Improved Method of and Apparatus for Converting the Heat Contained in Streaming Water,,,, and, at, into Mechanical Energy.
Year: 1894

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improved Method of and Apparatus for Converting the Heat
Contained in Streaming Water, such as the Water of the Sea,
of Rivers, Streamlets, Brooks, and Channels, at the Ordinary
Temperature, into Mechanical Energy.
I. REINIER DIRK VERBEEK, of Wilhelminastraat 19, Haarlem, in the Kingdom
of The Netherlands, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
The usual way of utilizing heat for motive power purposes consists in couverting
water into steam_nt a high temperature and using the steam thus produced in a
suitable motor. The steam, after performing a certain part of the work which it
is able to do, in the motor cylinder or cylinders, is allowed to escape into the
atmosphere or into a condenser, such exhaust steam containing the latent and
sensible heat necessary to convert water into steam at the temperature of such
exhaust steam, which heat is wholly wasted except such as may be returned to the
boiler in the form of heated feed water.
Now the latent heat of steam varies with the temperature, the total number of
units of heat contained in one kilogramme of steam at a certain temperature t
being, according to Regnault, equal to 606.5 + 0.305 t.
It will therefore be seen that this high co-efficient of the latent heat of steam is
very prejudicial to the economical utilization of the heat employed; at the present
time only a small percentage, in the very best steam engines now in use only 12%
being converted into work.
Now this invention has for object to utilize the whole, or nearly the whole, of
the disposible heat, any loss of heat that might take place in practice being
supplied or renewed by some natural source of heat, such as the heat contained in
sea water or in the water of rivers and other water courses, which sources of heat
may be considered as infinitely great.
In carrying out this invention I employ as a medium for utilizing these sources
of heat liquid carbon di-oxide, the striking properties of which, riz. its high
pressures at relatively moderate temperatures, its small co-efficients of latent heat
which are different at different temperatures, and the laws of expansion co-efficients
for saturated volumes at different temperatures, which have been determined by
investigations which have been conducted in connection with this invention, render
this substance, both in the liquefied and gaseous forms, the most suitable of all
liquefiable gases for converting heat into work. Furthermore as liquid carbon
dioxide is immiscible with many oils used for lubrication, and does not attack,
when dry, cast iron or brass, the engines in which it is to be used can be
constructed of the same materials as are commonly used in the construction of steam
engines.

page_text: The following is a table showing the tension, the latent heat, and the weight
per cubic metre, of carbon dioxide at temperatures between 5° Celsius and
+25° Celsius, which are those I have in view for practical purposes.
The following 15 a table showing the tension, the latent heat, and the weight
per cubic metre, of carbon dioxide at temperatures between 5° Celsius and
+25° Celsius, which are those I have in view for practical purposes.
-
Temperature
in degrees
(Celsius).
-5
0
+5
10
15
20
25
Tension in
atmospheres
(15 lbs. on
the sq. inch).
Latent heat
(in calories).
Weight in
kilogs. per
cúbic metre.
30.84 35.40 40°46°
46-05
52.16
58.84
66-06
60
57'
54"
42
35
27
85
99
114
138°
167
204*
*254
From this table it will be seen that the latent heat decreases with an increase of
temperature. These values which have been determined by Regnault, Andrews,
Favre, and others, together with the corresponding co-efficients of expansion for
saturated volumes at the temperatures I have in view, allow of the practical
construction of an engine in such a manner that its indicator-diagram shall be of a
pre-arranged form, so that no hesitation or trial is necessary.
The
To obtain the pressure of carbon dioxide shown in the table, at the different
temperatures corresponding to them, when saturated, I employ, natural sources of
water supply, such as sea, river, brook or streamlet, or channel water.
temperature of the sea may vary from + 28° Celsius in the Gulf of Mexico to
5° Celsius at the Poles or Arctic zones. For vapourizing the liquid carbon
dioxide for the purposes of this invention, a suitable shaped reservoir (hereinafter
called a vapourizer) is used in which are placed suitably shaped vessels, as for
instance in the shape of the well known steel tubes, in which the liquid carbon
dioxide is commercially sold and which need only be partly filled with liquid
carbon-dioxide, as this substance has a very great co-efficient of dilatation. Into
this reservoir the said sea or other water is caused to enter and surround the
vessels containing the carbon-dioxide, to which the water gives off some of its
heat. For instance I introduce into the reservoir, water having a temperature
of 25° C. to produce gaseous carbon-dioxide at 15° C. There will be in this case
a difference of 10 degrees of heat between the-water and the gaseous carbon-
dioxide, and each kilogramme of water will give ten units of heat, or nearly so,
the steel of the vessel not being taken into account. As the latent heat of gaseous
carbon dioxide at 15°C.: = 42 (see table), only 4-2 kilos. of water at 25° C. are
required to produce 1 kilo. of gaseous carbon dioxide at 15%. Now the weight of
this saturated gas at 15°, and having a tension of 52:16 atmospheres, is 167 kilos.
1000000
(see table) which gives a volume of.
167
nearly 6000' cubic centimetres:
Knowing the co-efficients of expansion of any volume of saturated carbon
dioxide gas at 15° the curve of expansion can be indicated in a diagram, and when
this diagram is cut by. a horizontal line the height of which corresponds to the
terminal pressure of the exhaust, a graphical representation of the work done by
expansion will be obtained. Now, as 424 kilogrammetres I calorie, this work
expressed in kilogrammetres must be divided by 424 in order to find the number
of calories absorbed by the work done. If the expansion is carried far enough
(which in steam engines is not possible) to give an amount of work equivalent or
nearly so to the number of calories corresponding to the latent heat of the original
=
|.....

