IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR HEATING STEAM BOILERS, CONSUMING SMOKE, AND VENTI- LATING THE STOKE HOLES, ENGINE ROOMS, OR OTHER PARTS OF STEAM SHIPS
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Thomas, of Middlesbrough, in the County
of York, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS AND
APPARATUS FOR HEATING STEAM BOILERS, CONSUMING SMOKE, AND VENTI-
LATING THE STOKE HOLES, ENGINE ROOMS, OR OTHER PARTS OF STEAM
SHIPS."
Sealed the 7th January 1873, and dated the 30th August 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Thomas at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
30th August 1872.
I, JOHN THOMAS, of Middlesbrough, in the County of York, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR HEATING STEAM BOILERS, CONSUMING SMOKE, AND
VENTILATING THE STOKE HOLES, ENGINE ROOMS, OR OTHER PARTS OF STEAM SHIPS,"
to be as follows:-
The principal objects of my Invention are the ventilation of the stoke
holes and engine rooms of steam ships, and the perfect combustion of
the gases and smoke, and thereby the saving of fuel.

page_text: I carry out my Invention as follows:-I make an iron door and
frame, and properly fix the same to the ash hole of the boiler. They
must be made air-tight against the boiler, and there must be a branch
pipe through the frame, and I connect a pipe to the branch for leading
air into the ash hole under the furnace bars. I build the fire-bridge
with perforated bricks, which bricks I build on hollow iron bearers, so
that the perforations are in direct communication with the ash hole;
or, if preferred, I lay a perforated pipe within the brickwork of the fire-
bridge with proper openings for the emission of air through the bridge,
so that the air may intercept the gas and smoke that evolve from the
fire on the grate. I then make an iron casing for encasing the chimney,
and this casing must be large enough to leave a clear space between it
and the chimney of from four to six inches all round.
The casing may be of any convenient height, but commencing it at or
near the smoke box, and continuing it up through the upper deck and
six or eight feet above, will be found in practice sufficient for my purpose.
I firmly fasten the casing to the chimney, both at the lower and upper
part of the same, and in or near the upper end of the casing I make a
hole of sufficient size for letting air into it, and at the bottom of the
casing I make a similar hole for conveying the air to the fires. I make
a pipe with as many branches or outlets as there are fires in or under the
boilers, and I set this pipe in a horizontal position over the boilers, or if
convenient I pass it through the smoke box, and I connect this pipe to
the hole in the casing, and I also connect it with the branches in the
ash hole frame, and in each of these pipes, which connect to the ash
holes under the grate, I fix a valve to regulate the admission of air. I
then attach a machine for exhausting and blowing air, which machine
may be of the cylinder or force blast form or fan machine, or any of the
various machines now in use for blowing air, and I either connect this
machine to the propelling engines of the ship or I erect a small engine
specially for driving the same. I connect a pipe to the air inlets of the
blowing machine, and lead the same to the stoke hole, engine room, or
any part of the ship that needs ventilation. Flexible tubes may be led
from a branch on this pipe to any part of the ship. I also fix a pipe to
the air outlet of the exhausting blowing machine, and carry this pipe up
and connect it to the hole in the upper part of the casing that surrounds
the chimney; on this pipe I fix a valve for letting off any surplus air,

