An Improved Circular Regenerative Furnace for Glass Founding.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 29th Sept., 1898-Accepted, 10th June, 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Circular Regenerative Furnace for Glass Founding.
I, WILHELM PAUL SAUERLAND, of 74", Rotherbaum-Chaussee, Hamburg, in the
Empire of Germany, Foundry Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this in-
vention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:
The present invention relates to glass manufacture in pots and its object is to
provide a circular pot furnace with regenerative firing distinguished from other
pot furnaces by the small cost of working and convenience of attendance.
The new furnace is so constructed that twenty workmen are enabled to attend
to it at the same time and this result is obtained by the complete utilization of
the firing space following upon the special construction of the whole furnace
hereafter to be described.
The mode of carrying the invention into effect is illustrated in the accompany-
ing five sheets of drawings as follows;-
Figure 1 is a horizontal section through the furnace upon the line P Q of
Figure 9.
Figure 2 is a similar horizontal section upon the line NO of Figure 9.
Figure 3. is a part vertical section through that portion of the furnace displayed
in the horizontal section Figure 2.
Figure 4 is a further horizontal section on the line L M of Figure 9.
Figure 5 is a part vertical section on the line y of Figure 10.
Figure 6 is a horizontal section on the line J K of Figure 9.
Figure 7 is a vertical section on the line R S of Figure 4.
Figure 8 is another vertical section on the line T U of Figure 4.
Figure 9 is a vertical section through the whole furnace.
Figure 10 is a horizontal section on the line E F of Figure 9.
Figure 11 is a horizontal section on the line A. B of Figure 9.
Figure 12 is a ground plan of the whole furnace.
In erecting the furnace a circular plan outline is selected, as it permits the
greatest free space for the working stage and easy accessibility between each two
pots. By this arrangement there are two convenient working places for each
ten men which is necessary in order to make ready the glass pots to be inserted
in a single layer, ten pots in all being preferably employed, as shown (see
Figure 11).
Further, the circular plan outline permits of the production of a uniformly
shaped circular top k to the furnace. This top & in comparison with previously
sed roofs which were employed, covers the whole hearth containing the pots in
the manner of an annular arch or vault so that the space for the pots is diminished,
and the flame or fire acts thereon with increased efficiency.
The abutments both on the inside and on the outside of this annular arch h
consist of cast iron plates m, m³, and these abutments rest on suitable cast iron
brackets, n, n¹, respectively. These brackets n and n are again attached by
means of fish plates to the H supports, O and 0' respectively, which are held

page_text: together on the top of the furnace by radiating tie rods 1, 2, and below by tie
rings 7 and r, q being the outside, and the inside ring. Lateral displacement
is prevented by tangential flat iron straps s, s round the top and bottom of the
outside. H supports, which straps are attached to the H supports by means of fish
plates s. In the drawings only the upper ring of tangential bars is shown.
The H supports on the inside of the annular arch are attached to the crossed
iron H beams t, t by means of the iron U loops q².
The external H supports O rest on an annular ring girder q built into the
masonry supported by the eight brick pillars Zn, (Figure 2) asd the internal
supports rest upon the ring girder 3. Thus by means of the crossed H beams t, t,
the whole weight of the furnace top is supported through the beams o, o', upon
the girders and q¹. By these arrangements the whole of the top of the furnace
may be removed for repairs or cleaning. The arched cover 2 of the gas shaft E
may also be removed if so desired by first removing the part F upon which the
ring rests. The furnace wall stands entirely free, and on the bottom i of
the furnace chamber containing the melting pots h, and it curves at the top to
meet the annular arch k, which leans against the abutment plates m', the inner
end of the annular arch leaning against the plates m and the short curved inner
wall n.
The gas and air passages, G H J, leading from the openings F constituting the
ring burner upon the upper end of the central gas shaft E have their exit within
the hearth, or firing chamber at a higher level than the hearth shelf or floor and
almost at the level of the top of the pots h so that they are not exposed to any
injury from the melted glass from a broken pot. Gas and air to give the necessary
flame mix only at the top end of the exits, the construction being hereinafter
more particularly described. The burner passages are also placed obliquely in
order that the flames may strike out and over the pots, being drawn in that par-
ticular direction by chimney draft.
The interior burners being over the level of the hearth shelf or floor cause the
flame to move along over the top of the annular chamber and strike on the out-
side of the pots and there divide in order to be drawn off through the outside
passages leading to the flue. This construction causes the flame to envelope
and beat against the glass pots and facilitate melting..
upon
the
Further, in order to cause the flame to strike first against the outside of the pot
ɛo that most heat may be applied to the unmelted glass floating upon the
surface, the burner passages from which the flame issues are not
same radial lines as the exit passages J Fig. 11 through which the spent gas
drawn into the flue but each burner passage J radially strikes between each
pair of exit passages J.
As the furnace is regenerative the flame when the valves are reversed is caused
to travel from the exterior openings towards the interior openings J but this
arrangement is hereinafter more particularly described. The distance between
the burners and the pots as well as between the pots themselves is arranged as
large as possible so as to allow room for the flames to develop.
The hearth glass is arranged to flow through the exterior passages J¹ into
glass pockets one being provided for each pot, and these pockets lie closely
under the passages so that the heat within the hearth or furnace is sufficient to
keep the glass in fusion. With the small length of these pockets the glass is
easily drawn off or any glass that may have become hard or tenacious easily broken
and removed. In the case where a pot cracks or breaks the particular pock
leading from it is closed by a sand stopper or like device.
The intermediate space between the half fire brick partitions corresponds
to the burner opening, so that through the burner no more glass can flow than
can escape towards the waste outlet 3. The exterior gas and air supply passages
are also protected against the penetrating through of hearth glass. The glass
issuing out can be caught up easily in a vessel filled with water or glass sand
and used again for smelting. The oblique fire brick plates and the thickness

