IMPROVEMENTS IN GENERATING HEAT, AND IN THE APPARATUS AND MEANS EMPLOYED IN THE APPLICATION THEREOF TO VARIOUS PURPOSES.
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Robertson, of Nitshill, in the County of
Renfrew, North Britain, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
GENERATING HEAT, AND IN THE APPARATUS AND MEANS EMPLOYED IN THE
APPLICATION THEREOF TO VARIOUS PURPOSES.
Sealed the 29th October 1872, and dated the 30th August 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Robertson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
30th August 1872.
I, JOHN ROBERTSON, of Nitshill, in the County of Renfrew, North
Britain, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of "Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN GENERATING HEAT, AND IN THE APPARATUS AND MEANS EMPLOYED
IN THE APPLICATION THEREOF TO VARIOUS PURPOSES," to be as follows, that is
to say :-
This Invention has for its object the employment of hydrocarbons and
other inflammable gases admixed with atmospheric air under pressure as
a means of producing heat, and the Invention may be adapted to the
generation of steam in steam boilers, to the smelting and refining of iron
and other ores, to the heating of cooking stoves or ranges, or to other
purposes for which heat is employed.

page_text: In carrying this Invention into practice the hydrocarbon or other gas
employed is mixed with the atmospheric air previous to ignition, the air
being forced in any desired proportion through a separate pipe into the
pipe chamber or flue containing the gas by a fan, blowing engine,
pump, or other similarly suitable means, and the combined gases and air
issuing from perforations or burners in the pipe are ignited and burned
after the manner of blow pipe jets, or the combined air and gas may be
burned in a volume at an opening in the pipe or flue, thereby producing
intense heat.
In adapting this Invention to the generation of steam in steam boilers
it is preferred to construct the boiler with one or more winding or other
flues, in the interior of which a pipe or pipes provided with perforations
or burners is situate. The hydrocarbon or other gas and the compressed
air are inducted into the pipe or pipes at one extremity of the flue or
flues, and ignited at the perforations or burners throughout the pipe or
pipes, the products of combustion passing out at the opposite end of the
flue or flues into a stalk, chimney, or other exit. The winding or other
flue or flues may be arranged vertically or horizontally according as the
boiler is of the vertical or horizontal class.
In adapting this Invention to melting or smelting iron and other ores
or metals the pipe or pipes through which the compressed air and inflam-
mable gas pass into the furnace is formed open at the end at which the
admixed air and gas is ignited in lieu of being perforated or formed with
burners, as herein-before set forth, and in adapting the Invention to the
heating of cooking stoves or ranges, the portion of the pipe formed with
perforations or burners is conducted into the fire-grate of the stove or
range, or the pipe may simply be conducted under a heating plate, with
or without openings, on which the cooking utensils may be placed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Robertson in the Great Seal Patent Office 30
on the 28th February 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
ROBERTSON, of Nitshill, in the County of Renfrew, North Britain, send
greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the 36th
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said John Robertson, Her special license that I,
the said John Robertson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said John Robertson, my executors, administrators,
or 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, excrcise, and vend, within the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands,
and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN GENERATING HEAT,
AND IN THE APPARATUS AND MEANS EMPLOYED IN THE APPLICATION THEREOF TO
VARIOUS PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
John Robertson, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
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 John Robertson, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
:-
My said Invention, which relates to improvements in generating and
communicating heat, to the application of heat so generated, and to
certain apparatus and means in or with which my said improvements in
generating and communicating heat are employed, consists as follows:-
The heat is produced by the ignition or burning of a jet or jets of mixed
air and gas.
The gases employed may be common coal gas, carburetted
hydrogen, the vapour of hydrocarbons, hydrogen gas, carbonic oxide
gas, or the mixture of hydrogen and carbonic oxide obtained by passing
steam over heated coke or other carbonaceous materials, or other inflam-
mable gases obtained from the destructive distillation of vegetable,
animal, or mineral substances.
In carrying my said Invention into practice the atmospheric air used
is mixed with any one of the gases or vanours aforesaid, in any suitable