page_text: so as not to drive any more air into the casing than may be required for
combustion.
Having fixed my apparatus I proceed to light the fires in the boilers,
and to do this I open the ash hole doors, and let the chimney draw air
through the grate in the ordinary way; and when the steam is up high
enough to start the engines I close the ash hole doors, and set on the
exhausting blower, and it will draw or exhaust the vitiated air from the
stoke hole or from any part where the inlet pipe may be led, and as
fast as the vitiated air is drawn off good air will descend to occupy its
place. The machine will blow the vitiated air up into the casing; the
heat that is radiated by the chimney will be taken up by this air,
and the heated air will enter the ash hole; a part of it will pass up
through the fuel on the bars, and the other part will pass up through
the perforations of the bridge; the heated air that rises up through the
bridge will enter into immediate combustion with the gases evolved from
the grate, and will perfectly consume the smoke, and the air being
supplied to the ash hole under pressure will more effectually consume
the small cinders that ordinarily fall through the grate bars uncon-
sumed. To work this apparatus it will be necessary to regulate the
admission of air to the fire-places, and to keep some loose clinkers on
the furnace bars, and a thick coal fire on them, and to regulate the
chimney damper so as to exhaust the flame and heat in and around the
boilers.
I have herein-before described the working of the exhausted blower
by the power of the propelling engines of the ship, but I would prefer
to erect a small special engine for driving the same, and to get the
steam from the auxiliary boiler, where there is one. In this way the
main boiler fires may be lighted, and steam got up in half the time by
the aid of the blowing machine forcing air in through the fire on the
grate, and up through the fire-bridge; the great quantity of smoke will
thus be prevented.
The important feature of this Invention is the drawing or exhausting
of the vitiated air from the stoke hole, or any other part of the ship, and
the sending with the same machine of the air so exhausted to the
chimney to be heated, and from the chimney to the fire-places to support
combustion.
-

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Thomas in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 26th February 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
THOMAS, of Middlesbrough, in the County of York, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said John Thomas, Her special licence that I,
the said John Thomas, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said John Thomas, my executors, 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 THE MEANS AND
APPARATUS FOR HEATING STEAM BOILERS, CONSUMING SMOKE, AND VENTILATING THE
STOKE HOLES, ENGINES ROOMS, OR OTHER PARTS OF STEAM SHIPS," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said John Thomas, 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 Thomas, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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 accompanying
Drawings, that is to say:
-
The principal objects of my Invention are the ventilation of the stoke
holes and engine rooms of steam ships, and the perfect combustion of
the gases and smoke, and thereby the saving of fuel.

page_text: I
carry out my Invention as follows:-I make an iron door and frame,
and properly fix the same to the ash hole of the boiler. They must fit
tight against the boiler, and there must be a branch pipe through the
frame, and I connect a pipe to the branch for leading air into the ash hole
under the furnace bars. I build the fire-bridge with perforated bricks,
which bricks Ijbuild on hollow iron bearers, so that the perforations are in
direct communication with the ash hole; or, if preferred, I lay a per-
forated pipe within the brickwork of the fire-bridge with proper openings
for the emission of air through the bridge, so that the air may intercept
the and smoke that evolve from the fire on the grate. I then make an
iron casing for encasing the chimney, and this casing must be large enough
to leave a clear space between it and the chimney of from four to six
inches all around.
gas
The casing may be of any convenient height, but commencing it at or
near the smoke box, and continuing it up through the upper deck, and
six or eight above, will be found in practice sufficient for my purpose.
I firmly fasten the casing to the chimney, both at the lower and upper
part of the same, and in or near the upper end of the casing I make a
hole of sufficient size for letting air into it, and at the bottom of the
casing I make a similar hole for conveying the air to the fires. I make
a pipe with as many branches or outlets as there are fires in or under the
boilers, and I set this pipe in a horizontal position over the boilers, or if
convenient I pass it through the smoke box, and I connect this pipe in
the casing; and I also connect it with the branches in the ash hole
frame, and in each of these pipes, which connect to the ash holes under
the grate, I fix a valve to regulate the admission of air. I then attach
a machine for exhausting and blowing air, which machine may be
of the cylinder or force blast form or fan machine, or any of the
various machines now in use for blowing air, and I either connect this
machine to the propelling engines of the ship or I erect a small engine
specially for driving the same. I connect a pipe to the air inlets of the
blowing machine, and lead the same to the stoke hole, engine room, or
any part of the ship that needs ventilation. Flexible tubes may be led.
from a branch on this pipe to any part of the ship. I also fix a pipe to
the air outlet of the exhausting blowing machine, and carry this pipe up
and connect it to the hole in the upper part of the casing that surrounds
the chimney; on this pipe I fix a valve for letting off any surplus air, so

