IMPROVEMENTS IN CONSUMING OR PREVENTING SMOKE AND. HEATING LIQUIDS
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Bayliss, of Old Broad Street, in the
City of London, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CONSUMING OR PREVENTING SMOKE AND.
HEATING LIQUIDS."
Scaled the 29th September 1853, and dated the 16th April 1853.
2
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Bayliss at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 16th April 1853.
I, SAMUEL BAYLISS, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS. IN CONSUMING OR PREVENTING SMOKE AND HEATING
LIQUIDS," to be as follows:-
In place of the ordinary "fire-bridge," I employ an air chamber and a
series of cylinders or bars, of any convenient form, in metal or clay,
which I term "admixers and heat-retainers," the object being to cause
the smoke and gasses arising from the combustion of the fuel, to be
thoroughly incorporated with a sufficient quantity of air and heat to
ignite and pass off in flame. a, is the air chamber, having apertures
in its top b, for admitting air amongst the admixers c. e, is a pipe for

page_text: Eupplying air to chamber a, having a regulating valve attached to it.
Spaces d, are left between the admixers for the passage of the products
of combustion; and the several rows of admixers are so arranged that
the cylinders or bars composing one row stand opposite spaces in
another. f, is a fence placed across the furnace to prevent the fuel
getting amongst the admixers; and g, is a deflector for throwing the
flame downwards, and bringing it in better contact with the streams of
air rising from the chamber a.
Or I employ admixers and heat-retainers, fixed on the ordinary brick
"fire-bridge;" and, in lieu of the air chamber a, apertures are provided
in the furnace door to admit a supply of air above the fuel.
For heating liquids quicker, and with a less expenditure. of fuel, than
has been hitherto attainable, I place rows of heat-retainers c, from the
air chamber a, to the end of the boiler, or, in ordinary furnaces, from
the "fire-bridge" to the end of the boiler, which, being maintained at
a red heat by the passing flame and heated gasses, give out by radiation
to the surface of the boiler a large quantity of heat, which would other-
wise pass up the chimney and be wasted.
Another improvement is to fix hollow cones, open at both ends, over
and just above the bottom surface of boilers and other vessels for
heating liquids. They are to stand on legs, or to be otherwise fixed, so
as to leave a free passage for the liquids underneath and through them.
The object is to produce ascending and descending currents, for the
purpose of carrying off the globules of steam from the heating surface
as fast as they are formed, which will have the useful effect of accele-
rating the evaporation, and protecting the iron from being burnt.
This Invention is represented as applied to a steam engine furnace,
but it is applicable to other kinds.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the six-
teenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself. Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Samuel Bayliss, Her special licence
that I, the said Samuel Bayliss, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Samuel Bayliss, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
CONSUMING OR PREVENTING SMOKE AND HEATING LIQUIDS," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said Samuel Bayliss, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Samuel Bayliss, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement:
The objects sought to be attained by this Invention are, first, perfect
combustion of the gases arising from the heated fuel in steam-engine
and other furnaces, for the purpose of preventing smoke and econo-
mizing coal; secondly, to retain within such furnaces much of the heat
which now passes away to the chimney without producing any useful
effect; and, thirdly, to facilitate evaporation by causing a rapid circu-
lation in the liquids to be heated.
My improvements are illustrated by the accompanying sheet of
drawings, which are to a scale of one twelfth the real size; the same
letters of reference indicating the same parts throughout.
Touching the first part of these improvements, the principal gases
we have to deal with in a furnace are carburetted hydrogen, bi-carbu-

page_text: retted hydrogen, and carbonic oxide, the atoms of which must be
chemically united with oxygen derived from the air, and be supplied
with the requisite temperature, before combustion can take place. The
difficulty hitherto has been to accomplish this union; for the gases,
sweeping along in a body towards the chimney with great rapidity, at
the rate of about thirty feet per second, there is not sufficient time for
a thorough mixture of them with the air to take place, at all events,
while in contact with the degree of heat necessary for their ignition. I
therefore propose to compensate for this want of time by intercepting
the gases on their way from the fireplace to the chimney, dividing
them into a number of small streams or bodies, and forcing them into
mechanical mixture with air, rising in small currents, in order to
facilitate the chemical union of them with oxygen, and produce a
.combustible mixture, and to do this in such place and manner as to
ensure the necessary heat for their combustion. The means I adopt
to secure this desirable result are shown in drawings Figures 1, to 12,
both inclusive. In place of the ordinary fire-bridge, I employ an air
chamber D, formed by two cast iron plates E, F, built in or otherwise
fixed to the walls or sides of the furnace. G, is a door, hung on plate
E, for regulating the admission of air to the chamber D, and his
actuated by the rod H. The upper part of plate E, serves as support
for the fire-bars on one side, and the bearing bars a, on the other.
The upper part of plate F, consists of an iron dead plate, extending
across the furnace, intended to prevent the air from chamber D,
reaching the flues, without first of all being incorporated with the
gases. a, a, a, a, are bearing bars, laid lengthwise from side to side of
the air chamber, and are kept secure in their places by being simply
dropped in slots prepared for them. b, b, c., are a series of what I
.term "admixers and heat-retainers," consisting of rows of solid bars
of any convenient form, in metal or, clay, or any suitable fire-resisting
substance, having spaces d, between them, of sufficient area in the
aggregate for the passage of the products of combustion; and the rows
of admixers being placed a distance apart, having spaces f, between them
for the admission of currents of air from the chamber D, to commingle
.with the gases. J. is a fence extending across the furnace to prevent

