Improvements in or connected with Destructor Furnaces for the Treatment of Town Refuse.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 8th Feb., 1896
Complete Specification Left, 21st Oct., 1896-Accepted, 21st Nov., 1896
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with Destructor Furnaces for the
Treatment of Town Refuse.
I, SAMUEL WILLOUGHBY, of Devon House, St. Mary's Grove, Chiswick, in
the County of Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
This invention relates to improvements upon an invention in respect of which
Letters Patent were granted to me dated the 30th day of October 1894, No. 20719,
for "Improvements in or connected with destructor furnaces for the treatment of
town refuse."
The destructor, the subject matter of the said Letters Patent, consisted in part
of an inclined flue or combustion chamber to which rotary motion was given, and
the refuse material was fed into the combustion chamber at the upper part of one.
end thereof, whilst the products of combustion from the furnace entered the
combustion chamber at the same end but at the lower part thereof, the refuse
matter passed through the inclined combustion chamber and in its course met the
hot products of combustion from the furnace and then passed therewith along the
highly heated combustion chamber to the discharge end thereof.
It is of course necessary in order to support the combustion of the refuse
material in the combustion chamber, to admit a proper air supply but in practice
it is found that the supply of air passing through the furnace to the refuse material
might with advantage be increased, and the primary object of the present invention
is to increase the air supply to the combustion chamber and sometimes to admit
thereto an independent air supply without interfering with the draught of the
apparatus.
In carrying the present invention into effect, the furnace end of the combustion
chamber for about a third of its length more or less, is formed with a cylindrical
enlargement connected with the smaller diameter so as to afford a larger area for
the admission of air.
This enlargement is preferably connected with the smaller diameter by an abrupt
or inclined shoulder and this shoulder is sometimes apertured to admit a blast, or
other supply of air, the air ways may be covered and supplied by an annular box
or chamber held stationary by suitable means and made tight therewith by means
of asbestos packing or the like whilst valves, gratings or covers are employed to
protect the air ways from being choked by the material under treatment.
Or, in the case of a partially rotating combustion chamber, the box might be
fixed with the combustion chamber, and the air supply might be introduced though.
a jointed pipe connected with the supply by a cup and ball or other suitable joint
to admit of the necessary movement thereof.
In lieu of forming the combustion chamber of two diameters as herein before
described, it might be of taper or conical form from end to end thereof in which
case the large end would be arranged adjacent to the furnace and the axis of the
combustion chamber would be inclined to such an angle as to produce the necessary
forward movement in the refuse matter under treatnient.
In this arrangement the air supply would be arranged in a similar way to that
hereinbefore described with respect to the cylindrical combustion chamber.
In some cases, a separate flue or flues preferably heated, may be arranged to
conduct the auxiliary air supply to the enlarged end of the combustion chamber.

page_text: By these means, the flue space is increased at the entrance end of the furnace,
and it is possible to employ a larger furnace than by the old arrangement, whilst
by the introduction of the auxiliary air supply the more complete combustion of
the refuse material is aided.
In some cases, it is convenient to give only a partial rotation to the combustion
chamber, that is to say, to turn it a part of but preferably nearly a complete
revolution in each direction, and, for this purpose, the combustion chamber is
driven through any suitable reversing gear such as a mangle wheel, or any other.
suitable device for imparting the desired reciprocating rotary motion thereto may
be employed.
By means of this invention, the action of the destructor is improved and
consequently the combustion of the refuse material is more complete than
heretofore.
Dated this 8th day of February 1896.
VAUGHAN & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.
Improvements in or connected with Destructor Furnaces for the
Treatment of Town Refuse.
I, SAMUEL WILLOUGHBY, of Devon House, St. Mary's Grove, Chiswick, in
the County of Middlesex, 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 said invention relates to improvements upon an invention in respect of which
British Letters Patent were granted to me dated the 30th day of October 1894,
No. 20719, for "Improvements in or connected with destructor furnaces for the
treatment of town refuse."