page_text: as not to drive any more air into the casing than may be required for
combustion.
Having fixed my apparatus I proceed to light the fires in the boilers,
and to do this I open the ash hole doors, and let the chimney draw air
through the grate in the ordinary way, and when the steam is up high
enough to start the engines I close the ash hole doors, and set on the
exhausting blower, and it will draw or exhaust the vitiated air from the
stoke hole, or from any part where the inlet pipe may be led; and as
fast as the vitiated air is drawn off good air will descend to occupy its
place. The machine will blow the vitiated air up into the casing; the
heat that is radiated by the chimney will be taken up by this air, and
the heated air will enter the ash hole; a part of it will pass up through
the fuel on the bars, and the other part will pass up through the
perforations of the bridge; the heated air that rises up through the
bridge will enter into immediate combustion with the gases evolved from
the grate, and will perfectly consume the smoke, and the air being
supplied to the ash hole under pressure will more effectually consume
the small cinders that ordinarily fall through the grate bars uncon-
sumed. To work this apparatus it will be necessary to regulate the
admission of air to the fire-places, and to keep some loose clinkers on
the furnace bars, and a thick coal fire on them, and to regulate the
chimney damper so as to exhaust the flame and heat in and around the
boilers.
I have herein-before described the working of the exhausting blower
by the power of the propelling engines of the ship, but I would prefer to
erect a small special engine for driving the same, and to get the steam
from the auxiliary boiler, where there is one. In this way the main
boiler fires may be lighted, and steam got up in half the time by the aid
of the blowing machine forcing air in through the fire on the grate, and
up through the fire-bridge; the great quantity of smoke will thus be
prevented.
Figure 1 of the annexed Drawings is a midship section, and Figure 2
is a longitudinal section of a steam ship provided with apparatus con-

page_text: between the chimney and casing all round; A', A¹, are pipes carried
transversely through the chimney from the casing A, so as the better to
extract the heat from the gases which pass up the chimney; B, B, are a
pair of ordinary marine boilers; C is the smoke box or up-take to the
chimney; D is the delivery pipe to the casing A from the exhausting
fan F; E, E, are the hot air delivery pipes to the ash-pits, which ash-
pits are supplied with doors, while the pipes are furnished with throttle
valves for regulating the quantity of blast to each furnace; G is the
suction pipe from the stoke hole to the exhausting fan F, through which
pipe the bad air is drawn to be subsequently discharged into the pipe D,
as herein-before described. The surplus air not required for consuming
the smoke is discharged overboard through the pipe H. Pipes may be
connected to the suction pipe G, and led to any part of the ship requiring
ventilation. I is the fire-bridge formed of perforated bricks; K is a
small cylinder for operating the fan.
Instead of furnace bars I prefer to use what I term a water grate, as
seen in vertical section at L, in Figure 2, and shewn separately in plan
on a larger scale in Figure 3. This water grate is a box made of boiler
plates to the form shewn, all the edges being welded, and made perfectly
water tight. It has a number of tube stays a, which are screwed through
the top and bottom plates; the hot air from the chimney casing passes
up through these tubes into the fire. is an inlet pipe to the water
grate connected to the boiler with a suitable pipe and cock, and c is an
outlet pipe also connected to the boiler with a pipe and cock. There is
thus a constant circulation of water from the boiler by the pipe 6 into
the water grate, and then by the pipe c back to the boiler. The inlet
pipe 6 is carried along nearly to the inner end of the water grate, so as
to insure perfect circulation of the water through the grate. The con-
nections of the pipes b and c with the boiler are clearly seen in Figure 1;
d, d, are screwed brass plugs to be taken out when required to remove
scale or deposit, and e is a hole for washing out the scale, this hole being
made water-tight with a cover. In case of the water grate becoming
damaged or eaten through when the boiler is at work, the communi-
cation with the boiler can be at once shut off by the cocks above
named.

page_text: means or apparatus, substantially as herein-before described, by which
the vitiated air is drawn or exhausted from the stoke hole, or other parts
of the ship, and forced or sent by the same machine to the chimney to
be heated, and from the chimney to the fire-places to support com-
bustion and consume the smoke, all as herein-before explained.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Thomas, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of January One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-three.