IMPROVEMENTS IN KILNS FOR BURNING LIME, BRICKS, AND PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel De la Grange Williams, the younger, of
Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Lime Merchant, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN KILNS FOR BURNING LIME, BRICKS, AND
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel De la Grange
Williams at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 17th November 1874.
I, SAMUEL DE LA GRANGE WILLIAMS, the younger, of Birmingham,
in the County of Warwick, Lime Merchant, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN KILNS FOR BURNING
LIME, BRICKS, AND POTTERY WARE, AND FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES," to be as
follows:-
My Invention consists in constructing and arranging the said kilns in
the manner herein-after described, whereby economy of fuel and con-
venience and efficiency in use are secured.

page_text: I will describe my Invention as applied to a kiln for burning lime. I
make the body of the kiln of a chamber rectangular in plan and of a
length about three times as great as its width. The said chamber is
divided longitudinally by a vertical division running along its whole
length. The two compartments into which the body of the kiln is thus
divided have arched tops: The kiln has openings at its sides for the
purpose of charging and discharging it, and openings are also made in
the summits of the arched tops described for the purpose of permitting
of the introduction of fuel. Each of the two compartments of the kiln
has an opening at its front end and also an opening at its rear end, the
former having small grates for containing fire at the starting of the
burning process and the latter serving to connect the rear ends of the
compartments with the chimney stack. The two compartments are also
connected together at their front and rear ends by openings in the
dividing wall. In the space between the arched tops of the compart-
ments is a horizontal longitudinal flue extending from nearly the front
of the kiln to its end and communicating with the chimney. Vertical
flues in the outer and middle walls of the kiln are connected with the
longitudinal flue described.
The several flues described are provided with dampers, by means of
which the current of heated air and products of combustion can be
controlled and directed, and the side openings may be closed at pleasure
by doors or otherwise.
In using a kiln constructed according to my Invention the two com-
partments are charged with limestone in the usual way, the required
horizontal and vertical passages being left. Fire is lighted at the front
fire-grate, by which fire the process is started.
The subsequent stages of the process are conducted by means of fuel
introduced at the openings in the tops of the arched compartments. As
the burning advances by the feeding of fuel in the openings described
the contents of those portions of the kiln no longer under the operation
of the fire are cooled by the draught of cold air through them. When
sufficiently cooled these contents may be discharged and replaced by
other materials to be operated upon. When the fire has arrived at the
end of the first compartment it may pass by the opening described into
the second compartment, and the combustion may proceed from the rear

page_text: to the front end of the kiln. When the fire has reached the front end
it
may
be turned through the opening described into the compartment
first fired, and so on, the process being thus made continuous, some
portions of the kiln being fired while other portions are cooling or being
discharged and recharged.
By means of the flues and dampers described the current of heated
air and products of combustion may be readily controlled and directed
so as to determine the continuity of the process as described.
I prefer to arrange two of the kilns described side by side at a short
distance apart and connect them with the same chimney stack.
The application of my improvements to kilns for burning bricks,
pottery ware, and for other like purposes differs in no essential respect
from their application to kilns for burning lime, as herein-before de-
scribed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Samuel De la Grange Williams in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 8th May 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
DE LA GRANGE. WILLIAMS, the younger, of Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Lime Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred-and seventy-four, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Samuel De la Grange Williams,
Her special license that I, the said Samuel De la Grange Williams, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Samuel De la Grange Williams, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United

