IMPROVEMENTS IN ICE MAKING COOLING AND REFRIGERATING APPARATUS
Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 6th Dec., 1886
Complete Left, 6th Oct.. 1887
Complete Accepted, 6th Dec.. 1887
FREDERICK BARKER HILL Engineer, 26 London Road S.E. in the County of
Surrey, & WILLIAM AUGUSTUS GORMAN Engineer 187 Westminster Bridge Road in
the County of Surrey do hereby declare the nature of our invention for IMPROVEMENTS
IN ICE MAKING COOLING AND REFRIGERATING APPARATUS to be as follows:
This invention relates to improvements on the invention for which letters patent
were granted to Toranoske Masayas Nishigawa and Frederick Barker Hill bearing
date 31st August 1876 and numbered 3427 and also on the invention granted to
Frederick Barker Hill and William Augustus Gorman bearing date 4th of June 1885
and numbered 6808 and has for its object economy in cost of apparatus, economy in
fuel and cooling water and increased efficiency of action.
In our improved apparatus we employ generally such vessels as are described in the
above Specifications 3427 of 1876 and 6808 of 1885 but of a more simple and efficient
kind with the addition of a more rapid way of giving heat to the animonia boiler or
boilers and also for forming a cold store or stores for cooling or refrigerating
purposes.
This class of ammonia boiler or boilers are heated by steam either jacketed or by
coil or coils or both according to the amount of heating surface required.
In the smaller sizes this jacket and coils are used both for heating and cooling by
first circulating steam then cold water.
When the cooling is to be done very slowly the atmosphere is allowed to circulate
by itself thereby saving cooling water. This is important in cooling rooms as by this
means the loss from radiation through the walls would be replaced by this slow
cooling.
In the smaller size machines the pure anhydrous ammonia receiver is made large
enough to hold the entire quantity in machine by this means no liquid glass gauge is
required.
Attached to the ammonia boiler or boilers is a rapid steam producer for heating
the ammonia boiler or boilers.
This is formed by coil or coils enclosed in a caseing forming a furnace and having

page_text: a small vessel or separator to separate the water which would be carried forward by
the rapid circulation of steam.
It will be seen if the steam is allowed to circulate to the steam jacket or coils
forming the heating surface to the ammonia boiler it will part with its heat and
condense and is so arranged that the condensed water will fall by gravity to the steam
producer to be converted into steam again.
By this means we are enabled to form a cheap and powerful steam producer and to
circulate without engine or pump and at the same time being made of coils of small
diameter the danger of an explosion is nil.
For cooling or refrigerating for cold air rooms a quantity of noncongealable liquid
is used in a tank or tanks the bottom of these tanks forming the ceiling of the room or
rooms to be cooled and exposed to the air in the room.
ammonia on
The cooling surface can be much increased by using U tubes or tubes by con-
necting one end to the bottom of tank and the other end to nearly to the top of tank
by this means a circulation would take place by the difference of specific gravity.
We prefer to cool the noncongealable liquid by the direct action of liquid
coils or vessels placed vertical or horizontally running through
the noncongealable liquid and extracting the heat as described in our former
specification. With this class of cooler or refrigerator we use a large quantity of
noncongealable liquid for this reason a room may be cooled quickly but as soon as
apparatus ceases working without having a store of cold much more than required
the temperature would quickly rise but in our case this quantity is so calculated that
it shall not rise more than a few degrees in the rest of the twenty four hours.

