Improved Apparatus and Means for Generating Steam and Regulating the Supply thereof to Motors.
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 23th Oct., 1887
Complete Specification Left, 30th July, 1888
Complete Specification Accepted, 27th Oct., 1888
Improved Apparatus and Means for Generating Steam and
Regulating the Supply thereof to Motors.
I, LEON SERPOLLET, of 5, Avenue Parmentier, Paris, France, Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
-
This invention relates to improvements in apparatus and means for generating steam
instantaneously and regulating the supply of steam so generated to motors, according
to which a steam generating chamber (hereinafter called for distinction an element)
is formed of two tubes (which may be provided with wings or protruberances) fitting
one in the other so as to leave a very small (capillary) space between them, in which
relative positions they are firmly secured. These tubes are surrounded by suitable
external envelopes. At the lower extremity, an annular channel communicating with
a supply pipe is provided for the admission of water which is forced between them by
an injection pump, and the water so admitted is very rapidly converted into steam by
the tubes themselves being maintained at a high temperature (as will be hereinafter
explained). To produce greater power several such steam generating elements may
be grouped together. Heat is applied to such a steam generating element, or to
several of them grouped together by what is known as the regenerative system in
which the air required to support combustion is caused to pass through a passage or
channel or through passages or channels heated by radiant heat so that the said radiant
heat may be taken up by the air in the well known manner. The inflow of this air is
regulated either automatically, or by hand by an arrangement for obstructing to a
greater or less degree the orifices by which it enters. For regulating the supply of
steam generated in the manner above referred to, to engines or motors, I employ a
governor which is so arranged as to regulate simultaneously the flow of combustible
Huid (when the heat for generating the steam is obtained by the combustion of a
fluid), the supply of air, and of the quantity of water injected into the steam generating
chamber. In connection with the above mentioned arrangement I provide a hand
ever to start or to stop the machine either by putting the injection pump in action or
by keeping the same out of action.

page_text: the injection pump, I provide a regulator of compressed air which is so arranged as to
cause the supply of feed water to be continued by means of a suitable distributing
valve regulated by the governor of the engine. I also interpose a worm tube (for
heating the feed water before its injection) between the injection pump or reservoir
and each steam generating element, and I arrange the same in the upper part of the
steam generating chamber or in the smoke box.
Referring to the annexed sheet of illustrative drawings,
Fig. 1 is an elevation partly in section;
Fig. 2 is a vertical section; and
Fig. 3 is a horizontal section of a small steam engine of the Woolf-Pilon type com-
bined with a simple steam generating element made in accordance with this invention,
in which the heating is effected by means of hydro-carbon liquid or gas.
Fig. 4 is a half elevation and half sectional elevation of a steam generating apparatus
comprising seven steam generating elements grouped together in accordance with this
invention, in which the heating is effected by means of solid fuel.
Fig. 5 is a plan of the same seen partly in section.
The same letters of reference indicate like parts wherever they occur.
Each steam generating element is formed of two metallic tubes, a tube A over
which is freely fitted another tube B. The space which separates the two tubes is
capillary, the separation between them being less at the bottom than at the top. Each
one of these tubes is furnished with small wings a, a, or with protuberances b, b,
for the purpose of augmenting their heating surfaces. Their fitting surfaces (those
surfaces, that is, which are separated by capillary distances,) near the point at which
water is injected, are finely striated with rays or scratches, made by means of emery
paper or by a fine file, such rays or scratches being made to interlace with one
another so as to offer to the liquid a vast number of microscopic channels or divisions.
Somewhat further up, and at about the point where the steam may be considered to
be well formed, the space which separates the two tubes is slightly augmented, without,
however, being made at any part of more than capillary dimensions.
Cis a circular concentric envelope preferably of a refractory material; D is an
exterior metallic envelope pierced at its upper part by a number of holes d, d, through
which the air required to support combustion enters, and in descending in the annular
space E, it absorbs a part of the radiant heat given off from the outer surface of C.
