IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM BOILERS WITH INTERNAL TUBULAR FIRE- BOX
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Philippe Toussaint Bordone, of Boulevard
de Strasbourg, No. 23, at Paris, Manufacturer, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM BOILERS WITH INTERNAL TUBULAR FIRE-
BOX."
Sealed the 20th June 1876, and dated the 24th December 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Philippe
Toussaint Bordone at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with his Petition, on the 24th December 1875.
I, JOSEPH PHILIPPE TOUSSAINT BORDONE, of Boulevard de Strasbourg,
5 No. 23, at Paris, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM BOILERS WITH INTERNAL TUBULAR
FIRE-BOX," to be as follows:-
This Invention, which is applicable to steam generators and boilers in.
general, relates to an internal tubular furnace or fire-grate with inverted
O flame.
My Invention consists in a novel arrangement of the tubes intended
to serve at the same time for grate bars and for boiler tubes. This

page_text: arrangement, applicable above all to vertical boilers, enables the draught
of the furnace, the flame, and the hot gases to be reversed in such
manner that each time the grate is charged afresh all the products of
combustion are compelled to cross the brazier where they are burnt,
which produces a perfect consumption of smoke.
The vertical boiler is composed of two cylinders encased one in the
other. The inner one constitutes the capacity of the interior furnace.
In the front of the furnace and horizontally are arranged series of
tubes in the form of a horse-shoe, which extend at their extremities into
the boiler. These tubes go on diminishing from bottom to top, and con-
stitute the hollow bars of a graduated fire-grate. The opening left free
by the circular tube at the top is partly covered by bars curved to a
greater extent. This conical grate being constantly cooled by the
exterior air can be composed entirely or partly of solid bars.
Between the grate and the back wall at a little distance from the
latter are placed vertical tubes. These tubes, which serve for boiler
tubes, follow the circumferential contour of the furnace, and debouch
at their two extremities into the boiler through the bottom and through
the roof of the furnace. In this manner they determine the limit in a
vertical direction of the part of the furnace effected by the combustible.
The boiler is traversed near its periphery by smoke tubes, which form
a vertical range concentric to the boiler tubes. These tubes debouch at
this summit in a chamber arranged in the upper part of the boiler,
where it serves as a superheater for the steam. The products of com-
bustion and the smoke after having traversed the conical grate from top
to bottom enter the tubes, and are reunited in the chamber, to pass from
thence into the chimney. The chamber can also communicate directly
with the top of the furnace by means of a tube provided with a register,
which is opened at the moment of lighting. By this arrangement the
horizontal bars of the conical grate and the vertical boiler tubes leave
between them an interval in the form of a hopper, and thus limit the
part of the furnace set apart for the combustible.
The combustible introduced through a door settles upon the grate, of
which it occupies the whole height. It finds first a large space, and in
proportion as it is consumed it falls upon the tube bars of the grate,
lodging itself in a space more and more narrow, but sufficient for the;

