IMPROVEMENTS IN COOLING OR REFRI- GERATING, AND IN THE APPARATUS AND MEANS EMPLOYED THEREFOR.
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Young, of Clippens, in the County of Renfrew,
North Britain, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN COOLING OR REFRI-
GERATING, AND IN THE APPARATUS AND MEANS EMPLOYED THEREFOR.'
Seeled the 17th M... 1070 and at the Och fl 100
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Young at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 8th March 1878.
WILLIAM YOUNG, of Clippens, in the County of Renfrew, North Britain.
"IM-
PROVEMENTS IN COOLING OR REFRIGERATING, AND IN THE APPARATUS AND MEANS
EMPLOYED THEREFOR.'
"
This Invention relates to improvements in that class of cold-producing machines
wherein a vacuum pump, refrigerator, and condenser are employed, and it has for
its object the production of cold, or, in other words, the abstraction of heat by the
evaporation in vacuo or partial vacuo of mixed volatile fluids, or the evaporation
in vacuo or partial vacuo of a volatile fluid or mixed volatile fluids in conjunction
with permanent gaseous bodies at the temperature and pressure employed.
When mixed volatile fluids, such as the most volatile portions of petroleum, or
the very volatile bydrocarbons condensed from coal gas, or the gases produced in
shale oil works, as also mixtures of the ethers and other mixed volatile fluids having
a solvent action upon each other, are employed to produce cold by causing them to
volatilize in vacuo; the most volatile portion or those having the highest vapour
tension are in most part first volatilized, and the tensions of those vapours when
thus separated from the denser solvent portions of the mixture, being very high, a
low temperature and some pressure are necessary to cause them to condense. At
the pressures which can be conveniently employed, a small portion of the most
volatile fluid resists condensation, and as the return of the condensed portion to the
Price 1077

page_text: refrigerator and the revolatilization is continued, this gaseous portion increases
in the condenser to such a quantity as seriously to interfere with the cooling
operations.
By the first part of this Invention the afore-mentioned objection is remedied,
and this is effected by causing the cold vapour of the volatilized fluid as it passes
from the refrigerator to complete the condensation or cooling of the returned gases
in the presence of the cooled condensed portion returning from the condenser, and
thereafter allowing the portions which resist condensation under those conditions to
escape into the refrigerators, where, becoming mingled with the denser fluid, they
carry up in diffusion with them in their passage to the condensers sufficient vapour
of the denser fluid to effect their condensation on their return.
Instead of employing the cooled vapour from the refrigerator to complete the
condensation a separate refrigerator may be employed in which the vacuum is pro-
duced, either by the same pump which creates the vacuum in the refrigerator, or
by a supplementary pump; or both a separate refrigerator and the cooling influence
of the vapour from the refrigerator may be employed.
When mixed volatile fluids, such as those referred to, are volatilized under a
given amount of vacuum or relief of pressure, an intermediate temperature is pro-
duced; but when the mixed volatile fluids are in part fractionated and the separate
portions thereof are employed successively in cooling the substance or mediuin and
in cooling the substance with the same amount of vacuum, a much lower temperature
may be produced.
The second part of this Invention consists of improved arrangements for the
application of the afore-mentioned fact and of improved forms of refrigerators by
which the mixed or partially fractionated volatile fluid may be so applied to the
fluid or other matter to be cooled, that the most volatile portions are employed to
complete the cooling and the denser portions to effect the first reduction of tem-
perature.
This object may be accomplished by an almost endless number of mechanical
forms, but the most convenient will be found to consist of a series of shallow vessels
placed over each other, through which the substance to be cooled or the medium to
be employed in cooling the substance is made to flow in an upwards direction at
the same time that the mixed volatile fluid or partially fractionated volatile fluid
returning from the condenser is made to flow downwards over the vessels; or the
arrangement may consist of a coil of pipe or pipes, over which the mixed volatile
fluid is caused to spread and fall at the same time that the fluid or other substance
to be cooled is caused to flow upwards through the coil of pipe or pipes; or instead
of the vessels and pipes being placed over each other, they may be placed almost
horizontally or slightly inclined, the substance to be cooled travelling in one
direction and the mixed volatile fluid in the other, it being immaterial, so far as the
form of the arrangement is concerned, provided that the mixed volatile fluid is so
applied that the vapour tension of each portion is such, that when successively
employed under a given pressure, it will be able to abstract heat from the substance
to be cooled by its volatilization.
