IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING AND APPLYING HEAT, AND IN APPARATUS HED DEAR BRING ALSO IN PART APPLICABLE FOR LIGHTING
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Gorman and John Paton, both of
Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING AND APPLYING HEAT, AND IN APPARATUS
HED DEAR BRING ALSO IN PART APPLICABLE FOR LIGHTING."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Gorman and
John Paton at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 5th December 1863.
We, WILLIAM GORMAN and JOHN PATON, both of Glasgow, in the
County of Lanark, North Britain, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING AND APPLYING HEAT, AND IN
APPARATUS THEREFOR, BEING ALSO IN PART APPLICABLE FOR LIGHTING," to be as
follows, that is to say:
This Invention relates to various arrangements for obtaining and applying
heat so as to secure increased efficiency and economy, a part of the
arrangements being also applicable for lighting in a cheap and simple
manner.
In practising the Invention it is in general preferred to first convert the
coal or like fuel into combustible gases, and to subsequently burn such com-
bustible gases with the aid of a further supply of air in another part of the
furnace or apparatus, but some of the improved arrangements herein-after

page_text: described are also applicable where the fuel is at once completely burned or
converted for the most part into carbonic acid.
In an improved arrangement to replace ordinary draught furnaces complete
combustion of the fuel is prevented in the ordinary grate space, in which the
fuel is placed as usual, the admission of air being always limited by means of
valves or contracted passages to a comparatively small quantity passing up
through the grate bars, and sufficient to form with the fuel carbonic oxide,
and this gas mixed with other volatile matters driven off from the fuel passes
over the bridge or fire stop at the inner end of the grate bars into a combus-
tion space, wherein there is injected into and mixed with it the further supply
of air necessary for its complete ignition and combustion. This further
supply of air is heated previous to its admixture with the combustible gases,
and it is preferred to heat it by the otherwise waste heat of the fire gases,
after these have acted on the objects to be heated. The heat restorer or
apparatus for recovering this waste heat comprises, according to one modifica-
tion, a series of horizontal tubes or ducts of any convenient form or section
through which tubes or ducts the fire gases pass, first traversing a set in the
upper part of the chamber containing them, then returning through a lower
set and alternately passing in opposite directions through lower and lower
sets to the bottom of the chamber. The air enters the bottom of the
chamber and traversing the outsides of the tubes or ducts in an upward
direction passes off at the top by a passage leading to the combustion space.
The currents of the entering air and departing gases are opposed, which as
is well understood conduces to a maximum transference of heat from the
latter to the former. The tubes or ducts at the hottest part of the heat
restorer are by preference made of a refractory material such as fire-clay,
but those at the cooler part may be of cast iron. The heat restorer may
have its details modified in various ways provided the system of opposite
currents is retained. Thus the fire gases may pass outside of the tubes or ducts
and the air inside of them, and the tubes may be disposed vertically or in
other convenient positions, and in a single continuous length or in sets as de-
scribed. It will be advantageous to have the surfaces over which the air
passes increased by gills, undulations, or projections. The air supplied beneath
the grate for the primary partial conversion of the fuel may or may not be
heated. It may be heated by passing it through the restorer either along
with the rest or separately. The quantity of air admitted is by preference
regulated by valves at the inlet openings where they are not liable to be
deranged by the heat.
According to another arrangement the air or a part of it may be heated by

