Specification of Henry Bessemer : fuel and furnaces.

  • Bessemer, Henry.
Date:
1855
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Specification of Henry Bessemer : fuel and furnaces. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    6/28 (page 4)
    ,“i — ■■ «. i i Bessemer s Improvements in the Preparation of Fuel for Furnaces. the arrangement of which is so well understood as not to require any detailed description here. The furnace a is of the reverberatory kind, and has a fire¬ place at c, provided with fire bars d and doors e. f is an endless chain bed, of peculiar construction, passing over polygonal drums g, mounted on axes h; the horizontal position of the chain f is insured by small iron rollers i, which 5 support it at short intervals. The rollers i are provided with axes, which work in iron sockets let into the side walls of the furnace, as does also the axis h* of the polygonal drum g*. The chain bed consists of a number of iron bars, of about thirty inches in length, notched on each side, and fitting into each other in a similar manner to a common hinge joint, and, like the hinge, it has a pin 10 passing entirely through it, and thus forms a joint capable of folding over the polygonal drums g, and also of presenting a nearly flat surface on the upper side, see Figures 6 and 7, where a part of the chain bed is shewn on a larger scale. Near the end of the furnace farthest from the fire there is fixed a hopper j, into which the small coal is thrown ; this hopper has a roller Jc, with leaves 15 projecting from it, working in a cylindrical part formed in the hopper. The roller h is mounted on a shaft l, which turns in bearings formed in the bosses cast on the sides of the hopper j. The shaft l is further supported by a plummer block n, and carries on its outer end a drum m, which receives motion from the strap o, and causes a regulated quantity of the small coal to pass from the 20 hopper through the opening p, and fall upon the endless chain bed in a thin layer; the motion of the chain bed in the direction of the fire-place c will bring the coal along with it, and discharge it into the hopper r. To prevent any portion of the coal that may stick to the chain from being carried back again, a scraper s is made to press its edge against the lower part of the chain ; the 25 scraper is mounted on an axis, and has a lever and ball q, the weight of which presses the edge of the scraper against the chain. It will be seen that the fire bridge t rises sufficiently high to proctect the chain from the violent action of the fire, and it at the same time forms one side of the hopper or resceptacle r. I have shewn a break in the Drawing, to denote that the furnace and chain bed 30 are to be made longer than is there represented; from thirty to forty feet of bed will be found to answer well. When a fire is made in the fire-place c, the heat will be reverberated on to the thin stratum of coal upon the chain bed, which, as it first enters from the hopper, will be subjected to the lowest temperature of the furnace, and will be brought progressively into the hotter 35 part near the fire bridge, while new portions of coal will be deposited upon the chain bed as it passes under the hopper j9 which will in turn be carried towards the fire bridge; the increased temperature to which it is thus subjected will cause the coal to soften, and commence to give off some of its volatile