US579910A - Smokeless furnace - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

H. A. WHEELER.

2 Sheets- Sheet i.

SMOKELESS FURNACE.

No. 579,910.v

Wlesses MMM/@WMU Patented Ma.1'.`30. 1897.

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

E. A. WHEELER. sMoKBLEss FURNAGB.

No. 579,910. Patented Mar. 30, 1897. i

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UNITED STATES PATENT QEETCE.

HERBERT ALLEN WHEELER, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

SMOKELESS FU RNACE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 579,910, dated March 30, 1897'.

Application filed March 9, 1896. Serial No. 582,512. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERBERT ALLEN WHEELER, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, have invented new and useful Improvements in Smokeless Furnaces, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in the fireboxes or furnaces of boilers, kilns, roasting, calcining, and heating furnaces and other devices Where the production of heat Without smoke is desired with a maximum economy of fuel, with a uniform maintenance of heat, an avoidance of the waste of fuel that arises in cleaning lires when using grate-bars, and a minimum cost in the erection and maintenance of the furnace; and with these objects in view my invention consists of the novel devices and combinations hereinafter described and specifically claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, on two plates, Figure l is a longitudinal section through the fireplace and boiler. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the fireplace, and Fig. 3 is a plan of the fireplace with the top plate m removed to better show the construction.

Similar letters refer to similar parts in all the drawings.

Of the various applications that may be made of this very economical, inexpensive, smokeless furnace I have shown it applied to a steam-boilerA for making steam, as this is the field in which there is the greatest demand for a smokeless, inexpensive, durable furnace, especially to overcome the smoke nuisance in large cities, but I do notlimit the furnace to this field, as there are many other applications Where these features are very valuable and desirable, as in kilns for lime, cement, and claywares, roasting, calcining, and heating furnaces, or for any purpose where the most economical -production of heat is desired with the avoidance of smoke and a minimum cost of erection and repair of the furnace.

The design herein described is to overcome the objections to the perishable fire-pots and other ironwork shown in my application for patent for a Smokeless Economizer Furnace, Serial No. 574,529, filed January 6, 1896, by substituting tire-brick, which Will cost less to erect, be very much more durable in withstanding heat, and will not be subject to the warping and cracking of the exposed ironwork therein shown and described, while it has the same advantages of economy in fuel and smokeless character of the fire of my prior device.

The boiler A is hung by lugs C on the side Walls Bin the usual manner, while the uptake E and stack F are of the usual pattern common in boilers.

Instead of usually carrying the tire or grate bars as in current practice, I prefer when the fuel permits to employ adead or solid bottom Z, of fire-brick, that sets on a sand cushion lo. The fuel is fed through the iiring-hole c into a fore chamber w and spreads out on the solid bottom Z to the base of the fire-bridge G and into the ash-pit archway c. The fore chamber w is kept filled with fuel to at or about the firing-hole c. Air is supplied for carrying on the combustion at the base of the fore chamber w through the ash-pit arch e,

which extends acrossthe fireplace and through the firing-hole c. A curtain-wall b, that is carried by an arch g, of fire-brick or other suitable material, separates the fore chamber w, into which the fuel is fed, from the combustion-chamber c, which latter is formed by the curtain-wall b, the fire-bridge G, and the two side Walls B. The fire-bridge G is backed by earth filling H in the usual manner, which latter' is sloped back to the rear of the boiler, as shown.

The fore chamber w is formed by the curtain-Wall b, the front Wall of fire-brick d, and the corbelled fire-brick walls h, that drop back to the special side walls c' of the fore furnace. By corbelling these side Walls t' the firing-hole c is contracted to a size suitable for feeding the fuel and cleaning the walls of clinkers without admitting too much air if it was too large, While they conform in outline to the slope that the fuel takes in falling when fed into the fire-hole c.

The front wall d has the ash-pit arch fat its base for the admission of air, the removal of clinkers, and the cleaning of the fire through the doorway or opening e, which is covered by a swinging door q, that is hung on hinges r, that are suspended from a front plate n, of

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cast-iron or other suitable material, that is held in place by anchor-bolts s.

The top of the fore furnace is protected by a lnetal plate m, of cast-iron or othersuitable material, that is held in place by the anehorbolts t and which has the firing-hole c. The firing-hole c is covered by fireclay tiles p or by a hinged door or other suitable device.

The curtain-wall b is protected and supported by the front plate o, of cast-iron or other suitable material, that is anchored by the anchor-bolts c. Special back staves and tierods D support the arch g, that carries the curtain-wall b.

The side walls B are held together by the back staves and tie-rods D in the usual manner.

