Improvements in Apparatus for Heating and Ventilating, more especially intended for Use in Creating Currents for the Ventilation of Sewers and Disinfecting Foul Air and Gases Issuing therefrom.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 31st Oct., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 31st July, 1895-Accepted, 31st Aug., 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Heating and Ventilating, more
especially intended for Use in Creating Currents for the
Ventilation of Sewers and Disinfecting Foul Air and Gases
Issuing therefrom.
I, STEPHEN HOLMAN, of 15 Great George Street in the City of Westminster,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention has reference to apparatus for heating and ventilating and more
especially to apparatus such as is described in the Specification of Letters Patent
No. 20781 of 1892 granted to me and employed for creating currents for the
ventilation of sewers and disinfecting foul gases issuing therefrom and my present
invention relates to improvements in such apparatus-having for its object to
obviate the liability to explosions due to the leakage of town gas into the sewers.
In the apparatus described in the said Specification I have shewn perforated
plates with openings or perforations protected by wire gauze as being used beneath
the burner and wire gauze as being used to cover the openings in a perforated
chamber surrounding the tube by which gas and air pass to the burner.
According to my invention I provide means whereby the use of such open
perforated plates and wire gauze (which is liable to rapid deterioration) is
superseded and the said perforated chamber can be dispensed with.
I substitute for the perforated chamber and wire gauze a chamber which I will
call an air chamber closed to the sewer gas supply so that no air or gas from the
sewer may pass therethrough, the said chamber being situated below the furnace
and containing the burner. The air for combustion is supplied to the air chamber
from the outside of the column or casing and may be admitted to the chamber by a
pipe or passage or pipes or passages leading from the outside of the column or
casing and the pipes or passages may be provided with valves capable of being
opened and closed and the said pipes or passages or one of them can be glazed to
constitute a sight hole and if desired they or one of them can also serve as the
means of access to the burner for lighting from the outside or other purpose.
In order to create a strong upward current and prevent the deflection of the
burner flame by reason of a down draught and for the purpose of imparting a
greater amount of heat than hitherto to the surrounding chamber I provide the
burner with an elongated head preferably increasing in cross section from its base
upwards so as to narrow the passage through which the products of combustion
ascend into the combustion chamber. The elongated head is supported above the
burner on a suitable carrier which may be cup-shaped and slotted or otherwise
perforated the carrier being supported on the burner by means of a screwed collar
so that the elongated head may be adjusted to any desired height above the burner
leaving a clear space between the end of the burner and the elongated head. By
this means a free flow of gas through the regulating governor is obtained and back
pressure is avoided.
In order to minimize the liability to down draught I attach a conducting pipe to
the outlet from the furnace and continue it up any desired distance within the
narrow part of the shaft or column so that the hot gases are by this continuation
protected from the cooling effect to which they are subjected when they enter the
larger area of the base of the column before proceeding up into the narrow part
thereof.

page_text: In place of a gas burner such as. I have described for supplying heat to my
apparatus it will be understood that any well known electrical heating device may
be employed to produce heat to create an upward current of sewer gas and to
disinfect the sewer gas thereby caused to pass through the passages formed in the
apparatus and between the heated surfaces thereof, for instance such an electrical
heating device may be advantageously used when the ventilating apparatus is
applied to electric light standards. By the use of such an electrical heating device
which avoids the use of inflammable gas for heating purposes all dauger of
explosion occurring from a leakage of town gas into the sewers is obviated.
Dated this 31st day of October 1894.
JOHNSONS & WILLCOX.
147 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agents.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in. Apparatus for Heating and. Ventilating, more
especially intended for Use in Creating Currents for the
Ventilation of Sewers and Disinfecting Foul Air and Gases
Issuing therefrom.
I, STEPHEN HOLMAN of 15 Great George Street, in the City of Westminster.
Engineer, do hereby 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 :-
My invention has reference to apparatus for heating and ventilating and more
especially to apparatus such as is described in the Specification of Letters Patent
No. 20781 of 1892 granted to me and employed for creating currents for the
ventilation of sewers and disinfecting foul air and gases issuing therefrom and the
principal object of my present invention is to obviate the liability to explosions
due to the leakage of town gas into the sewers.
