AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR PROMOTING COMBUSTION IN FURNACES
Year: 1882

page_text: ETTERS PATENT to Alexander Melville Clark of the firm of A. M and
W. Clark of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agents,
for an Invention of AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR PROMOTING
COMBUSTION IN FURNACES Communicated to him from abroad by Thomas
Brennan, William Garnett Munn, William John Duncan, William Augustus
Meriwether and Charles G. Davison all of Louisville in the county of
T
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Melville Clark
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 19th June 1882.
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK of the firm of A M and W. Clark of 53,
Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex Patent Agents. "AN IMPROVED
METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR PROMOTING COMBUSTION IN FURNACES." [Com-
municated to him from abroad by Thomas Brennan, William Garnett Munn,
William John Duncan, William Augustus Meriwether and Charles G. Davison
all of Louisville in the county of Jefferson and State of Kentucky, United States
of America.]
The object of this Invention is to secure a more perfect combustion of fuel in
furnaces of steam boilers, and furnaces for melting metal, etc. whereby to save the
large percentage of fuel, which in furnaces of ordinary construction passes away
unconsumed.
Instead of using air in combination with steam I exclude all the air possible
and cause an artificial draught by the use of pipes formed with openings which
pass the steam in straight and in diagonal lines across and above the fire, and also
use in connection with the steam a small, or suitable quantity of petroleum or other
cheap oil fed into the steam supply by adjustable self-oilers.
A pipe is connected to the steam space or dome of the boiler for taking steam
thereform and is provided with a number of jet tubes that pass through the front
into the fire box or place at a suitable elevation above the fuel and extend to the
D

page_text: rear about one third the length of the grate bars, said pipe having globe valves
for turning the steam on and off. The petroleum or other oil is supplied to the
pipe by suitable containers or adjustable self-oilers attached to the pipe in
quantities that may be increased or diminished as the case requires. Pipes are
laid along and into the furnace wall longitudinally thereof, and furnished with
diagonal jet pipes for discharging steam across the furnace towards the rear.
These pipes take steam from the boiler separately from the steam supply pipe and
are provided with suitable regulating valves. The object of these steam jets is to
encrease the draught of the furnace.
In circular furnaces for melting metals the steam supply pipe will pass entirely
around the combustion chamber, and steam will be supplied above the fuel by
means of jet pipes arranged radially. The arrangements may be varied in any
furnace to which the Invention may be applied according to the shape and
construction of the furnace.
In operation the steam is supplied to the fire box above the fuel by the jet
tubes and the oil, being carried by the steam, emerges with it into the furnace
and becoming vaporized and the steam becoming decomposed, by the heat, the
gases from the steam and the oil vapor unite and form a highly combustible
compound which burns with great fierceness and consumes every part and particle
of the fuel, thereby preventing any waste of fuel and making a much hotter fire
than can be obtained by the ordinary method of steam and air draughts. At the
same time the steam supplied by the steam jets across the furnace towards the
rear increases and strengthens the draught to a remarkable degree. The oil also
serves to keep the pipes and jets clean and free from dust.
The Invention obviates the necessity of using smoke-stacks and chimneys of
great height thereby saving expense, and on steam vessels by allowing the use of
short stacks boats can pass under bridges without lowering their stacks.
The steam supply pipe is curved or bent around the boiler in order to overcome
or neutralise the effects of expansion and contraction. Or the pipe may be made
straight in front of the fire front so as to allow the jet tube to be in straight lines
as they enter the fire box or place.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Alexander Melville Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 19th December 1882.
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK of the Firm of A, M, and W, Clark of 53
Chancery Lane in the County of Middlesex Patent Agents "AN IMPROVED
METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR PROMOTING COMBUSTION IN FURNACES." A com-
munication to me from abroad by Thomas Brennan, William Garnett Munn,
William John Duncan, William Augustus Meriwether, and Charles. G. Davison, all
of Louisville in the County of Jefferson and State of Kentucky, United States of
America.
The object of this Invention is to secure a more perfect combustion of fuel in
furnaces of steam boilers and furnaces for melting metal, etc, whereby to save
the large percentage of fuel which in furnaces of ordinary construction, passes
away unconsumed.
According to this Invention, instead of using air in combination with steam, all
the air possible is excluded and an artificial draught is produced by the use of
pipes formed with openings which pass the steam in straight and in diagonal lines
across and above the fire, and in connection with the steam there is also used a
small or suitable quantity of petroleum or other cheap oil fed into the steam
supply pipe by adjustable self-oilers, all as hereinafter described.
The Invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which similar
letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the two figures. Figure 1 is a
front elevation, and Figure 2 is a horizontal section of a steam boiler and furnace
with the improvements applied.
A is the steam boiler, a the steam dome; B is the fire front of the furnace;
C is a pipe connected to the dome for taking steam therefrom, and having
connected with it any suitable number of jet tubes that pass through the front
into the fire box or place at a suitable elevation above the fuel, and extend to the
rear about one-third the length of the grate bars. d d are globe valves in the
pipe C whereby steam may be turned off or on. DD are adjustable self-oilers for
supplying petroleum or other oil to the pipe C in quantities that may be increased
or diminished as the case requires. E, E, are pipes laid along and into the furnace
wall longitudinally thereof and furnished with jet pipes e that project diagonally
from the pipes E for discharging steam across the furnace towards the rear. The
pipes E take steam from the boiler separately from the pipe C and are provided
with suitable valves for regulating the supply. The object of the steam jets e is
to increase the draught of the furnace.
In circular furnaces for melting metals the steam supply pipe will pass entirely
around the combustion chamber and steam will be supplied above the fuel by
means of jet pipes arranged radially. The arrangements may be varied in any
furnace to which the Invention may be applied according to the shape and
construction of the furnace.
In operation, the steain is supplied to the fire box above the fuel by the jet
pipes b, and the oil being carried by the steam, emerges with it into the furnace,
and becoming vaporised, and the steain becoming decomposed by the heat, the
gases from the steam and oil vapor unite and form a highly combustible compound
which burns with great fierceness and consumes every part and particle of the
fuel, thereby preventing any waste of fuel and making a much hotter fire than
can be obtained by the ordinary method of steam and air draughts. At the saino
time the steam supplied by the steam jets e increases and strengthens the draught

page_text: to a remarkable degree. The oil also serves to keep the pipes and jets clean and
free from rust.
The Invention obviates the necessity of using smoke stacks and chimneys of
great height thereby saving expense and on steam vessels by allowing the use of
short stacks, the boats can pass under bridges without lowering their stacks.
The steam supply pipe C is curved or bent around the boiler in order to over-
come or neutralise the effects of expansion and contraction. Or the pipe C may be
made straight in front of the fire front so as to allow the jet pipes bb to be in
straight lines as they enter the fire box or place.
Having described the nature of the said Invention and the manner of performing
the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be protected by the
herein before in part recited Letters Patent is.
1st. The method of promoting the combustion of fuel in furnaces which consists
in supplying steam in jets without air over and across the fire, substantially as
described.
2nd. The method of promoting the combustion of fuel in furnaces which
consists in the introduction of oil to the fire box by the use of steam jets,
substantially as described.
3rd. In boiler furnaces, the steam supply pipe C connected to the steam space in
the boiler and curved or bent around the boiler, substantially as and for the
purposes set forth.
In witness whereof I the said Alexander Melville Clark have hereunto set
my hand and seal this nineteenth day of December, A.D. 1882.