SMOKE-CONSUMING FURNACES
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Peter Armand le Comte de Fontainemoreau, of
London, Paris, and Brussels, Patent Solicitor, for the Invention of
SMOKE-CONSUMING FURNACES,
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SMOKE-CONSUMING
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Peter Armand le Comte
de Fontainemoreau at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
his Petition, on the 29th May 1857.
I, PETER ARMAND le Comte DE FONTAINEMOREAU, of London, Paris, and
Brussels, Patent Solicitor, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SMOKE-CONSUMING FURNACES, APPLICABLE
TO BOILERS," to be as follows, that is to say:-
The Invention consists in constructing the furnaces of locomotive or
stationary boilers with a peculiar arrangement of valves, levers, and flues or
pipes, so that the smoke is made to return to the furnace to be consumed.
The furnace is formed with two fire boxes, separated by a water chamber
or hollow partition, which, for boilers of fixed engines, may be replaced by a
partition of refractory brick.
Each fire box has a separate ash pan and smoke box, and each smoke box
has two openings made in it, one of which corresponds direct with the chimney,
and the other with a pipe or brick flue. This pipe or flue serves for conducting
the smoke of the fire box last charged under the grate of the fire box pre-
viously charged, the smoke of which is already consumed.

page_text: The openings and the ash pans are provided with valves corresponding
together, and which may be opened and closed alternately by means of a lever,
or other suitable mechanism, thus allowing the smoke of the fire box to be
brought direct under the grate of the left fire box, and vice versa.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Peter Armand le Comte de Fontainemoreau in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 28th November 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PETER
ARMAND le Comte DE FONTAINEMOREAU, of London, Paris, and Brussels,
Patent Solicitor, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Peter Armand le Comte de Fontainemoreau, Her special license that I,
the said Peter Armand le Comte de Fontainemoreau, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Peter Armand le Comte de
Fontainemoreau, 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 of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE CONSTRUCTION OF SMOKE-CONSUMING FURNACES," communicated to me by a
foreigner residing abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Peter Armand le Comte de Fontainemoreau, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, 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 Peter Armand le Comte de Fontaine-
moreau, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement, reference being had to the annexed
Sheet of Drawings, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is
to say:-

page_text: The improvements consist in constructing the furnaces of locomotive or
stationary boilers with a peculiar arrangement of valves, levers, and flues or
pipes, so as to cause the smoke to return to the furnace to be consumed.
The furnaces are composed of two fire boxes, separated by a water
chamber, which, in the case of boilers of stationary engines, may be replaced
by a refractory brick partition, joined air-tight to the whole length of the
boiler. Each fire box or furnace is provided with a separate ash and smoke
box, and each smoke box is furnished with two orifices, one corresponding
direct with the chimney, and the other with a metallic pipe or flue, (which
flue in stationary engines may be made of brick,) for conducting the smoke
from the furnace last fed under the grate of the furnace previously fed, and
the smoke of which is already consumed. The openings of the smoke and
ash boxes are provided with valves corresponding with each other, and which,
by means of a lever or other suitable mechanism, may be opened and shut
alternately, to permit of the smoke from the furnace on the right being con-
ducted under the grate of the furnace on the left, and vice versa. By this
arrangement, the smoke of the furnace last fed is made to pass through the
fire of the furnace previously fed, which communicates with the chimney, and.
in which the coal is already reduced by combustion to coke without any
smoke. The chimney causes a draught of air to pass through the grate of
the furnace in communication with it, and as by this arrangement the ash box
is closed, the draught caused by the chimney draws the smoke through the
connecting pipe, which at one end communicates with the smoke box of the
furnace last fed, and at the other end with the opening in the ash box
previously fed; it becomes therefore evident that the smoke is consumed.
For the better understanding of the Invention communicated to me, I will
proceed to describe the Drawings hereto annexed.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a locomotive to which the improved furnace
is applied; Figure 2 is a front elevation of the same; Figure 3, section
through the smoke box; Figure 4, horizontal section through the pipes G, H,
of the smoke box; and Figure 5 is a view of the fire boxes in section. A, B,
fire boxes; J, water chamber separating the fire boxes; a, b, ash box, divided
into two parts by a wrought-iron plate n; F, G, pipes for conducting the
smoke into the ash boxes a, b; D, part of the smoke box, corresponding with
the fire box B; C, part of the smoke box, corresponding with the fire box A;
K, K', valves for closing the ash boxes a, b; F, G³, openings, corresponding
with the pipes F, G; 0, 0¹, orifices corresponding direct with the chimneys;
L, 1, slide valves for opening and closing alternately the openings F¹, O, and
01, G; N, lever working the valves K, K', and slides L, l. The fire boxes

