Improvements in Steam Boilers, and Furnaces therefor.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 11th Jan., 1895-Accepted, 18th May, 1895
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Steam Boilers, and Furnaces therefor.
We EUGENE SHYDECKER of No. 612 Fourth Street, in the City and County
of San Francisco, State of California U.S.A., Mechanical Engineer, and HARVEY
S. BROWN, of North West Corner, Montgomery and Market Streets in the City
and County of San Francisco, State of California, U.S.A., Attorney-at-Law,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
Our invention relates to improvements in steam boilers and in furnaces designed
to be used therewith. It consists in details of construction which will be more
fully explained by reference to the accompanying drawings, upon which―
Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section taken through the boiler and furnace,
showing also an end view of an engine cylinder.
Figure 2 is a transverse section taken through -x of Figure 1.
Figure 3 is a transverse section of the fire grates and the lower part of the boiler
taken through y-y of Figure 1.
Figure 4 is a partial section taken through z-z of Figure 1.
Figure 5 is an enlarged longitudinal vertical section of the grate bars and
chamber in front with which they connect.
Figure 6 is a transverse section of the grate bars showing the distributing plates
beneath.
A is a boiler having a fire-place or furnace B beneath the front end, a chamber C
at the rear technically called a "combustion chamber," into which the products
of combustion from the fire-place are carried as will be hereafter described,
and return tubes D through the boiler, through which the products of combustion
pass to a chamber E at the front of the boiler thence returning again through
tubes D' to the chimney or smoke-stack F which extends upwardly at the rear of
the boiler and is separated from the chamber C by a movable non-conducting plate
or damper G.
This movable damper may be opened when a fire is to be started so as to give a
direct draft from the furnace to the chimney or whenever the heat is so great as to
make steam too rapidly, it may be opened so that the heat will pass directly up
the chimney and not through the flues D and D' of the boiler.
These flues D and D' are designed to pass through the water space of the boiler,
and in order to increase the heating capacity, we have shown an electrical heater
which consists of a series of large tubes H passing longitudinally through the
boiler between the tubes D and D. There may be one, two, or more series of the
tubes Has is found desirable.
Within these tubes are coils of wire, as shown at I, these coils being so arranged
as to conduct a current of electricity which is brought to them by means of suitable
wires as shown at J, Figure 1.
The rear ends of the tubes H are permanently closed, passing through or into the
rear end of the boiler as shown in Figure 1, while the front ends open into
the chamber or space E at the front, and may be reached by removing a door or
cover K which normally closes the chamber E.
The coils I are formed around a central core, and may be surrounded by
auy suitable heat diffusing medium molded into proper form to fit loosely within the
tubes H, so that whenever it is desired, the coils I may be drawn out from the tubes
for repairs or inspection, by removing the door K and disconnecting the wires J.

page_text: When in operation a powerful current of electricity from a dynamo or other
source of supply is passed through the wires within these tubes, and as the wires are
so proportioned to the current passing that they offer a considerable resistance, they
are heated to a high temperature, and the heat thus produced is diffused through the
surrounding coating, and the tubes H within which the coils are contained, so that
the water surrounding these tubes receives the heat thus produced, and the
additional heat from this source will correspondingly reduce the amount of fuel
necessary to be used upon the grate.
Within the upper part of the boiler and in the steam space thereof is a steam
drum L, of desirable size, suitably supported entirely within the main boiler.
This steam drum has tubes or flues M passing through it, open at both ends,
so that the steam produced within the main boiler A, will pass freely through
the tubes M.
N is a pipe opening at one end in the upper part of the boiler A, and extending
downward below the drum L. so that its opposite end opens into the interior of this
drum L.
The steam which arises from the water within the boiler is taken from the
extreme upper part of the boiler and delivered into the drum L where it is
essentially separated from the wet steam continually arising from the boiling water
in the main boiler.
This steam thus separated is dried out by the heat of the steam surrounding this
interior drum L, and also passing through the tubes M so that it is to a certain
extent super-heated by being separated from the direct contact with the wet steam
continually arising within the main boiler.
O is a pipe leading from the opposite end of the drum L to the engine P which
it is employed to propel.
The engine cylinder is also jacketed with an euclosing casing of wire coils
embedded in a suitable heat diffusing medium, and a current of electricity passed
through these coils, keeps the exterior of the cylinder heated to such a temperature
as to prevent a condensation of steam within the cylinder.
The electricity for this purpose may be generated by a dynamo driven
directly from the engine, and if so developed, can only be used after steam has been
raised in the boiler by means of a fire in the furnace, after which the electrical
current may be employed when the engine is started, to reduce the amount of fuel
necessary, and keep a more uniform and higher pressure.
Any water which may condense within the drum L can be drawn off by means of
a cock Q which is fixed in the pipe opening out from the drum L through the end
of the boiler A and through the surrounding masonry in which the boiler is set.
The grates R in the furnace are made hollow or tubular, as shown plainly
in Figures 1 and 5, and the lower part of the grate bars has openings S made
in them through which steam is allowed to escape as will be hereafter described.
The front ends of the grate bars are closed, the rear ends are open and are
fitted to and supported in openings T, Figure 4, made in the front wall of a
chamber U.
Exhaust steam from the cylinder is led through a pipe or pipes V and is delivered
into the chamber U through distributing nozzles a fixed upon the end of the pipe V
so that steam delivered into this chamber will pass into the hollow grate bars Rand
discharge through the passages S in these bars, and thus produce a partial vacuum
or aspiration that will draw the smoke downwardly on either side of the bars from
the grate.
Below each bar is a plate extending longitudinally and suitably supported so as
to receive the impact of steam discharging through the openings in the lower part
of the grate, and the steam is spread and distributed by its impact against these
plates and thence with any smoke or unconsumed gases which have been drawn down,
rises up between the grate bars into the fuel which is supported upon them, while
the intense heat of the fuel will decompose the vapor and produce hydrogen,
which serves to increase the heat within the furnace.

