Improvements in or connected with Destructor Furnaces for the Treatment of Town Refuse and Road Sweepings.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 15th Aug., 1894
Complete Specification Left. 15th May, 1895-Accepted, 15th June, 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with Destructor Furnaces for the
Treatment of Town Refuse and Road Sweepings.
1, SAMUEL WILLOUGHBY, of Devon House, St. Mary's Grove, Chiswick, in
the County of Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
This invention relates to improvements in or connected with destructor furnaces
for the treatment of town refuse and road sweepings.
In carrying the present invention into effect, a vertical circular or other shaped
shaft is employed to receive the material to be destroyed, and such material is fed
into the top of this shaft from a hopper by a feed screw or other suitable means
and is supported upon a perforated arch of brick-work having arranged below it
an ash pit, or in lieu of the said perforated arch, I, in some cases, provide the
lower part of the shaft with a moveable grate or other means for facilitating the
removal of clinkers.
Around this combustion shaft or chamber is arranged an annular furnace which
at or near its lower end is provided with suitable fire doors and at its upper end is
closed with the exception of doors or covers through which coke may be introduced
into the annular chamber or furnace.
The flue or furnace communicates with the central shaft or combustion chamber
by means of a number of perforations or upwardly inclined ways through which
the products of combustion from the furnace find an exit into the combustion
chamber, as hereinafter described.
Around the exterior of the structure is arranged an annular box which com-
municates, by a number of ways, with the furnace and this box is supplied with air
under pressure by means of any suitable blower thus constituting a blast, or, the
same effect might be obtained by exhausting the air from the top of the combustion
chamber or shaft or chimney.
The products of combustion driven through the inclined ways or openings, by
means of the current of air, force the products of combustion from the coke through
the refuse material in the combustion chamber attacking it on all sides and
completely destroying it.
After passing out at the upper part of the combustion chamber, the smoke and
products of combustion are on their way to the shaft or chimney carried through
water spray by which any light particles of matter and other impurities, which
would otherwise be carried to the chimney by the draught will be thrown down
with the water into a tank from which the water is removed from time to time by
means of a syphon.
The action of the apparatus is as follows:-
The fire in the furnace having been lighted a charge of material to be destroyed
is placed in the central shaft or combustion chamber when the flames and products
of combustion from the annular furnace will be forced through the inclined
apertures and will impinge upon the refuse material within the central shaft or
combustion chamber thus attacking it on all sides and completely destroying it.
By the means hereinbefore described all kinds of refuse matter may be so
completely destroyed that little smoke or smell issues from the chimney.
Dated this 15th day of August 1894.
VAUGHAN & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: Improvements in or connected with Destructor Furnaces for the
Treatment of Town Refuse and Road Sweepings.
1, SAMUEL WILLOUGHBY, of Devon House, St. Mary's Grove, Chiswick, in
the County of Middlesex, 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 :-
My said invention relates to improvements in or connected with destructor
furnaces for the treatment of town refuse and road sweepings.
In carrying the present invention into effect, a vertical circular or other shaped
shaft is employed to receive the material to be destroyed, and such material is fed
into the top of this shaft from a hopper by a feed screw or other suitable means
and is supported upon a perforated arch of brick-work having arranged below it
an ashpit, or, in lieu of the said perforated arch, I, in some cases, provide the
lower part of the shaft with a moveable grate or other means for facilitating the
removal of clinkers.
Around this combustion shaft or chamber is arranged an annular furnace which
at or near its lower end is provided with suitable fire-doors and at its upper end is
closed with the exception of doors or covers through which coke may be introduced
into the annular chamber or furnace.
The flue or furnace communicates with the central shaft or combustion chambér
by means of a number of perforations or upwardly inclined ways through which
the products of combustion from the furnace find an exit into the combustion
chamber, as hereinafter described.
Around the exterior of the structure is arranged an annular box which com-
municates by a number of ways with the furnace and this box is supplied with air
under pressure by means of any suitable blower thus constituting a blast, or, the
same effect might be obtained by exhausting the air from the top of the combustion
chamber or shaft or chimney.
The products of combustion driven through the inclined ways or openings, by
means of the current of air, force the products of combustion from the coke through
the refuse material in the combustion chamber attacking it on all sides and
completely destroying it.
After passing out at the upper part of the combustion chamber, the smoke and
products of combustion are on their way to the shaft or chimney carried through
water spray by which any light particles of matter and other impurities, which
would otherwise be carried to the chimney by the draught, will be thrown down
with the water into a tank from which the water is removed from time to time by
a syphon or other suitable means.
