An Improved Furnace or Heating Chamber for Conducting Chemical Operations.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 28th Apr., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 28th Jan., 1891-Accepted; 18th Apr., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Furnace or Heating Chamber for Conducting Chemical
Operations.
We, GEORGE EDWARD DAVIS, of 32, Blackfriars Street, Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, Chemical Engineer, and ALFRED ROLAND DAVIS, also of
32, Blackfriars Street, Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Chemical
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
Our invention consists of an improved mechanical furnace in which chemical
operations can be performed either with or without contact with the fuel gases,
resulting from heating the same, and which may be fed and discharged automatically,
the speed of working being regulated at will.
The furnace body consists of an elongated tube or chamber of any suitable
material and of any convenient section, such as, for instance, a square, oval or
circle, or indeed any other convenient shape, but an oval section is in most cases
the best. This tube or chamber may be either fixed, or made to revolve.
Longitudinally through the furnace, pass two or more strong shafts carrying
creeper blades or spiral convoluted conveyers, which revolve with and around the
shaft. The ends of these shafts are supported in readily moveable bearings and are
made in such a manner that by merely removing a plate at the end of the furnace,
the shafts with creeper blades or conveyers can be easily removed for repair or
examination.
The shafts are placed at such a distance asunder that the extremities of the
creeper blades or conveyers revolving round the one shaft nearly touch the metal
of the next shaft or shafts and the pitch of the blades is so regulated that they
In
nearly touch the blades of the next shaft at some period of their revolutions.
this way, one shaft with its creeper blades keeps the next shaft or shafts and blades
clean and free from objectionable deposit and incrustation. The creeper blades
may be cast with the shaft or cast or forged separately and slipped on over the
shaft into their proper positions. The motion of the shafts may be both or all in
one direction, or in opposite directions, and the velocity or speed of revolutions
may be varied as desired. to suit the various substances to be manipulated therein.
The creeper blade shafts must be made strong enough to carry the creeper blades
without sagging, but if the furnace is of great length it will be necessary to provide
friction rollers or other suitable bearings or supports within the furnace itself.
furnaces of large size we prefer to construct the body of the furnace in sections for
the easy repair of the same.
In
The furnace may be heated by any known means but we prefer to heat it by
means of a fire place built underneath or adjacent to it, and fired with solid fuel,
liquid fuel or gas as may be most convenient, or the furnace may be made with
a hollow casing, surrounding it, or nearly surrounding it, steam at ordinary
temperatures or superheated steam being the heating medium, or the hollow
space may contain heated water, molten solids or such like media as the heating
agents.
In certain chemical decompositions and combinations we arrange a series of two
or more of these furnaces at different levels, and placed so that one may be charged
from the next above it or in series to it and so on, as each is provided with a
charging door or hopper and a discharging door or shute, either or both of which
may be hermetically sealed when necessary.
In this furnace or furnaces, substances may be treated without contact with the
outside air by taking care that the various openings are effectually sealed, or by
keeping a slow stream of inert gas passing through; or an oxidising effect may be

page_text: produced by admitting a current of air, which passes away by an outlet provided
for the purpose, or herein may be furnaced a substance, such as salt-cake for
instance, or the carbonate salts of the alkali manufacturer, or the bicarbonate of
soda of the ammonia soda manufacturer, from which it is desired to eliminate
aqueous vapour or a gas, the eliminated vapour or gas passing away by the outlet
provided for the purpose.
GEORGE E. DAVIS.
ALF. R. DAVIS.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Furnace or Heating Chamber for Conducting Chemical
Operations.
We, GEORGE EDWARD DAVIS and ALFRED ROLAND DAVIS, both of
32, Blackfriars Street, Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Chemical
Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of this 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 relates to an improved mechanical furnace in which chemical
operations can be performed, either with, or without contact with the fuel gases
resulting from heating the same, and which may be fed and discharged automatically,
the speed and direction of working being capable of regulation at will.
In the accompanying drawing,
Figure 1 is a longitudinal section:
Figures 2 and 3 are end elevations :
Figure 4 is a sectional plan; and,
Figure 5 is a transverse section of a furnace for conducting chemical operations,
constructed according to our invention.
Similar letters in all the figures indicate similar parts.
