CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS · IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FURNACES AND BOILERS
Year: 1840

page_text: WILLIAMS SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
WYE WILLIAMS, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Gentleman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Seventeenth day of November, in the fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Charles Wye. Williams, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege
and authority, that I; the said Charles Wye Williams, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, and such others as I, the said Charles Wyo Williams, my
executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein
inentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
England, Wales, the Town of Berwick upon Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's
Colonies and Plantations abroad, ny Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS · IN
THE CONSTRUCTION OF FURNACES AND BOILERS;" in which said Letters Patent is
contained a proviso obliging me, the said Charles Wye Williams, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and
ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court
of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of
the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being
thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Charles Wye Williams, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be applied, are particularly described
in and by the following description thereof (that is to say) :-
My Invention consists, firstly, in a novel and peculiar mode by which heat
may be transmitted with increased rapidity and in large quantities through
the plates of which boilers, stills, or refrigerators are constructed; and,
secondly, in the adoption of such mechanical arrangements as will perform the
operation of charging furnaces with fuel more uniformly than is practicable by
manual labor, and by which the formation of clinkers is prevented; and in
order to afford the best information for carrying this Invention into effect I
give the following explanation of the objects intended, and of the mode of
effecting the same:-The objects of the first part of my Invention being to
transmit heat with the greatest rapidity and in the largest quantity to or from
water or other liquids, to be heated, evaporated, or cooled, I effect this by
'inserting into the plates of which boilers, stills, pans, or refrigerators are formed,
or the flues, tubes, or pipes belonging to the same, a number of metallic pins
or conductors, through and by means of which heat may be conducted in much
greater quantities than is practicable where the action of such heat or the
heated products of combustion, are confined to the surfaces of such plates or
tubes, and from the use of which conductors I have called a boiler so constructed
a conduction boiler. These metallic conductors may be made of iron, copper,
brass, or other metal, and of such length and thickness and distances apart as the
nature of the plates in which they are inserted, and of the liquid to be heated
or cooled, may render advisable. In iron plate boilers for the generating of
steam these conductors may be from four to six inches long, and from one half
to three quarters of an inch thick, and placed about two or three inches apart,
the portion of such conductors which projects into the flue to receive the heat
being about two-thirds of the length, and that which projects into the water to
give out the heat so transmitted being about one-third. In the case of loco-
motive engines I prefer making these conductors more numerous and about
one quarter of an inch in thickness, and of proportionate length, and made of
copper or brass, as those metals have a high conducting power; but I do not
confine myself to any of the proportions here mentioned, as it is manifest it
may be advisable to vary them according to the nature and thickness of the
material through which the heat is to be transmitted, or the liquid or vapour to
be heated or cooled. And note, that this mode of transmitting heat by conduc-
tion longitudinally through metallic pins or bars, the use of which I exclusively
claim, is applicable to all operations in which a heating, cooling, or condensing

page_text: process is required, as in the case of refrigerators or condensers for vapours or
gasses, or of evaporative pans, or in any of the operations of distillation or
boiling in close or open vessels; the various modes, however, of applying those
conductors are sufficiently obvious not to require enumeration. Where the fluid
or vapour to be acted on is likely to adhere to the conductors, they may be
plated, tinned, or coated with other metal not subject to corrosion, incrustation,
or oxidation. These conductors may be fixed in the plates or tubes in the
nature of screws or rivets, or driven into drilled or punched holes, or by any of
the other well-known means. Where, however, the liquid is to be evaporated
to dryness, or to the state of crystallized saline or earthy matter, as in the
evaporation of alkaline compounds, or where the projection of the conductors
might interfere with the process of mixing or agitating the liquids to be evapo-
rated, in such cases I avoid any projections of the conductors inwards, and
form them without any projections beyond the size of a rivet head, as hereafter
described. Where the evaporative pan or boiler is made of cast iron, these
conductors may be of the same material, and cast solid with it, and as a part
of such pan. Secondly, my Invention consists in so constructing the bars of
a furnace, and giving them a peculiar longitudinal and alternating motion, by
which the fuel is urged forward into the body of the furnace. These bars,
being made to project beyond the body of the furnace, receive the fuel as it
descends from a hopper, while by the motion described a uniform supply is
given, and consequently a uniform quantity of combustible gaseous matter is
evolved from such fuel. The following will describe some of the modes by
which the above purposes are effected:-Fig. 1 represents a section of a land
engine boiler, shewing one of the modes of inserting the metallic conductors.
a, a, represent the conductors, the larger portion of which projects into the flue
to receive the heat, and the shorter portion into the fluid to give it out. For
the purpose of refrigerators this arrangement may be altered by allowing equal:
portions to project on each side, or by exposing the longer end to the cooling
action of the liquor to increase the rapidity of the abstraction of heat. Fig. 2
is a portion of an evaporative pan, in which the conductors are of the same
material as the pan, and are cast solid with it. Fig. 3 represents a side view of
a furnace, with the bars and hoppers as already described. b, b, are the bars;.
C, the hopper; d, the centre or working shaft, by which the cams or excentrics
e, e, are made to revolve, and by which motion is conveyed to the bars. This
shaft may be moved by hand power, or connected with the steam engine or
other prime mover, and made to revolve at whatever speed may be found most
desirable, one revolution of the excentrics every two minutes having been
found to be a useful rate of going; this, however, will depend on the nature of