page_text: being passed through passages heated from the primary conversion furnace or
from the combustion space, or from both, the sides of such passages being
formed with greater surface internally for communicating the heat than the
external surface for receiving the heat, that is, for example, having gills or
other projections internally. Or the grate bars of the primary conversion
furnace may be hollow and extended through the bridge or fire stop into the
combustion space, the air being passed through them and becoming heated
thereby.
The improved arrangements herein-before described are advantageously
applicable to reverberatory and heating furnaces of various kinds, and to
furnaces for melting glass, metals, and the like, and in these cases the com-
bustion space or spaces will be the space or spaces in which the objects to
be acted upon are placed. Such space or spaces may communicate with the
primary conversion furnace or furnaces by one or more openings or passages;
and it is preferred to arrange the inlet or inlets for the second air supply, so
as to make it mingle with the combustible gases, and cause the whole to
impinge upon the objects to be acted upon by its jet action. It is preferred
in some cases to increase the induction of air by a fan or other forcing
apparatus, or by a jet or jets of steam or air, or of a portion of the gases
themselves. And in some cases the air to supply the furnace may be admitted
at a considerably lower level than the furnace into a passage or duct and be
heated therein, so as to be pressed upwards towards the furnace by the heavier
external cloumn of cold air. At the same time the egress of the fire gases
may be retarded by arranging more or less of their exit passage or duct with
a downward direction.
The primary partial conversion of the fuel may be effected in an improved
apparatus, consisting of a vertical chamber with a door at the top for the
admission of fresh fuel, with doors or openings at the bottom to remove ashes,
with an inlet or inlets with or without jets or other forcing appliance for the
entrance of air, and with an outlet pipe or passage for the combustible gases.
In a modification suitable for steam boilers the chamber is formed with
vertical grates on its outer and inner sides, and being placed at the end of a
tubular or fluid boiler the draught or blower carries the combustible gases
into the flues or boiler spaces, where additional air is supplied for their
complete ignition or combustion, or sufficient air may be admitted at the front
vertical grate to at once completely burn the fuel. The grate may be sur-
rounded or encased more or less with water spaces, which may or may not
form part of the boiler; and the grates may consist of brickwork or of hollow
bars having water, air, or steam passing through them. In some cases,

page_text: instead of the air passing upwards through the fuel in the primary conversion
furnace it may be made to pass through it in a direction directly downwards,
or more or less inclined. In an arrangement for heating the air by a sepa-
rate fire, and suitable for heating the blast for a blast furnace, or the like,
the air traverses a passage or set of passages in one serpentine or other
direction, whilst the fire gases traverse a contiguous passage or set of passages
in the opposite direction, the sides of the passages being formed with gills
or other projections giving increased surface on the sides in contact with
which the air passes. In the case of blast or smelting furnaces the fuel,
or a large portion of it, is by this Invention placed in a separate chamber,
and the blast is introduced into the lower part of such chamber in such a
way as to blow the highly-heated gases into the chamber or furnace containing
the minerals, or the blast may be made to combine with the combustible gases
after their leaving the primary combustion furnace or chamber, and by its jet
action to carry them in amongst the minerals to be reduced.
Another improvement applicable to blast or smelting and melting furnaces
consists in drawing off the gases at a comparatively low level; a convenient
means of effecting this consisting of a series of openings in the sides of the
furnace, and communicating with a collecting passage. By these means
volatile matters of an injurious nature will be prevented from acting on the
minerals in the upper part of the furnace. The gases withdrawn may be used
for various heating purposes. The combustible gas formed in the primary con-
version furnaces, herein-before described, may be used for lighting purposes
where economy is an object, and its illuminating power may be increased by
passing it through or in contact with naptha or other suitable hydrocarbon.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Gorman and John Paton in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 4th June 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
GORMAN and JOHN PATON, both of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North
Britain, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
us, the said William Gorman and John Paton, Her special licence that we,

page_text: the said William Gorman and John Paton, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said William Gorman and John Paton, our
executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, usc, exercise, and vend, within
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and
Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING AND APPLYING
HEAT. AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOR, BEING ALSO IN PART APPLICABLE FOR
LIGHTING," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said William
Gorman and John Paton, our executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under our, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be
filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE. that we, the said William Gorman and John Paton,
do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement in writing, reference being had to the
accompanying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that
is to say:
Our said Invention relates to various arrangements for obtaining and applying
heat so as to secure increased efficiency and economy, a part of the arrange-
ments being also applicable for lighting in a cheap and simple manner. And
in order that our said Invention and the manner of performing the same
may be properly understood, we have hereunto appended three Sheets of
explanatory Drawings, to be herein-after referred to, and representing a few
examples of furnace arrangements embodying our improvements.
The same
or corresponding parts are marked with the same reference numerals in all
the Figures in which they occur.
In practising our Invention we in general prefer to first convert the coal
or like fuel into combustible gases, and to subsequently burn such combustible
gases with the aid of a further supply of air in another part of the furnace or
apparatus; but some of the improved arrangements, herein-after described.
are also applicable where the fuel is at once completely burned or converted
for the most part into carbonic acid.
In an improved arrangement to replace ordinary draught furnaces, com-
plete combustion of the fuel is prevented in the ordinary grate space in which
the fuel is placed as usual, the admission of air being always limited by means

