Improvements in or relating to Furnaces.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 28th Nov., 1896
Complete Specification Left, 26th Aug., 1897-Accepted, 13th Nov., 1897
ISIONAL SEC
TION.
[Communicated from abroad by FILIPPO GUIDI, of Rome, in the Kingdom of Italy
Civil Engineer.]
Improvements in or relating to Furnaces.
I, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON, F.C.S., M.I.M.E., of the Agency for Foreign
Patent Solicitors, 32, High Holborn, in the County of Middlesex, 6, Lord Street,
Liverpool, and 6, Tank Street, Manchester, both in the County of Lancaster, and
Lower Temple eet, Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Civil Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The present invention relates to a furnace by means of which the valuable
properties of the oxyhydrogen gas may be used industrially without being obliged
to use the large plant which would be necessary to obtain sufficient quantities
of the above mentioned gas, and without endangering the refractory material
of which the furnace itself is constructed, in consequence of the long exposure
to the high temperature obtained by the hydrogen with pure oxygen as they are
obtained by electrolysis.
The improved furnace shown in longitudinal section, consists of a parallelo-
pipedon in masonry, the width of which is about of its length. It is composed
of a fire-box E provided with a grate on which ordinary fuel is burnt, a melting
chamber A communicating with a second adjacent chamber B for the heating
and roasting of the materials by utilising the heat of the waste gases which escape
from the chamber A. The chamber B communicates with the chimney G¹.
The walls of the chambers are lined with fire bricks resting, on the lower side,
on the ordinary brick work, from which it is separated by a layer of sand, while
at the upper side, they are covered by a mass of sand confined by a wall K. At
the bottom of the furnace there are two vaulted cavities, which serve for the
double purpose of reducing the amount of solid masonry, and of giving passage
to the cars to be conveyed below the centre of both the melting and the roasting
or heating chamber.
The furnace may be closed when desired by means of a solid block E of fire
brick.
Said block E is placed upon a truck located on the platform of a car somewhat
higher than the plane of the grate, so that it may easily run from the car to
the interior of the fire-box, thus forming the desired closure as hereinafter
explained. At right angles to its first opening, the fire-box has a second one
provided for the purpose of permitting the block D to be pushed so far in as to
stand in the way of the valve C, as is shown in the drawing.
The reverberatory furnace A is first heated to the maximum heat which can
be obtained by burning ordinary combustibles, or gas from the gasometer. The
position of the massive valve Ċ which is made of refractory materials with a
central metal core is then changed so that instead of closing the vault of the
furnace as shown in full lines it will act as a door as is shown by the dotted lines.

page_text: In consequence of the above mentioned arrangement only the oxyhydrogen gas
will remain in the furnace carried by the pipes T, t, which serve to raise the
temperature to the necessary point for treating the metals and their ores, sub-
liming if necessary the detrimental metals or metalloids by varying the quantity
of the two constituent elements of the gas, i.e., the oxygen or the hydrogen to
the point of injecting only one of the two in order to obtain the oxidation, should
it be necessary, and the reconstitution of the materials.
It is to be understood that the pipes T t may be placed side by side, or one
within the other, in such a manner, however, that the gases therein contained
cannot mix together before entering the furnace.
It is evident that the refractory material will be exposed but a very short
time to the high temperature produced by the oxydrogen gas, on the contrary,
by the partial use of one of the components, i.c., in the oxidation and in the
reduction, the temperature will still rise in the materials submitted to the treat-
ment, while the gas will act as a refrigerant on the sides and on the vault of the
oven.
The moment the valve C has been displaced, the two blocks D and E are in
their place, as hereinbefore described, and as the dotted lines show, in order to
avoid vacuum adjacent to the furnace when in action, and containing oxyhydrogen
gas, where explosions may occur through leakage of hydrogen. For the same
purpose the passage G between the furnace A and the chamber B is to be closed.
The waste heat will be utilised in the chamber B.
Finally when extracting the treated metals, either by the door or by the orifice F,
very pure castings of iron or copper, carbonic acid is injected into the furnace
through the tube T for the sake of preventing explosions.
It is also important to remark that the above mentioned electrolytic gases, or
the oxygen and hydrogen obtained by means of the electrolysis of the water,
may be, with the aid of convenient arrangements, injected from the floor of
the furnace instead of being injected from the vault of the same, (as shown in
the figure) and thus be caused to pass through the ores or metals therein con-
tained, from the bottom to the top, as is the case in the Bessemer Converters,
where the air is caused to pass through the mass of the materials therein contained.
wolf No 180
W. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
322, High Holborn, London, W.C.. Patent Agents for the Applicant.
Improvements in or relating to Furnaces.
I, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON, F.C.S., M.I.M.E., of the Agency for Foreign
Patent Solicitors, 322 High Holborn, in the County of Middlesex, Lord Street,
Liverpool, and 6, Bank Street, Manchester both in the County of Lancaster, and
Lower Temple Street, Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, 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:-
The present invention relates to an apparatus which furnishes the means of
using industrially the valuable properties of the oxyhydrogen gas flame without
being obliged to use considerable pressure, and without endangering the refractory
material of which the furnace itself is constructed, in consequence of the long
exposure to the high temperature obtained by the combustion of hydrogen with
pure oxygen as they are obtained by electrolysis.

