IMPROVE- MENTS IN GAS PRODUCERS AND FURNACES OPERATING IN CONNECTION THEREWITH
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles William Siemens, of No. 12, Queen Anne's Gate,
Westminster, in the County of Middlesex, for an Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN GAS PRODUCERS AND FURNACES OPERATING IN CONNECTION
THEREWITH."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles William Siemens at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 19th August 1880.
CHARLES WILLIAM SIEMENS, of No. 12, Queen Anne's Gate, Westminster, in
the County of Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS PRODUCERS AND FURNACES
OPERATING IN CONNECTION THEREWITH."
My Invention relates to gas producers, which may be worked in connection with
the furnaces in which the produced gas is utilised for heating purposes, or may be
worked independently of these furnaces, and to furnaces arranged to operate in
connection with such producers. I will first describe a gas producer and furnace,
according to my Invention, arranged to operate in combination. In the producer
solid fuel, such as coal, coke, anthracite, lignite, peat, and the like is acted on by
jets of heated air, or of highly heated air mingled with steam, under the influence of
which the fuel is rapidly decomposed, its carbonaceous and hydrogenous constituents
forming combustible gases with the constituents of the air and steam, whilst its
earthy ingredients drop in a fused or partly fused condition through openings in
the bottom of the producer. The air for supplying the producer is heated and the
steam is generated by the heat of the products of combustion passing from the
furnace to the chimney, as I will presently describe, and the steam issuing in a jet
or jets into the channel supplying the heated air causes the combined jet of heated
air and steam which acts upon the fuel in the producer. The gas is thus produced
at a very high temperature, and being comparatively rich in combustible gases, such
as hydrogen, marsh gas, and carbonic oxide, it produces intense heat when it is
burnt with heated atmospheric air. Gas regenerators may therefore be dispensed
with, the gas being led from the producer directly to the heating chamber of the
furnace, on entering which it meets a current or currents of air previously heated
by the products of combustion in their passage from the furnace towards the
Price 6d1

page_text: chimney. This transfer of heat from the products of combustion to the air which
supplies both the gas producer and the furnace is effected by means of a double
series of narrow passages separated either by thin brick walls, or by metallic plates
placed on edge; a number of these passages is traversed from end to end by the
products of combustion, whilst each alternate passage is traversed by air, preferably
in a direction opposite to that of the products of combustion. A portion of the
air thus heated passes through a channel or channels, protected against loss of
heat to channels at the ash pit of the gas producer, and is injected into the mass
of incandescent fuel as above described. The rest of the heated air is conducted by
suitable channels to the throat of the furnace, where it meets and mingles with the
hot gas issuing from the producer, causing the flame which operates in the furnace.
The steam which serves to effect the injection of the air, and which also aids
chemically in effecting the decomposition of the fuel, is generated in a boiler heated
by the products of combustion from the furnace. A convenient arrangement for
this purpose consists in a small tubular boiler placed in a chamber traversed by the
products of combustion, the heat of which suffices for the double purpose of
generating the steam required for the gas producer and of heating the air supply
for both the gas producer and the furnace.
A reciprocative action is thus set up between the furnace and the gas producer,
which results in complete utilisation of heat, and, consequently, in great economy of
fuel. The steam boiler above referred to, having for its sole duty to supply the
steam jet for the producer, may be made of very simple construction. As only
moderate pressure is required, water may be supplied to the lower ends of the tubes
from an elevated feeding cistern without the intervention of valves or feeding
apparatus. The steam outlet from the upper ends of the tubes to the steam jet or
jets is left open always except when the furnace is not in action and the generation
of steam ceases. In that case the water from the supply cistern would completely
fill the boiler and overflow through the steam jets, to prevent which the steam
outlet is provided with a valve worked by a float in a chamber or steam chest at
the upper extremity of the boiler, so that it is closed when the water rises in the
chamber, but is reopened when steam is again formed and takes the place of the
water in the steam chest. If on the other hand steam is formed more rapidly than
it can be discharged through the steam jets at the pressure limited by the height of
the supply reservoir, the water will be pressed back and the steam generating
surface will be diminished, until an equilibrium between the production and con-
sumption of steam is again established. The upper portion of the tubular surfaces
will serve to superheat the steam, but will not be overheated, because the boiler is
so placed that the spent flame from the furnace does not impinge directly upon its
surfaces, which are surrounded only by heated gases, the supply of which to the
boiler may be regulated by suitable valves or dampers. The contents of the boiler
being thus always free to escape at both extremities, and the pressure being
limited to that due to the height of the supply reservoir, no safety valve, pressure
guage, or water guage is necessary. The quantity of water contained in the boiler
is moreover so small and so divided that if a tube should give way no destructive
action on surrounding objects can take place.
