US2016739A - Baffle for boiler furnaces - Google Patents

Description

do 8, E935 W. s. BOUTON 9 BAFFLE FOR BOILER FURNACES Fi led Feb. 17, 1953 Patented Oct. 8, 1935 UNITED STATES Arm A OFFICE 4 Claims.

This invention relates to boiler furnaces, and particularly to domestic boilers, of hot water or steam types, for heating dwelling houses and other buildings. More particularly the invention relates to means for controlling the flow of the combustion gases of such boilers from the firebox to the chimney, whereby greater economy in the use of fuel and a more highly efficient heating action are obtained.

In an ordinary domestic boiler designed for the burning of low volatile fuels under natural draft, the gases of combustion have an elective path and flow more or less uniformly through the flues or ports at both front and rear of the vertical transverse center of the furnace, and the hollow sections of the boiler having the ports through which the heating water flows are, therefore, subjected to the action of their due proportions of heat to secure the desired heating effect.

A change of circulation, however, occurs in the use'of an oil boiler and its increased or forced draft, orin the use of blowers on a coal fired furnace, as in such cases the flues which are 25. located at the rear or chimney half of the furnace afford the easiest path for the gases from the firebox to the chimney and such flues are crowded to their maximum capacity with the gases which flow at high speed, with the result. that 30. only a portion of the gases come in contact with the heating surfaces in their path of travel and discharge without their heat being utilized, while those flues located farther away from the chimney or from the center to the front of the boiler 35v are deprived of their proper proportion of the gases for such reasons and the heating effect in this portion of the boiler is reduced to amaterial extent below what it should be.

One object of my invention is to provide means 40.: for overcoming this objection by ohecking'and properly controlling the flow of the gases through the flues to the chimney so as to prevent the unduly rapid travel of the gases and spread the gases in a manner to uniformly distribute the 45 heat to the water chambers, thereby obviating forced draft or the use of a blower as employed with buckwheat coal or the like.

The invention consists of the features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts, hereinafter fully described and claimed, 5 reference being had to the accompanying drawing, in which:-

Fig. l is a central vertical front-to-rear section through a domestic heating boiler to which my invention is shown applied. 10

Figs. 2 and 3 are horizontal sections taken respectively on the lines 22 and 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a section on line 4i of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the deflector.

Fig. 6 is a section similar to Fig. 2 showing the 15 use of a second bafile plate or deflector.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, l designates a domestic heating boiler of ordinary type used either for furnishing hot water or steam for heating a dwelling house or 20 other building, said boiler comprising a casing having a firebox 2, a smoke box or chamber 3, and two or more superposed hollow sections or heating chambers in which the water or medium to be heated circulates, two such chambers 4 and. 5 being shown in the present instance, although it is to be understood that the number of water chambers used may vary according to the intended capacity of the boiler. The lower chamher 4 forms the top wall of the firebox and is provided, in accordance with a common practice, with a single central flue or port 6 for the upflow of gases of combustion from the firebox. The upper chamber 5 is spaced in part from the chamher t to provide an intermediate combustion 3'6; chamber 1, and said chamber 5 is provided, as usual, with an annular series of flues or ports comprising front and rear flues Band 9 arranged in alinement with each other in the center line of the furnace from front to rear, and side flues or ports iii and H arranged in alinement with each other in the ceneral transverse line of the furnace. These flues 8, 9, It] and II connect the combustion chamber 1 with the smoke box or chamber 3, and the flue 9 communicates with 4E5 the chamber 1 adjacent to an outlet flue 12 connecting the chamber 1 with a smoke pipe l3 leading to the chimney or smoke stack.

.In carrying my invention into practice, I provide a deflector I l, constructed of sheet metal or othersuitable material, and which comprises a bottom bracket or attaching part A and an upper deflector part B. The deflector l 4 is adapted to be disposed for cooperation with one of the aforesaid flues, as the flue 9, when a-single 6B deflector is employed, and to be supported in position within the furnace below said flue. As shown, the deflector part B comprises a base plate [5 carrying an upwardly extending, vertically disposed bafile plate I6. The bottom bracket or attaching part A is arranged in alinement with the plate I5 and comprises a clamping member or plate l1, hinged at its upper edge to the lower edge of plate l5 or plate I6 and provided at its lower edge with a clamping member or flange l8 provided with suitable fastening means, such as a set screw l8. The plate I6 is of truncate triangular form and carries upon its outer or front face a pair of deflector plates I9 and 28 respectively. The deflector plate [9 extends from a point near the lower edge of the plate it upwardly to a point about in line with the horizontal center of said plate [6, and intersects at its upper edge the plate 28, which extends from said upper edge of the plate l9 toward the plate it and engages the outer or front face of the latter at a point below its upper edge. The plate It is inclined in an upward and outward direction from its lower edge toward its front edge, while the plate 20 is inclined in an inward and upward direction, or toward the plate It, from its outer or lower edge to its inner or rear edge.

