A Machine for Compressing Air or other Gas.
Year: 1888

page_text: 2001
Date of Application, 19th Oct., 1888
Somplete Specification Left, 10th May, 1889-Accepted, 22nd June,
Compitie opecification Len, Toth May, 1009—Accepted, zona June, fo00
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by EDWARD FUHRMANN CLARKE, of Exchange Chambers,
Grey Street, Wellington, in the Colony of New Zealand, Engineer.]
A Machine for Compressing Air or other Gas.
I FREDERIC FUHRMANN CLARKE of Aldridge Lodge near Walsall in the County of
Stafford, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The compression of air or other gas by means of steam acting as a motive power
upon water interposed between such steam and the air or gas to be compressed.
This is effected by the introduction of steam alternately into two cylinders or
chambers containing water, the water in each cylinder or chamber acting as a piston
for compressing the air or other gas entering the machine. The steam is alternately
admitted into the before mentioned cylinders or chambers by means of a D valve
worked by a small steam cylinder and piston. The total ejection of the water upon
which the steam acts into the vessel for receiving the compressed air, and too
great contact between the steam and water is prevented by the use of floating valves.
The alternate return of the water to its former position in each cylinder is effected
by means of injection sprays of water, the return being regulated by floating valves.
The motion required for working the injection sprays and the admission of steam
into the steam cylinder is effected by gearing connected with the steam cylinder.
Dated this 10th dor of October 1888
F. F. CLARKE.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
A Machine for Compressing Air or other Gas.
I, FREDERIC FUHRMANN CLARKE, of Aldridge Lodge, near Walsall, in the County
of Stafford, 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 the compression of air or other gas and to machinery or
apparatus therefor.
The main object-of my said invention is to provide for compressing air or other
gas by means of steam acting upon a column of water or other liquid interposed
between such steam and the air or other gas to be compressed.
For this purpose I provide cylinders or chambers containing water which when
steam is admitted to the said cylinders above the water will act as a piston for com-
pressing the air or other gas which enters the apparatus through suitable admission
valves. Steam is admitted alternately into the said cylinders or chambers by means
of a slide valve (which may be an ordinary D-valve worked by a small steam cylinder
and piston) or by other suitable means. To prevent the complete ejection, or discharge
of the water upon which the steam acts into the air vessel or into a receiver intended
to contain the compressed air, in case the slide-valve should fail to cut off the supply
of steam soon enough, and to avoid excessive contact between the steam and the water
I sometimes employ a float-valve whereby the passages for the water will be closed at
the proper time and a floating body continually interposed between the steam and the
water. The return of the water to its normal position in each cylinder or chamber is
effected by the condensation of the steam which has been used. This condensation is
caused by the injection of sprays or jets of water and the consequent formation of a
vacuum or partial vacuum in each cylinder or chamber alternately. Suitable floating
valves or checks are sometimes also provided to regulate the return of the water.

page_text: conveniently and advantageously carried into practice.
Figure 1 is a plan.
Figure 2 is a front elevation, and
Figure 3 is a side elevation, partly in vertical section, showing one form of my
improved apparatus.
Figure 4 is a vertical section on the line x, x Figure 1, some of the parts being
removed.
Figures 5 to 9 are various views drawn to an enlarged scale showing details of
construction hereinafter described.
Like letters indicate corresponding parts throughout the drawings.
A A¹ are the steam and water cylinders or chambers; B B¹ are the air vessels or
chambers; C is the receiver for the compressed air.
The steam and water cylinders or chambers are each formed in two parts A. A
and A' A respectively, placed vertically one behind the other and their lower
extremities are connected through passages A2, a a are checks provided in the
said passages A³ for preventing the escape of the steam from the cylinders or
chambers A A¹ to the air vessels B B₁ should the water in the said cylinders or
chambers A A be forced down too low by the action of the said steam. The air
vessels or chambers B B are provided with suitable inlet valves B2 (which are
normally retained closed against external pressure by means of springs 133) for
admitting atmospheric air, they are placed upon the upper extremities of the rear
cylinders or chambers A A' and communicate with the latter through suitable
passages abbare valve seatings on which the floating ball valves care adapted
to rest should all the water be forced out of the front cylinders or chambers A A¹
by the action of the steam thereon. d is a steam-chest placed upon the upper
extremities of the front cylinders A, A¹. The said steam chest d communicates with
the cylinders or chambers A, A', through ports or passages d', and with a boiler or
other source of steam supply by means of a pipe de is a slide valve provided with
a rod e¹, and arranged in connection with the ports or passages d¹:
To operate the valve e 1 prefer to employ an arrangement comprising a steam
cylinder which is supplied with steam from the steam-chest d through the steam
ways or passages the alternate admission and exhaust of the said steam being
regulated by the slide-valve e. g is a piston fitting steam-tight in the said cylinder f
and adapted to be reciprocated by the steam admitted therein. The piston gis
provided with a rod 9' coupled to a disc crank h; by means of a connecting rod ².
The disc crank is keyed or otherwise secured upon a shaft 2 carried in a suitable
bearing in a bracket and the periphery of the said disc crank is provided with
teeth and is arranged to gear with a pinion i. The pinion is keyed or other-
wise firmly attached to a shaft carried in suitable bearings in a bracket . j is a
fly-wheel keyed or otherwise secured upon the shaft i¹. Upon the other extremity
of the shaft is fixed a disc crank k coupled by means of a connecting rod A¹ to one
extremity of a lever 7 fixed upon a rocking shaft 1. m is another lever fixed upon
the said rocking shaft l', which is carried in bearings in a bracket . The lever m
is coupled by means of a connecting rod m' to the slide valve rod e¹. I prefer to
connect the rod m' to the lever m by means of a slot m² and a bolt m³ provided
with a thumb nut or wing nut m' so that the throw or travel of the valve e can
be altered at will. In this manner when starting the apparatus and the pressure
of air in the receiver C to be overcome is slight the throw or travel of the said
valve e may be decreased and increased as the said pressure increases. The other
extremity of the level is coupled by means of a rod to the rod n¹ of a slide
which regulates tho admission to the cylinders A A¹ of spray or jets of water for
condensing purposes as hereinafter described.
n,
The slide valve e is preferably so set with reference to the piston g that when
either of the ports fl-is about to be opened the piston is at the same end of its
stroke.