This arrangement of refrigerator has the further advantago, that, in thus causing
a portion of each of the mixed volatile. fluids to volatilize, condensation is much
more easily effected, as the pressure of the denser portion lowers the tension of the
more volatile portion.
When the temperature to which it is desired to cool any substance is low, and the
volatile fluids which are employed to produce the refrigerating effect is such as will
condense at a low pressure over that of the atmosphere, the vacuum pump loses
much of its power owing to the low pressure which it is necessary to sustain in the
refrigerator; and further, what cooling effect is produced calls for a much greater
expenditure of power per unit of heat removed.
By the third part of this Invention, this waste of power is lessened and the
cooling capacity of the vacuum pump is increased, which is effected by employing

page_text: a small quantity of air or other suitable gas, or a small quantity of the vapour of a
very volatile fluid, preference being given to the employment of such vapours and
gases as are not solvents for or soluble in the volatile fluids employed to produce
the cold.
The air, gas, or vapour is made to circulate alternately from the refrigerator to
the condenser by means of the vacuum pump in the manner described when mixed
fluids are used, and is only allowed to be present in such quantity as shall permit
of a low pressure being sustained in the refrigerator corresponding, say, to that of a
column of mercury of from 4 to 15 inches, and so that when it passes to the con-
denser it will not produce any great excess of pressure.
By using the air, gas, or vapour in this manner, a much greater amount of work
is performed by a given size of vacuum pump with a minimum expenditure of
mechanical power, these results being due to the increased tension of the vapour
of the volatile fluid or fluids in the presence of the greatly distended air, gas, or
vapour.
When the gas or highly elastic vapour employed to circulate through the refri-
gerating arrangement is not a solvent for water nor the volatile fluid or fluids
employed to produce the cold, then a small quantity of such fluid must be added,
such as alcohol or ether. This is also the case when mixed fluids are employed,
when they are not solvent for water, this solvent preventing the closing up of the
perforators with frozen particles of water through which the returning vapour
escapes into the refrigerator. In place of this solvent, chloride of calcium, sulphuric
acid, or lime may be employed to absorb the moisture, but the solvent is most
convenient.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Young in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 6th Sep-
tember 1878.
"IM-
WILLIAM YOUNG, of Clippens, in the County of Renfrew, North Britain.
PROVEMENTS IN COOLING OR REFRIGERATING, AND IN THE APPARATUS OR MEANS
EMPLOYED THEREFOR."
My said Invention relates to improvements in that class of cold-producing
machines wherein a vacuum pump, refrigerator, and condenser are employed, and it
has for its object the production of cold, or in other words, the abstraction of heat
by the evaporation in vacuo or partial vacuo of mixed volatile fluids, or the
evaporation in vacuo or partial vacuo of a volatile fluid or mixed volatile fluids in
conjunction with gaseous bodies which are permanent at the temperature and
pressure employed.
When mixed volatile fluids, such, for example, as the most volatile portions of
petroleum, or the very volatile hydrocarbons condensed from coal gas, or the gases
produced in shale oil works, or mixtures of the ethers or mixtures of other volatile
fluids having a solvent action upon each other, are employed to abstract heat by
causing them to volatilize in vacuo; the most volatile portions, or those having the
highest vapour tension, are in most part first volatilized; and the tensions of those
vapours, when thus separated from the denser solvent portions of the mixture, being
very high, a low temperature and some pressure are necessary to cause them to
condense. At the pressures which can be conveniently employed a small portion of
the most volatile fluid resists condensation; and as the return of the condensed
portion to the refrigerator and the revolatilization is continued this uncondensed
portion accumulates in the condenser in such quantity as to seriously interfere with
the cooling operations.
By the first part of this Invention the afore-mentioned difficulty, with reference
to that portion or those portions of the most volatile fluid or fluids which resists or
resist condensation, is overcome by causing the cold vapour of the volatilized fluid,
as it passes from the refrigerator, to condense or nearly condense the aforesaid
uncondensed portion or portions of the gases or vapours which are returned with
the cooled condensed portion from the condenser, and thereafter allowing any
portions which still resist condensation under these conditions to escape into the
refrigerators, where, becoming mingled with the denser fluid, they carry up in
diffusion with them in their passage to the condensers sufficient vapour of the
denser fluid to ensure their complete condensation on their return from the refrige-
rators to the condenser.
Instead of employing the cooled vapour from the refrigerator to complete the
condensation, a separate refrigerator may for this purpose be employed, and wherein
the vacuum is produced either by the same pump which creates the vacuum in the
refrigerator, or by a supplementary pump; or both a separate refrigerator and the
cooling influence of the vapour from the main refrigerator may be employed.
