IMPROVEMENTS IN AND APPERTAINING TO STEAM BOILERS
Year: 1884

page_text: I DANIEL HARRISON LOWRY of Widnes in the County of Lancaster do hereby
declare the nature of my said invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND APPERTAINING
TO STEAM BOILERS" to be as follows:-
This invention has for its object a new arrangement and construction of boiler
whereby the heat can be obtained from the fuel and applied to the boiler in a
superior manner than heretofore, and the smoke consumed and admission of air
regulated in a more perfect manner than is possible with boilers of ordinary
construction.
The
In place of the usual furnace inside the boiler, I place a gas generator outside―
on land, built of brick or other suitable material-at sea, built of iron lined with
fireclay. In this the coal or other fuel is submitted to partial combustion so as to
form carbonic oxide, hydro-carbons and other combustible bodies, and to increase
the effect a moderate regulated allowance of steam can be made to mingle with the
air admitted, but as this has the effect of cooling the gases I usually omit the steam
or only use it as a steam jet to admit the air when the normal power of the boilers
for any purpose requires increasing unduly. At other times air is admitted only
through perforations in the front regulated by slides and through the bars.
bars are arranged to rotate on their centres or have other well known modes of
self-cleaning; or for cleaning by hand so as to get rid of clinker instead of it
passing on into the flue hereafter described or in place of self clinkering arrange-
ments, a space can be left at the back of the bars so that the clinker can be pushed
through it and fall into the ash-pit. Between the gas generator and the flues
I place a bridge in the usual manner and allow the gases to enter the main lower
flue over the bridge, and at this point I place a fire-brick diaphragm in the flue
dividing it longitudinally into two flues. Sometimes this diaphragm is in part
dispensed with or is perforated at intervals so as to allow the gases to mix.
the end of this flue is a perforated plate and slide for admitting air and regulating
the quantity admitted or entirely closing it off as desired. The gases from this
flue pass to the flue or flues above or below or in case of existing boilers also
divided by a fire brick diaphragın, and again at the entrance into this flue is a
regulator for admitting air, and here the main supply of air to burn the carbonic
oxide into carbonic acid is admitted. The products of combustion after traversing
this flue traverse the boiler, and escaping into the side flues again traverse along
the entire length of the boiler, and are then allowed to escape to the chimney.
At

page_text: The mode of action is as follows: Until the boiler has got thoroughly hot a large
supply of air is admitted to the gas producer and the fuel completely burnt therein.
When the flues become fairly hot, the supply of air to the gas producer is largely
restricted and it becomes an actual gas producer only. The gas is ignited in the
upper flue which can be oval and stayed or be double with two circular flues.
When the boiler is in thorough working order I again alter the feed of air,
admitting a little more air into the producer, so as to have a little more combustion,
but I restrict the admission of air sufficiently to allow the gas to be rich enough
to enter into combustion again with the fresh air admitted in the upper tube or
flue. The boiler proper may be hollowed out more or less at the sides to form the
side flue surface, and the side flues are built up in the case of land boilers in the
form of a brick wall or setting in the usual manner. At sea the side flues can be
partially or wholly dispensed with, or tubes through the boiler take their place, or
an ordinary circular boiler may be used.
Dated this seventh day of June 1884

page_text: Fig: 4 section through line 3, 4, and,
Fig 5 section through line 5, 6.
In place of the usual furnace inside the boiler I place a gas generator outside, or
partly inside and partly outside, or altogether inside, on land built of brick or other
suitable material, at sea built of iron lined with fire clay. In the furnace A the
coal or other fuel is submitted to partial combustion so as to form carbonic oxide,
hydro-carbone, and other combustible bodies, and to increase the effect a moderate
regulated allowance of steam can be inade to mingle with the air admitted, but as
this has the effect of cooling the gases I usually omit the steam, or only use it as a
steam jet to admit the air when the normal power of the boilers for any purpose
requires increasing unduly. At other times air is admitted only through the
bars B and hopper C, and sometimes through perforations in the front regulated
by slides. The bars B are arranged to rotate on their centres or have other well
known modes of self-cleaning, or for cleaning by hand, so as to get rid of clinker
instead of it passing on into the flue hereafter described, or in place of self
clinkering arrangements, a space can be left at the back of the bars so that the
clinker can be pushed through it and fall into the ash-pit. Between the gas
generator and the flues I place a bridge D in the usual manner, and at this point
I place a fire-brick diaphragm E in the flue dividing it longitudinally into two
flues F. G. Sometimes this diaphragm is in part dispensed with or is perforated
at intervals as shown at H so as to allow the gases to mix. At the end of this
flue is a perforated plate and slide I for admitting air through passages J, and
regulating the quantity admitted, or entirely closing it off, as desired. The gases
from this flue pass to the return flue or flues below in the case shown, which flue
can also be divided by a fire brick diaphragm, and again at the entrance into this
flue can be another regulator for admitting air, and here or at the regulator above
the main supply of air to burn the carbonic oxide into carbonic acid is admitted.

page_text: The products of combustion after traversing this flue through the side flues K K
traversing along the entire length of the boiler, are then allowed to escape to the
chimney.
The mode of action is as follows: Until the boiler has got thoroughly hot, a
large supply of air is admitted to the gas producer or furnace, and the fuel
completely burnt therein. When the flues become fairly hot, the supply of air to
the gas producer or furnace is largely restricted, and it becomes an actual gas
producer only or mainly. The gas is ignited in the upper flue which can be
circular, oval and stayed or be double with two circular flues. When the boiler is
in thorough working order I again alter the feed of air, admitting a little more air
into the producer so as to have a little more combustion, but I restrict the
admission of air sufficiently to allow the gas to be rich enough to enter into
combustion again with the fresh air admitted at the end of the upper tube or flue.
The boiler proper may be hollowed out more or less at the sides to form the side
flue surface, but I prefer it cylindrical, and the side flues are built up in the case
of land boilers in the form of a brick wall or setting in the usual manner.
At sea,
the side flues can be partially or wholly dispensed with, or tubes through the
boiler take their place, or an ordinary circular boiler may be used.
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 claiin is
1st. The method of working steam boilers, which consists in firing them with
complete combustion of fuel in the furnace at start, as in the ordinary method,
then, when the flues are well heated, lessening the supply of air relatively to the
fuel burned so as to produce a large admixture of combustible gas, and igniting
said gas by admission of air at one or more points in its passage through the flues,
substantially as described.
"
2nd. The combination in a boiler of a gas producing" furnace producing a
combustible gas instead of complete combustion, and one or more air admission
orifices at the end of the main flue, or beginning of the return flue, or both, to
admit air to complete the combustion.
3rd. The combination of flues and dividing diaphragms substantially as herein
described.
Dated thin 96th day of Santambar 1981