Improvements in Puddling and Reheating Furnaces of the Siemens Type.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 20th Aug., 1895
Complete Specification Left, 16th May, 1896-Accepted, 20th June, 1896
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Puddling and Reheating Furnaces of the Siemens
Type.
I, EMILE BONEHILL, of 80 Rue de la Providence Marchienne-au-Pont in the
Kingdom of Belgium, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to
be as follows:-
In furnaces of the Siemens type as at present constructed; the several gas
producers of a furnace are in constant communication with each other, so that when
any one of them has to be interrupted in its operation for a certain space of time,
for cleaning or other purposes, it is necessary to stop the operation of the complete
furnace. Failing this, the gases originating from the other producers would meet
the air coming from the open gas producer and become ignited before entering the
furnace.
One of the improvements forming the subject of this invention consists in an
arrangement enabling any one of the gas producers of the furnace to be entirely
separated from the remaining apparatus, when it is desired that it should remain
inoperative, for cleaning or repairs, while allowing the other gas generating
apparatus to remain in use as before, and consequently permitting the whole
furnace to continue in operation uninterruptedly, the invention also relates to
further improvements hereinafter described.
:
The gas producers or generators of which there may be any convenient number
arranged for example on each side of the furnace each communicate with a passage
controlled by valve suitably arranged therefor. These valves, which are operated
by means of weighted levers the weights of which are adjustable, are independent
of each other, that is to say they may all be open at the same time; or one or the
other of them may be closed at will, leaving the others open, and this may be
effected by merely shifting the weight of the corresponding lever in the required
direction. When all these valves or some of them are raised from their seats and
opened, the gases from the gas producers, which are thereby opened, will flow into
reversing chambers which are connected together by a channel or conduit.
Where, however, any one of the said valves is closed, the corresponding gas
producer is no longer connected with any of the others or with the remaining part
of the furnace. Access may therefore, conveniently be obtained to such gas
producer for purposes of cleaning or repairs. And where all the valves are closed
together, the admission of gas into the furnace will be completely cut off; this it
may be desirable to do after the introduction of each fresh charge, the furnace
being thus almost instantaneously cooled down.
It will be understood that without departing from the principle of the invention,
the said valves may be replaced by any other devices answering the same
purpose.
Other valves permitting the gases to flow from the reversing chambers to the
furnace proper are connected with each other by a balancing lever common to both
valves, so that one of them is always closed whilst the other is open. The gases
thus pass through the open valve, then through channels, and eventually enter the
furnace on one side or the other according to the valve which happens to be open
at the time. The gases have by this time become mixed with air, and ignited,
just before they enter the furnace.

page_text: The air enters from outside, passes through a subterranean. conduit, and having
thus been brought under the tanks or basins of the furnace, cools these, relieving
them from a certain amount of their heat, which it absorbs before passing into the
regenerators. It next passes through the conduit on one side or the other of the
furnace according as a reversing flyer or fan is set to direct the course of the same,
it being of course necessary that the movement of such flyer should correspond to
that of the lever controlling the aforesaid valves admitting the gases to the furnace
proper.
The air will theu pass through the regenerator where it will become heated,
then through the conduit or flue and will be finally discharged at the entrance of
the furnace, where the gases are brought in the manner already described.
The ignited mixture, after traversing the furnace will issue through the conduit
or flue on the opposite side thereof and will thus arrive at a regenerator, to which
it will yield up its heat after which it will escape through the corresponding flue
to the chimney. It will be readily understood that the course of the gases and air
can be reversed by adjusting the valves so that the gases flow through the furnace
in the opposite direction.
The burnt gases, as they come from the furnace, are made to pass through a
conduit on one side or other of the furnace, as the case may be, which is sufficiently
long to allow a certain time to elapse prior to their introduction into the
corresponding regenerator. The object of this arrangement is to enable them to
deposit in either of these conduits the whole or part of the residual matters
which they carry along with them. The regenerators will thus be prevented from
becoming clogged with impurities as quickly as they have been apt to do hitherto,
and do not require to be cleaned so often as hitherto. "In addition to this, as the
flame covers a larger area, than usual, it loses on its way a considerable portion of
its heat, so that when it enters the regenerator it does not destroy the material
contained therein (such as reticulated brickwork) so quickly as has been the case
hither.
