IMPROVEMENTS IN CONDENSERS FOR STEAM ENGINES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Walker McCarter, of the City Saw Mills,
Foyle Street, Londonderry, in the County of Londonderry, Ireland,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CONDENSERS FOR STEAM ENGINES."
Sealed the 19th October 1869, and dated the 21st April 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Walker McCarter
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 21st April 1869.
I, JOHN WALKER MCCARTER, of the City Saw Mills, Foyle Street,
Londonderry, in the County of Londonderry, Ireland, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CONDENSERS FOR
STEAM ENGINES," to be as follows, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object the application to steam engines of
condensers of an improved kind, and which dispense with the air pumps
and connections ordinarily used with condensing engines and save the
power required to work those parts.

page_text: In carrying out the Invention the condensation is effected by injecting
cold water, and the condenser is made in two compartments. The water
is got rid of from one compartment by closing its communication with
the other or with the exhaust pipe, and by opening a bottom discharge
valve, whilst air is admitted by another valve to displace the water;
the air is then expelled by blowing a little steam into the compartment
prior to reopening its communication with the ather compartment or
with the exhaust pipe.
In one modification of the apparatus one compartment of the con-
denser is like an ordinary injection condenser, the exhaust pipe of the
engine leading into its upper end whilst the cold condensing water
enters by an ordinary injection pipe. The bottom of this compartment
communicates through an intermediate valve with the top of the second
compartment, and the latter communicates through a discharge valve
at its bottom with the waste water pipe. These intermediate and
discharge valves are worked by spindles passing out through stuffing
boxes and having levers fixed on them externally, such levers being
weighted to keep the valves closed excepting when they are opened by
gearing actuated by the engine. The lower compartment is also
provided with pipes for injecting water and steam, with an outlet valve
for air and closing with the atmospheric pressure, and with a valve for
admitting air, and connected to the lever working the bottom discharge
valve so as to open with it. The discharge valve being closed the
intermediate valve is opened, and the water passes from the upper to the
lower compartment. The intermediate valve is then closed and the
discharge valve and air inlet are opened, and the water passes into the
waste pipe. The discharge valve is next closed, but before opening the
intermediate valve steam is admitted into the lower compartment to
blow out the air, and afterwards that steam is condensed by injecting a
little water. The operations are then repeated, but not necessarily at
every stroke of the engine, as it may be done at intervals depending on
the sizes of the parts in relation to the quantity of steam used,
In another modification both compartments are made like the lower
one herein-before described, but each with a valve communicating
directly with the exhaust pipe of the engine, and they operate alter-
nately, the steam from the engine being condensed in one whilst
the water and air are being discharged from the other.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Walker McCarter in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 20th October 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
WALKER MCCARTER, of the City Saw Mills, Foyle Street, Londonderry,
in the County of Londonderry, Ireland, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of April, in the
year of bur Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the
thirty-second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said John Walker McCarter,
Her special licence that I, the said John Walker McCarter, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Walker
McCarter, my exécutors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there.
after during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
take, 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 CONDENSERS FOR STEAM ENGINES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said John Walker McCarter, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or
one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was
to be perfordted, 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.
ci
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Walker M°Carter, 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 following statement in writing, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings, that is to say :-
My said Invention has for its object the application to steam engines
of condensers of an improved kind, and which dispense with the air
pumps and connections ordinarily used with condensing engines and
save the power required to work those parts.
And in order that my said Invention and the manner of performing
the same may bé properly understood, I have hereunto appended an

page_text: explanatory Drawing representing condensing apparatus as constructed
or arranged with my improvements, the parts being shown as in vertical
section.
In carrying out my Invention the condensation is effected by injecting
cold water, and the condenser is made in two compartments 1, 2. The
exhaust pipe 3 from the engine communicates with the top of the first
compartment 1, and this has at its bottom an opening 4 provided with
a valve 5 and leading into the second compartment 2, whilst the latter
has at its bottom an opening 6 provided with a valve 7 and leading
into the waste pipe 8. The cold injection enters by a rose nozzle 9
projecting into the upper part of the upper compartment 1. A lip or
rim 10 is formed round the opening 4 between the two compartments,
and serves to retain some water in the upper compartment, from which
the supply for feeding the boiler is withdrawn by a pipe 11. The
remainder of the water not thus withdrawn by the pipe 11 passes down
into the lower compartment 2 and is got rid of thence by closing the
communication 4 by means of the valve 5 and opening the bottom
discharge outlet 6, whilst air is admitted by another valve 12 to displace
the water. The air is then expelled from the compartment 2 by
blowing in a little steam by a pipe 13 either from the boiler or from the
exhaust pipe 3 of the engine prior to reopening the communication 4
with the other compartment 1. The intermediate and discharge
valves 5, 7, are worked by spindles 14, 15, passing out through
stuffing boxes, and having levers 16, 17, fixed on them externally,
such levers being weighted to keep the valves closed excepting when
they are opened by revolving cams or wipers 18, 19, or other convenient
mechanism actuated by the engine. The air inlet valve 12 is moved
by a rod 20 in connection with the lower valve lever 17. The lower
compartment 2, in addition to the parts already referred to, is provided
with an outlet valve 21 for air, closing with the atmospheric pressure,
and with an inlet pipe 22 for admitting a little water at the proper
time to condense the steam used for blowing out the air. When the
intermediate valve 5 is open the bottom discharge valve 7 is closed,
and the water passes from the upper compartment 1 to the lower one 2;
the intermediate valve 5 is then closed and the lower discharge valve 7
and air valve 12 are momentarily opened and the water passes into
the waste pipe 8. The discharge valve 7 is next closed, but before
opening the intermediate valve 5 steam is admitted by the pipe 13 to

page_text: blow out the air from the lower compartment, and afterwards that steam
is condensed by injecting a little water by the pipe 22. The operations
are then repeated, but not necessarily at every stroke of the engine,
as it may be done at intervals depending on the sizes of the parts in
relation to the quantity of steam used in the engine.
In another modification both compartments are made like the lower
one 2 herein-before described, but each with a valve communicating
directly with the exhaust pipe 3 of the engine, and they operate
alternately, the steam from the engine being condensed in one whilst
the water and air are being discharged from the other.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I have to state that I do not
restrict myself to the precise details herein described or delineated, but
that what I believe to be novel and original, and claim as the Invention
secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,
the constructing or arranging of steam engine condensers in two com-
partments with valves arranged and worked so that the water and air
may be discharged from one compartment whilst its communication
with the other compartment or with the exhaust pipe is temporarily
closed and without interrupting the condensation of the steam from the
engine, substantially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Walker McCarter, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of October,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
nine.