IMPROVED APPARATUS TO BE USED IN PROPELLING GASES AND FORCING LIQUIDS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Christophe François Delabarre, of Paris, in the
Empire of France, and of 32, Essex Street, Strand, London, for the In-
vention of "IMPROVED APPARATUS TO BE USED IN PROPELLING GASES AND
FORCING LIQUIDS."
Sealed the 3rd August 1855, and dated the 15th February 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Christophe François
Delabarre, at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his.
Petition, on the 15th February 1855.
I, CHRISTOPHE FRANÇOIS DELABARRE, of Paris, in the Empire of France,
and of 32, Essex Street, Strand, London, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVED APPARATUS TO BE USED IN PROPELLING GASES AND
FORCING LIQUIDS" to be as follows, viz. :-
My Invention consists in a certain mechanical arrangement by which gases
and liquids may be acted upon by attraction or propulsion, and I thus gain a
decided advantage over the apparatus hitherto used.
As is well known, a jet of liquid or gas issuing from an orifice spreads out
in the shape of a cone. If this jet or cone be thrown into another pipe, it
carrics away with it, in striking against the sides of the said pipe, a certain
quantity of air that produces a draught or blowing action to increase the
quantity of air carried away. It has been usual till now to give a bell mouth
or funnel shape to the upper part of the pipes receiving the jet.

page_text: I replace this pipe by several successive pipes, each of which has a diameter
greater than the one preceding it. If a jet of gas be thrown at the upper
part of the smallest pipe, this jet will spread, and will embody a certain quantity
of air, thus forming a mixed gas. This gas in entering the second pipe will
spread de novo against the sides of this pipe, and will mix with a certain
quantity of air, which will be still further increased if there be another pipe.
It is thus that in employing a jet of steam issuing from an orifice of about
1 centimeter wide, the draught necessary for several furnaces burning about
200 lbs. of coal an hour may be obtained.
Such a jet made to pass under the grates of furnaces produces in reality a
physical blowing apparatus, in which the steam by its great friction creates an
electricity that decomposes the elements constituting the steam, oxygen, and
hydrogen, in such manner that the air propelled being sufficient to saturate
the fuel, the vapour is constantly burnt, and with a weak quantity of steam
and coal more flame and vapour are obtained and less smoke than by the
ordinary means; thus it will not be indispensable to have chimneys for fires.
This means may also be applied to the expulsion of the gases existing in closed
vessels or in the depths of the earth. If it be desired to propel liquids, a
current of mixed gas is made to act upon them as before stated.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Christophe François Delabarre in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 14th August 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHRISTOPHE
FRANÇOIS DELABARRE, of Paris, in the Empire of France, and of 32, Essex
Street, Strand, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Christophe François Delabarre, Her special licence that I, the said Chris-
tophe François Delabarre, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Christophe François Delabarre, my executors, administra-
tors, 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, usc, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom

page_text: of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention of "IMPROVED APPARATUS TO BE USED IN PROPELLING GASES AND
FORCING LIQUIDS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Christophe François Delabarre, by an instrument in writing under my
hand 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 calen-
dar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Christophe François Delabarre, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
In order to set forth this Invention with distinctness and conciseness, and
fully shew the novel features that distinguish it from similar Inventions, it will
be necessary to enter upon the following preliminary remarks respecting
attempts that have been made to apply various means to the purposes of the
present Invention.
Before the year 1828, only the expansive force of steam was used in the
manufactures, when the late Professor Pelletan and myself discovered the
property which steam has of attracting or carrying along and propelling or
driving air and other gases; and the dynamics of liquids and fluids acting in
such manner being very difficult to investigate, we have ever since made new
researches and numerous experiments on this subject, in order to discover the
best way of putting the above principles into practice. However, we no sooner
had informed the Academy of Sciences of the above discovery, and shewn its
different practical applications, than practical men of different countries tried
to avail themselves of it for industrial purposes. Thus, the late George
Stephenson, by means of a steam blast or jet through the chimney, was
enabled to run his locomotives with a much greater speed than was attained
by previous plans; but this means, however efficient for locomotives, in which
the steam becomes useless after having moved the piston, can be used with
advantage only in this and other analogous cases. Since then a continuous
jet of steam has been employed by directing it upon the flame for the purpose
of obtaining a more intense heat, and numerous inventors have used the same
means for the large chimneys of factories and of steamers, and also for
ventilating mines. All these attempts have afforded interesting results, but
have mostly been abandoned, because they require too much steam, and hence
are too expensive to work. During the period from 1829 to 1846 I obtained
several patents for Inventions relating to the use of steam acting by attraction,

