A NEW OR IMPROVED STEAM-CONSUMING APPARATUS, OR AN APPARATUS INTENDED TO MAKE AVAILABLE AS FUEL ALL OR PART OF THE STEAM ACTUALLY EVOLVING FROM ENGINES INTO THE ATMOSPHERE, AND ALSO TO ABSORB THE SMOKE RESULTING FROM THE COMBUSTION
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to François Georges Sicardo, Civil Engineer, of 29,
Boulevart Saint Martin, Paris (France), for the Invention of "A NEW OR
IMPROVED STEAM-CONSUMING APPARATUS, OR AN APPARATUS INTENDED TO MAKE
AVAILABLE AS FUEL ALL OR PART OF THE STEAM ACTUALLY EVOLVING FROM
ENGINES INTO THE ATMOSPHERE, AND ALSO TO ABSORB THE SMOKE RESULTING
FROM THE COMBUSTION."
Sealed the 10th April 1866, and dated the 17th October 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said François Georges Sicardo
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th October 1865.
I, FRANÇOIS GEORGES SICARDO, Civil Engineer, of 29, Boulevart Saint
Martin, Paris (France), do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "A NEW OR IMPROVED STEAM-CONSUMING APPARATUS, OR AN APPARATUS IN-
TENDED TO MAKE AVAILABLE AS FUEL ALL OR PART OF THE STEAM ACTUALLY
EVOLVING FROM ENGINES INTO THE ATMOSPHERE, AND ALSO TO ABSORB THE SMOKE
RESULTING FROM THE COMBUSTION," to be as follows:-
In order to obtain the above result it is necessary to return beneath the fire
part of the air which after supplying the combustion passes to the chimney
for escape to the atmosphere; it is likewise necessary that the air thus returned
be such part thereof as is mixed with the smoke produced by each fresh
charge of fuel, and that it be conveyed into the ash box mixed or combined

page_text: with the steam or part of the steam after operating on the piston. This effect
cannot be obtained without counteracting the draught of the chimney by means
of a ventilator operated by the engine. The ventilator is placed on a channel
wherein the separation of the air intermixed with smoke is effected from that
which is not so intermixed, the latter passing directly to the chimney, whilst
the other part is conveyed into the ash box in the manner herein-after
described.
This apparatus, which is applicable to steam boilers of every description, is
represented in the annexed Drawing, wherein A, B, C, D, Figures 1, 2, and 3,
represent vertical, horizontal, and front views of a steam generator; E, F, in
Figures 1 and 2, show the flue conducting to the chimney the air and smoke
evolved in the grate. In order to apply the apparatus to this or other
generators, no change is required in the general arrangement of the apparatus,
except that the flue is to be shut at E, Figures 1 and 2, by means of a damper.
A little forward or beyond this point an opening is formed in the flue, which
is opened and shut by means of the valve or damper G, Figure 2 (in order
not to diminish the heating surface, this opening must be made as much as
possible in the part of the flue which extends beyond the boiler, as shown at
G.) From this opening, by means of the flue G, H, all that would otherwise
go direct to the chimney is returned into the channel H, I, K, L, Figures 1
and 2, at the end of which is placed the ventilator a, b, Figures 1, 2, and 3.
This ventilator which is set in motion by the engine exhausts or sucks in and
forces out the smoke, which is conveyed beneath the fire, as will be herein-
after explained. The channel H, I, K, L, which is made of the whole
length of the setting of the generator, is made at least twice as high and
wide as the flue E, F, Figure 2, so that its transverse section may at least
be four times that of the flue. At e, f, Figures 1 and 2, and at L, e, f,
K, Figure 2, the said channel is divided horizontally by a sheet or cast-iron
plate in two parts; the one e, g, Figure 1, e, g, h, f, Figure 2, and e, g, f,
Figure 3, is movable and connected to the former by hinges m, n, Figures 2
and 3. This last part may by means of rod i, Figures 1 and 3, be raised
inore or less according to requirements, or in other words, as it is desired to
increase or diminish the draft. That part of the channel which is above the
partition plate terminates at the wall d, c, o, p, Figs. 1 and 2, while the part
beneath extends as far as the throttle valve x, x, at which point it is contracted
and continues to form a connection with the flue at M, and so to the chimney
at N. The partition plate is to be placed at about one-fourth of the height
of the channel II, J, K, L, in such a manner that p, e, Fig. 1, represents a
fourth of p, m; the dimensions of this channel being double that of the flue;

page_text: the fourth part of its height will equal half that of the said flue, while the
width of the latter being half of that of the channel, the cross section of the
passage beneath the plate will be equal to that of the flue, so that the draft of
the chimney will not be obstructed.