page_text: passage of the cinders and ashes, which fall easily into the ash pan.
At the time of charging with fresh combustible all the products of com-
bustion are compelled to cross (in sifting themselves) at the same time
as the necessary air; a bed of combustible already freed from all pro-
ducts which are volatilisable and susceptible of being attacked by the
draught. In this manner the combustion is perfect. There is an
absolute consumption of smoke.
The arrangement of the boiler just described could be very advan-
tageously applied to the distillation of resins and all kinds of essences.
In addition to a complete consumption of smoke, whatever be the
combustible employed, this arrangement offers the following advan-
tages -
The inexplosibility of the boiler; for if the water should fail the tubes
partly or entirely would be the first to be burnt, and the fire would be
immediately extinguished by the entrance of the water from the boiler
into the fire-grate.
The impossibility of incrustations; for from the lighting till the total
extinction of the furnace a very active circulation of the liquid in the
boiler tubes takes place, and an attraction of the less heated parts
towards the lower orifice of the tubes which opposes all kind of
incrustations.
Lastly. A large heating surface and a notable economy of com-
bustible.
My arrangement of tubular grate furnace with reversed flame can be
applied equally to locomotive boilers in general and to all horizontal
boilers.
It will be remarked that the characteristic feature of the arrange-
ment consists in the oblique and alternate position given to the tubes
composing the bars of the grate.
The arrangement can be applied to hot-water apparatus for large
establishments as well as to heating apparatus employed in domestic
use.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Joseph Philippe Toussaint Bordone in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 23rd June 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
PHILIPPE TOUSSAINT BORDONE, of Boulevard de Strasbourg, No. 23, at
Paris, Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of December, 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 Joseph Philippe Toussaint
Bordone, Her special licence that I, the said Joseph Philippe Toussaint
· Bordone, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Joseph Philippe Toussaint Bordone, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 STEAM
BOILERS WITH INTERNAL TUBULAR FIRE-BOX," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Joseph Philippe Toussaint Bordone, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Joseph Philippe Toussaint Bordone
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof, that is to say:—
This Invention, which is applicable to steam generators and boilers in
general, relates to an internal tubular furnace or fire-grate with inverted
flame.
This Invention consists in the noval arrangement of the hollow tubes
intended to serve at the same time for grate-bars and for boiler tubes:

page_text: This arrangement, applicable above all to vertical boilers, enables the
draught of the furnace, the flame, and the hot gases to be reversed in
such manner that each time the grate is charged afresh all the products
of combustion are compelled to cross through the fire, where they are
burnt, which produces a perfect consumption of smoke, because the fresh
coal arrives into the less heated part of the furnace, and the gases being
led downwards make their way through the incandescent mass.
According to my Invention the vertical boiler is composed of two
cylinders encased one in the other. One is the exterior casing or
boiler proper and the other or inner one contains the interior furnace.
In front of the furnace and horizontally are arranged horizontal tubes
in the form of a horse-shoe, which extend at their extremities into the
boiler. These tubes go on diminishing from bottom to top and constitute
the hollow bars of a graduated fire-grate. The opening left free by the
circular tube at the top is partly covered by bars curved to a greater
extent. This conical grate being constantly cooled by the exterior air
can be composed entirely or partly of solid bars.
Between the grate and the partition of the inner cylinder, at a little
distance from the latter, are placed vertical tubes. These tubes, which
serve for boiler tubes, follow the circumferential contour of the furnace
and debouch at their two extremities into the boiler through the bottom
and through the roof of the furnace. In this manner they determine
the limit in a vertical direction of the part of the furnace affected by
the combustible.
The boiler is traversed near its periphery by smoke tubes, which form
a vertical range concentric to the boiler tubes. These tubes debouch at
their summit in a chamber arranged in the upper part of the boiler,
which serves as a superheater for the steam. The products of com-
bustion and the smoke after having traversed the conical grate from
top to bottom enter the tubes, and are reunited in the superheating
chamber to pass from thence into the chimney. The superheating
chamber can also communicate directly with the top of the furnace by
means of a tube provided with a register, which is opened at the moment
of lighting. By this arrangement the horizontal bars of the conical
gate and the vertical boiler tubes leave between them an interval in the
form of a hopper, and thus limit the part of the furnace set apart for
the combustible.

