Improvements in Apparatus for Cooling or Condensing Fluids.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 3rd July, 1894-Accepted, 13th Oct.,
1894
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Cooling or Condensing Fluids.
I, GEORGE AMIEL BARNARD, of 15 Cortland Street, New York City, County
and State of New York, United States of America, Gentleman, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
The object of my invention is to provide an apparatus for cooling or condensing
fluids, in which the cooling surfaces shall be so disposed as to thoroughly and
effectively utilize the volume available within a determined capacity, and which
shall be inexpensive in construction, and readily accessible for removal, cleaning, or
repair. To this end, my invention, generally stated, consists in the combination of
an enclosing case or shell, fluid supply and discharge passages leading to and from
said case, and a filling or body of piled or woven rods or wire, interposed between
the supply and discharge pipes; also, in the combination of an enclosing case, fluid
supply and discharge passages, and interposed piled or woven rol filling, and an air
blast pipe discharging into and through said filling; also in the combination of an
enclosing case, fluid supply and discharge passages, an interposed piled or woven
rod filling, and an exhaust steam connection. The improvement claimed is
hereinafter fully set forth.
In the accompanying drawings; Fig. 1 is a vertical central section through an
apparatus illustrating an embodiment of my invention; Fig. 2, a similar section
showing a modification thereof; Fig. 3, a partial vertical section on an enlarged
scale, showing the filling in piles or layers, and Figs. 4 and 5, transverse sections,
also on an enlarged scale, showing an interwoven or meshed filling.
In the practice of my invention, I provide an enclosing case or shell 1, which, as
it is not subjected to any substantial degree of pressure, may be of any preferred
material, as brick, sheet metal, or wood, and may be of circular, rectangular or
irregular cross section as desired, and of such dimensions as are desirable under the
conditions of service. The case 1 is set in an approximately vertical position, in
order to admit of the traverse and discharge of liquid through it by the action of
gravity, and may be either wholly open at top, as shown in Fig. 1, or be provided
with a cap having an opening or a series of perforations, as preferred. The lower
end of the case is closed by a bottom plate 2, from which is led a discharge pipe 3,
the outer open end of which is located in or above a lower delivery receptacle 4.
A supply pipe 5, the cud of which is preferably provided with a perforated
spreader or sprinkler 6, in order to distribute liquid in a series of fine streams or
jets, is located above the case 1, its exit end and sprinkler preferably projecting
into the case, in order to prevent the dispersion of liquid outside thereof.
The interior of the case, between the supply and discharge pipes, is substantially
filled by a body or filling 7, of material so arranged as to present a series of closely
sub-divided cooling surfaces, and small or narrow interposed passages or interstices
for the traverse of fluid from the supply to the discharge pipe. To this end, the
filling 7 is most desirably composed of small rods or wires, placed as closely together
as is compatible with the passage of fluid between them, and made preferably
of metal, although other materials may be used if desired. The several members of
the filling may be arranged either in layers or piles, as shown in Fig. 3, or be
interwoven into sheets or netting having a series of meshes, as in Fig. 4, and, in the
latter case, the interwoven sheets or netting may be piled one above another, or
they may be coiled or rolled, as indicated in Fig. 5. A single sheet may be rolled
spirally or a series of sheets may be rolled one around another. By the employment
of closely adjoining rods or wires as a filling, as above described, a very large

page_text: amount of cooling surface may be presented within a comparatively small compass,
and wire being a good conductor, the cooling of liquid passing though the
interstices or passages between the wires will be thoroughly and rapidly effected.
It will also be seen that the filling may be readily removed and replaced when
required for cleaning, renewal, or any other purpose. The filling 7 is herein shown
as resting upon a grated or skeleton frame support 8, above the bottom plate of
the case, but it may, if preferred, extend to or near the bottom plate.
In cases where the temperature of the fluid to be cooled is sufficiently high to
render the application of an external refrigerating medium necessary or desirable, a
current of air may be forced through the filling, in order to exert a cooling action
upon the currents of fluid passing through the same. For this purpose, an air blast
pipe 9, is led from a fan or pressure blower into the shell, the air blast either entering
the same at its lower end and passing upwardly through the filling, as in Fig. 1, or
being admitted at top and passing downwardly through the filling as in Fig. 2, as
may be preferred.
