IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON- STRUCTION OF CONDENSERS
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alphonse Pirotte, of Liège, in the Kingdom of
Belgium, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON-
STRUCTION OF CONDENSERS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alphonse Pirotte at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th August 1860.
I, ALPHONSE PIROTTE, of Liège, in the Kingdom of Belgium, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
CONSTRUCTION OF CONDENSERS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a mode of simplifying the construction of con-
densers, rendering them more efficient and less liable to get out of order than
hitherto. To this end I provide a rectangular or other suitably shaped vessel,
and divide it into three compartments by horizontal partitions. The upper
partition is formed of pierced metal; and projecting upwards from the lower:
one is a series of tubes, which open at bottom into the lowest compartment,
and are closed at the top, but pierced at the upper part of their periphery with
small holes. The vapor to be condensed is led into the lowest chamber of the.
condenser by a pipe, and it then passes up.the vertical tubes and issues through
the perforations in the same in small streams into the second compartment or
condensing chamber. The upper chamber receives the refrigerating fluid,
which is constantly supplied thereto by a suitable force pump, and is discharged
in the form of a shower into the second chamber through the perforated:
partition or floor. As, therefore, the vapor escapes from the vertical tubes it
will meet the descending shower, and becoming instantly condensed will fall

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance,
of the. conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alphonse Pirotte in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
16th February 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALPHONSE
PIROTTE, of Liege, in the Kingdom of Belgium, Engineer, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the..Seventeenth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One, thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year, of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Alphonse Pirotte, Her special license that I, the said Alphonse
Pirotte, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Alphonse Pirotte, 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 terni 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 CONSTRUCTION OF CONDENSERS;" upon. the. condition (amongst
others) that I, the said. Alphonse Pirotte by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, should particularly describe 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 immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alphonse Pirotte, 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 fol-
lowing statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-.
This Invention consists in a novel mode of constructing condensers. whereby
their efficiency will be increased, and they will be less liable to get out of order
than hitherto.. To. this end I provide a rectangular or other suitably shaped
vessel, as shown in the accompanying Drawing, in which Fig. is an end
elevation of my improved condenser; and Fig. 2, a longitudinal vertical section
taken in the line A, B, of Fig. 1.
In these Figures a, a, is a rectangular vessel of cast iron or other suitable

page_text: material, closed at top by a cover a', which is bolted thereto. This vessel is
divided into three compartments or chambers 1, 2, 3, by two horizontal par-
titions b, c, which extend from end to end thereof.. The upper partition b
consists of a plate of pierced brass or other suitable metal. Fitted to the
lower partition c, and projecting upwards therefrom as from a tube plate, is a
series of tubes d, d, d, which are open at bottom and closed at the top by a
cap d; they are, however, pierced at the upper part of their periphery with
small holes, and thus form channels of communication between the middle
compartment 2 and lower compartment 3 of the vessel a, a. The cover of the
upper compartment'l is fitted with a flanged socket to receive a water supply
pipe, and the compartments 2 and 3 are similarly provided with a socket on a
level with the floor thereof. An escape cock is also fitted to the lower com-
partment 3. The vapour to be condensed is led into this lowest chamber of
the condenser by a supply pipe in connection therewith, and it then passes in
the direction of the black arrows, Fig. 2, up the vertical tubes d, and issues
through the lateral perforations in small streams into the compartment 2 or
condensing chamber. The upper chamber 1 receives the refrigerating fluid,
which is constantly supplied thereto by a suitable force pump, and is dis-
charged in the form of, a shower into the chamber below, through the
perforated partition or floor b. As, therefore, the vapour escapes from the
vertical tubes it will meet the descending shower of refrigerating fluid, and
becoming instantly condensed will fall with that fluid to the bottom of the
condensing chamber. A pipe leading off from this chamber will carry away
from the condenser, as indicated by the red arrow, the fluid heated by the
condensed vapour.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "Improvements in the
Construction of Condensers," and explained the manner of carrying the same
into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited
Letters Patent, I claim the arrangement of parts above described for facilitating
the condensation of vapours.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alphonse Pirotte, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Twelfth day of February, in the. year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
ALPE PIROTTE. (L.S.)