Improvements in Petroleum Burners and Furnaces.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 12th Nov., 1895-Accepted, 21st Dec., 1895
Improvements in Petroleum Burners and Furnaces.
I, JOHN JOSEPH MONTGOMERY, of Oakland, County of Alameda, Stute of
California; U.S.A. School-teacher, 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 invention relates to the class of burners or furnaces especially adapted for
the combustion of petroleum.
My invention consists essentially in a chamber to which the petroleum is fed and
in which it is ignited, said chamber being closed behind the plane of the oil feed!
whereby all direct draft in the line of flame exit is cut off, and said chamber having
one or more controllable air inlets at a point or points in advance of the plane of the
oil feed, whereby flame rotations are formed, and the flame retarded, to effect more
perfect combustion of the petroleum.
My invention also consists in the particular location of the several air-inlets,
whereby in the best form of the device, compound rotations of flame are formed, to
effect the most thorough.combustion, and it also consists, in details of construction
which I shall hereinafter fully describe.
In order to understand the principles. upon which my invention is based, a brief
explanation will be in order.
In the ordinary. furnace, the principal draft is supplied through or over the
grate. There is thus formed a direct current from the grate towards the escape
or flue.
With most kinds of fuel, the heat of the lower fire causes volatilization of the
lighter compounds, which partly escape as smoke. To prevent this escape, in smoke
consuming furnaces, air passages are inserted so as to cause a mingling of air with
the escaping flame, and'thus produce perfect combustion.
In any furnace involving these principles, it is impossible to use heavy oils as fuel
with an ordinary draft for if the oil is allowed to enter the fire-box and' is then
ignited, the direct draft from behind forces the flame from the body of the oil, so as
to either extinguish the fire or render combustion so imperfect, as to be a practical
failure. But, if combustion can be continued in such a manner that the flame
continually acts upon. the oil, perfect combustion may result, producing no smoke
and leaving no,unburnt residue.
This may be accomplished by cutting off the direct draft and allowing the air
to enter in such a manner as to produce rotating flames. These objects I shall show
are both attained by my construction.
There are two general systems of rotation suitable for this purpose. In the
first, the axis of rotation is parallel with the direction of flame escape or exit,
and this is accomplished where the air is admitted in the side or top of the
chamber, and it will be observed further that if the point of admission of the
air be in advance of the plane at which the oil is fed to the chamber, the flames
will not only be caused to rotate,. but will be retarded, so that more perfect
combustion is effected.
In this form the flames, advance with a spiral movement. If air should be
allowed to enter at one end of the chamber and behind the plane at which the
oil is fed and ignited, it will cause either an extinction of the flame or imperfect
combustion.
In the second' system: the rotation is around an axis'
Axis lateral to the direction

page_text: of escape, and this is produced by having air inlets between the oil supply and
the flue escape, which allow the air to enter in streams athwart the escaping
flame. There is thus produced: first, a movement of the flame from the air
inlets towards the rear of the chamber, and then a return of the flame towards the
escape.
'
Either of these systems may be combined with itself so as to produce a compound
set of rotations, or they may be combined with one another so as to produce a series
of double compound rotations.
Referring to the accompanying drawings for a more complete explanation of my
invention:
Figure 1 is a general view of my burner. Figure 2 is a longitudinal vertical
section of the same..
Figure 3 is a horizontal section on the line y-y of Fig. 2.
A is the chamber of the burner, open at a¹ and closed at its end a, at which latter
end it communicates with the escape flue. The closed end a is, in the best form, a
door as shown, whereby access may be had to the interior, and also a certain
adjustment, to be hereinafter described, may be effected.
Bis the oil pipe by which the petroleum is fed to the chamber. The top of the
chamber has air inlets C on each side. These, it will be seen, are in advance of the
plane at which the oil is fed to the chamber, that is to say, they are between
the exit and the oil feed.
"
In practice, these inlets C should not be wider than one-fifth the distance across
the top, but may vary in length so as to constitute a alit or a series of square
openings.
If there be a number of such inlets on each side, their distance apart should not
be less than their length.
Regarding their dimensions, it is to be observed that their width muat decrease
as their length increases.
In the top of the chamber, and in a plane between these inlets C, is an air
inlet D which, in practice, should not be wider than one-fifth the width of the top.
It may be extended, as are the side inlets so as to form a slit, but should not extend
to the rear end of the box.
lts relative dimensions come under the same rule as those at the sides. If the
dimensions of the side inlets and those at the centre are so proportioned as to nearly
form squares they should be placed in alternation as indicated, so that there will be
a succession of alternating rotations from the sides towards the centre and
vice-versa. If preferred, the last inlet of the centre series D may be a lateral slit
shown at d.
The principal office of such an air inlet is to partially develop a rotation of the
second system, in which all the other rotary movements are involved as elements.
These several air inlets are regulated by suitable dampers, whereby the
amount of air admitted can be made proportionate to the amount of oil.
The combination of these air inlets serves to develop a progressive series of spiral
movements. In some cases an extension chamber E may be made on the back and
above the main chamber, in which is the receiving or drip pan F to which the oil is
supplied from the pipe B. In the top of this extension chamber are air inlets G
controlled by suitable dampers.
This, chamber is practically a repetition of the first, to produce a compound
effect the oil entering, falls upon the pan where it is partially vaporized and
.burned.,
i
The damper-regulated openings G admit air which is partially utilized in causing
.a series of rotating flames in the upper or extension chamber, and partly in
producing the same in the lower chamber, passing through the openings fon
each side of the pan.
The flame from this extension chamber has three general escape passages. The
..first is at H which is at the back of the drip pan, and between that and the closed
end wall of the chamber.

