US1180545A - Boiler for the production of steam or for the evaporation of solutions. - Google Patents

Description

H. SCHEFTLEIN.

BOILER FOR THE PRODUCTION OF STEAM OR FOR THE EVAPORATION 0F SOLUTIONS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. I, 19I3.

Iutvnted Apr. 25, 1916 3 SHEE[SSHEET1 H. SCHEFTLEIN. I

BOILER FOR THE PRODUCHON 0F STEAM OR FOR THE EVAPORATION 0F SOLUTIONS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 1. 191a.

l.180,545. Patented Apr. 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2- 000000000 .ooooqoooo H. SCHEFTLEIN. BOILER FOR THE PRODUCTION OF STEAM OR FOR THE EVAPORATION 0F SOLUTIONS.

APPLICATION EILED NOV. 1. I913.

Patented Apr. 25, 1916.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3.

. HANS SCHEFTLEIN, OF CHRISTIANIA, NORWAY, ASSIGNOIR. TO NORSK HYDRO- ELEKTRISK KVELSTOFAKTIESELSKAB, OF CHRISTIANIA, NORWAY.

BOILER FOR THE PRODUCTION OF STEAM 013, FOR THE EVAPORATION OF SOLUTIONS.

Application filed November 1,1913. Serial N 0. 798,714.

T (lug/01110777, it mdg concern Be it known that I, HANS SCHEFTLEIN, a

Specificationof Letters Eatent.

subject ofthe Emperor of Germany, residing at Christiania, Norway, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Boilers for the Production of Steam or for the ings, and to letters or figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

In the production of nitrogen products by the combustion of the nitrogen of theatmosphere in an electric high voltage flame a comparatively s u all f portion only of the heat developed by t' elelectric energy is utilized for the oxidati n process. Attempts have therefore beerl made to utilize by various means the heat of the gases issuing from 1 the nitrogen furnace for other technical pur- 25.

poses, for instance the gases have been conducted through boiler plants. The efliciency however of these systems for utilizing the heat, h/asnot been very great. On one hand the large-cost of installation and the large space required relatively to the heat obtained, and on the other hand the large losses of heat caused by the passage of the gases through pipes or channels, will act to reduce the productiveness of the plants. Said drawbacks will all be avoided, when according to the present invention, the nitrogen furnace is made integral with the boiler plant whlch 1s possible when choosing suitable types of nitrogen furnace as well as of boiler plant.

According to the present invention a ni trogen furnace of the tube-furnace type (i. e. the kind of high voltage furnace in which the flame is drawn out mainly by the action of a powerful current of air) is mounted in a boiler of a construction suitable for the purpose so that the nitrogen furnace will replace the fire-box. Thus all the heat developed in the nitrogen furnace, and not-utilized for the oxidation of the nitrogen, will in this manner be supplied to the boiler without loss ofheat.

According to the invention 'aboiler of a combined fiue and smoke. tube system is used the end walls C and D of the boiler.

Patented Apr. 25, 1916.

for this purpose, the vertical form of such a boiler being particularly suitable.

The invention comprises not only the ,com bination of nitrogen furnace and boiler re-.

ferred to, but also. the utilization of the boiler plant thus obtained for other purposes, thus in the first place as evaporators for the solution (nitrate or nitrite solution, etc.) obtainedin the production of the nitrogen products, which will be hereafter more particularly explained.

In the accompanying drawing are shown two forms of boiler plants in accordance with the present invention.

Figures land 2 are a vertical sect-ion and a cross-section respectively of a boiler-construction -in which the nitrogen furnaces have been placed in position from below, Figs. 3 and 4 being corresponding sections of a boiler construction in which the nitrogen furnaces have been introduced from above.

In the former form the boiler has a flame tube A and smoke tubes B mounted between Beneaththe tube wall C is formed a chamber F insulated by chamotte E or the" like and connecting the flue A to the smoke tubes B.

At the top the gases pass from the smoke tube into a chamber G whence they are conducted on to cooling apparatus, etc. Said chamber is separated from the flue A by a chamber made of chamotte and which is carried so far downward in an enlarged portion of the flue that its lower end will be a sufficient distance below the steam chamber of the boiler.

Mounted in the flue are three nitrogen fur-- naces K of a well-known type (in the longitudinal sectional view only one furnace has been shown). The air enters at L and passes through the nitrogen furnaces in the direction of the arrows.

M is the water-cooled portion of the fur- B nace. This cooling, which is used to avoid too great dissociation, however, may be effected by means of a current of air accord which the gases pass in a downward direc-fflf tion, the same will give off so much of their" heat as not to have any destructive effect, in the chamber F, on the connection of the smoke tubes with the boiler wall. At this point the gases willalso have a temperature rendering them fit for use in caloriferes for heating air to be used in the concentration of nitric acid, for which reason anontlet N is suitably provided for this purpose. at that point.

One or more furnaces may be provided in each flame flue the latter arrangement being of a certain advantage owing to the fact that the peculiar pumping motion of the flame and the gases which takes place in the nitrogen furnaces, will thereby be neutralized.