The ventilator used is an ordinary fan, with the addition to each lateral
opening of a tube c, k, d, i, Figs. 2 and 3, rivetted to the sides of the box;
these tubes are closed at their ends by plates rivetted thereto, and each of
them is formed with an opening, as will be described. To each of the above-
mentioned tubes is applied another tube r; s, Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the axis of
which is perpendicular to the axis of that which supports it, and the tubes
o, u, d, i, c, k, Figs. 2 and 3, have each of them their axis perpendicular to
the plate to which it is connected, while the diameter is equal to that of the
usual opening formed in the sides of such fans. The length of the tubes
rivetted to the box is somewhat greater than their diameter, in order that the
next ones may be rigidly connected thereto, whilst the latter are continued to
and reach the stand A¹, B¹, of the fan, Fig. 3, to exhaust or draw in at the
bottom of the channel H, I, K, L, over the partition plate. The plates m', n',
Fig. 3, which close the ends of the tubes c, k, d, i, are each of them, as above
stated, furnished with openings a, b, c, d, Fig. 8, closed by means of sheet
iron doors F, G, H, I, K, L, M, N, made to slide by means of knobs o, p, in
grooves B, C, D, E. By these apertures air may be introduced to the furnace
in case the fire should not be sufficiently brisk, and when the combustion is
good the doors are held at a little distance from the shaft A. The fan shaft
has its bearings in two square iron bars A¹, B', Fig. 1, and A¹, B¹, C¹, D¹,
Fig. 2; these bars are connected together by a cross bar B¹, D', Fig. 2, and
are solidly fixed in the brickwork enclosing the boiler, their other ends resting
on the plate B', D¹, fixed in the brickwork which supports the fan. To the
whole may be added for greater solidity, on each side of the fan, the bars M', N¹,
Fig. 1, which are fixed in the wall, and screwed to the bars A', B'. The
shaft R, S, Figs. 2 and 3, inside the box or casing is provided with arms, each
having a pallet, as in ordinary fans, its size and dimensions being such that
on performing five or six hundred revolutions a minute it will draw in and
force out as much air as passes through the grate for feeding the fire. The
fan, as already stated, is set in motion by the engine, a pulley being mounted
on the fly wheel shaft, which pulley is fixed either on the spokes or in other
suitable position, and drives by a strap the pulley P, Figs. 2 and 3, on the
end of the fan shaft in the direction of b, p, a, Fig. 1. The fan, which cannot
exhaust or draw through the lateral closed apertures, still having a tendency
to produce a vacuum by the effect of centrifugal force, will exhaust through

page_text: the tubes r, s, Figs. 1, 2, and 3, and force out through the prolongation c, d,
Fig. 1, of the main channel, and E, F, G, O, Fig. 3. The hot air and smoke
operated on by the fan are conveyed through the tube c, d, and its extension
into the reservoir L, H, I, K, Figs. 1 and 3, and thence through the aper-
ture T, U, Figs. 2 and 3 (which aperture is at its end provided with a damper X,
Figs. 1 and 2), into the ash pit mixed with pure air, which enters through the
front part of the said ash pit, and being again drawn through by the fan and
chimney draught pass over the fire and through space O, P, Q, R, Fig. I, to
the succeeding flue, and on arriving at G, Fig. 2, pass again into the flue G, H,
and thence into the main channel, where the remaining smoke continues to
be exhausted or drawn by the ventilator with part of the air intermixed
therewith, and returns underneath the grate, and so on until entire combustion
takes place, while the smokeless air or azote passes underneath the partition
plate, and thence direct to the chimney. The steam to be mixed with air and
smoke is taken from the hot water feed tank, or from the discharge pipe, to
which is added another tube with a valve or stop-cock for obtaining the
desired amount of steam, or even, if necessary, all the waste steam from the
engine. This steam is conveyed behind the fan through the tube t, u, Figs. 1
and 3, which discharges it into the main channel. The steam should enter in
