IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF OBTAINING AND APPLYING HEAT
Year: 1850

page_text: NADMII
SPECI
1
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
NASMYTH, of Lille, in the Republic of France, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twelfth day of March, in the thirteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
James Nasmyth, Hér especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said James Nasmyth, my exors, admors, and assigns, and such
others as I, the said James Nasmyth, my exors, admors, or assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
during the term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, the Town of Berwick upon
Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, and in
the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, my Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF OBTAINING AND APPLYING HEAT;" in which
said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the said James
Nasmyth, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to
describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in Her
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in
and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
James Nasmyth, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following- description thereof, reference being
had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say):-
My Invention of improvements in the methods of obtaining and applying
heat consists of a novel arrangement of apparatus, which, when applied to a
furnace or fire-place, will present a large amount of heating surface to the
action of the fire, and will thereby admit of the economic heating of large
volumes of air to be applied to various useful purposes, viz, to the warming
of apartments, buildings, and conservatories, the evaporation of liquids gene-
rally, the generation of steam, the drying of substances, and under slight
modifications this apparatus is applicable to the combustion of wood and
bones to obtain animal and vegetable charcoal, to the revivification of animal
charcoal, the combustion of coals to obtain gas, coke, and tar, and the torre-
fying and roasting of various substances..
The apparatus by which I am enabled to effect these several operations
consists mainly of a series of chambers set in such a manner in the furnace
or fire-place as to allow of the free play of the flames between and around
them, and according to the purpose for which they are intended to be used;
suitable provision is made at the top and bottom of these chambers for sup-
plying them with the matters desired to be operated upon, and of discharging
the same when the operation is completed.
In the accompanying Drawing, forming part of this my Specification, my
improved construction and arrangement of heating apparatus is shewn under
several modifications.
Fig. 1 is a vertical section, and Fig. 2 a sectional plan of an arrangement for
heating air. a, a, are vertical metal chambers placed at equal distances apart and
surrounded by a furnace 6, the fire bars of which to contain the fuel are shewn.
at c.
These chambers or, as they may be more properly designated, channels
are formed of wrought iron or other suitable metal plates bolted together, and
are so arranged that the flames passing from the fuel on the bars c will play
upon and around them. At their lower ends underneath the bottom of the
furnace these chambers are open to the atmosphere to admit of a free passage
upwards of a current or currents of air, which in traversing through the
chambers or channels a, a, will take up. a large portion of caloric from the
parts, which being enclosed in the furnace are subject to the action of the fire.
The capacity of these chambers is such, that the air in passing through them

page_text: vill be made to present a thin stratum to the action of the heating surfaces.
The air when it has thus become heated passes into pipes or any other suitable
channels connected with the top of the chambers which is outside the furnace,
and is conducted off to be applied to the heating of apartments, buildings,
greenhouses, and conservatories; also to the boiling and evaporation of liquids,
the drying of substances, and other like uses. Fig. 3 shews in sectional eleva-
tion a modification of this apparatus for revivifying animal charcoal. Fig. 4
is a sectional plan taken through the middle of the furnace; and Fig. 5 is
cross section taken in the line 1, 2, of Fig. 3. In this apparatus a, a, a, are
vertical chambers, formed of cast or wrought iron or other suitable material,
and provided at top with a slide b, which forms a cover to the chambers.
The bottom of each of these chambers is inclined downwards towards a
central opening to which a discharge pipe c is fitted, with which a slide is in
connection. The chambers a, a, are completely surrounded by the furnace d;
and their respective discharge pipes, which are furnished with slides, project
through the bottom of the furnace, and are brought into connection with air-
tight vessels e, of any suitable capacity for receiving the charcoal after it has
been operated upon.
Above the chambers a, a, a feed chamber f is provided
for containing the animal charcoal to be revivified, and applying it to the
chambers a, a, below as soon as their contents have been discharged through
the pipes c into the vessel e. This operation of filling the chambers is effected
by merely drawing back the slides b; the animal charcoal will then fall down
by its own weight into those chambers. When they are thus filled, the slides b
are made to cut off the connexion between them and the upper chamber.
The flames and heated gases proceeding from the fire on the furnace bars will
now in playing around and between the chambers a, a, a, heat the contents thereof
to a red heat, which temperature may be preserved as long as thought desirable
for the revivification of the charcoal. When the operation of revivification is
effected, the slides of the pipes c are drawn, and the animal charcoal is discharged
into the air-tight vessel e, where it is allowed to cool previous to its being removed
therefrom. Fig. 6 shews a modification of the above-described apparatus for
manufacturing coal gas. The chambers a are in this instance closed at bottom
with a slide a', which is drawn back when the coke is to be discharged there-
from. c is a pipe provided with a cock for the purpose of conducting the tar
or other liquor from the chambers to a receiver e, whence it is run off by a
cock e. The gas is carried off from the chambers a by pipes at their upper
ends, and a supply chamber f and slide 6 are provided as before, to regulate
the admission of coal into the chambers. These chambers are set in. and
-surrounded by a furnace, but their lower ends. protrude through the bottom

