AN IMPROVED REFRIGERATOR, TO BE USED IN BREWING, DISTILLING, AND OTHER SIMILAR USEFUL PURPOSES
Year: 1852

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PETER VAN
KEMPEN, of West Ham, in the County of Essex, Accountant, send
greeting.
WHEREAS the present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Eighth day of March, in the fifteenth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Peter Van Kempen, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Peter Van Kempen, my exors, admors, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the
term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within that part of the United Kingdom called England, the
Dominion of Wales, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark,
and Man, and in all Her said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, an
Invention communicated to me by a Foreigner residing abroad, to wit, by
Gerrit Abraham Cramer, Brewer, of Amsterdam, in the Kingdom of Holland,
for "AN IMPROVED REFRIGERATOR, TO BE USED IN BREWING, DISTILLING, AND
OTHER SIMILAR USEFUL PURPOSES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained
a proviso that I, the said Peter Van Kempen, shall cause a particular
description of the Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to be enrolled in Her
said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and

page_text: immediately after the date of the now reciting Letters Patent, as in and
by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Peter Van Kempen, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say :-
This Invention consists in improvements in apparatus to be used for refri-
gerating or cooling brewers' or distillers' worts, but applicable for other similar
purposes, one of the improvements in connection therewith consisting in the
employment of a permanent conductor or circuit through the work, in
connection with the earth, by which means the wort is prevented from turning
sour from the influence of atmospheric electricity during thunder storms.
It is of great importance to brewers and distillers to be able to cool their
worts to the requisite temperature in the shortest possible space of time, and
to effect the operation in little space and with proper regard to cleanliness and
economy. Now this improved apparatus will be found in practice to yield
great advantages in these respects over those at present in use, as well as to
obviate the serious losses oftentimes sustained by worts becoming soured
through changes in the state of the atmosphere.
But in order that the Invention may be understood, I will now proceed to
describe the Drawings.
Figure 1, Sheet A, represents the refrigerating apparatus. It consists of a
long continuous trough, along which the wort to be cooled is caused to flow.
The proper length of the trough will depend in a great measure on the
average temperature of the worts and the degree of coolness to which it may
be necessary to reduce them. The quality of the wort intended to be run per
hour will regulate the breadth of the apparatus, but in practice in has been
found convenient to have the trough two hundred and eighty feet in length
and four feet in breadth, which will be adequate to the cooling of two
hundred to two hundred and fifty barrels per hour, supposing the wort to
be introduced when at 110° Fahrenheit, and required to be reduced to 60° of
the same thermometer. These results, however, depend more or less upon
the temperature of the cold water, or liquor, as it is called, employed in
connection with the apparatus, as will be seen on further reference to this
Specification. An apparatus constructed according to this Specification has
been used in Holland of two hundred and forty feet in length, by eight inches
in width, by which fifty-five barrels of wort have been cooled from 110° Fah-

page_text: renheit to 70°, the temperature of the cold liquor being 54° Fahrenheit. In
all cases care must be taken that the surface on which the wort flows is
smooth, and truly horizontal in a transverse direction, in order that the wort
may flow equably and distribute itself uniformly over the surface.
Referring to Sheet A, Figure I is an isometrical representation of this
improved apparatus. It consists of an external trough a, a, of any kind of
metal or other suitable material, containing the cooling medium, and through
which it passes in an opposite direction to that in which the wort flows. The
internal trough b, b, is of thin copper or other good conductor of heat, tinned
or otherwise coated to resist any action of the wort thereon. The outer
trough a, a, is by preference of cast iron; formed in suitable lengths, and with
the necessary flanges at each end for uniting them together. A continuous
flange c, c, is formed on either side of the cast-iron trough a, a, by which the
copper trough b, b, is secured thereto, both of which are separately represented
in Sheet B. The parts of the internal and external troughs are both of the
same lengths, so that the union of the outer ones by their flanges effects the
junction of the inner one at the same time.
Figure 2, Sheet B, represents a detached view of one part of the trough
detached, and in longitudinal section; Figure 3, an end view of the same;
Figure 4, a plan of the external cast-iron trough; Figure 5, a cross section of
the same on 1, 1. Figure 6 is a plan, & Figure 7 an end view, of the inner
copper trough b, b; Figure 8, a cross section of the same; and Figure 9, a
transverse section of outer trough a, a, at the induction passage of the liquor.
It will be seen that the trough a, a, is made considerably wider and deeper than
the trough b, b, to afford space a, a, for the cooling medium to circulate. When
the refrigerator is of extreme width I form three or other number of ribs e, e,
in the trough a, a, to which the copper is properly tied down in order to keep
it flat; or it may be tied or united to the iron at intervals in any suitable
manner. The continuous longitudinal flanges f, f, of b, b, are sufficiently
broad to embrace the full breadth of the trough a, a, and its flanges, and are
secured to the flanges c, c, by a plate of metal g bolted thereto at suitable
intervals. A packing of vulcanized india rubber or other material is placed
between flanges c, c, and f, f, in order to render it water-tight throughout its
entire length. Similar packings are placed between the end flanges h, h,
which are securely bolted together, as represented at Fig. 1. The junction of
parts forming the copper trough is effected simultaneously with that of the
external joints h, h, for which purpose the copper has flanges i, i, formed
thereon, and when together is in the same plane as the flanges h, h, so that,
by interposing a suitable packing of india rubber between the butting ends

