IMPROVEMENTS IN BOILERS AND ENGINES OR APPARATUS FOR OBTAINING Mamiun DowED BY MEANS OF ELASTIC FLUIDS.
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Cordy Baxter, of Chatham, in the County
of Kent, Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN BOILERS AND ENGINES OR APPARATUS FOR OBTAINING
Mamiun DowED BY MEANS OF ELASTIC FLUIDS.'
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Cordy Baxter at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 6th February 1874.
I, JOHN CORDY BAXTER, of Chatham, in the County of Kent,
Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BOILERS AND ENGINES OR APPARATUS FOR
OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER BY MEANS OF ELASTIC FLUIDS," to be as follows:-
The object of my Invention is the construction and arrangement of
boilers and engines in such manner that air, or rather the gaseous
products of combustion obtained by passing air through a furnace, may
be employed in order to promote the generation of steam, superheat
steam, and blend with or act in conjunction with steam so as to obtain

page_text: motive power, prevent incrustation, carry off noxious vapours, and offect
other useful purposes in boilers and engines or apparatus in which
elastic fluids are used for motive purposes.
In one arrangement for carrying out my Invention I pump, force,
drive, cause to be drawn, or otherwise introduce atmospheric air into
and through the incandescent fuel in the furnace of an engine boiler,
and I carry the gaseous or acriform products into flues or passages and
thence into chambers in which it is mixed with steam which it super-
heats, and the mixture is conveyed into one or more cylinders fitted with
pistons. As the gaseous product passes to the chambers from the
furnace it is carried through vessels containing oil or other purifying
medium which frees it from grit or such like solid impurities or
extraneous matters. I sometimes convey it into chambers from which
a supply of such gaseous or aeriform products is fed into the cylinder in
which the mixture is effected. Each feed chamber supplies the cylinder

page_text: I sometimes pass the noxious vapours from the feed heater into
another vessel containing a solution of carbonate of soda or other suitable
salt for taking up the gases.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Cordy Baxter in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 6th August 1874,
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
CORDY BAXTER, lately of Chatham, in the County of Kent, and at
present of Dover, in the said County, Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent bearing date the Sixth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-seventh
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said John Cordy Baxter, Her special license that I,
the said John Cordy Baxter, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said John Cordy Baxter, my executors, admini-
strators, 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 BOILERS
AND ENGINES OR APPARATUS FOR OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER BY MEANS OF ELASTIC
FLUIDS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John
Cordy Baxter, 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 John Cordy Baxter, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the accom-

page_text: panying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is
to say:-
The object of my Invention is the construction and arrangement of
boilers and engines in such manner that air, or rather the gaseous
products of combustion obtained by passing air downward through a
furnace fire, are employed in order to promote the generation of steam,
superheat steam, and blend with or act in conjunction with steam, so as
to obtain motive power, prevent incrustation, carry off noxious vapours,
and effect other useful purposes in boilers and engines or apparatus in
which elastic fluids are used for motive purposes.
In one arrangement for carrying out my Invention I pump, force,
drive, cause to be drawn, or otherwise introduce atmospheric air into and
down through the incandescent fuel in the furnace of an engine boiler,
and I carry the gases or gaseous or aeriform products thus obtained into
flues or passages and thence into chambers which serve as mixing and
superheating chambers, in which the said products are mixed with steam
(and in which they superheat it), and the mixture is conveyed into one or
more cylinders fitted with pistons. As the gaseous products pass to the
chambers from the furnace they are carried through vessels containing
oil or other purifying medium which frees them from grit or such like
solid impurities or extraneous matters. I sometimes convey the gascous
products into feed chambers, from which a supply of such products is
fed into the cylinder, and the mixture of gas and steam is effected in
such cylinder. If there is a pair of these feed chambers each feed
chamber supplies the cylinder alternately.
The gaseous products mixed as described with steam actuate the
piston, power from which is taken and applied in any desirable
manner. Or I modify the arrangements by causing the gaseous
products (obtained as above described) and the steam to work in
separate cylinders, each cylinder having its own piston. The piston
rods are connected with the same cranked shaft, working beam, or other
like appliance for applying motive power, so that instead of the steam
and gaseous products being blended cach works or generates power in
its own cylinder separately, but one acts conjointly with or as an auxiliary
to the other. Or sometimes according to a third modification I carry the
gaseous products (obtained by pumping or forcing air through the fuel
as described) in and through the water in the boiler so as to promote the

