Improvements in Boiler and other Furnaces and Furnace Bars.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 18th May, 1899-Accepted, 1st July, 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Boiler and other Furnaces and Furnace Bars.
I, NICOL MCINTYRE, of Casilla 208, Valparaiso, in the Republic of Chili, 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:
My invention relates to boiler and other furnaces and has for its object to improve
the combustion of the fuel and thereby effect an economy of the latter.
According to my invention I make the furnace or grate bars hollow and I
provide for passing air through the said bars before it enters the furnace whereby
such air is highly heated and thereby promotes the combustion of the fuel.
In carrying out my invention I arrange the grate bars in groups and cause air
to pass through the several bars of a group before it enters the furnace.
In some cases I introduce a jet of steam into the bars for facilitating the flow of
the air through the same.
To enable my invention to be fully understood I will describe the same by
reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :-
Figure 1 is a plan view of a group of fire bars arranged in accordance with
my invention; and
Figures 2, 3 and 4 are respectively a side elevation, a longitudinal section and a
transverse section of one of the said bars:
Figure 5 is a plan view of a boiler furnace provided with a grate composed
of my improved furnace bars but drawn to a smaller scale than Figures 1 to 4.
Figure 6 is a longitudinal section of the same; and
Figure 7 is a transverse section.
a, a¹, a indicate a group of three fire bars all of which are made hollow or
tubular in a manner which will be readily understood by reference to Figures 3
and 4. The bar a has on the underside at the rear end an opening b and near
the front end on the side adjacent to the bar a another opening c.
The bar a¹
is provided on one side with an opening cl which corresponds with the opening c
and on the other side at the rear end an opening d. The bar a² has an opening d
which coincides with the opening d and at the front end and in the upper side
another opening e so that when the three bars are placed together, as shewn in
Figure 1, the air which enters through the opening 6 will circulate through the
three bars in the direction of the arrows and flow out through the opening
the furnace, the air which passes through the said bars, owing to the heat of the
latter, being highly heated when it enters the furnace. In practice I find it
advantageous to provide that adjacent bars at the parts contiguous to the open-
ings c, cand d, should be dovetailed together as indicated at f in Figure 1 in
order to ensure good joints at these points.
e into
g in Figure 1 indicates a hole through which a steam pipe with a suitable
nozzle (Figure 6) may be applied for injecting a jet of steam which will promote
the flow of air through the passage in a group of bars. The opening e is provided
with a tue-iron or tuyere i, as shewn in Figures 5 and 6, for directing and
distributing the hot air over the surface of the fuel lying upon the grate.
It will be understood that a furnace grate may be composed of several groups of
bars; in Figure 5 a furnace is represented as having three groups the two outside

page_text: groups each being composed of three bars whilst the inner group is represented as
being provided with two bars only.
My improved fire bars not only have the effect of improving the combustion of
the fuel and economizing the same but also they tend to retard the formation of
clinkers and also to increase the life of the bars by preventing them from becoming
so highly heated as ordinary bars.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:
1. A boiler or other furnace the grate of which is composed of hollow fire bars
groups of which are arranged in communication to form a continuous passage one
end of which is open to the atmosphere whilst the other end enters the furnace
where it is provided with a tue-iron or tuyere through which the air, which is
heated by passing through the said group of bars, enters the furnace and is
distributed over the fuel, substantially as described.
2. In a boiler or other furnace the grate of which is composed of groups of
hollow bars, the bars of each group of which are connected together so as to form a
continuous passage through the same, which passage at one end is open to the
atmosphere and at the other end opens into the furnace, the combination with the
said passage of a steam jet for promoting the flow of air through the said bars,
substantially as described.
3. The manufacture and use of fire bars for boiler and other furnaces sub-
stantially as herein before described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Dated the 18th day of M 1800
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.