IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM BOILER AND OTHER FURNACES
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM BOILER AND OTHER
FURNACES." -A communication.
t
Sealed the 18th May 1855, and dated the 28th November 1854.
だ
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
•
at the Office of the, Commissioners of: Patents, with his Petition, on the
.28th November 1854:
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM BOILER AND OTHER
FURNACES" to be as follows:-"
"The object of this Invention is to effect the combustion of the smoke arising
from the burning of fuel in furnaces. For this purpose, the following means
are proposed to be employed-In cases where the boiler or evaporating pan
is set above the fire-place, the space for the passage upward of the flame is
contracted, either by interposing a pipe or pipes, or partitions made of fire-
clay or brick, and running parallel with the side walls of the furnace, or by
causing the side walls to incline-inwards and then again to recede. In either
case, streams of air, steam, or other medium for obtaining oxygen are con-
ducted into the furnace at the level of this contracted part, the air or steam
passing either through the fire-clay-pipes,.or_through_flues made in the side
T-

page_text: walls, or both, and thence out at: lateral openings made in the side walis
or pipes.
This arrangement has a double purpose; viz., 1st, to raise the temperature
of the gases of combustion as they pass over or around the surface of fire-clay
exposed to the heat of the fire; and, 2nd, to ensure. the perfect mingling of the
oxygen with the flame and gases generated. In some cases it may be desirable
to increase the heat-absorbing power of the furnace, by applying either above
or below the contracted space before mentioned a shield of fire-clay, round
which the flame will play before passing into contact with the heating surface
of the boiler.
To prevent the boiler or other vessel to be heated absorbing the heat from
the fire so rapidly as to hinder the complete combustion of the smoke, it is
proposed to divide the fire-place into two parts, by a cross partition, projecting
downwards from the roof of the fire-place, but leaving a free passage forwards
for the flame and gases, and to provide the forward part only of the fire-place
with the means above explained for. oxygenating the gases of combustion. In
the first division of the furnace, or that to which the black coal is supplied,
the combustion will be comparatively slow, while in the forward part, which
is supplied from time to time with red-hot fuel from the first division, or that
nearest the furnace door, a sufficient heat will always be kept up to ensure the
burning of the smoke which passes thereto from the first division.
This Invention is also applicable to locomotive and marine boilers. In such
cases where it is not possible to make the narrow passages for the flame above
the grate, but where there is available space behind the grate, the following
modification is adopted :-The flame passes from the fire-place over a common
fire-bridge into a chamber, and thence through one or more narrow passages,
formed by a combination of fire-clay heat absorbers, placed sufficiently near the
flame to be highly heated, so that they present hot surfaces to the volatile parts
of the fuel not yet consumed, and thereby facilitate their combustion. The
form of these heat absorbers may be various, as circumstances may demand,
but they must be constructed and arranged in such a manner-as-to-form
narrow-ways-for-the flame between them. Oxygen may be introduced into
the furnace through the heat absorbers, as well as through the bridge, as
ordinarily practised.
In cases where the flame immediately it is produced comes in contact.with
the heating surface of the boiler, it is proposed to cover either totally or par-
tially the boiler surface at the part where the flame would strike with fire tiles
or bricks, for the purpose before explained.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 28th May 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license that I, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM BOILER AND OTHER FURNACES," being a
communication from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 fol-
lowing statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
The object of this Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign corre-
spondent, is to effect the combustion of the smoke arising from the burning of
fuel in furnaces. For this purpose, the following means are proposed to be
employed:-In cases where the boiler or evaporating pan is set above the fire-
place, the space for the passage upward of the flame is contracted, either by
interposing a pipe or pipes, or partitions made of fire-clay or brick, and running
parallel with the side walls of the furnace, or by causing the side walls to
incline-inwards, and then again_to_recede. In either case, streams of air,

