IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM GENERATORS
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for an
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM GENERATORS." A communication
from abroad by Darius Davison, of the City and State of New York, United
States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Edward Newton at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 21st September 1880.
HENRY EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM GENERATORS."
[A communication from abroad by Darius Davison, of the City and State of New
York, United States of America.]
The principal objects of this Invention are as follows:-
First. To effect as nearly as possible a perfect combustion of the fuel used and
the gases climinated therefrom.
Second. To provide a largo area of heating surfaces, and such an arrangement
of them as to obtain the greatest benefit from the radiant heat of the fire, and to
retain the heated gaseous products of combustion in contact with them long
enough to insure the transmission into the water and steam in the generator of all,
or nearly all, of the heat evolved by combustion:
Third. To obtain such a gradual movement of the water in the generator in an
opposite direction to the movement of the gaseous products of combustion that the
water and steam are constantly passing from the cooler to the hotter parts of the
generator, and especially in accomplishing this object to take advantage of the
natural tendency to descend of the gradually cooling gases, and the natural.
tendency to ascend of the water and steam as they become gradually more and
more heated.
Fourth. To effect the re-transmission into the water in the generator of the
heat remaining in the exhaust steam from a steam engine.
The Invention consists in a novel combination of what may be called primary
and secondary generators, and a novel arrangement of their connections for the

page_text: circulation of the water and the steam within them, and of the gaseous products
of combustion in contact with their heating surfaces, and in a novel construction
of what may be called the primary generator whereby the above mentioned objects
are attained.
In carrying out this Invention a steam generator composed of two water legs
inclining upwards towards each other, with a double or hollow arch uniting the
said legs at the top throughout their whole horizontal length is used. Two hollow
upright ends extend all across the hollow arch and across the space between the
two hollow water legs, and form a communication between the water spaces in the
legs from top to bottom thereof, and between the said spaces and the space
within the hollow arch.
The water legs have transverse partition plates reaching all across the same from
the bottom thereof to, or nearly to, the level of the bottom of the hollow arch, thus
preventing the horizontal circulation of the water in the legs without interfering
with its flow through the hollow arch.
The hollow water legs form the sides of a fire chamber, a number of tubes
inclining upwardly and outwardly and open at their inner ends and closed at
their outer onds being inserted into the water legs.
This-apparatus. may be termed a primary generator, and combined with it are
a furnace for heating the same, and a secondary generator-composed-of-an-upright
water cylinder arranged below the primary generator, and containing vertical
tubes for the direct downward-circulation-of the gaseous products of combustion
escaping-from-the-primary_generator. Steam and water connections are made-
between the upper part of the secondary generator and-the-lower-part-of-the-
primary generator, and a feed pipe is provided in connection with the lower part of
tho secondary generator.
The secondary generator is connected at its upper part with the lower part of
the said primary generator on one side only of its upright partition plate.
In addition to the secondary generator, which is arranged under one part of the
primary generator, a fire grate is arranged under another part of the primary
generator, and a bridge wall is placed between the fire grate and the secondary
generator.
By means of the apparatus above described a circulation of water upward through
the secondary generator and the part of the primary generator on one side of its
transverse partition, and thence over the partition is obtained, while the circulation
of the gaseous products of combustion is first upward, in, or under one part of the
primary generator, and downward through the other part thereof, and thence
downward through the secondary generator.
An exhaust steam pipe and a pipe for introducing exhaust steam from an engine
between the primary and secondary generators in rear of the bridge wall is also
provided.
By this construction, arrangement, and combination of the generators a very
perfect combustion of the fuel and its gaseous products is obtained, and not only is
the radiant heat from the incandescent fuel most advantageously applied, but the
heat evolved from its gaseous products is as nearly as practicable all abstracted and
utilized to the very highest degree for the generation of steam.
It may be here stated that the generator herein described as the primary
generator may be used without any secondary generator by making in its rear part
or in the place occupied by the secondary generator a more or less direct connection
with the chimney.