The destructor, the subject matter of the said Letters Patent consisted in part,
of an inclined flue or combustion chamber to which rotary motion was given; and
the refuse material was fed into the combustion chamber at the upper part of one
end thereof, whilst the products of combustion from the furnace entered the
combustion chamber at the same end but at the lower part thereof, and the refuse
matter passed through the inclined combustion chamber and in its course met the
hot products of combustion from the furnace, and then passed therewith along the
highly heated combustion chamber to the discharge end thereof.
It is of course necessary in order to support the products of combustion of
refuse material in the combustion chamber to admit a proper air supply, but in
practice it is found that the supply of air passing through the furnace to the refuse
material might with advantage be increased, and the primary object of this
invention is to increase the supply of air to the combustion chamber, and, in some
cases, to admit thereto an independent air supply without interfering with the
draught of the apparatus and the invention also consists in various details of
· construction as hereinafter more fully set forth.
And, in order that the said invention may be clearly understood and readily
carried into effect, I will proceed, aided by the accompanying drawings, fully to
describe the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section of a destructor embodying some of
present improvements.
Figure 2 is a vertical transverse section taken on the line 1-1 of Figure 1.
Figure 3 is a transverse section taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

page_text: Figure 4 is a vertical longitudinal section of part representing a slight
modification.
Figure 5 is a sectional side elevation of a portion of the destructor representing
a further modification.
Figure 6 is an end view thereof.
Figure 7 is a sectional side view of parts illustrating
a reciprocating rotary motion to the combustion chamber.
Figure 8 is an end view thereof.
Figure 9 is a detail view of the guide for the pinion shaft.
a means of imparting
Figure 10 is a vertical longitudinal section representing a modification in the
shape of the combustion flue.
Figure 11 is a similar view of parts representing a modification in the means of
admitting the additional air supply to the combustion chamber.
Figure 12 is an end elevation thereof.
In the several figures, in which like parts are indicated by similar letters of
reference, Figures 7, 8 and 9 are drawn to an increased scale with respect to the
other figures of the drawings.
Referring to Figures 1 to 3, a represents the furnace which may be of any
suitable construction and provided with an air inlet a' regulated by a damper a²
and represents a feed chamber arranged above the crown a* of the furnace and
which is supplied with the refuse material through a hopper c.
represents the inclined flue or combustion chamber which may be of any
suitable section and composed of a case of iron lined with fire-clay, fire-brick
or the like 6 and provided around its interior with several straight spiral or other
ribs, projections or lifters 63 formed of fire-clay or other refractory material.
The iron casing 61 has fixed therewith, by brackets 64, two wrought iron or steel
rings which rest with capability of revolution upon wheels or rollers 6, whilst
steadying rollers running in contact with the edges of the rings b³ prevent
end way movement of the combustion chamber b.
Rotary motion is imparted to the tubular .combustion chamber b by means of a
toothed wheel 61 carried by brackets and engaging a toothed pinion 6' fixed
upon a shaft or axis mounted with capability of revolution in bearings, and
having fixed therewith a worm wheel & engaging a worm 610 fixed upon the driven
shaft 1.
The crown a of the furnace occupies a position about midway of the diameter
of the combustion chamber b, and the flames and products of combustion from the
furnace a pass between the bridge a' and the crown a into the lower part of the
combustion chamber b.
The feed chamber e' is formed with a hopper c into which the refuse matter to be
destroyed is deposited, and within the feed chamber e' is arranged to reciprocate a
ram or plunger at its outer end pivotally connected with a lever c by the aid
of which the plunger may be forced forward, and a charge or quantity of refuse
thereby fed into the combustion chamber b.
