Improvements in Ventilating and Heating or Cooling Apparatus for use on Board Ship.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 26th Feb., 1898
Complete Specification Left. 4th July 1898-Accepted. 13th Aug. 1898
Improvements in Ventilating and Heating or Cooling Apparatus for
use on Board Ship.
I, ALEXANDER WILLIAM STEWART, of The Crescent, Dalmuir, Dumbartonshire,
Electrical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention relates to ventilating and heating or cooling apparatus for use
on board ship and it has for its object to provide improved means whereby the
cabins or living quarters of a vessel may be efficiently heated in cold weather or
cooled while the vessel is in a warm climate, and the holds of cargo vessels may
be cooled and ventilated.
The system of heating presently in use on board ship in which steam pipes are
carried into the cabins or compartments to be heated is subject to serious disadvan-
tages due to overheating or other uneven distribution of temperature, leakage
at the joints of pipes, the expense of boxing in the latter, risk of accidental
burning and like inconveniences, whilst no provision is made for cooling instead
of heating the compartments. These and similar objections are overcome under
my invention by providing means for heating or cooling air and circulating or
discharging it into the cabins or other compartments to be heated or cooled and
ventilated.
To that end I employ a heater composed of a cylindrical or other casing closed
at both ends and through which steam at any desired temperature is passed, the
casing being fitted with a series of tubes extending through it, and being sur-
rounded by an outer case or shell. Air from a fan or blower attached to the outer
shell is directed through the annular space around the steam casing and thence
passes through the tubes extending through said casing so that it absorbs heat by
contact with the external surface of the steam casing and also in its passage
through the tubes. The air thus heated is delivered to a number of trunks or
passages with branches which serve to distribute the air through ventilating
gratings or otherwise to the various cabins or compartments to be heated.
66
The heater, which I term a thermotank" may be conveniently placed on deck
or outside the compartments to be heated and ventilated and it may be provided
with valves or like means to regulate the temperature and volume of air to be
heated.
For the purpose of meeting the requirements of ships which pass through warm
climates suitable pipe connections are provided by means of which, in lieu of
admitting steam to the casing, cold brine or expanding gas or other cooling agent
is directed through the casing to cool the air which is propelled through the
apparatus and delivered to the cabins or compartments. This latter arrangement
is particularly applicable in vessels whose holds may contain cargoes liable to be

page_text: affected by heat and absence of ventilation, the air cooled in the thermotank being
directed into the hold and suitably distributed therein.
Dated this 25th day of February 1898.
WALLACE FAIRWEATHER,
Of the Firm of Cruikshank & Fairweather,
Chartered Patent Agents,
62, Saint Vincent Street, Glasgow,
Agent for the Applicant.
Improvements in Ventilating and Heating or Cooling Apparatus for
use on Board Ship.
I, ALEXANDER WILLIAM STEWART, of The Crescent, Dalmuir, Dumbartonshire,
Electrical Engineer, 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:-
This invention relates to ventilating and heating or cooling apparatus for use
on board ship and it has for its object to provide improved means whereby the
cabins or living quarters of a vessel may be efficiently heated in cold weather or
cooled while the vessel is in a warm climate, and the holds of cargo vessels may
be cooled and ventilated.
The system of heating presently in use on board ship in which steam pipes are
carried into the cabins or compartments to be heated is subject to serious disadvan-
tages due to overheating or other uneven distribution of temperature, leakage
at the joints of pipes, the expense of boxing in the latter, risk of accidental
burning and like inconveniences, whilst no provision is made for cooling instead
of heating the compartments. These and similar objections are overcome under
my invention by providing means for heating or cooling air and circulating or
discharging it into the cabins or other compartments to be heated or cooled and
ventilated.
The invention is illustrated by the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1
is a longitudinal vertical section, Figure 2 is a sectional end elevation and
Figure 3 a plan of the improved apparatus as fitted on a ships deck and connected
to the trunks which serve for the distribution of the heated or cooled air to the
ships cabins.
The improved apparatus comprises a heater composed of a cylindrical or other
casing A. closed at both ends and through which steam at any desired temperature
is led by piping a, this casing being fitted with a series of tubes B extending
through it, and being surrounded by an outer case or shell C. Air from a fan
or blower D working inside the outer shell C is directed through the annular
space E around the steam casing and thence passes through the tubes B extending
through said casing so that it absorbs heat by contact with the external surface
of the steam casing and also in its passage through the tubes. The air thus
heated is delivered to a number of trunks or passages F with branches G which
serve to distribute the air through ventilating gratings or otherwise to the various
cabins or compartments to be heated. The fan may as shown be conveniently
driven by an electric motor D³, or other means.
The heater which I term a 66 thermotank "
may be conveniently placed on the
deck H as shown or outside the compartments to be heated and ventilated and
it may be provided with valves or like means to regulate the temperature and
volume of air to be heated.

page_text: For the purpose of meeting the requirements of ships which pass through warm
climates suitable pipe connections may be provided by means of which, in lieu
of admitting steam to the casing A, cold brine or expanding gas or other cooling
agent is directed through the casing to cool the air which is propelled through the
apparatus and delivered to the cabins or compartments. This latter arrangement
is particularly applicable in vessels whose holds may contain cargoes liable to be
affected by heat and absence of ventilation, the air cooled in the thermotank being
directed into the hold and suitably distributed therein.
A main ventilator shaft I is by preference provided and connected to the central
eye D¹ of the fan or blower, the shaft I being open at its upper end above the deck
and opening at its lower end to the main trunk or trunks F. Butterfly or other
valves J and K are fitted in the shaft respectively above and below the eye of the
fan. The top of the casing or shell C is also provided with a valve preferably of
the screw down mushroom type L and a butterfly or other valve M is fitted with
a pipe or passage N connecting the air space at lower end of casing A with the
trunk or trunks F whilst a like valve is or may be placed in the trunk F
between the valves K and M, a valve P being also fitted to connect the space E
directly with the trunks.
This arrangement of the valves which may be varied as required merely serves
to show the working of the thermotank for supplying, circulating or exhausting
air.
For driving heated or cooled air into a compartment or compartments, the
valves L, K and P are closed. The air then enters by the valve J and is driven
by the fan through the tubes in the thermotank (which is either heated or cooled
as the case may be) into the trunks F through the valve M. It is then distributed
to the compartments by the louvres in the usual way. In order to exhaust the
foul air from the compartments the valves J and M are closed. The air then is
drawn by the fan from the trunks F, through the valves 0 and K and is dis-
charged to the atmosphere through the valve L. To blow air direct from the
atmosphere into the compartments the valves L and K are closed. The air is then
drawn by the fan through the valve J and is driven through the valves P and M
into the trunk F where it is delivered in the usual way.
To circulate the air through the compartments the valves L, J, P and Q are
closed and the air is then drawn through the valve K, from one section of the
trunking F and is delivered through the tubes to the other section of the trunks
through the valve M which would keep a continuous circulation and so heat the
compartments in a very short time.
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:-
The improved ventilating and heating or cooling apparatus for use on board ship,
constructed, combined and arranged to operate substantially as described.
WALLACE FAIRWEATHER,
Of the Firm of Cruikshank & Fairweather,
Chartered Patent Agents,
62, Saint Vincent Street, Glasgow,
Agent for the Applicant.
WALLACE FAIRWEATHER,
Of the Firm of Cruikshank & Fairweather,
Chartered Patent Agents,
62, Saint Vincent Street, Glasgow,
Agent for the Applicant.