Improvements in Steam Heating Apparatus."
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 30th Jan., 1892
Complete Specification Left, 31st Oct., 1892--Accepted, 3rd Dec.,
1892
"Improvements in Steam Heating Apparatus."
I, MICHAEL MARY BROPHY, of the Firm of James Slater & Co., 251 High Holborn,
in the County of London, Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
My invention relates to apparatus for heating houses and other buildings by.
means of exhaust steam.
According to my invention the steani is conveyed directly from the exhaust pipe
of a steam engine through the heating coil or coils of the building to be heated and
terminates in a steam trap into which the water of condensation flows and preferably
a steam trap of the kind described in the Specification of Letters Patent granted to
me No. 18,458 dated November 15th 1890, the inlet for the water of condensation into
the trap being provided with a valve which will prevent the admission of live steam
into the heating pipes.
In order to obviate any back pressure upon the piston of the engine from which
the exhaust steam is obtained I provide for exhausting the air from the said pipes
and for this purpose I advantageously employ a small air pump communicating with
the steam trap and exhausting the air from the pipes therethrough. To automatically
start the air pump in case the vacuum is reduced by leakage or other cause I arrange
the regulating cock in the steam supply pipe of the air pump to be operated by a
lever having a weight at one end and having connected to the other end a piston
acted upon by the vacuum so as to balance the weight.
In addition to obviating back pressure the employment of a vacuum in the heating
pipes has the advantage that the steam condenses more slowly than if the pressure
within the pipes is above that of the atmosphere.
To prevent the heating pipes from becoming foul by any grease which may be
carried by the exhaust steam I advantageously employ a grease separator through
which the steam is passed before entering the heating pipes.
I also arrange upon the pipe which conveys the exhaust steam to the coils an
outwardly opening valve through which the exhaust steam can escape if it is shut off
from the heating pipes.
I may, if desired, arrange for returning the water of condensation discharged from
the steam trap to the boiler generating the steam for driving the engine from which
the exhaust steam is taken, this water being advantageously returned in the manner
described in the specification before referred to.
Dated the 30th day of Jan' 1892.

page_text: I, MICHAEL MARY BROPHY, of the Firm of James Slater & Co., of 251, High
Holborn, in the County of London, Engineers, 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:-
My invention relates to apparatus for heating houses, railway carriages, ships and
other rooms or compartments by means of exhaust steam.
According to my invention the steam is conveyed directly from the exhaust pipe
of a steam engine through the heating coil or coils of the building or compartment
to be heated and terminates in a chamber or steam trap into which the water of
condensation flows.
•
In order to obviate any back pressure upon the piston of the engine from which
the exhaust steam is obtained I provide for exhausting the air from the said pipes
and for this purpose I advantageously employ a small air-pump communicating with
the steam trap or chamber and exhausting the air from the pipes therethrough. To
automatically start the air-pump in case the vacuum is reduced by leakage or other
cause I arrange the regulating cock in the steam supply pipe of the air-pump to be
operated by a lever having a weight at one end and having connected to the other
end a piston acted upon by the vacuum so as to just overbalance the weight and be
moved.
I also arrange upon the pipe which conveys the exhaust steam to the coils an
outwardly opening valve through which the exhaust steam can escape if it is shut off
from the heating pipes.
To enable my invention to be fully understood I will describe the same by reference
to the accompanying drawing, in which-
Figure 1 represents a sectional elevation of a building having steam heating
apparatus arranged in connection therewith according to my invention; and
Figures 2 and 3 are sectional views of details drawn to an enlarged scale.
C
a, bare the flow and return pipes connected with the heating coils c in the building
to be heated in a well known manner, and d is the engine the exhaust steam for from
which is to be used for heating, the flow pipe a of the system of heating pipes being
connected to the exhaust passage of the said engine, as shewn. c is the chamber
with which the return pipe 6 is connected, and is a steam pump for producing a
vacuum in the system of heating pipes and for drawing off from the chamber e the
water of condensation which enters the same, such water of condensation being
discharged from the pump through the pipe g into a suitable drain h. With this
arrangement it will be readily understood that when the pump f is operated the air
contained in the pipes a, b will be exhausted therefrom so that the exhaust steam
which enters the said pipes will pass freely therethrough.
In addition to obviating back pressure the employment of a vacuum in the heating
pipes has the advantage that it prevents the steam from condensing as quickly as
would be the case if the steam were subjected to atmospheric pressure.
i is a pipe which extends from the steam supply pipe of the engine and serves to
conduct steam to the working cylinder of the pump, which pipe i has in it a valve
or cock k for regulating the flow of steam through the said pipe i. is the lever
secured to the plug of the cock k and having connected to it at one end, by means of
a link, the rod m of a piston n sliding in a cylinder o extending down into the
chamber e, as shewn most clearly in Figure 2, and at the other end a weight p.
When the required vacuum exists in the chamber e the weight is overbalanced by the

page_text: atmospheric pressure upon the piston n and occupies the position indicated by
the full lines in Figure 2 to close the cock k. When, however, the vacuum falls
below the desired limit the weight overbalances the atmospheric pressure upon the
said piston and moves the lever to the position represented by the dotted lines in
Figure 2; in which position steam is admitted to the pump f which will operate to
produce the required vacuum, the exhaust steam from the pump being advantageously
discharged in the pipe a through the pipe .
To prevent the heating pipes from becoming fouled by any grease which may be
carried by the exhaust steam I advantageously employ at 9 a grease separator through
which the steam is passed before entering the heating pipes. This grease separator
is advantageously of the kind described in the Specification of Letters Patent granted
to Savill No. 10,691 dated Aug. 3 1887.
is the outwardly opening valve which I arrange in conjunction with the steam
exhaust pipe. This valve 7 is provided with a counterweights of slightly less weight
than the valve so that normally the said valve will remain closed against its seat and
so will prevent air from entering the circulating pipes during the working of the air-
pump f. If, however, at any time the quantity of steam which escapes from the exhaust
is greater than that required for heating the apparatus or if the steam is shut off from
the circulating pipes the pressure of the steam beneath the valve r will cause the
valve to open and allow the steam to escape into the atmosphere.
In order to prevent the stoppage of the heating apparatus in case the engine stops
I arrange between the flow pipe a and the steam pipe i a valve t, the opening of
which allows the entrance of live steam into the circulating pipes. This connection
is also of use in cases where the quantity of exhaust steam from the engine is not
sufficient to heat the pipes to the required extent.
To prevent the accumulation of water of condensation in the pipe a I arrange
a steam trap of any suitable construction in connection therewith, the water collected
in which may, if desired, be discharged into the pipe b and drain off by the pump f.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I am aware that
the production and maintenance of a vacuum by means of a
in steam
pump
heating apparatus into which exhaust steam flows is not new and I make no claim
to such an arrangement unless the pump be regulated substantially as above
described, but what I claim is :-
1. In steam heating apparatus producing a vacuum in the circulating pipes with
the aid of a pump regulated automatically, substantially as, and for the purposes,
described.
2. In steam heating apparatus the employment of a chamber connected to the
return pipe of the circulating pipes, and to the exhaust pipe of an air-pump driven
by steam, the said chamber having arranged in conjunction with it a piston acted
upon by the vacuum within the chamber and adapted when required vacuum is
obtained to overbalance a weight on a lever connected to the valve or cock which
controls the supply of steam to the air-pump, substantially as described.
3. The improvements--in improved steam heating apparatus combined, arranged
and operating as hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing.
Dated this 31st day of October 1892.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant,