IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM, BOILERS
Year: 1886

page_text: I, GEORGE HENRY CORLISS, of the City and County of Providence, in the
State of Rhode Island, one of the United States of America, Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of my invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM, BOILERS " to be
as follows:-
I provide sufficiently and conveniently for the circulation of water downward
in the narrow space around the furnaces of boilers having furnaces in their interiors.
I will describe the invention as applied to an upright boiler of cylindrical form
with a corresponding cylindrical furnace and a space between it and the shell or
exterior of the boiler.
I provide a set of tubes open at each end and of sufficient length to extend up
and down nearly or quite the whole height of the furnace, and secure them in the
required position to provide for downward circulation in the water leg. In the
spaces between and around these tubes the water moves upward being largely
filled with steam which is being actively generated by the heat of the furnace.

page_text: with a corresponding cylindrical furnace and a space between it and the shell or
exterior of the boiler.
I provide a set of tubes open at each end and of sufficient length to extend up
and down nearly or quite the whole height of the furnace and secure them in the
required position to provide for downward circulation in the water leg. In the
spaces between and around these tubes the water moves upward being largely
filled with steam which is being actively generated by the heat of the furnace.
The accompanying drawings form a part of this specification, and represent
what I consider the best means of carrying out the invention.
Figure 1 is a horizontal section, and
Fig. 2 a vertical section, of a boiler having my invention.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both the figures.
A is the outer portion or shell; and B the inner portion or furnace. B¹ is the
crown or top of the furnace and C the ordinary upright tubes which convey the
gaseous products of combustion upward from the furnace. All these parts may be
as usual. Each upright tube D is of a diameter something less than the thickness
of the water leg or space between A and B, and is cut away at each end to form
a securing-lip, d. Each is riveted to the shell A by rivets Ĕ, which pass through
the lips d, and stands with its upper end somewhat above the crown-sheet B¹,
and its lower end a little above the bottom of the water-leg. The current of
water forced upward by the volume of steam generated in the water-leg is supplied
by a freely-descending series of currents in the several tubes D. While in the
ordinary water-leg the dense water will travel only part way down the leg before
returning, my invention insures a thorough and complete circulation of the water
clear to the bottom of the leg, and tends thereby to keep the leg free from the
deposit of sediment.
Modifications may be made in the forms and proportions.
The tubes D may be of less thickness, and may be held by smaller rivets than
shown. A greater or less number may suffice. They may be distributed irregularly,
if preferred in any case.
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:-
In a steam-boiler having an internal furnace, a series of tubes, as D D, extending
up and down in the space between the furnace and shell, open at each end and cut
away to form lips d, the tube D being secured to the shell A by fastenings E,
which pass through said lips, all arranged for joint operation substantially as herein
specified.