IMPROVED MEANS AND APPLIANCES FOR THE HEATING OF BOILERS AND OTHER SIMILAR VESSELS
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Gardner, of 18, Clifton Road, Holloway,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVED MEANS AND APPLIANCES FOR THE HEATING OF BOILERS AND OTHER
SIMILAR VESSELS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Gardner at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th March 1873.
I, HENRY GARDNER, of 18, Clifton Road, Holloway, in the County of
Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVED MEANS AND APPLIANCES FOR THE HEATING OF BOILERS
AND OTHER SIMILAR VESSELS," to be as follows:—
Although it is customary to regard the act of combustion which is
necessary for the generation of heat as the result of a process in which
the principal fuel burnt is that we see it perceptibly before us in the form

page_text: of coals, coke, wood, peat, wax, tallow, oil, or gas, &c., the truth is that
combustion is maintained by a combination of comparatively small
quantities of carbon or hydrogen derived from those substances with a
far larger quantity of oxygen supplied to the fire by the air in a form
invisible to our eyes, and therefore less generally appreciable. Con-
sequently, if we were accustomed to speak of the process of combustion
as one in which air is the principal, and carbon or hydrogen only the
auxiliary element, if we were to say that we burn air instead of saying
that we burn wood or coal, it would perhaps be more strictly accurate,
whilst at the same time this definition could not fail to lead to a closer
and more scientific examination of the conditions under which heat can
be most advantageously obtained. The air costs the consumer nothing;
coals on the other hand not only cost money but they at the same timo
supply heat in a state of great impurity mixed with sulphurous vapours.
and other deleterious substances, whilst all ordinary methods of utilizing
the carbon and hydrogen given out by them in the act of combustion
occasion a vast amount of waste, and their constituent elements exist in
a state of such intense aggregation that a large quantity of the heat
contained in them is expended in overcoming the attraction of the
particles of carbon or of hydrogen for each other. For example, one ton
of coals will generate on the average about thirty million British units
of heat, but the 9,000 cubic feet of gas obtained from the destructive
distillation of that amount of coal, viz., that part of the fuel which
supplies flame only represents about 8,400,000 units, and owing to the
manner in which coals are usually employed for heating purposes it is
impossible fully to apply their calorific power by radiation or direct
contact. At the same time a large part of the heat which is generated is
absorbed by the excessive volume of cold air drawn through the fire by
chimnics before it has given up even one half of the oxygen it contains,
or it is lost by the insufficient impregnation of carbon with oxygen,
whereby instead of carbonic acid carbonic oxide is formed with only one
quarter the calorific power of the former. These observations point to
the conclusion that if air could be impregnated with carbon and
hydrogen obtained in the gaseous form, a much more intimate combi-
nation of its oxygen with those elements would be arrived at, and conse-
quently a vastly increased calorific power would be generated from a
given quantity of the fuel, besides which the carburetted air could be so
applied as to utilize its heating powers by direct action and without
loss.

page_text: My Invention consists, firstly, in applying air combined with hydro-
carbon derived from mineral and other cheap oils or spirits as fuel to
heating of boilers for the generation of steam, for stationary, marine, and
locomotive or other engines, and also for heating vessels generally; the
said air being carburetted by passing through a vessel or vessels
containing hydrocarbon fluid or vapour, and the apparatus for thus
carburetting the air as an inflammable vapour being so constructed as to
form a separate apparatus from the boiler or furnace, substantially in
manner herein-after described.
For the purpose of heating boilers of the shape commonly known as
Cornish boilers, that is to say, boilers with internal flues, I convey the
carburetted air to the inside flue or flues of the boiler, and here I allow
it to escape through a number of small holes or burners so that on
ignition a great part of the flames may impinge or nearly impinge upon
the surface of the boiler. This is effected either by conveying a pipe or
pipes pierced with holes or slits sufficiently close to the sides of the boiler
for the purpose, and the holes may or may not be fitted with burners, or
otherwise the boiler flues may be fitted with a vessel constructed of metal
or fire-clay, or other suitable material capable of holding a considerable
quantity of air, and into which the carburetted air is driven from the
generator or carburator. This vessel is also pierced with holes (which may
or may not be of special construction, or with or without special burners
attached or fitted in thom) to allow of a sufficient escape of the car-
buretted air for ignition between the said vessel and the boiler, and for
the proper heating of the boiler; and this air may or may not be further
combined with non-carburetted air by adding a supply of the latter after
or before ignition by special conductors or other means (which air may
or may not be previously heated), and I prefer that the said vessel
should be constructed of a shape similar to but smaller than the fluc
within which it is fitted; or the air may be first discharged into or made
to fill a box, or case, or receiver, from whence it is conveyed into the
distribution pipes.
For the purpose of tubular boilers the supply pipe or pipes conveying
the carburetted air penetrate within or through the tubes, and allow the
air to escape at several points therein through holes or slits, or the air