page_text: A, B, are divided by means of a water chamber J placed vertically; the ash
pan is also divided by the sheet-iron plate n, which fits air-tight to the lower
part of the water chamber J and to the sides of the ash pan; by this means
for the same boiler there are two fire boxes A, B, with their respective ash
pans a, b. The ash pans a, b, are provided with clack valves K, K', which are
worked by means of a lever N. This lever being lowered in front, closes the
valve K' and opens the valve K, and vice versa. The smoke box is divided
into three parts, and closed air-tight by means of a vertical plate, and also
with a horizontal plate I, placed at the lowest height of the water in the boiler.
This horizontal plate is perforated with four holes F¹, O, O', G', which are
opened and shut by means of slide valves L, 1, put in motion by the lever N
and the rod M. By this arrangement the fire box A corresponds with the
smoke box C, and the fire box B with the smoke box D. Thus each fire box
has a special smoke box, and the chimney corresponds with the upper part E
of the smoke box. The orifices O, O¹, in the horizontal partition of the smoke
box correspond direct with the chimney, and the orifice F¹ corresponds by
means of the pipe F with the ash box a, and the orifice G¹ corresponds by
means of the pipe G with the ash box b. Thus, if the valve K¹ of the ash box
A is closed, the slide valve will close the orifice G¹ and open the orifice O¹,
which puts the fire box A in communication with the chimney, and at the
same time opens the valve K of the ash box b, and the slide valve L opens the
orifice F and closes the orifice O, and thereby intercepts the communication
between the furnace B and the chimney. The smoke from this furnace when
first fed with fuel being attracted by the draught produced in the chimney,
after passing over the furnace A enters through the pipe F into the ash box a,
thence through the fire first lighted in the furnace A, and becomes consumed.
As soon as one of the furnaces requires to be fed, the stoker opens the valve
of the ash box of the furnace to be fed.
Figures 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 are sectional views of the improved arrange-
ments for consuming smoke applied to the boilers of a stationary steam engine.
The gases disengaged by the combustion in the furnace A, supposed to be
recently fed, return by the side flue a, and there coming in contact with the
valve D, which intercepts their passage into the common pipe C, they then
enter the ash pit a', where, in consequence of the valve L being closed in
front, the gases by the action of the draught of the chimney pass through the
incandescent fuel in the furnace B and become ignited and consumed. The
products of combustion afterwards pass through the flues 6, and through the
common pipe C into the chimney, the valve D' intercepting their passage
into the ash pit 6'. As soon as the coal in the furnace A becomes red hot

page_text: the stoker by lowering the lever N opens the valve of the furnace B, which is
then fed with fuel. By this means the gases are made to pass through the
flues b, and through the opening of the valve D¹ into the ash pit b¹ of the
furnace A. The valve L' being closed, the said gases pass through the incan-
descent fuel in the furnace A, become consumed, and the products pass off
through the flues a, and through the common pipe C into the chimney, being
prevented from entering the ash pit a¹ by the valve D being closed. The
movement of the valves and registers serving to open and shut the openings
for the admission of air necessary for the combustion of the gases is obtained
by the horizontal shaft P, and the connecting rods Q, Q, for working the
valves D, D', and the connecting rods R, R', for actuating the valves L, L',
and the rods S, S¹, for the registers T, T¹. The horizontal shaft P is put in
action by the lever N, which the stoker lowers and raises alternately before
feeding the furnaces. The valves not being exposed to the direct action of
the furnaces, and being placed at a part where the heat is moderate, they last
a long time.
Having now described the nature of the Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine myself to the
details of construction, reserving the right to modify the same; but what I
claim as new and useful is, the improved construction of smoke-consuming
furnaces of locomotive or stationary boilers, with an arrangement of valves,
levers, pipes or flues, ash boxes or pits, as herein-before described, and repre-
sented in the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Peter Armand le Comte de Fontaine-
moreau, have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of
November, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
L DE FONTAINEMOREAU. (L.B.)