The action of the apparatus is as follows:-
The fire in the furnace having been lighted a charge of material to be destroyed
is placed in the central shaft or combustion chamber when the flames and products
of combustion from the annular furnace will be forced through the inclined
apertures and will impinge upon the refuse material within the central shaft or
combustion chamber thus attacking it on all sides and completely destroying it.
And, in order that the said invention may be more clearly understood and
readily carried into effect, I will proceed, aided by the accompanying drawings,
more fully to describe the same.
A

page_text: Figure 2. is a horizontal section thereof taken on the line 1-1. of Figure 1,
and,
Figure 3. is a vertical section of part representing a modification.
In the several figures like parts are indicated by similar letters of reference.
Referring to Figures 1. and 2, a. represents a vertical circular shaft or it might be
of other shape which receives the material to be destroyed, and the material is fed
into the top of the shaft a. from a hopper c. by means of a feed screw c¹ contained
within a tunnel or casing c² and driven by means of bevelled gearing from any
suitable source of power, or, other suitable means might be employed to feed the
material to be destroyed into the top of the shaft a.
The material delivered into the top of the shaft a. falls upon and is supported by
a perforated arch a' of brick-work having arranged below it an ash pit a².
Around the combustion shaft or chamber a. is arranged a circular wall b. of such
diameter as to leave a space between it and the shaft a. and this space bl
constitutes an annular furnace.
The annular furnace b' is at or near its lower end provided with suitable fire-
doors and at its upper end it is closed with the exception of openings closed by
doors or covers 63 through which coke may be introduced into the annular chamber
or furnace b' to feed the fire.
The annular flue or furnace 61, communicates with the central shaft a. by means
of a number of perforations or upwardly inclined ways a through which the
products of combustion from the annular furnace 6' find an exit into the combustion
chamber a, as hereinafter described.
Around the exterior of the structure is arranged an annular box 6' which
communicates by a number of ways with the annular furnace 6' and this box 64
is supplied through a pipe with air under pressure by means of any suitable
blower thus constituting a blast, or, the same effect might be obtained by
exhausting the air from the top of the combustion chamber a. or top of the shaft
or chimney d.
Such an arrangement is represented by the dotted lines in Figure 1. where
66 represents an exhaust pipe which would be connected with a suitable exhaust fan
or the like and d² represents a cover placed over the chimney d.
The products of combustion are driven through the inclined ways or openings a³
by means of the current of air issuing from the openings 6 communicating with the
annular box and force the products of combustion from the coke in the annular
furnace through the refuse material in the combustion chamber a. attacking it on
all sides and completely destroying it.
After passing out at the upper part of the combustion chamber a, the smoke and
products of combustion are on their way to the shaft or chimney d. carried through
or past a spray of water issuing from a pipe d' within the chimney d, by which any
light particles of matter and other impurities which would otherwise be carried out
of the chimney d. by the draught will be thrown down with the water into a tank e.
beneath the chimney d. from which the water is removed from time to time by a
syphon el or any other suitable means.
The action of the apparatus is as follows:--
The fire or fires in the annular furnace having been lighted, a charge of
material to be destroyed is by the aid of the hopper c. and screw conveyor c
placed in the central shaft or combustion chamber a. when upon turning on the
blast of air into the annular box 6 the flames and products of combustion from the
annular furnace 6 will be forced through the inclined apertures a³ into the central
shaft or combustion chamber a. and will impinge upon the charge of refuse material
therein, thus attacking it on all sides and completely destroying it, the resulting
ash falling through the apertures of the arch a¹ into the ashpit a² whence it may
be removed in the usual manner.
In the example given at Figure 3, the perforated arch a' is dispensed with and
in lieu thereof the lower end of the shaft or combustion chamber a. is provided with

page_text: a removeable grate a' in order to facilitate the removal of clinkers; or, any other
well known device might be employed for this purpose.
By the means hereinbefore described, all kinds of refuse matter may be so
completely destroyed that little or no smoke or smell issues from the chimney.
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 :-
A destructor for town refuse, comprising a vertical shaft or combustion chamber
at its upper end open to the chimney and at its lower end provided with a
perforated arch or grating, an enclosed annular space around the shaft or com-
bustion chamber constituting a furnace, suitable doors communicating with the
furnace, a number of ways connecting the interior of the combustion chamber with
the furnace, means for introducing a blast of air into the annular furnace and
means for feeding the combustion chamber with material to be destroyed, sub-
stantially as herein shown and described.
..
SM1005
VAUGHAN & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.