The holes d, d, can be partly or entirely closed by a band c which may be moved by
hand or by the governor.
The hot gases of combustion rise in the annular space F and in the central
opening G, whence they are led into the chimney H. When these gases are produced
by a Bunsen burner I, their amount is rendered variable by means of the stopcock J,
the handle or lever of which is regulated by hand, or it may be automatically regulated
by means of the governor. For this purpose the connecting rod K is articulated at
the extremity of the lever L, which oscillates under the action of the pink fixed to
the piece M and which slides in the curved groove / formed in the lover L.
A screw threaded rod N is engaged in a similarly screwed part of the piece M
which it causes to move forward or backward as the rod (N) turns in one direction or
the other. A crank n serves to turn the screwed rod Ń by hand, or, it may be
actuated by the governor by means of a toothed rack and pinion arrangement seen
at P, t, Fig. 1.
A lever O serves to start or to stop the machine by acting on the plunger of the
injection pump. This plunger is pushed back by a spring, which the lever O can
either cause to work, or it can hold, the same when the plunger is pushed back.
During the working of the machine, an eccentric cam acts on a catch or stop i,
which, in turn, actuates the plunger of the injection pump, the stroke of which is
regulated by the position given to the catch or stop i by the lever O, which regulates
at the same time both the heating and the feed arrangements which are thus maintained
directly proportional to one another.
The feed water which is delivered by the pipe Q enters, either directly, or after

page_text: having passed through a worm tubes, into an annular throat j, which communicates
freely at the bottom with the capillary space between the tubes A and B by means of
the little water furrow ", r.
In order to obviate the stopping of the machine in case the injection pump has to
be stopped for a moment, a regulator of compressed air R. and a discharge valve S are
provided, arranged between the injection pump and the steam generating chamber or
the worm tube. The governor in this case is so arranged as to regulate at the same
time the supply of gas, the inflow of air, and the supply of water by the balanced
valve q
The worm tubes which is placed between the injection pump and the steam
generating chamber is situated in the upper part of the latter and it may be, in some
cases, prolonged into the smoke box. Its object is to absorb some of the heat from
the hot gases of combustion so as to heat the water to be injected while the same is
under pressure. The worm tube may be simple, or double, or it may be cylindrical,
or spiral.
When in consequence of the amount of energy to be developed the steam generator
is formed of several steam generating elements grouped together (as is shown in
Figs. 4 and 5) the water is injected by a circular conduit t having a vent or opening
into each chamber; and the tubular plate u which joins together the several steam
generating elements is perforated in such a manner as to make them communicate
one with another, and to cause the steam when formed to arrive in the steam pipo v
(where a pressure gauge is provided) from which the steam is distributed by means of
à slide valve or its equivalent.
My double tube steam generating elements offer the important advantages that they
may be made light, strong, and of small size; while at the same time they afford a
large heating surface which instantaneously vaporizes the water in proportion as it is
injected. The arrangement of them admits of a uniform heating, which obviates dis-
tortion and leakage that might arise from irregular expansion. They are easily
taken to pieces and examined, and they may be rapidly put together again, all being
made perfectly tight. All these advantages result from the circular form of the steam
generating element, as well as of the arrangement of the two tubes and of the mode
of joining them one over the other.
T1: bot 1
1
1007

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Apparatus and Means for Generating Steam and
Regulating the Supply thereof to Motors.
I LEON SERPOLLET, of 5 Avenue Parmentier, Paris, France, Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention, and in what manner tho same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
This invention has for its object improvements in apparatus for the instantaneous
generation of steam or vapour from water or other liquid, and for regulating the
supply of such steam or vapour thus produced to motors, and to other purposes.
The method of instantaneous vaporization consists, according to this invention, in
injecting the liquid to be vaporized into a space which I shall call "capillary," thereby
intending to convey that the spheroidal state cannot be produced between the walls
which constitute the said space.
