IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR DRYING AND SUPERHEATING STEAM
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Johnson, of Bradford, in the County of
York, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF AND
APPARATUS FOR DRYING AND SUPERHEATING STEAM."
Sealed the 16th July 1872, and dated the 31st January 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Johnson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
31st January 1872.
.
I, ROBERT JOHNSON, of Bradford, in the County of York, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE
OF AND APPARATUS FOR DRYING AND SUPERHEATING STEAM," to be as
follows:-
My Invention consists in applying to steam boilers certain apparatus
by which the steam is caused to circulate within the boiler before it is
taken to the engine.
-
A convenient mode of performing my Invention is as follows :—I
place within the boiler a double row of pipes, one of which terminates in

page_text: an open funnel in the steam dome, and the other is connected to the off
pipe. As the steam is generated it passes down the funnel into the end
of the pipe, and after circulating through the pipes it is taken to the
engine; the steam in passing through these pipes is dried and super-
heated. I prefer to place the lower pipe in in a slanting position, and I
connect a tap to it outside the boiler to blow off the water of con-
densation.
Instead of the double pipe above described the steam may be caused
to circulate through a coil of pipes, or a series of pipes, or in a chamber
within the boiler, and in some cases the steam may be taken away from
the boiler at the side or end thereof, either above or below the water line,
instead of from the top as heretofore.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Robert Johnson in the Great Scal Patent Office
on the 30th July 1872.
1
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
JOHNSON, of Bradford, in the County of York, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in
the thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant. unto me, the said Robert Johnson, Her
special license that I, the said Robert Johnson, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Robert Johnson, my
executors, administrators, and 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, exercise,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR DRYING AND SUPERHEATING STEAM,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Robert Johnson, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,
or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe
•

page_text: and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Robert Johnson, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement (that is to say) :-
My Invention consists in applying to steam boilers certain improved
apparatus by which the steam is caused to circulate within the boiler
before it is taken to the engine.
A convenient mode of performing my Invention is as follows:-I
place within the boiler a double row of pipes, one of which terminates in
an open funnel in the steam dome, and the other is connected to the off
pipe. As the steam is generated it passes down the funnel into the end
of the pipe, and after circulating through the pipes it is taken to the
engine; the steam in passing through these pipes is dryed and super-
heated. I prefer to place the lower pipe in a slanting position, and
I connect a tap to it outside the boiler to blow off the water of
condensation.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into operation, I will proceed to describe the accompanying
Drawing, which represents an ordinary cylindrical steam boiler to which
my improved apparatus for drying and superheating steam is applied.
My Invention is however applicable to steam boilers of every
description.
a is the outer shell of the boiler; b, the flue; c, the grate; and d, the
steam dome; all of which are made as usual; e, e, is a double row of
pipes, one end of which terminates in an open funnel within the steam
dome to admit the steam, as shewn by the arrows, and the other end of
the pipes e terminates in the valve box to which the off pipe ƒ is con-
nected by this arrangement, before the steam can escape from the
boiler it is conveyed through the double pipes e, and consequently the
heat of the water and steam in the boiler serves to dry and superheat
the steam before it is taken to the steam engine or otherwise made
use of. I prefer to place the lower pipe e in a slanting position, as shewn
.

page_text: in the Drawing, to allow the water of condensation to flow to one end of
the pipe, from whence it is discharged when required through the
blow-off tap g, or a simple steam trap may be used in lieu of the blow-off
tap 9:
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described a con-
venient mode of carrying the same into operation, I wish it to be
understood that I do not limit myself to the details given, as they may
be varied or modified according to the peculiar shape of the boiler to
which my Invention is applied. I would also remark that in lieu of the
double row of pipes shewn in the Drawing, I also propose to use a
chamber placed within the boiler, and through which the steam is caused
to pass, and by which it is dryed and superheated; or instead of placing
the pipes e partly in the water and partly in the steam space, as shewn
in the Drawing, they may be altogether in the steam space.
I claim as my Invention the improved apparatus, shewn and described,
for drying and superheating steam.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Johnson, have hereuuto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of July, One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-two.