page_text: For marine, or locomotive, or other tubular boilers I prefer to sub-
stitute for the usual system of tubes a system by which a very large
surface for receiving the heat by contact or radiation may be better
obtained, and by which consequently not alone a great economy of fuel,
but also diminished size in the boilers may be effected. For this purpose
the boiler should be so constructed as to allow of the air flames being
conveyed into a number of spaces within the outside limits of the boiler,
which may be either horizontal, vertical, curvilinear, or inclined, or all,
or either, and afford heating surfaces upon which the carburetted air
flames may wholly, partially, or nearly impinge. In these boilers the
air may
either be first discharged into or made to fill a receiver, or box,
or case, from whence it would pass into the distribution pipes fixed in the
heating spaces of the boiler, or it may be driven at once from the car-
buretting apparatus into the distribution pipes, from which it will escape
through small holes or slits to the heating surface of the boiler; and in
all cases after leaving the carburator it may be mixed with such
additional quantity of atmospheric air, as may be suitable for generating
the requisite amount of heat either before or after leaving the carburetted
air receiver or the distribution pipes. This boiler may also, when found
convenient, be so constructed as to form a series of compartments con-
nected one with the other and holding water, between which the
carburetted air would circulate, and thus a very large radiation
heating surface would be obtained, and at the same time strength
added to the boiler so that thinner metal might be safely used,
and the boiler would be heated with a less expenditure of carburetted
air or fuel.
It is evident that the system described for conveying carburetted
air by means of pipes or receivers on to the internal surface of vessels
used as boilers, and obtaining thereby direct contact or powerful
radiation of the flames upon the said internal surfaces is equally
applicable for use for any combustible and heat producing gas or
vapour.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Gardner in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 17th September 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
GARDNER, of 18, Clifton Road, Holloway, in the County of Middlesex,
Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-sixth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Henry Gardner, Her special licence that I, the
said Henry Gardner, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Henry Gardner, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands,
and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVED MEANS AND APPLIANCES FOR
THE HEATING OF BOILERS AND OTHER SIMILAR VESSELS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Henry Gardner, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of
their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be
performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Gardner, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the
Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say:-
Although it is customary to regard the act of combustion which is
necessary for the generation of heat as the result of a process in which
the principal fuel burnt is that we see perceptibly before us in the form
of coals, coke, wood, peat, wax, tallow, oil, or gas, &c., the truth is that

page_text: combustion is maintained by a combination of comparatively small
quantities of carbon or hydrogen derived from those substances with a
far larger quantity of oxygen supplied to the fire by the air in a form
invisible to our eyes, and therefore less generally appreciable. Con-
sequently, if we were accustomed to speak of the process of combustion
as one in which air is the principal, and carbon or hydrogen only the
auxiliary element, if we were to say that we burn air instead of saying
that we burn wood or coal, it would perhaps be more strictly accurate,
whilst at the same time this definition could not fail to lead to a closer
and more scientific examination of the conditions under which heat can
be most advantageously obtained. The air costs the consumer nothing;
coals on the other hand not only cost money, but they at the same time
supply heat in a state of great impurity mixed with sulphurous vapours
and other deleterious substances, whilst all ordinary methods of utilizing
the carbon and hydrogen given out by them in the act of combustion
occasion a vast amount of waste, and their constituent elements exist in
a state of such intense aggregation that a large quantity of the heat.
contained in them is expended in overcoming the attraction of the
particles of carbon or of hydrogen for each other. For example, onc ton
of coals will generate on the average about thirty million British units
of heat, but the 9,000 cubic feet of gas obtained from the destructive
distillation of that amount of coal, viz., that part of the fuel which
supplies flame only represents about 8,400,000 units, and owing to the
manner in which coals are usually employed for heating purposes, it is
impossible fully to apply their calorific power by radiation or direct
contact. At the same time a large part of the heat which is generated
is absorbed by the excessive volume of cold air drawn through the firo
by chimnies before it has given up even one half of the oxygen it
contains, or it is lost by the insufficient impregnation of carbon with
oxygen, whereby instead of carbonic acid carbonic oxide is formed with
only one quarter the calorific power of the former. These observations
point to the conclusion that if air could be impregnated with carbon and
hydrogen obtained in the gaseous form, a much more intimate combi-
nation of its oxygen with those elements would be arrived at, and con-
sequently a vastly increased calorific power would be generated from a
given quantity of the fuel, besides which the carburetted air could be so
applied as to utilise its heating powers by direct action and without
loca