page_text: but not having completely attained the end desired, I was obliged to continue
my investigations until I arrived at the novel results which I will now fully
describe.
When placed near a waterfall, or by holding the hand near a current of air
or of steam issuing with force from an orifice, a very distinct lateral attraction
will be felt, and the attracting and propelling or driving force will be in
proportion to the density of the fluid and its speed. Steam when mixed with
air forms, as is well known, a vesicular gas, which may most advantageously be
employed either as an attracting force or as a propelling agent. By this
mixture steam does not change its state, that is to say, it does not condense
even below the freezing point, as fully shewn by the existence of clouds and
fogs, in such manner that after the steam has produced said lateral attraction
it becomes nearly inactive, its whole power having been expended upon the
attraction of the air. Herein-after will be shewn the manner in which I
apply this phenomenon. Steam, when mixed with very hot air, gives rise to
a mixed gas which is not vesicular, and which possesses very little power of
attraction; but as it is decomposed into its two constituent elements, I shall
shew in the sequel for which purposes said mixture may be used. The following
description is intended to shew the dynamical effects which may be produced
by currents in general, and the mass of air which they attract and carry
along.
Ponderable fluids and liquids take various geometrical forms, according to
the shape of the orifices through which they issue, and the attraction is exerted
by the periphery. The projection of the liquid or fluid must be effected on
the axis of the channels which are to receive them. The fluid or liquid
projected exerts attraction under any pressure, and the rapidity of the
attraction is in proportion to that pressure. The projection of a liquid or a
fluid into a channel must not be effected at random, the diameter of the
recipient having to be calculated according to the following rules, which I have
arrived at by actual experiments.
Each recipient must have dimensions which are in strict accordance with
the orifice by which projection is effected, both with regard to the shape
and to the diameter of the cone which the liquid or fluid projected forms,
taking into consideration that the less the diameter of the recipient is, the
greater the speed will be with which the mass rushes through it. In order
to obtain these results, and apply them suitably to manufacturing purposes, it
will sometimes be better to use several recipients placed successively one after
another, and having their diameters increasing, but having the same length,
since the recipients must in general be as short as possible, so as to avoid

page_text: friction (see Figs. 20 & 21), and thus as many cones are produced as there
are recipients successively act as projectors or projecting tubes. By this
succession of projecting pipes and recipient channels I obtain the attraction
and propulsion of a total mass of air which is larger than if there were only
one projector, as is the case upon locomotives, for instance. However, the
power obtained does not increase indefinitely, since the speed of the currents
decreases by degrees as the mass of mixed gas increases. For this reason
I prefer to limit the number of recipients to two, three, or four. Although
the first recipient may only consist of a plain cylindrical pipe (Fig. 13), it is
preferable to give it the shape shewn at Fig. 1, into which the air or other
fluid enters with greater facility.
Figs. 3 to 18 shew the forms and transversal dimensions to be given to the
orifices of the projectors, and also those for the single or multiple recipients,
according to the effects to be produced.
Although any gaseous fluid and any liquid whatever may be employed for
producing attraction, air and steam are fittest for that purpose. The form
which these bodies take when they issue from the orifices is very important to
know, and I have ascertained by a long series of experiments that this shape
is always conical, the cone never varying with the pressure. Thus the vertical
angle of the cone described by steam issuing at a pressure of one atmosphere
is from twenty-five to twenty-six degrees, whilst the cone formed by
steam of four atmospheres forms nearly the same angle. This important
phenomenon constitutes the principle upon which my improved apparatus
are constructed.
The speed with which the fluid or liquid is projected has a great influence
upon tho attraction. Hence the greater the tension of the steam is, the more
powerful will the effect be. However, by using several low-pressure jets, the
same weight of air may be attracted as with one high-pressure jet. In order
that the attraction may be efficient, it is necessary that the steam sheet should
strike the inside of the recipient obliquely, so as to slide along it (see Fig. 8).
This is obtained by making the diameter of said channel equal to the diameter
of the base of the cone, measured at 2, 4, 8, or even 16 inches distance from
the projecting orifice, according to the effect to be produced, as will be shewn
by examples herein-after. Also the attracting power acting upon the periphery
on the jet only, it will be obvious that with the same expenditure several small
conical sheets produce a more useful effect than one single one upon which as
much is expended as upon the sum of these jets. A very powerful attraction
is produced when the propelling body emerges into a channel the diameter of
which is very small in proportion, as has been tried upon locomotives (see

