Improvements in the Method of and Apparatus for Generating Steam.
Year: 1898

page_text: Improvements in the Method of and Apparatus for Generating Steam.
I, HENRY CRUSE, of Blackley, in the City of Manchester, Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to improvements in the method of and apparatus for gener-
ating steam, and has chiefly for object to economically produce dry-super-heated
steam or steam-gas adjusted in temperature to the requirements of the work.
To accomplish this and to effect my improvements, I provide means for a method
of generating steam consisting of a series of wide bore pipes suitably connected,
and forming a superheating apparatus which is placed in the inner or outer flue,
or in the uptake or downtake of the boiler or boilers, or, it may be, independently
heated or fired. The water flows through other pipes or tubes placed inside these
aforesaid superheater tubes, and the inner or water tubes or pipes are thereby
surrounded or jacketed by the superheated steam or steam in process of being
superheated by the action of the hot gases from the boiler furnace or furnaces.
By this means a system of circulation may be provided for the water of the
boiler, in that the water flowing through the water tubes inside the superheater, is
taken from the bottom of the boiler at any convenient point (or raised internally by
a pipe inside the boiler) and returned to the boiler in the steam or water space at
the top thereof with a greatly increased temperature, the conversion from water
to steam being thus greatly facilitated.
In lieu of this arrangement, I may, however, pass the feed water direct to the
boiler through the superheater, in the manner described.
It will be seen from the foregoing, that the water travels in the same direction,
through the various pipes of the superheater, as the steam, and that the heat given
to the steam by the surrounding furnace gases, is taken therefrom by the water in
the internal tube, and that, as the water proceeds in its course, it approximates
more and more to the heat of the steam.
To enable this approximation to be adjusted or maintained at the desired de-
gree, I may arrange to connect the feed-water pipe at any convenient point or
points in the run of the superheater apparatus, and suitable valves and connections
may be employed to enable either the feed-water or the water from the boiler to be
separately cut off from the superheater.
The form of the superheater casing and internal water spaces may be either
tubular as already described, or in the form of chambers having a narrow cross-
sectional area, in such wise as to present the water in the form of sheets; and,
in a modification, by subjecting the apparatus to the waste gases from the furnace,
the invention may be used as an
"
economiser or feed water heater.
Variations in detail may be made, such as in the form, dimensions and position
of the superheating apparatus, and in the character and number of the connections
of the various sections and the boiler, and the requisite valves for directing the
source and destination of the water in the inner tubes, and for directing the super-
Price 8d 1

page_text: heated steam either back into the boiler or immediately to the work required of
it, without departing from the peculiar, character of the invention.
Dated this 1st day of March 1898
WILLIAM GADD, C.E.,
64, Barton Arcade, Manchester,
Agent for Applicant.
Improvements in the Method of and Apparatus for Generating Steam.
I, HENRY CRUSE, of Blackley, in the City of Manchester, Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
My invention relates to improvements in the method of and apparatus for gener-
ating steam, and has chiefly for object to economically produce dry super-heated
steam or steam gas adjusted in temperature to the requirements of the work.
The invention is applicable to Lancashire, Cornish, Marine, Babcock, and other
types of tubular or semi-tubular steam boilers by modifications of design of the
apparatus to suit each case.
To accomplish this and to effect my improvements, I provide means for a method
of generating steam in connection with a steam boiler, consisting of a series of
wide bore pipes, suitably connected, and forming a superheating apparatus which
is placed in the inner or outer flue, or in the uptake or downtake of the boiler or
boilers, or otherwise, according to the type of boiler employed, or it may be, in-
dependently heated or fired. Inside these superheater tubes, other and smaller
tubes or pipes are placed, through which the water flows, and the inner or water
tubes or pipes are thereby surrounded or jacketed by the superheated steam or
steam in process of being superheated by the action of the hot gases from the
boiler furnace or furnaces or other source of heat.
By this means a system of circulation may be provided for the water of the
boiler, in that the water flowing through the water tubes inside the superheater
can be taken or conducted from the lower part of the boiler at any convenient
point and returned thereto in the steam or upper water space with a greatly in-
creased temperature, the conversion from water to steam being thereby greatly
facilitated. When required, however, I may pass the feed water through this
inner system of water pipes within the superheater, or in alternation.
It will be seen from the foregoing that I prefer the water to travel in the same
direction as the steam through the various pipes of the superheater, and that the
heat given to the steam by the surrounding gases, from the furnace, is in turn
given off to the water in the internal tubes; and that, as the water proceeds in its
course it approximates more and more to the heat of the steam. To enable this
approximation to be adjusted or maintained at the desired degree, I may arrange
to connect the feed water pipe at any convenient point or points in the run of the
superheater apparatus, and suitable valves and connections may be employed to
enable either the feed water, or the water from the boiler, to be separately cut off
from the superheater.
Although I prefer the form of the superheater together with the internal water
tubes, to be circular in cross section, oval or other cross sectional design may he
employed in the construction of my apparatus, and other variations in detail may
be made in the general form, dimensions, and position of the superheating and