such manner that the two currents of air and steam forced back by the fan
shall describe the most acute angle possible. In this manner the steam which
escapes after working the piston, instead of having to overcome the atmo-
spheric pressure in order to escape from the discharge pipe, will pass into a
current stronger than itself, and have no other resistance to overcome but
that of friction in the pipe. By this contrivance the piston is much relieved,
which is most advantageous to the efficient working of the engine. This
steam might also be injected in very small jets on the incandescent fuel, or
even underneath the grate, without conveying it through the pipes, but even
supposing the advantageous effects of combustion to result therefrom, there
would be an absence of the beneficial effect on the working of the engine
before described. The steam before injected behind the ventilator passes into
the channel or reservoir H, I, K, L, Figs. 1 and 2, where it is mixed with
hot air and smoke in the ash-pit, thence it passes over the furnace grate,
through the flues, and into the main channel, and being lighter than common
air the greater part of it passes under the partition plate e, g, f, Fig. 1, into
the fan, which forces it into the reservoir, from whence it starts again to
accomplish the same course as before. In this action the steam remains for a
certain time mixed with hot air, which is no other properly speaking than
azote, and this element having great affinity with oxygen tends to absorb part

page_text: of that contained in the steam, and again becomes air, as is proved by its
passage through the grate without extinguishing the fire therein. The
bydrogen resulting from the decomposition of steam goes with the current
containing it, and becomes consumed when passing through the incandescent
coal in the furnace. In order to increase the decomposition of steam and
obtain a greater amount of hydrogen there should be placed in the reservoir
H, I, K, L, Fig. 1, a quantity of scrap iron, so as nearly to cover the bottom,
which material being heated by the hot air with which the reservoir is always
filled, will draw out the oxygen of the water in the form of steam, and allow
the hydrogen to escape. By forming the said reservoir with an opening it
will be easy through it to renew the supply of the scrap iron when completely
oxidized.
From the foregoing description it is obvious that the chief features of this
Invention may be summed up as follows:-Causing the hot air and smoke to
deviate from their course to the chimney, forcing them by means of a fan into
a channel, the transverse section of which is to be at least four times that of
the flue, and, lastly, dividing the said channel into two parts, the lower one of
which takes the air deprived of smoke, whence it passes to the chimney, while
the upper part which is three times larger receives the air mixed with
smoke, and forces it into a reservoir, whence it is conveyed beneath the grate,
carrying along with it a certain amount of steam.
Figs. 1, 2, and 3 show two boilers so arranged as to allow of the apparatus
to be placed between them, although this is not absolutely necessary, as one
boiler only may be so fitted, or three may be similarly arranged, but in all
cases the large channel is constructed as shown at Figs. 4, 5, 6, and 7. If
the place is of sufficient extent the channel may be placed, as in Fig. 4, at
the side of the boiler, or in other position desired; the flue leading to the
chimney opens in the manner before described, to convey the hot air and
smoke towards the opposite side to the ventilator, as at F, Figs. 4, 5, 6, and 7,
and the separation being once made both portions are conveyed to their
respective destinations. It may occur that the two flues leading the one to
the chimney and the other to the reservoir may be situated on the same side,
as at Figs. 6 and 7, in which case the large channel may be somewhat more
elevated to a height equal to that of half the flue, a partition A, B, C, D,
Fig. 6, and A, B, Fig. 7, being applied in the main channel. Above and
over this partition plate is placed the plate B, C, E, G, Fig. 6, and E, G,
Fig. 7, leaving between them a space equivalent to the section of the flue.