In the furnace according to Figs. 3 and l,

in which the reference characters correspond to those in Figs. 1 and 2, three flame fines A (each having one nitrogen furnace K introduced in it from above) and four groups of smoke tubes B, have been provided and arranged as shown in Fig. l. The smoketubes are not mounted in the bottom plate (Lof the boiler. but in plates R forming the end walls of shorter flues S, which communicate through the chamber F with the flues A and in which the gases are allowed to cool before reaching the smoke tubes. Each flue A has an extension tube T into which the furnace is introduced from above. 7

The arrangement of'one furnace in each fiue has the advantage that closing devices, of a simpleconstruction maybe provided so that each furnace may be separately dismounted without interfering with the operation of the furnaces in the remaining flame flues.

The furnace is provided with an air preheating device which consists of a plurality of concentric cylinders U arranged to form communicating annular passages through which *air, supplied from the'inlet L. passes in the directions indicated by the arrows in Fig. 3, and is preheated before it reaches the arc in the central flue k of the furnace through which said air passes downward into the flame flue A. A cooling chrhnbcr M surrounds the lower portion of the central flue and is supplied with a cooling medium which is circulated through pipes m.

A. sufficient distance below the top of the steam chamber of the boiler, the flame flue A. is contracted and the outer cylinder of the air preheater is correspondingly enlarged so as to form a restricted annular passage V. This passage serves to prevent the hot gases in the flue A from freely entering the upper part of the annular space J. formed between the tube T and the air preheater, as it is essential that said annular space shall not be too highly heated where the tube T is not surrounded'by water. K

As is already mentioned, the boiler systems herein referred to may advantageously be used for tivaporating a solutionobtained in. absorption processes conducted with liquids. For this purpose the boilers are used simultaneously for storing heat for heating and for the first step of the evaporation, the amounts of heat contained in the gases after the same have passed the boilers, are afterward used for the final concentration by means of known evaporating apparatus which accordingly are heated directly w'th the nitrous gases'obtained, instead of with steam or direct firing.

By such an arrangement considerable ad vantages are obtained The boilers, which in this construction will operate underatmospheric pressure or vacuum. require much less strength of construction, all the steam pipes leading to the usual evaporating apparatus will be done away with, and the operation will be without all the dangers or ditl -'.iltics incident to the operation with high-pressure steam.

Besides great economy of the prime cost and of space. a far better elliciency of the plant is obtained. eliminating all the losses which arise in the absorption devices now in use owing to the fact that the heat of the gases is first utilized for the production of steam.

If it is desirable to drive part of'the tlllXll iary machinery (such as compressors, pumps, or the like) by means of steam engines, part 'of the boilers may be constructed to produce to be reconcentrated. hot air of temperatures up to about 500 C. and superhcatta'l steam of temperatures up to above C. being advantageously used for said reconcentration.

I claim:

1. The combination of a steam boiler having a flame flue therein, a steam chamber surrounding the flue, a plurality of fire tubes extending through said'chamber and communicating with the flue through one end thereof. and a high voltage are furnace arranged to discharge its gases into the flue at a distance from said end. whereby the temperature of the gases is lowered before entering the tubes.

The combination of a steam boile having a llamc ilue therein. a steam chamber surrouiulin-g the flue. a plurality of fire tubes extending through said chamber and communicating with the flue through one end thereof, a high voltage arc furnace ar-' ranged to discharge its gases into the flue at a distance from said end, and a cooling device at the discharge end of the furnace.

3. The combination of a steam boiler having a flame flue therein, a steam chamber surrounding the flue, a plurality of fire tubes extending through said chamber, a high voltage arc furnace extending into the flue through the top of the boiler chamber, and short flues at the bottom of the latter communicating with the flame flue and fire tubes.

4. The combination of a steam boiler having a flame flue therein, a steam chamber surrounding the flue, a plurality of fire tubes extending through said chamber and communicating with the flue through one end thereof, a high voltage are furnace arranged to discharge its gases into the flue at a distance from said end, and means situated between the flue and pipes for drawing ofl' gases reduced in temperature.

5. The combination of a steam boiler having a flame flue therein, a high voltage are furnace extending into the flue through the top thereof, a steam chamber surrounding the flue, short flues extending upward into the steam chamberparallel to the flame flue and communicating with the latter through a chamber situated below the steam chamber, fire tubes communicating with the short flues and extending through the steam chamber, and means in the furnace for preheating air supplied thereto before it reaches the arc.

6. The combinationof a steam boiler having a flame flue therein, a high voltage are furnace extending into the flue through the top thereof, a steam chamber surrounding the flue, short flues extending upward into the steam chamber parallel to the flame flue and communicating with the latter through a chamber situated below the steam chamber, fire tubes communicating with the short flues and extending through the steam chamber, means in the furnace for preheating air supplied thereto before it reaches the are, means to cool the gases issuing from the furnace, and means in the flame flue to' retard an upward movement of the gases therein. 8. The combination of a steam boiler having a flame flue therein, a high voltage are furnace extending into theflue through the top thereof, a steam chamber surrounding the flue, short flues extending upward into the steam chamber parallel to the flame flue and communicating withv the latter through a chamber situated below the steam chamber, fire tubes communicating with the short flues and extending through the steam chamber, means in the furnace for preheating air supplied thereto before it reaches the arc, means to cool the gases issuing from the furnace, means in the flame flue to retard an upward movement of the gases therein, and means for-drawing ofli'

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