page_text: generating apparatus, and in the character and number of the various sections
and in the arrangement of the requisite valves for directing the water in the inner
tubes, and for directing the superheated steam either back into the boiler, or
directly to the work required of it, without departing from the peculiar character
of the invention.
But that the invention may be the better understood, I will, with the aid of the
accompanying drawings, proceed to describe its application to one type of boiler, to
wit, the Lancashire boiler.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 represents a longitudinal section of a Lancashire boiler fitted with my
invention, and Fig. 2 shows a plan view, and sectional plan thereof, while Fig. 3,
represents a sectional elevation of the apparatus at the back end of the boiler, and
Fig. 4 shows an enlarged section, and Fig. 5 an enlarged plan of certain details
for joining up the apparatus in series.
The same letters indicate corresponding parts wherever they occur.
The steam to be superheated is taken from any convenient point within the
boiler, as say, at i, by employing an anti-priming collector, whence it passes
through the bend e¹, into the first superheater tube a. It then travels down this
tube through the bottom box b, up the tube a¹, and in like manner through the
whole series of superheaters a, b, a¹, b¹, a², b², a³, b³, a, b, and a³, emerging by
three-way pipe e, at the top of tube a³, and then proceeds by pipe f, and stop
valve f, to main steam pipe h.
The water is tapped at blow-off tube r, passing through stop cock rl, and mud
catcher 2 for convenience, and thence, by pipe p to the superheater, which it
enters by three-way pipe d situated, in the case shown, just below the steam inlet valve
c. From this point the water flows within the inner tubing of the apparatus until, the
required length of the superheater having been traversed, the water leaves the sam
by the three-way pipe e, and enters the steam space of the boiler at any convenient
point, as, say, through the back plate, and may be carried by pipe a suitable
distance inside the boiler as may be desired, and is well understood; or the water
may pass from three-way pipe e by pipe, to the front of the boiler, and enter by the
feed inlet. At suitable points, stop-cocks, such as m, m' and m² are fixed in cir-
cuit, and through all or any one one of these the feed water supply to the boiler is
connected from the branch pipe S, with the boiler water in the internal tubing n.
It will thus be seen that the essential feature of my invention consists in form-
ing a jacket of steam to the water tubes contained therein whereby I obtain a
superheater which, on the one hand, is controllable by the water passing through
it, while on the other hand, I am enabled to heat the feedwater passing through
the superheater, or superheat the water from the boiler for circulatory purposes.
at will.
The enlarged Figures 4 and 5 show the means I employ to form the top cap for
joining together individual superheating and internal water tubes, and for making
the various water tube connections, in series, and which arrangement constitutes
an important and special detail of my invention.
In all types of boilers or steam generators, resembling the Lancashire boiler.
I prefer thus to join up the members of my superheater apparatus in series, and
arrange the same as illustrated; but there are types of tubular boilers wherein
it may be more convenient to arrange isolated individual members forming sep-
arate superheaters, each of which may communicate with the water space and steam
space as will be readily understood, for which purpose the tubes may be curved if
desired. I am aware that superheaters of various forms have already been em-
ployed, and feed and circulatory water has been heated in pipes by having super-
heated steam passing through the water pipes, by means of internal steam tubes:
but these are entirely different to, and, indeed, the reverse of, my method and
apparatus, and I lay no claim thereto, but

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said in-
vention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:-
1. The combination with a steam generator, and external thereto, of tubes for
superheating steam, which tubes contain inner tubes for carrying water in circula-
tion from one part of the steam generator to the other, all substantially as herein
set forth.
2. The combination of a steam generator with superheating steam tubes, external
thereto, and which contain inner tubes for carrying feed water to the steam
generator, all substantially as set forth.
3. The combination, with superheating tubes, when joined in series, of the
special caps substantially as set forth and shown in Figs. 4 and 5 of the drawings.
Dated this 29th day of November 1898.
WILLIAM GADD, C.E.,
64, Barton Arcade, Manchester, Agent. 1