page_text: Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle
of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN KILNS FOR BURNING LIME,
BRICKS, AND POTTERY WARE, AND FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said Samuel De la Grange Williams,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,
or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great
Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Samuel De la Grange Williams, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
My Invention consists in constructing and arranging the said kilns in
the manner herein-after described, whereby economy of fuel and con-
venience and efficiency in use are secured.
I will describe my Invention as applied to a kiln for burning lime.
I make the body of the kiln of a chamber rectangular in plan and of a
length about three times as great as its width. The said chamber is
divided longitudinally by a vertical division running along its whole
length. The two compartments into which the body of the kiln is thus
divided have arched tops. The kiln has openings at its sides for the
purpose of charging and discharging it, and openings are also made in
the summits of the arched tops described for the purpose of permitting
of the introduction of fuel. Each of the two compartments of the kiln
has openings at its front end, and also openings at its rear end, the
former having small grates for containing fire at the starting of the
burning process, and the latter serving to connect the rear ends of
the compartments with the chimney stack. The two compartments are
also connected together at their front and rear ends by openings in the
dividing wall. In the space between the arched tops of the compart-
ments is a horizontal longitudinal flue extending from nearly the front
of the kiln to its end and communicating with the chimney. Vertical
flues in the outer and middle walls of the kiln are connected with the
longitudinal flue described.

page_text: The several flues described are provided with dampers by means of
which the current of heated air and products of combustion can be
controlled and directed, and the side openings may be closed at pleasure
by doors or otherwise.
.
In using a kiln constructed according to my Invention the two
compartments are charged with limestone in the usual way, the required
horizontal and vertical passages being left. Fire is lighted at the front
fire-grate, by which fire the process is started.
The subsequent stages of the process are conducted by means of fuel
introduced at the openings in the tops of the arched compartments. As
the burning advances by the feeding of fuel in the openings described
the contents of those portions of the kilns no longer under the operation
of the fire are cooled by the draught of cold air through them. When
sufficiently cooled these contents may be discharged and replaced by
other materials to be operated upon. When the fire has arrived at the
end of the first compartment it may pass by the opening described into
the second compartment; and the combustion may proceed from the rear
to the front end of the kiln. When the fire has reached the front end it
may be turned through the opening described into the compartment
first fired and so on, the process being thus made continuous some
portions of the kiln being fired while other portions are cooling or are

page_text: Figure 1 represents in plan the top of a kiln constructed according to
my Invention; Figures 2 and 3 represent transverse vertical sections of
the same, the section Figure 2 being taken on the line A, A, of Figure 1,
and the section Figure 3 being taken on the line B, B, of Figure 1;
Figure 4 represents a longitudinal vertical section of the kiln taken on
the line C, C, of Figure 1; Figure 5 represents a horizontal section
taken through the base of the kiln, and Figures 6 and 7 represent, the
former a side elevation of the rear end of the kiln, and the latter an
elevation of the front end of the kiln. The same letters of reference
indicate the same parts in the several Figures of the Drawings.
The body of the kiln consists essentially of a chamber rectangular in
plan, as seen in Figure 1, and divided by the vertical division c into two.
longitudinal chambers or compartments a, b, having arched tops. d, d,
are openings at the sides of the kiln through which the lime or material
to be burned is charged and discharged. These openings may be closed
at pleasure by means of doors or other closing appliances; e, e, are.
openings in the arched tops of the chambers a, b, through which fuel is.
introduced during the burning process, or cold air is allowed to enter for
the purpose of cooling that part of the charge and kiln which have
been operated upon. The top ends of the openings e, e, are closed or
opened as required by means of the stoppers represented in Figure 3.
The chambers a, b, have a series of openings f, f, at their front ends
furnished with small fire-grates on which fire is kindled at the starting
of the burning process. The said chambers a, b, are also provided with
openings 9, 9, at their rear ends, by which openings g, g, they are con-
nected with the chimney stack h. The chambers a, b, are also connected
together by means of openings i, k, at their extreme front and rear ends
respectively, which said openings i, k, are provided with dampers for
the purpose of closing them when required. A horizontal flue extends
from nearly the front to the rear end of the kiln, the said flue being
situated in the upper part of the space between the two arched
chambers a, b. The rear end of the flue opens directly into the chimney
stack h. Vertical flues m, n, in the outer and middle walls respectively
of the kiln are connected with the longitudinal flue 7. Small horizontal
flues q situated above the arched chambers a, b, open directly into the
longitudinal flue 7. Small vertical passages r connect the flues q with
the arched tops of the chambers a, b. The several flues m, n, and q are