page_text: vessel or in pipes previous to issuing through the gas burner or burners,
and the gases and atmospheric air are mixed or kept mixed under a
sufficient pressure to cause the mixed air and gas to issue at any required
rate through the burner or burners in or issuing out of which the mixed
air and gas are burnt.
My said Invention is applicable to all purposes wherein the generation
or communication of heat is required or used, as it is capable of being
regulated from very intense to comparatively low temperatures. Some
of the especial adaptations of my said Invention are the generation of
steam, the smelting or reducing, melting and refining, of iron or ores of
iron and other ores, the heating of cooking stoves and ranges, the raising
of heat generally in works or manufactories, the heating of dwelling
houses and other buildings, also the heating of evaporating pans, stills,
retorts, and other vessels in chemical works.
In carrying my said Invention into practice the inflammable gas or
gases employed is or are mixed with the atmospheric air, either at the
place where the gas or gases are generated or at any other convenient,
place, and the admixture thereof may be effected at any point by fanning,
blowing, or pumping, or otherwise forcing or admitting the atmospheric
air amongst the gas or gases, either in a closed flue, chamber, or gas
holder, or other vessel, or vice versa, by fanning, blowing, pumping, or
otherwise forcing or admitting the gas or gases into or amongst the
atmospheric air. Or apparatus for forcing the air and gas through
separate pipes into dwelling houses, shops, warehouses, or public
buildings, or other places where heat is required may be used, the air
pipe and gas pipe being joined at any desired point previous to the gas
issuing from the burners.
In this last-mentioned case each pipe is preferably provided with a
valve or stop-cock, so that the person or persons requiring to use the
mixed air and gas may adjust the proportions of the air and gas in the
mixture according to the quality of the gas or gases used, and the tem-
perature and purpose for which the same is required.
Good proportions in the mixture of air and gas to use are for coal
gas from 5 to 10 parts of atmospheric air to. 1 part of coal gas by volume;
for carburetted hydrogen 6 to 9 volumes of air to 1 volume of carburetted
hydrogen; for carbonic oxide 2 volumes of air to 1 volume of carbonic
oxide; for hydrocarbon vapour the proportion of air used in the mixture

page_text: is about the same as that herein-before mentioned for coal gas; for
hydrogen, 2 volumes of air to 1 volume of hydrogen; and for the mixture
of hydrogen and carbonic oxide, 2 volumes of air to one volume of
mixed hydrogen and carbonic oxide.
It is however to be understood that I do not limit myself to these
proportions as any proportions of air and gas which constitute an inflam-
mable mixture may be employed; and further, in lieu of mixing one
only of the above-mentioned gases with the atmospheric air any two or
more of the gases may be mixed with the air.
Several of the applications to which my. Invention is adapted are
illustrated on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto appended, whereon Figure 1
is a vertical section of an upright boiler, within which steam is raised by
the communication of heat produced according to my aforesaid improve-
ments. At the lower part of the boiler an arrangement of apparatus for
effecting the combustion of the admixed gas and air is situated as shewn.
This apparatus consists of a chamber A, into which the mixed gas and
air is conducted by a pipe B, and from which it is distributed to
burners C held in openings formed at the upper side of the distributing
chamber A. The mixed air and gas is ignited at the burners C, to
facilitate which a doorway D is formed in the side of the boiler, and the
heat generated by the combustion of the mixed air and gas is communi-
cated to a series of cups or hemispherical surfaces E arranged at the
bottom of the boiler, as shewn, from whence it is imparted to the water
contained in the boiler. At the upper part of each cup E a hole or
opening is formed, and a tube F is connected thereto by which some of
the heat together with the products of combustion are conveyed from the
lower part of the boiler and through the water and steam spaces thereof
into a chamber G situate at its upper part, passing thence through the
chimney H.
.
Figure 2 is a longitudinal section of a horizontal steam boiler, and
Figure 3 a transverse section of the same, arranged to be heated by the
burning of jets of mixed air and gas. The boiler is constructed with two
flues A, situate in or near to its lower part, at the interior of each of
which a pipe B is placed, through which the mixed air and gas is con-
ducted into the flues A, the said mixed air and gas being burnt therein
by issuing through burners C inserted in holes or openings in the pipes .B
throughout the lengths of the flues A, as shewn.

