Improved Method of and Apparatus for Treating the Smoke of Factory and other Chimneys for the Purpose of Rendering the same Innocuous.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 10th Jan., 1891
Complete Specification Left, 5th Mar., 1891-Accepted, 11th Apr., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improved Method of and Apparatus for Treating the Smoke of
Factory and other Chimneys for the Purpose of Rendering the
same Innocuous.
I, EDWARD RICHARD SALWEY, of 7, Stephen Street, in the City and County
of Bristol, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention has for its object to purify the smoke of factory and other
chimneys before discharge into the atmosphere. The purification of the smoke.is
effected under this invention by the injection into the chimney at any suitable point
therein, preferably towards the top, of a film or a series of jets of steam, the steam
being conducted to the inlet by a steam pipe carried up outside the chimney. The
steam, at suitable pressure, is directed to pass horizontally across the chimney, that
is to say, at a right angle, or approximately so, to the vertical axis of the
chimney.
It is received at the opposite side in a chamber supported on a bracket fixed
outside the chimney.
The smoke ascending in the chimney is intercepted by the stratum of steam
which takes up and becomes charged with the products of combustion and with
unconsumed matter contained in the smoke. By the steam these matters are
carried into the chamber aforesaid and in this chamber the steam condenses and
with the matter obtained from the smoke descends by a pipe with which the
condensing chamber communicates and which is outside the chimney. The noxious
matters being thus carried off, the residue which passes out at the chimney top is
comparatively pure and innocuous.
The steam inlet may be a continuous slot provided in a metal box or trough, or
it may consist of a perforated pipe. In a rectangular chimney the inlet preferably
extends around two sides. In a circular or oval chimney the inlet preferably
extends around one half of the circumference of the smoke aperture or "bore" of
the chimney.
Dated this 9th day of January 1891
NICHOLAS WATTS,
Bristol Bank Buildings, Bristol, Agent.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Method of and Apparatus for Treating the Smoke of
Factory and other Chimneys for the Purpose of Rendering the
same Innocuous,
I, EDWARD RICHARD SALWEY, of 7, Stephen Street, in the City and County
of Bristol, Civil 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 :-
This invention has for its objects to deprive smoke issuing from factory and other
chimneys of a proportion of its injurious qualities, or, in other words, to partially
purify the smoke prior to its discharge from chimneys into the atmosphere.
According to one method of carrying my invention into effect, steam is injected
into and directed to pass horizontally across the chimney at any suitable height
therein. The steam is conducted to the inlet by a pipe carried up outside the

page_text: chimney. Opposite the steam inlet and at the other side of the chimney is a
receiver supported on a bracket fixed to the chimney.
Into this receiver the stratum of steam is directed carrying with it the products
of combustion and unconsumed matter contained in the smoke intercepted by the
steam. In the receiver the steam condenses and with the matter obtained from the
smoke descends by a pipe with which the condensing chamber communicates and
which is outside the chimney. The noxious matters being thus carried off, the
residue which passes out at the chimney top is comparatively pure and innocuous.
For the purpose of maintaining the efficiency of the receiver as a condenser it is
preferably enclosed in a water-jacket. The steam inlet may be a continuous slot
provided in a metal box or trough, or it may consist of a perforated pipe. In a
rectangular chimney the inlet preferably extends around two sides. In a circular
or oval chimney the inlet preferably extends around one half of the circumference
of the smoke aperture or "bore" of the chimney.
Under a modified arrangement the steam, instead of being injected into the
chimney, is injected into the throat by which the receiver communicates with the
chimney. A partial vacuum is thus created at the inlet and a current induced
towards the receiver. By this means and by a damper situated above the throat
the smoke is directed into the receiver where it is cleansed by the steam as in the
arrangement first above described. The condensed steam carrying with it the
impurities derived from the smoke descends by a pipe to a collecting tank or
reservoir for treatment as manure or otherwise.
Referring to the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 represents in vertical section a
chimney a fitted with smoke-cleansing apparatus arranged in accordance with one
method of carrying my invention into practical effect.
By the pipe external to the chimney a steam is delivered to a box or trough c
which in the drawing is shewn as situated at the top of the stack. It may, however,
be placed at any other desired height in the stack. The steam, at a suitable
pressure, escapes from the trough c at the aperture d and passes horizontally across
the chimney into the receiver e carrying with it impurities taken up by it from the
intercepted smoke. In the receiver e, which may be surrounded by a jacket
supplied with cold water so as to maintain the efficiency of the receiver as a
condenser, the steam is condensed and the water thus formed descends by the outlet
pipe and carries with it the impurities derived from the smoke. The noxious
matters being thus carried off, the residue of smoke which passes out at the
chimney top is comparatively pure and innocuous. Instead of the trough c for
the steam inlet any convenient form of pipe or nozzle may be substituted.
At Fig. 2 is illustrated a modification of my invention under which the steam
pipe discharges into the throat e¹ by which the receiver e communicates with the
chimney a.
Under the influence of the partial vacuum thus created in the receiver e, the
smoke is directed, as indicated in the drawing by arrows, into the receiver e where
it is cleansed by the steam as in the arrangement first above described.
A damper g operated through a lever g' is fitted in the chimney above the throat e
as a further means in reserve for directing the course of the smoke into the receiver e.
The throat e is preferably bell-mouthed at each end with a view to accelerate the
current induced by the injection of steam. A tank receives the effluent water
which is conducted to it by the discharge pipe f. An exhaust fan or equivalent
appliance may, if desired, be connected to the discharge pipe f for the purpose of
strengthening the current by which the smoke is diverted from the chimney into
the receiver and to facilitate the operation of the apparatus. When a fan or like
appliance is used, as aforesaid, the lower end of the discharge pipe is sealed by
being situated below the level of the water in the tank in which the water is kept
at the requisite level by a supply from a feed tank, the communication between
which and the tank his governed by a ball tap or its équivalent. A boiler i is
shewn at Fig. 2 to illustrate the connection of the steam pipe b with the source

page_text: whence the steam is supplied. The funnels of locomotive and other engines may
be fitted with either of the smoke-washing arrangements hereinbefore described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The method of and apparatus for treating smoke in chimneys hereinbefore
described with reference to Fig. 1 of the accompanying, drawings, in which the
smoke is intercepted in its upward passage in a chimney by a jet or film of steam
which becomes charged with impurities obtained from the smoke and carries them
into a receiver such as e wherein the steam is condensed and whence the resulting
water is carried off with the said impurities into a tank, or other receptacle or is
otherwise discharged.
2. The modification hereinbefore described with reference to Fig. 2 of the accom-
panying drawings in which the steam for washing the smoke, instead of being
directed to pass horizontally across the chimney, is admitted externally to the
chimney directly into the throat e' by which the smoke is conducted from the chimney
to the condensing chamber e.
Dated this 4th day of March 1891.
NICHOLAS WATTS,
Bristol Bank Buildings, Bristol, Agent.