IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR OBTAINING FRESH WATER FROM SEA. WATER.
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields,
in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR OBTAINING FRESH WATER FROM SEA.
WATER.". A communication from abroad by Théodore Perroy, of
-
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson
.
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 18th October 1873.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County
of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR OBTAINING FRESH WATER
FROM SEA WATER," a communication to me from abroad by Théodore
Perroy, of Paris, in the Republic of France, to be as follows:-
•
This Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of
refrigerator, and to its combination with the usual aerator and filtre for

page_text: .
the purpose of obtaining fresh water from sea water, such apparatus
being intended more especially for use on board ship.
The improved refrigerator consists of a metallic casing, which contains
only the circulating tubes in which the steam is condensed, thereby
admitting of the apparatus to be readily and quickly taken to pieces for
repairs or cleaning by simply unbolting the head plates. The said tubes
open at their ends into boxes or chambers bolted to the outside of the
apparatus, so as to ensure perfect continuity of the series to and fro
inside the refrigerator. The joints of these tubes are made tight by a
washer of india-rubber, which is slipped over the tube, and gripped
between two plates, forming the double ends of the apparatus.
In vessels where surface condensers are employed and the boiler water
is used over and over again, an auxiliary distillatory boiler is employed,
fed with pure sea water and heated by the impure steam from the gene-
rators. The water of condensation passes to the usual animal charcoal
filtre, where it is purified. The steam to be condensed arrives from the
aerator and enters the upper part of the refrigerator, traversing the con-
densing tubes in a zig-zag or to-and-fro course through the refrigerator,
the tubes of which are kept cool by a current of sea water, which enters
at the bottom of the casing and flows out at the top.
$
The apparatus is provided with a blow-off cock at the top, an air
discharge cock, and a blow-through cock.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
F
filed by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 14th April 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of October, in the year of our 3
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-seventh
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her. heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said John Henry Johnson, Her special license

page_text: .
that I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Henry Johnson,
my executors, administrators, or 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 "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR OBTAINING FRESH WATER FROM SEA WATER," a communi
cation to me from abroad by Théodore Perroy, of Paris, in the Republic of
France, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Henry
Johnson, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing,.
under my hand and scal, 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 John Henry Johnson, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to
say:―
This system of aerating fresh water resulting from the distillation of
sea water is composed of three parts, viz., the aerator, refrigerator, and
filter.
The aerator, the object of which is to mix a large quantity of air with
the steam which enters the apparatus, and the animal charcoal filter
through which the distilled water leaving the refrigerator passes, are of
the ordinary description.
This Invention relates more particularly to an improved refrigerator,
which possesses numerous advantages over the apparatus hitherto
employed.
In carrying out the said Invention, in lieu of enclosing the whole of
the apparatus in the casing in which the sea water intended to condense
the steam circulates, such casing is made to contain the tubes only:
through which the steam to be condensed passes, by which means the
necessity for taking to pieces the whole of the casing when, it is desired....

page_text: to examine the apparatus is obviated, it is simply requisite to
unscrew a few nuts and remove the head plates, so that a considerable
saving in time is effected.
The Invention also relates to means employed for obtaining a tight
joint at the extremity of the tubes.
In lieu of making the joints in the head plates, which arrangement is
costly to carry out, and at the same time fails to provide the requisite
degree of tightness, the end of cach tube is simply inserted in a washer
or sheet of india-rubber, which is tightly gripped between two metal
plates.
In those cases where the steam from the steam generator of the vessel
cannot be utilized for the production of fresh water, a distillatory tubular
boiler is added to the apparatus.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood I
shall now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that
purpose shall refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of
Drawings, the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in
all the Figures.
Fig. 1 represents a longitudinal section, Figure 2 a transverso
vertical section, and Figure 3 a horizontal section of a refrigerator con-
structed according to this Invention.
The refrigerator consists of a narrow casing a, containing tubes 6 com-
posed of tinned brass or other suitable metal, and arranged horizontally
and so as to open into boxes or chambers c outside the casing, which
boxes or chambers are provided with diaphragms and are secured by
bolts d, so as to bear against the external surfaces of end plates e.
In order to obtain a tight joint at each extremity of the tubes b, india-
rubber washers are employed, which washers are tightly gripped between
the two plates e, which form the ends of the casing a. The joints thus
obtained are exceedingly tight, whilst at the same time they admit of the
apparatus being readily taken to pieces.
The sea water enters the refrigerator through the pipe f, and escapes
through the discharge pipe 9, and the steam to be condensed arrives
from the acrator through the pipe h, and after having traversed the
whole series of tubes b, in which it is conducted by the diaphragm boxes

page_text: or chambers c in a to-and-fro or zig-zag course, leaves the apparatus in
the condition of water of condensation by the pipe. i, whence it is
directed into the animal charcoal filter, where its purification is
completed.
The apparatus is provided with a blow-off cock j, a blow-through
cock k, and a discharge cock 1, the last being intended to afford an
outlet for the excess of air which is conducted by the steam, and which
has not been taken up in the water of condensation. This cock more-
over admits of the pressure in the interior of the refrigerator being
regulated.
The circulation of the sea water in the refrigerator so constructed is
produced by the diminution in density resulting from the elevating of
the temperature in the interior of the apparatus, and from the discharge
pipe.
In vessels in which the engine is provided with a surface condenser it
is not possible to take from the boilers the steam which is intended to be
used for the purpose of producing the fresh water, as the feed water is
not renewed, and the steam is consequently charged with grease and
other impurities.
When the vessel has a small special boiler for the capstan supplied in
the ordinary manner by sea water, it may be utilized for the distillation,
but this inconvenience may be obviated by directing the steam from the
boilers into a tubular evaporating apparatus suitably arranged for the
purpose, in which apparatus water obtained direct from the sea may be
vaporized, the water being supplied to such apparatus either by means
of a pump or by a reservoir forming a feed cistern, which is placed
alternately in communicating with the sea and with the evaporating
apparatus.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider
to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to
me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
First. The peculiar construction and arrangement of refrigerator con-
taining the tubes only within its casing, for the purpose of enabling such

page_text: refrigerator to be taken to pieces by simply unbolting the end plates, as
herein-before described..
Second. The application of india-rubber washers gripped or clasped"
between two plates for the purpose of forming a tight junction of the
steam tubes with the plates of the refrigerator, as herein-before 5
described...
Third. The application in ships or vessels provided with surface con- .
densers of an auxiliary tubular boiler for the purpose of producing the
steam which is to be condensed in the condition of potable water by
means of pure sea water heated by the impure steam supplied from the 1
steam generators, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have to this
my Specification set my hand and seal, the Tenth day of April,
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
J. HENRY JOHNSON.
(L.S.)