Improved Means of Utilising Waste or other Gaseous Products of Combustion.
Year: 1884

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improved Means of Utilising Waste or other Gaseous Products
of Combustion.
EMIL BIEDERMANN of 32 The Grove, Clapham Road, County of Surrey, Engineer
and ERNEST WILLIAM HARVEY of Thornlie Park Villa, Wishaw N.B. Engineer do
hereby declare the nature of our invention for IMPROVED MEANS OF UTILISING
WASTE OR OTHER GASEOUS PRODUCTS OF COMBUSTION to be as follows:-
In our provisional Specification No. 12809 dated the 25th of September 1884 we
described a method of utilizing waste gaseous products of combustion from furnaces
and other sources.
The present invention relates to improvements on this method having as their
object the utilizing of the carbon contained in waste or other gaseous products of
combustion from furnaces, so that it may serve again for combustion.
This we effect in the following manner-we employ one or more chambers
fitted with suitable means for charging into it fuel-such as coal, coke or anthracite,
and having also suitable openings for removal of ash. The fuel may be first raised
to a state of incandescence, either by admission of atmospheric air, as in ordinary
Gas Producers, or by heat applied externally to these chambers.
Through. or over, this hot fuel we pass, by means of an artificial draught, such
as is produced by a steam-jet, fan or blower, a portion of the hot waste, or other
gaseous products of combustion, either with or without a limited supply of air, for
The purpose of converting the carbonic anhydride contained in the gaseous products
of combustion. into carbonic oxide, which is returned, with other gases présent, to
the furnace to be burnt in the usual manner.
In furnaces working at a high temperature-such as regenerative gas furnaces-
iwo or two sets of such chambers may be used, and the direction of the current in
which the gaseous products of combustion flow through them, may be reversed
from time to time, so that one chamber or set of chambers, acts as a converter or
converters, in treating the gaseous products of combustion as described, and the
other chamber or set of chambers acts as a regenerator or regenerators, for impart-
ing heat to the combustible gases before they enter the heating chamber or furnace
proper. to be burnt in the usual manner.

page_text: As only a portion of the gaseous products of combustion is operated upon for
conversion of the carbonic anhydride contained therein into carbonic oxide, the
remainder may be passed through a regenerator in order to heat the air subse-
quently required for combustion of the gas. This may be effected in the way
usually adopted in regenerative Gas Furnaces.
Additional heat when required may be imparted to the above named chambers,
by causing this latter portion of the waste gases to circulate externally round
them, by means of suitable flues before passing off to chimney.
EMIL BIEDERMANN.
ERNEST WILLIAM HARVEY.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Means of Utilising Wasto or other Gaseous Products
of Combustion.
·.
We, EMIL BIEDERMANN and ERNEST WILLIAM HARVEY of 32, the Grove,
Clapham Road in the County of Surrey do hereby declare the nature of our
invention for IMPROVED MEANS OF UTILISING WASTE OR OTHER GASEOUS PRO-
DUCTS OF COMBUSTION" and in what manner the same is to be performed to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:—
It has been proposed to utilise gaseous products of combustion from furnaces by
causing them to pass through incandescent fuel, so that the carbonic anhydride
which they contain may become converted into carbonic oxide capable of serving
for combustion. Our invention relates to means of thus utilising products of
combustion as they escape in a highly heated state from regenerative gas furnaces.
For this purpose we provide near the furnace a chamber arranged with suitable
means for charging it with fuel, such as coal, coke or anthracite, and for removing
ash, and with inlet and outlet passages for the gases. Having first raised the fuel
to a state of incandescence, which may be done by admission of air as in ordinary
gas producers, we, by means of an artificial draught which may be produced by a
jet of steam or gas, or by a fan or blower, cause to pass through the hot fuel a
portion of the hot gaseous products of combustion from the furnace, these having
themselves sufficient heat to maintain the fuel at a temperature suitable for
conversion of the carbonic anhydride into carbonic oxide, which with other gases
produced is returned to the furnace to burn therein. Two fuel chambers may be
employed-io operate alternately in the following manner. While the one chamber
is acting as above described for conversion of carbonic anhydride into carbonic
oxide, the other chamber containing highly heated fuel may act as a regenerator
heating the combustible gases passed through it before they enter the furnace.
only a portion of the gaseous products of combustion can be treated in the manner
described, the remainder is passed through a regenerator for the purpose of heating
the air supply of the furnace in the usual way.
As
The forms and arrangements of the chamber or chambers may be varied. The
accompanying drawings show several arrangements as examples illustrating how
our invention may be carried out in practice.
Figs. and are longitudinal sections and Fig. 2 is a transverse section shewing
our invention applied to a retort furnace. From the upper chamber containing the
retorts Ra portion of the gaseous products of combustion is caused by means of a
jet B of steam or gas to descend a flue A to the mass of hot fuel F through which
it passes, so that the carbonic anhydride which it contains by taking up additional
carbon from the fuel becomes converted into carbonic oxide. This with the other
rases produced ascends to the retort chamber where they are burned with the hot
ir supplied through the regenerators SS. C is a passage that can be opened when
required for admitting air or stirring the fuel. D is a door for removal of ash, and E
he opening for feeding the fuel, which in this case may be the hot coke as it is.
rawn from the retorts R. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section and Fig. 4a trausverse

