Improvements in Furnaces for the Application of Water Gas for Heating and Welding Purposes.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 14th Jan., 1892
Complete Specification Left, 8th Oct., 1892-Accepted, 12th Nov., 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Furnaces for the Application of Water Gas for
Heating and Welding Purposes.
I, SAMSON FOX, of Leeds Forge, Leeds, in the County of York, Civil Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
-
This invention relates to improvements in the construction and arrangement of
welding or heating furnaces or fires such as are used for heating bars for forging or
welding purposes, for wheel bossing, and vec glutting rims of wheel spokes so as to
admit of the application and use of water-gas as the heating agent.
For this purpose the furnace is constructed with a hearth and open bottom made
up with sand, and to afford easy access for cleaning out slag, the linings are made
of very refractory material such as fire brick or silica brick capable of resisting the
very high temperature produced by the combustion of water-gas and air under
pressure.
•
.
The water gas may be taken from the gasholder at various pressures, and is led
to the furnace through pipes provided with suitable valves for adjusting the supply
to suit requirement.
The air is supplied at a suitable pressure to the furnace by means such as a Roots
blower and connecting pipes. It is heated to as high a degree as possible by passing
it through specially arranged coiled pipes placed in an air heating furnace, or
through pipes otherwise heated by a furnace constructed for this purpose.
The gas and air are directed into the furnace or heating chamber by a set of
double tuyeres of special construction made of metallic tubing connected up by tube
fittings such as coupling tee, and elbow pieces. The cylindrical tubes forming the
tuyeres are each flattened so as to form a nozzle of gradually decreasing cross
sectional area to its outlet end and of approximately rectangular form in cross
section, the cross sectional areas of the tubes forming each tuyere being suitably
proportioned to the amount of air and gas required to pass through them. The.
tuyeres are so arranged that the direction of the air jet will be at right angles to
that of the gas jet entering the furnace or fire so as to thereby effect thorough.
mixture and complete combustion of the air and water gas.
Immediately in front of the tuyeres is a-mixing chamber that forms a passage for
the gases onto the hearth of the furnace where the article or articles to be heated
is or are placed.
1900
W. LLOYD WISE,
Per F. J. Brougham,
46, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agent for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Furnaces for the Application of Water Gas for
Heating and Welding Purposes.
I, SAMSON Fox, of Leeds Forge, Leeds, in the County of York, Civil Engineer,
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 :-
This invention relates to improvements in the construction and arrangement of
welding or heating furnaces or fires such as are used for heating bars for forging or

page_text: welding purposes, for wheel bossing, and vee glutting rims of wheel spokes so as to
admit of the application and use of water-gas as the heating agent.
For this purpose and to afford easy access for cleaning out slag the furnace is
constructed with a hearth and open bottom made up with sand, the linings being
made of very refractory material such as fire brick or silica brick capable of
resisting the very high temperature produced by the combustion of water-gas and
air under pressure.
The water gas may be taken from a gasholder at various pressures, and is led to
the furnace through pipes provided with suitable valves for adjusting the supply to
suit requirement.
The air is supplied at a suitable pressure to the furnace by means, such as a
Root's blower, and connecting pipes. It is heated to as high a degree as possible
by passing it through specially arranged coiled pipes placed in an air heating
furnace or chamber or through pipes otherwise heated by a furnace constructed for
this purpose.
The gas and air are directed into the furnace or heating chamber by a set of
double tuyeres of special construction made of metallic tubing connected up by
tube fittings such as coupling, tee, and elbow pieces. The cylindrical tubes forming
the tuyeres are each flattened so as to form a nozzle of gradually decreasing cross
sectional area to its outlet end, and of approximately rectangular form in cross
section, the cross sectional areas of the tubes forming each tuyere being suitably
proportioned to the amount of air and gas required to pass through them.
tuyeres are so arranged that the direction of the air jet will be at right angles to
that of the gas jet entering the furnace or fire so as to thereby effect thorough
mixture and complete combustion of the air and water gas.
The
Immediately in front of the tuyeres is a mixing chamber that forms a passage for
the gases onto the hearth of the furnace where the article or articles to be heated
is or are placed.
