Improvements in Apparatus for Injecting Vapor or Gas into Furnaces.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 16th Ju'y, 1896-Acceptel, 22nd Aug., 1836
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Injecting Vapor or Gas into
Furnaces.
A communication from HOBART FORD ATKINSON, of 233 East Avenue, in the
City of Rochester, County of Monroe, State of New York, United States of
America, Gentleman.
I, PHILIP MIDDLETON JUSTICE, of 55 and 56 Chancery Lane, London, in
the County of Middlesex, Chartered Patent Agent, 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:
This invention relates to improvements in apparatus for injecting vapor or gas
into furnaces, hereinafter set forth, reference being had to the accompanying
drawings, in which :-
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of one of the nozzles ;
Fig. 2 is a vertical section thereof;
Fig. 3 is a top plan view;
Fig. 4 is a front elevation of a furnace showing the pipe devices used in
connection with the nozzle ;
Fig. 5 shows a view of a mechanism for controlling the supply of vapor or
gas; and
Fig. 6 is an enlarged vertical section on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5.
:
In order to produce more perfect combustion of fuel in furnaces, and to prevent
the production of smoke therefrom, it is well known that the injection of steam
or air or any other oxidizing vapor or gas into the fire space above the grate, at
the time when a fresh charge of fuel is placed upon the grate and for a short time
thereafter, is a sufficient means of effecting the desired result.
The great
difficulty, however, in the use of such apparatus has always been that the tip or nozzle
of the injector itself quickly burns off in the high heat to which it is exposed, and,
in cases where the water used in the boiler is charged with sediment, the slots or
perforations through which the injection occurs become filled with sediment or
incrustation, thus at times hastening the deterioration of the nozzle. In order to
obviate these difficulties, and to provide a nozzle which shall have a long life in the
high heat of the furnace, the device hereinafter described and claimed has been
produced.
In the drawings A is the pipe by which steam, or air under pressure, or a
mixture of steam and air, is conducted to a nozzle which is situated within the
furnace and above the grate. Upon the end of the pipe A. and inside the fire space
of the furnace, but preferably close inside the front wall thereof, is the nozzle B
provided with the depending water-holding tube or cup B' and having, above the
level of the top of the cup, a series of perforations through which the injected
steam, or air, or the mixture thereof, passes into the furnace. The water-holding
cup B' is made of sufficient depth and diameter to hold a body of water; and this
will vary in quantity according to the size of the furnace and the heat maintained
therein. I have found in several instances that a cup of from four to six inches in
depth and of a diameter of about three-quarters of an inch to one inch, holds
sufficient water for my purposes; but where very high heats are maintained and a
large quantity of oxidizing vapor or gas is necessary, these sizes may be
increased.

page_text: Outside of the furnace a pipé C is connected from a suitable water supply, such
as the tank C, Fig. 5, to the pipe A, and in said pipe C is placed a suitable check-
valve C, whereby back pressure from the pipe A will close the valve. A constant
but slow feed of water is provided into the pipe C, which, in some instances of use,
has been at the rate of from one to three drops a second. A suitable regulating
device is provided in the pipe C, such as the valve C. This water supply flows
into the pipe A and thence into the cup or pocket B.
The furnace D is provided with any suitable regulating apparatus, whereby, by
the opening of the furnace door, a blast of oxidizing vapor or gas is turned on in
the pipe A, and the blast is continued for a predetermined period after the door is
closed.
A
In the circuit of pipe A A¹ are interposed two connections & which are electric
insulators, whereby that portion of the pipe A between said insulators is electrically
disconnected from the remainder of the pipe circuit. A spring is attached to
the front plate of the furnace, which, when the door D is opened, makes an
electrical contact with the pipe A between the insulators 62 62, but when the door D'
closes, the spring 3 is moved away from the pipe and the contact is broken. A
valve G is placed in the circuit of pipe, and adjacent thereto is an electrical motor E
of any suitable form. Upon the main shaft e of said motor is a wheel e', provided
with an insulating spot 2 and an insulated cam ; a suitable insulated contact
spring presses upon the wheel and is electrically disconnected therefrom when
in contact with the insulating spot ; a lever e, suitably pivoted to a stationary
part of the apparatus, is operated by the cam e; the lever e operates the valve
stem c¹ of the valve G and serves to operate said valve. In the form of device
shown, the valve stem e is operated in one direction by a spring within the packing
box and is actuated in the other direction by the cam e' through the lever c.
battery F, or other suitable source of electrical energy, drives the motor E. A
rheostat H is introduced into the circuit passing through the motor, whereby the
rate of revolution of the motor may be varied if desired. The battery F has the
following connections:-The connection to the motor is constant from one pole of
the battery; the other pole of the battery is connected by the wire to the
circuit of pipe A A' outside of the portion between the insulators 62 62; a rheostat H
may be interposed in the wire f; from the connection fa side connection f
runs to the insulated contact spring e; that portion of the pipe A between the
insulators 2 is also connected to the motor E, as by the wire f³. The whole
device is at rest as shown in Fig. 5; the contact spring erests upon the insulating
spot e, and the spring 63 is out of contact with the pipe A. The furnace door
is now opened for supplying fuel to the grate and the furnace is then electrically
connected with that part of the pipe A between the insulators 62 62. The current
passes from the battery F through the connection f, into and through the motor;
thence through the wire into the insulated part of the pipe A;
through the spring b³ to the furnace; thence through the circuit of pipe outside
of said insulated part; and thence through the wire to the battery. The
motor E revolves and the contact spring et passes off from the insulated spot e² on
the wheel e'. As soon as the contact spring e comes into contact with the
uninsulated portion of the wheel e', a new set of counections is set up. The
stoking of the furnace having been finished, the door D' may be closed, thus
breaking the connection between the spring and the pipe A. The current
from the battery now passes into the motor through the wiref; thence through
the shafte into the wheel e; thence through the contact strip and the side
connection f into the connection and thence to the battery. The revolution
of the motor continues until the insulated spot e breaks the connection between
the wheel.el and the contact spring e, whereupon the motor stops. The came is
so set upon the shaft of the motor that, when the motor is at rest with the contact
spring upon the insulated spot e, the valve is completely closed and the supply
of steam to the nozzle is cut off. The revolution of the motor begins to open the
valve G as soon as the door D' is opened, thereby admitting a jet of vapor or
e¹

page_text: steam into the fire space. When the stoking is completed, the door is closed and
the valve remains open until the motor E has caused one complete revolution of
the cam e; at the end of said revolution of the cam, the valve is again closed..
Thus a mechanism is provided for controlling a supply of vapor or gas by the
opening and closing of the furnace door.
}
Upon opening the furnace door D¹, a blast of steam, or of air, or of mixed
steam and air, is turned on in the pipe A and the same is distributed over the fire-
space through the perforations of the nozzle B; a charge of fuel is placed upon.
the grate; the furnace door is closed; and, after the interval for which the
apparatus is set, the blast is shut off in the pipe A. During the period of
injection of the oxidizing vapor or gas, the nozzle B is kept cooler than the
temperature of the fire space by reason of its containing the constantly flowing
stream of vapor or gas, but as soon as this blast or stream is turned off, the nozzle
would, under ordinary circumstances, immediately become highly heated and would
melt or crack, or become otherwise seriously damaged in consequence. As soon as
the blast is shut off, water from the water supply flows through the pipe C and through
the pipe A into the cup B' and boiling therein keeps the whole of the tip or nozzle at
a temperature lower than one at which the deleterious effects above mentioned are
produced. The flow of water through the pipe C is stopped whenever the pressure of
the vapor or gas in the pipe A, at the point of union of the pipe C with the pipe A,
is sufficient to operate as an over-balancing back pressure upon the check-valve C¹.
There is therefore an alternation of the blast in the pipe A and of the flow of water
into the cup B'. The condensation of steam in the pipe A supplies water to the
cup B' during the continuance of the blast. The cup B' is preferably made of
wrought iron.
The broad claims herein are not limited to any specific form of nozzle, provided
the same has a water holding cup attached thereto located inside the furnace so
It will be
that steam may be generated from the water contained in the same.
seen that the boiling of the water in the water cup or pocket, produces au outward
blast through the perforations b and tends to blow out sediment or incrustation
which may collect therein. In fact, in actual use, the perforations 6 remain clean,
and this cleanness is attributed, in considerable part, to the effect of the steam
arising from the boiling water in the pocket B'.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondent I declare that what I claim is:-
1. In a smoke consuming furnace, a pipe conducting a supply of oxidizing vapor
or gas into the fire space, a nozzle on said pipe having a water cup located
inside the furnace whereby steam may be generated from the water contained in
said cup, and a water supply to said cup independent of the supply of oxidizing
vapor or gas.
2. In a smoke consuming furnace, a pipe extending into the fire space and con-
nected with a source of supply of oxidizing vapor or gas, a nozzle on said pipe
having a water cup located inside the furuace whereby steam may be generated
from the water contained in said cup, said cup being below the orifice of said
nozzle, and a water supply leading to said cup and adapted to feed water thereinto
when said supply of vapor or gas is shut off.
3. In a smoke consuming furnace, a pipe conducting oxidizing vapor or gas into
the fire space, a nozzle on said pipe having a water cup located inside the furnace
whereby steam may be generated from the water contained in said cup, means for
supplying water to said cup, means for supplying oxidizing vapor or gas to said
pipe and means for controlling said supply of water and said supply of vapor or gas
whereby the same are alternately turned on and shut off, the said supply of
or gas being controllable by opening and closing the furnace door.
vapor
4. In a smoke consuming furnace, a pipe conducting oxidizing vapor or gas into
the fire space, a nozzle on said pipe having a water-holding cup located inside the

page_text: furnace whereby steam may be generated from the water contained in said cup,
means for supplying water to said cup, means for supplying oxidizing vapor
or gas to said nozzle, and means for alternating said supply of water and said
supply of oxidizing vapor or gas controllable by opening and closing the furnace
door.
5. In a smoke consuming furnace, the pipe conducting oxidizing vapor or gas
into the fire space, means controllable by opening and closing the door for turning
on and shutting off said supply of vapor or gas, a water supply to said pipe
independent of the means for controlling said supply of vapor or gas, a nozzle
on said pipe located within the furnace and having a dependent tubular water cup
whereby the water therein is generated into steam, and a check-valve in the water
supply pipe, whereby the check-valve is closed when the supply of vapor or gas is
turned on and opens to admit water to said water cup when the supply of vapor or
gas is turned off.
Dated the 16th day of July 1896
PHILIP M. JUSTICE.