FEED WATER HEATERS AND CIRCULATORS
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 24th Oct.. 1888
Specification Accepted, 30th Nov.. 1888
I, WILLIAM HENRY RUSHFORTH, engineer, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain
and Ireland, but residing at Rutherford Park, in the County of Bergen and State of
New Jersey, one of the United States of America, do hereby declare the nature of
my invention for FEED WATER HEATERS AND CIRCULATORS, and in what manner the
saine is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement:
:-
My invention is intended to facilitate the circulation of the water in a steam boiler
and to also utilize the waste heat to raise the temperature of the feed water before it
enters the boiler.
Many efforts have been made to accomplish this, but with unsatisfactory results,
arising largely in my opinion, from the fact that sufficient care has not been taken to
direct the course of the feed water.
This objection I have overcome by the employment of a nozzle, located at the point
where the feed pipe joins the heater, as will plainly be seen by reference to the
accompanying drawings in which :-
Figure 1, is a side elevation of a railway locomotive to which my invention has been
applied, showing the exterior feed water connections.
Figure 2, is a front elevation of a device embodying my said invention, showing also
the walls of a smoke box within which it is placed.
Figure 3, is a central, vertical, longitudinal, sectional view of said device and smoke
box and a portion of the said boiler.
and
Figure 4, is a transverse vertical, sectional view of said device, on line y, y, Figure 3;
Figure 5, is an enlarged, central, sectional view of the joint made between the pipe
leading from the ordinary pump or injector and the suction and delivery pipes, herein-
after mentioned.
B, represents the boiler; t, the boiler tubes; P, a steam pipe leading from the
throttle valve to the steam chest ; S, the smoke box; and C, the chimney or sinoke
stack, all said parts being of usual and ordinary construction. H, is the feed water
heater and circulator, and as shown in the drawings, it consists of several lengths of
ΓΙΑ ( 7

page_text: ipe h, and elbows or return joints j. It is located within the smoke
of the boiler tubes, though it might be somewhat differently placed provided it still
remained where it would be acted upon by the heat in its passage to the stack.
is the delivery pipe, leading from the heater to the upper part of the boiler
and is the suction pipe, leading from the lower part of the boiler to the heater, 5
as plainly seen in figures 3, and 4.
P is the feed pipe leading from the pump P2, and P³ the one leading from the
injector I. N, is the nozzle, by the use of which 1 ensure that the water shall tako
the desired course. Check valves c, c', are used to prevent any backward flow of
the feed water, and F, is the feed pipe, leading from the tank to the pump or injector 1
or both.
Another feature of my invention is shown in figure 5, and consists in forming the
nozzle N, and the return bend in one piece, by which means an excessive number of
joints is avoided, thus reducing the liability of leakage, and a uniform distance of
insertion of the nozzle into the connecting pipe is ensured, and I provide for any
desired variation of the length of the nozzle by using a second and interior nozzle N,
fitting closely within N, which can easily be changed or altered to make its length
and consequently the distance of its penetration accord with the wishes of those using
it. It is lighter than the main nozzle N, and may therefore be inserted further with-
out choking the passage.
The operation of the apparatus is as follows:-
Water is forced through pipe P', by the action of the pump, or through P³, by the
action of the injector, and issuing from N, is directed by it, onward and upward
through H, and ', to the upper part of the boiler. In its course through H, it is
highly heated and therefore does not suspend the making of steam when it enters
the boiler and is not so likely to form scale therein. Again, being forced to pass
upward it is exposed to the heat of the smoke box for a much longer period, than if
it passed downward, this result being accomplished by the use of the nozzle.
When it issues from N, the feed water draws with it, through suction pipe ³, water
from the lower part of the boiler, and thereby causes a circulation, tending to draw
out the colder water from the bottom of the boiler and to cause it to mingle with the
warmer water at the top, thus keeping the entire body of water more nearly equally
heated and to a large degree avoiding the unequal expansion and contraction so
destructive to boilers; at the same time tending to deposit any sediment in the boiler
legs or bottom, from which it may be easily removed.
Jr. 1
"
When the feed is cut off, there being two connections with the boiler, the induced
circulation is kept up with the same results; the water in the heater growing warmer
under exposure to the heat issuing from the flues, passes upward into the boiler and its
place is supplied by colder water entering through h², and the burning out of the
connections and the heater, unavoidable were there but one connection, is avoided..
I prefer to locate the nozzle near the bottom boiler connection,..for its position
determines the length of traverse which the water takes in its course to the boiler
and I am thereby enabled to secure the greatest convenient. exposure; but I do no
limit myself to a device in which the current flows as indicated, as some of the benefi
might be secured were the current directed differently.
1
I also find it an advantage to locate all the parts below the level of the water.line i
the boiler, as I thereby avoid all danger of the heater being only partially filled;.s
too, I prefer to locate the apparatus in the smoke box, but for a. boiler set in bric
with fire under it, I should place it at the rear end of the boiler, and for a retu
tubular boiler, preferably in the chamber into which the return flues open.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my inventic
and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is:-
1. The herein described feed water heater and circulator, provided with a noz
substantially as set forth..
2. The combination with a boiler, of a heater located in the smoke box or equivale
position, one or more feed pipes leading from the water supply to said heater, t

page_text: or more connections between it and the boiler and an inlet nozzle projecting into
said heater, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
3. The combination with a steam boiler and its feed water pipe, of a heater located
in the smoke box or equivalent position, entirely below the level of the water line of
the boiler, two or more connections between said heater and the boiler, but at
different levels, and an inlet nozzle projecting into said heater at one of the bends
thereof, substantially as set forth.
4. The combination with the described heater, of a removable inlet nozzle, substan-
tially as set forth.
Dated this Tenth day of October 1888
WILLIAM HENRY RUSHFORTH.