MENTS IN AND RELATING TO THE GENERATION AND APPLICATION OF OXYGEN AND HYDROGEN GASES FOR COMBUSTION IN STEAM BOILER AND OTHER FURNACES, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED FOR SUCH GENERATION AND APPLICATION."
Year: 1879

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by John Rochford at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 14th November 1879.
JOHN ROCHFORD, of Kingstown, in the County of Dublin, and of 15, Water
" IMPROVE-
Street, Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanical Engineer.
MENTS IN AND RELATING TO THE GENERATION AND APPLICATION OF OXYGEN AND
HYDROGEN GASES FOR COMBUSTION IN STEAM BOILER AND OTHER FURNACES,
AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED FOR SUCH GENERATION AND APPLICATION."
My Invention has for its object the generation of and application in a particular,
and I believe novel, manner of oxygen and hydrogen gases to be used separately,
or in conjunction, or mixed, for combustion in steam boiler and other furnaces.
As oxygen gas is the great and main support of combustion, it is by my
Invention supplied in requisite quantity to furnaces of, say, steam boilers, where
the coal or other fuel is consumed.
According to my Invention I pass a stream of steam, regulated by a suitable
valve, through a system of terra cotta or other earthenware pipes made hot. The
terra cotta or other earthenware pipes are laid along the sides or other places
of different forms of furnaces, stoves, or cupolas, and are provided with a number
of small holes, through which the decomposed steam passes. It is known that
steam decomposed by passage through hot terra cotta or other earthenware pipes
produces oxygen gas; thus oxygen gas is supplied through the perforated pipes,
such gas being generated by the decomposition of the steam.
In the further carrying out of my Invention I pass steam through iron pipes
arranged in the furnace, stove, or cupola, in manner similar to the terra cotta or other
earthenware pipes. The passage of steam through these iron pipes, which become
hot, decomposes the steam and produces hydrogen gas, which issues from the pipe
in like manner to the oxygen gas generated in the terra cotta or other earthenware
pipe, namely, through holes provided therefor. The admixture of the oxygen and
hydrogen gases, and the ignition thereof, produces a flame of intense heat, which
may be caused to play upon any suitable part of the furnace, the point of contact
being preferably protected by fire clay slabs or tiles.
In carrying my Invention into practice, the oxygen and hydrogen gases generated
as before described may be used separately for combustion in furnaces, or in
combination for combustion in furnaces, either in the furnaces in which the gases

page_text: are generated, or they may be generated in one furnace and consumed in a separate
chamber or furnace, such furnace being protected from the oxyhydrogen flame by
fire tiles, and if necessary a steam jet may be used to diffuse the heat.
In the further carrying out of my Invention, I form the furnace bridge of a terra
cotta or other earthenware chamber perforated with holes, and connected to the
terra cotta or other earthenware pipes running inside of the furnace. The steam
passes through the terra cotta or other earthenware pipes into the terra cotta or
other earthenware hollow bridge, and issues from the terra cotta or other earthen-
ware pipes and bridge in the form of oxygen, and is then consumed in the furnace
with great advantage; or the bridge may be so arranged as to be able to receive
oxygen and hydrogen, should the two gases be required for the particular kind of
fuel, or pipes containing the gases may be placed any where in the furnace or
combustion chamber that may be required for the proper combustion of gases and
saving of fuel.