IMPROVEMENTS IN AND PERTAINING TO FURNACES FOR THE COMBUSTION OF LIQUID FUEL
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jasper Henry Selwyn, of Gloucester Crescent, Hyde Park,
in the County of Middlesex, Vice-Admiral. for an Invention of IMPROVEMENTS
LETTERS PATENT to Jasper Henry Selwyn, of Gloucester Crescent, Hyde Park,
in the County of Middlesex, Vice-Admiral. for an Invention of IMPROVEMENTS
IN AND PERTAINING TO FURNACES FOR THE COMBUSTION OF LIQUID FUEL.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jasper Henry Selwyn at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 24th August 1883.
JASPER HENRY SELWYN, of Gloucester Crescent, Hyde Park in the County of
Middlesex Vice-Admiral. " IMPROVEMENTS IN AND PERTAINING TO FURNACES FOR
THE COMBUSTION OF LIQUID FUEL
My invention relates to that kind of liquid fuel furnace wherein the fuel is
injected in the form of spray by steam (preferably by superheated steam) into a
combustion chamber containing a slab or dash brick against which the fuel is
projected, a supply of air regulated as hereinafter provided being admitted to
Bupport combustion.
According to my invention the furnace or combustion chamber is so constructed
of fire resisting material, such as fire clay, as to admit of expansion and contraction
without admission of air at the joints and to resist displacement by movement such
as a combustion chamber would be liable to when used on board ship, or in any
other situation where.subject to vibratory or other movements.
For this purpose it is built up of sections. Various constructions may be
adopted. According to one arrangement the sections are provided at the edges
with grooves or recesses and projections the latter entering the former and the
joints being made good without mortar by the use of dry fire proof material which
may conveniently be in the form of powder so applied as to ensure an air tight
condition of the joints. This air tight condition of the joints is of importance in
that it will enable the air supply to be regulated in manner and for the purpose
stated below. In connection with the furnace or combustion chamber as above
referred to I employ an injector or apparatus constructed with compound nozzles
in which some suitable gaseous body or bodies such as steam or air or both is or
are made use of to project the oil into the furnace or combustion chamber as is well
understood, and in order that such injector may be readily moved out of the way
[Di 1

page_text: to allow of access to the front of the furnace or combustion chamber I provide in
connection therewith a special arrangement of pipe or pipes for conveying the gaseous
body or bodies and oil to the injector, this arrangement being such as to admit of a
sliding or telescopic action.
By this arrangement the injector may be readily moved into position or be raised
clear of the furnace or combustion chamber when requisite, as, for instance, whilst
firing with oil or ordinary fuel to raise steam during which I may use metal or
other substance capable of promoting the evolution of hydrogen from the steam.
I admit air in such proportion that when the process is in full action carbon in the
solid state is continuously formed and burnt away in the furnace or combustion
provide means
chamber from a portion of the hydro-carbon used, and to this end
whereby the air supply is at all times under control and is caused to enter the
combustion chamber in the form of an annulus. or ring the cross sectional area of
which is regulated according to one arrangement by a plate which may be
of asbestos card or platinum bont into the form of a hollow truncated cone, but not
united at the edges, and which is introduced between the injector and a conical
opening through which the injector projects into the combustion chamber. Thus
there is produced imperfect combustion so that some of the carbon is deposited in
the form of coke and ensures combustion of the hydrogen of the steam. Usually
it will be advantageous to employ a combustion chamber having a capacity of about
four cubic feet.
In connection with the furnace or combustion chamber I provide means such as
bird fountains whereby a flame or flames is or are maintained when the supply of
oil to the injector is temporarily interrupted thereby obviating risk of accidental
explosion.
It will be evident that a furnace or combustion chamber according to my
inveution may be provided with more than one injector or apparatus for feeding
fuel thereto if desired.
"

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Jasper Henry Selwyn in the Patent Office on the 22nd February
1884.
JASPER HENRY SELWYN of Gloucester Crescent, Hyde Park in the County of
Middlesex, Vice Admiral "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND PERTAINING TO FURNACES For
THE COMBUSTION OF LIQUID FUEL
"
My invention relates to that kind of liquid fuel furnace wherein the fuel is
injected in the form of spray by steam (preferably by super-heated steam) into a
combustion chamber containing a slab or dash brick against which the fuel is
projected, a supply of air being admitted to support combustion.
