IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR THE CONSUMPTION OF SMOKE
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry James Ditmars, of 4, Pancras Lane, in
the City of London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
FOR THE CONSUMPTION OF SMOKE."-A communication from abroad by
Augustus Wilhelms and Johannes Marinus Van der Made, both of
Dordrecht, Netherlands.
Sealed the 2nd October 1868, and dated the 7th April 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry James Ditmars
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 7th April 1868.
I, HENRY JAMES DITMARS, of 4, Pancras Lane, in the City of London,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR THE CONSUMPTION OF SMOKE," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the construction of a chimney adapted
either to fixed, locomotive, steamboat, or other furnaces or fire-places,
kilns or ovens, and consists in attaching to the end of the flue a pipe
which connects the same to a chamber having therein a metallic
double cone which is retained in position by suitable supports. This
chamber with the contents just described the inventor designates a

page_text: ' rectificator.". The upper part of the rectificator is contracted and
continued in the form of a pipe which may vary considerably in length
according to the nature of the furnace to which it is applied. On
the top of the last-mentioned pipe a spherical wire net or grating is
fixed carrying a double metallic cone on its summit.
The action of the apparatus is as follows:-When the fire in the
furnace is first lighted and the air in the rectificator and chimney
is cold there is but slight draught, but as the draught is increased
the rectificator becomes so highly heated that the smoke in its passage
from the flue to the chimney becomes decomposed and the incombustible
gases pass up into the open air, the cone and wire grating at the top
assisting in this effect by preventing any down draught. It is necessary
that the cones and the pipes should bear certain relative proportions
to each other, but the size of the pipes will vary according to the
size of the furnace and the kind of fuel employed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry James Ditmars in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 7th October 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, 1, HENRY.
JAMES DITMARS, of 63, King William Street, late of 4, Pancras Lane, in
the City of London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Henry James Ditmars, Her special licence
that I, the said Henry James Ditmars, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry James Ditmars, my exe-
cutors, 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
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR THE CONSUMPTION OF SMOKE," being a communication to me

page_text: from abroad by Augustus Wilhelms and Johannes Marinus Van der
Made, both of Dordrecht, Netherlands, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Henry James Ditmars, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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 Henry James Ditmars, 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, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawing, and to the letters marked thereon, that is to say-
This Invention relates to the construction of a chimney adapted
either to fixed, locomotive, steamboat, or other furnaces or fire-places,
kilns, ovens, or other apparatus from which smoke is under ordinary
circumstances emitted, and consists in attaching to the end of the
furnace flue or chimney a pipe A, Fig. 1 in the Sheet of Drawings
annexed, which connects the same to a chamber B having therein a
metallic double cone C, which is retained in position by suitable
supports D. This chamber with the contents just described the
inventors designate a "rectificator." The upper part of the rectificator
is contracted and continued in the form of a pipe E, which may vary
considerably in length according to the nature of the furnace to which
it is applied, but about fourteen feet is considered ample for fires of
ordinary magnitude and heat. On the top of the last-mentioned pipe a
spherical wire net or grating F, Fig. 2, is fixed carrying a metallic
double cone G on its summit, in the manner shown in the Drawing.
The chimney may be made of iron plate, brick, or other suitable material
up to the rectificator, but the rectificator itself is preferred to be con-
structed of iron. The dimensions of the different parts are determined
by the nature of the fuel employed, and the quantity consumed in a
given time. The tube E however must always be larger than the pipe A,
and the diameter of the cones should equal the radius of the pipes
over which they respectively stand, and their bases should be fixed
at a distance of twice the diameter above the opening of each of the
tubes. The iron cáp or wire grating is twice the diameter of the

page_text: tube over which it is placed. The cone C being fixed in accordance
with the foregoing directions the height of the rectificator is at once
determined, and the whole will then wear the proportion and general
appearance as shown in the illustrations, and be about 35 feet in
height from bottom to top. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the apparatus,
and shows a door H through which the ash which will collect in that
part of the rectificator marked I may be removed. It is sometimes
necessary however to surround or partially so the rectificator with brick
or other material, so as to retain the heat and prevent radiation and
consequent loss.
The action of the apparatus is as follows:-When the fire is first
lighted the draught is but slight as in furnaces generally, but sufficient
to set all the fuel on fire in a few minutes and the heat to ascend
into B, which soon becomes hot and stimulates the draught thereby.
The temperature in B very shortly attains so high as heat that it
becomes necessary to regulate it by a damper or other suitable
contrivance, and if well managed any kind of combustible may then
be consumed without the slightest smoke being visible at the wire
cap at the top of the chimney. This wire cap and cone have the
effect of separating the warm air inside of the tube E from the
exterior atmosphere and averting it from the chimney opening.
From the foregoing it is inferred that when the fire is lighted, and
the rectificator has attained a sufficiently high temperature, the pure
The
carbon separates itself from the incombustible gases and ash.
gases pass up through the tube E while the ash falls into that part
of the chamber marked I. The pure carbon then fills the whole space
of the rectificator and causes a separation between the cold and warm
temperature, consequently no heat from the fire is allowed to pass, but
is retained in the furnace and there consumes all the smoke. By the
adoption of these improved means a great saving is effected in the con-
struction of chimneys, especially for large furnaces, and considerable
economy in the quantity of fuel consumed.
Having now described and particularly set forth the nature of this
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be carried into
effect, I would observe in conclusion that I do not confine or restrict
myself to the precise details or arrangements which I have described
or referred to, as variations may be made therefrom without deviating
from the principles or main features of this Invention; but what I con-

page_text: sider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention
secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the
construction of apparatus for the consumption of smoke, substantially
as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry James Ditmars, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of October, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
eight.
H. J. DITMARS. (L.S.)