This space may be circular and formed by two concentric tubes A, B, as shown in
Figure 2, or it may be straight and formed by flattening a thick tube A¹ having solid
walls; the said tube can be straight or may be bent in a spiral as shown in Figs. 6
and 7.
Referring to the sheet of drawings annexed to the Provisional Specification
(Sheet 1) and to the two sheets of drawings annexed to the present Specification
(Sheets 2 and 3)
Fig. 1 (sheet 1) shows in half elevation and half vertical section, a vaporizer having
a circular capillary space combined with a small steam engine of the Woolf-Silon
type.
Fig. 2 is a horizontal section.
Fig. 3 a vertical section along the plane of the axes of the two cylinders.
Figs. 1, 2 are detail views liereinafter referred to.
Figs. 4 and 5 are respectively a half elevation and a half vertical section, and a
half plan and a half horizontal section of a compound vaporizer comprising seven
simple elements similar to that of Fig. 1 and communicating one with the other.
Figs. 6 and 7 (sheet 2) show in vertical section and horizontal section a vaporizer
with a spiral capillary space.
The heating of the vaporizers may be effected by means of solid fuel (see Figs. 4
and 5, 6 and 7) or by means of a liquid or gaseous hydro-carbon, Figs. 1 and 2.
Heating with hydrocarbon is the more easy method to regulate of the two.
The vaporizer shown in Figs. 1 and 2 is composed of a metallic tube A, upon
which is freely mounted another tube B. The space which separates the two tubes is
sufficiently capillary to prevent the spheroidal state and is larger at its base than at
the top. Each of these tubes is provided with wings or lugs a... a or projections bb....
for the purpose of augmenting their heating surfaces. Their fitting surfaces (those
surfaces that is, which are separated by capillary distances,) near the point at which
water is injected, are finely striated with rays or scratches, made by means of emery
paper or by a fine file, such rays or scratches being made to interlace with one another
so as to offer to the liquid a vast number of microscopic channels or divisions.
C is a circular concentric envelope preferably of a refractory material; D is an
exterior metallic envelope pierced at its upper part by a number of holes d d through
which the air required to support combustion enters, and in descending in the annular
space E, it absorbs a part of the radiant heat given off from the outer surface of C.
The holes d, d, can be partly or entirely closed by a band which may be moved by
hand or by the governor.

page_text: The hot gases of combustion rise in the annular space F and in the central
opening G, whence they are led into the chimney H. When these gases are produced
by a Bunsen burner I, their amount is rendered variable by means of the stop cock J,
the handle or lever of which is regulated by hand, or it may be automatically
regulated by means of the governor. For this purpose the connecting rod K is
articulated at the extremity of the lever L, which oscillates under the action of the
pink fixed to the piece M and which slides in the curved groove / formed in the
lever L.
A screw threaded rod N is engaged in a similarly screwed part of the piece M
which it causes to move forward or backward as the rod (N) turns in one direction or
the other. A crank n serves to turn the screwed rod N by hand, or, it may be
actuated by the governor by means of a toothed rack and pinion arrangement seen
at P, t, Fig. 1, in the manner hereinafter described.
A lever O serves to start or to stop the machine by acting on the plunger of the
injection pump. This plunger is pushed backward by a spring which the lever O can
either cause to work, or it can hold the same when the plunger is pushed back.
During the working of the machine an eccentric cam acts on a catch or stop i,
which, in turn, actuates the plunger of the injection pump, the stroke of which is
regulated by the position given to the catch or stop by the lever O, which regulates
at the same time both the heating and the feed arrangements which are thus maintained
directly proportional to one another.
The feed water which is delivered by the pipe Q enters, either directly or after
having passed through a worm tube s, into an annular throat j, which communicates
freely at the bottom with the capillary space between the tubes A and B by means of
the little water furrow v.