When mixed volatile fluids, such as those herein-after referred to, are volatilized
under any given amount of vacuum or diminution of pressure a temperature some-
where interinediate between the temperature of the unmixed volatile fluids is
produced; but when the mixed volatile fluids are in part fractionated, and the
separate portions thereof are employed successively in cooling the substance or
medium, a much lower temperature may be produced with the same amount of
vacuum, and consequently a more perfect refrigeration is effected.
The second part of this Invention relates to the arrangement of apparatus for
the practical application of the afore-mentioned fact, and of improved forms of
refrigerators, by which the mixed or partially fractionated volatile fluids may be so
employed, with reference to the fluid or other matter to be cooled, that the most
volatile portions are caused to complete the cooling and the denser portions to effect
the first reduction of temperaturein the substance being refrigerated.

page_text: This object may be accomplished by a great variety of forms of apparatus, but to
the best of my present knowledge the most convenient form of apparatus will be
found to consist of a series of sballow vessels placed over each other and constituting
the refrigerator, through which refrigerator the substance to be cooled or the medium
to be employed in cooling the substance is made to flow in one direction, at the
same time that the mixed volatile fluids or partially fractionated volatile fluids
returning from the condenser is made to flow in the other direction over or through
the vessels; or the arrangement may consist of a coil or coils of piping, over which
the mixed volatile fluid is caused to spread and descend at the same time that the
fluid or other substance to be cooled is caused to flow upwards through the coil or
coils of piping. Or instead of the vessels (or coils) being placed over each other
they may be placed almost horizontally or slightly inclined, the substance to be
cooled travelling in one direction and the mixed volatile fluid travelling in the
other direction, it being immaterial what form of arrangement of the apparatus is
employed provided always that the mixed volatile fluid is so applied that the vapour
tension of each portion is such that when the portions are successively employed
under a given pressure they will volatilize, and each be able to abstract heat from
the substance to be cooled.
The before-described arrangement of refrigerator has the additional advantage
that in thus causing a portion of each of the mixed volatile fluids to volatilize
condensation is much more easily effected, as the presence of the denser portion or
portions lowers the tension of the more volatile portion or portions, as the said more
volatile portion or portions passes or pass on their way to the condensers in presence
of the said denser portion or portions.
When the temperature to which it is desired to cool any substance is low, and
the volatile fluids which are employed to produce the refrigerating effect are such
as will condense at a low pressure over that of the atmosphere, the vacuum pump
loses much of its effect owing to the low pressure which it is necessary to sustain
in the refrigerator, and further, such cooling as is produced involves a greater
expenditure of power per unit of heat removed.
By the third part of this Invention this waste of power is lessened and the
cooling capacity of the vacuum pump is increased by employing a small quantity of
air or other suitable gas, or the vapour of a very volatile fluid, preference being
given to such vapours and gases as are not solvents for or soluble in the volatile
fluids employed to produce the frigorific results.
The air, gas, or vapour so employed is circulated alternately from the refrigerator
to the condensers by means of the vacuum pump in the manner herein-before
described with regard to the use of mixed fluids, and the said air, gas, or vapour is
only allowed to be present in such quantity as shall permit of a low pressure being
sustained in the refrigerator corresponding, say, to that of a column of mercury
from 4 to 15 inches, and so that when the said air, gas, or vapour passes to the
condenser it will not produce any great excess of pressure.
By using the air, gas, or vapour in this manner an amount of work is performed
by the vacuum pump much greater than the amount hitherto performed, and this
with a minimum expenditure of mechanical power, these results being due to the
increased tension of the vapour of the volatile fluid or fluids in the presence of the
greatly distended air, gas, or vapour.
When the gas or highly elastic vapour employed to circulate through the refrige-
rating arrangement is not a solvent for water, nor for the volatile fluid or fluids
employed to produce the cold, then a small quantity of such fluid must be added,
such as alcohol or ether. This is also the case when mixed fluids are employed
when they are not solvent for water, this solvent preventing the closing up of the
perforations with frozen particles of water through which the returning vapour
escapes into the refrigerator. In place of this solvent chloride of calcium, sulphuric
acid, or lime may be employed to absorb the moisture, but the solvent is most
convenient.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood, I now proceed

page_text: more particularly to set forth the system, mode, or manner in or under which the
same is or may be used or practically carried into effect, reference being had to the
accompanying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is
to say,
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is an elevation partly in section of a
cooling or refrigerating machine in connection with which I will now fully describe
the first part of my Invention for the cooling of oil containing paraffin or other like
fluid, as it may be produced with apparatus of a like kind to that for which
Letters Patent for the United Kingdom, Number 4857, were granted to Alexander
Neilson and myself, dated the 21st December, A.D. 1877.
