IMPROVEMENTS IN FURNACES, STOVES AND GRATES, FOR THE PURPOSE OF CONTROLLING AND MAINTAINING SLOW AND ECONOMICAL COMBUSTION OF ANTHRACITE AND OTHER FUEL WITH A MINIMUM FORMATION OF SMOKE AND OTHER DELETERIOUS PRODUCTS
Year: 1883

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Robert Edward Cox at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 21st September 1883.
ROBERT EDWARD Cox of 329 High Holborn in the County of Middlesex
Architect IMPROVEMENTS IN FURNACES, STOVES AND GRATES, FOR THE PURPOSE
OF CONTROLLING AND MAINTAINING SLOW AND ECONOMICAL COMBUSTION OF
ANTHRACITE AND OTHER FUEL WITH A MINIMUM FORMATION OF SMOKE AND
OTHER DELETERIOUS PRODUCTS
For the purpose of igniting and maintaining a steady and economical combustion
of Anthracite, Steam Coal, or Coke, or any mixture of these, with or without the
addition of solf or bituminous Coal, I usually find it advantageous to construct the
furnace, stoves, or grates with much less aggregate air space between the fire bars
or as existing in the ordinary grate bottoms in the form of holes or openings for
the Admission of air to the fuel. In some cases I reduce the usual aggregate
amount of air space by plates or bars so as to adapt the existing furnaces, stoves,
or grates, to my system of steady slow combustion without reconstructing them
Close to the principal air inlets or as many of them as is convenient, I construct
plates of Iron or other suitable metal, or I use hollow bara in such a way that the
said plates or hollow bars can be heated by gas, or oil burners, or by a small
secondary fire of already ignited coal or other fuel so that the air which is required
to assist in the ignition and to maintain the combustion of the main fire shall be
raised to such a temperature as will assist to ignite and maintain the combustion
of any kind of fuel with the smallest practical formation of smoke. The necessary
nir is so heated by passing over or under the heated plates or over or unler or
through the heated hollow bars-I construct or adapt the heating plates or hollow
bars so that as soon as the fuel in the main fire or furnace becomes incandescent,
a portion of the heat so produced is thrown upon the said plates or hollow bars
and as soon as this is effected the secondary fire or gas burners or other means
first used for heating the said plates or bars may be withdrawn, or they may be
retained in conjunction with the heat so thrown on the plates or hollow bars if the
peculiarity of the construction of the furnace, stove or grate makes it convenient
so to retain such means of heating the air.
In each kind of furnace stove or grate I ascertain by experiment the most
effective places at which to reduce the air spaces so that the least, or as nearly as

page_text: practical the least quantity of air is admitted to the fuel which is actually required
to support the combustion in a steady and equable manner
This may be varied according to the temperature required to be produced in the
combustion of the fuel. I find that more air and larger aggregate air space are
required to keep up the higher temperatures but as Anthracite, Steam Coal and
Coke usually produce too high a temperature for economical combustion in the
ordinary furnaces, stoves, and grates, and require a strong and rapid Chimney
draft which carries away a large proportion of the heat produced without imparting
it to the boiler flues, the air of 100ms to be heated, or other purposes intended, I
also regulate the chimney draught so that the heated air passing through the
Chimney shall not be very greatly in excess of that required to carry away the
products of combustion and maintain the fuel incandescent as slowly and steadily
as may be found convenient.