the Ordinary Fire Bar is Used.
Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 20th Nov., 1886,
Complete Left, 15th Aug., 1887
Complete Accepted, 4th Oct., 1887.
where the Ordinary Fire Bar is Used.
FRANCIS LANE MERRITT 268 Lancaster Road, Notting Hill, W. London, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
For the manufacture and improved application of water gas to different kinds of
furnaces by means of and through a fire bar especially constructed with a hollow
chamber to act as a retort to decompose steam or water & pass the gasses thus
generated into the furnace fire to attain this I make use of the heat that would be
otherwise lost, such as is contained in the exhaust steam of a steam engine also the
heat that is taken up in the ordinary way by a common fire bar. This heat I retain
by passing a fixed portion of the exhaust steam through the fire bar constructed with
a hollow chamber the whole length of the bar with outlet holes for the passage of the
gas into the fire, the bar decomposing the steam or water before passing out the
discharge holes entering the fire & mixing with the gasses of the ordinary fuel
intensifying the heat by the combination of the differient gasses.
The requisite
connection with the exhaust pipe is carried through the flue of the boiler untill it
reaches the bed that hold the bars, the said bed to be constructed hollow and
connected to the bars admitting a free passage right away. At the same time giving
a greater area of heating surface to decompose the steam or water into water gas.
Where the application do not admit of exhaust steam or steam direct from the
boiler to be used I arrange a contineous and fixed supply of water by means of an
inverted syphon that the steam generated from the water may not come back but go
forward to the fire bar as before.
The quantity of water or steam so treated must be regulated by the differient
circumstances under which it is subjected according to the degree of heat contineously

page_text: maintained by the fires, if too much water or steam be admitted it will lower the
temperature and spoil the opperation, that practically this must be regulated by the
opperator in charge of the furnaces.
If the engine when applied to its boilers be compounded I lubricate the air cylinder
with water this water answers my purpose for water gas as before.
Now having discribed my invention of a retort fire bar for the generation of water
gas and its combined use with ordinary fuel, I claim a fire bar with a hollow chamber
to decompose steam or water and form water gas to be consumed in the furnaces at
the same time tending to lengthen the life of the fire bar.
Dated this 18th day of November 1886

page_text: where the Ordinary Fire Bar is Used.
I FRANCIS LANE MERRITT 268 Lancaster Road, Notting Hill London, W. in the
County of Middlesex England Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
The principle in this invention is that pure water is composed of Oxygen and
Hydrogen in a constant state, which when set free assume the gaseous in Volumn
of 1 of Oxygen to 2 of Hydrogen.
It is the application of this principle to the generation of water gas and its economic
consumption in an ordinary furnace; by means of and through a fire bar and its
requisite connections, that I claim to attain a degree of economy not attainable
without reducing the total consumption of fuel, and the cost due to maintainance.
I declare the application of this invention to be the construction of a number of
hollow fire bars, of suitable form or design the said bars to act as retorts, by
decomposing the steam, exhaust steam, or water, (conveyed to them from an engine
or elsewhere) thus making water gas, which gas passes on and into the fire.
That I may have as full benefit as possible from this operation I make use of heat
which would otherwise be lost (viz.) the heat contained in the exhaust steam of a
steam engine, the waste produce of combustion in the flue, or smoke box of a boiler,
and the heat that is taken up in the ordinary way by a common fire bar, and all in
conjunction.
This I do by taking from the exhaust pipe the quantity of steam required, conducting
it through the flues, by means of a pipe or pipes (a) to a chamber which I call the
bed (b) the said chamber or bed to form part of the bridge (c) at the back of the fires,
the dead plate at the front end of the fire, or elsewhere as circumstances permit. The
end (d) of the bar to be always in connection with the bed, wherever the bed (b) may
be fixed for the proper circulation of the steam to the bars.
The bars may be constructed in the form used at present or any other form that
permits a hollow tube (e) the whole length of the bar, except at the end (f) opposite
to the inlet (d) that should be solid for at least one inch in in length, and for outlets, I
make holes (9) in the side of the bar for the passage of the gas into the fire. The
tube (e) in the bar thus acting as a retort, decomposing the steam or water in its
passage from the bed (b) through the bars to the fire mixing with the gases of the
ordinary fuel, the combination promoting a more perfect combustion.
The receiving chamber or bed (b) to be constructed hollow with outlet passages (h)
to correspond with the tube (e) in the bar this produces an equal distribution of the
steam to the bars, the bed as part of the application would be adapted to the particular
furnace for which it was required (as in steam boilers of different types) so as to form

page_text: part of the bridge (c) or the dead plate whichever should be found most convenient
for the required connection to the exhaust pipe and bars as before described, the bars
always remain the same subject only to the fire grate area required.
The quantity of water or steam so treated must be regulated to the different
circumstances under which it is applied and according to the degree of heat
continuously maintained by the fire and the nature of the fuel burnt.
Having ascertained and described the nature of my invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is
1st. A fire bar with a hollow tube (as before described) to decompose steam or
water thus forming water gas.
2ndly. The gas giving up its oxygen in the combustion of the coal the fire requires
less air to support combustion there will be less loss by not having to heat the
Nitrogen of the air up to furnace heat and then lost.
3rdly. The bar to last very much longer as its temperature is kept down with is
consequent advantages, by the steam or water passing through it into the fire.
The whole to act together to form water gas to be passed on and consumed in the
fire thereby increasing the heat of the furnace and decreasing the cost for work done.
FRANCIS LANE MERRITT.
Declared at 2, Walbrook, in
the City of London, this
11th day of August 1887,
before me,
E. C. RAWLINGS,
A Commissioner to administer oaths in the Supreme
Court of Judicature in England.