IMPROVED ARRANGEMENTS FOR BURNING OIL IN FURNACES
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Donald, of the Firm of George Miller and
Company, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, Manu-
facturing Chemists, for the Invention of "IMPROVED ARRANGEMENTS FOR
BURNING OIL IN FURNACES."
Sealed the 27th March 1868, and dated the 30th September 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Donald at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 30th
September 1867.
I, JAMES DONALD, of the Firm of George Miller and Company, of Glasgow,
in the County of Lanark, North Britain, Manufacturing Chemists, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED ARRANGEMENTS FOR
BURNING OIL IN FURNACES," to be as follows, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object the burning of oil in furnaces in such a
way as to obtain as complete combustion as possible without smoke, and by
means of arrangements involving small first cost, no complexity of parts, and
little attention, and which are not liable to get out of order.
The improved arrangements comprise the making of a furnace space or
combustion chamber which has its bottom and sides lined with fire-brick, and
which is also arched or roofed over with fire-brick. In the midst of this com-
bustion chamber there is constructed, also of fire-brick, what may be termed
an ignition block or pier. The oil to be burnt is admitted by a pipe nozzle
placed so as to direct a jet of the oil towards or against the ignition block,

page_text: and apertures are provided for the admission of air, by preference on the same
side, so that the air will flow inwards in the same direction.
In one modification no force but that due to a very small head is used for
projecting the oil into the combustion chamber; but in another modification,
and which is applicable where a more intense heat is required, a jet of steam,
which is by preference superheated, is made to project the oil in with considerable
force. For this purpose a compound nozzle is employed, such nozzle having
a central passage for the steam and an annular passage concentric therewith
for the oil. The steam is heated by the waste heat by being passed through
tubing placed in the flues through which the fire gasses pass after acting on
the boiler or other object to be heated.
In order to start the furnace, which can be done in ten minutes, any easily
combustible matter is first burned in the chamber so as to heat it, and the oil
or steam and oil are turned on as soon as the oil will ignite. When the
furnace is in action the fire-brick lining and ignition block become intensely
heated, and the entering oil striking the ignition block is at once ignited, and
the flames diverging therefrom spread all over and fill the chamber. The
heated gasses pass off by flues or passages arranged in any convenient way to
suit the purpose to which the furnace is applied. Each furnace may, of
course, be provided with two or more jets of oil, or of oil and steam com-
bined. Any oil may be used that is of low enough cost, and the arrangements
answer efficaciously with oils of the lowest quality, these being very completely
burned, and without smoke. For example, pitch oil, tar, or acid sludge
obtained in the manufacture of paraffin oil or any oleaginous refuse may be
used.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Donald in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
28th March 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
DONALD, of the Firm of George Miller and Company, of Glasgow, in the
County of Lanark, North Britain, Manufacturing Chemists, send greeting.
WHEREAS Iler most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said James Donald, Her special licence, that I, the said James

page_text: Donald, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said James Donald, my 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, use,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVED ARRANGE-
MENTS FOR BURNING OIL IN FURNACES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said James Donald, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my, 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 I, the said James Donald, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement in writing, reference being bad to the accompanying Drawings,
that is to say:-
My said Invention has for its object the burning of oil in furnaces in such a
way as to obtain as complete combustion as possible with little or no smoke,
and by means of arrangements involving small first cost, no complexity of
parts, and little attention, and which are not liable to get out of order. It is
an important and advantageous distinguishing feature of my improved arrange-
ments that they render satisfactorily practicable the burning of oil in furnaces
without in any way combining such oil in either a liquid or vaporised state
with coal or other solid fuel.
My improved arrangements comprise the making of a furnace space or
combustion chamber which has its bottom and sides lined with fire-brick, and
which is also arched or roofed over with fire-brick. In the midst of this com-
bustion chamber there is constructed also of fire-brick what may be termed
an ignition block or pier. The oil to be burned is admitted by a pipe nozzle
placed so as to direct a jet of the oil towards or against the ignition block,
and apertures are provided for the admission of air by preference on the same
side, so that the air will flow inwards in the same direction.
"
In one modification no force but that due to a very small head is used for
projecting the oil into the combustion chamber; but in another modification,
and which I prefer as it is applicable where a more intense heat is required,
A jet of steam, which I prefer to have superheated, although common steam
will answer quite well, is made to project the oil in with considerable force.
¡

