An Improved Apparatus for Cooling Liquids.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 3rd Jan., 1899-Accepted, 18th Feb.,
1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Apparatus for Cooling Liquids.
I, ROBERT EDWARD PHILLIPS, of 70, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Chartered
Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention (which has been
communicated to me from abroad by George Amiel Barnard, of 39-41, Cortlandt
Street, City, County and State of New York, Gentleman), and in what manner
the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement:
1
My invention relates to apparatus of the class or type in which water or other
liquid is cooled by the action of currents of air, while passing, in finely divided
streams or jets, over surfaces of comparatively large aggregate area. The object
of my present invention is to increase the efficiency and, moro particularly, to
materially lessen the cost of construction and operation of apparatus of the general
character above indicated.
The improvement claimed is hereinafter set forth.
Various constructions of water cooling apparatus, operating upon the general
principle of applying currents of air to streams or jets of water traversing in
opposite direction to the air currents, have been heretofore proposed, and some have
been put in practice, with more or less satisfactory results. Objections have,
however, been found in the particulars of being expensive to construct, not fully
efficient, and requiring a comparatively great and costly amount of power to force
the air through the apparatus, so that the net gain or value of the appliance
becomes too small to warrant or encourage extended use. My invention is designed
to remedy these objections, and to provide an apparatus which may be generally
and advantageously applied and operated.
The leading and essential feature of my invention consists in the combination
of a supply pipe with a plurality of vertical cooling surfaces, disposed radially
about a common axial line, so as to enable liquid passing over said surfaces to
be cooled by the refrigerating and evaporative action of currents of air moving
in any direction and applied thereto at right angles to the traverse of the liquid.
While the circulation of air may be either natural or mechanically effected,
primarily my invention is of a type that can, under ordinary prevailing atmos-
pheric conditions, be operated without cost for power, as no fau or blower is of
necessary application. A sufficient volume of air may be freely and efficiently
circulated over and through the entire mass of liquid cooling surfaces, by reason
of the radial distribution of such surfaces when the air is moving in any direction
with a barely perceptible velocity.
In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a vertical central section through
a liquid cooling apparatus illustrating an application of my invention; Fig. 2, a
plan or top view with the truss rods removed; and Fig. 3, a horizontal section at
the linear of Fig. 1.
In the practice of my invention, I provide a suitable base 1, upon which the
remaining members of the apparatus are supported, and which may be desirably, a
tauk, as shown for the reception of the cooled liquid. A vertical stand pipe 2, through
which the water or other liquid to be cooled is supplied to the apparatus, and

page_text: which is formed integral with, or otherwise fixed to, a foot 3 is secured centrally
to the base, and extends for a short distance above the tops of a plurality of vertical
cooling surfaces 4, which surround the stand pipe, and are preferably, as shown,
disposed, at short distances apart, radially to the axial line thereof. The cooling
surfaces 4 are preferably composed of sheets of wire cloth or netting, but sheets or
plates of metal or wood, or sheets of canvas or other fabric or material, may be
used, if desired. While the inner edges of the sheets or plates of material form-
ing the cooling surfaces may, if desired, extend to, or nearly to, the periphery of
the central stand pipe 2, the traverse of air horizontally through and between
them will be promoted by setting them at such distance from the stand pipe, as
to leave a cylindrical central space 5 of substantial volume around said pipe,
into and through which currents of air may pass and be freely discharged at all
points of the circumference of the series of cooling surfaces which are not exposed
to the initial force of the air currents, so that the entire mass of cooling surfaces
may be subjected to the influence of the air currents. In order to prevent the
.vertical traverse of air through the central space 5, and compel the currents of
air to pass through the apparatus in horizontal planes and at right angles to the
downward flow of liquid over the cooling surfaces 4, division plates or dia-
phragms are supported, preferably by being secured to the stand pipe 2, at
different levels, in the surrounding space 5, and extend to or nearly to the inner
edges of the cooling surfaces 4.
A Egli: frame, composed of a series of vertical rods or tubes 8, and horizontal
braces 9, may be utilized for supporting the structure on the base 1, around and
above the water surfaces 4, which have no casing or covering, and are therefore
fully open to the action of currents of air moving in any direction about them,
the apparatus being designed to be erected in an exposed position, as on the roof
of a building or in a yard or open space where currents of air may have free access to
.it. A receiving pan. 7 surrounds and is connected to the stand pipe 2, below a
series of circumferential discharge openings 10 therein, and the inner ends of the
braces 9 may be connected to said pan. The pan and braces may also, as shown,
be connected by truss rods 11 to a collar 12, fixed on the upper end of the stand
pipe 2. A series of horizontal discharge pipes 13 projects from the receiving
pan 7, over the tops of the cooling surfaces 4, said pipes being slotted or per-
forated on their upper or lower sides, to discharge liquid, in finely divided streams,
upon the cooling surfaces, and the latter may be suspended on and supported by
the frame, preferably by being hung upon the discharge pipes 13. A delivery
pipe 15 leads from the tank 1, below the cooling surfaces, to any desired point
of reception of the cooled liquid.