For the purpose of cleaning the conduits or flues, false doors are provided ; while
other false doors serve for cleaning the deflectors.
There are also provided inspection holes or false doors which give access to both
sets of valves in case of accident or for cleaning purposes and the like.
When it is necessary to replace any one of the valves, such valve is introduced
through one of the said holes, the rod being allowed to descend and being fixed
to the valve by means of a key or in any other suitable manner.
The construction of the furnace, as a whole, may of course differ from that
described; thus, for example, all the gas producers may,, if desired, be arranged
on one side of the furnace only..
Dated this 20th day of August 1905
JOHNSONS & WILLCOX,
47 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agents..
Improvements in Puddling and Reheating Furnaces of the Siemens
Туре.
I, EMILE BONEHILL of 80 Rue de la Providence, Marchienne-au-Pont, in the
Kingdom of Belgium, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:—
In furnaces of the Siemens. type as at present constructed, the several gas
producers of a furnace are in constant communication with each other, so that when

page_text: any one of them has to be interrupted in its operation for a certain space of time,
for cleaning or other purposes, it is necessary to stop the operation of the complete
furnace. Failing this, the gases originating from the other producers would meet
the air coming from the open gas producer and become 'ignited before entering the
furnace.
One of the improvements forming the subject of this invention consists in an
arrangement enabling any one of the gas producers of the furnace to be entirely
separated from the remaining apparatus, when it is desired that it should remain
inoperative, for cleaning or repairs, while allowing the other gas generating
apparatus to remain in use as before, and consequently permitting the whole
furnace to continue in operation uninterruptedly, the invention also relates to
further improvements hereinafter described and shewn in the drawings.
Referring to the accompanying drawings
Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional elevation, of a furnace according to my
invention the section being taken through the centre or axis of the furnace ;
Figure 2 is a cross section on line 1-1 Figure 1 and
Figure 3 is a plan taken on line XYZ Y; Figure 1.
The gas producers or generators B B' of which there may be any convenient"
number (say four, as is assumed to be the case shewn in the drawings) arranged
for example on each side of the furnace each communicate with a passage controlled
by a valve a a suitably arranged therefor. These valves, which are operated by
means of weighted levers L,-the weights of which are adjustable, are independent
of each other, that is to say they may all be open at the same time, or one or the
other of them may be closed at will, leaving the others open, and this may be
effected by merely shifting the weight of the corresponding lever in the required
direction. When all the valves a a' or some of them are raised from their
seats c c and so opened, the 'gases from the gas producers, which are thereby opened,
will flow into the reversing chambers CC which are connected together by a
channel or conduit D.
Where, however, any one of the said valves a is closed, the corresponding gas
producer B is no longer connected with any of the others, or with the remaining
part of the furnace. Access may therefore conveniently be obtained to such gas
producer for purposes of cleaning or repairs. And where all the valves a a' are
closed together, the admission of gas into the furnace will be completely cut off,
this it may be desirable to do after the introduction of each fresh charge, the
furnace being thus almost instantaneously cooled down.
It will be understood that, without departing from the principle of the invention,
the said valves may be replaced by any other devices answering the same
purpose.
Other valves b b permitting the gases to flow to the furnace proper are connected
with each other by a balancing lever K, common to both valves, so that one of
them is always closed whilst the other s open. The gases thus pass through the
open valve, then through the channels ff, and eventually enter the furnace A
through E or E', according as the valve b or the valve b¹ happens to be open at
the time.
The gases have by this time become mixed with air, and ignited, just before they
enter the furnace.
The air for the furnace enters from outside at Q (Figure 3), passes through a
subterranean conduit, which it leaves at N (Figures 1 and 3) and being thus
brought under 'the tanks or basing of the furnace, cools them, relieving them from
a certain amount of their heat, which it absorbs before passing into the regenerators.