The secondary vertical tubular generator can be so proportioned and adapted to
its uso as to absorb all the heat from draught air and heat of the exhaust steam
from the cylinder in which it has been used.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Henry Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
18th March 1881.
"
HENRY EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 60, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer. IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM GENERATORS."
A communication from abroad by Darius Davison, of the City and State of New
York, United States of America.
The principal objects of this Invention are as follows:-
First. To effect as nearly as possible a perfect combustion of the fuel used and
the gases eliminated therefrom.
Second. To provide a large area of heating surfaces, and such an arrangement of
them as to, obtain the greatest benefit from the radiant heat of the fire, and to
retain the heated gaseous products of combustion in contact with them long enough
to insure the transmission into the water and steam in the generation of all or
nearly all of the heat evolved by combustion.
Third. To obtain such a gradual movement of the water in the generator in an
opposite direction to the movement of the gaseous products of combustion, that the
water and steam are constantly passing from the cooler to the hotter parts of the
generator; and especially in accomplishing this object to take advantage of
the natural tendency to descend of the gradually cooling gases, and the natural
tendency to ascend of the water and steam, as they become gradually more and
more heated.
Fourth. To effect the re-transinission into the water in the generator of the
heat remaining in the exhaust steam from a steam engine.
The Invention consists in a novel combination of what may be called primary
and secondary generators, and a novel arrangement of their connections for the
circulation of the water and steam within them, and of the gaseous products of
combustion in contact with their heating surfaces, and also in a novel construction
of what may be termed the primary generator, whereby the above mentioned
objects are obtained.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 is a central vertical section of a com-
bination of primary and secondary generators illustrating this Invention; Fig. 2 is
a transverse vertical section taken in the indirect line x, x, (shewn in Fig. 1); Fig. 3
is a horizontal section taken in the line y, y, of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a perspective
longitudinal central sectional view of the primary generator.
A, A, B, C, D, indicate the principal parts of a primary generator of the form
which it is proposed generally to employ.
Its transverse sectional form is substantially that of a saddle, it being composed
of two horizontal water legs A, A, set wide apart at the bottom, and inclining
upwardly and inwardly toward each other and forming the principal water spaces,
a hollow arch B uniting said legs at the top throughout their whole horizontal
length, and forming in part water space and in part steam space, and two hollow
ends C, D, which extend all across the hollow arch and across the space between
the two water legs, and form communications between the water spaces within the
legs from top to bottom thereof, and between the said spaces and the space within
the hollow arch B, the said water legs, hollow arch, and hollow connecting ends
constituting one entire body, which is double in all its parts, that is to say, has
double sides, a double top or crown, and double ends.
On the top of the arch is made a steam dome E. The bottoms of the legs are
preferably rounded, as shewn in Figures 2 and 4. The legs and other parts are
suitably braced internally. An opening a is provided in the front C for the
fire door.

page_text: In the legs A, A, are a number of tubes b, b, secured in the inner and outer walls
thereof and inclining upwards and outwards, the inner ends of the said tubes being
open, and the outer ones being closed, either by stoppers c, c, of fire-clay, or in any
other suitable manner. Across the interior of each of the legs A, A, more or less
near to the middle of its length are upright water tight partition plates d, d, which
reach entirely across the said legs from the bottom thereof upward to or near the
height of the lower plates of the hollow arch B (see Fig. 1), to prevent any
horizontal circulation of the water in the legs, and keep the water in the back part
thereof entirely separate from that in the front part thereof.
The primary generator thus constructed is supported at the bottom of its legs
and ends upon a setting F, F, of masonry or other material, within which and
under the front part of the generator is provided a fire place G with grate I and
ash pit J, at the rear of which is the bridge wall H, which may extend some
distance upward between the water legs A, A. The sides, top, and ends of this
generator are covered externally with plaster of Paris or other non-conducting
material, as shewn at R, R.
K is the secondary generator, consisting of an upright water cylinder arranged
in rear of the bridge wall H immediately below the open space between the water
legs A, A, of-the-primary generator, and having in it a series of upright tubes i, i,
for the direct downward circulation through it of the gaseous products of com-
_bustion escaping from the primary generator.