In carrying out our invention the furnace body B is constructed of an elongated
tube or chamber of any suitable material and of any convenient shape in cross
section, such for example as square, oval or circular. This tube or chamber B may
either be fixed or made to revolve. Longitudinally through the furnace pass two
or more strong shafts C carrying creeper-blades D which are caused to revolve,
with and around the shaft. The ends of these shafts C are supported in readily
removable bearings, and are made in such a manner that by merely removing the
plate E at either end of the furnace, the shafts C, C with the creeper-blades D can
easily be removed for repair or examination.
The shafts C, C are placed at such a distance apart that the extremities of the
creeper-blades D revolving round one shaft nearly touch the metal of the next
shaft or shafts, and the pitch of the creeper-blades is so regulated that the blades
of one shaft nearly touch the blades of the next shaft at some period of their
revolutions.
In this way one shaft with its creeper-blades keeps the next shaft and blades
clean and free from objectionable deposit and incrustation.
The creeper-
blades D, D, which are provided along the whole length of the shafts C, C
inside the furnace, may be cast with the shaft or cast or forged separately and
slipped on over the shaft C into their proper positions.
The motion of the two shafts may be in one direction or in opposite directions or
some (if there be more than two) may be made to run in one direction, and some in
another and the speed of revolution may be varied as desired to suit the chemical
and physical character of the various substances to be manipulated in the furnace.
This we accomplish by suitable gearing placed at the ends of the furnace, and
preferably secured in the end plates E. At the end of the furnace marked F1, the
two shafts C, C are caused to revolve by means of two wheels F2, F3 which are

page_text: geared into each other, the shaft-bearing wheel F3 being provided with a driving
wheel D. The wheel F can be thrown in and out of gear by means of a hand
wheel Gas a preliminary to any change in the direction of motion of that shaft.
At the furnace end marked the gearing is arranged as most clearly shewn in
Figure 2. Wheels F and F7 connected with the shafts C, C are geared into a
dead wheel F which is capable of being thrown in and out of gear by means of a
hand wheel G. By this gearing F and F at the ends of the furnace the shafts
can be made to revolve in the same direction or in opposite directions as may be
required.
The creeper-blade shafts C, C must be made strong enough to carry the creeper-
blades without sagging, and they may be made hollow and cooled with a current of
water if and when necessary, but if the furnace is of great length it will be
necessary to provide friction rollers H, H or other suitable bearings or supports
within the furnace itself.
In furnaces of large size, we prefer to construct the body B thereof in sections
for the easy repair of the same. The furnace may be heated by any suitable known
means, but we prefer to heat it by means of a fire-place 1, Figure 1, built under-
neath or adjacent to it and fired with solid fuel, liquid fuel or gas as may be most
convenient; or the furnace may be made with a hollow casing surrounding it or
nearly surrounding it, steam at ordinary temperatures or super-heated steam being
the heating medium; or the hollow space may contain heated water, molten solids
or such like media as the heating agents.
In certain chemical decompositions and combinations we arrange a series of two
or more of the hereinbefore described furnaces at different levels and placed so that
the lower furnace may be charged from the shute J of the one next above it and so
on throughout the series. Each furnace is provided with a charging door or
hopper and a discharging door or shute J, either or both of which may be
hermetically sealed when necessary.
In the aforesaid furnace or furnaces substances may be treated without contact
with the outside air by causing the various openings to be effectually sealed, or by
keeping a stream of inert gas passing through the furnace; or an oxidizing effect
can be produced by admitting a current of air at or near the shute J, which
current passes out at the outlet pipe L provided for the purpose. In the furnace as
herein described may be furnaced a substance such as salt-cake for instance, or
the carbonate of caustic salts of alkali-makers, or the bicarbonate of soda of
ammonia-soda makers, from which it is desired to eliminate gases or other foreign
matters.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. In a furnace for conducting chemical operations, the combination with a
furnace body containing a number of removable longitudinal shafts carrying
creeper-blades, of mechanism such as that herein described for varying the.
direction and speed of rotation of the said shafts, substantially as set forth.
2. The improved furnace for conducting chemical operations hereinbefore
described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing.
Dated the 28th day of January 1891.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.