page_text: of the partition between the glass pocket v, and the exterior gas, passage E
described hereafter prevent a trickling through of the glass into this passage.
The remaining passages flare protected from injurious effect from the hearth
glass by strong fire brick layers such as Sch: and the passages J by their project-
ing out above the level of the hearth shelf or floor.
In order to produce as uniform a circulation as possible towards the burner
openings in the horizontal passages fl and which convey gas or air to the
burners each passage is arranged with two admission ports e¹, and e², (Figs. 3, 4,
7 & 8), from the regenerators which slant off at an angle in the direction of the
passages on both sides and lie as much as possible within the same diameter.
Eight regenerator spaces are thus constructed arranged with the usual rever-
sing valves.
These regenerators lie within the circle of the furnace about a
centrally placed space M¹ enclosed with a hemispherical vault Gw. Towards the
middle the chambers are separated by a strong fire brick partition to prevent
the communication of one set of regenerators with the other.
The chambers are
enclosed by vaulted roofs and as they are radially arranged it is evident that a
compact construction of their partitions and inner surfaces is possible and the
massive building or masonry of ordinary bricks usually employed rendered un-
necessary.
In order to obtain the maximum effect from the regenerators the supply passages
for the gas or air of the interior burners introduced by the regenerators and by
the air valve between the chambers branch off uniformly so that for each chamber
a separate supply passage exists. The supply passages for the regenerators to
supply the exterior burner ring are arranged on an equally large section with
those of the interior and pass through the furnace under the opposite chambers.
It is evident from the hereinbefore described construction of gas and air
passages that in changing or reversing the regenerators the gas and air passages
run side by side.
The method of operating the furnace as herein before described when the re-
generators are so set that the middle burner ring is employed is as follows:---
The gas from the producer passes through any ordinary gas valve and enters
by the passage A (Figure 1) into one generator. Here the passage is
divided and conveys to each gas chamber equal amounts of gas. After
the gas is distributed in the passages B B (Figures 1 to 9) it rises up
through the bars (Figures 2 to 9) into the regenerators C C lying
immediately above and from there passes through the regenerator trellis
work or bricks yy and is drawn through the passages I) D into the central
burner shaft E. In this shaft it rises up as far as the openings F F (Figures 9
and 10) and from there passes into the passages G G to the burner. It further
rises up between the fire bricks H H and is mixed at J with air for combustion
(Figures 9, 11 and 5).
The requisite air for combustion makes the following path through the furnace.
The air after leaving the usual air valve arrives at the passage a (Figure 1)
leading into the furnace. It is then divided in the passages and rises through
the bars into the regenerators c c (Figures 2 and 9) and from there passes through
the regenerator trellis bars or bricks and is drawn through passages d d into the
shafts ee (Figures 6 and 3) from where it flows into a ring passage ff. From
this ring passage the air mounts through openings g g (Figure 10) to the fire
brick bars which enclose the gas and is mixed at the upper end of these fire
brick bars with the same (Figure 11).
The flames leaving this fire brick bar burner exits J strike across radially outwards
from the centre of the furnace and the exhausted gases escape through the open-
ings J¹ (Figure 1) and pass down into the passages G¹ and g into the circular
ring passages E' or f (Figure 9). From the passages E and f1 (Figures 3, 4,
6, 7 and 8) shafts e or el lead into the gas or air regenerators C₁ C₁ or c c through
the trellis bars or bricks of these last mentioned regenerators the combustion gases
are drawn down into the passages B¹ B¹ and b¹ 6¹ which are connected together

page_text: by common passages Vv (Figures 1, 2 and 3) with the passages A¹ or a¹. From
here the combustion gases pass through the gas or air valve out into the chimney
flue.
It is evident that the valves controlling the admission of the air and gas from
the producer could be so reversed that exactly the opposite flow would take place,
viz.gas or air would enter by A¹ and a¹ while the spent air and gases would
escape through the passages A and a.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is:
1. The improved circular regenerative furnace for glass founding so consti-
tuted and arranged that the fire space or hearth is formed of an annular circular
chamber with a corresponding vaulted roof and further arranged with a centrally
placed burner or burners so that the maximum efficiency from the flame for the
enclosed space is produced and arranging within the hearth or furnace the glass
pots radially disposed and further arranging in a radial manner the regenerators
underneath the hearth and round the common centre of the furnace all as a means
of obtaining the maximum working space for the attendants and the maximum
use of the heating fuel.
2. The improved circular regenerative furnace for glass founding substan-
tially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying sheets of
drawings.
Han 1
Ca
1
1000
MARKS & CLERK,
18, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., and
13, Temple Street, Birmingham, Agents.