Year: 1889

page_text: We, JOHN OLDROYD, Manufacturer and JOHN WILLIAM OLDROYD Engineer, both
of the town of Grünberg, Silesia, Germany, do hereby declare the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following specification.
Our invention relates to improvements in steam boiler and other furnaces, the
object of the same being to produce a perfect consumption of the fuel and thus avoid
all smoke whatsoever, to render the fall mill chimneys unnecessary, to produce an
enormous economy in fuel, to render the furnace independent of atmospheric changes
which effect the draught. to utilize all the waste heat which hitherto passes off through
the chimney, to greatly increase the generation of steam in the boiler, to superheat
and consequently render the steam dry and to concentrate the heat around the
boiler.
In order to attain our object the consumption chamber is brought into connection
with one or more ventilators or fans which draw off the products of combustion and
drive the same again through the furnace until a perfect consumption of the said
products of combustion is produced.
As the gaseous products of perfect combustion is colourless and innoxious the
ordinary enormously tall extensive chimneys are unnecessary as no smoke is produced,
thus effecting a result which is of the greatest possible importance in hygienics.
By employing our invention we attain not only an unprecedented saving in fuel
but the furnace is, as aforesaid, no longer dependent on the various changes of wind
and atmosphere. If our invention is applied to steam boiler furnaces the capacity of
the boiler will be considerably increased as the heat, which formerly escaped through
the chimney with the imperfectly consumed products of combustion is employed for
heating the exterior of the boiler or drying or superheating the steain in the boiler.
If two fans are employed the suction tubes of the same can be arranged one lower
than the other so that the heavier products can be drawn off separately, but when only
one fan is employed the outlet side of the fan can be provided with a suitable slide,
Hap, valve, or its equivalent, so that when the feed of the fuel is periodical or
intermittent the slide, damper, flap, valve or its equivalent can be so arranged that

page_text: the same can be operated either by hand or automatically before fresh fuel is fed to
the grate and the products of perfect combustion driven off either direct or through a
tube immersed for instance in a water reservoir.
The slide, damper, flap, valve or its equivalent must of course be reversed before fresh
fuel reaches the grafe, or when two fans are employed one of the same can be arranged
to work periodically and draw off the products of perfect combustion.
We wish it to be understood that we do not confine ourselves to the number of fans,
ventilators or exhausters employed, but that one of the main features of our invention
is the continuous circulation of the imperfectly consumed products of combustion
through the fuel until perfect combustion is attained and the removal of the products
of perfect combustion from the furnace.
From the foregoing it will be evident that the arrangement of our improvements
can be varied in many ways and be applied to all kinds of furnaces without departing
from the nature of our invention.
In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a central longitudinal section.
Figure 2 a central horizontal section of a steam boiler with the furnace arranged
according to our invention.
Figures 3 and 4 are cross sections on the line a- and y-y in Figure 1.
Figure 5 is a longitudinal section of a modified arrangement of our invention, and
Figure 6 a cross section of the same.
Figure 7 is the partial longitudinal section of an arrangement with only one fan and
a reversing device for a slide, damper, flap or its equivalent.
Figure 8 is a horizontal section of Figure 7.
A is a Cornwall boiler with the combustion chamber B, which is heated by the fire
gases or products of combustion passing through the flues C, D. Two, fans E and F
are connected to the flue I so as to draw off the products of combustion and thus
produce a lively draught in the furnace.
The two fans are arranged side by side and operate so that the fan E will draw off
the heavier products of combustion through the tube E¹ at the bottom of the flue 1)
which are fully consumed and drive off the same as may be desired, whereas the fan F
is connected to the tube F¹, draws off the imperfectly consumed products of
combustion, for instance carbonic oxide and smoke, and continuously forces the same
through a special service to the firing material on the grate until perfect combustion
ensues.
According to the modification represented in Figs. 1 to 4 the hot products of
combustion are forced through the tube G of the fan F, through the boiler so that the
heat of the said hot products of combustion is employed for drying or superheating
the steam in the boiler. The tubular service G merges into a system of tubes H
within the boiler which is at the forward end connected to a connecting tube H¹, from
whence the products of combustion pass through a tube I provided with numerous
outlets and under pressure beneath the grate where the aforenamed products of
combustion are mixed with the air fed to the furnace, which is heated by coming in
contact with the tube I before the same is fed to the fuel on the grate, or instead of
the system of tubes one Jarge tube preferably of oblong, square or other section can be
eniployed so that the same can be more readily examined and, if necessary, cleaned
out.
According to the modified arrangement represented in Figures and 6 the products
of combustion drawn off by the fan F are forced through the tube G₁ outside the
boiler so that by this arrangement the heat of the products of consumption are employed
for, heating the boiler. In each case the imperfectly burned products of combustion,
smoke etc., are fed to the fuel on the grate by the fans.
The fans can, as previously mentioned, be so arranged that the perfectly consumed
products of combustion can be led off continuously or periodically as may be found
desirable.
According to the arrangement shown in Figs. 7 and 8 only one fan L is used which
is connected to the tube M and the outlet provided with a slide K so as to be able to
reverse the action of the fan when the combustion has become perfect and to drive off

page_text: the products of such perfect consumption through the pipe N and preferably through
the feed water or other tank whereupon the slide or its equivalent is again reversed
and the products of combustion caused to circulate as before stated through the entire
mass of the fuel on the grate until perfect combustion is attained.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, what we claim is :-
In steam boiler and other furnaces, connecting the flues with ventilators in such
manner, that the imperfectly consumed products of combustion are continuously fed
under pressure to the fuel on the grate until perfect combustion is attained, when the
products of perfect combustion are driven off, substantially as and for the purpose set
forth in the foregoing specification and illustrated on the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 14th day of February 1880