IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FURNACES
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Martin Stanley, of Number Seven, East
Parade, Rhyl, in the County of Flint, Ironfounder, for the Inven-
tion of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FURNACES."
Sealed the 5th September 1868, and dated the 6th March 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Martin Stanley
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 6th March 1868.
I, JOHN MARTIN STANLEY, of Number Seven, East Parade, Rhyl,
in the County of Flint, Ironfounder, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FURNACES,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object certain improvements in the con-
struction and arrangement of furnces for smelting ores, and for melting
iron and other metals, and of other furnaces where intense heat is required,
and in arrangements for doing away with the use of fire-bars in furnaces
and other fire-places for generating heat. The ordinary cupola for melting
iron and the furnaces for smelting ores are charged with alternate layers
of fuel and iron or ore after the trunk has been filled or partially so with
fuel, and a blast is applied direct into the fuel, and iron or ore mixed

page_text: as they are in the trunk; the iron or other metal then melts and drops
into the bottom and when a proper quantity is melted it is then tapped out.
In my improved furnace, which combine the principles of the
cupola and reverberatory furnaces, I form a fire-place or chamber which
may be in the shape of a parallelogram with a dished bottom, or of
the inverted fustrum of a cone or pyramid or other suitable shape. Near
the bottom in one or more sides, I place one or more tuyeres for the
introduction of a blast, and on one side near the top I form a channel
for the passage of the heat. This channel is continued to the bottom
of a stack or shaft which I make short as it is not required for the
purpose of creating a draught, and I use the said stack or shaft as a
trunk to place the charge of metal or ore in; it can thus be charged.
from the top as conveniently as an ordinary cupola, but it may also be
provided with a door on one side for convenience when the charge
consists of heavy pieces of metal. The trunk may have a well in the
bottom to receive the metal as it melts, similar to the bottom of an
ordinary cupola, or it may be made with the bottom sloping towards
the top of a well placed in the channel betwixt the fire-place and the
trunk as in the ordinary reverberatory furnace; thus when the furnace
is in operation all the heat generated by the combustion of the fuel
passes over the well and into the entire mass of iron or ore into the trunk,
so that a great saving of fuel is effected. If preferred bars may be
used, in which case I make use of a closed ash-pit through which I
admit the blast between the bars, or I admit such blast through hollow
perforated bars known as Warriners' patent furnace bars, or partly
between and partly through such bars in the manner described in the
Specification of my Invention for which Letters Patent No. 1454 were
granted to me in May 1867.
For other descriptions of furnaces, such as those of steam boilers, I
construct a fire-place or chamber for generating the heat as before
described, the heat passing out of the channel, the commencement of
which is in a similar position to that of a bridge in such furnaces as at
present constructed. For supplying the fire-place with fuel, I provide
at the top of it a hopper with an opening at the bottom into a box
channel placed at an angle of about 45 degrees. This channel I fill
with a moveable plug made of suitable material which can be withdrawn
to permit the fuel to slide down to the fire. The blast which I prefer
to use is one of highly superheated or decomposed steam obtained and
applied as described in the Specification of the before named Letters

page_text: Patent No. 1454 of May 1867, but a blast may be obtained from a
blowing engine or fan, or may be induced or propelled by a jet of
steam or other known means of inducing or propelling a blast.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Martin Stanley in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 5th September 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
MARTIN STANLEY, of No. 7, East Parade, Rhyl, in the County of Flint,
Ironfounder, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said John Martin Stanley, Her special licence
that I, the said John Martin Stanley, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Martin Stanley, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FURNACES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said John Martin Stanley, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands
and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the
said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed,
and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Martin Stanley, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement:-
The improvements which constitute this Invention relate to the
construction and arrangement of furnaces for smelting ores, melting