By the arrangement of parts above described; the refuse material entering the
combustion chamber is exposed to the extreme heat of the flames and products of
combustion from the furnace a, and to the heat of the more or less incandescent
lining of the combustion chamber 6 whilst in the revolution of the combustion
chamber the refuse is carried toward the delivery end thereof, during which time
it is constantly raised and turned over by the lifters 6 and is thereby exposed to
the products of combustion from the furnace a which pass through the combustion
chamber b, and is thus upon arriving at the delivery end of the combustion
chamber b, reduced to ashes which fall into a truck j by which they may be conveyed
away to any desired destination.
The apparatus, so far as it is at present described, is identical with that, the
subject matter of the said former Letters Patent, and for convenience of reference
the parts are marked with similar letters of reference to those employed in the
Specification of the said Letters Patent and as far as practicable the parts of the

page_text: old apparatus which are not referred to in the present description are also indicated
in a similar way.
Now, according to the present invention and referring to Figures 1 to 3 the
furnace end of the combustion chamber 6 for about a third of its length more or
less, is formed with a cylindrical enlargement 6" so as to afford a larger area for
the admission of air.
This enlargement & is preferably connected with the smaller diameter b by a
shoulder which might be either abrupt or inclined and the shoulder bis
apertured and the wall of the enlargement is furnished with a number of corre-
sponding air ways 64 controlled by regulating doors or valves 615 and shaped to
enter the enlargement 6 at or near the furnace end thereof, where the air ways
are provided with gratings 616 in order to prevent the entrance thereinto of the
material under treatment and the choking of the air ways in the revolution of the
combustion chamber b.
By this arrangement the flue space is increased at the entrance end of the furnace
and it is therefore possible to employ a larger furnace than by the old arrangement,
whilst by the introduction of the auxiliary air supply through the air ways b¹ the
more complete combustion of the refuse material is brought about.
In the example given at Figure 4,, the shoulder b' is formed inclined which has
the effect of facilitating the travel of the material passing through the combustion
chamber, whilst the air ways 6" instead of being carried to the furnace end of
the enlargement 61s are caused to enter the same at the inclined shoulder,
although in this respect the arrangement previously described might be employed
in this connection also.
In connection with the air ways & is employed an annular box or chamber 6 which
is carried and held stationary by a bracket or brackets 618, and this annular box or
chamber is at 61 formed with an annular ring or flange packed with asbestos or
other suitable non-conducting packing, and which runs in contact with a ring 60
carried by the metal casing b of the combustion chamber 6 whilst a similar
ring carried by the enlargement 6" forms a seat for a similar packing ring which
runs in contact with a flange & formed upon the annular box or chamber 617 and a
tight joint is thus made between the parts.
Air, preferably a blast of air from any suitable blowing apparatus, is introduced
into the annular box 6" through a pipe 623 and is conveyed to the interior of the
enlargement of the combustion chamber 6 through the air ways 6" as will be
readily understood.
In the example given at Figures 5 to 9 the combustion chamber b is arranged to
receive only a partial rotation, and, in this case the annular box 6" is fixed with
the combustion chamber 6 being formed as a continuation of the metal casing band
in this case the air supply is introduced into the annular box 617 through a short
length of pipe 23 fixed with the annular box and connected by a flexible
pipe with the fixed supply pipe 6 fed through a branch 6 from any suitable
blowing apparatus, a guard ring or shield 6" carried by the combustion chamber b
being employed to prevent the contact of the flexible pipe 6 with the combustion
chamber b.
This flexible connection with the air supply pipe permits of the necessary partial
rotation of the combustion chamber b, as will be seen from the dotted lines in
Figure 6.
Or, in lieu of the flexible arrangement herein before described, any other flexible
or jointed device might be employed.
In order to impart the necessary partial rotation to the combustion chamber b
that is to say, to turn it part of, but preferably nearly a complete revolution in each
direction, the combustion chamber in the present example is driven through
the following, reversing mechanism, referring more particularly to Figures 7, 8
and 9.
