IMPROVEMENTS IN FURNACES, OR IN THE MEANS OF CONSUMING SMOKE
Year: 1849

page_text: JOHNSON AND CLIFFE'S SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOSEPH
JOHNSON, of Huddersfield, in the County of York, Bricklayer, and JOE CLIFFE,
of the same place, Ironfounder, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Twelfth day of October, in the thirteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Joseph Johnson and Joe Cliffe, Her especial license, full power, sole privi-
lege and authority, that we, the said Joseph Johnson and Joe Cliffe, our
exors, adñiors, and assigns, and such others as we, the said Joseph Johnson
and Joe Cliffe, our exors, adñiors, or assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time, and at all times during the term of years
therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick upon Tweed, and in all
Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, and in the Islands of Jersey,
Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, our Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
FURNACES, OR IN THE MEANS OF CONSUMING SMOKE;" in which said Letters Patent
is contained a proviso obliging us, the said Joseph Johnson and Joe Cliffe, by
an instrument in writing under our hands and seals, or under the hand and
seal of one of us, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of our said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the
same to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in part
recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had,
will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW. YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, we, the said
Joseph Johnson and Joe Cliffe, do hereby declare that the nature of our said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particu-
larly described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof,
reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and
figures marked thereon, (that is to say :-.
Our Invention of improvements in furnaces or in the means of consuming
smoke, consists of an improved mode of constructing furnaces or fire-places,
whereby heated atmospheric air may be admitted to the combustible gases
given off during the combustion of the fuel in the fire-place, and allowed to
become intimately mixed with such combustible gases for the purpose of burn-
ing or consuming them, thereby preventing the formation of smoke and greatly
economizing the, fuel, a considerable portion of the valuable parts of which
would otherwise escape by the flue and be discharged into the atmosphere
either in the form of dense smoke or valuable combustible gases, which would
then become lost. Various plans have heretofore been devised for admitting
either heated or cold atmospheric air to the flues of furnaces, for the purpose of
burning or consuming the combustible gases therein, and thereby economizing
fuel and preventing the formation of smoke and the discharge of valuable
combustible gases or smoke from the chimney; but such plans have not always
succeeded in effecting the desired object, although to a certain extent an
economy of fuel has sometimes resulted from their employment. By the im-
provements hereafter described we have endeavored to obviate some of the
objections to which the plans heretofore in use are liable, and at the same time
it has been our aim to remedy such defects in as simple and economical a
manner as possible. In our improved furnaces the air to be mixed with the
combustible gases in the flue is admitted by an aperture in front, either imme-
diately over the fire-door or at some other part where it may be well heated,
and is conducted along a pipe or pipes, passage or passages, situated close
under the seating of the boiler, to a hollow arched chamber, furnished with
openings for the purpose of discharging the air downwards among the heated
combustible gases as they pass from the fire-place to the flue; or the atmo-
spheric air is conducted from the entrance opening (which should be furnished
with a door) to an arched channel or chamber over the fire-place, where it
becomes heated by the fire, and from this arched chamber the heated air passes
down longitudinal side channels, flues, or pipes, along which it is conducted to
the interior of a hollow arch, from whence it issues in a highly heated state
through openings made in the inner or under side of the arch, and, becoming
mixed with the combustible gases which are passing from the fire-place into

page_text: the flue, it furnishes the same with the proper supply of oxygen to effect the
combustion thereof. By this means all the combustible parts of the fuel
become consumed, and none but the incombustible gases pass along the fluc
and out at the chimney. In some cases, in order to keep up a draft and draw
away the incombustible gases from the flue, and also to get rid of the noxious
part thereof, we make use of a fan exhauster, or jet of steam, which draws the
gases from the flue and conducts them to a chamber, where they are submitted
to the action of water or some other chemical agent, for the purpose of
absorbing the noxious portion of them, before allowing the remaining portion
to escape into the atmosphere. We would observe that various plans may be
devised for carrying out our improvements; but we have thought it advisable
to describe such arrangements as have been found to answer in practice, pre-
mising, however, that it may be necessary to modify in some manner the
arrangements herein shewn according to the circumstances of any particular
case and the peculiar construction of boiler to which our improvements are to
be applied. In the accompanying Drawings we have shewn our improvements
as applied to a large waggon boiler and also to a cylindrical boiler, both of
which boilers are intended for land purposes; we have also shewn the improve-
ments as applied to a marine boiler. Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section taken
through a waggon boiler and furnace, with our improvements adapted thereto.
Fig. 2 is a sectional plan view taken in the line 1, 2, of Fig. 1, and shewing
the arrangement of the flues. Fig. 3 is another sectional plan view taken
about the line 3, 4, of Fig. 1, and shewing the air chambers, the side channels,
and hollow arch for admitting heated air to the combustible gases. Fig. 4 is
a transverse vertical section of the boiler and hollow arch taken in the line 5,
6, of Fig. 1; and Fig. 5 is another transverse vertical section taken in the
line 7, 8, of Fig. 1. A waggon boiler of the ordinary construction is seen at
a, a, a, a, and the fire-place or furnace at b, b; the fire bridge at the back of
the furnace is seen at c, c; and d, d, is an arched chamber situated above the
fire-place, and to which air is admitted from the external atmosphere by means
of an opening at e in front of the furnace and above the fire door. This
entrance to the arched chamber d, d, may be furnished with a door for
the purpose of regulating the admission of air to the chamber d, d, from
whence the heated air passes into the side passages f, f, (seen best in Figures
3, 4, and 5,) to the hollow arch g, g. This arch is constructed of hollow fire
tiles or bricks, and is built up on the hollow channel h, which communicates
with the side channels or passages f, f, seen best in Fig. 4, and in elevation
upon an enlarged scale at Fig. 5*. The hollow channel h also communicates,
by means of the hollow tiles or bricks i, i, i, i, with the hollow arch g, g, above.

