An Improved Method of Cleaning the Condensing-surfaces of Steam-engine Condensers and the like.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 10th Dec., 1895-Accepted, 18th Jan.,
1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Method of Cleaning the Condensing-surfaces of
Steam-engine Condensers and the like.
A communication from THE BOILER CAPSULE AND GASKET COMPANY, a joint
stock company organized under the laws of the State of Maine, U.S.A., and
having offices at Portland, State of Maine, and Danbury, State of Connecticut,
United States of America.
I, ALFRED JULIUS BOULT of 323 High Holborn in the County of Middlesex,
Chartered Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and
in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
Surface condensers are constructed with a large congeries of pipes, tubes or other
passages for the circulation of a cooling liquid, placed closely together for obtaining
a great extent of surfaces in a limited space, which surfaces, after some use,
become fouled by a gummy or greasy deposit so that the efficiency of the condenser
is reduced, and as this deposit has to be removed and the surfaces upon which it
collects are too near together to be scraped while in place, it has been customary
to have the surfaces removed and separately scraped, which, with a condenser
having a large number of pipes, is a very expensive operation, as it requires much
labor and loss of time; and the object of this invention is to provide a cheap and
convenient method of cleaning such condensing surfaces without removing them
from the condenser or disturbing the condenser or its connections, and also to
provide a simple apparatus for rapidly carrying out this method. To this end the
invention consists in the method of and means for applying to the condensing
surfaces a cleaning fluid that will act chemically on the deposit to be removed and
agitating the same by currents of air or other gas whereby the chemical action of
the cleansing fluid on the deposit will be facilitated by a mechanical action which
more thoroughly causes the fluid to be brought into intimate contact with all of the
deposit, thus insuring its entire dissolution and complete removal.
Referring to the accompanying drawings which illustrate means capable of
carrying out the invention:
Figure 1 represents a marine engine and boiler, with a condenser and means for
cleaning it.
Figure 2 shows an enlarged sectional view of a condenser and an apparatus that
may be used for cleaning the same according to this method.
Surface condensers; A, as usually constructed have a cylindrical or rectangular
shell 1 of iron, brass, or other metal with removable outer heads 2 and inner heads 3
which are perforated to support and hold a large number of pipes 4 that are placed
closely together within the shell, and the water or other cooling fluid is forced by
a pump B through an inlet 5 and caused to circulate through some of the pipes in
one direction and others in the opposite direction and then pass away through an
outlet 6. The exhaust steam from the engine C passes through the steam induct 7
into the chamber 8 and is there condensed by contact with the cooling pipes, the
water of condensation together with the air and other gases in the chamber being
drawn through the educt 9 by an air pump D, which retains the vacuum in the
condensing chamber and sends the water to the hot well, from which it is pumped
to the boiler E to be again converted into steam for driving the engine.

page_text: When the exhaust steam from the engine passes into the condenser it carries
particles of the lubricants used in the engine and other impurities which are
volatilized by the heated fluid, and these particles coming in contact with the
cooling pipes or other condensing surfaces are precipitated and deposited upon the
pipes and interior surface of the condensing chamber in the form of a thick,
viscous substance, the accumulation of which prevents the proper condensation of
steam and causes a lowering of the vacuum with a consequent loss of power. As
the lubricants mostly used are mineral oils, .this deposit is of a pitchy character
which adheres to the pipes with great tenacity and is not readily soluble, and to
remove it from the pipes, which are too close together to admit of the insertion of
a mechanical mixer for agitating any cleansing compound or to permit of the
surfaces being scraped when in place, it has been considered necessary to take out
the pipes and scrape each one separately, which is a laborious and expensive
operation requiring considerable skill and can only be performed when the condenser
is not in use.
With this present process a considerable quantity of cleansing fluid is placed in
the steam chamber 8 of the condenser A. The cleansing fluid preferably is in a
liquid state and may be composed of a variety of substances, its composition
depending mainly upon the character and quantity of the deposits to be removed.
When animal or vegetable oils or substances are used for lubricating the engine,
an alkaline solution composed of soda or potash dissolved in water may be used
with good effect. When mineral oils are used for lubricants, a hydro-carbon.
.liquid, such as naphtha, will be found effective in dissolving the gummy deposits and
separating the mineral from the other constituents thereof. Various suitable and
effective substances or compositions may be found which will accomplish the
required results under the varying conditions which will exist in practice, and my
correspondents do not limit themselves to the particular ones herein specified, the
invention being present when the cleaning fluid used contains a solvent of one or
more of the ingredients of the deposit. The cleaning fluid may be kept in a
conveniently located tank F and forced by a pump G through a pipe 10 into the
condenser chamber, when it is desired to clean the pipes, until it nearly fills the
steam chamber and surrounds the cooling pipes 4. The fluid is then violently
agitated and caused to rapidly circulate around and between the pipes by air or
other gas currènts or blasts ejected into the chamber by means of a gas pump H
through a pipe 11 which preferably extends from the pump H to the bottom of the
.condenser where it passes through the shell and terminates in the interior in a
pipe 12 having suitable nozzles or openings for projecting the gas currents in the
proper directions to cause the most effective and violent agitation of the cleaning
fluid. The strong gas currents pass between and around the close lying cooling
pipes and carry the cleansing fluid, which is thus not only well mixed- aud
circulated to every part of the interior of the chamber so as to be brought into
contact with all of the foul surfaces, whereby the substances cau chemically act on
all the mass to be removed so as to dissolve it, but the particles conveyed by the
gas blast act with a mechanical friction or attrition on the viscous mass and clean
or scrape the partially dissolved portions from the surfaces of the pipes to be
cleaned, which mechanical action also aids the rapid dissolution of the substances
under action of the solvent by circulating the dissolved portion and exposing the
undissolved quantities to the chemical and mechanical action of the gas ejected
cleaning fluid.
This gas agitated cleaning fluid, that acts mechanically and chemically on the
substances to be removed, will pass through small spaces between the pipes and
into corners in which a scraper or mechanical mixer could not be inserted, and will
very quickly and thoroughly dissolve and hold in suspension the fouling substances
so they can be removed with the cleaning fluid by reversing the action of the pump
and drawing out the liquid or allowing it to run into a discharge. The cleaning
fluid can be used more than once if the condensers are not too foul, and when it is