And in order that my invention may be fully understood and readily carried into
practical effect I append four sheets of illustrative drawings representing examples
of furnaces that I will now proceed to describe.
In
The furnace illustrated on Sheet 1 is suitable for heating rims of wheel spokes
to a welding heat ready to receive a vee glut piece. The body of this furnace is
surrounded by metallic plates which have angle pieces rivetted thereto and are held
together by bolts, the plates being of convenient shape to suit the work to be
heated thereon. In each end plate is provided an orifice for the admission and
fixing of a burner or tuyere of the special construction hereinafter described.
each side plate is provided near the bottom an orifice for the removal of slag.
The body of the furnace is formed of fire brick or other refractory material, in
the centre of which is formed a combustion chamber; communication between this
combustion chamber and the tuyeres is by the mixing chambers. The bottom of
the combustion chamber is constructed with a cross flue; this flue and the bottom
of the combustion chamber are partially filled with sand. The top of the fire brick
or other refractory material forms the hearth for the wheel rim or other work to
rest on during the heating operation. In order to expedite the heating in the case
of a wheel rim, the portion thereof covering the combustion chamber orifice is
covered over by fire-brick of convenient shape removable when required.
On Sheet 1 of the drawings
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the furnace.
Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section thereof;
Fig. 3 is a cross section and
Fig. 4 is a plan.
The metallic end plates a, have orifices formed in them for the admission of the
tuyeres whose discharging orifices. are at c. These tuyeres comprise metallic
tubes d, that supply the water-gas to the furnace, and metallic tubes e that supply
to the furnace the blast air previously heated to a suitable degree. The supplies of
water-gas and of air are regulated by suitable cocks f and g. The gas and air

page_text: leaving the nozzles of the tubes forming the tuyeres enter and are mixed in the
mixing chambers whence the mixture passes into the combustion chamber i where
it is ignited. is the hearth in which is placed the rim of wheel spokes to be
heated, as shewn in dotted lines so that the portions of the rim formed at the
junction of the two spokes and the rim, called the vee piece can be brought to a
welding heat. To effect this efficiently and quickly, the inside of the wheel rim and
the spokes are covered by fire bricks in order to prevent the heat passing away
too quickly.
The slag formed during the combustion of the gases settles down upon the sand m,
and is removed from time to time as may be necessary by removing the bricks o,
from the cross flue in which they are normally situated, and clearing out the
sand m.
The furnace illustrated on Sheet 2 is for heating vee glut bars ready for insertion
in the vee pieces of rim wheel spokes or in other articles, and also for heating blast
air to a suitable temperature for use in conjunction with water gas to be consumed in
its own furnace and for supplying heated blast air to the furnaces for heating rims
of wheel spokes or to other furnaces.
The body of this furnace is surrounded by metallic plates having angle pieces
rivetted thereto and held together by bolts. Ench of the two side plates near the
top is formed with an orifice for the admission of a tuyere. Some distance below
each of these orifices is another orifice forming part of the cross flue and through
which slag can be removed, whilst further below in each plate is an orifice for a
blast pipe, the pipes at one side being the inlet pipe for cold air, and that at the
opposite side being the outlet pipe for heated air. The front plate is provided with
an aperture for inserting the bars to be heated and level with the bottom of this
aperture is fixed a fore plate for supporting the said bars during heating. Some
distance below the said aperture is another opening for cleaning out the flue or
chamber in which the air blast pipes are heated. The back plate of the furnace is
formed with a long vertical opening for receiving that part of the body of the
furnace in which is formed the main flue that is in connection with the chimney.
On Sheet 2 of the drawings,
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of this furnace;
Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section thereof,
Fig. 3 is a transverse section
Fig. 4 is a plan.
and
a a are the side plates of the furnace each formed with an orifice b for the reception
of a tuyere, constructed as hereinbefore described, and with an orifice d for
removing slag. dis an orifice for an air inlet pipe e which is connected with a coil
of heating pipes f; and g is an orifice for the outlet pipe also connected with the
said coil of pipes. is the front plate of the furnace formed with an aperture & for
the insertion of the bars to be treated which are supported by a plate 1; it is also
formed with an aperture m for cleaning out the flue or chamber containing the coil
of pipes f. The back plate is formed with an aperture n.