page_text: The receiver C is provided with tubes o and a water inlet o' for the circulation
of water for cooling purposes. p, p are pipes provided with check or retention
valves. The pipes p are connected to the upper ends of the air-vessels B B¹ and
communicate with the receiver C by means of a pipe r. The said air-vessels B B₁
are made of less capacity than the front portions of the steam cylinders or
chambers A A' which are alternately occupied by water and steam so that when
steam is admitted into the latter and water is forced into the air vessels B B a portion
of the water already in the air-vessels B, B¹ will be discharged from the said air-
vessels B, B' into the air receiver C immediately following the compressed air. The
water which is thus delivered into the receiver with the compressed air from the
vessels B B¹ is utilized for condensing purposes as follows. S is a pipe communicating
at one extremity with the lower part of the receiver C and at its other extremity with
the recess in the casing or chamber t in which is placed the valve n. u is a stop-valve
for regulating or cutting off altogether the said condensing water. The condensing
water is delivered altornately to the cylinders or chambers A A' by the action of the
valve n through the ports or ways and is turned into spray by means of perfora-
tions w.
The valve n bas a sufficient stroke or travel to fully open both the ports v.
y is a pressure gauge attached to the pipe by means of a siphon pipe z.
In order to minimize the cooling effect of the walls of the chambers A A' into
which the steam passes, I may in some cases line the said chambers with some bad
conductor of heat such for oxample as wood, asbestos etc., and in some cases 1 coat
the walls themselves with a suitable enamel.
The operation of my apparatus is as follows, that is to say: The receiver C is filled
with water to a level above the top of the cylinders or chambers A A¹. The said
cylinders or chambers A A¹ and the vessels B B¹ are also filled with water, the
valves c floating on the surface of the water at the upper extremities of the said
cylinders or chambers as shown in dotted lines in Figuro 4. The main slide valve e
is then placed in a central position and steam is adniitted into the steam chest d. The
said main slide valve e is then moved to the right and steam is admitted into the
cylinder or chamber A¹ forcing down the water contained in the front portion of
the said cylinder or chamber and causing it to rise in the rear portion thereof, and
pass into the air vessel or chamber B'. The water being interposed between the
steam and the air to be compressed acts like a piston in preventing contact between
or mixing of the air and steam. The rising of the water in the vessel B¹ causes the
compression of the air contained in the latter and ejects it and also a small quantity
of water through the pipe p past the check or retention valvey and through the
piper into the receiver C. The floating ball valve c descends with the water in the
front portion of the cylinder or chamber A¹ and should the said water be forced down
too low rests upon its seating b in the position shown in full lines in Figure 4 and
prevents further ejection of the said water. The main slide valve e having completed
its stroke to the right, returns and closes the cylinder or chamber A¹ to the steam and
opens communication between the said cylinder or chamber A¹ and the cylinder or
chamber A. through the cavity in the said main slide valve e.
The high pressure
steam in the cylinder or chamber A' then passes into the cylinder or chamber A
forcing down the water contained therein until the diminishing steam pressure and
the increasing air pressure re-establish an equilibrium. The main slide valvo e still
travelling to the left then closes the communication between the cylinder or chamber A'
and the cylinder or chamber A and opens the latter to the steam chest d, the high
pressure steam from which completes the operation of ejecting the air and a small
quantity of water from the air vessel or chamber B, through the pipe p past the check
retention valve q and through the pipe r to the receiver C. The valve n admitting
the condensing water to the cylinders or chambers A A', is as above described worked
off the extremity of the lever 1 of the rocking shaft opposite to the lever m which
works the main slide valve e and consequently the said valve n moves in an opposite
direction thereto thus it will be seen that when the main slide valve e opens the
cylinder or chamber A to the steam, the valve n will open the cylinder or chamber A¹
to the injection water and vice versa. The injection water is forced from the