page_text: This furnace, shown in longitudinal section, consists of a parallelopipedon in
masonry, the width of which is about 3 of its length. It is composed of a fire-
box E provided with a grate on which ordinary fuel is burnt, a melting chamber A
communicating with a second adjacent chamber for the heating and roasting of
the materials, by utilising the heat of the gases said "waste gases," which escape
from the chamber A, which latter communicates with the flue G. The said
gases heat the chamber B and pass to the chimney G¹.
The walls of the chamber are lined with fire bricks resting, on the lower side,
on the ordinary brick-work, from which the lining is separated by a thin layer
of sand, while, at the upper side, they are covered by a mass of sand confined
by a brick arch K. At the bottom of the furnace, there are two empty cavities
provided with semicircular vaults, which serve for the double purpose of reducing
the amount of solid masonry, and of giving passage to the cars to be conveyed
below the centre of both the melting and the roasting or heating chamber.
The fire-box has equally the form of a parallelopipedon, and the chamber is
entirely closed by the block E of fire-bricks.
Said parallelopipedon or block E is placed upon a truck located on the platform
of a car slightly higher than the level of the grate, so that the block E may easily
pass from the car to the interior of the fire-box, thus forming the desired closure
at E', as hereinafter explained. At right angle to its first opening, the fire-box
has a second one provided for the purpose of permitting the block D to be pushed
so far as to occupy part of the space controlled by the valve C, as shown in the
drawing.
The reverberatory chamber A is first heated to the maximum heat which can
be obtained by burning ordinary combustibles, or gas from the gasometer. One
then changes the position of the massive valve C made of refractory materials
with a central metal core i.e., instead of closing up against the vault of the furnace
it will be placed in the position shown by the dotted lines.
In consequence of the above mentioned arrangement only the oxyhydrogen gas
will pass into the furnace, carried by the pipes t t which gas serves to raise the
temperature to the necessary degree for treating the metals and their ores, sub-
limating volatile metals or metalloids by varying if necessary the quantity of
the two constitutive elements of the gas i.e., the oxygen or the hydrogen to the
point of injecting only one of the two in order to obtain the reaction required.
It is to be understood that the pipes t may be placed side by side, or one within
the other, in such a manner, however, that the gases therein contained cannot
mix together before their entering the furnace.
It is evident that the refractory material will be exposed but a very short time
to the enormous temperature produced by the oxyhydrogen gas, on the contrary,
by the partial use of one of the components, whether for oxidation or for reduction
the temperature will still rise in the materials submitted to the treatment, while
the gas will act as a cooling medium on the sides and on the vault of the oven.
The moment the valve C has been displaced, the two blocks 1) and E are inserted
as hereinbefore described, and as shown by the dotted lines so as to avoid drawing
air into the oven in action, and containing oxyhydrogen gas, whereby explosions
may occur through leaks of hydrogen: for the same purpose the passage G
between the oven A and the chamber B is to be closed. The waste heat will
be utilized in the chamber B.
Finally, when extracting the treated metals, either by the door, or in the case
of very pure molten iron or copper through the hole carbonic acid is injected
into the oven through the tube T for the sake of preventing explosions.
It is also important to remark that the above mentioned electrolytic gases, of
the oxygen and hydrogen obtained by means of the electrolysis of water, may
be, with the aid of convenient arrangements, injected from the floor of the furnace
instead of being injected from the vault of same, (as shown in the figure), and
thus be caused to pass through the ores or metals therein contained, from the

page_text: bottom to the top, as is the case in the Bessemer converters, where the air is
caused to pass through the mass of the materials therein contained.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said in-
vention, 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. A furnace for the treatment of metals and the reduction of their ores by
means of a compound system of ordinary firing and combustion of oxyhydrogen
gas, said furnace having a massive block E in shape of a parallelopipedon serving
as the furnace door, a chamber A in which takes place the fusion of the metals
and their reduction from their ores, and a chamber B for the purpose of utilising
the waste heat, as specified and shown.
2. A furnace having the tube T for the injection of carbonic acid and t for
injecting of the oxyhydrogen gas, or one of the constituent parts i.e., oxygen or
hydrogen substantially as specified and shown in the drawings.
3. In combination with a furnace having the chamber A, means for closing
the same consisting of blocks of refractory material, such as D and E substantially
as and for the purposes specified and shown in the drawing.
4. The process of treating metals and their ores by the compound system i.e.,
by subjecting them to heat evolved by ordinary combustibles and subsequently
to that of oxyhydrogen gas, or to the action of one of its constitutive elements
i.e., oxygen or hydrogen, as specified.
5. In combination with the furnace having the chambers A and B connected
together, the fire place at the end of the chamber A, the massive valve C pivotally
supported, the front opening adjacent to the valve, said valve being adapted to
close said opening and form part of the arch of the furnace or by swinging down
to shut off the fire-box from the chamber A.
100%
W. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of London, Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham,
Patent Agents for the Applicant.