page_text: the fuel getting amongst the admixers; and is retained in its proper
position by means of projections on the under side, one at each end,
which fit into holes in the top of plate E, on which it rests. K, shewn
in dotted lines, is a deflector for throwing the flames downwards, and
giving it an extended sweep under the rest of the boiler; but this may
be dispensed with, not being essential to the action of the apparatus.
It will be seen by the foregoing description that the gases cannot fail
to be brought into the most intimate mechanical mixture with the air,
in the endeavour to find their way through the numerous channels
presented to them by such an array of bars, and the agitation conse-
quent thereon; and as the bars become red hot, and form besides a
great natural harbour for heat, a steady combustion goes on from one
end of the admixers to the other.. A row of admixers is represented
separately at Figure 5, which is a front elevation; Figure 6, a vertical
section; and Figure 7, a plan. Figures 8, 9, and 10, shew respectively
a front elevation, vertical section, and plan of another mode of con-
structing the rows of admixers, the difference being that the base b, is
made with holes through it, in which the upright bars c, are fixed.
Figure 11, is a vertical section of a third plan, varying from the latter
only in having projecting shoulders g, on the bars c, in lieu of reducing
the thickness of them at their lower ends. Perforated plates of metal
or slabs of fire-clay might be used in substitution of the admixers
already described. The admixers may be placed vertically or horizon-
tally, as is thought best. I prefer having the admixers made of cast
iron; when the heat of the furnace is not so intense as to burn them
away too rapidly, on account of the cheapness of the metal, and the
facility it offers for renewing them. For furnaces of very high tempe-
rature, the plan shown in vertical section at Figure 14, may be adopted
with advantage. It is composed of two vessels of plate iron L, M,
built in the sides of the furnace, and connected together by metal pipes
or tubes h, which serve as admixers, &c. A pipe N, communicates
with the force pump, and another pipe P, with the boiler; and thus
all the water that enters the latter must pass through the tubular
admixers, and, by absorbing the heat, prevent them from being burnt

page_text: away. This method has the additional advantage of heating the supply
water, which would prove a further source of economy in the expendi-
ture for fuel. Athough I have explained this part of my Invention as
applied to a Cornish boiler, set with the fireplace underneath, it will
be apparent that it is equally applicable where the fireplace is inside
the "internal flue," and also to pans of various descriptions for evapo-
rating liquids.
The second part of my Invention is to extend the "admixers and
heat-retainers to the end of the boiler, and again, if thought desirable,
through the "internal tube." These being maintained at a red heat by
the passing flame and heated gases, will give off by radiation to the
surface of the boiler a great quantity of heat, which would otherwise
pass up the chimney and be wasted; they will form, in fact, a continu-
ous fire from one end of the boiler to the other, and tend to spread the
heat more uniformily throughout the furnace. For evaporating pans,
such as those used in the manufacture of salt, for example, where slow
combustion and uniform heat under the whole surface are desirable,
I believe this part of my Invention will be found of great practical use.
The third part of this Invention is shown by Figures 13, and 14, the
former being in plan, the latter in elevation. R, R, is a portion of
the bottom of a boiler or evaporating pan; m, n, o, hollow cones, open
at top and bottom, as shown by n, which is a section of one of them.
They are supported on legs, and fixed just above the surface of the
boiler or pan, so as to leave a free passage for the liquid underneath
and through them, and should be sufficiently heavy to maintain their
positions by their own gravity, or a number of them may be fixed to
bars of iron, which bars may be fastened down in any convenient
manner, and in this case the legs will be unnecessary. The object is
to produce ascending and descending currents in the liquid to be heated,
for the purpose of carrying off the globules of steam from the heating
surface as fast as they are formed, which will have the useful effect of
accelerating its evaporation, and protecting the iron from being burnt.
The action is simple and effective. On heat being applied to the bottom
of the boiler or pan, it expands the liquids in the cones, and causes

page_text: upward currents, when the cooler liquid outside the cones rushes down-
wards to supply the place of that which is ascending, and thus ensures
a rapid and continual circulation, and a quicker diffusion of heat.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
in which it is to be carried out in practice, I wish it to be understood
that I do not confine myself to the precise form or proportion of the
several parts herein detailed, as these are points which experience alone
can satisfactorily determine; but that I claim, first, the intercepting
the gases in their transit from the fireplace to the chimney, and
dividing them into a number of small streams or bodies, and bringing
these in contact with a current or currents of air, in such manner as to
produce an intimate mechanical mixture of air and gases, in order
to facilitate their chemical union; secondly, the application of admixers
and heat-retainers, whether employed in conjunction with my apparatus
for preventing smoke, or in furnaces of any other construction; and,
thirdly, the application of hollow cones, open at both ends, for facilita-
ting evaporation, and preventing the bottoms of vessels used in heating
liquids from being burnt.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Bayliss, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Fifteenth day of October, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-three.
SAM. BAYLISS. (L.S.)