page_text: provided with dampers, as indicated at p, p, by means of which dampers
the current of heated air and products of combustion circulating in the.
kiln may be controlled and directed, and the gaseous matter evolved:
from the materials under treatment also controlled and directed..
The kiln proper may be surmounted by a shed or covering for .the:
purpose of protecting the workmen employed in firing the kiln, as well.
as to protect the kiln itself from the weather.
In using the kiln for the burning of limestone the limestone is
charged in the kiln in the usual way, the required horizontal and
vertical passages being left. The burning process is started by fires lighted
at the small fire-places f, f, at the front of one of the chambers a or 6 of
the kiln, and the firing process is continued from the front towards the
rear of the kiln by fuel introduced through the openings e, e, connected,
with the arched tops of the chambers of the kiln, the fuel being intro-
duced in succession into the first, second, and third cross rows of
openings represented in the plan, Figure 1. By this method of feeding
in the fuel the combustion proceeds from the front to the rear end of
the chamber. The contents of those portions of the chamber which
have been sufficiently operated upon by the fire, and where the fire is no
longer kept up, are cooled by the opening of the side passages d, and
the removal of the plugs from the openings e, e. Cold air is drawn in
at the said openings d and e, whereby the contents of the kiln operated.
upon are cooled, and the air heated which supplies the combustion of
the parts under operation. The products of combustion and the car-
bonic acid gas evolved (in the burning of limestone) are carried off by,
the flues m, n, q, and I to the stack h.
The operation described with respect to one of the chambers a, b, may.
be carried on simultaneously in both chambers, or the process may be
made a continuous one, that is, after the combustion has proceeded from
the front to the rear of one of the chambers it may be directed to the
rear end of the other chamber, and proceed from the rear end of the
last-named chamber to its front end, when crossing to the chamber.
where the combustion was first started it may proceed in that chamber
in the manner already described. In this way the burning process:
travels slowly through the two chambers, portions of the chambers in:
advance of the combustion being charged, while those portions in the
rear of the combustion are being cooled and discharged..

page_text: The continuity of the process is effected by means of the dampers 8, 8,
and t, t, Figures 1 and 5, situated in the cross passages i and k at the
rear and front ends of the chambers.
In order to work the kiln continuously the dampers 8, 8, and t, t,
are raised and lowered alternately, that is, when the dampers 8, 8, are t
raised the dampers t, t, are lowered, and the reverse, so that the
chambers a, b, constitute virtually one continuous chamber. By closing
the passages i and k by the dampers s, t, the two chambers a, b, are made
independent of each other, and can be worked separately.
When the process is worked continuously communication with the 1
stack is through the longitudinal central flue exclusively, the
separate connections g of the chambers a, b, with the said stack / being
closed by means of dampers u, u.
Although I have only represented one of my improved kilns, yet I
prefer to arrange two of them side by side and connect them with the 1
chimney stack.
The application of my Invention to the burning of bricks, potteryware,
and other like purposes, will I believe be sufficiently understood by the
description herein-before given of the application of my Invention
to the burning of lime, reference being had to the accompanying 2
Drawings.
'
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I
do not limit myself to the precise details herein described and illustrated
as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of my 2
Invention; but I claim as my Invention, the improvements in kilns for
burning lime, bricks, and potteryware, and for other like purposes,
herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings,
that is to say, constructing the said kilns of a chamber divided longi-
tudinally into two compartments or chambers provided with arched tops, 3
and combining with the said compartments or chambers a horizontal
flue situated between their arched tops and opening into the chimney
stack, vertical flues in the outer and middle walls of the kiln, and hori-
zontal flues opening into the arched tops of the chambers communicating
with the said horizontal flue, substantially as and for the purposes 3
described and illustrated; also connecting the two compartments or

page_text: chambers of the kiln together at the rear and front ends by cross
passages controlled by dampers in the dividing wall of the kiln, whereby
the burning process may be made a continuous one at pleasure; and
also constructing and combining or arranging the other parts of the kiln,
substantially as described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel De la Grange Williams, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of April,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.
Witness,
SAMUEL DE LA GRANGE WILLIAMS, JUN³. (L.S.)
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw,
Birmingham.