page_text: This wall is an adjustable door, as heretofore mentioned, and by its movement to
or from the rear of the drip pan, the escape may be varied..
... I'
The second escape'is at the side openings ff, and the third is at opening I made
in the top of the main chamber and partly inside. the extension chamber, and the-
principal office of which is to destroy a disagreeable blowing noise-which is usually
produced by this combination of chambers.
. .
In the sides of the chamber A are inlets J, damper-controlled, and for-the-
purpose of suppressing any noises which the distribution of the top inlets might not
sufficiently subdue, and also for the introduction of air to the floor of the furnace.
which might not be sufficiently supplied by the top inlets. This modification finds
special application in large burners, and should be subservient to the development.
at the top. It performs its function of silencing the roaring noise by. the
development of other rotations, which serve to destroy certain synchronous-
movements which arise from opposing rotations, and which cause an alternating
mixture of the air with the vapours, resulting in a kind of explosive spluttering of
the flame from the air inlets.
These side inlets, it will be seen, are in series and should be.so used, it being well
to use the centre one first and then the outermost one; and then, the one nearest-
the closed end.
It is important that these, as well as the other inlets give limited but well defined.
currents of air rather than a large supply.
The special characteristics of these processes or principles of combustion which
distinguish them from the usual processes, are the shutting off of direct drafts from.
the fuel in the line of flame exit, and the introduction of air by means of inlets or
passages for the purpose of producing rotations of the flame, simple or compound,.
according to the principles and systems which I have described, whereby air is
supplied, first, to the vaporized oil with sufficient force to produce an intense flame ; .
and second, to the body of the oil, modified in its force by a circuitous path, where.
it may support combustion without cooling the oil or blowing the flame from it,.
and whereby also there is a retardation of the flame, effecting the continuous.
volatilization and combustion of the oil, and such a perfect admixture of air and
flame that there is perfect combustion with a minimum quantity of air.
By means of these rotations and the consequent retardation of the flame, the.
rear portions of the chamber are kept filled with rapidly moving flames; in other
words, the flames are crowded in the vicinity of the oil.
In its full operation, this contrivance does not properly constitute a furnace, but
a vaporizer of the oil, and an air mixer, from which the flame emerges as an immense
gas jet, producing its greatest heat after leaving the burner, and is designed
especially as a petroleum burner attachment to the door of any furnace.
Especial advantages of this burner are, first, the burning of crude and heavy
oils by the means of ordinary chimney or forced draft without loss from smoke or
residue, and without the loud roaring usually attendant upon the burning of
petroleum by the blast process.
-
Second, The production of a clear flame spread over a large surface as opposed
to the concentrated and intensely hot flame usually produced by the blast process,-
and so ruinous to furnaces and boilers.
Third, The utilization of a chimney draft for the burning of petroleum whereby
its use may be greatly extended.
Fourth, The perfect ease of starting and regulating: it being only required to
ignite some light, inflammable material in the fire-box and turn on the oil; and,.
fifth the obtaining of perfect combustion with a minimum quantity of air, thus
preventing the loss of heat by large quantities of air rushing through the furnace.
The particular objects of the air inlets D, in the top of the furnace chamber. are
to produce rotation of the second system, and to break up the synchronous move-
ment of the rotations formed by the side inlets in the top, and which, if not broken
up, produce a loud roaring noise. This synchronism may also be prevented by

page_text: ueing openings on one side only of the top, or by making the openings on both sides
of the top disproportionate in capacity..
For ease of proportioning the admixture of gas and air, it will be found advan-
tageous to connect the damper which controls the inlets Cand. D with the stop cock
admitting the oil, as I have shown, so that a movement of the latter will produce
a corresponding movement of the damper..
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
1st. A petroleum burner, the chamber of which is closed behind the plane of
the oil feed, in order to cut off all direct draft in the line of flame exit, said
chamber having a controllable air inlet or inlets in advance of the plane of the oil
feed, in order to produce flame rotations tending to retard the flame and thereby
to effect more perfect combustion of the petroleum, the air inlet or inlets being
located in the top of the chamber either in the median longitudinal plane or in a
plane on one or both sides thereof, or in any one or more of said. planes, or in the
sides of the chamber, or, finally in both sides and top according to the necessities
of the case.
.2nd: A petroleum burner consisting of a chamber having a raised portion at its
back, said chamber being closed at one end, a supply pipe for the oil, a drip pan
to which the oil is fed, controllable air inlets in the top of the raised portion of the
chamber and controllable air-inlets in the chamber in advance of the plane of the
supply pipe.
Dated this "Twelfth dow of Nomamha-1005
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