IMPROVEMENTS IN HYDROCARBON FURNACES, AND IN MEANS FOR PRODUCING LIGHT AND HEAT
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Borland, of Warren Road, Bexley Heath,
in the County of Kent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
HYDROCARBON FURNACES, AND IN MEANS FOR PRODUCING LIGHT AND HEAT."
-A communication from Robert Bell Borland, of New York, in
'the United States of America.
Sealed the 7th March 1876, and dated the 10th September 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Borland at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 10th September 1875.
I, JAMES BORLAND, of Warren Road, Bexley Heath, in the County
of Kent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for “Im.
PROVEMENTS IN HYDROCARBON FURNACES, AND IN MEANS FOR PRODUCING Light
AND HEAT," (communicated to me from Robert Bell Borland, of New
York, in the United States of America,) to be as follows:-
The Invention has for object the burning of hydrocarbons in con-
nection with air or steam (or both) for the generation of steam for

page_text: stationary, locomotive, and marine boilers, and for manufacturing,
chemical, and metallurgical purposes.
A, Figure 1, of the annexed Drawings is a jacketed vessel of sufficient
strength to withstand any pressure to which the boiler itself is subjected,
and is connected with the latter in the steam space or chamber by the 5
pipe and valve a, and with an oil reservoir by the pipe-and-tap-b.
The oil tank may be placed in any convenient situation above the
level of the vessel A.
In lieu of a jacket a coil may be used in such case, the coil being
enclosed in the vessel A. The pipe 6 is the oil feed pipe, and extends 10
to nearly the bottom of the vessel A. The pipe c, which may be either
a straight, a coiled, or a syphon pipe is the oil delivery pipe, connecting
with the burner B at f and with the fire-box C at e. It extends to
within a short distance of the top of the vessel A.
B, Figure 2, is the burner, comprising the chamber 1, the perforated 1
cylinder 2, the hollow conical valve 3, the tube 4, and the outer
case 5.
The chamber (1) is connected with the pipe c by the pipe and tap f,
which admit the oil. The cylinder (2) is perforated on its top and sides
only, and within the space occupied longitudinally by the chamber (1) 20
with small holes o, their aggregate area being rather less than that of
the mouth of the supply pipe c; it connects with the tube 4, and is'
internally conical, so as to allow the conical valve to be fitted closely
into it. The valve 3 is hollow through its entire length and projects
beyond the rows of holes in the cylinder; it is operated by a screw 9; *2
and is so constructed that it graduates the supply of oil and steam by
one and the same motion, so that no undue proportion of either can
pass to the burner tube through any neglect on the part of the
attendant.
The tubular extension of the valve fits closely into a sleeve h, and is 30
prevented from turning with the regulating screw by a groove and
steady pin I; it is pierced with a hole k of the same diameter as that
of the steam pipe which connects with the vessel A a little above its
lower end at l, and with the valve tube at m, so that when the valve is
closed the steam and oil inlets are simultaneously shut, and when 35