The hot air and smoke entering the aperture F and passing through A, D,
will be directed towards E, where the separation is to take place, as above

page_text: stated. The azote will pass beneath A, B, Fig. 7, and being united at F will
enter the aperture K, Fig. 6, and pass to the chimney, whilst the smoke
drawn by the fan and forced into the extension L will enter the aperture B,
Fig. 7, and thence pass to the reservoir and ash-pit. All this may take place
at a greater or less distance from the boiler, above or below the ground, and
in any direction desired.
For condensing engines and for such others, the steam of which instead of
escaping into the atmosphere is applied for heating purposes, the reservoir
should be made somewhat larger, part of the water which has served for
condensation being kept at the bottom thereof, or part of that from which the
boiler is fed may be .conveyed thereto. The hot air on its way to the fuel
passing over this layer of water will produce steam to replace that escaping, if
any. The reservoir, which may be made of about the same size as a boiler, is
placed either inside or outside the boiler house, alongside the brickwork; and
in case this arrangement be impracticable, the reservoir may be placed as at
K', L, M, N, Fig. 2, close to the chimney, or in other suitable position.
It suffices that it admits the hot air and smoke blown by the fan through a
channel, such as A¹, O', M', and is joined in the ash-pit by another pipe, such
as P, Q, carried up to the chimney. This channel should be of about equal
section to that of the chimney.
From the application of this system the following advantages result:-1st,
the steam from the engine escaping into the atmosphere after working the
piston has to overcome the atmospheric pressure, whilst in throwing it wholly
or partly into a rapid current, such as that produced by the fan and in the
same direction, it will not meet with so much resistance, and the action of the
piston will be much relieved.
2ndly, the water steam which arrives at the reservoir, finding it full of
nearly pure azote, will be partly decomposed on account of the affinity existing
between that element and oxygen. The hot air which, as stated, comes from
beneath the grate, instead of being in the state of nearly pure azote, will
be enriched by a proportion of oxygen, which will again render it suitable
for combustion, and by being mixed with the little pure air entering the
front part of the ash-pit will feed the fire, which becomes brisker thereby,
as the exhaustion of the fan will in some measure fulfil the office of
bellows.
3rdly, by means of the greater or less decomposition of the steam it will
occur that oxygen mixed with azote and old iron will set free a proportion of
hydrogen, which will be consumed on passing over the fuel and contributo to
the production of caloric.

page_text: 4thly, a considerable part of the air exhausted or drawn up by the fan is
passed through the grate several times, as the fan has a more powerful
aspiration than the chimney, and will so become superheated, and leave in its
passage along the flues much more caloric on the sides of the boilers than
when in the usual state, and hence a greater amount of steam will be
generated, and a notable saving of fuel will result.
5thly, this apparatus becomes necessarily smoke-consuming in consequence
of its working, as the smoke is forcibly carried along with the hot air pro-
ceeding from the fuel. The smoke being lighter than the air will be main-
tained in the upper part of the large channel before mentioned, whence it will
be taken in by the fan, which conveys it beneath the fire, where it is consumed
on passing through it.
The lines in the Drawing composed of alternate dots and dashes represent
existing parts of ordinary generators, while the ordinary dotted lines represent
whatever is especial to my steam consumer.
The holes a, a, a, in the front plate of the furnace serve for the introduction
of a little pure air above the fuel for the ready combustion of the gas. These
holes may be formed in the fire-door, as at Fig. 3, care being taken to have
applied either a sliding or pivot door to allow of the said holes being uncovered
more or less according to the requirements of the fuel.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said François Georges Sicardo in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 17th April 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FRANÇOIS
GEORGES SICARDO, of 29, Boulevart Saint Martin, Paris, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said François Georges Sicardo, Her special licence that I, the said François
Georges Sicardo, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said François Georges Sicardo; executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed; should and lawfully
might make; use, exèrcise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great

page_text: Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention
for "A NEW OR IMPROVED STEAM-CONSUMING APPARATUS, OR AK APPARATUS
INTENDED TO MAKE AVAILABLE AS FUEL ALL OR PART OF THE STEAM ACTUALLY
EVOLVING FROM ENGINES INTO THE ATMOSPHERE, AND ALSO TO ABSORB THE SMOKE
RESULTING FROM THE COMBUSTION," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said François Georges Sicardo, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
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 months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said François Georges Sicardo, 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 the
following statement:-
My Invention refers to an apparatus by which all or part of the steam
actually lost is made available, and serving also to absorb the smoke resulting
from combustion.