In order to obviate the stopping of the machine in case the injection pump has to
be stopped for a moment, a regulator of compressed air R (figs. 2. 1 2ª,) is
arranged between the injection pump and the steam generating chamber or the worm
tube. The governor is so arranged as to regulate at the same time the supply of gas,
the inflow of air, and, by the balanced valve 7, the supply of water to the steam
generating chamber.
1
Figs. 1 and 2 illustrate the arrangement of pump, air vessel, discharge valve, and
balanced valve in vertical and horizontal section respectively, being the plunger
pump, the inlet, the discharge passage controlled by a non return valve, R the
compressed air regulator or vessel, S a loaded discharge valve and S¹ a waste pipe for
escape of excess of water, and 7 the balanced valve, formed with a passage through
which the water is forced to the steam generator chamber when the motor is in
action. The balanced valve is connected to and operated by the engine governor in
the ordinary manner to regulate the supply of water according to requirement.
In Fig. 1 it is shown attached to a lever a which is connected to a rod y (indicated
by dotted lines) that is operated by the engine governor in a manner that will be
readily understood. To the lever is attached the rods which operate the valves or
dampers for controlling the inflow of air and combustible gases or liquids to the
combustion chamber. The arrangement is such that the lever under the action of
the governor regulates the supply of air and combustible fluid according to require-
ment the flow of water being regulated by the adjustment of the valve q, any excess
of water delivered by the pump over that required for the time being, in the generator,
being discharged through the valve S and pipe S'.
If the pump be stopped, the air compressed in the vessel R, when the pump is at
work, then acts to force the water in such vessel through the valve q to the steam
generator.
For the purpose of operating the rod N by the governor I key upon the spindle
of the regulating handle n a small toothed wheel or pinion p capable of being
rotated by a rack t operated from the governor through the intervention of a forked
lever p¹ and connecting rod or link it will thus be seen that when the governor
rises or falls, as the case may be, (through any variation in the speed of the motor)
the motion will be transmitted from the governor to the rack t and consequently io

page_text: the toothed wheel or pinion p causing the cock J and lever O to be operated in
exactly the same manner as though the regulating handle n had been rotated by hand,
thus causing the supply of gas and also the stroke of the plunger, and consequent
supply of water, to be regulated according to the speed of the motor.
The worm tubes which is placed between the injection pump and the steam
generating chamber is situated in the upper part of the latter, and it may be, in some
cases, prolonged into the smoke box. Its object is to absorb some of the heat from
the hot gases of combustion so as to heat the water to be injected while the same
is under pressure. The worm tube may be simple, or double, or it may be cylindrical,
or spiral.
When in consequence of the amount of energy to be developed the steam generator
is formed of several steam generating elements grouped together (as is shewn in
Figs. 4 and 5) the water is injected by a circular conduit t having a vent or opening
into each chamber; and the tubular plate u which joins together the several steam
generating elements is perforated in such a manner as to make them communicate
one with another, and to cause the steam when formed to arrive in the steam pipe v
(where a pressure gauge is provided) from which the steam is distributed by means of
à slide valve or its equivalent.
The generator shewn in Figs. 6 and 7 (sheet II) consists of a thick tube flattened
by suitable means such as rolls. The space which separates the adjacent walls from
the inlet to the outlet is practically capillary, and is capable of being slightly
increased during operation to the extent of the play existing between the walls
of the tube and the stay bolts which have for their object to prevent all
spreading apart.
The vaporizer proper A' is placed on an annulus B' provided with projections c³ c¹ c¹
which support the exterior coil of the spiral.
The annulus B is supported on the capital C¹.
This rests above the furnace D¹ which is equipped with refractory material, and
underneath which is the ashpan E¹.
The concave grate F can be entered and be removed through the door G¹.
An upper annulus H retains, similarly to the lower annulus B¹ the exterior of the
outer coil of the spiral by means of projections c", c", c".
The distance between the spirals is kept constant by means of stirrup shaped
pieces d¹, d', d'.
