Improvements in the Construction of Ball Furnaces for Heating Iron and like Metals, and for the better Utilisation of the Heat arising therefrom.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 28th Dec., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 28th Sept., 1891-Accepted, 1st Dec., 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Construction of Ball Furnaces for Heating
Iron and like Metals, and for the better Utilisation of the Heat
arising therefrom.
I, EDWARD ROWLANDS, of Victoria Villa, South Parade, Belle Vue, West
Hartlepool in the County of Durham, Furnaceman, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to improvements in the construction of ball furnaces for
heating iron and like metals and for the better utilisation of the heat arising
therefrom for which purpose I propose to construct an arched or other chamber
whereof one side or portion may contain or have arranged therein the furnace or
furnaces the opposite side or portion being used as a reverberatory chamber or
series thereof within which the iron or steel or other metal is to be heated.
A bridge separates the furnaces and chambers and an ash chamber is provided
under the furnaces accessible by doors from a pit which again may be covered by
plate or other doors at the required level for supplying the furnace with fuel.
Steam or hot air nozzles may be provided to increase the furnace draught and
combustion.
The space below the reverberatory portion may be provided with air culverts or
ducts to maintain or regulate the requisite temperature.
The products of combustion may pass from the reverberatory hearth upwards
through uptake flues to a main flue leading to the chimneys and at any convenient
portion of the flues between the uptake and the chimney or the main flue, boilers
whether of the land or marine type may be carried or provided to raise steam from
the waste heat from the furnaces or instead of the uptake the Hame may be
conducted downwards in certain cases into an under-flue leading to the exits or
chimneys.
The hearth doors and flue dampers may be in each case suspended or balanced
on chains leading over pulleys to a common centre or centres wherefrom any one of
them may be operated as desired by levers or otherwise.
There may be as many furnaces or heating chambers as may be required within
one battery, separated from each other by walls which may be constructed hollow
where desired in the usual way.
A slag port and exit will be provided in each hearth at a convenient level to
carry off the slag from the plates piles or fagots undergoing treatment.
Dated this 27th day of December 1893.
A. CRAWHALL CHAPMAN,
3, St. Nicholas Buildings, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Patent Agent.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Construction of Ball Furnaces for Heating
Iron and like Metals, and for the better Utilisation of the. Heat
arising therefrom.
I, EDWARD ROWLANDS of Victoria Villa, South Parade, Belle Vue, West
Hartlepool in the County of Durham Furnaceman do bereby 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 of ball furnaces for

page_text: heating iron and like metals and for the better utilisation of the heat arising
therefrom for which purpose I propose to construct an arched or other chamber
whereof one side or portion may contain or have arranged therein the furnace or
furnaces the opposite side or portion being used as a reverberatory chamber or
series thereof within which the iron or steel or other metal is to be heated.
A bridge separates the furnaces and chambers and an ash chamber is provided
under the furnaces accessible by doors from a pit which again may be covered by
plate or other doors at the required level for supplying the furnace with fuel.
Steam or hot air nozzles may be provided to increase the furnace draught and
combustion.
The space below the reverberatory portion may be provided with air culverts or
ducts to maintain or regulate the requisite temperature.
The products of combustion may pass from the reverberatory hearth upwards
through uptake flues to a main flue leading to the chimneys and at any convenient
portion of the flues between the uptake and the chimney or the main flue, boilers
whether of the land or marine type may be carried or provided to raise steam from
the waste heat from the furnaces or instead of the uptake the flame may be
conducted downwards in certain cases into an under-flue leading to the exits or
chimneys.
The hearth doors and flue dampers may be in each case suspended or balanced
on chains leading over pulleys to a common centre or centres wherefrom any one of
them may be operated as desired by levers or otherwise.
There may be as many furnaces or heating chambers as may be required within
one battery separated from each other by walls which may be constructed hollow
where desired in the usual way.
A slag port and exit will be provided in each bearth at a convenient level to
carry off the slag from the plates, piles or fagots undergoing treatment.
I will fully describe my invention with reference to the accompanying drawings
in which Figure 1 shows a front elevation, Figure 2 a plan view and Figure 3 a
cross-section and in the following description like letters of reference designate like
parts.