page_text: Fig. 10). The attractive effect is also materially increased in case the pro-
pelling body emerges near the orifice of a single recipient, this orifice being
slightly widened out, or bell-mouthed (see Fig. 11). In case the projecting
pipe issues into a single recipient that lengthens out backwards, it must be
made as shewn at Fig. 12. But I have found the maximum effect to be !
obtained by establishing in said channel, or, better still, in front of its orifice,
a short and narrow recipient, see Fig. 13. I thus effect the formation of two
successive fluid cones, each of which acts attractively; and in this case there
are really two projecting pipes, one of which pours forth pure steam, and the
other steam and air mixed together; and there are also two recipients, the
second of which is intended to increase the mass of air. In this case
the diameter of the large channel may be from two to ten times as large
as that of the small one, according to the effect to be produced. Hence,
if this improved system is to be applied to furnaces with large and high
chimneys that are so prevalent now, this is effected by placing several
recipients one above the other, as shewn at Figs. 7 and 16. By using, instead
of these multiple recipients, a single one, with openings all around, as shewn
at Fig. 13, no more effect would be obtained than by the recipient shewn at
Fig. 10.
The principles stated above may be applied in practice in the following
manner
First, as to using water or liquids for attracting and carrying along air, it is
well known that in mountainous districts waterfalls have been used for ages
for propelling the air required for blowing blast-furnaces. This is a most
ingenious but not a very efficient means, because the speed of the water is
always too low for producing a powerful blast. For rendering the same mode
more efficient, I have devised water-blowing apparatus with several sections,
each of which contributes towards the admission of air. In order to obtain
this result in the best manner, I cause the water currents to fall upon a wedge,
as shewn at Fig. 6, thus attracting or carrying away four times the quantity of
air. This contrivance is also applicable when steam is used instead of water.
It may be remarked here, that both in blast furnaces and smiths' fires the
blast-pipe is led into a conical pipe or twyer, which leaves an annular space
round the orifice of the blast-pipe. This space, however, is not intended to
create an influx of air, but solely for preventing the bellows from bursting in
case of back-pressure, and hence there is no similarity between my improved
recipients and the twyers as now used.
Second, as to using fluids for attracting and propelling air, the apparatus
required are very simple, consisting mainly of pipes arranged according to the

page_text: rules above stated, and in such manner that the fluid either acts by attraction,
propulsion, or pressure, as may be required by cach particular case. The
following are the most important applications of this principle
-
Producing draught in furnaces by aspiration.-The speed of the draught
required by a good combustion depends on the draught required. Thus, in
steam boilers, the speed of draught varies from three to fifteen feet per second,
and unless this speed is kept up the fire slackens, and burns with loss of com-
bustible matter. When it is only desired to slightly increase the draught of a
chimney that is too large, this may be obtained by simply placing in it an
upright pipe of sheet iron, as shewn at Fig. 14, as I have found, by experi-
ment, that by these means a central current is obtained, which forms a pro-
jecting cone of smoke; and this projection may be rendered still more powerful
by surrounding this pipe with a casing, so as to leave a space, which I fill
from below with cold water that may be drawn off with a temperature of about
212 degrees as the top, thus cooling the air in the centre, and by increasing its
specific gravity rendering it fitter for producing ascensional power (see
Fig. 15). Instead of water, steam may be passed into said space before
using the same in the engine, and thus I obtain the evaporation of from thirty
to forty per cent. priming water contained in steam as it issues from the boiler,
thus drying the steam by the heat of the smoke, and effecting a considerable
saving of fuel. By this operation no superheating takes place, the tension of
this dried steam being the same as that of the steam in the boiler, there being
a constant communication of heat between the two, so as to establish an equi-
librium of heat and of saturation. When it is desired to produce a very
energetic draught, I place under the central pipe, Fig. 15, the improved appa-
ratus shewn at Figs. 1 and 2, into which a continuous or intermittent current
of waste steam is made to issue. The mixture with the air burnt in the
furnace which is thus accomplished gives rise to a mixed gas, whose attracting
power I have before enlarged upon. The draught created in the furnace is
most complete when the diameter of the orifice of the first projector, viz., that
of steam being represented by one, the diameter of the first recipient is from
five to ten, that of the second from twenty-five to fifty, according to the
intensity with which it is desired to carry on combustion (see Figs. 1, 2,
& 13); and according to these sizes the diameter of the chimney may be
from eighty to one hundred and fifty times that of the unit above mentioned.
Figs. 13, 15, and 16 are intended fully to illustrate what has been said
respecting these proportional sizes. By this arrangement there is an expen-
diture of about one pound of steam for every five lbs of coal that are
burnt per minute, and this steam issues through a circular orifice about one