The deflector IQ, constructed as thus described, is placed in position in the furnace so as to directly control the flow of the products of combustion or combustion gases from the flue 6 and chamber 7 to the upper flue 9. When placed in position for cooperation with the flue 9, the base plate 15 is disposed to rest upon the upper surface of the chamber wall Q with the clamping plate or member I! disposed in the flue 6, and said clamping plate or member I1 is then swung rearwardly on its hinge connection to bring its flange l8 beneath the wall 4 at the base of the flue 6 and the set screw 3' is then tightened against the wall 4 to fasten the device rigidly in positionf When the deflector, is so applied its baffle plate 56, which is properly proportioned for the purpose, will extend upwardly through the chamber 1 into the lower portion of the flue 9 adjacent to and in slightly spaced relation to the front wall portion 2| of said flue and with the deflector plates l9 and 25! extending forwardly into the chamber 1 and overhanging the rear portion of the flue 6. With this arrangement, the deflector plate IE will incline upwardly and forwardly, so as to direct a portion of the gases from the flue forwardly in the chamber 1 toward the flues 8, Hi and H, while the deflector plate 20 will lie beneath the wall portion 2i at such an upward and rearward angle of inclination from the deflector l9 as to form a flaring passage between the chamber 7 and the space 22 betwwn the plate It and wall portion 2 I. Communication between the chamber 1 and the flue 9 will, accordingly, be restricted to the extent of the reduced flue space or passage 22 between the parts It and 2|, to limit the amount of gases which may flow upwardly through the flue 9 in any given period of time, while the bafile plates l9 and 20 will lie in the path of flow of the gases of combustion between the flue 6 and flue 9 and check such gases in their flow toward the chimney, thereby reducing the velocity of flow of the gases from the combustion chamber to the smoke box and thence to the chimney through any of the flues 8, 9, l and II. By this means the gases which, under a forced or increased draft, as in the use of an oil burner or blower, take the shortest course of travel because of their velocity mainly through the flue 9, are, by the checking action set up, caused to spread throughout the entire area of the-chamber I and to flow upward with more or less uniformity, with regard to volume, through all of the passages 8, 9, lit and I l into the smoke box or chamber 3 before discharging through the flue l2 into the smoke pipe l3. As a result, those ports or portions of ports, such as the ports 8, 10 I0 and H, which are located in advance of the vertical transverse center of the furnace, and which would otherwise be deprived of the flow of their due proportion of the products of combustion through them, are supplied with a proper portion of the combustion gases so that all portions of the heating surfaces will be properly heated.

It will thus be seen that by the use of my deflector device, the direct passage of the gases of combustion from the firebox to the flue 12 through the flue 9, or the flue 9 and rear portions of the flues i8 and il, is hindered and the gases deflected sumciently to increase the amount of the products of combustion which pass through the 5 flues 8, l0 and II or the flue 8 and forward portions of the flues i0 and H, while permitting a reasonable amount of the gases to pass through the port 9 and portions of the ports ID and II in rear of the transverse center of the furnace, so that the heat of the gases of combustion will be transmitted with substantial uniformity to all portions of the heating surface of the boiler, without in any manner unduly choking or baffling any of the flues. The effect of the use of the deflector is, therefore, such that it prevents the too rapid discharge of the gases, and the heating of those portions of the heating surface of the boiler lying between the vertical transverse center of the boiler and the outlet flue l2 to the exclusion of those portions of the heating surface of the boiler lying in advance of the Vertical transverse center thereof, so that the flue temperatures may be regulated, waste of fuel prevented and economy in the use of fuel secured, while highly efficient heating of the water or heating medium in a boiler is obtained which would otherwise be insufficiently heated. As a result of this action, also, the gases are spread out over the full area of the chamber 1, and they travel through the ports or flues 8, 9, II and l i so that the flues and the water in contact therewith will be more uniformly heated and undue heating, with a tendency to the burning out of any one of the flues, will be effectually prevented. Furthermore, by means of my invention, the operating of a furnace designed to burn low volatile fuels under natural draft may be changed to accord with the change of operating conditions resulting in the use of an oil burner or blower without reducing the area of a plurality of ports, so that the adjustment of the fire may be independent of the changed design of the furnace. It is conceivable, of course, that similar results, so far as the heating effect is concerned, can be obtained, where the flre is constant, by either 5 baffling or in some other manner reducing the area of the ports next to the chimney, so that the proper amount of gases would be forced through the ports in advance thereof, but such bafiiing action would be diflicult and would have to be adjusted to the volume of the flre which it is proposed to maintain in the furnace. My invention also provides a simple, reliable and efficient and inexpensive type of deflector which can be readily applied to any type of furnace burning lowvola- 75.

