IMPROVEMENTS IN COOLING AIR AND GASES, AND IN THE APPARATUS or MEANS TO BE EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn
Fields, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN COOLING AIR AND GASES, AND IN THE APPARATUS or
MEANS TO BE EMPLOYED THEREIN."-A communication from abroad by
Placide Nezeraux. of Paris. in the Republic of France.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 8th July 1872.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the
County of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN COOLING AIR AND GASES, AND IN THE
APPARATUS OR MEANS TO BE EMPLOYED THEREIN," a communication to me
from abroad by Placide Nezeraux, of Paris, in the Republic of France,
to be as follows:-
:-
This Invention relates to an improved mode of and apparatus for
cooling air and gases, to be supplied to wine and beer vaults or cellars,
or other places where the process of fermentation is required to be

page_text: carried on slowly and at a temperature below that of the atmosphere at
the time being. It is also applicable for rendering the air in hospitals,
theatres, and other places purer, cooler, and more wholesome for
respiration.
The improvements consist in forcing a current of air by means of a
fan or other blower through a perforated horizontal plate, on which a
film of cold water is constantly maintained. This plate is situate at the
bottom of an air-tight cooling chamber, which may be filled or partially
filled with blocks or pieces of ice resting on a grating, so that the air
already partially cooled will be further reduced in temperature by being
forced through the cooling mass. After issuing from the mass the cold
air passes off through conduits made in the brickwork or masonry walls
of the cooling chamber, and finally issues through openings fitted with
regulating doors into the place to be supplied with cool air. A man-
hole is provided on the top of the chamber for introducing the ice
therein, and a close fitting cover is placed thereon. Another entrance
may also be provided beneath the grating which supports the ice and
above the perforated plate. The drip from the ice or the ice water falls
upon the perforated plate and cools the air as it is forced through it on
its way to the mass of ice above, and this water is collected in a well
communicating with an outflow conduct. Two diaphragms dip into the
well, so that whilst the water is allowed to flow off freely no air can
escape along with it.
In some cases the ice may be dispensed with, and the air may be
forced under pressure into the apparatus, so as to be slightly compressed
therein, the exit openings being partially closed for that purpose. By
this means a reduction in the temperature of the air will be obtained by
its expansion on regaining its freedom, in addition to the cooling effect
obtained by causing it to traverse the film of cold water on the perforated
plate. The same air or gas may be passed several times through the
apparatus, it being drawn from the place which is to be supplied with
cool air or gas, and after being cooled, as before described, returned to
the same place or apartment, the said air being renewed at times by
allowing a sufficient quantity of fresh air to enter the suction pipe of
the blower along with the vitiated air from the apartment.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 8th January 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
36th year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Henry Johnson, Her special
license that I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Henry Johnson,
my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during
the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
excrcise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN COOLING AIR AND GASES, AND IN THE APPARATUS OR MEANS
TO BE EMPLOYED THEREIN," a communication to me from abroad by Placide
Nezeraux, of Paris, in the Republic of France, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause
the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Henry Johnson, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that
is to say:
The said Invention relates to an improved mode of and apparatus for
cooling air and gases to be supplied to wine and beer vaults, or cellars,
or other places where the process of fermentation is required to be

page_text: carried on slowly, and at a temperature below that of the atmosphere at
the time being.. It is also applicable for rendering the air in hospitals,
theatres, and other places purer, cooler, and more wholesome for
respiration.
The improvements consist in forcing a current of air by means of a
fan or other blower through a perforated horizontal plate on which a
film of cold water is constantly maintained. This plate is situate at the
bottom of an air-tight cooling chamber, which may be filled or partially
filled with blocks or pieces of ice, resting on a grating, so that the air
already partially cooled will be further reduced in temperature by being
forced through the cooling mass. After issuing from the mass the cold
air passes off through conduits made in the brickwork or masonry walls
of the cooling chamber, and finally issues through openings fitted with
regulating doors into the place to be supplied with cool air. A man-hole
is provided on the top of the chamber for introducing the ice therein, and
a close fitting cover is placed thereon. Another entrance may also be pro-
vided beneath the grating which supports the ice and above the perforated
plate. The drip from the ice or the ice water falls upon the perforated
plate and cools the air as it is forced through it on its way to the mass
of ice above, and this water is collected in a well communicating with an
outflow conduit. Two diaphragms dip into the well so that whilst the
water is allowed to flow off freely no air can escape along with it.
In some cases the ice may be dispensed with and the air may be
forced under pressure into the apparatus so as to be slightly compressed
therein, the exit openings being partially closed for that purpose. By
this means a reduction in the temperature of the air will be obtained by
its expansion on regaining its freedom, in addition to the cooling effect
obtained by causing it to traverse the film of cold water on the perforated
plate. The same air or gas may be passed several times through the
apparatus, it being drawn from the place which is to be supplied with
cool air or gas, and after being cooled, as before described, returned to
the same place or apartment, the said air being renewed at times by
allowing a sufficient quantity of fresh air to enter the suction pipe of the
blower along with the vitiated air from the apartment.
The accompanying Drawing is a vertical section of the air cooling
apparatus. A is the brickwork; B is an arched roof; C is the man-
hole, which is closed air-tight by the lid or cover D; E, E', are two

