Improvements in Steam Boiler Furnaces and other Furnaces.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd Mar., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 6th Nov., 1894-Accepted, 8th Dec., 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Steam Boiler Furnaces and other Furnaces.
We, STEPHEN BOND of No. 189 St. Andrew's Road, Birmingham in the
County of Warwick, Brick Works Manager, and JOHN PICKERILL, of
No. 88 Garrison Street, Birmingham, aforesaid, Engineer do hereby declare the
nature of this invention to be as follows:-
:-
Our invention consists principally of the arrangement or combination of parts
hereinafter described for supplying heated air to the gaseous products of com-
bustion passing over the bridge of the furnace for the purpose of preventing or
suppressing, wholly or in great part, smoke.
Our invention consists further of the improvement hereinafter described in the
fire grates of the said furnaces.
Our improvements are particularly applicable to the furnaces of steam boilers,
but may also be applied to puddling, mill and other furnaces, the fire places of which
are provided with bridges.
We will describe our improvements in connection with the furnace of a Cornish
steam boiler; that is, a steam boiler having a large internal flue.
In front of the bridge of the furnace, that is, the back vertical wall dividing the
fire place from the flue, we form a series of vertical air flues or passages opening at
top a short distance above the bridge, and at bottom into the ash-pit under the fire
bars. The vertical air flues or passages consist of a series of fire bricks arranged
side by side at a distance apart equal to the width of the flues to be formed, the
distance apart of the several fire bricks being determined by teats or projections on
the faces of adjacent bricks. The teats or projections described besides serving to
determine the width of the flues or passages also serve to break up or divide the
air rising in the said flues. Extending from side to side of the bridge and situated
under the bottoms of the several vertical air flues or passages is a valve turning on
a horizontal axis after the manner of a throttle valve. This valve is operated by
a link and hand lever the said hand lever being situated under the fire bars and
extending from the back of the furnace to the front of the ash-pit so that it is
accessible to the attendant. By means of the said valve the amount of air from
the ash-pit passing up the vertical flues or passages at the front of the furnace
bridge can be regulated. As the fire bricks between which the vertical flues are
formed are highly heated by the combustion of the fuel on the fire grate the cold
air rising in the said flues is heated and divided by contact with the heated flues or
passages and the currents of heated air are delivered to the volatile products of
combustion passing over the bridge. Smoke is thereby wholly or in great part
prevented or suppressed.
For the purpose of preventing more or less the formation of smoke at the front
of the furnace and for promoting combustion we use at the front of the fire grate
in place of the ordinary "dead plate" a plate having upon its upper face a series
of parallel bars in line with the ordinary fire bars. This plate is separated from
the front of the ordinary fire bars by a space or opening which constitutes an air
space. On the said front barred plate fuel is placed and burned. As the air from
the ash-pit rises in the said space or passage between the barred plate and the
front of the fire bars it is heated and delivered to the gaseous products of combustion
passing over the said space and assists in suppressing smoke.
Dated this 2nd day of March 1894.
W. T. WHITEMAN,
Agent for the Applicants.

page_text: COME ELM OF EDINICATION.
Improvements in Steam. Boiler Furnaces and other Furnaces.
We STEPHEN BOND, of No. 189 St. Andrew's Road, Birmingham in the
County of Warwick, Brick Works Manager, and JOHN PICKERILL, of
No. 88 Garrison Street, Birmingham aforesaid, Engineer do hereby declare the
nature of our invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
Our invention consists principally of the arrangement or combination of parts
hereinafter described for supplying heated air to the gaseous products of com-
bustion passing over the bridge of the furnace for the purpose of preventing or
suppressing, wholly or in great part, smoke.
Our invention consists further of the improvement hereinafter described in the
fire grates of the said furnaces.
Our improvements are particularly applicable to the furnaces of steam boilers,
but may also be applied to puddling, mill and other furnaces, the fire places of
which are provided with bridges.
We will describe our improvements in connection with the furnace of a Cornish
steam boiler; that is, a steam boiler having a large internal flue.
In front of the bridge of the furnace, that is, the back vertical wall dividing the
fire place from the flue we form a series of vertical air flues or passages opening at
top a short distance above the bridge, and at bottom into the ash-pit under the
fire bars. The vertical air flues or passages consist of a series of hollow bricks of
cast iron or fire clay arranged side by side at a distance apart equal to the width
of the flues to be formed, the distance apart of the several fire bricks being
determined by teats or projections on the faces of adjacent bricks. The teats or
projections described besides serving to determine the width of the flues or
passages also serve to break up or divide the air rising in the said flues.
Extending from side to side of the bridge and situated under the bottoms of the
several vertical air flues or passages is a valve turning on a horizontal axis after
the manner of a throttle valve. This valve is operated by a link and hand lever,
the said hand lever being situated under the fire bars and extending from the back
of the furnace to the front of the ash-pit so that it is accessible to the attendant.
By means of the said valve the amount of air from the ash-pit passing up the
vertical air flues or passages at the front of the furnace bridge can be regulated.
As the fire or. other bricks between which the vertical flues are formed are highly
heated by the combustion of the fuel on the firegrate, the cold air rising in the
said flues is heated and divided by contact with the heated flues or passages and
the currents of heated air are delivered to the volatile products of combustion
passing over the bridge. Smoke is thereby wholly or in great part prevented or
suppressed.
For the purpose of preventing more or less the formation of smoke at the front
of the furnace and for promoting combustion we use at the front of the fire grate
in place of the ordinary "dead plate" a plate having upon its upper face a series
of parallel bars in line with the ordinary fire bars. This plate is separated from
the front of the ordinary fire bars by a space or opening which constitutes an air
space. On the said front barred plate fuel is placed and burned. As the air from
the ash pit rises in the said space or passage between the barred plate and the front
of the fire bars it is heated and delivered to the gaseous products of combustion
passing over the said space and assists in suppressing smoke.
We will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying drawings
the manner in which our invention is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in longitudinal section; Figure
in horizontal section;
Figure 3 in front clevation and Figure 4 in cross section taken on the dotted