page_text: steam, or other medium for obtaining oxygen, are conducted into the furnace,
at the level of this contracted part, the air or steam passing either through
the fire-clay pipes, or through flues made in the side walls, or both, and thence
out at lateral openings made in the side walls or pipes. This arrangement
has a double purpose; (viz.), first, to raise the temperature of the gases of com-
bustion as they pass over or around the surface of fire-clay exposed to the
heat of the fire; and, second, to ensure the perfect mingling of the oxygen
with the flame and gases generated. In some cases it may be desirable to
increase the heat-absorbing power of the furnace, by applying either above or
below the contracted space before mentioned a shield of fire-clay, round which
the flame will play before passing into contact with the heating surface of
the boiler.
7
To prevent the boiler or other vessel to be heated absorbing the heat from
the fire so rapidly as to hinder the complete combustion of the smoke, it is
proposed to divide the fire-place into two parts, by a cross partition, projecting
downwards from the roof of the fire-place, but leaving a free passage forwards
for the flame and gases; and to provide the forward part only of the fire-place
with the means above explained for oxygenating the gases of combustion.
In the first division of the furnace, or that to which the black coal is
supplied, the combustion will be comparatively slow, while in the forward
part, which is supplied from time to time with red-hot fuel from the first
division, or that nearest the furnace door, a sufficient heat will always be
kept up to ensure the burning of the smoke which passes thereto from the
first division.
<
This Invention is also applicable to locomotive and marine boilers. In
such cases where it is not possible to make the narrow passages for the flame
above the grate, but where there is available space behind the grate, the
following modification is adopted: The flame passes from the fire-place over
a common fire-bridge into a chamber, and thence through one or more narrow
passages, formed by a combination of fire-clay heat absorbers, placed suffi-
ciently near the flame to be highly heated, so that they present hot surfaces to
the volatile parts of the fuel not yet consumed, and thereby facilitate their
combustion. The form of these-heat-absorbers may be various, as circum-
stances may demand, but they must be constructed and arranged in such-a
manner as to form narrow ways for the flame between them. Oxygen may be
introduced into the furnace through the heat absorbers, as well as through the
bridge, as ordinarily practised.
In cases where the flame immediately it is produced comes in contact with

page_text: the heating surface of the boiler, it is proposed to cover either totally or
partially the boiler surface, at the part where the flame would strike, with fire
tiles or bricks, for the purpose before explained..
In Sheet I. of the accompanying Drawings, Figs. 1, 2, and 3 shew, in
vertical section and in sectional plan, one arrangement of the improved-con-
struction of furnace for consuming smoke: bis the fire-place, with inclined
sides h, h, forming for the flame one or more contracted passages c, extending
partly or totally over the length of the grate. Immediately over this passage c
the fire-place is enlarged, to permit of the flame spreading, as in ordinary
furnaces. The necessary draught is produced by a chimney, by an artificial
apparatus for blowing, or by other suitable and well-known means. Adjacent
to the small passage c a means is provided for-conducting into the-flame
atmospheric air, steam, oxygen, or any other kind, of air or gas fit to help a
complete combustion. The introduction of this air, steam, &c. is most readily
effected by side flues e, or pipes from which the air, &c. escapes in jets into
the flame through small holes f, formed in the sides of the passage c. If it
is preferred to introduce only atmospheric air into the furnace, the flues e may
be brought into communication with, the átmosphere, and be provided with
slides g for regulating the supply of air thereto.
.
Instead of one passage c for the escape of the flame from the fire-place,
that passage may be divided into two or more by fire-proof objects, as shewn
at Figs. 18, 19, 20, (Sheet II.) of the Drawings, wherein hollow' lumps 1,
through which air is conveyed to the flame, are so placed as to divide the
passage c in small passages m. (In Figs. 18, 19, 20, the letters denote the
like parts as in Figs. 1, 2, 3.) The lumps l, it will be seen, are furnished
with a central channel i, which is in communication with the atmosphere,
and, by small lateral holes k, will transport the same to the flame as it
struggles through the contracted flame passages m..
It will now be understood that this improved construction of fire-place,
when exposed for some time to the flame, will, through the heated surfaces
hand I, impart a great heat to the less combustible parts of the fuel, and the
narrow passages c or m will ensure the intimate commixture of the air from
the ash pit with the flame. The additional supply of oxygen employed to
complete the combustion, by being introduced to the furnace through heated
passages,, as explained, will become highly heated before-mingling with the
flame and gases of combustion.
According to the nature of the fuel employed, or from other circumstances,
the improved furnace may be variously.constructed as respects the form and