page_text: slightly or fully opened the steam and oil passages are enlarged or
diminished accordingly.
When in position the smaller end of the conical chamber is somewhat
lower than the other (as shown in the Drawing), so that the oil in
passing through the perforations at o has a natural tendency to flow
towards the point. The outer case is constructed to envelop the tube 4,
and is connected with the vessel A by the pipe n. It is fitted with a
tap p to admit of the exit of any condensed steam. Any kind of
nozzle or jet may be attached to the pipe, as a broad spread or strong jet
of flame may be desired.
C, Figure 1, is the "fire-box." It is a shallow vessel, having a false
bottom q, and resting either on the present fire-bars of the ordinary
grate or being supported of itself, dispensing with grate bars entirely.
It may be made either as a whole or in sections, in the latter case the
sections communicating with each other by suitable oil pipes. The
false bottom is perforated with holes at regular intervals, into which are
screwed or otherwise firmly secured the vertical tubes 7, so as to con-
stitute the upper part of the vessel, an oil-tight box having numerous
tubes or air passages over its entire extent, the united area of the holes
being nearly equal to that of the space unoccupied by them. The
interstices are filled with asbestos or other porous material indestructible
by heat, and for this purpose what is known as asbestos board" is pre-
ferred. This filling reaches nearly to the top of the tubes, which at
that point are slightly bell mouthed, and somewhat lower than the sides
of the fire-box. The open spaces below the tubes is a draught or air
chamber, and is either open at t, when a natural draught can be
obtained, or is connected with a blower or equivalent apparatus when
the natural draught is not attainable. The draught in either case is
regulated by dampers in the usual manner.
In this apparatus the use of hard fuel is entirely dispensed with, but
should such fuel be necessary for any peculiar operation the fire-box can.
be readily disconnected from the rest of the machine and replaced when
hard fuel is no longer desired.
The action of the apparatus is as follows:-Oil is admitted to the fire-
box C by the pipe e, and rises through the asbestos in sufficient quantity'
to just cover its surface where it is ignited. The air naturally or
artificially supplied rushes through the vertical tubes and causes a

page_text: smokeless flame of great heating power, which rapidly generates steam
in the boiler. Steam is then admitted to the jacket or coil of the
vessel A by its own valve. The oil in A becomes highly heated, and is
allowed to pass-to-the-burner B by its special pipe and tap. The conical
valve is opened and-the-oil-and-steam are driven through the burner jet
in suitable proportion and condition for the decomposition and perfect
combustion of. both, the effect being increased in energy by the intensely
heated air or gases passing through the tubes and flame of the fire-
box.
The heat can be regulated by increasing and decreasing the oil supply
and the quality of the flame by the amount of air and steam admitted
to the burner and to the fire-box tubes respectively.
"
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Borland in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 10th March 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
BORLAND, of Warren Road, Bexley Heath, in the County of Kent, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-ninth year of Her reign,, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
¯cessors,-give-and-grant-unto me, the said James Borland, Her special
license, that I, the said James Borland, my executors, administrators,..
and assigns, or such others as I, the said James Borland, 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
HYDROCARBON FURNACES, AND IN MEANS FOR PRODucing Light and Heat,” com-
municated to me from abroad by Robert Bell Borland, of New York, in the

page_text: United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said James Borland, 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 Borland, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say:
-
This Invention has for object the burning of hydrocarbons in con-
nection with air or steam (or both) for the generation of steam for
stationary, locomotive, and' marine boilers, and for manufacturing,
chemical, and metallurgical purposes.
A, Figure 1 of the annexed Drawings, is a jacketed vessel of sufficient
strength to withstand any pressure to which the boiler itself is subjected,
and is connected with the latter in the steam space or chamber by the
pipe and valve a, and with an oil reservoir by the pipe and tap b.
The oil tank may be placed in any convenient situation above the
level of the vessel A.
used, in such case the coil being
In lieu of a jacket a coil may be
enclosed in the vessel A. The pipe is the oil feed pipe, and extends
to nearly the bottom of the vessel A. The pipe c, which may be either
a straight, a coiled, or a syphon pipe, is the oil delivery pipe connecting
with the burner B at f and with the fire-box Cat e. It extends to
within a short distance of the top of the vessel A.
B, Figure 2, is the burner, comprising the chamber 1, the perforated
cylinder 2, the hollow conical valve 3, the tube 4, and the outer
case 5.
The chamber (1) is connected with the pipe c by the pipe and tap f,
which admit the oil.' The cylinder (2) is perforated on its top and sides
only, and within the space occupied longitudinally by the chamber (1)
with small holes o, their aggregate area being rather less than that of
the mouth of the supply pipe c. It connects with the tube 4, and is