page_text: My Invention consists, first, in applying air combined with hydrocarbon
derived from mineral and other cheap oils or spirits, as fuel, to the
heating of boilers for the generation of steam for stationary, marine, and
locomotive or other engines; and also for heating vessels generally, the
said air being carburetted by passing through a vessel or vessels.
containing hydrocarbon fluid or vapour, and the apparatus for thus
carburetting the air as an inflammable vapour being so constructed as
to form a separate apparatus from the boiler or furnace.
For the purpose of heating boilers of the shape commonly known as
Cornish boilers, that is to say, boilers with internal flues, as in Figures 1
and 2 of the annexed Drawings, I convey the carburetted air to the
inside flue or flues of the boiler, and here I allow it to escape through a
number of small holes or burners, so that on ignition a great part of the
flames may impinge or nearly impinge upon the surface of the boiler.
This is effected either by conveying a pipe a or pipes pierced with holes or
slits sufficiently close to the sides of the boiler for the purpose, and the
holes may or may not be fitted with burners or otherwise, the boiler
flues may be fitted with a vessel b, Figures 3 and 4, constructed of
metal or fire-clay or other suitable material capable of holding a con-
siderable quantity of air, and into which the carburetted air is driven
from the generator or carburator. This vessel is also pierced with holes
(which may or may not be of special construction, or with or without
special burners attached or fitted in them) to allow of a sufficient escape
of the carburetted air for ignition between the said vessel and the boiler,
and for the proper heating of the boiler; and this air may or may not be
further combined with non-carburetted air by adding a supply of the
latter after or before ignition by special conductors or other means, and
I prefer that the said vessel should be constructed of a shape similar to
but smaller than the flue within which it is fitted; or the air may be
first discharged into or made to fill a box, or case, or receiver, from
whence it is conveyed into the distribution pipes.
For the purpose of tubular boilers the supply pipe or pipes conveying
the carburetted air may penetrate within, as in Figures 5 and 6, or
through the tubes, as in Figures 7 and 8, and allow the air to escape at
several points therein through holes or slits, or the air may be first dis-
charged into a receiver, box, case, or chimney, as in Figures 5, 6, 7,
and 8, outside the tubes, and thence similarly into the tubes.

page_text: For marine, or locomotive, or other tubular boilers, I prefer to
substitute for the usual system of tubes a system by which a very large
surface for receiving the heat by contact or radiation may be better
obtained, and by which consequently not alone a great economy of fuel
but also diminished size in the boilers may be effected. For this purpose
the boiler should be so constructed as to allow of the air flames being
conveyed into a number of spaces within the outside limits of the boiler
which may be either horizontal, vertical, curvilinear, or inclined, as in
Figure 9, or all, or either, and afford heating surfaces upon which the
carburetted air flames may wholly, partially, or nearly impinge. In
these boilers the air may either be first discharged into or made to fill a
receiver, or box, or case, from whence it would pass into the distribution
pipes fixed in the heating spaces of the boiler, or it may be driven at
once from the carburetting apparatus into the distribution pipes from
which it will escape through small holes or slits to the heating surface of
the boiler; and in all cases after leaving the carburator it may be mixed
with such additional quantity of atmospheric air as may be suitable for
generating the requisite amount of heat either before or after leaving
the carburetted air receiver or the distribution pipes. This boiler may
also, when found convenient, be so constructed as to form a series of
compartments connected one with the other and holding water, between
which the carburetted air would circulate, and thus a very large radiation
heating surface would be obtained, and at the same time strength added
to the boiler so that thinner metal might be safely used, and the boiler
would be heated with a less expenditure of carburetted air or fuel.
With the so called wagon boilers and such other boilers as are or may be
constructed without internal flues or tubes, the carburetted air must be
conveyed to their outer surface, generally underneath, by means of
distribution pipes or receivers, or boxes pierced with holes with or
without burners fitted to them..
It is evident that the system described for conveying carburetted air
by means of pipes or receivers into the internal surface of vessels used
as boilers, and obtaining thereby direct contact or powerful radiation of
the flames upon the said internal surfaces is equally applicable for use
for any combustible and heat producing gas or vapour.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim, the

page_text: heating of boilers and other similar vessels in the manner shown by a
gas composed of air impregnated with carbon and hydrogen derived
from mineral or other cheap oils or spirits as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Gardner, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of September One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.