The toothed wheel be fixed with the combustion chamber bengages a toothed
wheel 6' fixed upon a shaft and in the toothed wheel 6" is formed a guide

page_text: and
groove in which works the end of a spindle k, upon which is fixed a pinion
which engages an arc shaped endless row of teeth fixed with the wheel
surrounded by the correspondingly-shaped guide groove b
This spindle k passes through the vertical guide slot l' of a bracket / and at its
other end is by a universal joint connected with a shaft mounted in suitable.
bearings carried by standards m and having fixed thereon a worm-wheel with
which gears a worm 610 fixed upon the driven shaft 6" which receives motion.
through a band wheel or pulley from any suitable source of power.
It will be understood that in lieu of the above described device for giving a
reciprocating rotary motion to the combustion chamber b any other suitable means.
may he employed for this purpose.
In the example given at Figure 10, the combustion chamber & in lieu of being-
formed of two diameters as hereinbefore described with respect to the previous
figures is of taper or conical form from end to end thereof the large end being-
arranged adjacent to the furnace a in order to obtain the increased area at
that point, and the theoretical axis of the combustion chamber b is inclined to-
such an angle as to produce the necessary forward movement in the refuse matter
under treatment.
In this example, the air ways 6" are arranged longitudinally of the combustion-
chamber b and so as to communicate therewith at the furnace end thereof in a
somewhat similar way to that shown and described with respect to Figures 1 to 3,.
the air being supplied under the ordinary atmospheric pressure, although an
annular box such as that shown and described with respect to Figure 4, or, Figures 5.
and 6 might be employed in connection therewith in order to facilitate the
introduction of a blast of air into the combustion chamber b.
In the example given at Figures 11 and 12, the air waya & carried by the-
combustion chamber b are dispensed with and in lieu thereof valve controlled air-
flues a are provided passing through the crown a" of the furnace a and opening
into the furnace end of the combustion chamber b by which arrangement the
additional supply of air becomes highly heated hefore its discharge into the-
combustion chamber b.
By the means bereinbefore described, the flue space is increased at the entrance
end of the furnace, and it is therefore possible to employ a larger furnace than by
the old arrangement, whilst by the introduction of the auxiliary air supply the
more complete combustion of the refuse material is aided or rendered more.
complete and the action of the destructor is consequently improved.
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 a destructor, the combination of a rotative tubular combustion chamber -
open at its ends through which the material to be destroyed is passed, a furnace
communicating with the combustion chamber at the feed end thereof and air ways.
for admitting an auxiliary supply of air at the furnace end of the combustion.
chamber, substantially as herein shown and described.
2. In a destructor, the combination of a rotative tubular combustion chamber
open at both ends and formed of larger area at the feed end than at the delivery
end through which the material to be destroyed is passed and a furnace communi
cating with the combustion chamber at the feed end thereof, substantially as herein
shewn and described.
3. In a destructor, the combination of a rotative tubular combustion chamber
open at both ends and formed of larger area at the feed end than at the
delivery end Lungh which the material to be destroyed is passed, a furnace
communicating with the combustion chamber at the feed end thereof and air ways
for admitting an auxiliary supply of air at the furnace end of the combustion
chamber, substantially as herein shown and described.
4. In a destructor, the combustion of a rotative tubular combustion chamber-

page_text: open at its ends through which the material to be destroyed is passed, a furnace
communicating with the combustion chamber at the feed end thereof, air ways for
admitting an auxiliary supply of air to the furnace end of the combustion chamber,
and an annular box or chamber communicating with the air ways and supplied with
air under pressure, substantially as herein shown and described.
5. In a destructor, the combination of a rotative tubular combustion chamber
open at both ends and formed of larger area at the feed end than at the delivery
end through which the material to be destroyed is passed, a furnace communicating
with the combustion chamber at the feed end thereof and air ways passing through
the crown or walls of the furnace for admitting an auxiliary supply of heated air
to the combustion chamber, substantially as herein shown and described.
Dated this 21st day of October 1896.
VAUGHAN & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.