IMPROVEMENTS IN GENERATING STEAM AND IN CONSUMING SMOKE
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Garnett, of Low Moor, near Cli-
theroc, in the County of Lancaster, Manufacturer, and Daniel
Adamson, of Duckinfield, in the County of Chester, Engineer, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN GENERATING STEAM AND IN
CONSUMING SMOKE."
Sealed the 26th May 1854, and dated the 1st December 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Garnett
and Daniel Adamson at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 1st December 1853.
We, THOMAS GARNETT, of Low Moor, near Clitheroe, in the County
of Lancaster, Manufacturer, and DANIEL ADAMSON, of Duckinfield, in
the County of Chester, do hereby declare the nature of the said In-
vention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN GENERATING STEAM AND IN CONSUMING
SMOKE" to be as follows:-
In the application of heated air for supporting combustion in the
fire-grates of boilers or steam generators, and in excluding, as far as is
practicable, the admission of cold atmospheric air, we prefer to heat
the air which is supplied to the fire-grate under the boiler or steam
generator by a detached fire; the smoke and other products of com-
bustion from which may, in order to economise heat, be conveyed

page_text: into the combustion chamber or flues of the boiler. We also propose
to warm the air with which the first fire is supplied by passing the
pipes which supply the air through the flue between the boiler and
chimney, or other convenient flue. The heated air, when admitted to the
fire-grate of the boiler or steam generator, may be let in under the grate
bars or over the fire, or in any convenient place, and the temperature
of the air must be varied according to the nature of the fuel to be con-
sunned. The draught in the flues may be increased by the aid of a
fan, if found requisite, and the effect of heated air is to diminish the
quantity of fuel required for evaporating a given quantity of water, and
to increase the combustion of the inflammable part of the smoke.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Garnett and Daniel Adamson in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 31st May 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we,
THOMAS GARNETT, of Low Moor, near Clitheroe, in the County of Lan-
caster, Manufacturer, and DANIEL ADAMSON, of Dukenfield, in the
County of Chester, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS IIer most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the First day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the seven-
teenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said Thomas Garnett and Daniel Adamson,
Her special license that we, the said Thomas Garnett and Daniel
Adamson, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
we, the said Thomas Garnett and Daniel Adamson, our 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 GENERATING STEAM AND IN CONSUMING SMOKE," upon the condition

page_text: (amongst others) that we, the said Thomas Garnett and Daniel
Adamson, by an instrument in writing under our hands and seals, or
under the hand and seal of either of us, 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 we, the said Thomas Garnett and Daniel
Adamson, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement, that is to say :-
The nature of our Invention consists in excluding cold atmospheric
air from the fire-places or furnaces of steam generators, and in supplying
the fire or burning fuel in such fire-places or furnaces with air that has
previously been heated by an independent fire, for the purpose of more
economically generating steam, and more effectually consuming the
smoke of such fire or furnaces, by insuring or promoting the complete
combustion of the fuel. And in order that our Invention may be
fully understood and readily carried into effect, we will proceed to
describe apparatus which may be used for performing the same, and the
manner of using such apparatus, reference being had to the annexed
Drawings and to the letters and figures marked thereon, similar parts
in each of the Figures being marked with the same letters of reference.
Figure 1, is a plan of an ordinary boiler for generating steam, and of
an apparatus for heating the air with which the fire for the heating of
such boiler is supplied. Figure 2, is a front elevation of Figure 1.
Figure 3, is a longitudinal section through the apparatus for heating the
air. Figure 4, is a cross section of Figure 3. Figuro 5, is a side
elevation of the boiler, shewing the flues from the air heating apparatus
in section. Figure 6, is an end elevation of a boiler with two ordinary
firing flues, shewing the mode of applying the hot air.
In Figures 1 and 3, a is a fan by which the air of the atmosphere is
forced through the flue b, to the heating apparatus which consists of the
upright pipes c, connected above by elbow pieces c', and below by
boxes c. These pipes and boxes are contained in the chamber d.

page_text: which is heated by the fire in the fire-place e.
The last row of pipes c,
terminate in the flue f, which is in communication with the under side
of the fire-grate or ash pit of the boiler fire-place, as shewn in Figures
1 and 2. The air heating apparatus which we have shewn in the
Drawing has 4 rows of pipes c, but a greater or less number may be
employed according to the quantity of air which is to be heated. The
flue fis carried into the ashpit g, under the fire-place g', of the boiler h,
so as to supply the heated air from thence to the fire between the grate
bars, and the end of the flue f is covered by a plate of metal marked
f(in Figures 2, 4, and 5) perforated with small holes through which the
hot air is driven or passes into the ashpit; ' is the dead plate, which is
also made with perforations to allow a portion of the heated air to ascend
through them to the fire in the grate. As it is requisite to exclude
the cold atmospheric air as far as practicable from the fire, by which the
boiler is heated, the end of the ashpit is closed by doors or otherwise,
and the coal or other fuel may be supplied to the fire from a self-feeding
hopper; but this hopper is not absolutely essential. The boiler shewn
in the Drawing is on the multitubular principle and the gascous pro-
ducts of the combustion of the fuel in the fire-place g', after passing
through the tubes of the boiler, enter the flue i (in Figure 5) and thence
go to the chimney. The flucj (also shewn in Figure 5) conveys the
products of combustion from the chamber d, to the chimney. The pipe
k, ishewn in Figure 3, is for the purpose of conveying a portion of the
hot air in the flue f, to the under side of the grate e, by which the
chamber d is heated; and e', is a perforated dead plate to admit a
portion of the hot air to the fire in the same grate. In Figure 6, the
flue fis shewn with the two branch flues ff, each of which enters
one of the ashpits under the fire-grates of the boiler.
We have found in practice that when the air in the fluef of a steam
boiler furnace is heated to six hundred degrees of Fahrenheit's thermo-
meter, the fire-grate or furnace of the steam boiler may be reduced
to about one half of its usual area, that the smoke and other inflam-
mable gaseous products of the combustion in the furnace are almost
entirely consumed, and are thus made to evolve their heat and a con-
siderable saving in the expenditure of fuel for the production of the

page_text: steam required is thus effected, notwithstanding the additional fuel
required for heating the air in the pipes c, and for producing the
steam power used for driving the fan.
Having now described the nature of our Invention, and the manner
of performing the same, we wish it to be understood that we make no
claim to the supplying of heated air to the furnaces or fire-places of
steam boilers generally, nor do we claim the particular apparatus for
heating air shewn in the Drawing apart from the combined application
thereof, in manner and for the purposes herein-before described or
mentioned; nor do we intend to limit ourselves to the degree to which
the air is to be heated as above mentioned, as that may be varied to
suit the quality of fuel employed, the heat to be applied to the boiler,
or the other circumstances of a case; but what we do claim, is the sup-
plying of air under pressure by means of a fan or other air engine, and
heated by an independent heating apparatus to the ash pits or air
chambers of the furnaces or fire-places of steam boilers or generators,
and at the same time excluding (so far as is practicable) cold air from
such furnaces, for the purpose of more economically generating steam
and consuming smoke, by causing a more effectual combustion of the
fuel burnt in such furnaces, and the products thereof.
In witness whereof, we, the said Thomas Garnett and Daniel
Adamson, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Thirtieth
day of May, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
THOMAS GARNE
(L.B.)
DANIEL ADAMSON. (L.s.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
within-named Tho' Garnett and
Daniel Adamson, in the presence of
H. B. BARLOW,
Patent Agent,
Manchester.