The body of the furnace is formed of fire-brick or other refractory material in
which the furnace chamber o and the mixing chambers p are formed, the tuyeres
delivering into the latter chambers as shown. At the bottom of the furnace
chamber is an opening r filled with sand, such opening communicating with a cross
Alue or cleaning holes terminating in the apertures d. At the back of the furnace
is the main flues that is in communication by a connecting flue with one end of the
heating flue or chamber u formed in fire-brick, or other refractory material v that
serves to protect the coil of pipes f from direct contact with the hot gases. and
products of combustion. The other end of the heating flue or chamber is connected
with the chimney by means of the flue w which is provided at a point below the
chimney with a damper for regulating the exit of the waste gases.
The water gas is supplied through the pipes to the tuyeres whence it passes into
the mixing chambers p, whilst heated air is furnished to the mixing chamber p at
one side by the pipe y and at the opposite side by the branch connecting pipes z.

page_text: The supply of water gas is regulated by cocks a¹, and the supply of heated air by
cocks, the main blast supply being regulated by a cock c. The surplus heated
air blast not required by this furnace passes away by the main pipe to the furnace
for heating the rim of wheel spokes or to other desired place.
The furnace shown on Sheet 3 is suitable for heating the inner ends of spokes at
the centre of a spoke wheel to a welding heat ready to receive a boss. The metal
casing of this furnace is cylindrical in form and provided with a number of orifices
near its top edge for the reception of a corresponding number of tuyeres constructed
as hereinafter described. The air is supplied to the tuyeres by means of a circular
pipe arranged to surround the cylindrical casing and provided with an inlet branch
for air which is previously heated in a special air heating stove or furnace. The
gas is supplied in a similar manner. The metal casing is lined with firebrick or
other refractory material in which is a central combustion chamber, and a number
of separate mixing chambers. The bottom of the combustion chamber extends
downward through the bottom of the metallic casing and communicates with a
horizontal passage formed through the foundation. The top part of the firebrick
or other refractory material forms the hearth on which is placed the spoke wheel so
that the inner ends of the spokes will overhang the combustion chamber.
Within the spaces between the inner ends of the spokes there is placed during the
heating operation, firebricks of the requisite form to almost fill such spaces, and ou
the top of these bricks is placed a cover brick which entirely closes in the ends of
the spokes. By this means the heat produced by the combustion of the water gas
is retained such bricks being easily removed when the ends of the spokes have
attained the requisite heat.
On Sheet 3 of the drawings,
Fig. 1 is an elevation of this furnace.
Fig. 2 is a vertical section and
Fig. 3 is a plan thereof.
Fig. 4 is a vertical section of one of the tuyeres.
Fig. 5 is an end view of one of the air nozzles.
Fig. 6 is an elevation of a distance plate hereinafter referred to.
Fig. 7 is a plan of one of the gas nozzles.
a is the cylindrical casing formed with a number of orifices near the top edge.
The tuyeres whose discharging orifices are at c are constructed as hereinafter
described; the air being supplied to each air nozzle from the circular pipe d, by a
branch pipe e, and the water gas being supplied from the circular pipe f, by a
branch pipe g.
The tuyeres communicate with the combustion chamber by means
of the mixing chamber i, as before. The lower part of the combustion chamber /
and the cross flue & in connection therewith are partially filled with sand / to
admit of clearing out the slag formed during the heating process.
m is the hearth on which rests the spoke wheel, shown in dotted lines to be
heated, and n are firebricks of the requisite form to almost fill the space between
the inner ends of the spokes of such wheel. o is the cover brick adapted to cover
the ends of the spokes at the centre of the wheel.