page_text: of valves or contracted passages to a comparatively small quantity passing up
through the grate bars, and sufficient to form with the fuel carbonic oxide;
and this gas, mixed with other volatile matters driven off from the fuel, passes
over the bridge or fire stop at the inner end of the grate bars into a com-
bustion space wherein there is injected into and mixed with it the further
supply of air necessary for its complete ignition and combustion. This further
supply of air is heated previously to its admixture with the combustible gases,
and it is preferred to heat it by the otherwise waste heat of the fire gases after
these have acted on the objects to be heated. The heat restorer or apparatus
for recovering this waste heat comprises, according to one modification, a
series of horizontal tubes or ducts of any convenient form or section, through
which tubes or ducts the fire gases pass, first traversing a set in the upper
part of the chamber containing them, then returning through a lower
set and alternately passing in opposite directions through lower and lower
sets to the bottom of the chamber. The air enters the bottom of the
chamber, and traversing the outsides of the tubes or ducts in an upward
direction, passes off at the top by a passage leading to the combustion space;
the currents of the entering air and departing gases are opposed, which, as is
well understood conduces to a maximum transference of heat from the latter
to the former. The tubes or ducts at the hottest part of the heat restorer,
are, by preference, made of a refractory material, such as fire clay, but those
at the cooler part may be of cast iron. The heat restorer may have its details
modified in various ways, provided the system of opposite currents is retained.
Thus, the fire gases may pass outside of the tubes or ducts, and the air inside
of them; and the tubes may be disposed vertically or in any other convenient
positions, and in a single continuous length, or in sets as described. It will
be advantageous to have the surfaces over which the air passes increased by
gills, undulations, or projections. The air supplied beneath the grate for the
primary partial conversion of the fuel may or may not be heated.
It may
be heated by passing it through the restorer, either along with the rest of the
air or separately. The quantity of air admitted is, by preference, regulated
by valves at the inlet openings, where they are not liable to be deranged by
the heat.
Figure 1, on Sheet 1 of the Drawings, is a longitudinal vertical section of
a heating furnace, constructed with some of the herein-before mentioned
improvements; and Figure 2 is a vertical section at right angles to Figure 1,
and taken through the heat restorer. The blue arrows in these and the other
Figures indicate the air passages and currents, whilst the green arrows indicate
the passages and currents of the combustible gases, and the red arrows those

page_text: of the mixed air and gas or issuing fire gases. The fuel is placed in the
primary conversion furnace 1, and the combustible gases from it pass by the
passage 2, over the bridge into the combustion space 3, wherein in this
example are placed the objects to be heated. The supply of air for the com-
plete ignition and combustion of the gases is injected amongst and mixed with
them from the air inlet passage 4, just as they enter the combustion space 3.
The fire gases leave the combustion space by the outlet 5, and traversing the
heat restorer tubes 6, pass off by the discharge flue 7 to the chimney. The
air admitted by the external valve 8, traverses over the outsides of the restorer
tubes 6, and proceeds by the passage 9, to the air inlet 4, a portion also
entering under the grate 11, by an opening 10, fitted with a valve wherewith
to regulate the quantity. Figure 3 is a vertical section of a heating furnace
which differs from that shown in Figures 1 and 2, in having the primary
furnace 1, constructed below the combustion space, heating space, or hearth-3,
and in having the grate 11, inclined downwards, whilst there is placed above
it a plate 12, inclined downwards towards it, upon which plate the fresh fuel
is first thrown and from which it gradually descends to the grate 11, as the
conversion proceeds. Figures 4 and 5 are vertical sections at right angles to
each other of a third modification of furnace arranged for heating plates,
which are introduced into the combustion or heating space 3, by a door 13.
The heat restorer tubes 6, are in this example contained in a space under the
combustion space 3, the air passing inside and the fire gases outside of them,
and the whole forming a compact and convenient arrangement. Figure 6 is
a transverse vertical section of a fourth modification of furnace as arranged
for forge purposes. The restorer tubes 6, are in this example placed above
the combustion space 3, and the air passes through them whilst the fire gases
traverse over their outsides to the discharge flue or chimney 7. The air
should be forced in by the inlet 14.
According to another arrangement the air, or a part of it, may be heated by
being passed through passages heated from the primary conversion furnace,
or from the combustion space, or from both; the sides of such passages being
formed with greater surface internally for communicating the heat to the air,
than the external surface for receiving the heat, that is, for example, having
gills or other projections internally.
Figures 7 and 8, on Sheet 2 of the Drawings, are transverse and longitudinal
vertical sections of a boiler furnace, with a modification of our improved air-
heating passages, which in this example are formed by plates 15, applied at
each side of the grate space, and forming spaces for the air to pass up from
the ash-pit between them and the sides of the furnace. These plates 15 are