In the operation of the apparatus, water supplied to the apparatus by the pipe 5,
passes downwardly, by gravity, through the filling 7, and is cooled by contact
therewith, and by the air blast entering by the blast pipe 9, when the latter is
employed, the cooled water being collected in the lower receptacle 4.
The
The modification illustrated in Fig. 2 is designed for the condensation of steam
without a vacuum, and the provision of purified water for boiler feed. The
filling 7 is, in this case inserted in two independent bodies, each resting upon
a grated or skeleton frame support 8, similar to that of Fig. 1.
air blast pipe 9 is led into the top of the case 1, which, except as to said pipe, is
closed by a conical cap 10, and an exhaust steam connection pipe 11, through which
exhaust steam is delivered, is led into the space or chamber 12 between the upper
and lower sectious of the filling 7. Water is supplied to the upper portion of the
case by a supply pipe 5, having a perforated spreader or sprinkler 6, said pipe being
preferably led from the lower delivery receptacle 4, and being provided with a
suitable lifting device 13, as a pump or injector. The initial supply of water to the
receptacle 4, as well as supply to compensate losses from evaporation or otherwise,
is effected by a pipe 14. An open-topped pan or feed water receptacle 15, is
located in the chamber 12, in position to receive water passing out of the upper
section of the filling 7, as well as to be heated by the steam entering at the adjacent
end of the exhaust connection 11. Heated and purified water is drawn off from the
receptacle 15, by a pipe 16.
In operation, steam entering the case through the connection 11, is condensed by
the air blast from the pipe 9, and the currents of water from the supply pipe 5.
The condensed water passes downwardly through the filling, and is cooled in its
passage through the same and returned to the supply pipe and spreader, the small
percentage lost by evaporation and leakage being made up by supply through the
pipe 14. The receptacle 15 will be kept filled with purified water from the upper
section of the filling, and such water, which will be raised to a high temperature by
the heat of the exhaust steam, may be desirably used for boiler supply, for which
or for other purposes, it is taken off through the pipe 16.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, declare that what I
claim is:
1. In an apparatus for cooling or condensing fluids, the combination of an enclosing
case or shell, fluid supply and discharge passages leading to and from said case, an
interposed piled or woven rod or wire filling, and an exhaust steam connection,
substantially as set forth.
2. In an apparatus for cooling or condensing fluids, the combination of an
enclosing case or shell, fluid supply and discharge passages leading to and from said
case, a piled or woven rod or wire filling interposed, in separate bodies, between the
supply and discharge passages, an exhaust steam connection leading into the case

page_text: between the bodies of filling, and a feed water receptacle located within the case
adjacent to the exhaust steam connection, substantially as set forth.
3. In an apparatus for cooling or condensing fluids, the combination of an
enclosing case or shell, fluid supply and discharge passages leading to and from said
case, a delivery receptacle below the case, a lifting device for elevating liquid from
the delivery receptacle to the supply passage, a piled or woven wire or rod filling
interposed, in separate bodies, between the supply and discharge passages, and an
exhaust steam connection leading into the case between the bodies of filling,
substantially as set forth.
4. In an apparatus for cooling or condensing fluid, the combination of an
enclosing case or shell, fluid supply and discharge passages leading to and from said
case, an interposed piled or woven rod or wire filling, an air blast pipe discharging
into and through said filling, and an exhaust steam connection, substantially as
set forth.
5. In an apparatus for cooling or condensing fluids, the combination of an
enclosing case or shell having fluid supply and discharge passages leading to and
from said case, a filling or body of piled or woven rods or wires interposed between
said supply and discharge passages, and means for admitting a fluid body under
pressure in contact with fluid passing from the supply duct and percolating
through said filling towards the discharge passage, substantially as set forth.
Dated this 19th day of May 1894.
GEORGE AMIEL BARNARD.
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.