IMPROVEMENTS IN FURNACES OF STEAM AND OTHER BOILERS
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Barlow, of Stakehill, in the County of
Lancaster, and Thomas Edmeston, of the same Place, for the Invention
of IMPROVEMENTS IN FURNACES OF STEAM AND OTHER BOILERS."
Sealed the Sth October 1867, and dated the 11th April 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Barlowand Thomas
Edmeston at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 11th April 1867.
We, SAMUEL BARLOW, of Stakehill, in the County of Lancaster, and THO AS
EDMESTON, of the same Place, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FURNACES OF STEAM AND OTHER BOILERS," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to boilers used for generating steam and to boilers
used for heating water, and is intended to prevent excessive smoke and econo-
mise fuel, and consists of the use of two fires in one furnace or fire-box fixed
as follows:-We fix in the fire box of any ordinary boilera series of horizontal
or inclined tubes or water pipes running in a longitudinal direction, the ends
of which terminate and are fitted into chests or pipes in the form of the letter D.
That chest or pipe which is at the front of the boiler or the end nearest to the
fire-door has the circular or curved side upwards, in the middle or highest part
of which is fitted a metal bush or pipe, which pipe we make taper or conical
at both ends in order that by screwing the chest or pipe by means of bolts or
Price 8d.1

page_text: screws to the top of the furnace the conical ends of the metal pipe will fit
accurately into corresponding holes in the chest and top of the furnace.
The chest or pipe which is at the furthest or opposite end is similar to the
one already described and is fixed in the same way, but has its circular or
curved side downwards; by means of the hollow curved or circular sides of
the D-shaped chest and the horizontal longitudinal tubes a communication is
formed with the water at the bottom or under side of the fire-box and the
water at the top or upper side of the fire-box, the same becoming filled with
water as the boiler is filled; by this means a good circulation of the water in
the boiler is ensured and a much greater evaporating power obtained. The two
chests and horizontal pipes are fixed, as already described, at a suitable cleva-
tion and distance from the furnace door, which we term the upper furnace or
fire-box. We also fix below the aforesaid tubes a range of furnace bars or
grating, but at a considerably lower elevation than has been the custom
hitherto. We prefer to fix these bars across the furnace of the fire-box in order
to dispense with the fire-bar bearers, by which we obtain a larger ash-pit, and
the bars are self-supporting, the ends resting on the lower part or sides of the
furnace, and may be made curved or straight on the top side. We also con-
tinue the bars to a suitable distance beyond the said tubes, and build what is
termed a bridge wall to prevent the fire from being pushed off the grating in
the act of firing; this we term the lower furnace or fire-box. At the front
we fix a frame having one or two doors in order to close up the fires when
charged; in the door closing the bottom fire and the lower part of the frame
we make a number of perforations, insert tubes, or by any other contrivance
admit air between the two fires, by which the upper fire is supplied with oxygen
and is caused to burn. We also fix in the front of the ash-pit,or that part of the
fire-box below the lower grating, a trumpet-shaped mouth-piece, and insert at
a suitable distance a blast pipe made of a number of conical or taper flat pipes
through which a current of air is forced by means of a fan, blower, or suitable
equivalent, the surrounding atmosphere being carried into the ash-pit and
through the grating by the current of air thus produced, and the necessity of a
tall chimney dispensed with. The amount of oxygen required for the com-
bustion of the fuel can be regulated by the speed of the fan or blower; a steam
jet may, however, be applied to answer the same purpose.
This Invention may be worked with or without the steam jet or without a
fan or blower, and can by a slight modification be made suitable to all kinds
of steam and other boilers, and is capable of burning sawdust, spent dye woods,
and similar materials to a profit by using them as fuel.
It will be seen from the foregoing description that when fires are burning