page_text: iron and other metals, and to other furnaces where intense heat is
required; also to arrangements for doing away with fire-bars in furnaces
and other fire-places for generating heat. The arrangements of these
furnaces are such that the volatile gases arising from the fuel in a
state of combustion are made to pass over the incandescent part of
the fire, and are mixed with air previously heated to a high temperature,
causing instantaneous and complete combustion, evolving thereby most
intense heat, which acts at once upon the materials in the furnace,
spending itself upon them during its passage through.
My improved smelting or melting furnaces combine the principle of
the cupola and reverberatory furnaces, the stack or trunk being charged
with ore and flux or iron as in the cupola or smelting furnace except
that it is not mixed with fuel, the fuel for generating the heat being
used in a separate fire-place at the opposite part of the furnace as
in a reverberatory furnace, but with differently arranged fire-place and
with the fuel differently charged. The stack in these furnaces is
shorter, height not being required for a draught. The fire-place or
chamber for generating heat I form at one end of the furnace; it may
be in the shape of a parallellogram with dished bottom or of an inverted
frustum of a cone or pyramid or other suitable shape. In one or
more side or sides or in any suitable part of the fire-place I form one
or more channel or channels, or I place a pipe or pipes for the
introduction of a blast. From the upper part of the fire-place to the
bottom of the trunk containing the ore or iron to be heated or melted
I form a channel of suitable form and dimensions, which will vary
according to the nature and quantity of work to be done. This
channel forms a combustion chamber, and conveys the heat from the
fire-place to the bottom of the inside of the stack or trunk. At the
back of the fire-place, near the part which contains the incandescent
fuel when in operation, I form a recess or chamber which is immediately
under the mouth of the channel leading from the fire-place to the
stack, so that the smoke and volatile parts of the fuel escaping during
combustion must pass immediately over the incandescent fire and
become thoroughly heated. For supplying the smoke with the
necessary amount of oxygen, I provide a blast of heated air or highly
heated air and steam, which is conveyed either on to the top of the
fire or through an opening formed in the brickwork behind the recess
into the mouth of the channel, so that complete combustion takes place
in this part of the furnace and the products are conveyed through the

page_text: channel into the materials to be melted. Thus all the heat generated.
from the fuel is utilised before it can escape from the furnace. For
cleaning the ashes from the fire-place I provide a suitable opening at
the bottom of one or more side or sides. The ashes may be either raked
out of the fire-place in their solid form or be reduced by a proper flux
being introduced into the fire-place with the fuel, and run from it in
the form of cinder. At the bottom of the stack I form a well or
dam for the iron or metal to run into as it melts until there is sufficient
for a cast as in a cupola or smelting furnace; or I form a well in the
bottom of the channel near the stack as in a reverberatory furnace.
In this case the bottom of the inside of the stack slopes towards the
top of the well for the iron to run into it. For supplying the fire-place
with fuel I provide a hopper, which is placed on or near the top of it
with an opening into it. In the neck of the hopper is a plug or
plate, which is made to slide for the purpose of opening or closing
the hopper which supplies the furnace with fuel; it may be placed
horizontally or at an angle as is most convenient. This plug or plate
must be fitted in the hopper so as to prevent the smoke, blast, or
gases escaping from the fire-place. This plug as well as the neck of
the hopper must be protected by water or other means to prevent their
being melted.
The top of the hopper I provide with a lid, which closes
the hopper during the time the plug or plate is withdrawn so as to
prevent the escape of the heat or blast; or the fire may be supplied
with fuel passed through a blast pipe. In this case the fuel I use is
small; I prefer it to be ground or pulverised. When the fuel is supplied
in this manner I provide a blast pipe having an aperture across the
top side for the admission of the fuel, which pipe is laid horizontally
or at an angle. Upon the blast pipe over the aperture I fix a hopper
with a channel or tube having a valve in it for charging and regulating
the supply of fuel in the fire-place. The pipe and hopper are placed
in such a position that the fuel falls through the hopper into the
blast pipe and is carried with the blast into the upper part of the fire-
place. The blast I prefer to use is one of highly superheated or
decomposed steam combined with hot air obtained and applied as
described in the Specification of my Invention for which Letters Patent
were granted to me in May 1867, No. 1454; but a blast may be
obtained from a blowing engine or fan or may be induced or propelled
by a jet of steam or by any other known means of inducing or propelling
or obtaining a blast. The blast may be conveyed to the furnace at a