page_text: Or
formed with gills or projections on the surface over which the air passes.
the grate bars of the primary conversion furnace may be hollow and extended
through or into the bridge or fire stop and into the combustion space, the air
being passed through them and becoming heated thereby, as shown in longi-
tudinal vertical section in Figure 9.
The improved arrangements herein-before described are advantageously
applicable to reverberatory and heating furnaces of various kinds, and to
furnaces for melting glass, metals, and the like, and in these cases the com-
bustion space or spaces 3, will be the space or spaces in which the objects to
be acted upon are placed. Such space or spaces may communicate with the
primary conversion furnace or furnaces by one or more openings or passages;
and we prefer to arrange the inlet or inlets for the second air supply, so as to
mingle with the combustible gases, and cause the whole to impinge upon the
objects to be acted upon by its jet action. It is preferred in some cases to
increase the induction of air by a fan or other forcing apparatus, or by a jet
or jets of steam or air, or of a portion of the gases themselves. And in some
cases the air to supply the furnace may be admitted at a considerably lower
level than the furnace into a passage or duct and be heated therein, so as to
be pressed upwards towards the furnace by the heavier external column of
cold air. At the same time the egress of the fire gases may be retarded by
arranging more or less of their exit passage or duct with a downward
direction.
Figure 10 is a longitudinal vertical section of a melting furnace with
inlets 2, 4, for the gas and air at opposite ends, whilst the gases pass off by
the discharge flue 7 from the middle of the roof. Figure 11 is a section of
a modification arranged for melting iron or other metal in which there is
formed at one end of the combustion space 3, a sunk receptacle to receive the
melted metal, and from which it is drawn in the ordinary way. Figure 12
is a section of a kind of double furnace for heating or melting, each combustion
space 3, being supplied with gas and air by separate inlets 2, 4, whilst the
gases from both pass off by a single discharge flue 7 in the middle. In these
Figures 10, 11, 12, the primary conversion furnaces and the heat restorers
are not shown, but it must be understood that they are to be combined with
the parts shown much as in the modifications previously herein described.
We may, however, here remark that the primary conversion furnace may
be placed at any convenient distance from the combustion space or furnace,
and one or more primary conversion furnaces or gas producers may be arranged
to supply one, two, or more combustion furnaces.
The primary partial conversion of the fuel may be effected in an improved