page_text: twenty-fifth of an inch in diameter; and this efflux may also be regulated by
a tap. This modus operandi will serve to show the difference that exists
between my improvements and the method of projecting, as heretofore, into the
chimney or channel for the escape of steam, a big steam jet issuing from a
large orifice corresponding to a considerable steam power. Those who have at
random directed steam into chimneys, without taking into consideration the
transversal dimensions of the same, have not succeeded, because the cone
formed by the steam suddenly changing its form assumes the shape of a whirl-
wind, which, instead of increasing the draught in the furnace impedes it (see
Fig. 9). Those, on the contrary, who have pursued the same course as shewn
at Fig. 8, have been more or less successful, with such considerable expenditure
of steam, however, as caused the system to be generally abandoned. The present
improvements are intended to remove both objections just pointed out, as will
be set forth herein-after. It may be well to observe, that by means of the
combinations already described, large and high chimneys may be dispensed
with, and the chimney may be made to consist of a pipe which is placed hori-
zontally, so as to render the caloric given off by the smoke available for the
purpose of warming, drying articles such as sugar, cane-trash, wood, alimentary
substances, &c.
Since by this improved process any degree of activity may be given to the
combustion, the result derived therefrom is a long flame burning the smoke,
and allowing to use, instead of rich coal, any poor or small coal, or even anthra-
cite, and for this purpose it is advisable to use grates having their bars very
close to each other, and extending as far as possible under the boiler.
Draught produced in furnaces by means of an aspiration caused by a current
of air. Although steam is the best agent to use for causing an attracting
current, there are cases, however, when air may be used; and this becomes
necessary when it is desired to urge the fire that has been lighted, for instance,
on steamers & locomotives; and for this purpose I use a ventilator, to be
moved by hand, by which a current of air is directed into the centre of the
chimney, either directly, if it is not too large, or by means of a recipient shewn
at Figs. 19 & 29. This application of the ventilator is also entirely novel,
as it differs from the usual mode of blowing under the grate, or of attracting
smoke into the chimney, and causing the same to pass through the ventilator,
which soon gets obstructed and out of order by the effect of soot & heat.
The preceding statement refers to draught or attraction; but there is another
mode of applying my improvements to any kind of furnace, viz., by propulsion
or blowing. Fig. 22 shews an example of this latter mode represented by a
steam jet, the expenditure of which is about one-tenth or one-twentieth lb.

page_text: of steam for every pound of fuel burnt, this steam-jet being directed into a
rather large recipient channel; for instance, steam may be made to issue
through an orifice of one-sixth of an inch diameter into a channel of eight
inches diameter, as shewn at Figs. 11, 20, & 23, or else first into a narrow
recipient from four-fifths to one and three-fifths of an inch in diameter,
emerging into a wider one from four to eight inches off the mouth, this latter
mode giving rise to a mixed attracting gas, by which a greater quantity of air is
introduced under the fire-bed and into the burning mass. Also, in order that
no heat may be lost by radiation, the ash-pit is closed by means of a door sur-
rounding the pipe. In the manner described, a small quantity of steam repre-
sented by one, say, being united with a great speed to a large quantity of air
represented by one to three thousand, say, and the mixture being exposed to
the high temperature of the ash-box, electricity is created, which decomposes
the mixture into hydrogen and oxygen, and the latter combining with the
carbon gives rise to a very powerful flame, even if very poor fuel is employed,
such as coke, anthracite, &a. By thus producing a most active combustion,
the generation of smoke, as resulting from the use of bituminous fuel, is entirely
prevented, especially when long grates are used, from four to six feet, say. The
waste heat escaping from such furnaces may also be usefully employed for any
warming purposes.
When the improved blowing apparatus are applied to steamers, the blowing
pipes are introduced at the back part of the ash-box; and in case the boilers
are for low pressure, and have double sides or plates, I pass the blowing pipes
through the plates by means of pipe ends, rivetted and cemented between the
boiler plates in such manner as to produce a steam-tight joint. I then pass
the blowing pipes into the ash-box, splitting them along their whole length for
the purpose
of better distributing the mixed gas under the grates. According
to the case, the current of steam issues either directly into a single recipient
with a large diameter (see Fig. 22 and 36), or first into a small recipient
which passes out into a larger one.
By means of this mode of blowing, upright chimneys may still more con-
veniently be dispensed with than when blowing by attraction is used; and
having ascertained by experience that the exit pipe for smoke need not have
more than about five-sixths of a square inch in section for 10 lbs. of coal
consumed per hour, I use on board of steamers rectangular flues, by which
the burnt gases escape close to the water's surface, thus doing away with huge
chimneys or other artificial draught, which is a great desideratum in naval
architecture.
In this direct blowing mode the expenditure of steam is only one-third of