page_text: The ends of this arch are also open to the side channels f, f, so that a perfect
circulation of air may take place. The heated air from this arch g rushes out,
as shewn by the arrows, through openings 9 made in the under side thereof,
and acts upon the combustible gases that are passing from the fire-place
through the spaces j, j, j, between the hollow fire tiles or bricks i, i. Upon
referring to Fig. 3 it will be seen that the side passages are continued beyond
the hollow arcb g, and terminate at a hollow fire bridge k, which they supply
with heated air for the purpose of causing the same to issue into the flue, and
act upon and consume such combustible gases as may have passed the arch g, g.
This is a precaution which may be employed at the discretion of the engineer
or constructor, but when it is adopted it will be found advisable to divide the
current of air in the side channels f, f, into two parts, by means of a longi-
tudinal partition, as seen at 7 in Fig. 3. In cases where it may be thought
desirable to increase the draft and purify the products of combustion, the incom-
bustible gases may be drawn from the flue by means of a fan or exhauster, or
other means, and conducted into a chamber as at m, Figures 1 and 2, where
the gases may be operated upon by jets of lime water or other chemical agents.
Fig. 6 is a longitudinal vertical section of a cylindrical tubular boiler with
our improvements adapted thereto. Fig. 7 is a horizontal section of the same;
and Fig. 8 is a transverse vertical section. a, a, is the boiler or water space,
and b, b, the furnaces or fire-places, of which there are two, consequently all
the parts connected with the sinoke consuming apparatus are in duplicate.
The fire, bridge at the back part of the fire-place is seen at c, c. In this
instance the atmospheric air is represented as being admitted to the hollow
annular space or arch 9, 9, by means of a channel or flat pipe e, e, which is
placed along the bottom of the ash-pit. The arched chamber d, d, and longi-
tudinal channels or passages f, f, of Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, are therefore
dispensed with, and the air is heated in its passage through the channel e and
lower part of the arch g before it passes out of the arch and mixes with the
combustible gases. The flat pipe e, e, communicates with the hollow annular.
space or arch g, as seen best in Fig. 8. On the under side of the upper part
of this arch openings n, n, are made for the purpose of allowing the hot air to
rush out and act upon the combustible gases, and any portion of such gases
which may pass through the arch unconsumed will come in contact with a
second current of heated atmospheric air which issues from the hollow fire
bridge k, which is supplied with air in a somewhat similar manner to that
already described in reference to Figures 1 and 3.
In Figures 9, 10, and 11 we have shewn our improvements as applied to a
marine tubular boiler. In this instance the atmospheric air is admitted to the

page_text: fire bridge by the pipe or channel f, which we prefer to construct of fire-clay,
and attach to the under side of the boiler. This pipe or channel f communi-
cates with the hollow annular space or arch g, g, which is furnished with holes'
or openings n, n, for the emission of the heated air among the combustible gases,
as already described in reference to Figures 6, 7, and 8. The atmospheric air
may be admitted to the annular space or arch 9 by means of a pipe or channel
e, e, along the bottom of the ash-pit; but we prefer the channel for the atmo-
spheric air to be above the fire, when it can be conveniently so arranged.
Having now described our improvements and the means of carrying the same
into effect, we would observe, in conclusion, that although we have described the
best means with which we are at present acquainted for effecting the object of
our improvements and adapting the same to three different constructions of
boilers, yet we do not intend to confine ourselves to the precise arrangement or
construction of parts herein shewn and described, as it will be evident to an
intelligent engineer that they may be varied without departing from the nature
and object of our Invention. We would also observe, that in order that our
improvements may be properly understood, we have found it necessary to show
and describe various parts which have been heretofore known and in use for
similar purposes. And we wish it to be understood that we do not mean or intend
to claim such parts as of our Invention; but that what we consider to be new;
and therefore wish to claim as the Invention' secured to us by the herein-before
in part recited Letters-Patent, is the heating of atmospheric air by introducing
it into a chamber, pipe, or hollow arch situated either immediately over the
dead plate or in any other convenient situation above the fire-place, or some
other part of the furnace where it may be exposed to a high temperature, and
conducting such heated air to a perforated hollow arch or chamber near the
fire-bridge, and allowing it to issue downwards from the under side of such arch
or chamber and commingle with the gaseous products of the fuel, for the pur-
pose of supplying them with a proper quantity of oxygen at a high temperature,
so that the combustible gases arising from the fuel may be properly consumed
and the temperature thereof not materially reduced, as has been the case in
most of the plans hitherto adopted for supplying air to the combustible gases.
We claim particularly the employment of the perforated hollow arch above
described, whether the same be used in combination with the above arrange-
ments for heating the air or other plans that may be employed to effect the
same purpose.
And we also claim, in combination with the above, the use of a hollow fire-
bridge placed behind the ordinary fire-bridge, and perforated hollow arch or
chamber, which hollow fire-bridge also receives a supply of heated air in the