IMPROVEMENTS IN THE COMBUSTION OF COAL WITHOUT SMOKE, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO THE COMBUSTION OF OTHER KINDS OF FUEL
Year: 1857

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by George Davies at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 5th October
1857. A communication from Jacques Léon Tardieu, Engineer, of
Limoges, in the Department of Haute Vienne, France.
T
I, GEORGE-DAVIES, of No. 1, Searle Street,. Lincoln's Inn, in the County
of Middlesex, and No. 28, St. Enoch Square, in the City of Glasgow, Civil
Engineer and Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said In-
vention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE COMBUSTION OF COAL WITHOUT SMOKE, WHICH
IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO THE COMBUSTION OF OTHER KINDS OF FUEL,"
(a communication from Jacques Léon Tardieu, Engineer, of Limoges, in the
Department of Haut Vienne, France) to, be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to effect a considerable economy in the
combustion of coal or other fuel by consuming entirely the smoke; and the
nature of the said Invention by which this object is proposed to be effected is
as follows:-In the first place, it is proposed to employ a grate with the bars
placed either longitudinally or transversely, at a suitable distance apart,
according to the nature of the fuel to be consumed, and forming an inclined
plane, at an angle varying (by preference) from about fifteen degrees to thirty-
five degrees, although the bars may be placed at any inclination between the
horizontal and perpendicular positions; but it is preferred that the bars should
be placed at such an inclination as that the fuel as it burns may slide
gradually and slowly downwards by its own weight, but not too fast or
suddenly.

page_text: Secondly, it is proposed, in connection with the grate, to employ a retort or
closed chamber, placed (by preference) at the same angle of inclination as the
bars, and in front of them, but the position and inclination of the retort may
also be varied to suit circumstances.
The object of this retort, is to facilitate the charging of the grate with
fuel, and to ignite and distill such fuel, and by means of the air entering
through openings at the lower part thereof, (either in front or at the back,
or both) to consume the combustible gases or vapors as quickly as they are
produced, and thus entirely to consume or prevent the formation of smoke.
By this means also of igniting and distilling the fuel in the retort, previously
to its reaching the grid or grate, the latter is charged or fed with coke or
incandescent fuel, instead of with crude or simply heated fuel.
The retort should be from about five to six inches high, and may be about
the same width as the grate, but should not be less than two-thirds of the
width, in order to allow the fuel to descend on to the grate in an even and
regular layer or stratum, and thus hinder the air from passing through the
bars without being completely decomposed, and may be made bell-mouthed, if
preferred.
The retort (which is so called because the fuel is ignited and distilled
therein) may be formed of one piece by casting, or it may be made of plates
of iron or of fire clay, or it may even be formed of fire bricks in the thickness
of the wall of the furnace, the openings being also left for admitting the air
for the combustion of the gases & vapors produced.
This system of burning coal and other fuel without smoke, is applicable to
the furnaces of stationary, locomotive, or marine engine boilers, to ovens for
burning porcelain and other ceramic products, and to furnaces or fire places
used for other manufacturing purposes.