Improvements in Apparatus for Determining or Ascertaining the Quantity of Liquid Contained in Steam.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 31st Mar., 1891
Complete Specification Left, 29th Dec., 1891-Accepted, 6th Feb., 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Determining or Ascertaining the
Quantity of Liquid Contained in Steam.
I, MAX GEHRE of Rath near Dusseldorf, in the Empire of Germany, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
In order to determine the quantity of liquid contained in steam apparatus have
hitherto been used in which the required amount of steam was kept confined in a
tube and heated therein. This caused the evaporation of the liquid contained in
the steam and according to the well known law of saturated steam such evaporation
results in increased expansion and higher temperature. When, however, the whole
of the liquid is evaporated if the heating be continued, the steam becomes super-
heated as may be ascertained by reference to the pressure gauge and thermometer.
In employing such apparatus it is therefore desirable that means should be provided
for exactly ascertaining the degree of expansion of steam at the moment when the
whole of the liquid is evaporated, but before superheating commences, whereupon
the quantity of the liquid evaporated may be found by computation. This com-
putation, however, can be avoided if, during the evaporation of the liquid, uniform
expansion is maintained, while varying the volume of steam confined in the tube.
To attain this result it is necessary to employ a tube, or a reservoir connected with
such section tube, the walls of which are flexible or yielding and therefore the
inner space capable of a certain increase of size under expansion. Such walls of
the tube or reservoir may be rendered yielding in different ways. Part of the wall
may for instance consist of a flexible membrane or diaphragm; or the device may
assume the shape of a cylinder with a piston working therein again a liquid may
be used as a cut-off, on condition that such liquid is not liable to mix with the steam
or evaporate at the temperature at which the operation is to take place. Of these
different methods the most simple is perhaps the employment of a cylinder and
piston the cylinder being connected with a short tube section. Within this cylinder
the piston may be adjusted by means of a hand-wheel secured to the piston-rod.
For this purpose the said piston-rod may for example, be provided with a screw-
thread at the part projecting from the cylinder so as to fit a correspondingly
threaded nut attached to the cylinder cover. The space above the piston is prefer-
ably connected with the steam supply by a pipe, which facilitates the operation and
packing of the piston. While the steam confined in the tube is being heated the
position of the piston is adjusted by hand to such an extent only as will leave the
hand of the pressure gauge unmoved.
When the mercury rising in the thermometer indicates that all the liquid is
evaporated and that the superheating of the steam has commenced, the position of
the piston may be read off a suitable scale. The graduation of this scale may be
such as to directly indicate the percentage of the increase of volume of the contents
of the tube due to the displacement of the piston. The volume of steam thus
directly expressed by the scale corresponds with the liquid which was originally
contained in the steam and also therefore with the percentage of such liquid.
Instead of making the piston adjustable by hand it may be provided for the
purpose with a spring weight, or other self-adjusting device which will come into
operation as soon as the evaporation of the liquid produces an increase of expansion
within the tube.
Instead of employing a permanent scale the deflection of the yielding walls may
be measured by means of any ordinary removable scale.
DL 11
Mach 1001
W. P. THOMPSON & BOULT,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: Improvements in Apparatus for Determining or Ascertaining the
Quantity of Liquid Contained in Steam.
I, MAX GEHRE of Rath near Dusseldorf, in the Empire of Germany, Engineer,
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 :-
This
In order to determine the quantity of liquid contained in steam apparatus have
hitherto been used in which the required amount of steam was kept confined in a
tube and heated therein. This caused the evaporation of the liquid contained in
the steam and according to the well-known law of saturated steam such evaporation
results in increased expansion and higher temperature. When however the whole
of the liquid is evaporated if the heating be continued the steam becomes super-
heated as may be ascertained by reference to the pressure gauge and thermometer.
In employing such apparatus it is therefore desirable that means should be provided
for exactly ascertaining the degree of expansion of steam at the moment when
the whole of the liquid is evaporated but before superheating commences, where-
upon the quantity of the liquid evaporated may be found by computation.
computation however can be avoided if during the evaporation of the liquid uniform
expansion is maintained while varying the volume of steam confined in the tube.
To attain this result it is necessary to employ a tube or a reservoir connected with
such tube the walls of which are flexible or yielding and therefore the inner space
capable of a certain increase of size under expansion. Such walls of the tube or
reservoir may be rendered yielding in different ways. Part of the wall may for
instance consist of a flexible membrane or diaphragm or the device may assume
the shape of a cylinder with a piston working therein; again a liquid may be
used as a cut-off on condition that such liquid is not liable to mix with the
steam or evaporate at the temperature at which the operation is to take place.
Of these different methods the most simple is perhaps the employment of a cylinder
and piston as shown in the accompanying drawings. The cylinder / is connected
with a short tube a. Within this cylinder the piston k may be adjusted by means
of a hand-wheel n secured to the piston rod m. For this purpose the said piston
rod m may for example be provided with a screw thread at the part projecting from
the cylinder so as to fit a correspondingly threaded nut attached to the cylinder
cover. The space above the piston k is preferably connected with the steam supply
by a pipe which facilitates the operation and packing of the piston.
While
the steam confined in the tube a is being heated the position of the piston is
adjusted by hand to such an extent only as will leave the hand of the pressure
gauge unmoved.
When the mercury rising in the thermometer indicates that all the liquid is
evaporated and that the superheating of the steam has commenced the position of
the piston may be read off the scale p. The graduation of this scale may
be such as to directly indicate the percentage of the increase of volume of the
contents of the tube a due to the displacement of the piston. The volume of
steam thus directly expressed by the scale, corresponds with the liquid which was
originally contained in the steam and also therefore with the percentage of such
liquid.
Instead of making the piston adjustable by hand it may be provided for the
purpose with a spring, weight or other self-adjusting device which will come
into operation as soon as the evaporation of the liquid produces an increase of
expansion within the tube.
Instead of employing a permanent scale p the deflection of the yielding walls
may be measured by means of any ordinary removable scale.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is :-
1. In apparatus for ascertaining the quantity of liquid contained in steam for
which purpose a certain quantity of steam is confined in a chamber or tube the
provision of a movable wall in the said chamber or tube or in a vessel con-
nected therewith which wall may be in the shape of a piston or plunger movable
in a cylinder or may be constituted by a liquid column whereby the liquid
contained in the steam is enabled to evaporate under a uniform pressure so that by
means of a suitable measuring device which determines the increase of volume
resulting from the movement of the wall the quantity of liquid contained in the
steam is ascertained substantially as described.
2. The combination and arrangement of parts constituting the complete apparatus
for ascertaining the quantity of liquid contained in steam substantially as described
and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 29th day of December 1891
W. P. THOMPSON & BOULT,
Agents for the Applicant.