IMPROVEMENTS IN CONDENSING APPARATUS FOR STEAM ENGINES
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the "International
Patent Office," No. 8, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in
the County of Middlesex, Consulting Engineer, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CONDENSING APPARATUS FOR STEAM ENGINES."-A
communication from abroad by Franklin Ransom, of Buffalo, New
York, United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 10th September 1868.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office,"
No. 8, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, Consulting Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CONDENSING APPARATUS FOR STEAM
ENGINES," a communication, to be as follows:-
The economy in the working of the steam engine resulting from the
use of the condenser with its attendant air pump to produce and
maintain a vacuum into which the exhaust steam may escape is well

page_text: understood, but the greatly increased first cost of such condensing
engines, and their greater liability to derangement, and the higher
order of skill required to manage them have heretofore greatly restricted
their use.
Two classes of condensers are in common use, viz., the
injection condenser and the surface condenser, and it is to the first-
named class that my improvements relate. In the common construction
of injection condensers the injection water, by contact with which
the exhaust steam is condensed, is necessarily admitted into the vacuous
condensing chamber, and the air pump which performs the duty of
carrying off such injection water is therefore obliged to work against
an atmospheric pressure upon its piston corresponding to the vacuum
obtained in said chamber, which amounts in common practice to from
ten to twelve pounds to the square inch, and is a very serious detraction
from the increased pressure on the engine piston obtained by said
vacuum. It is a well known fact in hydraulics that atmospheric
pressure will raise and sustain a column of water in a pipe exhausted
of air thirty-three feet high and no more, and my Invention takes
advantage of this law by a construction which will be herein-after
described to dispense with the use of the air pump, and thereby
cheapen and simplify the apparatus, and reduce to a great extent the
power required to operate the same in obtaining and maintaining a
vacuum.
The nature of my Invention consists, first, in locating the condensing
vessel at the crown of a syphon, the length of the longer leg of which
is in excess of that of a column of water which would be sustained by
the vacuum obtained in the condensing vessel so that the said long
leg will constitute a waste pipe, which will carry off the injection water
by its own gravity against the pressure of the atmosphere, while the
shorter leg will constitute the injection pipe, in which atmospheric
pressure will raise the water to a heighth corresponding to the degree
of vacuum obtained. It therefore follows that the power required to
supply the condensing water will be measured by the excess in the
length of the said leg over the heighth to which the water will rise
therein, as above stated.
The said Invention consists, secondly, in the employment of several
waste pipes of small bore, the aggregate capacity of which shall not
exceed that of the injection pipe, the object being to cause the waste
water to effectually carry off all air which may enter the condenser
with the injection water or from small leakages of the joints.

page_text: The said Invention consists, thirdly, in the connection of a pump
to the injection pipe in such manner that it will raise the injection
water from the supply well to the condenser; and fourthly, in the
arrangement of a secondary injection pipe in connection with a
partitioned condenser by which a portion of the injection water by
being first brought in contact with the steam may be heated
to the highest possible temperature for the purpose of feeding the
boiler. The condensing vessel may be constructed according to the
common rules for injection condensers. The main injection pipe rises
from the supply well and entering the condenser at one end near the
top passes horizontally partly across the same, the pipe within the
condenser being perforated with small holes to distribute the water
therein. The waste pipes connect with the condenser at the bottom,
and lead downward to the waste well and drain. One of these pipes
may be of larger diameter than the others and project up a few
inches into the condenser to act as an overflow to prevent the possibility
of the condenser being flooded with injection water. Supposing the
vacuum obtained in the condenser to be perfect or nearly so it must be
sufficiently elevated above the level of the waste well to allow the
waste pipes a vertical length of at least thirty-three feet. The exhaust
pipe leads from the engine to the condenser into which it opens on the
side opposite the injection pipe. A pump of any approved construction
is applied to the injection pipe at any convenient point in such manner
as to raise the injection water from the supply well to the condenser.
A small pipe branching from the main injection pipe enters the
condensing chamber at one side and presents its end to the mouth of
the exhaust pipe. A portion of the condensing water entering by this
pipe is thrown directly into contact with the steam as it first enters the
condenser, and its volume being comparatively small it will receive all
the heat from the steam it is capable of holding in the form of wator,
and as it falls upon the bottom of the condenser it is kept from
mingling with the main portion of the injection water by the partition in
the condensing vessel. This portion of the condensing water being
raised to the highest possible temperature is employed to feed the
boiler, and is conducted thereto by the pipe leading from the condenser
to the feed pump. The small injection pipe is provided with a valve
or cock, by which the quantity of water passing through it may be
regulated.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 9th March 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office," No. 8, Southampton
Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Consulting
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her special licence
that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN CONDENSING APPARATUS FOR STEAM ENGINES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors or adminis-
trators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their
hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of
the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed,
and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Robert Lake, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement, reference being had to the
accompanying Drawing forming a part of this Specification :-
The economy in the working of the steam engine resulting from the
use of the condenser with its attendant air pump to produce and
maintain a vacuum into which the exhaust steam may escape is well
understood, but the greatly increased first cost of such condensing
engines, and their greater liability to derangement, and the higher order

