56 Dr Fyfe on the Prevention of Smoke, Sfc. 



The furnace with which the trials were made, was that ori- 

 ginally at the Castle Silk-Mills. The boiler, which was cylindri- 

 cal, with egg-shaped ends, was 1 8 fee t long, and 3^ in diameter, 

 with the flues of the furnace passing around it. It stood in an 

 open shed, with 2^ feet of its upper surface to the length of 

 171 feet exposed. The steam-pipe conveying the steam to 

 the engine was 2^ inches in diameter, and lapped with a 

 single ply of rope. The furnace was of the ordinary con- 

 struction, the bars being 5 feet 2 inches in length, and in all 

 2 feet in breadth. The height of the water in the boiler 

 was ascertained by a two-way cock, the distance between the 

 extremities of the pipes being 3 inches. The water supplied 

 to the boiler Avas taken from a tank, through which the waste 

 steam of the engine was generally passed, and by which the 

 temperature was raised, sometimes to 110 at other times to 

 180. It was forced in the usual way into the boiler by a 

 pump worked by the engine. The coal was generally sup- 

 plied to the fire at regular intervals ; and to ascertain the 

 quantity actually used, the fire was brought to the same state 

 at the commencement and termination of the experiment. 



The steam apparatus for the consumption of smoke con- 

 sisted of a tube of -^-inch internal diameter taken from the 

 upper part of the boiler, and conveyed into the interior of tlie 

 furnace, where it terminated by a fan-shaped distributor, by 

 which the steam was projected into the upper part of the fur- 

 nace, occupied by the flame and gaseous products of combus- 

 tion, and consequently over mid above the fuel. In using the 

 steam distributor, air is admitted either at the door, or by 

 some other means, so as to bring it near the distributor. In 

 the trials which I carried on, it was admitted by apertures 

 in the door, or by keeping the door a little open. A stop-cock 

 is placed on the tube connected with the distributor, to regu- 

 late the supply of steam ; the necessary quantity being known 

 by the effect produced on the smoke. When the steam is thus 

 admitted, the part of the furnace occupied by the flame and 

 gaseous products of combustion, and frequently rendered ob- 

 scure by the smoke from part of the volatile inflammable in- 

 gredients not being consumed, instantly presents a different 