page_text: We FREDERICK BARKER HILL, Engineer 26 London Road S.E. in the County of
Surrey, WILLIAM AUGUSTUS GORMAN, Engineer 187 Westminster Bridge Road in the
County of Surrey 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 :-
Our invention relates to a simple and efficient mode of apparatus for cooling rooms,
and ice making, giving a rapid means of heating and cooling without danger of
explosion. So arranged that unskilled labour is only required and by using a large
quantity of non congealable liquid a store of cold is obtained equal to many hours
work at a small outlay, and requiring very small working expenses.
Our said invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1
is a sectional elevation with the ammonia boiler vertical, and chiefly designed for
cooling rooms.
Figure 2 is a sectional elevation of the ammonia boiler, horizontal, with a steam
separator attached.
Figure 3 is a section of joint used.
Like letters indicate corresponding parts throughout the drawings.
The apparatus shown in figure 1 forms a very convenient and rapid means of
cooling or ice making by attaching the ordinary ice boxes either by the direct
expansion of ammonia or by circulating a non-congealable liquid and is constructed
as follows, that is to say:-
A is a casing forming a furnace. A coil or coils giving large heating surface
for the rapid forming of steam. B is a steam and water separator which is filled
about three parts with water and supplies the coil A' with water by gravitation.
Through pipe B when fire is applied the steam with a portion of water is forced
through pipe B into the separator, the water is carried back again into the
coil A through pipe B' and the steam passes up the pipe B, cock B, pipe B³ into
coil in ammonia boiler C, and coming in contact with the colder surface condenses
and runs down coil B6 by gravitation, through the cock and pipe B7 & Bs into
separator to be again formed into steam, by this means a very large heating surface
can be got in ammonia boiler C, and by placing the coil in the Boiler and afterwards
welding the end in C as shewn the difficulty of a large joint is overcome.
The ammonia boiler C is nearly filled with a strong solution of ammonia, the heat
given off from the coil B by the condensing of steam drives the ammonia from this
strong solution in the form of gas through the pipe C into coil or coils C² which is
placed in a tank C³ containing cold water, and by its own accumulation of pressure
due to the application of heat is liquified by taking its sensible & latent heat from
it by the cold water, this liquid runs down the coil into liquid ammonia receiver (*,
this receiver is made large enough to contain the whole of the pure liquid ammonia.

page_text: This arrangement is for simplicity, this being the first stage of working this inter-
mittent process, that is to say, the fire is lighted and kept burning for a stated time,
by which time the liquid ammonia will be collected.
The second stage is to open the cock C5 the liquid will be driven up the pipes C³ C7, C³,
into the large tube D.
The cock is to be closed when the liquid is all forced up into the large tubes D,
this is known by the noise the gas makes when commencing to follow the liquid.
The third stage is to draw the fire and pass cold water through the coil Bª by
opening the cocks B and B10.
By this means the weak liquid in boiler C will be cooled and the pressure
reduced. By opening the cock D₁ the ammonia boils and returns from the tubes D,
by the pipes D2, D3³ & D and be absorbed in the weak solution in boiler C, as we
have taken its sensible and latent heat from it it must have the same amount again to
return so it takes it from the non-congealable liquid in tank E, which liquid surrounds
the large tubes D, by this means the non congealable liquid is cooled, which
temperature may be many degrees below zero Fahrenheit.
The tank E forms the ceiling of room or rooms to be cooled. The coldest non-
congealable liquid will circulate to the bottom of tank E and the hottest atmosphere
will rise to top of room. By this means an exchange of temperature will take place
and the room will be kept at nearly the same temperature as the non-congealable
liquid. To give more surface for cooling when required we use U tubes.
E gives
a circulation of non-congealable liquid by the difference of specific gravity due to the
heat it absorbs from the room.
This completes the cycle of the operation.
These machines can be made to produce an amount of cold equal to many
hundredweight of ice.
Figure is an ammonia boiler C heated by a steam jacket and covered with a
non conductor ("; attached to this boiler C is a separator F for separating the
steam that may be carried forward with ammoniacal gas. This separator is placed
in a small tank of water F¹ to condense the steam, but the temperature of water is
higher than the water round coil for liquifying the ammoniacal gas.
The water returns to boiler through pipe F2 and the ammoniacal gas goes to be
liquified.
Figure 3 is a section of joint and marked in the drawing where used
by the letter used to overcome the difficulty of leakage. It is
a screwed
joint and an india rubber safe guard, the india rubber may be kept in its
position by the iron rings and back nuts as shewn or by flanges with bolts.
This joint
is used as a running joint to couple the pipes together, by first screwing the sleeve
on the one pipe and then back on the other, after which the india-rubber rings and
iron washers are forced up tight by the back nuts as shown or by the aid of flanges
and bolts.
Having thus fully described our said invention and the manner of performing the
same we wish it understood that we claim―
1st. The apparatus for cooling or ice making, the employment of this form of
steam heater and the tank forming the ceiling of room or chamber to be cooled, and
forming a store of cold.
2nd. The arrangement and construction of the apparatus as specified and shown in
the drawings annexed, for the purpose specified.