In the apparatus described in the said Specification of Letters Patent No. 20781º
I have shewn perforated plates with openings or perforations protected by wire
gauze as being used beneath the burner, and wire gauze as being used to cover the
openings in a perforated chamber surrounding the tube by which gas and air pass
to the burner. According to my invention I provide means whereby the use of
such open perforated plates and wire gauze (which is liable to rapid deterioration)
is superseded and the said perforated chamber can be dispensed with.
I will describe my present invention with reference to the accompanying drawing
which represents in vertical section an apparatus provided with the improvements
according to my present invention.
I substitute for the perforated chamber and wire gauze a chamber A which I will
call an air chamber closed to the sewer gas supply B, so that no air or gas from the
sewer can pass therethrough, the said chamber A being situated below the
furnace C, and containing the burner D. The air for combustion is supplied to
the air chamber A from the outside of the column or casing E and may be admitted
to the chamber A by a pipe or passage or pipes or passages a leading from the
outside of the column or casing E and communicating with down passages at
opening into the chamber A beneath the burner. The pipes or passages a may be
provided with valves capable of being opened and closed. The said valves may be
for example a ring or rings placed within the pipes or passages a and provided with
holes corresponding to the holes a² so that the holes in the ring can be made to
coincide more or less with the holes a² to regulate the air supply and the said pipes
or passages or one of them can be glazed or left open to constitute a sight hole and
if desired they or one of them can also serve as the means of access to the burner

page_text: for lighting from the outside or other purpose. For instance the hole at a³ on one
side can answer as the sight hole and the other hole a³ on the opposite side can
serve as the lighting hole the down passages a being perforated opposite the burner
as shewn at a³.
In order to create a strong upward current and prevent the deflection of the
burner flame by reason of a down draught and for the purpose of imparting a
greater amount of heat than hitherto to the surrounding chamber I provide the
burner D with an elongated head F preferably increasing in cross section from its
base upwards so as to narrow the passage through which the products of combustion
ascend into the combustion chamber. A pipe can be used to form a continuation
of the said head F to narrow the said passage to a greater extent. The said
elongated head F is supported above the burner D on a carrier d which may be
cup shaped and slotted as at d² or otherwise perforated, the carrier being supported
on the burner by means of a screwed collar d³ so that the elongated head may be
adjusted to any desired height above the burner leaving a clear space d
between the end of the burner D and the elongated head F. If the head F be
made to engage with the carrier d it can be used as the means of turning it for
adjustment.
d is an internal cup shaped filling piece also perforated the object of this being
to baffle the flame and make it more secure against being accidentally extinguished.
In order to minimise the liability to down draught I attach a conducting pipe &
to the outlet from the furnace and continue it up any desired distance within the
narrow part of the shaft or column so that the hot gases are by this continuation
protected from the cooling effect to which they are subjected when they enter
the larger area of the base of the column before proceeding up into the narrow part
thereof.
The furnace C and conducting pipe G may also be covered with non-conducting
material such as felt or asbestos to prevent radiation of heat.
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
claim is :-
1. In apparatus of the kind referred to the combination of an air chamber such
as A surrounding the burner and closed to the uprising sewer gas and with
communications to the outer air substantially as and for the purposes hereinhefore
described.
2. In apparatus of the kind referred to the combination with the burner of a
head such as F (provided or not with a continuation such as f) substantially as and
for the purpose herein before described.
3. In apparatus of the kind referred to the combination with the burner of a
head such as F provided or not with a continuation such as f and secured to a
slotted or perforated support adjustable relatively to the burner substantially as
and for the purpose herein before described.
4. In apparatus of the kind referred to a pipe such as G at the outlet from the
furnace and continued up within the shaft or column substantially as and for the
purpose herein before described.
5. The arrangement and combination of parts constituting an apparatus for the
purposes described the said apparatus being arranged or constructed substantially
as hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 31st day of July 1895
JOHNSONS & WILLCOX,
47 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agents.
JOHNSONS & WILLCOX,
47 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agents.