page_text: improvements;
Figure 5 represents in perspective the vertical air flues or passages of the said
furnace drawn to a larger scale ;
Figure 6 represents a back elevation of one of the vertical air Anes or passages
drawn to the same scale as Figure 5 and
Figure 7 represents a vertical section of one of the said Hues or passages
together with the valve and valve box and a portion of the valve operating rod
or lever.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several figures of the
drawings.
a is the internal flue of the boiler; is the ash pit; c is the bridge dividing the
fire place a² from the said flue; a³ is the fire place door and are the fire bars;
e, e are the hollow bricks forming the series of vertical air flues or passages in front
of the bridge c.
The said hollow bricks e, e may either be made of cast iron or
fire clay or other refractory material. The construction of the bricks e, e for
forming the vertical air flues or passages, will be best understood by an examination
of the enlarged views Figures 5, 6 and 7. The said bricks are arranged side by
side at a distance apart equal to the width of the flues, the distance apart of the
several flues being determined by the teats or projections e, e on the sides or faces
of adjacent bricks as seen in Figure 5. The teats or projections e, e also serve to
break up or divide the air rising up some of the flues. The vertical air flues
formed by the bricks e, e themselves are marked f, f and those formed between the
sides of adjacent bricks are marked g, g.
It will be seen that the middle vertical brick is of greater height than the
bricks on either side of it, the last named bricks diminishing in height as they
approach the sides of the fire place. The hollow bricks e, e are arched at bottom
and open at the bottom, sides and top, the tops of the several hollow flues, g
formed by the said bricks opening a short distance above the bridge c. The said
hollow bricks forming the air flues are supported upon the valve box or frame h
which extends from side to side of the bridge c. In the said box or frame / is a
valve turning on the pivots or horizontal axes 2 at the ends of the valve box
after the manner of a throttle valve. The valve box is supported at one side
upon the fire bars by means of the projections h³, 13 and the projections *, * on
the other side of the valve box are built into the bridge c, see Figure 1. The
valve i is operated by the link or arm k and hand rod or lever 1, the latter being
situated under the fire bars d, d and extending from the back of the furnace to the
front of the ash pit so that the said rod or lever is accessible to the attendant at
the front of the boiler. Or the operating rod or lever / may be worked from the
engine house by jointing its outer end to a crank lever m and connecting the latter
with the engine house by the connecting rod p seen in Figure 3.
By pushing the lever or rod inwards the valve i is turned ou its pivots h² and
the valve box i opened and air permitted to enter the said valve box and flues f, g,
By drawing the lever or rod outwards the valve is turned in the opposite
direction and the valve box is closed, as represented in the enlarged view Figure 7,
and air is cut off from the said box and air flues f. 9. By means of the said valve
the amount of air from the ash pit passing up the vertical flues f, y at the front of
the furnace bridge c can be regulated. As the bricks e, e forming the flues f, g
are highly heated by the combustion of the fuel on the fire bars the cold air rising
in the said flues is heated and divided by contact with the said heated flues and the
currents of heated air are delivered by the said flues to the volatile products of
combustion passing over the said bridge as will be understood by an examination
of Figures 1, 5 and 7. Smoke is thereby wholly or in great part prevented or
suppressed.
q is the barred plate or grating at the front of the firegrate in place of the
ordinary dead plate, which barred plate or grating we use for preventing more or
less the formation of smoke at the front of the fire grate. The plate y is supported

page_text: by the dead plater at the level represented. It will be seen that the barred plate
or grating a consists of a series of parallel bars in line with the ordinary fire
bars d, d, the said plate q being separated from the front of the ordinary fire
bars d by the air space or cross opening s. On the said plate or grating q fuel is
placed and burned as well as upon the ordinary fire bars d.
As the air from the
ash pit rises in the air space or passages, it is heated and delivered to the gaseous
products of combustion passing over the said plate or grating 7 and assists in
suppressing smoke at the front of the fire grate.
We apply our improvements to the furnaces or fire places of puddling, mill and
other like furnaces substantially as herein before described and illustrated with
respect to the furnace of a Cornish steam boiler.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that we claim
as our invention of
Improvements in Steam Boiler Furnaces and other
Furnaces"
First. The combination with the front of the bridge of the furnace or fireplace,
of a series of vertical air flues or passages constructed, arranged and supported
substantially as described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, together
with a valve and valve box extended beneath the said vertical air flues or passages
for regulating the amount of air supplied to the said flues or passages, the air
heated by the said flues or passages being delivered to the volatile products of
combustion passing over the bridge and thereby wholly or in great part preventing
or suppressing smoke substantially as described and illustrated.
Secondly. The combination with the front of the ordinary fire bars of the
furnace or fire grate, in place of the ordinary dead plate, of a separated barred
plate or grating of the kind and for the purpose herein before described and
illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Dated the First day of November 1894.
STEPHEN BOND.
JOHN PICKERILL.