page_text: that incurred by using it attractively; besides, any tension of steam may be
used. But in order to shew the novelty of this improvement, I will now
describe the particulars by which it differs from the various modes heretofore
proposed or applied. At first I presumed that a strong pressure in the ash-
box was required for blowing the furnace, and I accordingly injected the
steam by means of a pipe directed into a tube of small diameter (ie., about
two inches), which issued into a closed ash-box, thus consuming a large
quantity of steam, and attracting very little air. This principle being attended
with very slight advantages, I thought of solving the problem by reversing the
modus operandi, and succeeded in so doing by injecting a small current or
pencil of steam at the entrance of a wide pipe (6 to 8 inches, say), at a point
which is from 3 to 4 inches behind the orifice through which the steam issues,
and directing this current upon the fuel, opening at the same time the ash-box,
or keeping it shut, as the case may be, and by these means I have fully
obtained the advantages and results set forth above, even when using the most
refractory fuel.
The above improvements may be most suitably applied to locomotives, for
the purpose of diminishing the loss of power resulting from back-pressure
caused by the small diameter it is necessary to give to the blast-pipe for the
purpose of creating a strong draught in the chimney, which in this case acts
as a single recipient, the speed of the draught being from thirty to forty times
that of the steam in the cylinders. I improve upon the plans now in use, by
changing the conical form of the blast-tuyer in the chimney into a cylindrical
one, having the same sectional surface as the waste port of the cylinders,
which I also enlarge for the purpose of allowing steam to escape still more
freely and rapidly, and then by using this tuyer as a narrow recipient, and
injecting into the same a continuous current of steam from the boiler.
Fig. 21 shews also another arrangement which I sometimes adopt. The
expenditure of steam caused by this second current is combined in such
manner that is does not exceed the one attendant upon the mode of creating
draught as described above, which is about five to six per cent. of the total
production. This expenditure may still be lessened considerably by surround-
ing the chimney with a casing for drying the steam (see Figs. 20 & 29),
thus using the heat that would otherwise be wasted in the air. If preferred,
both currents may not be directed into the same recipient, a portion only of
the first being used for warming the feed water, and the other for blowing the
furnace, as shewn at Fig. 22, the quantity of steam wasted by the present
arrangements sufficing for all these different purposes. Moreover, if the
steam for the improved blowing apparatus is to be drawn directly from the

page_text: boiler, there will be no loss resulting from this cause on account of the com-
bustion of gas above stated.
When the improved modes are applied to metallurgic purposes, or to the
manufacture of pottery, glass, bricks, &c., it is important that a mixed
globular or vesicular gas be formed as has been stated above; but this is not
the case when the air used is of a very high temperature, such as escapes
from furnaces employed for the above operations, and hence it is necessary to
absorb the excess of temperature. Fig. 23 shews one way of accomplishing
this. In this arrangement the attracting apparatus is not adapted immediately
to the sides of the furnace, but follows a single channel or set of pipes
immersed in a long trough which is constantly traversed by a current of water,
or they may be made to pass through a boiler, and thus generate steam that
may be used for artificial draught. As to appliances for melting in crucibles,
cupolas, reverberatory furnaces, and furnaces for reducing ore, it is essential to
add thereto the improved blast-pipes, which are placed at different heights all
round. In the so-called blast-furnaces the combination of these different
processes also affords the means of blowing simultaneously by attraction, and
by pulsion, propulsion, or driving, and also that of obtaining without any
additional expenditure hot air, and also all the steam nccessary for the improved
blasting.
Figs. 22, 24, and 25 shew divers applications of my improved apparatus to
these different cases.
As to heating liquids, it is well known that with the means now used
about one-half of the caloric that is or ought to be produced by a given
quantity of fuel is lost, which generally arises from the draught caused by high
chimneys. Thus one pound of coal, which contains 3,500 units of heat,
should raise 15 gallons of water 212 degrees, or produce about thirteen lbs.
of steam, only produces one-half of these effects. By inspecting Figs. 26,
27, and 28, it will be seen that by combining the different means which I
have mentioned above, it is easy to obtain almost a perfect using-up of the
caloric.
The above improvements may also be employed for general heating and
warming purposes, such as for churches, theatres, hospitals, barracks, laundries,
steam cylinders, &c., since the gases can have any direction given to them, and
even may be made to pass through pipes immersed in cold water; they may
also, by the aid of my projectors, be attracted and driven into visible or con-
cealed channels, by means of which dry or moist heat is distributed wherever
required. By using. the attractive power afforded by the above improve-
ments, the waste heat or burnt air of furnaces is used for warming the