page_text: section of a retort furnace operating as already described with reference to Figs. 1
and 2, the feed opening E being in this case made through the bottom of the
retort R.
Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are sections shewing several forms of chambers and their
passages suited for operating in correspondence with the alternating action of the
regenerators of a regenerative gas furnace. In these the passages are arranged
symmetrically on each side of the fuel chamber, and jets B Bor valves V Vi
and W W are provided in duplicate so as to direct the current either as shewn in
the figures or in the opposite way. Thus when the regenerator R on the one
side is being heated by the products of combustion from the furnace, and the
regenerator R which had been previously heated is heating the air passing to the
furnace; a portion of the products from the furnace is caused to pass through
the hot fuel in the direction shewn. When the action of the regenerators_is
reversed, the jets and valves are also reversed to send the products in the opposite
direction through F.
Fig. 8 is a section of a regenerative gas furnace to which two fuel chambers F F
are applied, and Fig. 9 is a longitudinal section of one of these chambers. While a
portion of the products from the furnace is caused to descend the flue A and to pass
through the hot fuel F, the combustible gases produced in the chamber F along
with such as may be supplied by a pipe K from another source are caused to pass
along a cross flue 11 and down through the previously heated fuel in F' so as to
become heated before they ascend the flue A to the furnace. The current through
F and F may be caused by a jet B in the flue H, this jet being directed in the
opposite way when the regenerators R R are reversed." G are passages for
admitting air if required.
Figs. 10 and 11 shew a similar arrangement with the upper part of the fuel
chambers F and F made with cross partitions P P with openings through them so
that the hydrocarbons evolved from the upper layers of the fuel pass down with
the products from the furnace and through the hot fuel below. These hydrocarbon
products might however be led off separately as shewn in Fig. 12. by a flue L for
ihat purpose,
i
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what
we claim is :-
1. In combination with a regenerative gas furnace a chamber or chambers
containing fuel with passages so arranged that a portion of the hot gases, after
doing work in the furnace, is caused to pass through the fuel heating it or
maintaining its heat, so that the carbonic anhydride of the products is converted
into carbonic oxide available for combustion, substantially as described.
2. In combination with a regenerative gas furnace a pair of fuel chambers with
passages so arranged as to work alternately for converting carbonic anhydride of
the furnace products into carbonic oxide, and for heating the gas supplied to the
furnace, substantially as described.
Dated this 17th day of August 1883
ABEL & IMRAY.
Agents for the Applicants.
28. Southampton Buildings,
London, W.C.