tile fuels under natural draft, without changing the construction thereof, to permit of the use of an oil burner or blower, and to meet the changed operating conditions and govern the flow of the combustion gases to uniformly heat the furnace.

In the use of a single deflector, as stated, such deflector is preferably applied for use in cooperation with the rear central flue 9, as shown. It is, however, to be understood that additional deflectors may, if desired, be employed for use in conjunction with either one or both of the flues l and II. Fig. 4 shows, for example, an arrangement in which a modified form of deflector i4 is arranged for cooperation with the flue ID to retard the upflow of gases through said flue. Such a deflector l4 may be used in conjunction with the flue ll instead of the flue H1, or, if desired, a deflector I4 may be used in conjunction with each flue l0 and II, according to circumstances and to the number of deflectors required -to give best results with any particular make and size of furnace. This modified form of deflector may correspond in construction with the deflector I4 except for the omission therefrom of the deflector plates l9 and 20.

It is to be understood that the arrangement or" V the deflector M in the flue 9 may be varied from that shown so that the space 22 may or may not be provided, as desired, that is to say, the baffle plate may be placed in contact with wall 2! instead of being spaced therefrom, without materially affecting the efliciency of operation of the boiler. This is due to the fact that by reason of the width and shape of the plate I6, the gases may pass around the sides of the plate to the flue 9 instead of through a space between the plate and the wall 2|. The plate I6, however, in either case will prevent the gases from having a direct path to the flue, to secure the desired distribution of the gases to the several flues, without unduly choking or baffling the flue.

The efliciency of my invention in transmitting a greater portion of the heat units from the products of combustion to the heating fluid is indicated in practice not only throughout the heating system in which the furnace is arranged by its greater heating capacity, but by the fact that the temperature of the gases discharged into the chimney is greatly reduced, showing that a greater proportion of the heatis transmitted to the heating fluid.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the drawing, the construction, mode of operation and advantages of my invention will be readily understood by those versed in the art without a further and extended description. While the structure shown is preferred, it will, of course, be understood that changes in the form, proportion and details of construction of the device may be made within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention. 5

What I claim is:--

1. A baflie device of the character described comprising a base, holding means carried thereby, a baflie plate extending upwardly from the base, and lower and upper deflector plates on one side of the bafile plate, and terminating below the top thereof, the lower deflector plate being inclined from the lower portion of the baflle plate upwardly and in the directionaway from said side of the baflie plateand the upper deflector plate being inclined from the upper edge of the lower deflector plate upwardly and in the direction toward said side of the baffle plate.

2. A bafiie device or" the character described comprising a vertically disposed baiile plate, supporting means located at the lower edge of said plate, and deflecting means at one side of said plate embodying a lower deflecting member extending from the lower edge of said plate obliquely upwardly and in a direction away from such side of the plate and an upper deflecting member extending from the upper edge of the lower deflecting member obliquely upwardly and in a direction toward such side of the plate.

3. A baffle device for boiler furnaces comprising a vertically disposed baffle plate, a laterally extending support at the lower end of the plate, fastening means at the lower end of the plate for coaction with said support to secure the device in working position to a part of the furnace, and deflecting means at one side of said plate embodying a lower deflecting member extending from the lower edge of said plate obliquely upwardly and in a direction away from such side of the plate and an upper deflecting member extending from the upper edge of said lower deflecting member obliquely upwardly and in a direction toward such side of the plate.

4. A baiile device of the character described comprising a base, a vertically disposed bafile plate supported by the base, a deflector element at one side of the plate angularly bent to provide lower and upper deflector plates, the lower deflector plate extending upwardly from the lower edge of the bafiie plate and being inclined in the direction away from said plate and the upper deflector plate extending upwardly from the upper edge of the lower. deflector plate and being inclined therefrom toward the bafile plate and terminating at its upper edge below the upper edge of the latter, and holding means carried by the base.

, WALTER S. BOUTON.

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