Although the gas producer has been described above as operating in connection
with the furnace, and depending upon the heat of the furnace for its efficient action,
it may be worked independently by a supply of steam from another source and
with air heated elsewhere, or by the spare heat of the producer itself. In the latter
case the air may be led through tubes crossing the producer, or passing through the
channels by which the hot gas is led to the furnace.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Charles William Siemens in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
19th February 1881.
CHARLES WILLIAM SIEMENS, of No. 12, Queen Anne's Gate, Westminster, in
the County of Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS PRODUCERS AND FURNACES
OPERATING IN CONNECTION THEREWITH."
My Invention relates to gas producers which may be worked in connection with
the furnaces in which the produced gas is utilised for heating purposes, or may be
worked independently of these furnaces, and to furnaces arranged to operate in
connection with such producers. I will first describe a gas producer and furnace
according to my Invention arranged to operate in combination. In the producer
solid fuel, such as coal, coke, anthracite, lignite, peat, and the like, is acted on by
jets of heated air or of highly heated air mingled with steam, under the influence
of which the fuel is rapidly decomposed, its carbonaceous and bydrogenous
constituents forming combustible gases with the constituents of the air and steam,
whilst its earthy ingredients drop in a fused or partly fused condition through
openings in the bottom of the producer. The air for supplying the producer is
heated and the steam is generated by the heat of the products of combustion
passing from the furnace to the chimney, as I will presently describe, and the steam
issuing in a jet or jets into a channel supplying the heated air causes the combined
jet of heated air and steam, which acts upon the fuel in the producer. The gas is
thus produced at a very high temperature, and being comparatively rich in
combustible gases, such as hydrogen, marsh gas, and carbonic oxide, it produces
intense heat when it is burnt with heated atmospheric air. Gas regenerators may
therefore be dispensed with, the gas being led from the producer directly to the
heating chamber of the furnace, on entering which it meets a current or currents
of air previously heated by the products of combustion in their passage from the
furnace towards the chimney. This transfer of heat from the products of combustion
to the air which supplies both the gas producer and the furnace, is effected by
means of a double series of narrow passages separated either by thin brick walls
or by metallic plates placed on edge. A number of these passages is traversed from
end to end by the products of combustion, whilst each alternate passage is traversed
by air preferably in a direction opposite to that of the products of combustion.
A portion of the air thus heated may be made to pass through a channel or
channels, protected against loss of heat, to channels at the ash pit of the gas
producer, and is injected into the mass of incandescent fuel as above described.
The rest of the heated air is conducted by suitable channels to the throat of the
furnace, where it meets and mingles with the hot gas issuing from the producer,
causing the flame which operates in the furnace. The steam which serves to effect
the injection of the air, and which also aids chemically in effecting the decomposition
of the fuel, may be generated in a boiler heated by the products of combustion
from the furnace. A convenient arrangement for this purpose consists in a small
tubular boiler placed in a chamber traversed by the products of combustion, the
heat of which suffices for the double purpose of generating the steam required for
the gas producer, and of heating the air supply for both the gas producer and the
furnace.