page_text: high or low temperature. It may be heated in a separate furnace, but I
do not confine myself to any one particular mode of heating the blast;
I prefer to do it as a matter of economy by passing it through flues,
tubes, or pipes placed in any convenient part of the furnace exposed
to the action of the heat. When the steam blast before referred to is
used and the fuel supplied through the blast pipe, the fuel is drawn
in by the suction power of the steam. When a forced blast is used
from a blowing engine it is necessary that the depth of the tube and
hopper be such that the column of fuel shall be heavier than the
pressure of blast so that the fuel will fall into and be carried with
the blast into the fire. When carbonaceous ores or fluxes are used,
a blast may be introduced into the bottom of the stack for supplying
the necessary oxygen for the consumption of the carbon which the
ores or fluxes may contain. When it is desirable to have a large
stack, more than one fire-place may be formed and connected
therewith.
For steam boiler or other furnaces supplied with a blast I construct
the fire-place part of the furnace in the same way as for the melting
furnaces and conduct the heat through a channel or channels to the
parts or places that require to be heated. In those furnaces having
their fire-places supplied with air by means of a chimney draught, I
provide lateral openings in the side or sides of the fire-places near
the bottom for the admission of the air necessary for combustion.
These openings may also be used for raking out the ashes. The fire
is supplied with the fuel passed through a hopper placed at or near
the top of the fire-place. This hopper is provided with a plug or
plate made to slide in the hopper for opening and closing it when
firing. I make the same provision for securing the combustion
of the fuel at the mouth of the channel at the top of the fire-place
as referred to in the description of the fire-place for the smelting and
melting furnaces; in this class of furnaces I prefer to bring the air
up the opening behind the recess or chamber at the back of the fire
(see letter o on the Drawing. In furnaces of this description I save
the expence of fire-bars and prevent the evil arising from having the
doors open during the "firing" operation when a great amount of
cold air is admitted on the top of the fire. By these means I secure
a much more regular and complete combustion, and consequent
economy of fuel, and prevent the emission of black smoke. The metal
in the well or receptacle at or near the bottom of the stack may

page_text: when required be puddled there at once, and thus dispense with the
necessity for its removal to a second furnace for that purpose, and
by the introduction of a suitable blast of steam or air be also converted
directly into steel in the same furnace.
The accompanying Drawing is intended to illustrate the form and
arrangement of a furnace constructed according to my said Invention.
a, is the stack in which ore and flux or metal is charged; b, the well
or receptacle for the molten metal; 6', the channel connecting the
bottom of the stack with the well; c, the fire-place or chamber to
which the fuel is supplied; d, the main bridge; e, the intermediate
bridge; ff, the incandescent fuel and heat recess; g, g, the confluence
chamber or space where the products of combustion from the fire-place
c, hot air, and incandescent heat from the recess fmeet and ignite; h,
a close air chamber for heated air; i and k are blast pipes, i being
fitted with the hopper charged with fuel to be driven into the
fire with the blast as before explained, and k a similar hot blast
pipe but without the fuel hopper; m is a hopper for supplying the
fuel to the fire-place when not supplied through the blast pipe; n, hot
air flue for heating the air drawn into the chamber h.
Without restricting myself to the precise form and arrangement of
parts shewn upon the Drawing, I hereby further declare that what I
claim and desire to secure by the before-mentioned in part recited
Letters Patent is,-
First. The smelting of iron ore or melting iron unmixed with fuel
in the cupola or stack by heat communicated thereto from one or more
fire-places separate therefrom but in connection therewith in one and
the same furnace.
Secondly. The construction of the fire-place or furnace without bars
and with a double bridge.
Thirdly. The modes of charging the fuel as shown and described.
Fourthly. The form and arrangement of the metal receptacle between
the fire-place and the stack and the combination of the whole in one
and the same furnace, by which the metal ore can if required be
smelted or metal melted, puddled, and converted into steel direct from
the cupola without remelting or removal to a second furnace.

page_text: Lastly. The application of the fire-place as herein described to boiler
and other furnaces.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Martin Stanley, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of September, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
eight.
JOHN MARTIN STANLEY. - (L.S.)
JOHN MARTIN STANLEY. - (L.S.)