page_text: The combustible introduced through the door settles upon the grate,
of which it occupies the whole height. It finds first a large space, and
in proportion as it is consumed it falls upon the bars of the grate,
lodging itself in a space more and more narrow, but sufficient for the
passage of the cinders and ashes, which fall easily into the ash pan. At
the time of charging with fresh combustible all the products of com-
bustion are compelled to cross (in sifting themselves) at the same time as
the necessary air; a bed of combustible already freed from all products
which are volatilisable and susceptible of being carried off by the
draught. In this manner the combustion is perfect, but in applying my
system I prefer the arrangement shown at Figures 1 and 2 in the
annexed Drawing.
Figure 1 is a vertical section of my vertical boiler with tubular
„furnace; Figure 2 is a horizontal section thereof.
In a large cylinder a forming the boiler, properly so called, is lodged
concentrically another cylinder b, divided into two parts, the furnace c
arranged at the front of the apparatus, and a sort of reservoir d behind
the furnace. The furnace is in the form of a crescent, and at a slight
distance from its side and following the inner shape are placed vertical
tubes c¹, c¹, c¹, c¹. These tubes are fixed on the platform of the furnace
and at the bottom of the cylinder b. They serve as boilers, and com-
municate with the boiler at their ends. They limit also the placing of
the fuel.
The grate proper presents to the lower part of the furnace a sort of
shell, which leaves a free space beneath sufficient to attract beyond the
cinder box g the cinders and incombustible products. The horizontal
projection of this shell is horse-shoe shaped, and upon its front portions
the ends of the vertical bars frest. The grate thus shaped can be fitted
partly or wholly with solid or hollow bars.
* The reservoir d established behind the furnace has its orifice at a level
above the platform of the furnace. Its bottom is situated at a certain
height above the bottom of the cylinder 6 so as to form a free space or
smoke chamber h, into which all the products of combustion arrive, and
they proceed through a bundle of hollow tubes d', d', which lead them
to the chimney k. The tubes d', d³, d', are placed vertically upon the
bottom of the reservoir, and their upper end is fixed on the platform of
the boiler a. They debouch in a second smoke chamber h¹ supporting

page_text: the chimney. By the arrangement of the tubes d', d, in the reservoir d
one thus utilizes all the products of the combustion by heating the
water in the reservoir. The reservoir d is provided towards its bottom
with an orifice i communicating with the boiler a.
By slightly modifying the above-described arrangement one can apply
it easily both to horizontal boilers, as is shown at Figures 3, 4, 5, and 6.
In this apparatus, Figures 3 and 4, the furnace c is arranged entirely
within the inner cylinder 6, which is provided with two ranges of hollow
tubes communicating at their ends with the boiler a.
The hollow tubes are arranged according to two concentric circum-
ferences c¹ and c², which leave between them an annular space forming.
the furnace c. The air is led into the furnace by the conduit j. It.
passes across the combustible, and the hollow bars c' and c² serving as a
grate.
The products of combustion proceed from the furnace into the
cylinder 6 return towards the chamber arranged at the end of the
boiler a and escape through pipes m, m, arranged longitudinally in the
boiler.
"
In the horizontal arrangement shown at Figures 5 and 6 the hollow
boiler tubes are fastened transversely in the cylinder 6. The peculiar
character of this arrangement consists in the oblique or alternate
position given to the tubes composing the bars of the grate.
The arrangements of the boilers just described could be very advan-
tageously applied to the distillation of resins and all kinds of essences.
It would only be necessary to replace the dome of the boiler by a
cucurbit. The arrangement can also be applied to hot-water apparatus_
for large establishments as well as to heating apparatus employed in
domestic use.
My arrangement of tubular grate furnace with reversed flame can be
applied equally to locomotive boilers in general and to all horizontal
boilers.
In addition to a complete consumption of smoke, whatever be the
combustible employed, this arrangement offers the following advan-
tages :-
The inexplosibility of the boiler; for if the water should fail the
tubes partly or entirely would be the first to be burnt, and the fire

page_text: would be immediately extinguished by the entrance of the water from
the boiler into the fire-grate.
The impossibility of incrustations; for from the lighting till the
total extinction of the furnace a very active circulation of the liquid in
the boiler tubes takes place and an attraction of the less heated parts &
towards the lower orifice of these tubes, which opposes all kinds of
incrustations.
Lastly. A large heating surface and a notable economy of com-
bustible.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention and in 1
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim my
improvements in steam boilers with internal tubular fire-box specially
characterized by the tubes, serving at once as grate bars and boilers, and
permitting a furnace to be constructed with an inverted flame, producing
a complete combustion of smoke and great economy of fuel, as herein-
before described and shown in the Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Philippe Toussaint Bordone,
have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of
June, One thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.
Witness,
JOSEPH PHILIPPE TOUSSAINT BORDONE. (L.S.)
CHARLES ARMENGAUD,
Civil Engineer,
23, Boulevard de Strasbourg,
Paris.