A cover lined with refractory material similarly to the furnace D¹ forms the top
or roof of the furnace; it is provided with a sight plug K¹.
The generator thus constructed, having been brought to the desired temperature the
liquid is injected into the same by means of a pump through the pipe a'. It is rapidly
heated and is almost instantaneously vaporized or gasified, and escapes through the
outlet pipe b in an atomised or gascous state.
The vapor thus produced may be employed for producing mechanical work by
suitable means such as those shewn in Fig. 1.
It may also be utilized for any other suitable purpose.
In this form of generator having a capillary space or one very nearly capillary the
vapor, if the liquid vaporized be of such a nature, may be employed in heating
furnaces or lighting. This is practicable when the liquid is combustible as are alcohol,
ether and the various hydrocarbons.
The liquid being thus injected and spread out in a thin capillary layer between thick
walls which are highly heated, escapes immediately either in an atomised or in a
gaseous state, dry or superheated according to the object in view. The capacity of
the generator is almost nil; the speed of formation and circulation of the vapor or
gas is very great, and the contiguous walls remain quite clean, except at the
enlarged entrance whence the deposits are driven off at each stoppage by a rush of
free air.
When petroleum is injected and the generator is heated to a sufficient temperature, 5
there is obtained at the outlet end a gas which ignites in contact with air.
The same result is obtained by mixing water with of petroleum. If the temperature

page_text: is high enough, the water vapor in contact with the petroleum vapor, becomes super-
heated and can even be dissociated into its two constituent elements.
The flattened tube A¹ with thick walls and a capillary space, instead of being wound
in a spiral as in Figs. 6 and 7, may be straight, and be provided at one of its ends
with the supply tube piece for water, and at the other end with the discharge tube for
steam.
In this case the generator is formed by a battery of straight flattened tubes
arranged parallel above the furnace similar to the bars of a grate, stayed apart and
superposed when required. The ends of the tubes are then connected respectively
to a collector for distributing water and to a collector for steam.
A generator according to this invention whether arranged as a cylindrical generator
as shewn in Figs. 2 and 3 or in the spiral form shewn in Figs. 6 and 7 or composedt
of a battery of straight flattened tubes, is a vaporizing apparatus suitable both for
ongines and for furnaces, and is capable of reaching high temperatures and high
pressures without danger and without requiring any safety device; it is very light
and takes up only a little space, whilst affording a great vaporizing or gasifying
power.
When the vapours thus produced are sufficiently combustible they need only be
burnt after having had their expansive force utilized.
In order to utilize the heat of the hot gases, there may be arranged another and
upper generator over the first, or several generators may be grouped together and
when required be combined with a reheating worm situated in the escape flues or in
the chimney flue as shewn in Fig. 1.
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. A vaporiser for liquids formed by the two winged tubes such as A and B
enclosing a practically capillary space between them, substantially as described with
reference to and shewn in Figs. and 2 of the drawings.
2. A vaporizer for liquids formed by a thick flattened tube enclosing a capillary
space and bent into a spiral the said vaporiser being arranged substantially as
described with reference to and shewn in Figs. 6 and 7 of the drawings.
3. A vaporiser for liquids composed of a battery of flattened capillary tubes,
arranged parallel or approximately parallel and connected together at their ends
substantially as described.
4. In conjunction with a generator or vaporiser of the kind referred to in claim 1.
and a steam engine the arrangement substantially as described with reference to
Fig. 1 for effecting the simultaneous regulation of the combustible fluid, of the air
and of the water injected, the said arrangement comprising the elements J, K, L,
M, N, O the pink and the slot 1, the said lever O being so far independent as to
allow it to start the engine by starting the injection pump.
5. In apparatus of the kind referred to in claims 1, 2 and 3 the worms interposed
between the pump or the reservoir R and the vaporizer, and situated in the upper
part of such vaporizer or in the smoke box, and forming a prolongation of the feed
pipe substantially as described.
" T 1 1000