As described with regard to one of the arrangements illustrated in the
Specification of the said Alexander Neilson and myself filed in pursuance of a
certain proviso in the said Letters Patent contained, the volatile fluid by the
evaporation of which the cold is produced, is filled into the cylinder or drum A
(shewn separately in longitudinal section in Figure 2) revolving in the trough B.
This charging of the volatile fluid into the drum A can be accomplished by forming
a vacuum in the said chamber or drum by means of the vacuum pump F, and
allowing the air to escape by the safety valve on the pipe c', after which on opening
the stop-cock c³, a vessel being connected thereto by a flexible or other tube
containing the volatile fluid, the said volatile fluid is drawn from the said vessel
into the vessel C, and from thence through the pipe c to the drum A, the cock c³
being then closed. The drum or cylinder A is rotated by means of the wheel a',
and pinion d (on the shaft D, turning in the bearings d³), connected by the belt c
to the crank shaft of the engine E. The vapour is drawn off from the drum by the
vacuum pump F (actuated by the said engine E), through the pipe g, in communi-
cation with the interior of the drum A, through one of the trunnions a of the said
drum, which trunnion is hollow, the said vapour passing to the said pump through
the tubes of the regenerator G and the pipe f. The vapour passes from the vacuum
pump through the pipe h to the condenser H, and on moving through its tubes is
cooled by water flowing around the exterior of the said tubes, the water entering
and escaping by the pipes /'. That portion of the vapours which is thus condensed
together with the portion which has resisted condensation escapes from the
condenser H through the pipe 2 to the regenerator G, amongst the spaces therein
situated between the exteriors of the tubes thereof, and here the greater portion
and in some cases the whole of such vapour is condensed or liquified and then
allowed to return to the cooling drum or cylinder A by the float and valve
arrangement c³.
The vapours which resist condensation and absorption may under certain
conditions also be allowed to return to the cylinder by means of a regulating valve
as herein-after described with regard to the parts shewn in dotted lines in
Figure 1.
This valve arrangement c³ may partake of a variety of forms, the sole object of
the said arrangement being to return only the non-condensed vapours when the
desired amount of vacuum is attained in the drum or cooling cylinder A.
To illustrate the working of this arrangement I will suppose the mixed volatile
fluid employed in the cooling cylinder to consist of five of the more volatile of the
petroleums, which I will designate as fluids A, B, C, D, and E. Let it also be
supposed that when fractionated or separately distilled that,―

page_text: B, filled with the oil or other matter to be cooled, and a partial vacuum being
formed inside the cylinder A by the vacuum pump F removing the vapours, a
difference of temperature is produced between the oil inside and outside of the
said drum, from which it follows that the mixed fluids therein are caused to boil,
they obtaining the heat necessary to produce this ebulition in vacuo, from the oil
external to the cylinder A, or in other words, cooling that oil by removing its heat.
If the vapour given off by the mixed fluids, and passed by the vacuum pump F
to the condenser H, were in the same proportion to that left behind in the cooling
cylinder A the vapour would be all condensed by water at 60° Fahrenheit; but in
practice it is found that such is not the case, and that on the contrary the more
volatile portion evaporates in greater proportions, and therefore the mingled vapours
have a greater tension at 65° Fahrenheit than that equal to a column of mercury
30 inches high. Pressure must therefore be exerted to overcome this tension, or
some ineans employed to lower the temperature in order to produce condensation.
As herein-before indicated, the application of pressure interferes very much with
the efficiency of the vacuum pump. To reduce the tension of the vapours and
liquify them, they are passed from the condenser H to the regenerator G, where in
passing in combination with the portion liquified in the condenser H. around the
tubes through which the cold vapours from the cooling cylinder are passed, con-
densation or absorption takes place, and the condensed liquid is returned by means
of the float valve o back through the pipe c into the cooling drum A. But in some
cases even this temperature, which is produced by the cold vapour from the cooling
cylinder, is not quite sufficient to produce liquifaction of the most volatile of the
vapours, and by the continuous working of the machine and successive quantities
of vapour escaping condensation or absorption they go on accumulating until their
quantity and therefore their pressure becomes so excessive as to interfere with the
action of the vacuum pump.