A reciprocative action is thus set up between the furnace and the gas producer,
which results in complete utilisation of heat and consequently in great economy of
fuel. The steam boiler above referred to having for its sole duty to supply the
steam jet for the producer, may be made of very simple construction. As only
moderate pressure is required, water may be supplied to the lower ends of the
tubes from an elevated feeding cistern without the intervention of valves or feeding

page_text: apparatus. The steam outlet from the upper ends of the tubes to the steam jet
or jets is left open always except when the furnace is not in action, and the
generation of steam ceases. In that case the water from the supply cistern would
completely fill the boiler and overflow through the steam jets, to prevent which
the steam outlet is provided with a valve worked by a float in a chamber or steam
chest at the upper extremity of the boiler, so that it is closed when the water rises in
the chamber, but is reopened when steam is again formed and takes the place of the
water in the steam chest. If on the other hand steam is formed more rapidly than
it can be discharged through the steam jets at the pressure limited by height of the
supply reservoir, the water will be pressed back and the steam generating surface
will be diminished until an equilibrium between the production and consumption
of steam is again established. The upper portion of the tubular surfaces will serve
to superheat the steam, but will not be overheated, because the boiler may be so
placed that the spent flame from the furnace does not impinge directly upon its
surfaces, which are surrounded only by heated gases, the supply of which to the
boiler may be regulated by suitable valves or dampers. The contents of the boiler
being thus always free to escape at both extremities, and the pressure being. limited
to that due to the height of the supply reservoir, no safety valve, pressure gauge, or
water gange, is necessary. The quantity of water contained in the boiler is
moreover so small and so divided that if a tube should give way no destructive
action on surrounding objects can take place.
Although the gas producer has been described above as operating in connection
with the furnace and depending upon the heat of the furnace for its efficient action,
it may be worked independently by a supply of steam from another source and
with air heated elsewhere or by the spare heat of the producer itself. In the latter
case the air may be led through tubes crossing the producer or passing through the
channels by which the hot gas is led to the furnace.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section on the line Z, Z, of Fig. 2, which is a transverse
section on the line Y, Y, of Fig. 1, of a combined gas producer and regenerative
furnace according to my Invention; Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the
line X, X, Fig. 1; and Fig. 4 is a sectional plan on the line W, W, Fig. 1; A
vertical section of a modified arrangement of the producer is shewn at Fig. 5; and
Fig. 6 is a vertical section of a steam boiler arranged as above described for
producing the steam jet which causes the inflow of air to the producer.
The producer A is of conical form in its lower part and is gathered in above its
middle, as shewn. It has at the bottom an opening, under which is placed a
dish B to receive the cinder, which may be cooled by water supplied to the dish by
a pipe with stop cock b, or a water trough may surround the opening, as shewn
at Fig. 5. In the centre of the producer is the air supply pipe C, which may extend
upwards from the bottom, as shewn in Fig. 1, or extend downwards from the top,
as shewn in Fig. 5, its end being protected by refractory material C¹. The pipe C
itself should be of highly refractory material or metal, such as cast steel. The fuel
is supplied to the producer by a hopper D which has removeable covers.
The gas
produced in A passes by numerous lateral channels a to the flue A¹ leading to the
furnace chamber E, where it meets and burns with heated air rising through the
shaft A² from the regenerator below, the flame entering the furnace E by the
throat A³ and beating down upon its bed. The flame and products of combustion
issue from the furnace by lateral openings E¹ leading by vertical channels E2
down to the flues E3, and thence they pass, as indicated by the arrows e, along the
alternate narrow spaces between vertical plates F to the chimney. Air from under
the furnace bed entering at F', the other alternate spaces between the plates F
passes, as indicated by the arrows f, to the shaft A2, becoming heated in its passage
by conduction of heat through the plates F. Air pipes C pass along the flues E³,
so that the air flowing by them to supply the air pipe C of the producer becomes

page_text: heated in its passage. According to the arrangement shewn in Fig. 1 the hot air
from the pipe C issues in a jet in the centre of the pipe C, drawing in around it an
additional quantity of air, which also becomes heated as it rises up the pipe C,
which may be made with internal fins to present additional heating surface to the
passing air, and to aid in cooling the pipe C itself as well as to strengthen it, or
the air may be led directly down by a single pipe into the middle of the producer,
as shewn in Fig. 5. The current of air to supply the producer may be produced
or accelerated by the injector action of a steam jet G, as shewn in Fig. 5, this jet
being supplied from any convenient boiler, or from the boiler shewn in Fig. 6,
which is heated by the products of combustion from the furnace. This boiler
consists of an upper vessel H constituting a steam chest, and a lower vessel H¹,
connected to H by a vertical tube H2, or several such tubes. The bottom of the
boiler is connected by a pipe h with a water cistern H³ situated at sufficient height
to give by the water column the pressure required to the steam generated. The
boiler being situated in the furnace shaft, when steam is generated in excess the
water is forced down the tube or tubes H2, so that a less quantity is exposed to
the heat, and when, on the other hand, the steam pressure decreases, the water
rises higher in the boiler tube or tubes, exposing a larger amount to the action of
the heat. To prevent water from ascending into the steam pipe g when there is
not sufficient steam pressure to keep it down a float ball h¹ is provided in the
steam chest, which when buoyed up by the water closes the mouth of the steam
pipe.