According to my invention the furnace or combustion chamber is so constructed
of fire resisting material such as fire-clay as to admit of expansion and contraction
without admission of air at the joints, and to resist displacement by movement
such as a combustion chamber would be liable to when used on board ship or in
any other situation where subject to vibration or other movements. For this
purpose it is built up of sections. Various constructions may be adopted.
According to one arrangement the sections are provided at the edges with grooves
or recesses and projections, the latter entering the former; and the joints being
made good without mortar, by the use of dry fire-proof material such as fire-clay
which may conveniently be in the form of powder so applied as to ensure an air-
tight condition of the joints. This air tight condition of the joints is of importance
because it will enable the air supply to be regulated in manner and for the purpose
stated below. In connection with the furnace or combustion chamber as above.
referred to, I employ an injector or apparatus constructed with compound nozzles,
in which steam is made use of, to project the oil into the furnace or combustion
chamber with air to support combustion as is well understood. And in order that.
such injector may be readily moved out of the way, to allow of access to the front
of the furnace or combustion chamber, I provide in connection therewith a special
arrangement of pipes for conveying the steam and oil to the injector, this arrangement
being such as to admit of a sliding or telescopic action.
By this arrangement the injector may be readily moved into position, or be
raised clear of the furnace or combustion chamber, when requisite, as for instance,
whilst firing with coal or ordinary fuel to raise steam-I admit air in such
proportion that when the process is in full action, carbon, in the solid state is
continuously formed, (and burnt away) in the furnace or combustion chamber,
from a portion of the hydro-carbon used. To this end I provide means whereby
the air supply is at all times under control, and is caused to enter the combustion
chamber in the form of an annulus or ring, the cross sectional area of which is
regulated, according to one arrangement by a plate of any suitable material such
as asbestos card or platinum or steel bent into the form of a hollow truncated cone,
but not united at the edges. This plate is introduced between the injector and a
conical opening through which the injector projects into the combustion chamber.
Thus there is produced imperfect combustion, so that some of the carbon is deposited
in the form of coke and ensures the evolution of hydrogen from the steam It will
be evident that by a careful regulation of the air supply, carbon may be continuously
dropped or formed from the hydro-carbon blown in and thus fulfil a condition
necessary to effect separation of steam into carbonic oxide carbonic acid and
bydrogen i.e. about 20% carbonic oxide 20% carbonic acid and 60%. hydrogen,
more or less, as is well understood. There might however be circumstances under
which it would become difficult, especially on board ships, to secure the constant
deposition of carbon in the manner above stated and to obviate this difficulty I

page_text: make use of an invention forming the subject of an application for Letters Patent
made by me the 25th day of January 1884 and numbered 2160 and which therefore
I do not claim as forming any part of my present invention although I consider its
use in conjunction therewith will enable my present invention to be carried out to
greater advantage.
According to the later invention above mentioned to obviato the difficulty in
question the liquid hydro-carbon is burnt in the furnace in conjunction with
water-gas or steam, in the presence of a substance containing both carbon and
iron. For this purpose I employ plumbago or graphite (known also as black lead
carbide of iron or amorphous carbon) which I find to be a material peculiarly
adapted for use in and for the construction of such furnaces as it contains both
carbon and iron. The proportions of these constituents vary according to the
quality of the material. Where fire clay or other fire-resisting material is used in
the construction of the furnace as above described, the plumbago or graphite may
be introduced into the furnace in any convenient form. For examples, it may be
in the shape of bricks, linings, or balls, so as to fulfil the above mentioned purpose
of effecting the decomposition of the steam with which the hydro-carbon oil is
blown in, and to permit re-actions in the furnace (at that temperature which is
obtained by burning hydrogen gas viz say about 3776° Fahrenheit) such as may
give the greatest quantity of gas for heating purposes. Iron being also present,
the quantity of bydrogen produced is, as will be well understood, still further
increased beyond the proportions above recited, according to the following formula
4. H, O +3 Fe = Fe, O. + H³
In connection with the furnace or combustion chamber I provide means such as
bird fountains whereby a flame or flames is or are maintained when the supply of
oil to the injector is temporarily interrupted thereby obviating risk of accidental
explosion.
