

WILLIAM SIEMENS, F.K.S. 93 



The four regenerators C are in this case arranged longitudinally 

 underneath the puddling chamber A, which may be of the usual 

 form. In order to complete the combustion of the gas and air in 

 passing through the comparatively short length of the puddling 

 chamber, it is necessary to mix them more intimately than is 

 requisite in the large glass furnaces previously described. For this 

 purpose a mixing chamber 0, Fig. 13, is provided at each end of 

 the puddling chamber, and the gas and air from the regenerators 

 are made to enter the mixing chamber from opposite sides, as 

 shown in Fig. 16 ; the gas aperture E is moreover placed several 

 inches lower than the air aperture F, so that the lighter stream of 

 gas rises through the stream of air while both are urged forward into 

 the puddling chamber, and an intense and perfect combustion is 

 produced. The mixing chambers are sloped towards the furnace, 

 as shown in Fig. 13, in order to drain them of any cinders which 

 may get over the bridge. The reversal of the current through 

 the furnace is effected about eveiy hour by the reversing valves 

 H and J in the air and gas flues, the arrangement of which 

 is exactly similar to that already described in the glass furnace : 

 the supply of gas and air is regulated by the throttle valves L, 

 and the draught through the furnace by the ordinary chimney- 

 damper. 



This same arrangement, with obvious modifications, may be 

 applied also to blooming and heating furnaces, the advantages in 

 both cases being a decided saving of iron, besides an important 

 saving in the quantity and quality of the fuel employed. 

 The space saved near the hammer and rolls by doing away 

 with fireplaces, separate chimney-stacks, and stores of fuel, is 

 also a considerable advantage in favour of the regenerative gas 

 furnace in ironworks. The facility which it affords for either 

 concentrating the heating effect or diffusing it equally over a long 

 chamber, by effecting a more or less rapid mixture of the air and 

 gas, renders the furnace particularly applicable for heating large 

 and irregular forgings or long strips or tubes which have to be 

 brought to a welding heat throughout. It has already been applied 

 to a considerable extent in Germany for heating iron, having been 

 worked out there under the direction of the writer's eldest brother, 

 Dr. Werner Siemens, who has also contributed essentially to the 

 development of the system. The furnaces at the extensive iron and 



