Improvements in the Feeding of Steam Boilers, and Apparatus for that Purpose.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 30th Jan., 1896
Complete Specification Left, 9th Oct., 1896-Accepted, 14th Nov., 1896
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Feeding of Steam Boilers, and Apparatus for
that Purpose.
I, ALFRED FERNANDEZ YARROW, of Isle of Dogs, Poplar, in the County of
London, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
Steam boilers, especially those used for marine engines, are often arranged to
be fed each by a separate steam pump which is independent of the main feed pump
worked by the main engine or by a separate engine.
My invention relates to means of supplying these separate feed pumps with
heated and purified feed water, and of automatically determining their action by
the water level in the boiler.
For this purpose I lead all the water of condensation discharged by the air pump
and main feed pumps into a closed vessel in which it is retained under pressure,
such for instance as 30 or 40 lbs. per square inch.
The vessel is of such capacity as to allow for all variations of the quantities
drawn from it for feed; it is provided at the top with a pressure guage and a
loaded valve which operates as a safety valve and allows escape of air, and the
interior of the vessel is preferably furnished with a filter for the water passing
through it. From this vessel the water passes to the suction valves of the separate
pumps, being heated on its way by jets of steam blown into it, this steam being
taken direct from the boiler, or it may be exhaust steam when it is of sufficient
pressure to overcome that of the feed water. There is also in the course of the
pipe a loaded valve for escape of surplus water which is not required for feed, this
surplus returning to the tank from which the main pump draws the feed water, or
being conducted elsewhere as may be required.
Owing to the fact that this feed water supplied under pressure to the separate
feed pumps, it may be at a high temperature when it reaches them.
The steam for working the feed pump of each boiler is taken by a pipe
adjustable in level, not from the highest part of the steam chamber, but from a
place between the highest and lowest levels which the water usually attains.
When the water rises above the mouth of this steam pipe, water instead of steam
goes to the feed engine thereby retarding it and also constituting by its discharge
from the engine an overflow from the boiler, until the water is again below the
mouth of the steam pipe, whereupon the feed engine resumes its usual working.
In this way the water level in the boiler automatically determines the supply
and overflow.
Obviously this mode of automatically controlling the feed is applicable whether
the feed water be heated or not.
Dated this 30th day of January 18061
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: COMI DEI DE DOITIATION.
Improvements in the Feeding of Steam Boilers, and Apparatus for
that Purpose.
1, ALFRED FERNANDEZ YARROW, of Isle of Dogs, Poplar, in the County of
London, 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 :-
Steam boilers, especially those used for marine engines, are often arranged to be
fed each by a separate steam pump or several of these independent of the main
feed pump worked by the main engine or by a separate engine.
My invention relates to means of supplying these separate feed pumps with
beated and purified feed water as described in my previous Specification No. 24691
of 1893, and also to means which may be used in combination with this arrangement
for automatically determining the feed by the water level in the boiler.
For this purpose, I arrange the feed pumps and their communication with the
boiler as I shall describe referring to the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 of which
is an elevation of these parts, with the steam and water drum shewn in section.
Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the water drum.
Although I have shewn this drum as it would form part of a water tube boiler,
it is to be understood as representing part of the upper part of the water space and
the lower part of the steam space in any boiler. 1 lead all the water of con-
densation discharged by the air pump and main feed pumps F into a closed
vessel A in which it is retained under pressure, such for instance as 30 or 40 lbs.
per square inch. The vessel is of such capacity as to allow for all variations of
the quantities drawn from it for feed that is to say, it is usually large enough to
accommodate all the water pumped into it while the boilers which it has to supply
are receiving little feed; and to furnish all the water which they require when
they are receiving great feed. The vessel A is provided at the top with a pressure
gauge G and a loaded valve S which operates as a safety valve and allows escape
of air, and the interior of the vessel is preferably furnished with a filter for the
water passing through it, which filter may be of any known kind. From the
vessel A the water passes to the suction valves of the separate pumps P being
heated on its way by jets of steam J blown into it, this steam being taken direct
from the boiler, or from the main or any auxiliary engine, or it may be, as shewn,
exhaust steam from the donkey feed engine D, when it is of sufficient pressure to
overcome that of the feed water.
There may also be in the course of the pipe leading to the pump P an adjustable
loaded valve V for escape of surplus water which is not required for feed, this
surplus returning to the tank from which the main pump F draws the feed water,
or being couducted elsewhere as may be required.
Owing to the fact that this feed water is supplied under pressure to the separate
feed pumps, it may be at a high temperature when it reaches them and yet the
feed pumps will not fail to draw the water which would be the case if it were at
high temperature without being under pressure sufficient to prevent it from
becoming partly converted into steam when it is drawn into the pump.
The steam for working the steam engine D of each boiler is taken by a pipe B
the
part
B' of which within the boiler is adjusted to such a level as to take steam
not from the highest part of the steam chamber, but from a place between the
highest and lowest levels which the water usually attains. When the water rises
above the mouth of this steam pipe B', water instead of steam goes to the feed
engine D thereby retarding it and also constituting by its discharge from the
engine an overflow from the boiler, until the water is again below the mouth of

page_text: the steam pipe B' whereupon the feed engine D resumes its usual working. In
this way the water level in the boiler automatically determines the supply and the
overflow.
The level of the inlet to the steam pipe B' may be adjusted in various ways, one
of which is shewn in the drawings. In this case it is closed at the end and has a
lateral opening to a sleeve L which has a side branch with its mouth directed
downwards. This sleeve can be turned more or less on the pipe B' by turning a
spindle H which has an arm linked to the sleeve and passes through a stuffing box
to an external handle.
Obviously this mode of automatically controlling the feed is applicable whether
the feed water be heated or not.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, I would have it understood
that I here make no claim to supplying a feed pump with heated water under
pressure having described an arrangement for that purpose in my previous
Specification No. 24691 of 1893, nor do I make any general claim to the method
of automatically determining the feed of a steam boiler by taking the steam which
works the feeding engine by a pipe having its mouth near the desired water level
in the boiler, but I declare that what I claim is :-
In a steam engine and boiler installation, in combination with the main feed
pumps a vessel supplied by them with water under pressure, a separate feed pump
or several of these for each boiler, supplied with water drawn from the vessel and
heated on its way to the pump by steam jets, each separate feed pump being
worked by an engine the steam for which is supplied by a pipe having its mouth
within the boiler adjustable in level, substantially as and for the purposes set
forth.
Dated this 4th day of Octabur 1806
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.