It will be evident that a furnace or combustion chamber according to my
invention may be provided with more than one injector or apparatus for feeding
fuel thereto, if desired. Also that such furnaces may be employed for various
purposes where it is required to apply heat, and especially where it is requisite the
heat should be long continued, and equable, as for example in the manufacture of
vitreous substances.
Fig 1 of the accompanying drawings shews in longitudinal vertical section, the
front part of an ordinary single flued cornish boiler, with my improved liquid fuel
furnace applied thereto, Fig 2 is a front elevation of the same with the front tube
plate removed. Figs 3 to 7 inclusive shew the combustion chamber and appurtenances
to a larger scale, and without the boiler,-Fig 3 being a front elevation of the
combustion chamber with its injector and bird fountain oil-feeding apparatus.
Fig 4 a side elevation of the combustion chamber. Fig 5 a vertical section in the
line . of Fig 6. Fig. 6. a longitudinal vertical section, and Fig 7 a plan-Fig 8
shews an arrangement of pivotted plates whereby the size of the orifice or air
space around the injector may be regulated, and Fig 9 is a perspective view of a
moveable and elastic hollow truncated cone or beut plate for the same purpose.
Fig 10 is a central longitudinal section of the injector to an enlarged scale.
The furnace or combustion chamber a which in the example illustrated is placed
in the front end of the flue 6 of the boiler, is constructed of fire-resisting material
such as fire-clay, and is built up of three sections a¹, a², a³. The edges of these
sections, where they abut against or join one another, are provided with grooves,
recesses or channels c and projections or fillets the projections of one taking into
the recesses of the other next to it, and the joints being made air tight by the
introduction of dry fire-proof material as before described. By this construction
expansion and contraction of tlio combustion chamber is provided, for without
admission of air thereto at the joints. e is the injector, which, by means of steam
supplied by the pipe f, projects the oil supplied by the pipe into the furnace or
combustion chamber ft and on to the dash brick or slab h. This dashi brick or slab,

page_text: "
may, with advantage be a block of plumbago or graphite, according to my invention
the subject matter of the application.for Letters Patent No 2160 dated 25th January
1884 before referred to. The arrangement of the pipes ƒ and g is such as to allow
of moving the injector e out of the way, so as to permit of access to the front of
the furnace a. For this purpose the pipes fand g are carried by other pipes fig
fixed to the front plate of the boiler-In these pipes f¹.g' the pipes f. g. respectively
slide telescopically when the injector is pushed upward which can be readily done
when it is required to move the injector from its place in front of the furnace. The
space between fand f1 and the space between g and g' are respectively provided with
packing to prevent leakage, but so as to allow of the telescopic movement off and g
The glands used to prevent leakage may also be so adjusted as to counteract any
tendency to descent of the injector arising from the pressure of the steam-or special
clamping means may be used for the same purpose. f g². represent valves or cocks
applied to the pipes f and g by means of which the supply of steam and liquid hydro-
carbon may be regulated as required. The air necessary for combustion enters
the furnace as already stated in the form of an annulus or ring; the cross
Fectional area of the annular stream is regulated by a plate i made of any
suitable material such as asbestos-card or platinum or steel bent into the form
of a hollow truncated cone (Fig 9) but not united at the edges. This truncated
cone i is placed in a conical opening formed in the moveable part a' carried in the
front portion of the furnace through which the nozzle of the injector projects. The
plate i is pulled outward or pushed inward according to whether the area of the
air space around the nozzle of the injector, is required to be increased or diminished.
Or the arrangement shewn in Fig 8 may be used instead of the truncated cone i.