page_text: .
position of the passages c or m. The small holes f and k, for the introduction
of atmospheric air, oxygen, &c., may be more or less numerous; they may be
applied on one or both sides of the passages c or m; they may be applied
throughout the whole length of these passages c or m, or only on a part of
their length. When burning a fuel to the flame of which it may be desirable
to present more heat surface than it is possible to offer by the above-described
arrangements, the furnace may be constructed on the plan shewn at Figs.
21, 22, 23. These Figures represent a fire-place similar to Figs. 1, 2, 3,
and the letters of reference indicate the like parts in the two arrangements.
Above the passage c a shield of fire-brick n is applied, which extends over
the entire length of the passage c. This shield n is rather broader than the
passage c, and is placed sufficiently high above it to permit of the flame
passing under the shield on both sides, as at o, o. In some cases the shield n
may be placed beneath the passage c. It is held in position by supports p, or
.in. any other practical manner. Shields of this nature may also be applied to
fire-places having more than one flame passage, like Figs. 18, 19, 20.
:
"Another modification in the construction of the fire-place is to be made if
there is a fuel to be consumed from which rise hardly-combustible gases or
other parts in such a quantity that, in spite of the above-mentioned means, it
is impossible to consume them all. A part of the aim is hit if one does not
throw the fuel into the-hind part of the fire-place, but lets it stay in the fore
part till the rise of the mentioned gases is over, whilst there is open fire in
the hind part over which these gases, &c. must pass. In order to assist this
procedure in some cases such a grate would be preferable, which in the fore
part is constructed without spaces, in order to prevent too violent a com-
bustion of the fuel-newly cast in, and by that too rapid a rise of the gases of
combustion."
;
This object the Inventor proposes to attain by a fire-place constructed in
the following manner:-The fire-place is divided into two parts, p and r,
(Figs. 24, 25, 26, 27,) by a wall or partition 9, which extends from one side of
the fire-place to the other. The hinder part may be constructed according
to either of the plans before described, with one_or_more_passages-for-the-
ascending flame.
Figs. 24, 26, 27, shew the part as constructed with one passage c, and
the same letters being used for the like parts in Figs. 1, 2, 3, no further
description of the arrangement for supplying air will be requisite. The
division P, beneath which is a part of the grate and of the ash-pit, is closed on
all four sides and above in such a manner that except at the spaces between

page_text: the grate bars and fire door s, it has no more openings than a passage t, by
which it is in communication with the hind part r. This opening is formed so
as to facilitate the pushing of the fuel from the fore part to the hind part
of the grate.
In constructing furnaces with a great heating surface many practical
difficulties would occur in applying the Invention after the manner above
set forth. To render the Invention applicable under such circumstances the
following plan is proposed by the Inventor:-In a furnace constructed, for
example, similar to Figs. 1, 2, 3, but with a very broad passage c, a central
partition wall w (Figs. 4, 5, 6,) is built up. This wall divides the fire-place
into two equal parts b and be. Two passages, cand c, are thus formed
for the flame, one on each side of the partition wall w.
The introduction of atmospheric air, oxygen, &c. into the upper part of the
flame is effected in the same manner as described with reference to Figs. 1,
2, and 3, by the pipes or perforations f. Siniilar pipes or perforations y,
leading from a channel a in the partition wall, may also be applied, yet the
last-mentioned air channels may sometimes be spared. As to the form of
this partition wall, it may be constructed more or less high; in the most cases,
however, it may be convenient to construct it in such a manner that the flame
may play over it from either side.
Figs. 7, 8, 9, 10, represent a furnace, in which, besides the partition wall
just mentioned, which virtually divides it into two furnaces, the other improve-
ments, described with reference to Figures 21 and 24, are applied. The same
reference letters being used for like parts in these Figures, a repetition of the
description given above will be unnecessary.
If thought desirable, two or more partition walls may be employed instead
of one. **
In the furnaces of boilers which have an interior fire space, the narrow
passages for the flame may be formed by applying fire-proof objects 1 (Figs. 11
and 12), in the form of cylinders, or in other forms, which cylinders extend
above the grate a, and reach from end to end thereof. If no other support
can be applied, the cylinders are to be fastened in the fore and the hind
One, two, or more of these cylinders
are
wall n and o of the fire-place.
to be applied-in-such a manner that above the grate one or more narrow
passages m for the flame, and, if necessary, one or more partition walls, are
formed, so that combustion takes place in the same manner as described with
reference to Figs. l*and 18.
The introduction of air into the upper part of the flame may be effected by