The operation of the furnace or fire-boxv consists in lling the fore chamber zu with coal or other fuel, after lighting in the usual manner, up to or about the firingdiole c and leaving the aslrpit door q and the firing door or hole e open. rlhe fuel spreads out in a conical pile from the front wall d to the firebridge G and into the asli-pit c. The air enters through e, as the door q is kept open, and in passing through the mass of fuel in the lower portion of the fore chamber fw crcates au intense heat in front of the arch f, which so softens the ashes of the fuel into a clinker that it slowly runs as a pasty mass out into the ash-pit c, where from time t0 time it is removed. As the air passes through the thick bed of fuel it first oxidizes the latter into carbonie acid, (002,) butthis is converted into the imperfeetly-burned condition of earbonic oxid (CO) as. it passes farther into the incandescent fuel, and loss of fuel would result if it did not meet with an excess of oxygen that enters with the air as a downdraft through the fire-hole C, for an excess of air enters through the firing-hole c through the upper part of the fore chamber, and as the bed of fuel is thin Ithrough which it passes to reach the arch g at the base of the curtainwall only aportion of its oxygen is consumed; but it is raised to a high temperature, so that in entering the combuStien-chamber a the conditions of time, space, and temperature are favorable for it to perfectly burn lthe carbonie oxid, hydrocarbons that are distilled from the fresh fuel, and other combustible gases, for the large space, highly-heated surrounding walls of fire-brick, and time allowed for mixing and burning in the combustionehamber a result in a high heat, perfect combustion, andthe avoidance of smoke. The lower portion of the fore chamber w thus largely performs the function of a gas-producer in making carbonio oxid, while the upper portiomwith its restricting-eurtain L, performs the function of a downdraft rcheatingfurnace for preheating the air before it enters the combustion-cham ber a. If the fuel in the upper portion of w is kept too deep, it will become more of a gas-producer than a pre heater, Vand insufficient air will enter to insure perfect combustion, while iff the depth of fuel is kept too thin it will not sufficiently heat the air to insure perfect combustion in a.

The design of the furnace enables, with moderate experience, the maintenance of the proper depth of fuel in the upper portion of n: above the arch t, according to the size and kind of fuel, to secure perfect combustion.

The fuel is added frequently and in small a1nounts,which prevents the admission of cold air if the fuel-level is kept above the crown of the arch g, and this insures uniformity of temperature, which is so desirable for boil ers, kilns, and heating-furnaces, as it prolongs the life of the furnace and boiler and adds greatly to the quality of the ware in burning clay goods.

The longperiod required for the fuel to pass from e to c gives it time to be completely burned, so that only elinkers, slag, and ashes fall out at e, which are removed from time to time, and the more frequently they are re moved the higher the heat will be, while it avoids the waste of fuel that occurs when cleaning grate-bars of clinkers, when more or less unburned fuel is always hauled out with the clinkers in the usual practice. The fore chamber w projects sufficiently in front of the boiler to enable the front wall (Z and curtain-wall Z) to be cleaned of adhering elinkers with a sharp bar through the firing-hole c, while the clinkers that adhere to the bottom and sides of the furnace are removed through the ash-pit doorway e.

The absence of ironwork that is exposed to a high heat and the simplicity of the construction of the furnace result in a low cost of erection and maintenance.

The ash-pit door q may be hung on overhead or side hinges or hung on rollers or operated by sliding doors or any other convenient way.

The ash-pit doorway e may be made as a simple large arch that spans the entire width of the furnace or it may be subdivided int-o two or more smaller spans.

The firing-door c may be made of onelargc central opening or it may be subdivided into two or more smaller openings. It may be covered with fire-clay tiles or hinged doors, rolling doors, sliding covers, or by any other convenient way or any other suitable material.

The front wall d, curtain-wall l), special side walls i, corbelled walls 7L, lire-bridge G, and bottom Z may be made of fire-b1.ick,stup, ganister, or any suitable refractorymaterial.

\Vhen the fuel is slack, sawdust, or other material that will not admit sufficient air, or where for any reason it is preferable to use grate-bars instead of firing on a dead bottom, then grate-bars QJ, carried on bearing-bars j/j, as shown in Fig. l, are employed. rlhc high economy in fuel, the perfect combustion, and the avoidance of smoke are still prevented when using grate-bars, but the cost of erection and repairs is greater than when using a solid or dead bottom.

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What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. Af urnace comprising the solid front wall d, the ash-pit arch f located in the front wall, the solid curtain-wall b, the arch g located vin the curtain-wall, the downdraft ring-hole c,

c and fore chamber lw, located between the front Wall and the curtain-wall, the corbelled Walls h, the fire-bridge G, the combustion-chamber located between the curtain-wall and the ire-A bridge, and the fuel-bottom Z extending beneath the curtain-wall, the living-hole and the combustion-chamber, substantially as described.

2. A furnace comprising the solid front wall d, the ash-pit arch f, located in the front wall, the solid curtain-wall b, the arch g located in the curtain-wall, the downdraft firing-hole c, and fore chamber w located between the front wall and the curtain-wall, the corbelled walls h, the fire-bridge G, the combustion-chamber located between the curtain-wall and the firebridge, and the fuel-bottom Z extending beneath the front Wall, the curtain-wall, the firing-hole and the combustion-chamber7 substantially as described.

HERBERT ALLEN WHEELER. Witnesses: C. S. ROGERS,

H. A. DANFORTH.

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