page_text: receiver by the air pressure therein. This injection water causes condensation to take
place thus producing a vacuum or partial vacuum, and permitting the water to return
to its normal position in the cylinder or chamber A¹; in some cases suitable valves
are provided to act as checks and thus prevent this action from taking place too
suddenly. The return of the said water causes the admission valve B' to open under
the atmospheric pressure and adinit air to the interior of the said vessel or
receptacle B from the exterior. When the said chamber or receptacle B' is again
full of air the valve B2 closes under the action of the spring B³ this action takes place
alternately in the said cylinders or chambers A, A' and air vessels B B¹. The air
vessels B, B being of smaller dimensions than the front portions of the steam
cylinders or chambers A, A¹, as hereinbefore mentioned a certain proportion of the
water is ejected with the air into the receiver C at each operation, this water is
returned into the steam cylinders or chambers in the form of injection sprays, thus
maintaining the proper amount of water therein and preventing the overheating of
the said water. By making the said air vessels of smaller dimensions than the front
portions of the said steam cylinders, I provido for ejecting or delivering all the air
contained in the said vessels B, B₁ at each operation and thus securing a better
vacuum therein, on the return of the water to its normal position in the cylinders or
chambers A, A¹ and thereby avoiding back pressure that might be caused by the
expansion of any compressed air remaining in the said vessels B, B¹.
The main slide valve e during its travel admits steam through the ports or ways
alternately to either extremity of the small steam cylinder f. By reason of the
relativo positions of the crank discs and with regard to each other the crank is
on its dead centre when the main slide valve e commences to open one of the ports f¹
to the steam, the said main slide valve at the same time commences to open the other
port to the exhaust through the cavity of the said main slide valve e and one of the
ports to the cylinder or chamber A or A¹ in which there is a vacuum or partial
vacuum, and into which the exhaust steam from the small cylinder passes. I thus
provide for working the small steam cylinder or engine as a condensing engine
and thereby greatly increase its efficiency and economy in work. The said small
steam cylinder or engine through the medium of the piston g, piston rod gl
connecting rod h¹ toothed crank disc h, crank disc , connecting rod k¹, lever 1,
rocking shaft, lever m, connecting rods m³, and valve rods e¹ and n¹, works the
main slide valve e, and the injection valve n, as will be readily understood. The fly
wheel is rotated by means of the toothed crank disc h and the pinion i at a
considerable speed owing to the relative proportions of the said disc to the
pinion i.
Although I have described the slide valve e as being in the first instance moved to
the right it is obvious that the said slide valve may be first moved to the left, in which
case the operation of the cylinders or chambers A, A¹ and the air vessels or
chambers B, B1 is reversed, that is to say, the steam is first admitted into the cylinder
or chamber A and the air compressed in the vessel or chamber B.
To prevent the receiver C from becoming too full of water I sometimes lead a pipe
from the pipe or from the lower portion of the receiver C to the feed pump of the
boiler supplying the steam, or provide other suitable means for disposing of a portion
of the water ejected into the said receiver from the cylinders or chambers A A
It is obvious that I can construct my apparatus of any suitable materials and form
the same of any convenient shape or dimensions and that my said apparatus can be
employed either by itself or in conjunction with other machines for any purpose or
purposes for which compressed air can be employed.
Moreover although I have described a convenient apparatus for carrying my said
invention into practice it is obvious that I can modify the construction of my
apparatus without departing from the nature of my said invention. For instance,
instead of. two cylinders or chambers I can employ any other suitable number of
cylinders or chambers. And I can if desired dispense with the small steam cylinder
or engine, and provide other suitable means for admitting steam and injection water
to the said cylinders or-chambers.

page_text: I can moreover obtain the water necessary for condensation from any other
suitable source of supply instead of from the compressed air receiver as hereinbefore
described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondent I wish it understood that I claim
First. The improved apparatus for compressing gases substantially as hereinbefore
described and illustrated in the drawings attached hereto.
Second. In apparatus for compressing gases by means of water-pistons, the use of
two vessels so that the expansive power of the steam which has not been completely
exhausted in one vessel may be utilized in the other.
Third. In apparatus for compressing gases by means of water-pistons, the use of a
valve to arrest the compressing action of the steam at the proper moment.
Fourth. The method of discharging some of the water from the air compressing
chamber into the receiver, which water may be subsequently used for condensing the
steam used for compression.
Fifth. In apparatus for compressing gases by means of water-pistons, the use of
liners made of bad conductors of heat for the
purposes described.
Sixth. In apparatus for compressing gases by means of water-pistons, the use of
apparatus arranged substantially as shown in Figure 5, whereby the exhaust steam
from the controlling cylinder fis condensed in the cylinders A, A¹.
Dated this 9th day of May 1889.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.