Fig. 4 shows my improved construction of tuyere for water gas for heating and
welding purposes and which is common to all the furnaces shown in the accom-
panying drawings. The nozzle p of the air supply pipe forming part of the tuyere,
is flattened so as to form an exit passage of gradually decreasing cross sectional
area towards its outlet end. This nozzle is screwed into one end of an ordinary
bend q into the other end of which is screwed a coupling pipe by which the nozzle
is connected to the air supply pipe. On this coupling pipe are two ordinary back
nuts s and s arranged one at each side of a fixed distance plate t. By adjusting
the position of these nuts the distance of the discharging orifice of the nozzle
P
relation to the discharging orifice of the water gas nozzle u can be regulated. The
nozzle u is also flattened so as to form an exit passage of gradually decreasing cross
sectional area towards its outlet end. The other end of the nozzle is screw threaded
and fitted with a back nut that takes against the distance plate t. As will be
in

page_text: seen the air and water gas nozzles are so arranged that the air jet issues at right
angles to the water gas jet whereby the air and water gas are thoroughly mixed
and complete combustion ensured.
On Sheet 4 is shewn an air heating stove or furnace constructed of refractory
material such as fire brick braced together by brick stays and stay bolts and formed
with two chambers arranged one above the other, and connected together at one
end, the bottom one forming a combustion chamber wherein producer gas and air
are burnt, and the upper one an air heating chamber. The producer gas is admitted
into a suitable space below the air supply, the gas and air entering the combustion
chamber together and being ignited, heat the top part of the combustion chamber
which forms the bottom of the upper or heating chamber. In this upper or heating
chamber is placed a coil of metallic pipes surrounded by fire clay or other refractory
material to prevent them from being burnt. The hot gases from the combustion
chamber pass through the centre of this coil on their way to an exit flue.
Within
this flue is placed the blast inlet pipe which is in connection with the coil of
metallic pipes through which the air is passed and wherein such air is heated to the
requisite temperature to enable it to be advantageously used for the combustion of
water gas.
On Sheet 4 of the drawings,
Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the air heating stove or furnace.
Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation;
Fig. 3 is a transverse section; and
Fig. 4 is a plan thereof.
into
a is the combustion chamber terminating at one end in a smaller chamber
which the producer gas is fed. c¹ is the supply pipe for the producer the flow
gas
of which is regulated by a valve d. Air is admitted through openings & the supply
being regulated by bricks f¹ and g¹. The other end of the combustion chamber a
is connected by a passage with the heating chamber ', in which is placed the
coil of metallic pipes & through which air to be heated is passed. These pipes
are surrounded by fire clay or other refractory material, 1, and are connected with
an inlet pipe m' extending downward through the flue or smoke pipe n'. Cold air
enters the pipe m¹ and after passing through the coil is led by the pipe o' to the
furnaces for heating the ends of the spokes of spoke wheels or to other desired
furnaces. In order to admit of the heating of the air passing through the said coil
of metallic pipes being regulated, the flue or smoke pipe is provided with a
regulating damper p¹ for controlling the exit of the hot gases.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. A welding or heating furnace constructed with a hearth and open bottom
made up with sand to enable slag to be removed in the manner described from the
bottom of the combustion chamber.
2. In a welding or heating furnace the application and use as set forth of double
tuyeres, such as described and illustrated in Figs. 4, 5 and 7 on Sheet of the
drawings for water gas and air.
3. In a furnace of the kind herein referred to, the combination with tuyeres and
a combustion chamber, of the mixing chambers substantially as described for
effecting thorough admixture of water gas and air before entering the combustion
chamber or furnace.
4. The construction of a furnace for heating the rims of spoke wheels by a
mixture of water gas and air as described with reference to and shown on Sheet 1
of the drawings.
5. The construction of a furnace for heating vee glut bars and other articles for
spoke wheel glutting by a mixture of water gas and air as described with reference
to and shown on Sheet 2 of the drawings.
6. The construction of a furnace for heating the inner end of rim wheel spokes

page_text: by means of a mixture of water gas and air as described with reference to and
shown on Sheet 3 of the drawings.
7. Heating blast air by means of the waste gases from a furnace for heating
vee glut pieces and other articles substantially as described and shown on Sheet 2
of the drawings.
8. The construction of stove or furnace for heating air as described with
reference to and shown on Sheet 4 of the drawings.
Dated this 8th day of October 1892.
W. LLOYD WISE,
Per F. J. Brougham,
46, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agent for the Applicant.