To attain the above enunciated result it is necessary to bring beneath the
grate part of the air which after feeding the combustion flies up through the
chimney into the atmosphere; it is further necessary that the air thus brought
back be the same which is mixed with the smoke produced whenever the
furnace is charged, and that it may be conveyed into the ash box mixed with
steam or part of the steam which after working the piston is made to escape
up in the air.
Such effect cannot be obtained without the draft of the
chimney being overcome by means of a fan actuated by the engine; this fan
or ventilator is set upon a pipe, within which is effected the separation of the
air mixed with smoke from that which is not mixed therewith, which latter
going directly to the chimney, whilst the other is driven into the ash box, in
the manner which will be described herein-after.
This apparatus, applicable to all steam boilers, is represented in the annexed
Drawing, wherein A, B, C, D, Figures 1, 2, & 3, show a generator, Fig. 1
-being a vertical, Fig. 2 a horizontal, and Fig. 3 a front view. E, F, Figures
1 & 2, are the flue leading to the chimney, the air and smoke proceeding
from the grate. In order to apply this apparatus to the boiler shown, or any
other, nothing is to be changed of what now exists. The flue is closed at E,
Figures 1 & 2, by a damper; a little way before this point an opening is
formed on the flue, which opening may be either opened or closed by means
of a damper G, Fig. 2, so as not to diminish the heating surface; this opening

page_text: should be formed to that point where the flue has passed the boiler at G,
for instance. From said opening, by means of the flue G, H, all that was
going to the chimney directly is conveyed into the pipe H, I, K, L, Figs.
1 & 2, at the end of which the fan a, b, is placed, Figures 1, 2, & 3; this
fan actuated by the engine exhausts the smoke and forces it below the grate,
as will be explained hereafter. H, I, K, L, great leading pipe; this leading
pipe, the length of which may be the same as that of the brickwork on which
stands the generator, should have at least twice the width and height of the flue
E, F, Fig. 2; in other words, its transverse section should be four times that of
the flue. At e, f, Figures 1 & 3, and at L, e, f, k, Fig. 2, this leading pipe
is divided horizontally by a sheet or cast-iron plate in two parts, the one e,.g,
Figure 1, and L, g, h, K, Fig. 2, being secured to the sides, and the other,
9, f, Figure 1, e, g, h, f, Fig. 2, and e, g, f, Fig. 3, being moveable, and con-
nected to the former by hinges m, n, m, n, Figures 2 & 3. This part may,
by means of the rod, Figure 1, and g, i, Figure 3, be raised more or less
according as the draft is to be more or less. That part of the pipe which is
above the partition plate terminates at the wall d, c, o, p, Figs. 1 & 2, and
the part which is below continues up to the damper x, z, where it is contracted
and connected at M to the flue, and reaches the chimney at N. The partition
plate is to be laid in the leading pipe at of the height thereof, say, p, e,
Figs. 1 of p, m; now the dimensions of the pipe being twice those of the
flue, height of the former will equal that of the latter, the width of this
being that of the pipe; the transverse section of the passage below the
plate will equal that of the flue, and the draft will not be hindered.
