A NEW OR IMPROVED METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONVERTING THE GASEOUS PRODUCTS OF COMBUSTION INTO COMBUSTIBLE GASES
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Denton Abel, of No. 20, Southampton
Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent,
for the Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR
CONVERTING THE GASEOUS PRODUCTS OF COMBUSTION INTO COMBUSTIBLE
GASES." A communication from abroad by Nicolas Lebedeff, Mining
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Denton Abel
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
25th September 1867.
I, CHARLES DENTON ABEL, of No. 20, Southampton Buildings, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR
CONVERTING THE GASEOUS PRODUCTS OF COMBUSTION INTO COMBUSTIBLE GASES," to
be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object to utilize in a very advantageous manner
the waste heat of furnaces and fire-places. It consists mainly in employing
such heat to effect the regeneration of the gaseous products of combustion
from the furnace or fire-place, that is, to convert such gases, which consist

page_text: mainly of carbonic acid and vapour of water, into combustible gases, such as
carbonic oxide and hydrogen. For this purpose the products of combustion
are made to pass from the furnace partly through a cylinder of refractory
material filled with carbonaceous matter, and partly through a space surround-
ing such cylinder, so as to heat the. carbonaceous matter contained therein.
By this means that portion of the gases which passes through the cylinder is
converted into combustible gases as above stated, which may be used for
heating purposes either in the same furnace or elsewhere. The other portion
of the gases after imparting a portion of their heat to the contents of the
cylinder may be conducted into a chamber where they are employed to heat
the air required for the furnace, which air is for this purpose conducted through
a series of pipes in such chamber. Dampers or valves are provided for
regulating the quantity and velocity of the gases passing through the
apparatus. The cylinder is enclosed in a brick chamber, at the top of which
is a hopper provided with a slide for introducing the fuel, while access is
gained through an aperture to the bottom of the chamber for removing
the ashes from time to time. A passage or flue communicating with
the bottom of the chamber conducts the converted gases to wherever
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Denton Abel in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 18th January 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
DENTON ABEL, of No. 20, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of
Her reign did, for 'Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Charles Denton Abel, Her 'special licence that I, the said Charlès
Denton Abel, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I;
the said Charles Denton Abel, 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 "A

page_text: 1
NEW OR IMPROVED METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONVERTING THE GASEOUS PRODUCTS
-OF COMBUSTION INTO COMBUSTIBLE GASES," a communication to me from abroad
by Nicolas Lebedeff, Mining Engineer, of St. Petersburg, in the Empire of
Russia, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Charles Denton
Abel, 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 Charles Denton Abel, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being bad to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings
and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say:-
"
"
This Invention has for its object to utilize in a very a advantageous manner
the waste heat of. furnaces and fire-places. It consists mainly in employing
such heat to effect the regeneration of the gaseous products of combustion
from the furnace or fire-place, that is, to convert such gases, which consist
mainly of carbonic acid and vapour of water, into combustible gases, such as
carbonic oxide and hydrogen. For this purpose the products of combustion
are made to pass from the furnace partly through a cylinder of refractory
material filled with carbonaceous matter, and partly through a space surround-
ing such cylinder, so as to heat the carbonaceous matter contained therein.
By this means that portion of the gases which passes through the cylinder is
converted into combustible gases as above stated, which may be used for
heating purposes either in the same furnace or elsewhere. The other portion
of the gases after imparting a portion of their heat to the contents of the
cylinder may be conducted into a chamber where they are employed to heat
the air required, for the furnace, which air is for this, purpose conducted
through a series of pipes in such chamber. Dampers or valves are provided
for regulating the quantity and velocity of the gases passing through the
apparatus. The cylinder is enclosed in a brick chamber, at the top of which
is a hopper provided with a slide for introducing the fuel, while access is
gained through an aperture to the bottom of the chamber for removing the
ashes from time to time. A passage or flue communicating with the bottom
of the chamber conducts the converted gases to wherever required. The
quantity of the regenerated gases produced by this apparatus depends on the
temperature of the gases, coming from the furnace. If the amount of beat

page_text: that the gases part with in the furnace does not exceed one half of the
heat developed by the combustion of the primitive gases, the quantity of
regenerated gases will be equal to that of the primitive gases.
In this case
these gases may be employed again either in the same furnace or in another
similar furnace. The dimensions of the cylinder may be regulated in pro-
portion to the quantity of regenerated gases obtainable, according to the
temperature of the gases issuing from the furnace, the velocity of the gases
being at the same time made not to exceed one foot a second. If the
dimensions of the cylinder should prove too great according to this rule
several smaller cylinders may be used.....
Figure 1 upon the accompanying Sheet of Drawings shows a longitudinal
section through a furnace and regenerator constructed according to this
Invention; Figure 2 shows a sectional plan of the same; Figure 3 shows a
sectional elevation of the regenerator on line X, X, Figure 2, and Figure 4.
shows a front elevation of the furnace and regenerator. The gases issuing
from the furnace enter the regenerator A through the opening O, and in
passing through the annular space surrounding the cylinder B they impart
to the latter the requisite amount of heat for the regeneration of the gases
passing through, it, arrived at the top of the cylinder the gases divide into
two portions, of which one passes through the space N into the apparatus 'M
for heating the air required for combustion in the furnace, while the other
portion passes down through the cylinder B, and in doing so is converted into
combustible gases, which on issuing from the bottom of the cylinder are
conducted through the passage K to wherever required. The cylinder B is
charged with carbonaceous matter through the hopper D provided with a
sliding bottom E. The cylinder is either open at the lower end, or is provided
with a grating, and the attendant can have access to the space below by
means of the steps T for the purpose of removing the ashes of the burnt
carbonaceous matter.
"
1.7
In constructing this apparatus the following points have to be attended to,
firstly, the regenerator must be kept as close as possible to the furnace, of
which the waste heat is to be utilized; secondly, the chimneys for producing
the requisite draft must be provided with regulating dampers; thirdly, the
gas passages must be impermeable to the external air, as otherwise explosions
might take place.
This apparatus offers the following advantages:-
Firstly. An economy in fuel to the extent of fifty per cent., as for each
equivalent of carbonic oxide only one half of the carbon comes from the
fuel, the other half being derived from the gases issuing from the furnace.

page_text: Secondly. An increase of temperature on account of the decomposition of
the aqueous particles contained in the fuel.
Thirdly. All kinds of fuel of inferior quantity may be employed.
Fourthly. The apparatus is of very simple construction, thus permitting of
its being applied at a very low cost to all kinds of furnaces, ovens, or kilns.
In addition to the above the waste heat of a furnace may by this means
be utilized at any distance away from it, and there is no necessity for this
purpose to put, for instance, a boiler over the furnace.
Having thus described the nature of this Invention as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself to the precise
details of construction of the apparatus herein-before described with reference
to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, as these may be variously modified
without departing from the nature of the Invention, but what I claim is,-
First. The before described method of utlizing the waste heat of furnaces
by the regeneration, or conversion into combustible gases, of the gaseous
products of combustion passing away therefrom.
Second. Constructing apparatus for converting the gaseous products of
combustion into combustible gases arranged and operating in manner and
for the purposes substantially as herein-before described with reference to the
accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Denton Abel, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
CHARLES D. ABEL. (L.S.)