In order to counteract the tendency of high winds to blow liquid away from
the cooling surfaces, and thereby cause waste, a segmental screen or shield 14,
which can he turned into any desired position and removed from the apparatus
when not required, may be fitted to stand in and be moved around in the lower
pan 1, said screen being adapted to cover such portion of the outer edges of the
cooling surfaces as it may be considered desirable to protect from the action of
unduly strong winds.
The apparatus is simple, light, and comparatively inexpensive in construction,
and may be readily installed in any location where the action of atmospheric
currents moving in any and all directions, can be freely exerted upon the cooling
surfaces. A material operative economy is effected by the utilization of air in
natural movement, as compared with a forced circulation.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed. I declare that what
I claim is:
1. In a liquid cooling apparatus, the combination, substantially as set forth,
of a liquid supply pipe, and a plurality of vertical cooling surfaces disposed 5
radially about an inner open space, said surfaces being located in nosition

page_text: receive liquid delivered upon them from above in streams or jets from said
pipe, and having free inner and outer edges so as to form between them passages
open from the periphery to the inner open space so as to admit currents of air at
right angles to the course of descent of the liquid over said surfaces.
2. In a liquid cooling apparatus, the combination, substantially as set forth,
of a liquid supply pipe, a plurality of vertical cooling surfaces, located in position
to receive liquid delivered in streams or jets from said pipe and having free inner
and outer edges so as to form between them passages open from the periphery to
an inner open space formed by the vertical cooling surfaces, and division plates
or diaphragms horizontally dividing said inner open space.
3. In a liquid cooling apparatus, the combination, substantially as set forth,
of a liquid supply pipe, a plurality of vertical cooling surfaces, located in position
to receive liquid delivered in streams or jets from said pipe and open at their
outer sides or edges so as to admit currents of air at right angles to the traverse
of liquid over them, and a movable screen or shield adapted to be adjusted in
position to protect the outer portion of the cooling surfaces from the effect of
a strong or excessive current of air at any desired point.
4. In a liquid cooling apparatus, the combination, substantially as set forth.
of a liquid supply pipe, and a plurality of vertical cooling surfaces disposed
radially about an inner open space, said surfaces being located in position to
receive liquid delivered upon them from above in streams or jets from said pipe,
and having free inner and outer edges so as to form between them passages open
from the periphery to the central open space, so as to admit currents of air at
right angles to the course of descent of the liquid over said surfaces, and an open
frame supporting said surfaces.
5. In a liquid cooling apparatus, the combination, substantially as set forth, of
a base, a supply pipe connected thereto, a plurality of vertical cooling surfaces
surrounding said supply pipe and having their inner edges set at a distance there-
from so as to provide an inner open space, brauch discharge pipes leading from
the supply pipe to points above the cooling surfaces, and division plates or
diaphragms supported on the supply pipe at different levels in the inner open
space.
6. In a liquid cooling apparatus, the combination, substantially as set forth, of
u base, a central supply pipe connected thereto, a plurality of vertical cooling
surfaces disposed radially about an inner central open space, and having free
inner and outer edges so as to form between them passages open from the peri-
phery to the central open space so as to admit currents of air at right angles to
the course of descent of the liquid over them, and brauch discharge pipes leading
from the supply pipe to points above said cooling surfaces and serving to support
them.
7. In a liquid cooling apparatus, the combination substantially as set forth, of
a base, a central supply pipe connected thereto, a plurality of vertical cooling
surfaces surrounding said supply pipe and having their inner edges set at a dis-
tance therefrom so as to provide an inner open space, division plates or dia-
phragms supported on the supply pipe at different levels in the inner open space,
branch discharge pipes leading from the supply pipe to points above the cooling
surfaces, and an open frame connected to the base and to the supply pipe.
Dated this 3rd day of January 1050.
ROBERT E. PHILLIPS, Assoc. M.I.C.E., M.I. Mech. E.,
Chartered Patent Agent, 70, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Agent.