The fan which is made use of in this apparatus is an ordinary one, to each
side opening of which are added tubes c, k, d, i, Figures 2 & 3, secured by
rivets or otherwise to the box sides; these tubes are closed at their ends by
plates, each pierced with a hole, as will be explained. To each of the said
tubes is applied another r, s, Figures 1, 2, & 3, the axis of which is perpen-
Odicular to that on which it is fitted, whilst the tubes d, i, c, k, Figures 2 & 3,
have each of them their axis perpendicular to the box place which they are
connected to; their diameter is equal to that of the hole formed on the sides
of the fan. The length of the former, or those tubes which are rivetted to the
box, is somewhat greater than the diameter, so that the latter tubes may be
5 fitted thereto without hinderance, and these must reach the socket A', B¹, on
which stands the fan, Fig. 3, to exhaust at the bottom of the leading pipe
above the partition plate.
The plates m, n, m, n', Fig. 3, which close the ends of the tubes c, k, i, d,
are cach provided with an opening a, b, c, d, Fig. 8, opening and closing by

page_text: means of a slide valve F, G, H, I, K, L, M, N, which can be made by means
of knobs o & p to travel along the slides formed by the grooves B, C, & D, E.
Through these openings air may be made to arrive at the furnace whenever the
fire is not sufficiently intense, and when the combustion is good; the valves are
kept at little distance from the shaft A. The fan shaft is not adjoining the box,
it is borne by two strong square bars A', B', Fig. 1, and A, B, C, D, Fig. 2, in
connection with each other through the cross bar B', D', Fig. 2. These bars
are rigidly implanted at A', Fig. 1, A', C¹, Fig. 2, into the enclosing wall
round the boilers; the other ends are leaning on the uprights B¹, D', Fig. 1,
planted into the brickwork A¹, D', Fig. 1, A', B', C', D', Fig. 2, and A', B',
Fig. 3, on which the ventilator stands. To this arrangement may be added,
for more security on each side of the fan, the bars M, N, Fig. 1, secured to the
wall at M', and screwed or bolted to the bars A', B¹, at N¹. The shaft R, S,
Figures 2 & 3, is provided inside the box with a cross bar bearing a pallet
on each arm, as in ordinary fans, the dimensions of which are such that by
making five or six hundred revolutions a minute so much air will be exhausted
and forced as can pass through the grate for feeding the fire. The fan, as
aforesaid, is set in motion by the engine; a pulley is secured on any suitable
part of the flyers shaft, which pulley, with or without a follower (for it suffices
to arrive at the desired number of revolutions), drives by means of a strap the
pulley P, Figures 2 & 3, placed at the shaft's end, and the fan is caused to
turn in the direction b, p, a, Fig. 1. The fan, which cannot exhaust through
the side openings, as these are closed, and having still a tendency to make the
vacuum by the action of centrifugal force, will exhaust through the tubes r, s,
Figs. 1, 2, & 3, and force through the tire iron and its extension c, d, Fig. 1,
and E, F, G, O, Fig. 3; the hot air and smoke driven back by the fan are
conveyed through the tire iron and said extension into the reservoir L, II,
I, K, Figs. 1 & 3, thence through the opening T, U, Figs. 2 & 3, provided
with a damper U, X, Figs. 1 & 2, they enter the ash box, where they are
admixed to the pure air brought in from the front part thereof, exhausted
again by the fan and the chimney draft led through the grate across the
hearth O, P, Q, R, Fig. 1, in the flue which is an extension of it, and arrive at
G, Fig. 2; they pass again into the flue G, I, thence into the great leading
pipe, where the remaining smoke is exbausted by the fan with part of the air
mixed therewith, is brought back under the grate, and thus goes on until per-
fectly out, whilst the smokeless air or azote is conveyed beneath the partition plate
directly into the chimney. The steam to be mixed with the air and smoke is
taken from the box where the feed water is heated, or from the eduction pipe,
to which another extension pipe is added, provided with a valve or cock for

page_text: drawing the desired amount of steam, and even, when desired, all the steam
issuing from the engine. This steam is conveyed behind the fan through the
pipe t, u, Figures 1 & 3, which discharges it into the pipe next to the tire iron.