The vapours may be allowed to escape by the safety valve on the pipe c', but
allowing them thus to escape would entail loss, as it would very much lessen the
efficiency of the volatile fluid. To prevent this loss the vessel C, instead of being
provided with a safety valve, as shewn in full lines, may be provided with the
equilibrium valve arrangement shewn in connection with the said vessel in dotted
lines in Figure 1, by which arrangement the said vapours are allowed to pass back
by means of the equilibrium valve c' through the pipe c with the condensed liquid
into the cooling cylinder A, where escaping by the perforations in the said pipe c
they bubble up through the fluid mixture of hydrocarbons therein, and carry with
them in diffusion as much of the vapours of the denser hydrocarbons as effects their
absorption and condensation on reaching the condenser H and regenerator G. To
regulate the aforesaid back flow of those vapours to the cooling cylinder A the
equilibrium valve c is attached to the flexible diaphragm c, the upper side of
which is in communication by the bell-mouthed pipe g² with the partial vacuum
produced inside the cooling drum A. The amount of vacuum which it is desired
to sustain inside the cooling cylinder before returning the vapours is regulated by
means of the weights c on the spindle of the equilibrium valve c*.
$
Instead of allowing the vapours to escape into the refrigerator A in contact with
the denser volatile fluid, they may (when stationary refrigerators are employed)'
be cooled by moving through tubes passing through a part of the refrigerator in
the manner herein-after described.
.
Figure 3 is an elevation, partly in section, of cooling machinery, similar in its
parts and for a similar purpose to that described with regard to the other arrangement
illustrated in the aforesaid Specification, Number 4857, A.D. 1877, with reference
to which Figure 3 I will now describe the second part of my Invention:-The
refrigerator consists of a chamber A divided into a series of compartments a², a³,
a³, a, a, a, communicating with each other by the pipes a', and with the vacuum
pumps F through the pipe g, regenerator G, and pipe f. Each of these compart-
ments has passing through it, tubes y', y, y, y, y. 3, communicating with end
chambers, ³, ³, x, x³, ³, ³,,through which tubes and chambers the paraffin or

page_text: other matter to be cooled is passed, its passage being assisted by the combined
scrapers and propellers k driven through the gearing k by the pulley *. Each of
the chambers a to having a vacuum formed therein, is charged (to the level
of the opening of the pipes a) with the volatile fluids which are passed thereinto
through the cock o³ as described with regard to the previous arrangement. The
lower chamber a is not filled to the level of the pipe g, in order to prevent
priming, that is to say, the passing of the non-volatilized liquid to the regenerator
or vacuum pump.
To facilitate the description of the working of this arrangement I will supposo
that a mixture of volatile fluids is employed, similar to that taken as an example
in the previously described first part of my Invention, and that the substance to
be cooled enters the refrigerator at a temperature of 50° Fahrenheit, and that it is
desired to cool it down to 10° Fahrenheit.
When the machine is started and the amount of vacuum or relief of pressure
gradually produced in the communicating chambers a to a³, constituting the
refrigerator by means of the vacuum pump, the volatile fluid is in part volatilized
from all the said chambers a¹ to a, but in quantities gradually increasing from
the upper chamber downwards this increase, being due to the greater temperature
of the oil or other liquid or semi-liquid substance introduced by the pipe i, and
passing upwards through the tubes y' to y in each successive chamber to the
outlet tube j. The vapours are drawn off by the vacuum pump F through the
pipe, regenerator G, and pipe g, and passed thence to the condenser H by
the pipe h, and returned through the regenerator G and vessel C back through
the pipe c into the upper chamber al of the refrigerator A, and upon this getting
filled the volatile fluid flows down from chamber to chamber successively.
It is evident that by this division or fractionating of the process of volatilization,
that is to say, by conducting it in different chambers at different temperatures, the
fluid in the lower chamber a of the refrigerator will, from the loss in great part of
the more volatile portion, attain a high boiling point, or in other words, a low
vapour tension, and that the volatile fluid in each successive chamber upwards will
have a higher vapour tension, or in other words, a lower boiling point, due to the
successively smaller quantity of the more volatile portion removed, and to the
supply of the more volatile portion removed from the lower chamber aª by the
vacuum pump F, and returned to the upper chamber a' from the condenser H, so
that ultimately the boiling points in the various chambers will become such that
equivalent portions of vapour will be given off from each. Therefore the vapour
passing from the refrigerator through the vacuum pump F to the condenser H will
be in such proportions as will condense at a temperature of 65° Fahrenheit. Con-
sequently, with a fluid composed as herein-before described,--
The upper chamber (a¹) will contain fluid boiling at, say, 65° Fahrenheit.