page_text: desired to keep it for further use the fluid can be readily pumped back into the
tank, and retained ready for use.
It is preferred to first put the cleaning fluid into the condenser chamber and
then agitate it by the gas blasts, but, if desired, a pipe 13 may be connected
between the pipe 11 from the gas pump and the pipe 10 from the liquid pump so-
that the gas may be forced with the fluid into the chamber and a more violent
agitation produced while the condenser is being filled with fluid, a three-way or
other suitable controlling cock 14 being placed in the pipe system if this is desired.
to properly direct the air currents for this purpose.
A very convenient and simple apparatus for accomplishing this method is:
illustrated in the drawings where a rotary gas pump H and a rotary liquid pump G
are placed on the same base with a rotary engine I that can be connected with the
boiler E by a pipe 15, all being arranged so as to be connected to the same shaft 16
by couplings 17. Of course, if desired, the cleaning fluid can be placed in the
condenser chamber through one of the top manholes 18 and after use may be.
allowed to escape through a bottom manhole 19, but it is preferred to utilize the:
pump and save the fluid for further use.
If desired, a pipe or hose 20 may lead from the interior of the condenser to the-
exterior of the engine room or other convenient locality, for leading away the air-
or other gas currents used in agitating the cleaning fluid, and this is particularly
important if such a cleaning fluid is used that its agitation liberates noxious or
otherwise dangerous gases or vapors.
By means of this method the pitchy deposit, which is caused by the precipitation.
of the solid matters of the lubricant used in the engine with the other impurities
from the water, can be quickly dissolved and rapidly washed from the close lying
pipes or other condensing surfaces without removing them from the condenser,.
obviating a great amount of labor, saving a vast period of time and without in any
way disturbing the condenser or its connections and the many joints of the pipes,.
and while saving the expense incident to this the condenser can be cleaned more
often, thus economizing the power and saving waste. This method also, further-.
more, leaves the pipes and their connections in the condenser in a better condition,.
that is, less worn than when they are removed and mechanically scraped or when
subjected to a very powerful acid solvent which cannot be violently agitated.
This method is particularly applicable and effective for use in connection with
marine engine plants which previously could only be cleaned when the vessel was
in port, but this present application of the cleansing fluid and its agitation can be.
accomplished by a simple portable apparatus that can be brought aboard when the.
vessel is in port, or it can be made a part of the plant of the ship so that the method
can be practised very effectively at any time the ship is hove to or anchored, in a
very short period by unskilled labor, obviating an expensive delay in port. The
great advantages of this method, however, result from its simplicity, its effectiveness,.
the rapidity with which it can be practised, and the little wear it effects upon the
parts of the condenser, with the consequent saving of labor and expense, and the
additional purity of the water for the boiler obtained by the frequent use of this
method economizes the power and also relieves the filter usually placed in the
hot well.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-.
tion as communicated to me by my foreign correspondents and in what manner the
same is to be performed, 1 declare that what 1 claim is:
The method of removing the deposit from the condensing surfaces in condeusers
without dismantling the same, which consists in introducing into the condenser
which is to be cleaned, a liquid which is a solvent of one or more of the oleaginous,
pitchy or gummy binding components of said deposit, and in violently agitating
said liquid by forcing a gas into the liquid in the condenser between the
surfaces to be cleaned, thereby forming a partial solution and a partial.

page_text: mixture of the ingredients of said deposit with said liquid, and causing said
solution and mixture to abrade said deposit, and in withdrawing the resulting
fluid from the condenser without removing the surfaces cleaned, substantially as
specified.
Deted this 10th dox of December 1805
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicant.