An Improved Process of and Apparatus for Facilitating the Burning of Poor Coal and the like, chiefly applicable for Use in Gas Producers.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Aug., 1896-Accepted, 14th Nov., 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Process of and Apparatus for Facilitating the Burning
of Poor Coal and the like, chiefly applicable for Use in Gas
Producers.
I, LEON BEMELMANS, of Tamines, in the Kingdom of Belgium, Engineer, 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 :-
In industrial furnaces, wherein poor coal or brown coal is burnt the easy and
regular passage of air into the furnaces and into the ash pits is often prevented 'by
the materials settling therein, whether this settling takes place in the fuel.or
whether it takes place in the ashes at the base of the furnace, naturally or
artificially, as for instance in gas producers.
The object of the present invention is to remedy this inconvenience, and the
process consists in constantly withdrawing the ashes and thus loosen from below
the upper charges, then in introducing air above the ashes at the base of the
combustion zone.
In the accompanying drawing I have shown by way of example an apparatus, by
the aid of which the improved process is carried into practice.
Figure 1 is a vertical section of an annular gas producer having a rotary furnace
with my improvements applied thereto.
Figure 2 is a vertical section of a modified construction of the gas producer
represented in Figure 1 ; and
Figure 3.is a vertical section of a gas producer the furnace of which is cylindrical,
but the casing of which does not turn.
The base of the furnace (Figure 1) is contracted to the form of an annular trough
by means of conical surfaces T T which have the effect that all the materials of
the furnace are discharged into a mill having a lower head or nut E G, one of the
sides of which of course turns about the vertical axis of the mill. This mill
receives the ashes, discharges them, and crushes them if necessary. Below the mill.
these ashes are supported by a circular table H which prevents them from passing
too quickly through the spout of the mill. Numerous scrapers I which are not
high and turn with the movable part of the mill cause a small quantity of ashes to
fall constantly down from.the table into an ash box K, thus making room for the
descent of fuel which is instantly loosened so that the air can easily pass even
through small pieces of brown coal.
But the mill, acting upon the ashes, compresses them and thus hinders the
passage of air; it is for this reason that the lower part of the furnace is contracted
by conical surfaces T T¹. If the air supply is moistened, the conical surfaces T T₁
may be made of cast metal, as, when cooled by moist air, there is much less risk of
burning than when the air is dry. 1 place the mill lower, in order to provide
annular passages between the edges of E G, prolonged to the rear of the conical
surfaces T T either on both sides as in the case of Figure 2, or on one side as in
the case of Figure 1, along which passages the ashes could not pass upwards and
consequently could not move, and through which the air enters the furnace.
When the air is caused to pass from one side only, for example through S (Figure 1),
the conical surface on that side, say T, is only of cast-metal. The other conical
surface T is of refractory materials. In the case of Figure 2 the air coming from
both sides the conical surfaces T are likewise made of cast metal.

page_text: This invention is more particularly applicable to gas producers, the thickness
of the fuel therein being greater than in ordinary furnaces. In the example
represented in Figure 1 the furnace is annular, the centre X is fixed, the casing Z
is movable and dips into the ash box K, where it carries pallets to convey the ashes
into the pit. The conical surface T, the outer wall G of the mill, and the scrapers
form one piece with the casing Z and turn with it.
It is however not necessary for the furnace D to be annular, nor for the casing Z
to turn; it is sufficient for it to be cylindrical, as represented in Figure 3. The
conical surfaces are then reduced to a cast-metal front, one part T of which turns
with the outer shell G of the mill and the other part T' of which is fixed to the
casing and keeps a portion of the coal immovable; the movable part, the outer
shell G of the mill and the scrapers I turning by means of a toothed crown M and
a pinion F operated from the outside. In this case the air passes only through the
free ring, enters the movable side G of the mill and the conical surface T.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
First. A process for burning fuel which settles, which consists in withdrawing, at
very short intervals or continually, small quantities of ashes, and introducing the
air from the furnace above the settled ashes.
Second. For carrying into practice the process set forth in the first claim, in a
rotary gas producer, such as represented by way of example in Figure 1, a special
arrangement characterized by a contraction of the furnace at its base, this
contraction being obtained with the aid of conical surfaces T of cast metal cooled
by the air which feeds the furnace, to the rear of which the turning walls G of the
mill are prolonged, the air then passing between T and G, by an annular table H
upon which the lower part of the ashes rests; and by the movable scrapers I
removing regularly layers of ashes from the table H, the contracted cone T and the
scrapers I participating in the turning movement of the outer shell G of the mill.
Third. The arrangement set forth in the second claim applied to a rotary annular
gas producer with a double inlet of air, such as represented by way of example in
Figure 2.
Fourth. The arrangements set forth in the second claim, applied to a gas
producer having a cylindrical furnace and a fixed casing, such as is represented by
way of example in Figure 3, the conical surfaces T being in this case replaced by
a front T T turning in part with the scrapers I, and the outer shell G of the mill,
the other part remaining stationary, the movable part being actuated by a pinion
driven from the outside.
Dated this 1st day of A 1000
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.