"
"
5th
6th
"
(a)
"
"
του
"
90°
"
33
"
"
100°
under a pressure equal to a column of mercury 30 inches high. If by means of the
vacuum pump the vapours are removed as fast as they are given off, and the
pressure reduced to equal only about 8 inches of mercury, the temperature of the
chambers would be reduced to about 60° Fahrenheit below the boiling points of
the fluids contained in the respective chambers of the refrigerator, and would con-
segmently be as follows

page_text: Upper chamber (a¹) from 15° to 10° Fahrenheit
"
"
2nd
20° 15°
"
"
"
3rd
"
(a³)
25° 20°
31
"
4th
"
(a³)
35° 25°
"
"
5th
6th
"
(a³)
"
45° 35°
"
"J
"
"3
""
50° 45°
"
"
whence it follows that (in employing mixed fluids in the manner described) with
a given amount of vacuum or relief of pressure, each chamber a¹ to a is made to
perform the work of cooling at different temperatures, and that a lower ultimate
temperature is produced with an equal expenditure of power, and at the same time
portions of the whole of the mixed volatile fluids being volatilized, thus condensation
is facilitated by the solvent and absorbent action of the denser portions on the
more volatile portions.
Figure 5 is an elevation, partly in section, of a cooling apparatus suitable for
giving effect to all three parts of this Inveution as applied to the cooling of a liquid,
such as glycerine or brine, to be afterwards employed in extracting heat from other
substances, such as converting water into ice.
The machine is also applicable to cooling brewers' and distiller's worts.
The arrangement consists of certain parts similar to those herein-before described,
such parts being marked with similar letters of reference; and there is an additional
driving cylinder and piston, which is employed in the manner and for the purposes
herein-after explained.
The refrigerator A, which is shewn in transverse section at Figure 6, is essentially
similar in its construction to that shewn in Figures 3 and 4, consisting of a sorics
of seven chambers a¹, a³, a³, a, a, a, a, communicating with one another by the
end passages a7, but instead of each chamber containing a single tube of large
diameter each of the six upper chambers has passing through it a number of small
tubes y, through which the liquid to be cooled is passed from the inlet i to the
outlet j. These tubes y communicate by means of the chests ¹ to 7 at the ends,
and thus form a lengthened passage for the flow of the liquid to be cooled. The
lower chamber as of the refrigerator has passing through it a number of tubes %,
which open into the end chamber 2', into one of which the pipe g' from the regen-
erator G opens, and from the other of which the pipe g³ opens into the vessel C.
In working this machine according to the first and second parts of this Invention
the liquid to be cooled is pumped or otherwise passed through the refrigerator A,
entering by the pipe i, and passing upwards through the tubes y in each com-
partment as to a' in the direction of the arrows, escaping by the pipe j to perform
the cooling operations for which it may be required. The vapours drawn off from
the refrigerator A by the vacuum pump F are passed by the pipe h to the hori-
zontal condenser H, the tubes of which are cooled with water, as in the vertical
condenser herein-before described with reference to Figure 1. In this condenser
the least volatile portions of the vapour are condensed, which portions, together
with the vapours which have resisted condensation, being thence passed by the
pipe h² to the regenerator G, where in flowing through the tubes surrounded by
the cold vapour passing into the regenerator from the refrigerator A by the pipe g
the vapours undergo a further condensation; and to ensure the further condensation
of such remaining vapours which may have resisted condensation they are, in com-
bination with the previously condensed vapours, passed by the pipe g' through the
tubes in the lower chambers a³ of the refrigerator A, which tubes are cooled by
the evaporation of the denser portion of the volatile fluid which surrounded them.
The whole condensed fluid is thence by means of the valve c² allowed to escape by
the pipe c back into the upper chamber a¹ of the refrigerator A.
By this arrangement the volatilization of the fluid in the separate compartments

page_text: a¹ to a³ is used to successively cool the brine, glycerine, or other liquid in its
passage upward, and the volatile fluid in the refrigerator has a gradually higher
and higher vapour tension in the successive compartments, reckoning downwards,
and the denser portions are employed to complete the condensation of the most
volatile vapours. By this means a much lower temperature is obtained in the
higher compartiments of the refrigerator, where the cooling of the brine or glycerine
is completed, all in the manner previously described with reference to Figures 3
and 4.