page_text: internally conical, so as to allow the conical valve to be fitted closely
into it. The valve 3 is hollow through its entire length, and projects
beyond the rows of holes in the cylinder. It is operated by a screw g,
and is so constructed that it graduates the supply of oil and steam by
one and the same motion, so that no undue proportion-of-either-can-
pass to the burner tube through any neglect on the part of the
attendant.
The tubular extension of the valve fits closely into a sleeve h, and is
prevented from turning with the regulating screw by a groove and
steady pin "I. It is pierced with a hole k of the same diameter as:
that of the steam pipe which connects with the vessel A a little above
its lower end at 7 and with the valve tube at m, so that when the valve
is closed the steam and oil inlets are simultaneously shut, and when
slightly or fully opened the steam and oil passages are enlarged or
diminished accordingly.
When in position the smaller end of the conical chamber is somewhat
lower than the other (as shown in the Drawings), so that the oil in
passing through the perforations at o has a natural tendency to flow
towards the point. The outer case is constructed to envelop the tube 4,
and is connected with the vessel A by the pipe n. It is fitted with a
tap p to admit of the exit of any condensed steam. Any kind of
nozzle or jet may be attached to the pipe, as a broad spread or strong
jet of flame may be desired.
C, Figure-1,-is-the-fire-box." It is a shallow vessel having a false
bottom q, and resting either on the present fire-bars of the ordinary
grate or being supported of itself, dispensing with grate bars entirely.
It-may-be-made either as a whole or in sections, in the latter case the
sections communicating with each other by suitable oil-pipes.-The-
false bottom is perforated with holes at regular intervals, into which are
screwed or otherwise firmly secured the vertical tubes 7, so as to con-
stitute the upper part of the vessel, an oil-tight box having numerous
tubes or air passages over its entire extent, the united area of the
holes being nearly equal to that of the space- unoccupied by them.
The interstices are filled with asbestos or other porous material
indestructible by heat, and for this purpose what is known as
"asbestos board" is preferred. This filling reaches nearly to the top
of the tubes, which at that point are slightly. bell-mouthed, and some,

page_text: what lower than the sides of the fire-box. The open space a below tho
tubes is a draught or air chamber, and is either open at t, when a
natural draught can be obtained, or is connected with a blower or
equivalent apparatus when the natural draught is not attainable. The
draught in either case is regulated by dampers in the usual manner.
In this apparatus the use of hard fuel is entirely dispensed with,
but should such fuel be necessary for any peculiar operation the fire-
box can be readily disconnected from the rest of the machine and
replaced when hard fuel is no longer desired.
The action of the apparatus is as follows:-Oil is admitted to the
fire-box C by the pipe e, and rises through the asbestos in sufficient
quantity to just cover its surface where it is ignited. The air naturally
or artificially supplied rushes through the vertical tubes and causes a
smokeless flame of great heating power, which rapidly generates
steam in the boiler. Steam is then admitted to the jacket or coil of
the vessel A by its own valve. The oil in A becomes highly heated, and
is allowed to pass to the burner B by its special pipe and tap. The
conical valve is opened, and the oil and steam are driven through the
burner jet in suitable proportion and condition for the decomposition and
O perfect combustion of both, the effect being increased in energy by the
intensely heated air or gases passing through the tubes and flame of the
fire-box.
The heat can be regulated by increasing or decreasing the oil supply
and the quality of the flame by the amount of air and steam admitted
5 to the burner and to the fire-box tubes respectively.
The proportions of the apparatus may vary with the power required
for any particular work.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
First. The vessel A. with its oil pipes and other appliances, as and for
the purposes set forth.
$
Second. The burner B, with its chamber, perforated cylinder, hollow
conical valve tube, outer case, regulating screw, and other appliances, as
and for the purposes set forth.
•
5 Third. The fire-box C, with its air tubes, fireproof packing, and other
appliancos, as and for the purposes set forth.

page_text: Fourth. The combination of the vessel A with the burner B and the
fire-box C, as and for the purposes herein set forth and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Borland, have hereunto
set my hand and scal, this Tenth-day-of-March, One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-six.