page_text: of skill required to manage them have heretofore greatly restricted their
use. Two classes of condensers are in common use, viz., the injection.
condenser and the surface condenser, and it is to the first-named class
that my improvements relate. In the common construction of injection
condensers the injection water, by contact with which the exhaust steam
is condensed, is necessarily admitted into the vacuous condensing
chamber, and the air pump which performs the duty of carrying off
such injection water is therefore obliged to work against an atmospheric
pressure upon its piston corresponding to the vacuum obtained in said
chamber, which amounts in common practice to from ten to twelve
pounds to the square inch, and is a very serious detraction from the
increased pressure on the engine piston obtained by said vacuum. It
is a well known fact in hydraulics that atmospheric pressure will raise
and sustain a column of water in a pipe exhausted of air thirty-three
feet high and no more, and my Invention takes advantage of this law
by a construction which will be herein-after described to dispense with
the use of the air pump, and thereby cheapen and simplify the apparatus
and reduce to a great extent the power required to operate the same
in obtaining and maintaining a vacuum.
My Invention relates to an arrangement of parts in which the con-
densing vessel is located at the crown of a syphon the length of whose
long leg is in excess of that of a column of water which would be
sustained by the vacuum obtained in the condensing vessel, so that the
said long leg will constitute a waste pipe which will carry off the
injection water by its own gravity against the pressure of the atmosphere,
while the short leg will constitute the injection pipe in which atmo-
spheric pressure will raise the water to a height corresponding to the
degree of vacuum obtained. It therefore follows that the power required
to supply the condensing water will be measured by the excess in the
length of the said leg over the height to which the water will rise
therein as above stated.
The said Invention consists chiefly, first, in the employment in com-
bination with such a condenser and syphon of several waste pipes of
small bore, the aggregate capacity of which shall not exceed that of
the injection pipe, the object being to cause the waste water to effectually
carry off all air which may enter the condenser with the injection
water or from small leakages of the joints.
Secondly, in the connection of a pump to the injection pipe in such

page_text: manner that it will raise the injection water from the supply well to
the condenser; and thirdly, in the arrangement of a secondary injection
pipe in connection with a partitioned condenser by which a portion
of the injection water by being first brought in contact with the steam
may be heated to the highest possible temperature for the purpose of
feeding the boiler.
In the accompanying Drawing Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of
my improved apparatus; Figure 2 is a ground plan of the same;
Figure 3 is a side elevation taken at right angles to Figure 1; Figure 4
is a plan of the condensing vessel. Like letters refer to like parts in
each of the Figures.
A represents the condensing vessel, which may be constructed
according to the common rules for injection condensers as to form,
size, and material, although a form which makes a horizontal section
of equal or greater length and breadth than a vertical one is preferable.
B represents the main injection pipe rising from the supply well C and
which entering the condenser A at one end near the top passes hori-
zontally about two-thirds of the distance across the same, the pipe within
the condenser being perforated with small holes to shower the water
therein. d, d, d³, represent the waste pipes connecting with the con-
denser at the bottom, and leading downward to the waste well E and
drain E. The pipe d may be of larger diameter and project up a
few inches into the condenser to act as an overflow to prevent the
possibility of the condenser being flooded with injection water. Pre-
supposing the vacuum obtained in the condenser to be perfect or nearly
so it must be sufficiently elevated above the level of the waste well
to allow the waste pipes a vertical length of at least thirty-three feet.
F represents the exhaust pipe leading from the engine G to the condenser
into which it opens on the side opposite the injection pipe. H represents
a pump of any approved construction applied to the injection pipe at
any convenient point in such manner as to raise the injection water
from the supply well to the condenser.
The operation of the said apparatus so far as the same is above
described in relation to the first and second features of my Invention
is as follows:-The exhaust steam when the engine is first put in motion
will flow through the exhaust pipe F. into the condenser, when it will
come in contact with the injection water discharged therein through
the injection pipe B by the action of the pump H. This contact of

