IMPROVEMENTS IN SMOKE-CONSUMING FURNACES
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Toni Fontenay, of Grenoble, France, Civil Engineer,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SMOKE-CONSUMING FURNACES."
Sealed the 19th September 1862, and dated the 22nd March 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Toni Fontenay at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 22nd
March 1862.
I, TONI FONTENAY, of Grenoble, France, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare:
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SMOKE-CONSUMING
FURNACES," to be as follows:-
The Invention relates to an improved construction of furnace for locomotive
or other steam engine boilers, or other similar purposes, with the object of
obtaining the complete consumption of the smoke and economizing fuel; and
the same consists in constructing the furnace in such manner that the smoke
arising from the fresh fuel with which the same is fed is caused to meet as
much as possible at a right angle, the flame arising from the highly incan-
descent fuel, viz., that which does no more emit smoke. For this purpose
the fire-bars are laid in a sloping- position, so as to have their front end
situated higher than their further end, and, if required, a similar incline may
exist towards both side ends of the gate. The further end of the fire-bars rests
on a fixed cross bar, and their front end on a moveable one, for allowing to cast
down the fire; between the front end of the bars and the furnace door is pro-

page_text: vided a small separate grate, situated in a horizontal position, on which latter
grate the fresh fuel is laid when feeding the furnace; above the grate, at
such distance apart therefrom as to offer sufficient space for a suitable layer of
fuel to be laid thereon, and for allowing the escape of the evolved gases, and
underneath the boiler, evaporating pan, or other vessel to be heated by the
furnace, a small flat boiler is situated in a sloping position, so as to incline
towards the sloping grate, by which arrangement the gases emitted from the
fresh fuel laid on a small horizontal grate are projected, as has been mentioned
above, as much as possible at right angle into the bright flame arising from the
highly incandescent fuel on the further end of the sloping grate, by which
means these gases become entirely burned, so as not to offer any visible smoke.
The small flat boiler is not quite so large as the fire-box when applied to a
locomotive engine furnace, so as to allow space for expansion, to facilitate the
placing of the apparatus in the furnace. The communication of this flat boiler
with the locomotive or other steam boiler, evaporating pan, or other vessel to
be heated by the furnace, takes place by the two tubes or tubular wings
forming, the upper part of the small flat boiler, between which tubes is situated
a door of sheet iron, for allowing to examine the tubes of the locomotive. A
steam jet is applied to the chimney for aiding the draught when the engine is
not at work. If required, the small flat boiler may be replaced entirely or in
part by a partition of fire-bricks.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Toni Fontenay in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 22nd
September 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, TONI 2
FONTENAY, of Grenoble, France, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her.
reign, did, for Herself, Her beirs and successors, give and grant unto me;
the said Toni Fontenay, Her special licence that I, the said Toni Fontenay,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said.Toni
Fontenay, 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 s
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel

page_text: Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SMOKE-CONSUMING
FURNACES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Toni Fon-
tenay, my executors or administrators, by an instrument 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 Toni Fontenay, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
".
These improvements relate to the construction of furnaces for locomotive or
other steam engine boilers, evaporating pans, or other similar vessels, and they,
have for their object to obtain the complete combustion of the fuel, so as to do
away with the visible products of smoke, and form what is called a smoke
consuming furnace.
In my improved furnace the smoke evolved by the fresh fuel with which
the furnace is fed while receiving a proper supply of air is caused to meet or
mix (by preference, as much as possible at a right angle) with the bright
flame arising from that part of the fuel already in a highly incandescent state
and not emitting any visible smoke, by which means the undecomposed par-
ticles of carbon contained in the smoke arising from the fresh fuel will, while
being mixed with the necessary quantity of atmospheric air, be brought to the
degree of heat required for combining with the oxygen of this air, and thus be
transformed into the gaseous state as carbonic acid or oxyde of carbon.
I now will describe more fully the general arrangement of my improved
furnaces; and in order to make the nature of the improvements more easily
understood, I will in this description refer to the annexed Drawings, in the
various Figures of which corresponding parts are indicated by the same letters
of reference..
I wish to add here at once, that as the construction of these furnaces (based
on the above explained principles) will vary more or less, according to the
room allotted for the fire-place, the shape and size of the boiler, or other similar
circumstances, it must be distinctly understood that the arrangements repre-
sented in the annexed Drawings are to be considered only as illustrations of
the modes of putting into practical effect the principles of construction above.
set forth.
In the Drawing, Fig. 1. represents a longitudinal vertical sectional. view,.

