IMPROVEMENTS IN FURNACES
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Whitwell, of Thornaby Ironworks,
Stockton-on-Tees, in the County of Durham, Ironmaster, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN FURNACES."
Sealed the 30th June 1868, and dated the 11th January 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Whitwell at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 11th January 1868.
I, THOMAS WHITWELL, of Thornaby Ironworks, Stockton-on-Tees, in
the County of Durham, Ironmaster, do hereby declare the nature of-
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FURNACES," to be as follows,,
that is to say:-
This Invention relates to certain improvements which are applicable.
to several varieties of furnaces, but particularly to such as are used for
puddling, boiling, and heating iron and other purposes.
In carrying out this Invention I construct the flue neck of the furnace:
with a frame of cast iron or other suitable material through which I.
cause water to flow by any well-known contrivance, and which I regulate ;
in any convenient manner, as for instance by constructing pipes of any.

page_text: suitable material (I prefer wrought iron) within the cast-iron frame as
aforesaid, and regulating the supply of water to the same by a valve or
tap. This frame is placed in the neck or flue of the furnace in a con-
venient position. The waste gases of the furnace pass through the same
and regularity in the consumption of fuel is therefore effected; as, for
example, the gauge or proper area of the flue neck of a furnace having
been fixed the opening in the frame aforesaid is made of the same or
suitable area and the frame being kept cool by the circulation of the
water the gauge aforesaid will not be varied by the action of the waste
gases and the consumption of fuel will be equalized for a considerable
period. If found desirable brick or other refractory material may be placed
ou the lower part of the frame, where it is exposed to the action of the
waste gases and the whole of the inside of the frame may be lined with
bricks or other refractory material the flue neck may also be constructed
of fire-clay or other suitable material, bedding the water pipes therein, or
a coil of water pipes may be constructed as aforesaid and built within the
coil bricks or other suitable material to the gauge required, or a lump of
fire-clay or other suitable material, may be surrounded with a coil of
pipes as aforesaid with water circulating through them for the purpose of
preserving the gauge or proper area of the neck or flue as aforesaid. In
all cases the supply of water may be regulated by a valve or tap.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Whitwell in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 8th July 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
WHITWELL, of Thornaby. Ironworks, Stockton-on-Tees, in the County
of Durham, Ironmaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Thomas Whitwell, Her special license that I,
the said Thomas Whitwell, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such other as I, the said Thomas Whitwell, my executors, administrators,
or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to

page_text: time and all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Islo
of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FURNACES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Whitwell, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my band and seal,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and
cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six
calendar monthis next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Whitwell, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by tho
following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My said Invention relates to certain improvements which are appli-
cable to several varieties of furnaces, but more particularly to such as
are used for puddling, boiling, and heating iron and steel and other like
purposes.
In carrying out my said Invention I construct the fue, neck of the
furnace, by which I understand that part of the furnace where the
working part ends and the passage or fue for the products of combustion
begins, with a cast-iron frame A, as shown in elevation and section at
Figures 1 and 2 of the annexed Sheet of Drawings, through which frame I
cause water to flow by any well-known contrivance, such as circulating
pipes, which I regulate in any well-known manner. The pipes may be of
any suitable material, but I prefer wrought-iron pipes B enclosed or cast
within the cast-iron frame A, as shewn at Figures 1 and 2, the supply of
water to the same being regulated by a valve or tap. This water frame
A is placed in the neck of the furnace in a convenient position; the waste
gases of the furnace pass through the same, and the advantage gained is
regularity in the consumption of fuel. For example, the gauge of the
flue neck of a furnace having been fixed, the opening C in the frame
aforesaid is made of the same area, and the frame being kept cool by the
circulation of the water therein the gauge aforesaid will not be varied by
the action of the waste gases, and the consumption of fuel will be
equalised for a considerable period. I sometimes place bricks or

page_text: other refractory material on the lower part of the frame, or I line the
whole of the inside of the frame with bricks or other refractory material
D, as shewn at Figures 3 and 4, and I sometimes construct the frame
or gauge of fire-clay, or other suitable material, bedding the water pipes
therein. I also sometimes construct a coil of water pipes of any suitable
material, and build within the coil bricks or other suitable material
to the guage required; or I construct a "lump" of fire-clay A or
other suitable material, shewn in Figures 5 and 6, and surround the
same with a coil of pipes B, as aforesaid, having water circulating
through them for the purpose of preserving the gauge. In all cases
the supply of water will be regulated by a valve or tap.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to
be novel and original and therefore claim as the Invention secured to
me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the constructing
of a permanent gauge in the flue necks of puddling, boiling, heating,
and other furnaces, substantially as and for the purpose herein-before
described and illustrated by my Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Whitwell, have to this my
Specification set my hand and seal, the First day of July, One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
THOMAS WHITWELL. (L.S.)