page_text: the fuel and the length of the bars. f is a cross-bearer, on which the bars rest
as on a fulcrum, and in a hollow left in the under side of the bars. g is a sliding
door or trap in the hopper, by..which the supply of coals may be cut off when
requisite; -h, the ordinary fire door, through which the fuel is introduced when
the fires are first lighted.. is a second sliding door, by which any small coal
that falls through may, be occasionally withdrawn. In cases where it may be
advisable to increase or diminish the quantity of coals to be used, or give an
increased activity. to the fires, this may be effected by increasing the speed at
which the excentrics d, revolve, or by lowering the further end of the bars so as
to give them a greater incline, and where the furnace or grate may be wider
than the entrance door, one or more bars on each side may be made stationary,
as.in ordinary furnaces, as there will always be a sufficient tendency in the fuel
to spread laterally, and keep such stationary bars, covered with a sufficient body
of fuel, it being essential to perfect combustion without smoke that the fuel be:
uniformly spread, and from six to eight inches, thick. on every. párt... Fig. 4
represents another, mode of adjusting the moving, shaft: d and the excentrics.e,
and which mode, is desirable, with coals that cake and consolidate, on the
bars. In this case the lower ends, of the .bars resting on friction rollers k
receive.both a vertical and horizontal motion, similar to that of the excentric
rod of the steam engine, by which the caked mass of fuel is broken up and
urged onwards to the ends of, the bars. Fig. 5 represents sections of one
of the bars, drawn on a larger scale, and taken at the widest and shallowest parts
at m and n, Fig. 3, the former, presenting a wedge shape, and, the latter being
flat on the upper edge.. It will here be observed that the highest part of each
division of the bars corresponds with the lowest part of those next adjoining,
and by which the solid body of coal is more effectually broken up and kept in
motion. Figures 6, 7, and 8 shew other modes of adjusting the excentrics to
produce the position of the bars in Figures 9, 10, and 11. Fig. 12 shows a
mode of increasing the length of the fire surface, where it may be desirable,
beyond what would be a convenient length for the moveable' bars. This is
effected by a supplemental set. of fixed bars.l, at the end of which may be
placed, if necessary, an ordinary clinker trap. Fig 13, 14, and 15 represent
the metallic pins or rods without conductors inwards, used when the liquid in
the boiler is to be evaporated for crystallization; these rods are fastened to the
boiler by a rivet head. Another mode of forming these metallic conductors, by
casting them with the boiler or evaporating pan, is shewn at Fig" 16 and 17.
And whereas, my Invention consists in availing myself of the power which
metals possess of conducting heat longitudinally through their pores or fibres,
I:specially and exclusively claim the use and application of metallic pins or

page_text: rods as conductors for transmitting heat, and by which means the flame or
products of combustion may be urged directly against such conductors, whereby
more heat is received and transmitted than if they merely impinged or passed
along the surface of the boiler plates, as in the ordinary construction. And
whereas the giving motion to the bars of furnaces has already been practised in
several ways, I make no claim to such; but I specially and exclusively claim as
my Invention the giving the peculiar longitudinal and vertical motions herein
described to the bars of a furnace, and also of projecting such bars outside such
furnace, by which means they are not only enabled to receive the coals falling
from the hopper, but also urge them onwards with a diminishing force and
motion as they proceed towards the furthest and lowest ends.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Wye Williams, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of May, One thousand eight
hundred and forty-one.