VERTICAL RETORTS AND CHAMBER OVENS 185
Birmingham Corporation Coke Ovens
The Birmingham Corporation gas undertaking was the first to experiment in this country with the installation of coke ovens on gasworks. The installation is on the Koppers principle, the ovens themselves being 35 feet long, 8 feet 10 inches high, and tapering in width from 19 j inches to 18 inches. Each is capable of taking a charge of from eight to ten tons of coal, the average period of carbonization being twenty-four hours. The arrangement of regenerators is shown in Fig. 100, each oven being supplied with its separate system, consisting of a chamber (C) divided
Fig. 100.—Kopfeks’ Regenerator System.
vertically into two compartments. The secondary air flows through one of these charnbers and the gas through, the next, and so on ; the two meeting at tlie bottom of a vertical combustion chamber (E) extending to very nearly the same height as the oven. The products of combustion then pass into a common horizontal flue (G), over a parting wall, and down vertical flues similar to the combustion charnbers, thence to the regenerators and main flue. By means of a special cliange-over gear an interchange is effected between the pre-heating charnbers of producer gas and secondary air ; that is to say, the air is admitted to those charnbers previously taking gas, and vice versa. In this way the pre-heating of both air and gas is arranged for, th.e change-over taking place about every hall-hoiir. In tlie majority of these