Referring to the drawings it will be observed that the main chamber A is
divided by a bridge-wall a so as to form a series of furnaces F on one side, the
opposite side H heing used as the reverberatory hearth. C is an ash chamber
under each furnace to which access can be had by firstly lifting up the hinged or
other floor-plating 4 of the pit P and secondly by opening the plate-doors 5 of the
ash chamber. The doors 5 open outwards into the pit P as shown and the doors or
plating 4 can be opened vertically backwards as shown.
Along the length of the furnace front steam pipes S may be arranged so that
brauch pipes 6 therefrom pass downwards through hollow standards 7 and thence
deliver steam under the furnace bars 8 to promote combustion. The draught thus
created draws in air at the top of the standards aforesaid which air becomes heated
by the steam and along with it serves to promote combustion. Each standard 7 is
fitted with branch pipes n at its base arranged to open and deliver air into the
ashpit underneath the fire bars.
The space 9 below the hearths H may be provided with air culverts 10, through
which air can circulate from end to end for the purposes above stated.
The products of combustion after leaving the furnace and passing over the
bridge and striking the hearth-space may be conveyed through orifices 11 and
Hues 12 fitted with dampers 13 to a main flue 14 which may then be so built round
the shell of a boiler or boilers as to cause the heated air and gases in the flue to
raise steam for any required purpose.
The precise mode of contact of the heated air and gases in the flue with the
boiler shell will depend on circumstances but it should be so arranged that the
contact is of sufficient surface or duration to extract all useful heat from the flue
prior to the latter opening into the chimney.
If desirable, the orifice 11 may be arranged in the hearth so that the products of

page_text: combustion shall pass and be utilised in flues similarly arranged but downwards
instead of upwards as shown in the drawings.
The hearths are fitted with doors 15 at their front as shown in the figures :
these doors are arranged to work in vertical guides 16 and can be lifted or lowered
by balanced levers 17 attached to cords, or chains 18 passing over pulleys 19 and
attached to the doors 15. At 19 there will be a series of pulleys one behind the
other the cords on which pass to the several pulleys 19 and to the several levers 17
corresponding to the pulleys at 19ª.
There may be a like arrangement of levers and pulleys at each end of the
furnace battery so as to shorten the lengths of the chains or cords aforesaid.
Similarly the dampers 13 will be worked by chains or cords passing over pulleys 20
and at 20 there will be pulleys arranged behind each other corresponding to the
number of pulleys 20.
The free ends of these damper chains may have balance weights 21 attached to
them for easily working the dampers.
Thus the fire-doors 15 and dampers 13 can be conveniently worked from certain
centres instead of baving to attend to each one in its actual position in the
battery.
Each furnace F will be separated from the next one by a wall W constructed as
above described and beneath each bearth door there will be a slag-port 22 for
drawing off the slag when required and each furnace will be fitted with a
fire door at j
+6
Figure 4 shows the arrangement of bearing beams 23 and flooring plates 24 for
forming the hearth floor on which, in practice, there may be a certain thickness of
set-slag" on which again the blooms, ingots or fagots will lie when being treated.
The walls and masonry of the whole battery may be fitted with cramps and be
tied together with angle-iron verticals and iron plating securely connected
together.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In ball furnaces for heating iron and like metals, the arrangement of
furnaces F, close ash chambers C with their doors 5 and pits P with their
doors 4 and hot air and steam injection device for promoting combustion of the
fuel in the furnaces all arranged disposed and adapted to operate substantially as
and for the purposes herein set forth.
2. ln combination with the subject matter set forth and claimed in the previous
claim, the arrangement of hearths H with their doors 15, slag ports 22 and
orifices 11 leading to flues 12 and 14 controlled by dampers 13 all arranged,
disposed and adapted to operate substantially as and for the purposes herein
described and illustrated.
3. In ball furnaces arranged and constructed as herein set forth the mode of
concentrating the work of the attendants by means of the pulleys, cords or chains,
balance levers and weights attached to the hearth doors and to the dampers the
several parts being arranged disposed and adapted to operate substantially as and
for the purposes herein set forth.
4. The improvements in the construction of ball furnaces for heating iron and
like metals and for the better utilisation of the heat arising therefrom substantially
as herein set forth.
C1004
A. CRAWHALL CHAPMAN,
3, St. Nicholas Buildings, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Patent Agent.