This secondary generator-is-connected_at_its upper part by pipes L, L, with the
lower parts of-the-water_legs A, A, and it has connected-with-its-lower_part_the
feed pipe M, which supplies it, and through it-and-the-pipes L, L, the primary
generator with water. It has a blow off pipe N at the bottom.
Below the secondary generator K is a pit P, which forms the cominunication
from both generators with the main flue Q, leading to the smoke stack or chimney.
An opening at e through the back D of the primary generator forms a communi-
cation with a flue f, which leads directly from the primary generator to the smoko
stack or chimney, to be used for starting the fire under the primary generator;
this Bue fis furnished with a damper g, to be closed after the fire has been
started.
Into the rear part of the open space between the legs A, A, and under the hollow
arch B of the primary generator is introduced a pipe S, with a downward outlet for
the introduction thereinto of exhaust steam from a steam engine.
The operations of these generators is as follows:-
Both generators having been supplied with water to the requisite level, that is to
say, the secondary generator being full and the primary one being filled to above
the level of the lower plates of the hollow arch B, the damper g in the draft pipe f
is opened, and a fire is made in the furnace. When the fire has been well started
the damper g is closed, and the draft then passes down through the tubes i, i, of the
secondary generator to the lower fluo connection P, and thence by the flue Q to the
chimney. Cold or hot air may be introduced into the fire place above the grate, or
at any suitable point or points within the space formed between the legs A, A, under
the arch B. to supply the requisite oxygen to effect the perfect combustion of the
gases eliminated from the fuel on the grate.
The inner walls of the legs A, A, and the arch B form a large reverberatory com-
bustion chamber of the whole length of the primary generator, and the circulation
of the highly heated gaseous products of combustion through the chamber is very
slow, first upward, then over the bridge wall, and thence downward in the rear
portion of the chamber, and on directly downward through the tubes of the secondary
generator; while the circulation of the water is all directly upward through the
secondary generator, and through the portion of the primary generator in rear of
the partition plates d, and thence over the said plates into the hotter portion of the
said generator in front of said plates, the cooler water in the rear part of the legs of
said generator being separated from the hotter water in the front part thereof by
the partition plates. It will be observed that the gaseous products of combustion.

page_text: after passing the bridge wall H, and as they gradually part with their heat, have a
gradual downward circulation, while the water has in the corresponding parts of
the generators a gradual upward movement, and hence the water and the steam
generated from it are constantly passing from the cooler to the hotter parts of the
generators, the circulation of the gascous products and the movement of the water
and steam being according to the well known natural laws under which liquids and
gases in any confined space have a tendency to assume a relative altitude corre-
sponding to their relative temperatures, their hottest particles ascending to or
romaining at the upper part of such space, and their coolest particles descending to
or remaining at the lower part of such space.
By this construction, arrangement, and combination of the generators a very
perfect combustion of the fuel and its gaseous products is obtained, and not only is
the radiant heat from the incandescent fuel most advantageously applied, but the
heat evolved from its gascous products is as nearly as practicable all abstracted and
utilized to the very highest degree for the generation of steam. The heating'
surface of the primary generator is very largely augmented by the tubes b, b, within
which there is a constant slow circulation of the gaseous products of the fuel and
heated air, such circulation being upward against the inclined surfaces of the upper
half of each of said tubes, and downward against the inclined surfaces of the lower
half thereof, as indicated by arrows in two of the said tubes in Fig. 2.
It may be here stated that the generator herein described as the primary
generator may be used without any secondary generator, by making in its rear part
or in the place occupied by the secondary generator a more or less direct connection
with the chimney.