It is desirable to have the steam so introduced that the two currents, that of the
air repelled by the ventilator and that of steam, should describe a most acute
angle, so that the steam that goes out after working the piston, instead
having to overcome the atmospheric pressure, enter a more rapid current than
its own, and has no other resistance to overcome than that resulting from
friction within the pipe. In this manner the piston is much relieved, which
is most advantageous for the working of the machine. This steam might be
projected in very thin shower on live embers, or even beneath the grate, without
its being led through the pipes, but so doing would be of no avail to the engine.
The steam injected behind the fan goes into the reservoir H, I, K, L,
Figs. 1 & 3, where it becomes mixed with the hot air and smoke, betaking
themselves into the ash box; it goes through the grate up into the hearth,
travels along the flues, enters the leading pipe, and being lighter than the air
occupies, in a great measure at least, the upper part of the partition plate
e, g, f, Fig. 1, enters the fan, which drives it into the reservoir, from whence
it retakes the same way as before. In this manner the steam keeps for a
time mixed with the hot air, which is nothing more but azote. This clement
having a great affinity for oxygen tends to appropriate to itself that contained
in steam and again becomes air, as will be ascertained by its passing across
the grate without extinguishing the fire; the hydrogen resulting from the
decomposition of steam being carried on by the current it entered becomes
ignited in passing on the incandescent coal on the grate.
In order to increase the decomposition of steam and obtain a larger amount
of hydrogen, I throw in the reservoir H, I, K, L, Fig. 1, and so as to nearly
cover its bottom, a quantity of old iron, which, heated by hot air, which the
reservoir is continually full of when the engine is working, will draw the
oxygen of water into vapor and let the hydrogen escape. An opening should
be formed to pass through in the reservoir and renew the material when
completely oxydized.
From the above Specification it will be easily understood that the object of
my apparatus is to cause to deviate the hot air and smoke from their way to
the chimney, and cause them, by means of a fan or ventilator, to enter a
leading pipe, the transverse section of which is to be at least four times that of
the flue, said pipe being divided in two parts, the lower one, which conveys
the smokeless air to the chimney, and the upper one, three times larger, which
receives the air mixed with smoke and conveys it to a reservoir, bence to

page_text: be brought under the grate after carrying along with it a certain amount of
steam.
The apparatus shown Figures 1, 2, & 3 is intended for two boilers, with a
sufficient space between them to admit it; but such is not always the case, as
often one single boiler is used, and sometimes three. For all occasions the
great leading pipe is to be constructed as at Figures 4, 5, 6, & 7, represented
horizontally at Figures 4 & 6, and vertically at Figs. 5 & 7. If the place is
large enough I locate it beside the boiler, as at Fig. 4, or otherwise outside of
the site where the boiler stands. The flue leading to the chimney is to be
opened as aforesaid, so as to carry the hot air and smoke in a direction opposite
to the ventilator, as at F, Figures 4, 5, 6, & 7, and after the separation has
taken place each part shall be properly directed. It may occur that the two
flues, leading the one to the chimney and the other to the reservoir, are on
the same side as at Figures 6 & 7, in which case a little more elevation will
be give to the main pipe, and at an equal height to that of half the flue a
partition plate shall be established (A, B, C, D, Fig. 6, & A, B, Fig. 7),
embodied to the walls of the pipe. Above this plate, and at a suitable distance
with regard to the fan, will be set the partition plate B, C, E, G, Fig. 6,
E, G, Fig. 7, leaving between them a space of equivalent section to that of
the flue. The hot air and smoke admitted through the opening F will, after
passing A, D, come towards E, where the separation is to take place as
aforesaid. The azote will pass underneath A, B, Fig. 7, and being rejoined
at F, enter the opening K, Fig. 6, and thence to the chimney, while the
smoke, exhausted by the fan and forced into the extension of the tire iron
L, H, will enter the opening H, Fig. 7, and be directed into the reservoir,
thence to pass into the ash box. All this may be accomplished at a greater
or lesser distance from the generator, above or beneath the ground, and in any
direction.