The air next passes by N¹ through the conduit T or T', according as a reversing
flyer or fan S is set to assume the position indicated in full lines or that shewn in
dotted lines in Figure 3, it being of course necessary that the movement of such
flyer should correspond to that of the lever K controlling the aforesaid valves 6 b³.
After the air has thus arrived at M, it will pass through the regenerator H,
where it will become heated, then through the conduit or flue G, and will be

page_text: finally discharged at Fat the entrance of the furnace, —in the vicinity to which
point the gases are brought in the manner already described.
The ignited mixture, after traversing the furnace, will issue through FL and
through the conduit or flue G' to the regenerator H', to which it will yield up
its heat after which it will escape through M' and the flue T¹, to the chimney U.
The course of the gases is indicated by barbed arrows while the course of the
air is marked with plain arrows, the double-pointed arrows indicating the course
of the burnt gases.
It will readily be understood that if the valve b is lowered, and the valve b¹
raised and the flyer S at the same time be brought to the position indicated in
dotted lines, the course of the gases and air will be reversed, that is to say the
gases will be discharged into the furnace through E', whilst the air from Q N
and N¹ will pass through T', M¹, H¹ and G¹, to be finally discharged into the
furnace at F, and the burnt gases will escape through F, G, H, M and T and
eventually through the chimney U.
The burnt gases, as they come from the furnace, are made to pass through a
conduit G or G¹ on one side or other of the furnace as the case may be, which is
sufficiently long to allow a certain time to elapse prior to their introduction into
the corresponding regenerator. The object of this arrangement is to enable them
to deposit in either of those conduits the whole or part of the residual matters
which they carry along with them. The regenerators will thus be prevented from
becoming clogged with impurities as quickly as they have been apt to do hitherto,
and do not require to be cleaned so often. In addition to this, as the flame covers
a larger area, than usual, it loses on its way a considerable portion of its heat, so
that when it enters the regenerator, it does not destroy the material contained
therein (such as reticulated brickwork) so quickly as has been the case hitherto.
For the purpose of cleaning the conduits or flues G G', false doors, such
as J J, are provided, while other false doors, I. 1', serve for cleaning the
deflectors.
At P. P. P. P. there are also provided inspection holes or false doors which give
access to both sets of valves a a and b b for use in case of accident or for cleaning
purposes and the like.
When it is necessary to replace any one of the valves, such valve is introduced
through one of the said holes, the rod being allowed to descend and being fixed to
the valve by means of a key or in any other suitable manner.
The construction of the furnace, as a whole, may of course differ from that which
is shewn in the drawings; thus, for example, all the gas-producers may, if desired,
be arranged on one side of the furnace only.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is
1. In puddling or re-heating furnaces of the Siemens type, the provision of a
valve, or of any suitable equivalent device, adapted to serve specially in connection
with each gas producer and provided with its own independent operating lever,
such arrangement enabling any one of the several gas producers to be closed, and
its operation to be interrupted, while leaving the others in operation without
interfering with the general working of the furnace, substantially as hereinbefore
described.
2. In puddling furnaces of the Siemens type, cooling the basins of the furnaces
by causing the required amount of external air to pass under them, such air being
drawn in from the atmosphere by the natural or normal draught of the furnace,
substantially as herein before described.
3. In puddling furnaces of the Siemens type causing the burnt gases from the
furnace to pass through comparatively long or extended flues G or G¹ (as the
case may be) before allowing them to enter the regenerators so that they may get
rid of, and deposit in the said flues nearly the whole of the residual matters which

page_text: they carry along with them, and so that, at the same time, they may be relieved
of a portion of their heat, whereby they are prevented from too quickly destroying
the brickwork or other material contained in the said regenerators, false doors J
and J' being provided in the said flues, to facilitate cleaning, all substantially as
herein before described and shewn in the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 16th day of May 1896
JOHNSONS & WILLCOX,
47 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London; W.C., Agents.