AN IMPROVED MODE FOR PREVENTING INCRUSTATIONS IN STEAM BOILERS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for
the Invention of "AN IMPROVED MODE FOR PREVENTING INCRUSTATIONS
IN STEAM BOILERS."-A communication.
Sealed the 16th October 1857, and dated the 18th July 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on.
the 18th July 1857.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED MODE OF PREVENTING INCRUSTATIONS
IN STEAM BOILERS," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to prevent and remove the incrustation
of steam boilers and steam generators. For this purpose the black gum
catechu (well known to dyers as a coloring matter) is employed. Into a steam
boiler of one hundred horse power about half a pound of this gum catechu is-
placed, and allowed to remain until the water becomes the color of pale brandy,
or a light reddish brown color, and the water is kept as near that color.
as possible for a week by adding daily small pieces of the gum catechu. So
long as the water retains that color no lime or incrustation will accumulate on
the sides of the boiler, and the boiler will be kept perfectly clean. It is not.
necessary to use any more gum catechu than is sufficient to keep the water.
tinged to a light reddish brown color. By using the gum catechu in the samo
quantities and manner in steam boilers where the incrustation. has taken place,

page_text: the lime is decomposed and the incrustation destroyed, so that the lime and
incrustation will be forced off from the sides of the boilers, and deposited in a
kind of slush on the bottom, from whence the slush can be easily washed away
by the blow-off cock, and the inside of the boiler thus perfectly cleansed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 13th January 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lanc, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said William
Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times thereafter during the term thercin 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 "AN IMPROVED MODE OF PREVENTING INCRUSTATIONS IN STEAM BOILERS," being
a communication from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said William Edward Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, 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 William Edward Newton, 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 (that is to say):
The object of the Invention that has been communicated to me as afore
said is to prevent and remove the incrustation of steam boilers and steam
generators. For this purpose the dark, or which is commonly called the black,
gum catechu (well known to dyers as a coloring matter) is employed.

page_text: In carrying out the Invention about half a pound of this gum catechu
is placed in a steam boiler of one hundred horse power, and allowed to remain
until the water becomes the color of pale brandy, or of a light reddish brown
color; and during about the space of a week the water is kept as near that
color as possible by adding daily small pieces of the gum catechu. So long as
the water retains that color no lime or incrustation will accumulate on the
sides of the boiler, and the boiler will be kept perfectly clean. It is not
necessary to use any more gum catechu than is barely sufficient to keep the
water tinged to a light reddish brown color. By using the gum catechu in the
same quantities and manner in steam boilers where the incrustation bas
already taken place, and has accumulated to some thickness, the lime is
decomposed and disintegrated, and the incrustation is destroyed, so that the
lime and incrustation will be forced off from the sides of the boilers and
deposited in a kind of slush on the bottom, from whence the slush can be easily
washed away through the blow-off cock, and the inside of the boiler thus
perfectly cleansed.
I am aware that sawdust and other material have been used for the purpose
of preventing and removing the incrustation in steam boilers, but they choke
up, and are more expensive than the process above described, which does not
consist in adding to the solid matters that collect in the boilers. By means of
the improved process I am enabled to save the trouble attending the cleaning
of the boiler, the expense of the daily increase of fuel, and the destruction
of boilers.
Having now described the Invention of "An Improved Mode of Preventing
Incrustations in Steam Boilers," and having explained the means of carrying
the same into effect, as commnnicated to me by my foreign correspondent,
I claim the application and use of gum catechu to prevent and remove the
incrustration in steam boilers and steam generators, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Thirteenth day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)