page_text: cylinders, instead of steam. The same means may be employed for draughting
off' air viciated in habitations into the furnace, so as to get rid of and rege-
nerate the same, without having recourse to ventilators or other openings.
Lastly, with a small apparatus constructed according to my improved prin-
ciples, hot or cold air or any other gas may be drawn or driven in for ventilating
purposes.
The above improvements may also most usefully be applied to ventilating,
airing, and cooling apartments and other inhabited places, as is shewn at Fig.
28, from which it is directly seen that it is only necessary to make, near the
flooring of every story, openings suitably disposed, so as to allow the entrance
of fresh air, and also the proper distribution of the same. The air to be taken
out is also attracted by one of my apparatus set in the most suitable place.
This very obvious application may be effected by means of a little steam boiler
or ventilator, acting according to this system.
When it is desired to cool liquid substances, such as beer, &c., in order to
prevent fermentation, I cover the tubs or vessels which contain them, and
cause cool air to pass into their mass from above by means of tubes, this air
being drawn from a cellar, or else cooled by contact with water; and the steam
thus obtained may be used for warming purposes, see Fig. 28. A similar
process may be employed for cooling smoke or condensing soot.
My process may be applied to the draughting off or exhausting dangerous
gases from cellars, mines, and also gases resulting from the discharge of
fire-arms on board of men-of-war, &c. These applications of my improve-
ments to the removing of any gases are as easy and sure as they are
cheap (see Figs. 7, 16, 29); and since in coal mines there is a great
quantity of small coal, it may be made use of by means of my improved
blowing process, by which the erection of a high chimney is dispensed
with, & I thus efficiently ventilate, at a trifling expense, even the deepest
coal mines.
The above improvements may also be applied to evaporating, concentrating,
distilling, and drying in closed vessels, and also to carrying a gas from one
place to another. When it is desired to rapidly and continuously extract
first air and then the vapours which constantly arise from liquids contained
in hermetically closed vessels, such as the vacuum generator used for concen-
trating saccharine liquors, I use the above described improved plan, instead of
a single cone of steam, such as I have described and shown it in former
Inventions, and for this purpose I have devised the arrangements shewn at
Figs. 31, 32, in which the diameter of the projectors being the unit, that of
the receptors is from two to five. In the same manner I obtain a certain

page_text: vacuum in paper engines and other apparatus where it is now generally
obtained by means of suction pumps.
matters.
My improvements may also be applied to getting lime and pure carbonic
acid, and also coal gas. In certain manipulations, sugar refining, for instance,
it is important only to have pure lime and carbonic acid unmixed with other
In order to get these articles pure, I construct a furnace, in the
centre of which there is a retort consisting of several disks of metal or fire-
proof substances, superposed and luted together. This retort I fill with
carbonate of lime, and heaping fuel around I bring the mass to a red heat,
and direct the gases thus evolved into a gas meter in which they are collected.
If coal has been used, the gas obtained will be hydrogen. In any case this
process answers several purposes. First, it causes, without the aid of a high
chimney stack, the thorough ignition of the fuel around the retort; second,
the waste heat thus produced is made use of for providing the steam necessary
for the draft of furnaces by attraction, and also blowing under the grate;
third, the products of distillation are extracted from the retort, and driven into
the gas meter, to be collected there. Lastly, by it coke may be substituted for
coal generally, and consumed under retorts, since by this improved system the
coke will be supplied with the hydrogen required for blazing.
These improvements are also applicable to getting hydrogen from water for
lighting and other purposes; and with reference to this application I wish it to
be distinctly understood that I do not claim the process by which water is
decomposed into its two constituent elements; but that this Invention is
merely intended to act as an auxiliary to the manufacture of hydrogen gas, not
only by diminishing the expense of fuel, but also by providing the more
important means of operating without any engine the necessary mixing of
carbonated gas, without which gas cannot be made lighting. Fig. 33 is not
intended to be a specimen of apparatus, but only to point out that the improved
process may be made use of in this recent industry.
The mixed air and steam gas may be applied in the following manner to
drying, by causing the same to call into action atmospheric pressure. I have
ascertained by experiment that the vacuum which can be obtained by the
action of attracting fluid currents, and particularly steam currents, is about the
50-76ths of that termed complete, or little less than three quarters of an
atmosphere. If, therefore, any damp or wet material or fabric be laid in a
solid waterproof vessel, and a plate or lid put on the said material, and the
improved suction apparatus be applied to the vessel, the material will be
weighed upon by a force equal to the weight of a column of water of about

