imparts a great velocity to the gases passing at the same time
through the flue. The rapidly moving steam and gases impinging upon and
rushing past the pipes blows and sweeps the soot off the pipes without the application
of mechanical scrapers of any kind.
In the accompanying sheet of drawings Figure 1 is a sectional plan of an
economiser or feed-water heater with my invention applied thereto, and Figure 2 is
a sectional elevation of part of one of the steam pipes shown in Figure 1.
The jets of steam may be applied in a variety of ways, for example I sometimes
arrange a set of pipes A. (see Figure 1) similar to a set of the pipes B forming the
economiser or feed-water heater, united together at top or bottom, or both, by
connecting boxes in much the same way as the water pipes of the economiser
or feed-water heater. These pipes A are provided with holes or narrow slits,
or with jets or nozzles C (shown also in Figure 2) secured therein, and facing
more or less in the direction of the chimney, or in any other required or desirable
direction, and the top or bottom connecting box D is connected by a pipe E and
valve F with the steam space of the boiler. When it is desired to clear the pipes
of the economiser or feed-water heater of soot it is only necessary to admit steam
by the pipes E to the aforesaid pipes A, and the steam issuing from the jets or
nozzles C, produces the beforementioned powerful draught which effectually sweeps
off the soot.
Any other suitable arrangement of pipes for supplying the jets of steam may be
employed, and several such arrangements of pipes may be placed at various points
in the flue, especially when the economiser or other heating apparatus is of
considerable length, as in such case a single set of steam jets may not be sufficient
to clear the soot from the pipes beyond a certain distance from such jets.
In order to facilitate the production of a powerful draught by means of the steam
jets the latter may be combined with any suitable kind of ejector nozzle adapted to
produce an induced current of the air or gases into the flue and to project such
current forward towards the chimney. Such ejector nozzles are shown at G in
Figure 2 in connection with the steam jets C, the air or gas being drawn in at the
rear ends G1 of the ejector nozzles G by the steam issuing from the jets C, and
driven forward through the front ends G2 of the nozzles G as shown by the arrows
in Figure 2.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I desire to have it
understood that I do not claim broadly the use of jets of steam for cleaning the
external surfaces of the pipes of fuel economisers and feed-water heaters, as I am
aware that attempts have been made to use jets of steam for that purpose, but I
declare that what I do claim is :-
:-
First. The method of cleaning the external surfaces of the pipes of fuel
economisers and feed-water heaters, which consists in the employment of jets of
steam as described.
Second. In connection with fuel economisers and feed-water heaters the use of
steam pipes provided with holes, narrow slits, jets or nozzles, so placed and arranged
that the steam issuing therefrom either itself strikes against the water pipes of the
fuel economisers or feed-water heaters, or induces a current of air or gases to strike
against or to flow past the same towards the chimney, for the purpose of cleaning
the external surfaces of such water pipes, substantially as described.
Third. In apparatus for cleaning the pipes of fuel economisers and feed-water
heaters by jets of steam, the employment of ejector nozzles in combination with the
steam jets, substantially as described, and for the purpose specified.
1005
J. G. CALVERT,
Per W. H. Beck,
115 Cannon Street, London, E.C., Agent.