US2998097A - Smoke consumer - Google Patents

Description

1961 J. M. BAXTER 2,998,097

SMOKE CONSUMER Filed Nov. 18, 1957 JAMES. M. BAXTER.

PATENT AGENT 2,998,097 SMOKE CONSUMER James M. Baxter, '33 Coleman Ave, Toronto,

Ontario, Canada I Filed Nov. 18, 1957, Ser. No. 697,260 3 Claims. (Cl. 183-5) My invention relates to smoke consumers.

The problem of smoke abatement is becoming acute especially in the larger industrial cities where the smoke emanating from larger plants is not only a nuisance but in many cases a definite menace to health.

The injurious eifect of this smoke is caused by the solid particles of ash, fly ash, soot, and unburned fuel in the smoke, and heretofore many methods have been suggested to remove these deleterious substances. None of these, however, has proved truly eflicient and economical in practice.

It is an object of my invention, therefore, to provide a smoke consumer which will eifectively remove ash, fly ash, soot and other deleterious particles from smoke.

It is a further object of my invention to provide such a smoke consumer that will be readily adaptable to any installation obviating the necessity of substantial alterations to existing equipment.

It is a still further object of my invention to provide such a smoke consumer of simple construction permitting economical initial and maintenance expenses.

It is yet another object of my invention to provide such a smoke consumer capable of handling large volumes of smoke in a speedy and efficient manner.

These and other objects of my invention are accomplished by the novel construction of my invention which will be explained hereinafter.

I have found that the deleterious solid substances in smoke may be removed by providing a chamber between a smoke source and chimney wherein through a system of properly arranged bafiles and walls, the air is made turbulent and is subjected to the action of one or more sprays of air, water or steam causing the deleterious substances to settle out whereupon they may be Withdrawn.

A better understanding of the precise nature of my invention may be had through reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective and part sectional view of a typical furnace and boiler.

FIGURE 2 is a cross-sectional view of a smoke consumer constructed according to my invention.

FIGURE 3 is a section taken along line 3-1-3 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a detailed section view of the steam jets of FIGURE 1 and FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of the steam jet and connections of FIGURE 4.

In the drawings FIGURE 1 shows a typical commercial boiler and furnace comprising a boiler 1 and a furnace indicated generally at 2 comprising a grate 3 wherein combustion takes place and a fire wall 4. The combustion chamber communicates at its upper end through pipe 5 and through my smoke consumer indicated generally at 6 to the vertical stack or chimney 7. Thus the gases of combustion pass from the combustion chamber through my smoke consumer and out the stack.

Referring now more particularly to FIGURES 2 and 3 wherein my smoke consumer is shown in detail:

The consumer comprises longitudinally extending outer casing 8 which may be of circular or square cross-section depending upon the ducting existing in the installation. A screen or mesh 14 is placed across the inlet of the consumer to prevent larger particles of soot, unburned fuel and ash from entering.

The interior of the consumer is divided. roughly into he atent three chambers 9, 10 and 11, by two walls 12 and 13 which are located in spaced relationship to each other and to the inlet and outlet of the consumer.

These walls 12 and 13 have a plurality of identical passages 15 therethrough to permit passage of the smoke and gases. These passages are preferably inclined so that the gases follow a slightly downward path in passing through the wall.

In chamber 9, a fan 16 is located immediately inside the inlet to the consumer providing a forced draft of the gas and smoke.

A baffle 17 is located at the bottom of the consumer and between Wall 12 and fan 16. In chamber 10, a spray 18 of air, water or steam is provided at the upper part of the consumer 13 and the walls 12 and 13 are preferably so spaced that this chamber 10 is somewhat smaller than chamber 9.

In chamber 11, a further spray 19 of air, water or steam is located adjacent to Wall 13 at the outlet end. A series of baffies 20 are also provided in this chamber. These bafiles extend from both the top and bottom of the consumer.

A plurality of drains 21 are located at appropriate points in the consumer and are connected to a drain line 22 where the waste particles may be carried away. These drains 21 are preferably placed as shown between the first bafile 17 and wall 13, and under sprays 18 and 19, as in practice it has been found that greatest accumulation of waste particles of soot, ash and fuel occurs at these points.

The consumer casing 8 while of similar cross-section to the ducting already in the plant, is in its inlet and somewhat higher than the pipe 5 leaving a port 23 through which furnace room air is drawn into the consumer. Furnace room air is also drawn in through port 24- at the outlet end of the consumer which communicates with the vertical chimney 7 through a section of ducting 30 which is higher than the consumer ducting at the outlet end thereof.

Air drawn from the boiler room into the consumer in these two locations greatly increases the draft in the consumer and insures a speedy passage of the smoke therethrough, reducing the danger of backups so prevalent in prior consumers and permitting larger volumes of .smoke to be treated.