page_text: generation of steam therein, and I convey the steam thus mingled with
the gaseous products into the working cylinder.
For locomotives and other non-condensing engines I carry the waste
working elastic fluid from the cylinder into the feed water heaters, into
which water is showered, and there it comes into contact with the waste
clastic fluid, so that the carbonic acid taken up by the feed water
dissolves the carbonate and other like salts of lime. The acid compounds
of sulphur and oxygen and other noxious gases or vapours proceeding
from the fuel are taken up by the water and prevented from escaping
into the atmosphere.
I sometimes pass the noxious vapours from the feed water heater into
a vessel containing a solution of carbonate of soda or other soluble salt
for the purpose of taking up the sulphurous acid and like deleterious
gases.
I now proceed to describe more particularly the manner in which he
Invention may be carried into practical effect with reference to the
accompanying Drawings, which represent engines and boilers constructed
and arranged according to my improvements.
Figures 1, 2, and 3, Sheet 1, shew an engine and boiler constructed
according to the arrangement first herein-before described, in which the
gascous products obtained by driving or forcing air down through the
incandescent fuel in the boiler furnace are mixed with steam and super-
heat it before it is applied for motive purposes.
Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of the engine and boiler on
the line A, B, of Figure 2; Figure 2 is a horizontal section taken on the
lines C, D, E, F, H, K, L, N, R, of Figures 1 and 3; Figure 3 is a section
on the lines S, T, W, X, of Figure 2.
a is a double-action air pump, which draws in air from the atmosphere,
compresses it, and forces it through a pipe into a chamber c, which
serves as an air regulator and accumulator. The air passes thence by a
pipe d into an air pipe e fitted in the furnace g of the boiler x, and made
of circular or other convenient form to correspond with the internal
configuration of such furnace. The air passes thence through nozzles or
tuyercs finto the furnace g, in which the oxygen of the air forced in
combines with the incandescent fuel and the flame and gases therefrom.
The furnace g is in other respects air tight, the fuel being introduced by

page_text: opening sliding valves h, k, which are similar to those used in gas and
water mains, and are moved by a screw and hand wheel or by other
ordinary means. When the furnace is to be fed the lower valve his
closed and the upper valve k is opened, the fuel is thrown into the
space, the valve k is then shut and the valve h opened, and the fuel
falls on to the grate bars o. There are similar valves m, n, in the ash-
pit or hearth, and the ashes are removed in like manner. The gases or
gaseous products obtained by the oxygen of the air forced in, combining
with the hot gases of the fuel, pass downward through the grate o, and
enter passages p, p, p, and flues r, r, r, r, which are connected by
flues q, q, q, and emerge through a pipes into a tank t, which contains
oil or other purifying medium u, and is surrounded by a water casing v
communicating with the boiler x by means of a pipe w. The air passing
downward through the fire, and the gases thereby produced being drawn
off from below the grate, the volatile portions of the fuel are consumed.
The gases, after passing through the purifying tank enter a pipe z, and
are thence admitted at each alternate stroke of the working piston of the
cylinder e* into the chambers 6* and c* by opening the valve a*. These
chambers, which are intended as mixing or superheating chambers, and
which I call superheaters, are cylindrical iron vessels, each furnished
with a plug or piston j* worked by a screw and hand wheel **, or by
other ordinary means in order to vary or regulate their capacity, and
hence the pressure of gas in the furnace according to the position of the
plugs or pistons within the superheaters.
Each superheater or mixing chamber is made to communicate at every
alternate stroke of the piston of the working cylinder e* with one end of
this cylinder ex by means of the ports or passages f*, 9*, and the slide
valve *, which opens and closes them. During one stroke of the engine,
one superheater, say b*, will be filling with hot gases through the
passage n*, and at the end of the stroke the valve a* is moved, and the
hot gases pass into the other superheater c*. At the same time steam
from the boiler x is admitted by the slide or other valve k* into the super-
heater 6*, which is then full of hot gases. At the same time also the
communication between the superheater 6* and the cylinder e* will be
opened by means of the valve h* and the ports or passages 9* and *, so
that the steam on its way to the cylinder e* will pass through and mix
with the hot gases in the superheater 6x, and will thereby be super-
heated:

page_text: By the above described method of mixing the gases with the steam in
separate vessels which never communicate with the furnace and the
boiler at the same time the pressure of gas in the furnace is independent
of that of the steam in the boiler, and the gases being cooled by mixture
with the steam do not injure the working cylinder.
Whilst the mixture of steam and gases is expanding in the cylinder e*,
the other superheater c* is filling with hot gases by the port or
passage m*, Figure 3, which is shut at the end of the stroke, and the
steam is admitted by the valve k*; communication between the super-
heater c* and the cylinder ex is also opened, so that the steam passes
through the superheater c* on its way to the cylinder e*.
Instead of the steam passing through the channel controlled by the
steam valve k* to the superheaters, the steam valve way might lead
directly into the working cylinder and the mixture is effected in this
cylinder instead of in the superheaters. The waste clastic working fluid
passes away by the exhaust port o* in the usual manner. The steam is
conducted from the boiler x by the pipe p*.
To start the engine a temporary chimney s*, fitted with a valve or
register is used, and the lower valves m, n, are opened. A fire is
lighted in the ordinary manner in the furnace, and when there is
sufficient steam the engine is set to work, the steam passing through the
superheaters 6* and c* without mixing with the gases, which of course
would not enter the superheaters until the valves m and n and the
valve * are closed. As soon as sufficient steam is produced to move the
engine piston the valves m, n, are closed and the chimney s* is also
closed by the sliding valve t* (which is worked by a screw or other
ordinary contrivance). The part of the furnace in which the com-
bustion is most intense is lined with fire-brick u*. A small tube a² con-
trolled by a cock 2 admits water from the boiler x into the tank t, so
that the temperature of the gases may be regulated. The cone and ball
valve c² prevents the purifying medium in the tank & from being forced
into the furnace.
The waste working elastic fluid may pass into a feed water heater v*,
shewn in Sheet II., Figure 6; the feed water is admitted through a
pipe x into the compartment w* (the bottom of which is perforated
with numerous holes) and the water falls in a shower through them on