page_text: thereof, the bolts of h, h, effectually compress and unite the copper flanges i, i
together in a water-tight mannner, and simultaneously with a like junc-
tion of h, h. By this means a continuous water-tight channel is formed
throughout the whole length of the refrigerator. To provide a uniform
passage for the cooling medium a dip is formed at each transverse junc
tion, as will be best seen in the longitudinal section, Figure 2, which also
forms a receptacle for any deposit that may take place. To better insure the
contact of the copper flanges a bar k is formed across the trough a, united to
the several ribs e, e, e. This fits close up to the back of flanges i, i, by
which a more certain and uniform compression of the packing between them
is effected. In order to clear out this deposit, openings with suitable caps or
plugs 1, 1, are situate on either side of the cast-iron trough, forming a passage
through from side to side, and by which any accumulation may be removed
from time to time. In localities where much deposit is to be apprehended
from the water used for refrigeration, the trough should be in shorter lengths
than as before described, and mud doors formed at either end, so that wire
brushes or scrapers may be introduced in a longitudinal or other direction,
for the purpose of cleansing. This refrigerator is placed at an incline of not
less than one foot in two hundred feet, and of an uniform inclination through-
out, so as to ensure a regular flow of the wort from end to end. The worts
are introduced by a spout or other suitable duct m into the higher end of the
refrigerator through which it flows, spreading itself in a film of a regular
thickness on the surface of the copper bottom b, b. The worts having tra-
versed the trough from end to end are delivered at the lower end into any
suitable receptacle. The water or cooling liquor is introduced at the lower
end 6, by a pipe p placed in connection with any suitable supply, whereby a
head of water is maintained that will cause the quantity passing to be not
less than one fourth more than the quantity of worts passing at the time,
increasing in proportion according to the specific gravity of the wort to be
cooled. The pipe p admits the water or liquor by a passage q across the
entire breadth of the trough, and which is forced thence by the head of
water through the channel or space d, d, up the incline of the trough to the
upper end, where it escapes by a spill pipe r. The cooling medium is thus
caused to flow in an opposite direction to that of the wort to be reduced
in temperature, by which means the liquor or water when at its lowest tem-
perature takes effect on the wort just before it escapes from the refrigerator.
The close contact of the water or liquor with the copper bottom of b, b, tends
to keep that surface at its own temperature. Copper, being a good conductor
of heat, readily parts with any heat which it abstracts from the wort, thus

page_text: presenting a continuous cold surface to the passing wort, the temperature of
such surface being highest at the upper end of the refrigerator where the wort
enters, and lowest where it escapes, by reason of the gradual addition of heat
transferred from the worts to the cooling medium. By this means the
greatest refrigerating effect of the liquor is ensured with a regularly pro-
gressive and rapid reduction in the temperature of the worts; the entire
action of the apparatus on any specific portion of the wort occupying not
more than four or five minutes. The water spaces at either side of the trough
are intended for the reception and passage of air or any vapour that may
arise during the operation, which will thus prevent its interfering with the
proper contact of the water and copper bottom. Suitable passages S, S, are
erected at intervals to carry of the vapour, which passages must be carried to
a sufficient height to prevent the escape of the cooling medium at those
points. A stopcock t is placed on the inflow pipe p to regulate the supply
of water according to the reduction of temperature required in the wort.
The quantity of water or liquor required for the purposes of refrigeration will
necessarily depend upon the relative temperatures of the wort and that
medium, as also on the density of the wort, no exact proportions can be given.
The Inventor has found out that, with a cooling medium introduced at a tem-
perature of fifty-five degrees Fahrenheit, wort of specific gravity of twenty.
degrees, at a temperature of one hundred and ten Fahrenheit, may be thus
reduced to sixty degrees Fahrenheit, observing that the relative proportions
of wort and cooling medium are the same as that before mentioned. Any
increase of temperature or density of wort will require a greater proportion
of the refrigerating liquor to produce the same result.
The second improvement in refrigerators relates to a means of preventing
atmospheric influences taking effect on the wort when in the refrigerator.
For this purpose a strip of zinc V, V, is placed throughout the entire length
of the refrigerator so as to be covered by the fluid therein contained. Both
ends of the strips v, v, are placed in connection with plates w, w, deposited in
the ground, one of which, of copper, attached by a copper strip reaching to the
refrigerator, forms the positive pole, while the other earth plate is of zinc, and
forms the negative pole. Any atmospheric electricity which, during thunder-
storms, is liable to turn wort sour, will be carried off by this arrangement.
Having now described the nature of the Invention communicated to me by
Mr. Cramer, I wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself to the
precise details herein-before set forth, as the same may be varied without
departing from the principle of this Invention. But what I claim is an
improved refrigerator constructed according to the description herein-before

page_text: given in reference to the Drawings, and the peculiar form and configuration
shewn and described thereby, in which worts or other liquids flow down
an inclined channel, underneath which cold water or liquor is forced in
an opposite direction and incline, and the employment of a galvanic circuit
in the said refrigerator for the carrying off electricity from the worts.
In witness whereof, I, the said Peter Van Kempen, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two.
Enrolled the Eighth day of September, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-two.