page_text: forming a chamber i in one or more of the cylinders, with lateral outlets k, in a
similar manner to that described with reference to Fig. 18.
The modification just described can also be applied to locomotive and
marine boilers. In such cases where it is not possible to make the narrow.
passages for the flame above the grate, but where there is space enough
in the length behind the grate, the following arrangement is used:-In
Figs. 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17, the flame passes from the fire-place b, over
a common fire-bridge c, into a chamber z, and thence through one or more
narrow passages m, formed of a combination of fire-clay cylinders 1, placed
sufficiently near the flame to become highly heated. By the traverse of the
gases of combustion over or around the heated surfaces l, their temperature
will be raised, and the combustion of the smoke will be greatly facilitated.
Oxygen may be introduced into the furnace by making one or more of the
cylinders hollow, as already explained, and conducting air thereto by a pipe or
channel, which can be regulated as desired. Air may likewise be introduced
through the fire-bridge into the fire-place by means of a channel e.
In cases,
where the flame.immediately it is produced comes in contact with the heating
surface of the boiler, the Inventor provides the boiler surface at the part where
the flame would strike with a covering of fire tiles or bricks p, for the purpose
of protecting it from the destructive action of the flame. This covering may
be extended over the whole or a part of the boiler surface constituting the
fire-place.
In Sheet III. of the Drawings, Figs. 28, 29, 30, and 31 represent a
furnace as chiefly suitable for English pit coals, particularly for boilers, with
inside firing. Behind the grate a is a fire-bridge c; above the greatest part
of the grate a are the clear boiler plates, and at the fire-bridge, or somewhat
before it, in some cases even behind it, there begins a fire-proof covering p
for the boiler plates. In boilers with cylindrical or elliptical fire tubes this
covering would have the form of a vault. The flame, having passed over the
fire-bridge centers-into-a-space, and from thence it passes through some
narrow passages m, formed by a combination-of-fire-clay-lumps 1, and arranged
in such a manner that the flame-passing between them comes as little as possible
in contact with the boiler plates. This covering p of the boiler plates may
cease immediately behind the lumps (which in many cases may have the
form of pillars), or it may be extended somewhat, farther. The introduction
of air into the upper part of the flame is done through the fire-bridge c by
canals and pipes e and f, or it may be introduced through one-or-more-of-the
obiects--

page_text: Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "Improvements in
Steam Boiler and other Furnaces," as communicated to me by my foreign
correspondent, and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I
wish it to be understood that, under the above in part recited Letters Patent,
I claim the means above described with reference to the Drawings, for con-
tracting the passage or passages by which the flame and gases of combustion
escape from the fire-place to the flues, and for dividing or diverting the current
of the flame and gases at that part of the furnace, and thereby permitting the
oxygen of the air or steam admitted in streams to the furnace to combine
intimately with the gases of combustion, and effect the consumption of the
smoke evolved from the burning fuel.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
.A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)