page_text: the waste working fluid. The gases not absorbed by the water, as also
any uncondensed steam, escape through the pipe **. The heated water
is drawn out by the feed pump through the pipe ². The showers of
water absorb a large amount of carbonic acid gas and this will render
the carbonate of lime which may be contained in the water soluble, and
prevent it forming incrustations in the boiler. The sulphurous acid gas
is also absorbed by the water

page_text: or other valve k, enter a flue j, which is placed at the bottom of the
boiler, and is circular or of other shape to suit the internal contour of
the boiler. This flue j has its upper surface pierced with numerous holes
so that the gases in the flue when their pressure is sufficient will rise
through the holes and ascend through the water in the boiler in parallel
streams or currents. By these means the heating or evaporating power
of the boiler is rendered perfect because the hot gases are in direct
contact with the water to be heated. The object of the valve k is to
prevent the water from being forced into the furnace. In this engine
the water in the boiler acts as a purifying medium, all the dust, grit, or.
like impurity remaining in the water, and when a sufficient quantity
has accumulated it may be blown out by mud cocks in the usual
manner.
The gaseous products of combustion pass away with the steam through
the pipe to the working cylinder h, which is made of sufficient size
to contain the steam used for onc stroke, together with the gases
produced by the union of the oxygen of the air supplied in one stroke.
of the air-pump with the incandescent fuel and the flame or gases from
the incandescent fuel at the temperature of the steam employed.
Sometimes the mixture of steam and gases is condensed in a feed-water
heater, as previously described in reference to the modifications repre-
sented on Sheets I. and II. The pipe i being taken upward before
entering the flue ; it prevents any but the lightest dust from being
carried over.
The arrangements for feeding the furnaces and removing ashes in the
boilers, shewn in the Figures on Sheets II. and III. are the same as
those previously described in reference to the Figures on Sheet I.
Purifying media of different boiling points may be used to remove the
grit or dust from the gases, so that the temperature of the gascous pro-
ducts can be controlled according to the nature or boiling point of the
medium used, and the cylinder and valves will not be destroyed by the
heat. Instead of oil, water having various salts dissolved in it may as
before stated be used as the purifying medium. The temperature of the
gases passing through evidently cannot rise higher than the boiling point
of the medium used, so that by using different media the temperature a
of the gases may be varied. The same result is obtained by admitting
water from the boiler into the tank by the pipe a², Sheet I. Figure 1,

page_text: let in.
Although I have in the Drawings represented the Invention applied to
a vertical cylindrical boiler and to a horizontal engine, it is obvious
without further description that the Invention may be applied in similar
manner to other forms of boilers or descriptions of engines, whether
vertical, horizontal, locomotive, or otherwise.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention and in what
manner the same may be performed, I declare that I claim,-
First. The arrangement and combination of parts constituting the
engine and boiler in which gases or gaseous products obtained by driving
or passing air downward through incandescent fuel is mixed with the
steam, substantially as herein-before described and represented in the
Figures on Sheet I. of the accompanying Drawings.
Second. The arrangement and combination of parts constituting the
engine and boiler in which steam and gases obtained as explained work
in separate cylinders, but in conjunction with or auxiliary to each other,
substantially as herein-before described and represented in the Figures
on Sheet II. of the accompanying Drawings.
Third. The arrangement and combination of parts constituting the
engine and boiler in which the gases obtained as explained are carried
through the water in the boiler and mixed with the steam, substantially
as herein-before described and represented in the Figures on Sheet III.
of the accompanying Drawings.
Fourth. The method of and arrangement and combination of parts
for passing the gases through oil or other purifying media (to remove
the grit and dust) before allowing them to enter the working cylinder,
substantially as described and represented in the Drawings.
Fifth. The mode of and arrangement and combination of parts for
condensing the mixture of steam and gases after they have done their
work in the cylinder by a shower of cold water, which absorbs the car-
bonic acid gas, and prevents incrustation and the escape of sulphurous
acid gas, as described.

page_text: passing the gases after they have left the feed-water heater through a
solution of carbonate of soda to remove the sulphurous acid gas, as
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Cordy Baxter, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this First day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
Witness,
E. W. COTTER,
The Castle,
Dover.
J. C. BAXTER. (L.S.)