regenerator

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. Ono who regenerates.
2. n. In metallurgy, a chamber filled with a checker-work of fire-bricks; that part of a regenerative furnace in which the waste heat of the gases escaping from the hearth is, by reversal of the draft at suitable intervals, alternately stored up and given out to the gas and air entering the furnace. The idea of employing what is now generally called the “regenerative system” of heating was first conceived by Robert Stirling, in 1816, but his arrangement for carrying it out was not a practical one. The present form of the furnace, and in general the successful application of the principle, constituting a highly important improvement in the consumption of fuel, are due to the brothers Siemens. The regenerative system has already been extensively applied in various metallurgical and manufacturing processes, and is likely to receive still further development. According to the Siemens regenerative method, there must be at least one pair of regenerative chambers, in order that the heat may be in process of being stored up in one while being utilized in the other. In the Siemens regenerative reheating- or mill-furnace there are two pairs of chambers, each pair consisting of one larger and one smaller chamber, through one of which the air passes, and through the other the gas on its way to the furnace. The so-called “Ponsard recuperator” is a form of regenerator in which, by an ingenious arrangement of solid and hollow fire-bricks, the current is made continuous in one direction, instead of requiring reversal as in the Siemens regenerative furnace. This form of furnace has been employed for reheating in rolling-mills.
3. n. A lamp which generates formaldehyde by the oxidation of methyl alcohol.

Wiktionary

1. n. One who, or that which, regenerates.
2. n. engineering A device used in connection with hot-air engines, gas-burning furnaces, etc., in which the incoming air or gas is heated by being brought into contact with masses of iron, brick, etc., which have been previously heated by the outgoing, or escaping, hot air or gas.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. One who, or that which, regenerates.
2. n. (Mech.) A device used in connection with hot-air engines, gas-burning furnaces, etc., in which the incoming air or gas is heated by being brought into contact with masses of iron, brick, etc., which have been previously heated by the outgoing, or escaping, hot air or gas.