In order to illustrate the action of this arrangement, according to the third part
of this Invention, I will suppose that the machine has been at work, and that the
liquids in the several chambers a¹ to a of the refrigerator have by the fractional
evaporation of the volatile fluids attained different boiling points in the manner
herein-before described. I will further suppose that the mixed fluid has a higher
average boiling point, viz., 90° Fahrenheit at 30 inches mercury in consequence of
the more volatile portions having been removed. And further, that the temperature
to which it is desired to cool the brine, glycerine, or other fluid is 0° Fahrenheit.
The upper chamber a' of the refrigerator A will be filled with such fluid, and
supposing that the volatile fluids in the successive chambers of the refrigerator have
boiling points gradually increasing downwards to the lower chambers where the
boiling point is 110° Fahrenheit at 30 inches mercury.
To cause a fluid boiling at 90° Fahrenheit under a pressure of 30 inches of
mercury to boil at 0° Fahrenheit, it would be necessary to lessen the pressure in
the apparatus to a little over 3 inches of mercury. At this low pressure the valves
of the vacuum pump do not act sharply, and further, the small space commonly
known as "clearance," which it is impossible to avoid, having at the ends of the
vacuum pump, together with the slight leakage at the joints prevents the vacuum
pump giving good results at such low pressure. To enable the vacuum pump to
work more effectively the tension of the vapour of the volatile fluid is supplemented
by as much of a permanent gas (preferably not soluble in the fluid itself) as will
bring it up to the tension desired, which I will suppose to be that corresponding to
a column of mercury 6 inches high.
In working by this means it would be necessary in order to cool down the brine
to the temperature desired by means of the volatile fluid boiling at 90° Fahrenheit
to form and maintain within the refrigerator a pressure of a little over 3 inches of
mercury. To enable the same fluid to accomplish like results with a pressure inside
the refrigerator of 6 inches, the tap c³ is opened, and as much air admitted there-
through to the refrigerator A, by the pipe c, as will reduce the pressure inside the
said refrigerator to equal 6 inches of mercury. The equilibrium valve arrangement
c is then thrown into action by removing some of the weights c, until tho said
valve is lifted by the amount of vacuum acting upon the flexible diaphragm c³.
This allows the air which has been admitted into and removed from the refrigerator
by the vacuum pump F, after the vapours have as far as possible been condensed
from it by means of the condenser, regenerator, and refrigerator to pass by the
pipe E into the cylinder E³, whose valves are worked by an eccentric from the
shaft of the engine E, and to drive the piston with which the said cylinder is
fitted, thereby acting as an auxilliary to the engine E. After having driven the
piston of the expansion cylinder E² the mixed air and vapour is re-admitted to the
refrigerator A. by the exhaust pipe 9². The air entering the upper chamber a¹ of
the refrigerator A, having a tension equivalent to 6 inches, immediately takes up in
diffusion as much vapour from the volatile fluid as reduces the temperature as
much as what would be produced by sustaining a pressure of only 3 inches inside
the refrigerator which therefore equals 0° Fahrenheit. By this means the vacuum
pump working and reducing the pressure to only 6 inches is able to do a much
larger amount of work than it could have done when reducing the pressure to equal
a column of mercury only 3 inches. The air admitted into the apparatus is
thus kept circulating in it by having the vapours removed therefrom as far as
practicable, so that the remaining air and traces of vapour are cooled by transferring

page_text: their heat in the form of motion to the piston of the expansion cylinder E²,
exhausting thence into the refrigerator A, wherein again the air takes up in
diffusion another load of vapours, thereby abstracting the heat or cooling the brine
flowing through the tubes y. When the quantity of air, which it is necessary to
return to the refrigerator, is small, the auxilliary cylinder E may be dispensed
with, and the equilibrium valve employed to allow the air or other gas to return
direct by the pipe c, which carries back the volatile fluid to the refrigerator, as
shewn in Figure 1.
An arrangement of expansion cylinder similar to that herein-before described,
may be also employed with the cooling arrangement shewn in Figure 1.
When the volatile fluid employed can be condensed without being passed through
the refrigerator to complete the condensation, the vapour and condensed fluid may
be carried back to the vessel C, by means of the pipe y' being continued direct from
the regenerator G to the said vessel C, as shewn in dotted lines in Figure 5, and
instead of a part of the refrigerator A being employed to complete the condensation
of the vapours, a separate refrigerator, actuated if necessary by a separate vacuum
pump, may be employed for that purpose.