page_text: in both fire-boxes at the same time that the smoke from the lower fire will be
consumed by the red fire in the upper fire-box, care being taken to fire only
one at a time, and also that smoke from the upper fire will be consumed by
that part of the lower fire which extends beyond the upper fire and the hot
gases which will ascend through the upper fire by the draught. The lower fire
may, if required, be replenished with red coals only by stirring the upper fire
with an ordinary rake, the smaller parts of fuel will fall through between the lon-
gitudinal tubes and alight on the grating or lower fire, consequently this lower
fire will always be of a red heat and emit no smoke, and the smoke from the
upper fire will be consumed by the heated oxygen which passes over it and
through or between the tubes to the upper fire.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Samuel Barlow and Thomas Edmeston in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 10th October 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, SAMUEL
BARLOW, of Stakehill, in the County of Lancaster, and THOMAS EDMESTON,
of the same Place, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said Samuel
Barlow and Thomas Edmeston, Her special license that we, the said Samuel
Barlow and Thomas Edmeston, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as we, the said Samuel Barlow and Thomas Edmeston, our
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 FURNACES OF
STEAM AND OTHER BOILERS," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the
said Samuel Barlow and Thomas Edmeston, our executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under our, or their, or one of our or 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Samuel Barlow and Thomas Edmeston,
do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement (that is to say) :-
This Invention relates to boilers used for generating steam and also to
boilers for heating water, and consists in the use of two furnaces and two
fires one above another in one internal flue in connection with improved
arrangements, the object being to prevent smoke and economise fuel.
The manner in which our Invention is to be performed will be readily
understood by the following particular description thereof, reference being had
to the figures and letters on the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, in which
Fig. 1 is an end elevation, Fig. 2 a sectional plan, and Fig. 3 a longitudinal
section of an ordinary boiler provided with our improvements, and Fig. 4 an
end elevation of the same with the fire-doors removed.
We fix in the internal flue a of the boiler a series of horizontal or inclined
tubes or water pipes c running in a longitudinal direction, and having their
ends fitted into two chests or pipes d, e, each made in the form of the letter D.
The chest or pipe d, which is placed at any suitable distance from the front or
firing end of the boiler, has its circular or curved side upwards, and in the
middle or highest part there is a conical hole opposite to and corresponding
with another conical hole in the top of the flue. Into these holes are placed
conical ends of a metal bush or pipef, and when the chest or pipe is screwed
or bolted to the top of the flue by the bolts g the conical ends of the bush will
fit accurately into the holes and besteam and water tight. The chest or pipe e,
which is at the furthest or opposite end, is similar to the chest d, but its circular
or curved side is placed downwards and fixed to the bottom of the flue by the
metal bush and bolts in the same manner as at the frout end, and the
space above the tube c we term the upper furnace or fire-box. By means of
the chests d, e, and the tubes c a communication is formed with the water
below and above the flue as all these parts are filled with water as the boiler
is filled and thus a good circulation of the water is insured and a large amount
of heating surface or evaporating power obtained. We place below the tubesc
a range of straight or curved grating or fire-bars 1, but at a considerably less
elevation than has hitherto been the custom, and prefer to place them trans-
versely with their ends resting on the lower part or sides of the flue in order
to dispense with the fire-bar bearers, and thereby obtain as large an ash-pit
as possible, and the space above the grating or fire-bars we term the lower
furnace or fire-box. We build at the back of the fire-bars or grating a bridge
wall m, having near the top an aperture n, to which is adjusted a damper or

page_text: valve o fixed to the lever p, which lever and damper can be moved to and fro
for closing and opening the aperture by the rod 7 passing under the fire-bars
to the front of the boiler. At the front of the chest & there is a dead plate ?*
having its upper surface level with the tops of the tubes c, and at the front
of the boiler is fixed the frames having two fire-doors t, u, for enabling the
furnaces to be charged and closing up the fires. The upper fire-door t is pro-
vided with a valve v, Fig. 1, at the front and a screen wat the back, the said
screen forming an air passage to the under side of the dead plater. The top
of the lower fire-door is inclined outwards to form an aperture a, or a number
of perforations may be made in the upper part of the door; and in the frame;
we make openings y or insert air tubes, all of which arrangements are for the
purpose of enabling a large supply of air to be admitted between the two fires
for giving sufficient oxygen to the upper fire to cause it to burn with great
intensity and consume the smoke and gases. We also fix in the front of the ash-
pitz, below the lower grating or fire-bars 7, a trumpet or other shaped mouth
piece, and connect to it a number of conical or taper flat pipes, through which,
by means of a fan,blower, or suitable equivalent, currents of air are forced into
the ash-pit and through the grating, and the necessity of a tall chimney dis
pensed with, the amount of oxygen required for the combustion of the fuel
being regulated by the speed of the fan or blower; or a steam jet may be
applied under the bars or grating to answer the same purpose.
This Invention may be worked with or without the steam jet or without a
fan or blower, and can by slight modifications be made suitable to all kinds
of steam and other boilers, and by means of our improvements a profit can be
obtained by burning sawdust, spent dye woods, and similar material as fuel.
It will be seen from the foregoing description that when fires are burning
in both furnaces at the same time that the smoke from the lower fire will be
consumed by the red fire in the upper furnace, care being taken to fire only
one furnace at a time, and also that smoke from the upper fire will be con-
sumed by the hot air and gases of the lower fire which escapes through the
aperture in the bridge wall and the hot air and gases that will ascend through
the upper fire by the draught. The lower fire may, if required, be replenished
with red burning fuel only by stirring the upper fire with an ordinary rake to
cause the smaller parts of the red burning fuel to fall between the longitudinal
tubes and alight on the grating or lower fire, consequently this lower fire will
always be of a red heat and emit no smoke, and the smoke from the upper fire
will be consumed by the heated air and gases which pass between the tubes to
the upper fire aud through the aperture at the bridge wall.
Having now described the nature and particulars of our said Invention, and

page_text: the manner in which the same is to be performed, we desire it to be understood
that we claim insteam and other boilers the arrangement and combination of
the several parts as herein described and illustrated in the accompanying Sheet
of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Barlow, for and on behalf of
myself and the said Thomas Edmeston, have hereunto set my hand and
seal, this Eighth day of October, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-seven.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
within-named Samuel Barlow, in
the presence of
G. SEPTIMUS HUGHES,
Patent Agent,
Manchester.
SAMUEL BARLOW. (L.S.)