page_text: the injection water and steam will condense the latter to water, which
together with the injection water will fall to the bottom of the con-
denser and be carried off by the waste pipes d, d, d. The descending
columns of water in the waste pipes will take up and carry off a certain
per-centage of air from the condensing vessel until a vacuum more
or less perfect is produced therein. This effect is due to the com-
mingling of air with the showering water and the consequent formation
of air bubbles, which are carried down by the descending columns, their
buoyancy being overcome by the velocity with which said columns move.
The expansibility of the air also assists its escape with the water, since
the descending columns remove the pressure upon one side of the body
of air confined in the condenser and its expansibility causes it to seek
egress at such point with the water. The pump H will in starting
require to raise the water the full length of the injection pipe, but
in proportion as the vacuum becomes established in the condenser
atmospheric pressure will assist the pump and decrease the power
required to operate the same. The length of the injection pipe will be
governed by the elevation of the water supply above the waste drain.
Assuming the most unfavorable conditions, viz., the supply and waste
being on the same. level, the length of the injection pipe will be equal
to that of the waste pipes plus the height from the bottom of the con-
denser to the injection orifice. The length of the waste pipes will in
practice be about thirty-four fect and the additional length from one
to three feet, so that under the most unfavorable circumstances the
length of the injection pipe will not exceed thirty-seven feet. Assuming
the most perfect vacuum which may be obtained in the condenser
to be equal to fourteen pounds, which is in accordance with practice,
the pump would have to raise the injection water only nine feet.
This might be still further reduced by shortening the waste pipes and
lowering the condenser, for the reason that the vacuum of fourteen
pounds would not sustain a column of over twenty-eight feet, and the
waste pipes will carry off the injection water whenever their length is
in excess of the column which the obtained vacuum will sustain. But
it is found advisable in practice to give the waste pipes a few feet of
additional length, as the velocity with which the water will discharge is
thereby increased and in consequence the per-centage of air which it
will carry off with it. It is also found in practice that the smaller
the bore of the waste pipes (the required capacity being made up

page_text: by an increase in their number) the larger will be the per-centage
of air which the waste water will carry off, and as the successful
operation of the apparatus depends upon its capacity to carry off the
air which enters with the injection water and which may leak in at
defective joints the importance of this feature is manifest; and further
the vacuum is not only maintained but perfected by this means. It
may be here observed that the relative positions of the parts except
as to vertical distances is of little importance and may be made to
.suit the ever varying circumstances of location. It is also manifest
that the pump may be dispensed with when an equivalent natural head
of water is at command. Several inferior modifications of the apparatus
may be made, such as the application of a small air pump to exhaust
the air from the condenser in the first instance, and carry off such
air as may enter or leak therein during its operation; but this same
result is accomplished by the multiplication of waste pipes, as described.
A pump might also be applied to the waste pipes, and their length
and that of the injection pipe decreased to such an extent as that
the injection water would flow into the condenser from atmospheric
'pressure alone. My apparatus may further be used for the purpose
of producing a vacuum without acting as a condenser.
I will now describe the third feature of my Invention. I represents
a small pipe branching from the main injection pipe, and which
entering the condensing chamber at one side presents its end to
the mouth of the exhaust pipe. A portion of the condensing water
entering by this pipe is thrown directly into contact with the steam
as it first enters the condenser, and its volume being comparatively
small it will receive from the steam all the heat it is capable of holding
in the form of water, and as it falls upon the bottom of the condenser
it is prevented from mingling with the main portion of the injection
water by the partition A'. This portion of the condensing water being
raised to the highest possible temperature is employed to feed the boiler,
and is conducted thereto by the pipe J leading from the condenser
to the feed pump K. The higher the temperature of the feed water
the less the quantity of fuel which will be required to convert it into
steam, so that a very material saving in fuel will be the result of this
arrangement. The pipe I is provided with a valve or cock I, by which
the quantity of water passing through it may be regulated according
to the demands of the boiler.

page_text: Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, I claim,--
First. In combination with a condensing vessel arranged at the crown
of a syphon (whose short leg forms an injection pipe while its long
leg forms a waste pipe to carry off the injection water) the several
small waste pipes, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
Second. In combination with the said condensing vessel and syphon
the pump H arranged and operating substantially as and for the purpose
set forth.
Third. The secondary injection pipe I in connection with the
partitioned condenser and boiler feed pipe J, substantially as and for
the purpose set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Ninth day of March, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
nine.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE. (L.S.)
Witness,
THо. N. PALMER,
Clerk to Messrs. Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
8, Southampton Buildings,
W.C.