The secondary vertical tubular generator can be so proportioned and adapted
to its use as to absorb all the heat from the draft air, and also the heat from the
exhaust steain coming from the cylinder in which it has been used, when such
steam is exhausted into the rear part of the primary generator in a downward
direction through the pipe S, arranged for that purpose in connection with the
exhaust ports from the cylinder, thence to descend mingled with the draft air in
the primary generator down through the tubes in the secondary generator to the
flue at the bottom thereof. The heat in the draft air and steam being thus all, or
nearly all, transmitted into the steam and water spaces surrounding the tubes in
the secondary generator (if it is of sufficient diameter, and length, or height to have
the requisite tube surface in proportion to the heat produced in the primary
generator) before the final passage of the hot air and exhaust steam out of the
bottom ends of the tubes in such generator, thus producing a substantial equilibrium
of temperature between the feed water at the bottom thereof and the air and
steam passing therefrom at that point, and fully utilizing all the heat for the
production and reproduction of steam over and over.
Having now described the nature of this Invention for "Improvements in Steam
Generators," as communicated to me from abroad, and explained the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in
part recited Letters Patent I claim,―
First. A steam generator, composed of two water legs inclining upwards towards
each other, a double or hollow arch uniting the said legs at the top throughout their
whole horizontal length, and two hollow upright ends which extend all across the
hollow arch and across the space between the two hollow water legs, and form a
communication between the water spaces in the legs from top to bottom thereof
and between the said spaces and the space within the hollow arch, substantially as
herein described.
Second. The combination with a steam generator composed of water legs and a
double or hollow arch uniting said water legs at the top, of transverse partition
plates in the said legs, reaching all across the same from the bottom thereof to or
nearly to the level of the bottom of the hollow arch, preventing the horizontal
circulation of the water in the said legs without interfering with its flow through
the hollow arch, substantially as herein described.

page_text: Third. The combination in a steam generator of hollow water legs, inclining
upwardly towards each other and forming the sides of a fire chamber, and tubes
inserted into said water legs, and inclining upwardly and outwardly, open at their
inner ends and closed at their outer ends, substantially as herein described.
Fourth. The combination of a primary generator, a furnace for heating the same,
a secondary generator composed of an upright water cylinder arranged below the
primary generator, and containing vertical tubes for the direct downward circulation
of the gaseous products of combustion escaping from the primary generator, with
steam and water connections between the upper part of the secondary generator
and the lower part of the primary generator, and a feed pipe connected with the
lower part of the secondary generator, substantially as herein described.
Fifth. The combination with a primary generator, having within it a transverse
partition plate, and heated by a furnaco under or within one end, of a secondary
upright tubular generator arranged below said primary generator, and connected
at its upper part with the lower part of the said primary generator on one side
only of its upright partition plate, substantially as herein described.
Sixth. The combination of a primary generator, an upright tubular generator
arranged below one part of the said primary generator, and consisting of an upright
_ water cylinder_with_tubes for the downward circulation of the gaseous products of
combustion from the primary generator, a-fire-grate-arranged under-another part
of said primary generator, and a bridge wall between said firo grate and said
secondary generator, substantially_as_herein described.
Seventh. The combination of a primary steam generator, having-within-it-a-
transverse partition plate, a fire place arranged-under-one-part_of_said primary
generator, an upright tubular secondary generator arranged under another part of
the said primary generator, and connected at its own upper part with the lower
part of said primary generator, a bridge wall between said fire place and secondary
generator, a flue connection below the said secondary generator, and a feed pipe
near the bottom of said secondary generator, substantially as described, whereby
a circulation of water upward through said secondary generator and the part of the
primary generator on one side of its transverse partition and thence over the said
partition is obtained, while the circulation of the gaseous products of combustion is
first upward, in or under oue part of the primary generator, and downward through
the other part thereof, and thence downward through the said secondary generator,
substantially as herein described.
Eighth. The combination with the primary generator, constructed as described,
and the fire place, bridge wall, and secondary generator, arranged as described in
relation thereto, of an exhaust steam pipe, a pipe for introducing exhaust steam
from an engine between the said primary and secondary generators in rear of the
bridge wall, substantially as and for the purpose herein specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Edward Newton, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Seventeenth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and eighty one.