five feet diameter, it is made to perform about one revolution per minute. Every time it arrives at a certain point, the channel from the coal hopper is opened; and in order to prevent the air from passing down through the coal, the patentee in his specification describes a rim, upon which the regulator is intended to lay, descending into a trough for the purpose of forming a water or sand valve. There is also a regulator to the feeder, connected with the damper, so that if the boiler become too hot, or the pressure of the steam increase, the quantity of coal supplied should be diminished in a proportionate degree. The nature of this very ingenious apparatus will however be more fully understood by a reference to the improved furnace, &c. erected at Messrs. Smith and Liptrap's distillery, Whitechapel. Plate VIII. A A. Waggon boilers, to which the supplementary boilers B B are attached; the smaller or supplementary boilers being placed immediately over the fire, while the larger boilers derive an additional supply of heat from the passage of the chimney C. D. Chimney doors. EEE. Hoppers by which the coal boxes FFF are supplied with fuel. FFF. Coal boxes furnished with sliding plates, through the openings of which the coals are allowed to fall on the ignited fuel. GGGG. Steam-pipes joining the waggon and supplementary boilers. H. Furnace door attached to the supplementary boiler by a cement joint. II. Doors opening into the air-flues, to assist in the combustion of the smoke, and to withdraw the dust that may fall over the edge of the fire-grate. K. Axis or spindle upon which the grate is made to revolve; the motion being communicated direct from the engine by the pinion and wheels L. M. Foundation plate, in which are formed the pivot holes for the axis K and the upright shaft N. O. Feed-pipes of the waggon boilers. P. Steam-pipe leading to the engine. Q. Pipe communicating with the safety-valve V. · R. Horizontal shaft communicating with the vertical axis N, and also with the engine by which the whole apparatus is turned. SS. Chains attached to the damper chains, by which the lever T is moved, and the wedge U made to rise or fall with the damper plate; so that when the steam is in excess, it may diminish the supply of coals in proportion to that excess, and vice versa. V. Safety-valve. W. Self-acting stop-valve, to prevent the steam passing from one boiler to the other when two boilers are used. X. A rod connected with the lever Y, which by press ing upon the stop-valve, closes the communication between the two boilers, when a reduced supply of steam is required. Z. Gauge pipes to ascertain the amount of water in the boiler. a. Man-hole of waggon boiler, furnished with an internal safety-valve b. c. Stone float within the boiler. d. Bridge walls. f. Sand trough, in which revolves a thin plate attached to the fire grate, to prevent the air passing in any other way than through the bars. h. The fire bricks surrounding the grate bars. i A scraper attached to the grate, and, which revolving with it, cleans the air-flue. From the above description it will be evident, that the great advantage arising from the employment of this apparatus, consists in an equable supply of coal, and in the smoke arising from its combustion having to pass over the entire mass of burning fuel prior to entering the chimney. By these means, the greater part if not the whole of the smoke is consumed; and it will be evident that the inflammable materials of which it is composed, will furnish an additional supply of valuable fuel, which would otherwise be thrown unconsumed into the atmosphere. As, however, direct experiment is the only sure test, by which this, or indeed any project, can fairly be tried, we annex the results arising from two experiments; the one made at the distillery of Messrs. Liptrap and Smith, Whitechapel, London, to whose kindness we are indebted for the means of completing the above description, and the other at the Old Union Mill, Birmingham. At the Old Union Mill, Nine Days experiment, Common Furnace consumed Fire Regulator 465 cwt. 290 The Whitechapel Distillery, Eighteen Days experiment, Common Furnace consumed Fire Regulator 284 bushels. In the year 1813, the late Mr. Sheffield took out a patent for air-conductors to his improved reverberatory furnaces, which, though it was not one of the objects of the inventor, had the effect of consuming the smoke, by converting it into flame. The air-conductors of Mr. Sheffield were afterwards directly applied to the consumption of smoke by Mr. Wakefield of Manchester; and more recently, Mr. Johnson, brewer at Salford, has taken out a patent for a contrivance for the same purpose, which is the counterpart of Mr. Sheffield's air-conductor. Mr. Johnson's contrivance is represented in the accompanying diagram, where e is the ash-hole and fire-place; a, the tube or leading part of the air-conductor; c the passage by which coals are introduced to the mass of burning fuel. The blocks of fire-brick or iron, at g h and f, are employed to secure a circuitous path for the inflammable materials that would otherwise pass directly into the chimney. The register is furnished with a handle k to regulate the supply of air necessary for the complete combustion of the smoke. A brief historical view of the application of the steamengine to the propelling of carriages, will be found at p. 42, and we now propose to furnish our readers with a graphic illustration of the apparatus by which this important desideratum in the useful arts is effected. |