IMPROVEMENTS IN PRODUCING AND APPLYING HEAT
Year: 1841

page_text: POOLE'S SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MOSES
POOLE, of Lincoln's Inn, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Twenty-sixth day of June, in the fifth year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Moses Poole,
Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said
Moses Poole, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Moses Poole, my exors, admors, 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 expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick upon Tweed, the Inven-
tion of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRODUCING AND APPLYING HEAT," communi-
cated to me by a certain foreigner residing abroad; in which said Letters
Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said Moses Poole, shall cause
particular description of the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be enrolled in Her said 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, I, the said
Moses Poole, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the
Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say:-
This Invention consists, first, in a new mode of heating furnaces used in the
different manufactures by employing carbonic oxide gas as fuel instead of coal,
coke, peat, or wood, in the manufacture of iron and other metallurgic opera-
tions where blast furnaces are used. This carbonic oxide gas is obtained in a
pure and uninflamed state from these blast furnaces; it is taken some distance
below their mouth, and conveyed, by means of an apparatus to be hereafter
described, to any other furnaces that require to be heated. Secondly, in a new
mode of heating furnaces by means of carbonic oxide gas, which may be
obtained from a separate furnace, expressly constructed for that purpose, as
will hereafter be more particularly described. Thirdly, in a mode of applying
the blow pipe to furnaces, whereby the withdrawal of the carbonic oxide gas
in the working furnaces is facilitated, and the combustion in the furnaces or
boiler assisted by the mixture of heated air with the carbonic oxide gas, and
thus producing a most intense heat. This Invention may be applied to the
furnaces used in the different processes for the manufacture of iron and the
treatment of other minerals generally, as well as to ovens or furnaces requiring
a high temperature, such as glass or pottery furnaces, gasworks, breweries, for
evaporating liquids, and to the purpose of generating steam.
Having thus generally stated the nature and object of this Invention, I will
describe its application to the manufacture of iron, reference being had to the
accompanying Drawings and the letters marked thereon. It is known that a
large quantity of combustible or carbonic oxide gas is produced in the blast
furnaces. These gases I collect before they arrive at the top or mouth of the
furnace, and conduct them under a pressure into the refining, puddling, and
welding furnaces. Here they are ignited, and continued jets of heated air are
forced through a series of blow pipes amidst the enflamed gases, whereby their
combustion is so completely effected as to heat the furnaces to an intense
degree, without the use of any other fuel. The iron made in the furnaces
heated in this manner will be found to be of a superior quality to that made in
the ordinary way with any other fuel. In cases where the carbonic oxide gas
cannot be obtained from a blast furnace, a separate furnace should be
constructed for the purpose of generating the gas, which is thence con-
ducted into the smelting or refining, puddling and welding furnaces.
This

page_text: separate furnace should be constructed somewhat like a small blast furnace.
When filled with coal, a small quantity of atmospheric air is forced in by
means of any ordinary blowing machine, just sufficient to produce a slow com-
bustion of the coal, and thus it will generate the required quantity of carbonic
oxide gas, the same as a blast furnace. The combustible gas is thence con-
ducted through tubes or pipes into the furnaces that are to be heated. Here
it is met by the continued jets of heated air that are forced through the blow
pipes, and the combustion of the mixed hot air and carbonic oxide gas will
produce a most intense temperature.
The atmospheric air that is forced through the blow pipes into the furnaces
should be heated to about from 250° to 330 Reaumer. The same arrangement
may be applied to a cupola furnace, and sufficient combustible gas obtained
from to heat any reverberatory furnace. In all the furnaces to which the
Invention is applied, the combustion is most completely effected without a
chimney. The atmospheric air which is forced into the furnaces is received
from any ordinary blowing machine, and the pipes through which the air, as
well as those through which the gas enters the furnaces, must be provided with
cocks or slide valves, by which the quantity of gas and air to be admitted may
be regulated with the greatest exactness. In this manner it is made possible
to save much of the metal that is lost in the ordinary processes of the
manufacture of iron. In applying this Invention to steam boilers and evapo-
rating furnaces, a great economy of fuel is effected, and nearly all the smoke
(after the furnace or boiler is once fairly put into operation) is effectually con-
sumed. I would here remark that any process that will furnish pure or
carburetted hydrogen gas may be employed for producing the carbonic oxide
cos which require
In Drawing I., Figures 1, 2, and 3, I have shown one example of the
.different modes that may be employed for conveying the gas from the blast or
high furnaces. a, a, a, a, a, a, are six or more openings, that lead into the
vertical channels or passages b, and from thence into the chamber c: There is
a top to this chamber, with six openings, that correspond with the passages 6;
these openings are closed with cast iron plates, that can be taken off for
the purpose of clearing out the passages b and the chamber c. From the
chamber c the gas may be conducted in any required direction, and to a
distance of several hundred feet, to the place where it is required. In some
localities, and in cases where it is required to take the gas from a blast
furnace in operation, I use a metal cylinder, which must. be of a smaller