page_text: taken over the line x, y, of Fig. 3, of the fire-box of a locomotive engine,
arranged according to my Invention; Fig. 2 shows a cross vertical sectional
view over the line a¹, y', of Fig. 3; and Fig. 3, a plan or top view of the same.
In this latter Figure various parts being represented as partly cut away.
Fig. 4 represents a longitudinal sectional view of the fire-place or furnace for
a stationary steam engine boiler, arranged according to my Invention.
In order to allow of better regulating the draught, it is preferable that the
ash-pit or the lower part of the furnace by which the air is allowed to enter
from below between the fire-bars may be either partly or entirely shut by a
sliding door or other suitable means, so as to allow of regulating at pleasure
the quantity of atmospheric air entering by this part of the furnace. Thus,
for instance, in Fig. 1, the part A may be made to form an ash-pit, and be
opened more or less at the front part by means of the rocking door D, E, fixed
to the arm N of the bell-crank lever N, O, N', having its fulcrum in O, and
worked by the. rod N2. J, K, L, are the fire-bars, situated in an inclined
position, viz., with their front end situated higher than the further end for
locomotive engines, with the object of increasing the surface of the grate;
both side ends of this latter are made sloping towards the sides of the furnace,
in the manner as shown in K¹, Fig. 1. The further end of each of the fire-bars
J, K, L, rests on a fixed cross bar L', whereas the front end of the same lies
on a trestle I, and between the front part of the fire-box and the front end of
the bars J, K, L, is situated a small horizontal grate K', the further end of
which also rests on the top or cross bar of the trestle I, which arrangement
allows, by pulling down the trestle at once, to cast down the fire. For
stationary engines, the trestle is replaced by a fixed cross bar a, as shown in
Fig. 4.
Fig. 5 shows a longitudinal view of one of the lateral or side fire-bars of the
grate J, K, L. The sloping position of the grate J, K, L, will allow of easily
pushing through the furnace door M the incandescent fuel towards the bottom
or further end of the grate J, K, L, before throwing through this door any
fresh fuel on the small grate K³ and on the front part of the large one J, K, L.
The door M ought to be provided with a slide for regulating the quantity of
atmospheric air to enter by this door into the furnace. The fire being well
lighted before supplying the furnace with any fresh fuel, part of the coals
already in full combustion are pushed down towards the further end of the
large grate J, K, L, after which the fresh fuel is thrown on the small grate
K', and partly on the front part of the large one J, K, L. F is a small flat
boiler extending over the greater part of the width of the fire-box; leaving
however, space for the dilatation; this small boiler F is fixed in an inclined

page_text: position, by preference, parallel or nearly so to the large grate J, K, L, and at
such distance apart from the latter as to leave room for the fuel on the grate and
for the gases evolved by the fuel to pass freely, in the manner as represented
in the Figs. 1 & 4. The small boiler F may be in direct communication with
the main boiler B, or the same may be entirely separate therefrom and be
replaced by an inclined iron screen, or even by a partition of fire-bricks, or
other suitable material; by preference, however, the liquid in the small boiler F
and that in the main boiler B should be in direct communication by the tubes
or tubular wings G, and the small boiler duly fixed to the large one, and to
the sides of the furnace, by nieans of screw bolts P, rivets or other suitablo
contrivance, allowing of easily replacing this small boiler F by another
one. One of the tubular wings G is situated at each side of the door M, and
they leave between them an opening H, provided with a sliding plate, folding
door, or other suitable means for allowing either to shut this opening H, or by
means of the same reach the under part of the main boiler B, evaporating pan,
or other vessel to which the boiler F is attached, or even the fire tubes of the
boiler of a locomotive engine, whilst for lighting the fire this sliding plate or
folding door is opened, in order to allow the smoke arising at that moment
easily to take its exit through the opening H.
In Fig. 3, one of the tubular wings G and the top plate U of the boiler F
are represented as partly cut away. The lower end of the small boiler F
should be provided. with a screw plug f, for allowing to empty or clean the
same. For stationary steam engine boilers, evaporating pans, or other similar
fixed vessels, the opening H might entirely be dispensed with, and the small
boiler connected over its entire width to the lower part of the main boiler B.
In this case it will be good that the sides of the small boiler F should project
for a small distance through the lower part of the large one, so as to prevent
any sediment to collect in this small boiler. As has been mentioned above,
the small boiler F might be replaced by an inclined iron screen or partition
plate, or by a wall of fire-bricks, or other suitable material, situated in a suit-
ably sloping or even in the vertical position, in order to force the smoke
emitted by the fresh fuel on the front part of the grate to pass through
the flame of the highly incandescent fuel at the further end of this grate.
From what has been described may be inferred that as the fuel on the
further end of the grate is constantly kept in a highly incandescent state, and
as the smoke evolved by the fresh fuel on the front part of the grate is pro-
jected at right angles or nearly so in the flame of the highly incandescent part
of the fuel, this smoke in the presence of a suitable quantity of atmospheric
air will be fully decomposed into gaseous products, so as no more to be

page_text: visible, and consequently make the furnace what is called a smoke consuming
furnace.
Having thus described and particularly ascertained the nature of my Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is or may be put into effect, I wish it
to be understood that I do not intend to restrict or restrain myself to the
precise details of the Invention here above described and illustrated in the
annexed Drawings; but what I consider to be novel and original, and there-
fore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited
Letters Patent is, providing furnaces for locomotive or other steam engine
boilers, evaporating pans, or other similar vessels with a sloping grate suitably
inclining towards the bottom or further end of the furnace, and with a simi-
larly inclined supplementary boiler, partition plate, or wall, for causing the
smoke evolved by the fresh fuel to pass through the flames of the highly incan-
descent fuel towards the further end of the grate, in the manner as has been
described and for the purpose of forming what may be called a smoke con-
suming furnace.
In witnesss whereof, I, the said Toni Fontenay, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of September, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-two.
Witness,
G. PIOLLET.
TONI FONTENAY. (L.S.)