Figure 7 represents in longitudinal section a modified form of the arrangement,
Figures 5 and 6, and Figure S is a transverse section of the same. This arrange-
ment is especially adapted to the cooling of brine to be afterwards used in a
refrigerating machine. The vessel A is divided by partitions a, a, into a series of
compartments a¹ to a³. The brine to be cooled is contained in the lower part of
the vessel A, and the volatile fluids or mixture of volatile fluids is run in upon the
surface of the brine.
A passage is left at the side of each partition a, which passages are alternately on
either side of the vessel, as shewn in the horizontal section of the said vessel in
Figure 9, so that the volatile fluids and brine take a tortuous passage in reverse
directions through the said vessel A.
The brine is admitted to the vessel A from a reservoir A¹ through a pipe a³,
provided with a ball valve b, the said brine passing between the partitions a from
side to side of the vessel A, and flowing away in a cooled condition by a pipe c,
which is provided with a ball-cock c', and which pipe dips to near the bottom of
the vessel A, so that the volatile fluid may not pass out of the vessel A by the said
pipe, if by any accident the brine should sink low in the vessel A. d is a gauge
for indicating the level of liquid in the vessel A.
It will be readily understood that the action of the evaporation of mixed fluids in
cooling the brine is the same as in the arrangement Figures 5 and 6.
The vacuum will be created in this vessel A, and the vapours will be led there-
from through pipe g, in connection with a pump, condensers, and regenerators as
described with regard to the foregoing arrangements. The vapours returning from
the condensing vessels may pass (on their way to the vessel C) through a coil or
series of pipes s, in the upper part of the vessel A, and surrounded by the vapours
therein, in which pipes the condensation of the vapours so passing through the said
pipes will be completed. The condensed fluid is returned to the vessel A. from the
vessel C, through the float valve arrangement c², precisely as in the previously
described arrangements.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said In-
vention, and the system, mode, or manner in or under which the same may be used
or practically carried into effect, 1 wish it to be understood that I do not confine or
restrict myself to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to
describe or delineate, as many variations may be made therefrom without departing
from the main or essential features thereof (in many cases the Drawings being
prepared in a diagram form, to illustrate the working of the arrangement); neither
on the other hand do I claim as new or as of my Invention, the employment of mixed
volatile fluids, such as those herein referred to, as I am aware that such fluids have
been employed for like purposes; neither do I claim the adding of the tension of a
permanent gas to that of a volatile fluid to produce refrigeration; nor yet do I make

page_text: any claim to the cooling of a permanent gas by allowing it to do work during expan-
sion; nor do I claim all the details or incchanical construction separately, which I have
had occasion to describe and refer to (as many of these have heretofore been used),
except in combination with or forming parts of the essential features, and for the
objects or purposes of my said Invention; but what I consider to be novel and
original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in
part recited Letters Patent is,-
.First. The general arrangement and combination of parts constituting the several
forms of apparatus for the purposes herein-before mentioned, substantially as herein-
before described and illustrated.
Secondly. The effecting of the condensation of the most volatile portions of the
vapour of such mixed volatile fluids as are solvents for each other by cooling them
in contact with the condensed less volatile portions, by means of the cold vapours
passing from the refrigerator, substantially as herein-before described.
Thirdly. Effecting the condensation of the most volatile portions of the vapours
of mixed volatile fluids which resist condensation in the condenser and regenerator,
by causing them to escape or pass through the refrigerator in contact with the
denser volatile fluid, whereby they combine with a portion of the vapour of the
denser fluid, thus effecting their condensation by absorption on being cooled, sub-
stantially as herein-before described with reference to Figures 1 and 2 of the
accompanying Drawings.
Fourthly, Effecting the condensation of the most volatile portion of the vapour of
a mixed volatile fluid by means of a denser or less volatile fluid, for the purposes
and in the manner herein-before described.
Fifthly. The improved mode of employing mixed volatile fluids, whereby the
least volatile portions are employed to effect the first reduction of temperature, and
the most volatile portion to complete the cooling, and by which also the mixed
vapour is thereby rendered more easy of condensation, substantially as herein-before
described with reference to Figures 3, 4, 5, and 6, of the appended Drawings.
Sixthly. Increasing the efficiency of the vacuum pump, and rendering a volatile
fluid or fluids more effective by employing a permanent gas or gases, in conjunction
with a volatile fluid or fluids, in such quantities as that the combined tensions of
the vapour and the permanent gas shall equal a column of mercury from 4 inches
to 15 inches high, substantially as herein-before described with reference to Figures
1 and 5 of the appended Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Young, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Third day of September, Eighteen hundred and seventy-
eight
WILLIAM YOUNG. (L.S.)