page_text: diameter than the top of a furnace, and of a depth equal to its diameter... I
suspend this cylinder vertically in the top of the blast furnace the whole of
its length.
.
The space between the cylinder and the furnace at the top or mouth is to
be hermetically closed, and the furnace charged through the cylinder, which
must be kept full of minerals and combustibles. Thus the chamber between the
exterior of the cylinder and the interior of the furnace cannot be filled with
either minerals or coals, and the gas passes into it, from whence it may be
conducted as may be required; sometimes it becomes necessary to heat the gas
before it is burnt in the furnaces: for this purpose the tubes through which it
is conducted are surrounded by a brick flue, into which the waste heat from.
the
gas furnace is conducted. ..
Drawing. II, Figures 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8, represent a refining furnace, with
the necessary apparatus for working it with gas, without the use of any other
fuel. Figure 4, shows the exterior of the furnace; Figure 5 is a vertical sec-
tion; Figure 6 is a plan; Figure 7 is a back view of the furnace; Figure 8,.
a transversal section. The gas from the blast furnace is brought into the
chamber a, a, which has an opening b, b, through which the gas enters into
the furnace. c; c, c, c; c, c, is a series of blow pipes, through which the heated
air is forced into the furnace: In the space between the part marked b. and
the tubes c, the gas becomes mixed with. the heated atmospheric air. This
combustible gas from the blast furnace, mixed with the heated air, produces an
intense temperature in the furnace sufficient for the operation of refining the
iron. The warm air required to burn the gas is ordinarily obtained. from the
blowing machine and hot air apparatus of the blast furnace. For the purpose
of heating to a still higher temperature, say, from two hundred and fifty degrees.
to four hundred degrees of Reaumer, it is carried through a tube f, into the
iron chambers g, g, or a system of pipes, thence it is lead through the tube h
into the semicircular chamber i, from whence it passes through the small
pipes c, ic, c, c, c, c, into the furnace: The metal to be refined is placed: in the
space. d, d, d, d, in a liquid state, if the arrangement of the furnaces will
admit of its being taken in this state. from the blast furnace, if not; it may
be brought nearly to that state by the waste heat in the chamber e, c. In
order to decarbonize the metal, a quantity of warm air is conducted through
the pipe k, which is divided into two tubes or tuyeres 1, 1, through which
the hot air is blown upon the liquid metal.in the space d, d, d, d. After the
metal in the liquid state has been exposed for about one hour and a half to
the hot air thus blown upon it, it is run off through. the opening :m, and will
be found to be refined metal. Drawing. I Figures 9, 10, 11, and 12, show

page_text: the application of the Invention to a puddling furnace. The difference between
this and the refining furnace is not great, and can be best observed from the
Drawings, which will be readily understood from the foregoing description.
The openings n, n, are for the purpose of letting a stream of cold water flow
through the cast iron piece o, o, to preserve this casing of the hearth against
the destructive effects of the fire.
Drawing II., Figures 13, 14, 15, and 16, show the application of the Inven-
tion to a welding furnace, the gas being obtained as in the other cases from a
blast furnace. It resembles in general the puddling furnace, only the interior
dimensions and the casing of the hearth are different, as also the fire bridge,
which will, be best understood from the Drawings. The openings p, p, are for.
the purpose of drawing off the scoria. The pipes through which the gas is to
be conducted to the different furnaces I prefer to be made of cast iron,.and
should have at least one foot sectional area for every furnace that is to be
heated. Drawing I., Figures 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, and 22, show the application
of this Invention to the purpose of generating steam. In this description of
apparatus I. employ a chimney only at the commencement of the operation.
The air is forced into the furnace by any sort of blowing machine, or in any
other, convenient way. The fuel is introduced into the fire-place upon the
grate.n,.n, through the door a, which can be closed. The fire-place must.be
large.enough to contain a sufficient quantity of combustible matter to produce
heat for several hours. When the fire is first lighted, the combustion takes
place in the ordinary manner, by opening the door d and the slide valve b, and
carrying through them a current of air by means of the chimney. This is
continued until the steam engine furnace or any working engine is in opera-
tion, after which a blowing apparatus is put in action that forces the air
through the tube c, as shewn in Figure 18. The openings d and b are then
closed, the air which is forced in passes through the flues fff, which are
placed around and under the boiler, thus applying the heat which would other-
wise be lost. The air having arrived at the point g is divided into two portions,
one of which passes through the opening h, which can be regulated by a valve,
into the space below the grate n, n, to assist in the slow combustion of the
fuel. The other part of the air passes through another opening that can be
regulated by the valve g¹ into a chamber h, h; h, h, that surrounds the fire-
place in order to heat the air to an intense degree. After the second portion
of the air has passed into this chamber it enters into the chamber i, i; from
there it passes thro'
a series of blow pipes, or through one opening 0, 0, 0, 0, of
a little less size than the width of the fire-place into the space below the boiler
P. P. P. P. Note. The mixing of heated atmospheric air which is caused

page_text: thereby in the direction of the blow pipes, assists or withdraws indirectly the
carbonic oxide gas and the smoke produced by the slow combustion of the
fuel in the fire-place, and burns them effectually by mixing with them its
oxygen in sufficient quantity and at a high temperature. The flame produced
in this manner acts the same as the flame in any ordinary boiler, and the
incombustible or carbonic acid gas, which is generated, passes by the tube p, p, p,
into a small chimney through the opening b, b, which is regulated by a valve.
This mode of applying the Invention to the heating of boilers can be modified
according to the form and dimension of the boiler; and this part of the Inven-
tion consists, first, in the application of heated air forced in through blow
pipes to burn the smoke and combustible gas which is produced by the slow
and direct combustion of the fuel; and secondly, in the above-described manner
of heating the air by the waste heat of the fire-place.
In witness whereof, I, the said Moses Poole, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-one.