A NEW OR IMPROVED SYSTEM OF AND APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING AIR FOR COMBUSTION WITH GAS
Year: 1884

page_text: THOMAS THORP of Whitefield in the County of Lancaster Architect do
hereby declare the nature of said Invention for A NEW OR IMPROVED SYSTEM
OF AND APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING AIR FOR COMBUSTION WITH GAS to be as
follows:-
My invention relates to the air supply for gas burners in which the flame is
deflected downward and the object of my invention is to increase the illuminating"
power of gas in ordinary burners and to dispense with the globe and chimney in
that class of regenerative burners in which the regenerator is above the flame.
To effect this when Argand or other ordinary burners are employed I enclose the
gas supply near the burner or burners in a tubular or other casing and supply air
under a pressure slightly exceeding that of the atmosphere to the tube or casing
which surrounds the burner or burners or in the case of a regenerative burner
directly into the body of the regenerator for combustion with the gas or instead
of a direct supply of air, a nozzle may be fixed at a point above the burner to
which air under considerable pressure is supplied-this nozzle projects into the
mouth or throat of a tube open to the atmosphere and the velocity of the issuing
air from the nozzle induces a sufficient current of air under slight pressure to flow
through the tube to the casing surrounding the burner, or to the body of the
regenerator as the case may be.
The required pressure of air may be obtained by means of a pump, fan or in any
ordinary manner and placed in any convenient position and a number of burners
may be fed by one air supply-the air being conveyed in pipes and the pressure at
which the air is supplied may be so regulated by any suitable governor, but I
employ by preference a governor in which the holder is sealed by liquid and is of
considerable capacity, so as to contain a reserve of air, in case of any temporary
failure in the supply.
By my improved system of supplying air I am enabled to employ ordinary
burners, supplied with gas at a very low pressure, and with the flame burning in a

page_text: downward direction, thus securing the advantage of burning gas at an extremely
low pressure in a downward direction which has not hitherto been accomplished
with an ordinary burner.
In the case of regenerative burners the air being under pressure overcomes the
tendency to rise due to the great heat imparted to it, and impinges upon the
issuing gas entering into combustion with it, and so obviates the necessity for a
globe and chimney which have hitherto been required to induce the air necessary
for combustion.

page_text: I THOMAS THORP, of Whitefield, in the County of Lancaster, Architect, do
hereby declare the nature of said Invention for A NEW OR IMPROVED SYSTEM
OF AND APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING AIR FOR COMBUSTION WITH GAS, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement :-
My invention relates to the air supply for gas burners in which the flame is
deflected downward and the object of my Invention is to increase the illuminating
power of gas in ordinary burners and to dispense with the globe and chimney in
that class of regenerative burners in which the regenerator is above the flame.
To effect this when Argand or other ordinary burners are employed I enclose the
gas supply near the burner or burners in a tubular or other casing and supply air
under a pressure slightly exceeding that of the atmosphere to the tube or casing
which surrounds the burner or burners or in the case of a regenerative burner
directly into the body of the regenerator for combustion with the gas: or instead
of a direct supply of air, a nozzle may be fixed at a point above or below the
burner to which air under considerable pressure is supplied: this nozzle projects
into the mouth or throat of a tube open to the atmosphere and the velocity of
the issuing air from the nozzle induces a sufficient current of air under slight
pressure to flow through the tube to the casing surrounding the burner, or to the
body of the regenerator as the case may be.
The required pressure of air may be obtained by means of a pump, fan, or in any
ordinary manner and placed in any convenient position and a number of burners
may be fed by one air supply, the air being conveyed in pipes and the pressure at
which the air is supplied may be regulated by any suitable governor, but I employ
by preference a governor in which the holder is sealed by liquid and is of
considerable capacity so as to contain a reserve of air in case of any temporary
failure in the supply.
By my improved system of supplying air I am enabled to employ ordinary
burners supplied with gas at a very low pressure and with the flame burning in a
downward direction, thus securing the advantage of burning gas at an extremely
low pressure in a downward direction which has not hitherto been accomplished
with an ordinary burner.
In the case of regenerative burners the air being under pressure overcomes the
tendency to rise due to the great heat imparted to it, and impinges upon the issuing
gas entering into combustion with it and so obviates the necessity for a globe
and chimney which have hitherto been required to induce the air necessary for
combustion.
And in order that my invention may be fully understood and readily carried
into effect I will proceed to describe the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, reference
being had to the figures and letters marked thereon.
Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.
Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a group of common burners to which my
Invention is applied.
a is the gas supply pipe and b the burners; c is the tubular casing enclosing the
lower part of the pipe a, and to which air under pressure slightly exceeding that of
the atmosphere is supplied through a pipe c' secured to the casing c.
Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of a regenerative burner to which my Invention is
applied, the air under pressure being supplied directly into the body of the

page_text: regenerator. The part marked C, Fig. 3 is a half plan on the line A. B, Fig. 2
looking downward and the part marked D is a half plan looking upward from
below the burner.
The pipe c¹ is connected directly to the regenerator d, and air under pressure is
supplied through this pipe, and passes through the regenerator to the gas issuing
from the burner b as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 2.
Fig. 4 is a sectional- elevation of a group of common burners fitted with a
regenerator to which air under pressure is supplied by means of a nozzle. The
part marked G, Fig. 5, is a half plan on the line E F, Fig. 4, looking downward,
and the part marked H, is a balf plan looking upward from below the burners.
In this arrangement the pipe c' is connected to the regenerator d at one end and
in the pipe is fitted a nozzle e through which air under high pressure is supplied;
the velocity of the issuing air from the nozzle e causes a current of air to flow
through the openings c² into the pipe c¹ and so to the regenerator & for combustion
with the gas issuing from the burners b.
Fig. 6 is a sectional elevation of a regenerative burner to which my Invention is
applied.
In this arrangement the air under pressure and gas for combustion are supplied
from below and pass through the regenerator and to the burner b as clearly shown
by the arrows.
Fig. 7 is a sectional elevation of an Argand. burner and regenerator to which my
Invention is applied. The part marked K, Fig. 8, is a half plan on the line I J,
Fig. 7, looking downward, and the part marked L is a half plan looking upward
from below the burner.
This is a similar arrangement to that illustrated by Figs. 4 and 5 but applied to
an Argand burner instead of a group of ordinary burners: the details also are
slightly varied.
I have already stated that the required pressure of air may be obtained by a
pump, fan, or in any ordinary manner. A convenient method of obtaining it is by
employing a small jet of steam after the manner of an injector; when steam is used,
pipes are required to collect and carry off the condense water.
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―
Supplying air at a pressure exceeding that of the atmosphere to gas burners in
which the flame is deflected downward, and the apparatus for effecting the same,
substantially as and for the purposes herein shown and described.
Dated this 6th day of October 1884.
THOMAS THORP.
H. B. Barlow,
Agent for Applicant,
4, Mansfield Chambers,
17, St. Ann's Square, Manchester.