A producer may be arranged to operate as above described independently of a
furnace, or a number of such producers may be worked together for the supply of a
number of furnaces. Fig. 7 is a part vertical section on the lines V, V, of Fig. 8,
which is a part plan on the lines U, U, of Fig. 7, shewing an arrangement of four
producers for supplying a vertical shaft R leading to a gas main I. In these
Figures the same reference letters are employed, so far as they apply to indicate
parts already described with reference to Figs. 1 and 4, the arrangement shewn in
Figs. 7 and 8 differing from that shewn in Figs. 1 and 4 only in respect of the
method of heating the air conveyed by the pipes C2 for supplying the producers.
For this purpose the ascending gas shaft R is surrounded by a casing K, up which
air ascends, as indicated by the arrows k, to a space K' above, which is protected
against loss of heat by a covering of non-conducting material K². From the
space K¹ the air is directed by a steam jet G down a central pipe K³ to supply the
branches C² leading to the producers, the air being thus heated both in its ascent
along the casing K and in its descent along the pipe K³ by conduction from the
hot ascending gas.
Fig. 9 shews a part vertical section of the modified arrangement of producer
having its air supplied downwards by a pipe C of refractory material. The heating
of the air is effected by causing it to pass, as indicated by the arrows l, through an
annular space L, situated above the gas channel and separated from it by a plate,
which may be corrugated, as shewn, so as to present increased heating surface and
allow for expansion. A producer operating as I have described may at the same
time be made to serve as a coke oven, being arranged for that purpose, as shewn by
the vertical section Fig. 10, the half plan Fig. 11, on the line T, T, and the half
plan Fig. 12, on the line S, S, of Fig. 10. In this case the producer widens out
towards the bottom, which has a central cone M directing the coke towards
outlets M, by which it is from time withdrawn, being cooled, if required,
by water from pipes and cocks m. The fuel is fed by a hopper D at the top; the air
is supplied by a pipe leading into the space under the cone M, where it is heated,
and whence it rises by the pipe C into the heart of the fuel. The gas generated is
led by lateral flues a to the main flue A¹. Under the cone M it is of advantage to
provide a pit N by which access can be got for repair.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, I claim,—
First. The herein described method of producing combustible gas by the action

page_text: of heated air or heated air mingled with steam introduced into the heart of a body
of kindled fuel.
Second. In. gas producers operating in the manner referred to in the preceding
claim, utilising heat of the produced gas for heating the air supplied to the
producer, substantially as herein described with reference to Figs. 7, 8, and 9 of
the accompanying Drawings.
Third. The construction of gas producer with supply of heated air from below,
substantially as herein described with reference to Figs. 1 and 4, and Figs. 7 and 8,
of the accompanying Drawings.
Fourth. The modified construction of gas producer with supply of heated air
from above, substantially as herein described with reference to Figs. 5 and 9 of the
accompanying Drawings.
Fifth. The combination of gas producer, furnace, and regenerator, substantially
as lierein described with reference to Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the accompanying
Drawings.
Sixth. The construction and arrangement of boiler for supplying steam jets for
gas producers, substantially as herein described with reference to Fig. 6 of the
accompanying Drawings.
In witness, whereof, I, the said Charles William Siemens, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and eighty one.