page_text: twenty-one feet high, and this pressure will in most cases be found sufficient
for expelling the water contained in the material.
These improvements may also be applied to raising liquids. Some of the first
inventors of steam power having already shewn that steam may be used for
raising water; and this means has more recently been proposed for raising
liquids, such as sugary juices, &; but when steam is used there is a con-
siderable condensation of the same, which makes the process expensive, and
sometimes injurious, which is not the case when mixed gas is employed, which,
as I have said, is not liable to be condensed. Hence this gas may be made
use of for raising, over and over again, considerable masses of water for moving
caloric-hydraulic engines, which may be in both be constructed and worked at
a very cheap rate. Figure 35 is intended to illustrate this apparatus for raising
liquids, which may be looked upon as the cheapest mode of creating motive
power, if hot water is continually raised, which soon requires but little steam.
By these means a mill may be worked by a reaction wheel or a turbine. To
raise water or any other liquid by this means, it is only necessary to direct a
current of steam into a tubular recipient of a small diameter, and the effect
required is obtained by means of a mixed fluid in which air equals from three
to ten times the weight of steam.
The above improvements may also be applied to the propelling of ships &
vessels, for if by means of the mixed gas the same mass of water may be put
in motion horizontally, and with the same speed as by paddle wheels, the ship
will be set in motion with the same speed as by paddles wheels, without the use
of any engine. When the mixed air is used for blowing, the necessary
air may be taken from the hold, thus ventilating the same.
As has been stated above, air may also be used instead of steam in this
improved apparatus; and although in the cases where steam cannot be used an
air-pump moved by hydraulic or animal power would do for setting the
required quantity of gas in motion, the effect produced will considerably be
increased if the exit pipe is made to issue into a recipient similar to that
described at Fig. 34; but when the draught to be produced is not very
powerful, I prefer to use a rotary ventilator, as indicated at Fig. 37, and this
mode may be adopted for producing draught in a furnace, the burnt air of
which is used for drying certain alimentary or other substances.
I will conclude here by describing an experiment which will shew the great
power possessed by mixed gas, consisting of a small quantity of steam and a
considerable quantity of air. When a current of pure steam is directed upon
the paddles of a paddle wheel so mounted as to move upon the slightest

page_text: impulse, the wheel acquires no speed at all; but when this current is made to
drive air into a recipient, and is then made to impinge upon the paddles, the
wheel immediately is set in motion with a considerable speed, and this prin-
ciple may hence be applied to motive purposes, for instance, for driving fans.
From what precedes it will be seen that, although my process is applicable
to a great number of industrial purposes, still the essential feature of these
applications is always the same, viz., propelling or driving and attracting
liquids or ponderable fluids by means of an instrument of a very simple con-
struction; but.in making this instrument the particulars above stated must be
attended to for obtaining good effects, and for that purpose I have shewn on
the annexed Sheet of Drawings a number of applications for the different cases,
which I will now briefly describe
Fig. 1. A, steam jet, projected through an orifice on the axis of a recipient
channel B, the diameter of which is from three to forty, according to the speed
required.
Fig. 2 shews the same process, but the form of the apparatus being better
appropriated to sucking in or attracting air or gas. Here the cone of the
carrying fluid forms an angle from 25 to 30 degrees.
Figs. 3, 4, 5, 6, various reservoirs, from which water flows through
differently shaped apertures into vertical pipes or channels, the upper part of
which is funnel-shaped, and perforated all over with holes which admit the air
necessary, for instance, for blowing a furnace fire.
Fig. 7 shows tubes intended successively to suck in currents of air, so as to
cause the effects of these tubes to unite.
Fig. 8 shows the projection of a jet of steam or any other fluid into a
channel the diameter of which must be combined in such a manner that the
basis of the cone may rest upon the inner side of the recipient, and the
attracting or carrying of the air may be properly effected.
Fig. 9. An instance of what takes place when a stream of fluid, A, issuing
through a small orifice, is directed into a channel of a large diameter, such, for
instance, as a large chimney 2 feet 8 inches diameter or more. The vortex
into which the cone finally resolves annihilates the attracting or suctional
power.
Figs. 10, 11, 12, 13 are instances of the effects produced by currents of
fluids issuing into recipients of various diameters, according to their application
in manufactures.
Fig. 13 shows the use of a short intermediate recipient, intended chiefly to