In operation, gases and smoke passing through screen 14 are drawn by natural draft and by fan 16 into the consumer where they impinge upon wall 12. This causes a turbulence which is encouraged by baflle 17 and before the gases pass through passages 15 in wall 12, a portion of the heavier particles of ash and soot will have settled to the base of the consumer where they may be drained out through drain 21. Upon emerging from passages 15 which are downwardly inclined in order to prevent their becoming clogged with soot and ash particles the smoke is subjected to the action of spray 18. A turbulence in the smoke will result immediately under spray 18 as a result of the impingement of the smoke against wall 13 and the spray will be thus increased in effectiveness.

Solid particles settling out through this turbulence and spray action are again withdrawn through a drain 21. Upon passing through passage 15 of wall 13, the smoke and gases emerge to be subjected to the action of the second spray 19. Bafiles 20 retard the free flow of the gases at this jet causing at urbulence under the spray which makes it effective in the same manner as spray 18.

In practice, I have found that best results are obtained by having one spray of air and one of steam, both of these being readily available in the average commercial furnace room Where smoke control is a major consideration. I have further found that if the stack is high and provides a good natural draft, the first spray should be of steam and the second of air, while when the natural draft is low, the best results are obtained when this order is reversed. The precise reasons for this are not known to me but I believe that if air is used first in low draft installations a pressure is created in chamber which increases the natural draft whereas when the natural draft is high a steam jet in chamber 10 serves to decrease the natural draft and permits more thorough action by both sprays. It is to be understood, of course, that water sprays may be also used and that my invention contemplates not only the arrangements outlined above but also the use of steam, air or Water sprays in any desired combination or singly. Various considerations such as availability of the steam, water or air and size and type of installation wherein the smoke consumer is used govern the choice of these sprays and it is to be understood that when here and elsewhere I refer to a spray, or a first or second spray that the term is to include a spray of air, water or steam or any combination of these.

As a further feature of my invention, I have discovered that my smoke consumer operates more efficiently and a greater economy of fuel is achieved if the smoke rising from the fire in the grate can be held momentarily over the hottest part of the fire where many particles of unburned fuel and soot will be consumed.

To this end, I provide a plurality of jets indicated generally at 25 in FIGURE 1 and shown in greater detail in FIGURE 4 or 5. These comprise a central jet 26 The jets are placed preferably in pairs as shown in FIGURE 1, one pair being located on either side of the furnace and so positioned as to impinge upon the smoke just above the fire wall. Two more pairs of jets are placed at the front of the furnace, one pair toward either side thereof.

I have found that when these jets are placed as shown, the mixture of steam and air which they direct into the furnace acts to hold the smoke momentarily over the hot part of the flame and this momentary retention consumes many larger particles of soot and unburned fuel permitting more eflicient operation of the smoke consumer. These jets may be in the same supply line as the jets 19 and 18 if steam is used in either or both of jets 18 and 19 and I have found that steam pressure of 20 to 25 psi. gauge gives satisfactory results for both jets 18 and 19 and jets 25. These jets are connected as by line 32 to any suitable source of steam supply and a valve 31 between the source and jets 25 is used to control the quantity of steam discharged.

While I have described above one particular embodiment of my invention, I Wish it to be understood that I do not intend to be restricted by the constructional details shown therein. Alterations and additions may be made to the embodiment outlined above and such embodiments as fall within the scope and purview of the appended claims are to be deemed within the scope of my invention.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A smoke consumer comprising in combination a longitudinally extending duct having an inlet and an outlet therein, two walls located transversely therein in spaced relationship to each other and to the inlet and the outlet of said duct, said walls having a plurality of straight, downwardly inclined passages therethrough, a baflle plate extending transversely across said duct between the inlet and the first of the transverse walls, and extendin g from a wall of said duct to a point short of the centre of said duct, a spraying device located between said two transverse walls, a second spraying device located adjacent to the second of the two transverse walls at the side thereof towards the outlet of said duct, and a plurality of battle plates extending transversely across said duct between the second spraying device and the outlet of said duct, certain of said baffle plates extending from the top wall of said duct to a point above the centre of said duct, and others of said baffle plates extending from the bottom wall of said duct to a point below the centre thereof.

2. A smoke consumer according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of drains are located in the bottom of said duct.

3. A smoke consumer according to claim 1 wherein said duct has a separate port adapted to permit the entry of air into the duct at a point just above said inlet and a further similar port at a point just above said outlet.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 516,664 Storer Mar. 20, 1894 704,199 Lee July 8, 1902 880,747 Morby Mar. 3, 1908 1,117,309 Bentz Nov. 17, 1914 1,139,053 Murray et al. May 11, 1915 1,550,357 Hess Aug. 18, 1925 1,620,826 Mitchell Mar. 15, 1927 1,744,084 Scognio Jan. 21, 1930 1,867,933 Wilton July 19, 1932 1,939,949 Bertram Dec. 19, 1933 2,090,287 Cornelius Aug. 17, 1937 2,090,466 Bichowsky Aug. 17, 1937 2,152,251 Gay Mar. 28, 1939 2,696,274 Old Dec. 7, 1954 2,738,178 Kinney Mar. 13, 1956

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