page_text: of the furnace to admit of the discharge of the coke when the gas and other
matters have been extracted therefrom by the heat of the furnace fire.
Fig. 7 is a longitudinal sectional elevation, and Fig. 8 a cross section of a
modification of my improved apparatus applicable to the generation of steam.
In this apparatus the chambers a, a, are made of the same form as those
shewn in the second arrangement, and they are similarly surrounded by the
furnace. In connection with these chambers at top is a vessel b, which
contains water and supplies the same to the 'several chambers a, a. At
bottom these chambers are each provided with an outlet pipe c, which
protrudes through the bottom of the furnace. These pipes c are each fitted
with two stop-cocks c, c², intended for letting off the loose sediment deposited
by the water. In order to carry off the sediment which by reason of the
peculiar formation of the bottom of the chambers will silt towards their
respective pipes c, the cocks c¹ are opened, and the sediment is let into the
space between the cocks c¹ and c; the cocks c¹ are then turned off, and the
cocks care turned on, whereby the sediment will be run out from the chambers
at the same time that steam is being generated therein. This construction of
apparatus I propose to apply more particularly to the purposes of marine
navigation, where, from the use of salt water for the gencration of steam,
large deposits of salt are quickly effected in the boilers, to the great detriment
of the efficient action, as is well understood.
For the roasting of coffee and other similar substances, I modify my
apparatus as shewn at Fig. 9. a, a, are the torrefying chambers, over which
a supply chamber b is placed, and cut off from the chambers a by a slide c.
The chambers a, a, are also similarly provided at bottom with a slide d for
effecting the discharge of the coffee, or other matter, when it has been pro-
perly torrefied by the action of the fire in the furnace which surrounds the
chambers a, a. A vessel e is placed below the chambers a (the ends of which
protrude through the furnace) to receive their contents, as before explained.
A further modification of my apparatus for the cooking of meat, the baking
of bread, and other like purposes, is shewn at Fig. 10. In this instance the
chambers a are made of a suitable capacity to receive the various matters
intended to be acted upon by the heat of the fire in the furnace. When meat
or bread is required to be baked, an air-tight cover bis placed over the heated
chambers; but when a joint is required to be roasted, this cover is removed. S
The chambers are open at bottom, and connected thereto is a dish or pan c
(shown by dots) for receiving the gravy or fat which runs from the meat.
The ineat to be roasted is suspended by hooks from rods which extend across
the chambers, but when bread is to be baked a plate d is placed on a ledge

page_text: attached to the sides of the chamber for the purpose of receiving the dough,
and shutting out the air from the chamber. This plate is also used to close
the bottom of the chamber whenever the operation of baking is required to
be effected therein.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of car-
rying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I claim under the
above in part recited Letters Patent,-
First, the passing of air through shallow metallic chambers placed vertically
or horizontally in a furnace, both ends of which chambers are outside the
furnace, the air being admitted at one end and discharged at the other end.
And, secondly, I claim the construction of the several arrangements of
apparatus shewn in the Drawing for the purpose of effecting the several
operations above set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Nasmyth, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twelfth day of September, in the year of our