page_text: Through the masonry which forms the rear of the furnace is made an inclined
passage c. one end of which opens just above the grate, extending the full width,
and the other and rear end opens into the lower part of the combustion chamber C,
being narrowed about one-half at the rear end of this passage, where it also has a
downward curvature, as shown at c', so that the products of combustion, passing
through the passage, are thrown downward at this point before being delivered
into the chamber C, and move more rapidly by reason of the concentration.
Above this passage c is a chamber situated beneath the boiler and into
this chamber open pipes e bringing exhaust steam from the cylinders and having jet
nozzles upon their ends so that the steam is distributed through the chamber d.
Inclined passages g are made through the bottom of this chamber and opening
into the passage c so that the steam which is super-heated by its discharge into this
chamber, is delivered through these passages g and mingles with the products of
combustion in the inclined passage e c'.
The inclination of the passages 9 is such that the discharge is in the direction of
the flow of the current within the chamber d, and they thus assist in the draft.
hare side passages made in the masonry upon each side of the furnace and leading
from the chamber U, so as to deliver any surplus steam from the chamber U
into the chamber d from which it passes through the passages 9 as previously
described.
i is a pipe leading from the exhaust of the engine and connecting with one of the
four lowermost flues D2 of the boiler, as shown in Figures 1 and 4. As the bottom
of a boiler is always cooler than the upper part, or even the exhaust steam, this
steam is returned back and forward through these flues, and its heat is imparted to
the water in the lower part of the boiler, after which it escapes through th
discharge nozzle k.
By this means a part of the exhaust steam is utilized to impart heat to the cooler
water in the bottom of the boiler, and a part to assist in the combustion of the fuel
and in the draft through various parts of the heat passages of the furnace and boiler,
and by means of these steam jets the draft can be increased or diminished at will,
the whole producing a very perfect and complete means for generating steam.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1st. A main boiler having flues or heat passages in the lower and middle section,
and supplemental tubes of larger diameter with electrical coils removably fixed
within them through which a current of electricity may be passed so as to heat
the tubes by reason of a resistance within the coils, a drum contained within the
steam space of the boiler having tubes extending through it for the free circulation
of steam, pipes by which steam is admitted into the interior of a drum from
the upper part of the main boiler and delivered from the opposite end to pass to the
engine.
2nd. An engine boiler containing flues for the passage of the furnace heat and
front and rear combustion chambers with which said flues connect, and a drum
contained within the steam space in the upper part of the boiler, a furnace for the
reception of fuel having hollow grate bars closed at one end and communicating
at the other end with a transverse chamber, into which exhaust steam from
the engine is delivered, openings in the lower part of the grate bars through
which a portion of said steam is discharged into the ash-pit, and distributing
plates beneath the bars whereby it is distributed so as to arise between the bars
into the incandescent fuel thereon, a converging passage leading from the
furnace to the rear combustion chamber, a chamber situated above said passage
between it and the rear portion of the boiler, pipes by which exhaust steam is
delivered into said chamber, inclined passages through which said steam is discharged
into the converging passage leading from the furnace to the rear combustion
chamber.

page_text: 3rd. A boiler consisting of a main outer shell set in masonry having combustion
chambers at either end, and a furnace beneath, a passage by which products
of combustion are led from the furnace to the rear combustion chamber, and a means
for mingling exbaust steam with said products of combustion, a movable damper or
partition, by which the rear combustion chamber may be separated into two parts,
one above the other, flues through the lower part of the main shell of the boiler
through which the products of combustion are returned from the lower part of the
rear combustion chamber to the front combustion chamber, other flues in the upper
part of the water space of the boiler through which the products of combustion pass
from the front to the rear chamber and thence to the chimney, pipes leading
into the lowermost flues of the boiler, whereby the exhaust steam is circulated
through the cooler water space of the boiler before escaping.
Dated this Eleventh day of January 1895.
GEDGE & FEENY,
Agents.