page_text: The products of combustion are conducted from the flues A, through
passages D into a flue. E, situate above the flues A, by which after
having imparted their heat to the water and steam contained in the
boiler they are discharged into a vertical flue F, chimney, or other
suitable exit.
The pipes B of the boiler, illustrated at Figures 2 and 3, and also the
pipe B of the boiler, shewn at Figure 1, are provided with cocks or
valves (not shown on the Drawings) in order to regulate the supply of
mixed air and gas to the burners C.
Figure 4 is a longitudinal section of a furnace illustrating the adapta-
tion of my Invention to the smelting or reducing, melting or refining of
iron or other metals. A is a reverberatory chamber supported on pillars,
columns, or masonry B; and at the top or upper part of the chamber A
a distributing chamber C is situate, into which mixed air and gas is
conducted by the pipe D. Openings are formed in the roof of the
chamber A, leading from the chamber C, through which mixed air and
gas issue and burn in the chamber A, the heat thereby generated being
rapidly imparted to the iron or other metal on the hearth of the
chamber A. The products of combustion are conveyed away from the
chamber A through side openings y, or.they may be otherwise conducted
away from the said chamber. A cock or valve (not shewn on the
Drawings) is provided in the pipe D to regulate the intensity of the heat
within the chamber A by supplying a greater or lesser quantity of
admixed inflammable gas and air to the distributing chamber. It is
obvious that either an oxidising or decarbonising flame, or carbonising
or reducing flame, or a neutral flame may be produced at will in any
furnace employed for metallurgical purposes wherein the heat is pro-
duced by burning mixed air and gas according to this Invention by
cither regulating or varying the proportions of air and gas in the mixture.
Figure 5 illustrates an adaptation of my Invention to heating dwelling
houses, warehouses, public works, or other buildings, and for this
purpose a distributing chamber a is situate at the lower part of a fire-
grate, and into which air and gas mixed as herein before described is
conducted by a pipe b; a perforated slab c of fire-clay is placed in the
fire-grate above the distributing chamber a, and the mixed air and gas is
ignited at burners inserted in openings on the upper side of the said
chamber.

page_text: By the combustion of the gas and air the slab c becomes highly
heated, and the heat is thrown out therefrom into the room, hall, ware-
house, or other place in which the fire-grate is situated. Clay, chalk,
asbestos, or other material may, if desired, be piled loosely on the top of
the slab c, which on the gas and air being ignited becomes heated, or in
lieu of these substances coal may be piled on the slab c.
Figure 6 is a vertical section of a portable cooking stove, arranged to
be heated by air and gas mixed as herein-before described, the mixture
of air and gas being conducted through the pipe A into the distributing
chamber b, and consumed at the burners c. The pot, kettle, or other
cooking utensil is placed so as to rest on projections d, between which
projections spaces are left for the outward passage of the products of
combustion.
"
Figure 7 illustrates in plan, and Figure 8 in vertical section the
adaptation of my Invention to a cooking range. The heating plate a of
the range is formed with a number of openings therein, beneath each of
which a distributing chamber 6 provided with burners c is situate, as
shewn at Figure 8. The admixed air and gas is conducted into the
chambers 6 from the pipe d by branch pipes e, each of which is provided
with a cock for regulating or cutting off the air and gas from the
chamber in communication therewith.
Figure 9 illustrates in plan, and Figure 10 in transverse section the
adaptation of my Invention to the singeing of textile fabrics, for which
purpose the mixed air and gas is conducted through the pipe a, and is
consumed at the burners inserted therein. The fabric to be singed is
rapidly passed or drawn over the guide c, through perforations in which
the flame may be allowed to impinge on the fabric, or the guide may be
made of wire gauze, or formed without perforations, in which case it is
highly heated and the fabric is singed by the heat evolved therefrom.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my
said Invention, and several arrangements of apparatus and methods in
or under which the same is or may be used or practically carried into
effect, I would observe in conclusion that I do not claim generally the
employment of mixed air and coal gas issuing from jets under pressure
for heating hand or sad irons, calender bowls or rolls, press plates, or
other apparatus used for dressing or finishing textile fabrics; neither do
I limit myself to the several apparatus, methods, and applications of my

page_text: said Invention, herein-before set forth, as it is obvious that my said
Invention may be used with several other forms or arrangements of
apparatus, as well as, for other purposes; but what I do consider to be
novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me
by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
First. The mixing of air with any one of the several gases herein-
before described, or with mixtures of any two or more of such gases
under pressure in pipes or passages, vessels, or in gas holders, also
supplying and using the same for the purposes of generating or com-
municating heat, as herein-before described.
Secondly. The arrangements of apparatus herein-before described and
shewn upon the annexed Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Robertson, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of February One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.