In this arrangement two plates and ¹ curved on their inner edges at k³ ³ and
provided with handles m m³ are pivotted on a screwed bolt or stud n by means of
which the plates are secured to the front plate b¹ of the boiler flue b in such a
manner as to more or less close the air opening.in the removable part a as may be'
desired. The front tube plate 6' may be provided with air valves 62 (shewn in
dotted lines in Fig 2) of any suitable construction. The object of such air valves
is to admit oxygen for combustion, if required, to the boiler flue outside the
chamber a. By the means described the air supply may be so regulated that
imperfect combustion of the liquid hydro carbon shall take place whereby solid.
carbon will be continuously formed for the purpose of effecting the combustion of
the hydrogen resulting from the decomposition of the steam in the combustion
chamber as above stated The combustion chamber a has an opening as in its back.
wall, and a series of openings as in its top through all of which products of
combustion may escape into the boiler flue or to act upon any other desired heating
or other surface where heat is to be applied for any purpose. The back wall or
bridge a' may be more or less protected from the action of the products of combustion
in the combustion chamber a by placing thereon renewable bricks as of any suitable
refractory material as shewn in dotted lines in Fig 1.0.-o represent liquid hydro-
carbon reservoirs or vessels acting on the well known principle of the bird fountain,
whereby a flame or flames may be maintained constantly in the combustion
chamber a even though the supply of oil-to-the injector be temporarily interrupted,
or the injector be raised clear of the opening in the furnace front. These reservoirs
or vessels o are provided each with a pipe o' and valve o by means of which
liquid hydro-carbon may be conducted to a burner at o³. An exterior casing o' of
any suitable material, and provided with air holes of surrounds a portion of each of
the pipes o whereby air is fed to the burners at o³ (see Fig 5) as in the well
known atmopire or Bunsen burner; the combustion of the liquid hydro-carbon is
thus effected. p. p are dome shaped covers or vessels of refractory material
provided with holes through which flame issues into the combustion chamber a.
These covers or vessels are placed over the burners at o³ and in holes or recesses
formed in the bed of the combustion chamber a. In lieu of the arrangement
illustrated, the oil for the constant flame may be fed to a trough formed in the bed
of the combustion chamber and having placed in it asbestos to serve as a wick,

page_text: The form of injector. I prefer to employ in my improved furnace is shewn in Fig 10
in which is the pipe for supplying steam and g the pipe for supplying the liquid
hydro-carbon. A plug or ferrule e' screws into the open end of the injector, to
which the pipe g is secured. The said plug or ferrule has a conical hole, which,
when the plug or ferrule is screwed home, takes a steam tight bearing upon a
similarly coned end on the branch pipe q¹ of the central oil pipe q thus proventing
steam under pressure escaping from the space r into q and forcing back the supply
of liquid hydro-carbon. Screws 8: 8. in conjunction with a conical hole in the screw-
cap & are employed to keep the oil pipe q central within the nozzle of the injector.
The pipes ƒ and g are secured to the injector by screw caps t, t' as shewn, or in any
other convenient manner. With this construction it results that the steam issues
at from the injector in the form of an annulus or ring and surrounds the
liquid hydro-carbon issuing from the central oil pipe q at the samo time inducing a
current of air through the opening in the wall around the injector.
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. A furnace for generating heat by combustion of liquid fuels with steam as
above set forth built up of sections with air tight joints so formed as to admit of
expansion and contraction without leakage substantially as described.
2. In a furnace such as referred to in claim 1 for generating heat by combustion
of liquid fuels with steam as above set forth, the combination with an injector for
injecting liquid fuel into the combustion chamber, of pipes or tubes having a
telescopic action to enable the said injector to be readily moved clear of the
opening in the furnace wall or front substantially as and for the purpose specified.
3. Providing a furnace for generating heat by combustion of liquid fuels with
steam as above set forth, with means for regulating the air supply in such a
manner as to cause deposit in the combustion chamber of carbon from the injected
liquid fuel substantially as and for the purpose specified.
4. The improved furnace for steam boiler or other purposes comprising the
combustion chamber a built up of sections with air tight joints to admit of
expansion and contraction without leakage, slab or dush brick h, injector e
telescopic sliding pipes and 9, and means for inaintaining a constant flame, all
substantially as described and illustrated.
In witness whereof I, the said Jasper Henry Selwyn have hereunto set my
hand and seal this twenty-second day of February in the year of Our Lord, one
thousand eight hundred and eighty four.
T IT SEN
JH SELWYN