page_text: apparatus, such as is shown in vertical section in Figure 13, and consisting of
a chamber with a door 17 at the top for the admission of fuel, with doors or
openings 18 at the bottom to remove ashes, with an inlet or inlets with or
without jets (19) or other forcing appliance for the entrance of air, and with
an outlet 2 for the combustible gases. In a modification suitable for steam
boilers and represented in section in Figure 14, and in face view in Figure 15,
the chamber is formed with vertical grates 20 on its outer and inner sides, and
being placed at the end of a tubular or flued boiler, the draught or blower
carries the combustible gases into the flues or boiler spaces where additional
air is supplied for their complete ignition or combustion, or sufficient air may
be admitted at the front vertical grate to at once completely burn the fuel.
The grate may be surrounded or encased more or less with water spaces,
which may or may not form part of the boiler; and the grates may consist
of brickwork or of hollow bars, having water, air, or steam passing through
them. In some cases instead of the air passing upwards through the fuel in
the primary conversion furnace, it may be made to pass through it in a
direction directly downwards or more or less inclined.
In an arrangement for heating the air by a separate fire, and suitable for
heating the blast for a blast furnace or the like, the air traverses a passage or
set of passages in one serpentine or other direction, whilst the fire gases
traverse a contiguous passage or set of passages in the opposite direction, the
sides of the passages being formed with gills or other projections giving
increased surface on the sides in contact with which the air passes. A
convenient modification embodying this arrangement is shown in Figures 17
and 18, on Sheet 3 of the Drawings, these Figures being vertical sections
taken at right angles to each other.
In the case of blast or smelting furnaces the fuel or a large portion of it is
by this Invention placed in a separate chamber such as is shown in vertical
section in Figure 16, Section 2, and the blast is introduced into the lower part
of such chamber at 21, in such a way as to blow the highly heated gases by
the passage 22 into the chamber or furnace containing the minerals. Or
the blast may be made to combine with the combustible gases after their
leaving the primary combustion furnace or chamber, and by its jet action to
carry them in amongst the minerals to be reduced.
Another improvement applicable to blast or smelting and melting furnaces
consists in drawing off the gases at a comparatively low level, a convenient
means of effecting this being shown in vertical section in Figure 19, Sheet 3,
and consisting of a series of openings 23, in the sides of the furnace, and
communicating with a collecting passage. By these means volatile matters

page_text: or an injurious nature will be prevented from acting on the minerals in the
upper part of the furnace.
The gases withdrawn may be used for various
heating purposes. The combustible gas formed in the primary conversion
furnaces herein-before described may be used for lighting purposes where
economy is an object, and its illuminating power may be increased by passing
it through or in contact with naptha or other suitable hydrocarbon. Thus in
works comprising heating or melting furnaces one or more primary con-
version furnaces or gas producers may be conveniently arranged for supplying
combustible gas for such heating or melting furnaces, and at the same time
for illuminating the works.
Figure 20, Sheet 3, represents one modification of our arrangement for
causing an increased induction of air, and is shown as applied to an ordinary
chimney, but is also applicable to a steam-boat funnel or to the inlet or other
passages of a furnace. A fan 25 or other blower is arranged in such a way
that it receives the gases by a passage entered by a funnel 26 facing the
current, whilst it delivers them by a passage which may be conveniently
arranged alongside the induction passage as shown, the gases being discharged
in a jet from a nozzle 27 directed in the line of the current. Instead of the
fan drawing the gases from the chimney or funnel it may draw fresh or
vitiated air from any convenient locality. Thus when applied to the funnel of
a steam-boat it may be made to assist the general ventilation of the vessel as
well as to improve the furnace draught. We may here remark that it will be
desirable in many cases to direct a small jet of steam or water against the
under side of the fire-bars 11 of the gas producers, but we are aware that this
has been practised heretofore, as also that steam jets have been used here-
tofore for inducing increased draught in furnaces. The primary furnace or
gas producer shown in Figure 16, Sheet 2, and herein-before referred to as in
connection with a blast or smelting furnace is obviously a modification of our
primary conversion furnaces for the production of combustible gas for various
kinds of furnaces, and for illuminating, and is applicable to those purposes,
whilst it is susceptible of further modification, as, for example, by arranging two
or more inlets at which the air may enter or be forced in, and by arranging
one or more outlets which may be at any suitable height or heights in the
apparatus. The apparatus may be round, square, or oblong in horizontal
section.
Having thus particularly described our said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is or may be performed, we have to state that we do not claim
to have invented every separate detail herein described, or delineated, but
that what we believe to be novel and original, and claim as the Invention

page_text: secured to us by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is, the
obtaining and applying of heat by means of apparatus the component parts
of which are relatively arranged or combined together substantially in the
improved manner herein-before described; and the using of the combustible
gases herein-before referred to for economical illumination substantially as
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, we, the said William Gorman and John Paton,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Third day of June,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
WM CORMAN 1.8
Witness,
EDMUND HUNT,
Patent Agent,
28, St. Enoch Square,
Glasgow.
JOHN PATON. (L.S.)