page_text: And in order that my said Invention and the manner of performing the
same may be properly understood, I have hereunto appended a Sheet of
explanatory Drawings to be herein-after referred to, and representing the
practical adaptation of my improved arrangements to various kinds of steam
boilers.
Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section and Figure 2 is a front elevation,
showing the application to a horizontal cylindrical boiler with external
furnace and internal return flues; Figures 3 and 4 are a longitudinal section
and au eud elevation of a horizontal cylindrical boiler with an internal
furnace; and Figures 5 and 6 are a vertical section and a sectional elevation
of a marine boiler; Figure 7 is an enlarged section of a combined oil and
steam nozzle which I have found to answer satisfactorily for projecting the oil
into the furnace chamber. The same reference numerals are used to mark
the same or like parts in all the Figures.
Considering that in order to obtain the burning of oil in a furnace in a
complete and satisfactory manner it is essential to secure its being thoroughly
ignited or set on fire, and that for this purpose it is necessary to maintain a
very high temperature where the ignition is to take place, I make the furnace
or combustion chamber 1 with as complete a lining of fire-brick as can be
conveniently obtained, the open grate ordinarily forming the bottom being
dispensed with and a bottom 2 of fire-brick substituted therefor, whilst the
sides 3 are built of or lined with fire-brick, as is also the roof 4. In the midst
of the chamber 1 I construct a fire-brick block or pier 5, and I cause the oil
to be projected towards or against this block 5, and when the furnace is in
action the inner surface of the fire-brick lining of the chamber 1, and in par-
ticular the front of the block 5, is maintained at a very intense heat which.
effectively ignites or inflames the oil and insures its complete combustion.
The oil is supplied from a slightly elevated reservoir by a pipe 6, whence it is
delivered by an adjustable stop-cock 7 into the upper end of a short vertical
pipe 8; the bottom end of which is screwed into a three-way coupling piece 9.
Into the lower orifice of the coupling piece, and which is inclined downwards
at an angle of about 45 degrees, there is screwed a slightly tapered nozzle 10,
and a smaller tapered nozzle 11 is screwed into the third orifice and is con-
centric with and enters partly into the other nozzle 10. A pipe 12 with a
stop-cock 13 admits steam into the inner nozzle 11, and the oil entering by
the pipe 8 surrounds the mouth of this nozzle and is forcibly projected by the
steam out of the external nozzle 10. The nozzle 10 is entered into an
opening 14 formed in the front wall 15 of the furnace chamber 1. This front
wall 15 is built of or lined with fire-brick like the other sides of the furnace

page_text: chamber, but it is formed with an opening 16 fitted with a door 17 for regu
lating the supply of air. A single jet of oil supplied by apparatus of the
dimensions shown, is ample for a furnace of ordinary size, but two or more
such jets may be applied to each furnace if wished.."
In order to start the furnace any easily combustible matter, such as wood
or oily waste, is burned in the combustion chamber 1, and a small stream of
oil is turned on it (without steam). When the combustion chamber is .by,
this means sufficiently heated, which generally happens in from ten to fifteen
minutes, the steam is turned on. I prefer to incline the jet of oil and steam
in the downward direction indicated by the position of the nozzle in the
Drawing; but it may also be directed otherwise provided that it is towards or
against some part of the fire-brick lining of the combustion chamber 1, which
is maintained at the requisite high temperature. When the internal surface
of the chamber 1 has become heated the oil on striking the block 5 at once
bursts into flame, and the burning vapors and gases diverge and spread so as
to fill the chamber. The heated gases pass from the combustion chamber 1
into flues 18, which may be arranged in any convenient way to suit the pur-
pose to which the furnace is applied. Any oil may be used, such as petroleum
or shale oil, for example, and my improved arrangements answer efficaciously
with oils of the lowest quality, these being very completely burned, and without
smoke. For example, pitch oil, tar, or acid sludge obtained in the manu-
facture of paraffin oil, or any oleaginous refuse may be used. Oleaginous
matter that is thick or solid at the ordinary temperature may also be used, it
being merely necessary to liquify it by beat so that it will run through the
pipes and injecting apparatus. The quantities of oil, steam, and air are of
course to be adjusted according to experience, and will depend, amongst other
things, on the quality of the oil used. I prefer to adjust the inlet of air so as
to produce a slight indication of smoke, as when smoke is entirely absent
there is a great probability that too much air is being admitted. As a guide
to the quantity of oil to be used I may state that I have obtained as much
duty from two tons of ordinary pitch oil as is generally got from three tons of
good coal.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I have to state that I do not restrict
myself to the precise details herein described or delineated, but that what I
believe to be novel and original and claim as the Invention secured to me by
the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the arranging of a furnace
so as to burn oil satisfactorily by lining it with fire-brick, and thereby forming
a combustion chamber which becomes intensely heated, and against or towards

page_text: the heated surface of which the oil is projected with or without the aid of
steam, substantially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Donald, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
Witness,
R. MILLER,
Witness,
Glasgow.
EDMUND HUNT,
Glasgow.
JAMES
NALD. 4.5.