page_text: prepare for issuing into a second channel, the diameter of which being double
of that Fig. 10 will attract or suck in four times as much.
Fig. 14 shows a central tube, which in many cases need only to be placed
into a large chimney in order to effect a good draft, chiefly when a long culvert
or canal is used in such manner as to issue air under the grate.
Fig. 15 shows a double-cased apparatus, into which I introduce through the
pipe A either water or any other liquid intended to be heated, or steam that
it is desired to dry without unsaturating or over heating it; thus using con-
siderable quantities of caloric generally lost by chimneys. B is the issuing
orifice; C is the steam-projecting apparatus, which by mixing with the smoke
gives rise to a mixed gas, the rapid current of which causes a thorough draft
in the furnace. By means of this apparatus any direction may be given to
burnt air; and when chimneys are very large, as those of great vessels, several
apparatus may be established in each chimney.
Fig. 16. Apparatus with several successive projectors and recipients. A is the
steam recipient.
Fig. 17 shews the contrivance used when it is desired to attract into a
chimney certain gases it is desired to get rid of.
Fig. 18 is the same heating process as that shewn at Fig. 15, but here it is
placed outside a metallic chimney.
Fig. 19 shews an improved mode for quickly lighting furnaces, especially on
locomotives and vessels, where this is very important to effect. A is the current
of cold or hot air, which being driven by a ventilator moved by hand with
great speed attracts the smoke into the narrow recipient A'. When the steam
has 15 lbs. pressure, the apparatus shewn at Fig. 1 may be applied.
Fig. 20 shows the advantages of the recipients being narrow for a certain
length. It shows also that they may end into tubes immersed into water, or
into a steam warming apparatus.
Fig. 21 is the application of this improved drawing process to locomotives
or other engines, where the waste steam may be made use of for that purpose.
Part of that steam may also be employed for blowing in the manner shown at
Figs. 20 and 22.
Fig. 22 shows, like Fig. 20, the principle of the new gas and air blowing
process. By projecting under the grate, the ash-box being either closed or
not, a mixed gas, consisting of a small portion of steam with a great mass of
air, this gas, which is possessed of electricity, is decomposed into bydrogen and
oxygen, & produces a most powerful combustion in the whole furnace, and
consequently considerable saving of fuel and steam, as compared with the
steam blast now in use.

page_text: Figs. 23, 24, 25, show the manner in which the improved draft and blowing
process may be applied to cupolas and other furnaces.
Fig. 26 shows two cylindrical capacities placed one above the other, and
intended to take up the heat that passes through the chimney. In the lower
cylinder anhydrous steam is obtained, and in the upper one warm water.
Fig. 27 shows my improved plan for warming any place whatever by
causing the remaining caloric to pass through a long reservoir of water.
Fig. 28 is a building warmed by the process Fig. 27, and from which
the foul air is exhausted by the small attractive apparatus placed into the
chimney C, and fresh air let in through B. On the ground floor is a kind of
tub for cooling beer by carrying off its steam.
Fig. 29 shows my process for the purpose of blowing wholesome air into
cellars and other subterraneous premises.
Fig. 30 shows an arrangement to be employed for extracting or exhausting
effluvia or obnoxious gases from cellars or other subterraneous places.
Fig. 31 shows a closed vessel from which I extract the vapours as soon as
they arise from the liquid contained in the vessel, thus allowing said liquid to
boil at a low temperature, as is required for the juice of certain vegetables,
syrup, starch, &c.
Fig. 32 is the same system applied to several boilers which are laid down
step-wise. In this arrangement the steam issuing from one serves to heat the
liquid contained in the other.
Fig. 38 is an apparatus for obtaining various gases, such as carbonic acid
which is extracted from calcareous carbonates, hydrogen pure, or carburetted
hydrogen, for warming, lighting, or other purposes.
Fig. 84 is a press acting by the vacuum created by the continued extraction
of the air under the piston.
Fig. 85 shews the mode of raising liquids by pressure of mixed gases, air,
and steam.
Fig. 36 is a vessel without vertical chimney, shewing my artificial draft of
the furnace and my blowing apparatus, and also the channel that is to throw
the smoke on the water, either aft or sideways; and also my propelling process
by mixed gas, which drives the water back that has penetrated into tubes
horizontally placed, the vessel being thus caused to advance by the column of
water issuing.
Fig. 36 is a low-pressure boiler, through the back of which pass under the
grate the tubes for distributing the mixed gas of my blowing apparatus.
Fig. 37 shows the means of generating a powerful stream of attractive air
by means of a ventilator.

page_text: Fig. 38, a rotary machine acting by the propelling power of mixed gas,
carrying along another mass of air, the whole being projected against the vanes
of a frictionless fan.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which
the same is or may be carried into effect, I wish it to be distinctly understood
that what I claim as novel, & therefore being secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent, is, the use and employment of a mixture
of steam and air or other gases, instead of the apparatus now in use for the
same purpose, said mixture being obtained and applied as above described by
projecting a relatively small and more or less compressed current of steam or
other attracting fluid into a large single or multiple recipient pipe or channel,
so as to give access to and cause the attraction of a considerable mass of air
to be carried along with the steam, &c., for the following purposes :-
First, for causing draught in or blowing furnaces either by attraction, suction,
or chimney-blast, or else by direct blowing, driving, or propulsion.
Second, for heating and warming houses, water, steam cylinders, &*.
Third, for exhausting or extracting vapours from closed vessels and
deleterious gases from places in a low situation, and also forcing wholesome air
into the same.
In witness whereof, I, the said Christophe François Delabarre, have
hereunto set my hand & seal, this Tenth day of August, of the year
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
C. F. DELABARRE. (L.s.)