page_text: conduits made in the thickness of the walls, communicating above with
the interior of the cooling chamber, and below at H, H', with the
exterior. Two valves or sliding doors I serve to regulate the amount of
opening. K is the grating, fixed upon the wooden supports L by screws
or otherwise; M is a close fitting entrance door beneath the grating;
N is a flat plate, by preference of copper, mounted in a wrought-iron
frame, it is perforated like a sieve with a number of small holes. The
air which is forced by any suitable or well known air forcing apparatus
I arrives by the conduit O, and can only find an escape through the
perforations in the plate N where it expands inside the receiver A,
issuing therefrom by the openings at H, H'. P, P¹, are two hanging
partitions, dipping into a well of water in order to allow of the escape of
the water which drains from above the plate N when the apparatus is at
work, or of the water which falls below this plate when the apparatus is
at rest. This arrangement allows of the outflow of the waste water by
the conduit Q without permitting of the escape of the air by the same
conduit. R represents the mass of ice which is supported on the
grating K. It fills a great portion of the receiver, into which it is
introduced through the aperture C.
The air which it is desired to cool is first drawn and then forced by a
blowing machine through the perforated plate N, and thence into all
the interstices of the ice, in contact with which it becomes considerably
cooled. When it has arrived at the upper part of the receptacle it is
introduced into the conduits E, E', which distribute it through the
apertures H, H', in the vaults, cellars, or other places. As the air
which traverses the mass of ice effects the melting of the same the water
resulting therefrom is diffused over the plate N and forms a small film
which the air penetrates and to which it imparts a portion of its caloric
before such water escapes through the conduit Q. It will be seen that
the object of forcing the air up through the water on the plate is to
utilize a portion of the coolness of the ice water and thus economize an
equivalent quantity of icc.
If it is required to cool the air in vaults or cellars where beer, wines, &c.
are kept, or where the fermentation of these products is carried on, the
5 conduits of the blowing machine may be so disposed as to draw the air
from the same vaults or cellars where it is forced by which a considerable
saving will be effected. It will be indispensible however to renew
occasionally the air which has become vitiated by carbonic acid, and this

page_text: may be effected by means of an opening provided in the suction conduit
and communicating with the open air, the one or the other of the two
inlets being opened or closed according to circumstances.
With regard to the cooling of the air in hospitals, theatres, or other
dwelling places, where the temperature is to be moderated or diminished
it will be sufficient to cause the air to bubble up through or to agitate
water, say for example well or spring water, the temperature of which
is low. In this case it is sufficient to cause the refrigerating water to
arrive continuously on the plate N. By the aid of the new apparatus
the air may be obtained at a temperature sensibly lower than that of the
sheet of water through which it bubbles or plays. For this purpose it is
simply required to lower to a suitable extent the valves or doors I, 1', so
that the air may only escape under a given pressure. The air in fact
being heated by compression in the apparatus and then cooled by the
sheet of water and still under the same pressure loses by its expansion
on leaving the apparatus a portion of its heat. The ice is not needed in
this case, but the pressure requires a blast of relative power. The
partitions P, P¹, which are indispensable, should also in this case be
immersed for a sufficient depth in their well, so that the pressure in the
interior of the apparatus may be regularly balanced by the column of water
resulting from the difference in the water level, which there is a
tendency to form on one side of these partitions. The lower level should
never descend below these partitious, as this would give rise to a loss of
compressed uncooled air.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used
.or carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion, that 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 cooling of air or other gases by causing them to "bubble
up" in or agitate a colder liquid lyeing on a perforated plate, as herein-
before described, and illustrated by the Drawing..
Second. The causing of air or other gases to circulate through a mass
of ice after it has bubbled up through water contained on a finely
perforated plate in order to obtain a relatively lower temperature.
Third. The forming of hanging partitions for the purpose of admitting
of the free discharge of the refrigerating liquid without permitting the

page_text: escape of the forced gases, substantially as and for the purpose herein-
before described.
Fourth. The cooling of gases under any pressure in an apparatus
similar in principle to that shewn on the accompanying Drawing, with
a view to produce without ice a sensible diminution of temperature by
the expansion of such gases on leaving the apparatus.
Fifthly. The constant cooling of the same air or gases in the same
place with the exception of their occasional renewal when impure,
substantially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have to
this my Specification set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of
January One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)