For condensing engines and such others, the vapor of which, instead of
being let out into the atmosphere, is made use of for heating purposes, care
should be had to make the reservoir somewhat longer, and keep in the bottom
thereof part of the water having served for condensation, or direct part of
that from which the boiler is fed thereunto. The hot air on its way to the
fire-place will pass above that water and generate steam to replace that which
has escaped, if any. This reservoir or cistern is to have nearly the capa-
ciousness of a boiler, and may be situated either inside or outside the place
where the boilers stand, and along the walls, or as at K', L, M, N', Fig. 2,
near to the chimney, or at any other suitable spot, provided that it receives
the hot air and smoke driven by the fan through such a conduit as A', O', M',

page_text: and that it be connected to the ash box by another such conduct as P¹, Q,
extending to proper destination, the section of which conduct should be nearly
the same as that of the chimney.
This system has the following advantages:-First, the steam from the
engine, which is let out into the air after working the piston, has to overcome
the atmospheric pressure, whilst in being thrown wholly or partly into a rapid
current, as that produced by the fan and in the same direction, it will not
meet with so much resistance, and the action of the piston shall be by so much
relieved.
Second, the water steam which gets into the cistern or reservoir, finding
this nearly full of azote in a nearly pure state, will be decomposed, partly
in consequence of the affinity existing between that element and the
oxygen. The hot air which is to arrive under the grate, instead of being in
the state of nearly pure azote, will be impregnated with a portion of oxygen,
by which it will be rendered combustible, and being mixed to the little pure
air entering the front part of the ash box it will feed the fire, which will be
the more intense, as the fan will in some measure act like bellows.
Thirdly, by means of the more or less decomposition of steam, it will occur
that the oxygen, being mixed with azote or with the old iron, will let free a
proportional amount of hydrogen, which will get ignited on its crossing the
grate, and thereby contribute to produce heat.
Fourthly, a large amount of the air exhausted by the fan on passing across
the grate several times (the fan being a greater exhauster than the chimney)
will be superheated, and leave on its travel along the flues much more caloric
5 on the sides of the boilers than it does in the usual state, bence a larger
amount of steam and a notable saving of fuel.
Fifthly, this apparatus is from its very working fumivorous or smoke-con-
suming, as the smoke is forcibly carried along, together with the hot air
proceeding from the fuel. Now this smoke, being much lighter than the air,
will keep on the upper part of the main pipe or conduct, from whence it will
be exhausted by the fan and driven under the grate, where on its way across
it will be burnt.
N.B. The plan does not require any scale, the essential dimensions being
drawn from the flues either existing or to be made and from the chimney.
The parts in full and dotted lines represent what pertains to all generators,
and the parts in dotted lines represent whatever is pertaining to my steam-
consuming apparatus.
The holes formed on the furnace plate in front of the grate serve to supply
a small amount of pure air from above the fuel for the gas being more

page_text: readily ignited, but these holes may be formed on the fire-place doors, as at
Fig. 3, care being taken to fit either a pivot or slide door to open and shut
more or less said holes according to the requirements of the fire-place.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be carried into effect, I wish it to be distinctly understood
that what I claim as new and as being of my Invention, is the system of
apparatus as described for utilizing as fuel all or part of the steam and smoke
resulting from combustion and so characterized :-
First, by the use of a fan intended to exhaust the portion of smoke which
is lighter than the air and force it, mixed with steam, into a reservoir com-
municating with the ash box.
Second, a new and peculiar arrangement of a diaphragm placed on the fore
part of a ventilator, and the function of which is to separate in two parts the
products of combustion; the lighter ones, which are combustible, being
exhausted by the ventilator, and the heavier gases, the azote, etc., which are
colourless, being sucked up by the chimney.
Third, the use of a recipient, which in consequence of its comparative size
keeps for a time the smoke and steam; the latter being decomposed, partly
gets in the state of hydrogen underneath the grate, where on its way across it
is ignited, and hence a saving of fuel.
In witness whereof, I, the said François Georges Sicardo, have hereunto
set my hand and, seal, this Twelfth day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
FRANCOIS GGES. SICARDO. (L.S.)