IMPROVEMENTS IN PRESERVING FOOD OR ORGANIC SUBSTANCES, AND ALSO IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN, PARTS OF WHICH MACHINERY OR APPARATUS ARE APPLICABLE FOR MAKING ICE AND FOR REFRIGERATING PURPOSES
Year: 1872

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Epaminonda Abate at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 19th
June 1872.
I, EPAMINONDA ABATE, of Naples, in the Kingdom of Italy, but at
present residing at Regent Square, in the County of Middlesex,
Physician, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PRESERVING FOOD OR ORGANIC SUBSTANCES, AND ALSO IN THE
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN, PARTS OF WHICH MACHINERY OR
APPARATUS ARE APPLICABLE FOR MAKING ICE AND FOR REFRIGERATING PURPOSES,"
to be as follows:―
The object of my Invention is to preserve meat, fish, and fruit, or
vegetables, in such a manner that they can be brought from long
distances and from warm climates in ships or vessels, without being
liable to putrefaction or decay.
It is well known that cold a little below the freezing point has a.
preservative effect on animal and vegetable matters, but this property
has never been applied to the preservation of food in such a manner as
would admit of such substances being transported in large quantities
and for long distances on board ship,

page_text: By my improved process I am enabled to dispense with cases to pack
the food in, and am thereby able to effect a very considerable economy
in the cost of transport.
In carrying out my Invention the hold of the vessel to be used, for
example, for conveying fresh beef is specially prepared for the purpose,
to which end it is fitted up with shelves or beams of wood on which
the beef is either placed in layers horizontally, or it is suspended from
beams. The beasts when killed are opened and deprived of their
intestines and cleaned. They are then cut up in two or four pieces and
placed in the hold in layers on the shelves, and so arranged that one
layer does not lay or press on another.
I sometimes bring over the beast entire, without removing the hides,
only taking out the intestines. This mode is very advantageous, as it
keeps the surface of the meat from contact with the air, which causes
the meat to become dark on the surface. The hide also preserves the
meat from friction during the voyage. Morcover the hide with the hair
or wool on being a non-conductor of heat will be a means of preserving
the meat on its arrival, so that it will not suddenly lose the cold it has
absorbed, and will resist decay for a longer time than if the animal had
been fresh killed.
The hold of the vessel must be closed as air-tight as possible by means
of a double hatchway, and the walls or sides of the hold are to be lined
with felt, hair, wool, tallow, hides, ashes, pulverized charcoal, waste
cotton, or some other bad conductor of heat. Besides these non-
conducting substances the walls or sides of the hold may have a second
lining of wood or other suitable material. By these means the interior
of the hold will be kept at an uniform temperature, as the external air
will be effectually prevented from entering, and the proper temperature
at which the air in the hold should be maintained is a few degrees
below freezing, that is from 32° to 28° Fahr. This may be effected
by employing any of the ordinary refrigerating or ice making processes.
•
In connection with the freezing or refrigerating apparatus, of whatever
kind it may be, tliere is a tank containing strong brine or some other
liquid which will not be congealable by moderate cold, and in this liquid
is placed a worm of large diameter, and also vertical parallel cases
communicating only at their upper extremities. These cases being
empty act as reservoirs of cold air and from which the hold is kept

page_text: continually supplied with cold air in exchange for the warmer air which
is contained in or has been drawn out of the hold. The warm air is
exhausted from the hold by means of a ventilating fan or blower. The
ateral openings of the fan are connected with a pipe leading to the
hold, so that the comparatively warm air may be exhausted therefrom
at one end and passed into the refrigerator, while cold air from the
refrigerator enters at the other end into the hold.
ע
continually supplied with cold air in exchange for the warmer air which
is contained in or has been drawn out of the hold. The warm air ‘is
exhausted from the hold by means of a ventilating fan or blower. The
lateral openings of the fan are connected with a pipe leading to the
hold, so that the comparatively warm air may be exhausted therefrom
at one end and passed into the refrigerator, while cold air from the
refrigerator enters at the other end into the hold.
It will thus be seen that the air passes from the hold through the
ventilator into the refrigerator, and from thence back again into the
hold.
The refrigerating apparatus may be placed below the level of the sea
outside the vessel, and the water may be admitted through an opening
at the bows and ejected at the stern after having acted on the sides
of the tubes, worm, or chambers, which contain the air or gases to be
cooled. A lift or force pump to pump the water from outside the ship
through the cooling chamber may be employed, if found more con-
venient.
-
Instead of employing freezing liquids or gases to cool the air for the
hold, it will be found convenient to make use of compressed air for the
purpose. In employing this system of refrigeration the air is exhausted
from the tank and submitted to compression in a pump which forces out
of it all the latent heat, it is then allowed to expand again and cool the
air that is to be conducted again to the hold.
Any of the ordinary machines for refrigerating by means of com-
pressed air may be used, but I prefer to employ an arrangement of
mechanism which I have specially designed for the purpose. In my
improved machine the air is compressed by means of a piston acting"
in a cylinder, the bottom of which communicates with a system of
metal tubes. The air will be compressed in these tubes and will then
give up its latent heat which will be absorbed by water surrounding the
tubes, and which will carry away the heat. When the air is released
from the pressure it will tend to resume its former volumne, to do which
it must abstract or absorb heat from surrounding substances, and as this
dilatation of the compressed air will take place in the hold of the vessel
it will be easily understood that the atmosphere therein will be reduced
in temperature.

page_text: A proper system of valves for regulating the passage of the air is
adapted to the refrigerator and hold, and also to the air cylinder, and
the opening and closing of the valves is so arranged that whilst the
piston is descending all outside communication is prevented, and it is
only at the end of the stroke that the valve opens and allows to escape 5
and expand again. When this has taken place another valve com-
municating with the other end of the hold opens for the up stroke and
draws air from the hold into the compressing cylinder.
This arrangement of mechanism may be used for making artificial
icc, and also for cooling worts in breweries, and for other refrigerating 1
purposes, as well as for cooling the air in public buildings.
Another mode of preserving animal and vegetable substances from
decay consists in enclosing them in an air-tight compartment, such as
that above described, say the hold of a ship, and keeping the air
contained therein at a temperature of from 50° to 60° centigrade. The 1
necessary temperature may be maintained by causing the air to pass
through a series of pipes in connection with the furnace. Or the heated
gases from the chimney may be forced through a series of pipes placed
in the hold. Or if preferred the waste steam or exhaust steam may
be used for obtaining the proper temperature. If steam or furnaces
are not available the requisite heat may be obtained from a stove
provided with a self-acting regulator, so as to obtain a uniform tem-
perature.