page_text: volume of saturated carbon dioxide,, this volume will be liquefied by its own
expansion, without the, aid of any colder condensing agent. It will, however, not
be wholly condensed, because the liquid carbon-dioxide at the same temperature
as the original gaseous carbon dioxide, contains also a certain quantity of heat,
due to its specific heat, which partly converts the liquefied carbon dioxide into
gaseous carbon dioxide again, thus leaving a certain quantity of gas and a certain
quantity of liquid. The latter is drained off from the cylinder and pumped back
to the vaporizer or gas-producer where it is again vaporized by the water entering
the reservoir at one end and leaving it at the other.
As the steel vessels partly filled with the liquid carbon dioxide would be made
to withstand pressures of from say 250 or 300 atmospheres, risk of explosion of the
vessels and vaporizer is very small, and should one of the vessels fail, no danger
will arise, as each vessel, which forms a small part of the whole, is surrounded, by
the flowing water, which offers considerable resistance.
When carrying out my invention on board a ship, one or more reservoirs
containing the vessels charged with liquid carbon dioxide are placed in a suitable
position, and put into communication with the sea or river water, before and
behind, by means of pipes, so as to allow the water to enter the vaporizer at the
front and escape at the rear. By passing through the reservoir, the water will be
cooled through a certain number of degrees, which may be easily determined
beforehand, the heat given up by the water being utilised in converting the liquid
carbon dioxide into gaseous carbon dioxide at a sufficiently high pressure to act in
an engine in the same way as steam in a steam engine, but with this difference that
the expansion of carbon dioxide is carried sufficiently far to cause nearly all the
carbon dioxide to condense without the aid of any external cooling agent.
As hereinbefore explained, when the work done by the expanding carbon dioxide
gas is equivalent to the latent heat of the original, saturated gas, the greater
portion of the gaseous carbon dioxide is, by expansion, converted again into
liquid carbon dioxide, the remaining portion of the carbon dioxide being caused
to assume the gaseous state by reason of the specific heat of the liquid at the
original temperature.
In order that there should be no loss of carbon dioxide, it is therefore necessary
to re-liquefy also this remaining portion of gaseous carbon dioxide. This may be
done in two ways:-
(1) By compressing the remaining and escaping part of gas.
(2) By causing electrical discharges to traverse it when it is used in one or
several cylinders in which it has to expand again.
The effect of such electrical discharges is analogous to that of a lightning flash
in air charged with moisture, where the air between two clouds is caused to expand
and produce a very great refrigeration, causing a heavy fall of rain, or hailstones of
large size.
The said electrical discharges may be produced by an electrical machine driven
by the carbon dioxide engine itself.
When an engine according to this invention is not placed in a ship the motion of
which is sufficient, or more than sufficient, to create a current of water through the
reservoir containing the vessels charged with liquid carbon dioxide, as for example
in the case of a stationary engine and vaporizer, a suitable pump such as a centri-
fugal pump, is necessary to cause the water to circulate through the reservoir,
but as the latent heat of carbon dioxide is small, a pump of small size wili suffice.
In this way, practically the whole of the heat of the water imparted to the
liquid carbon dioxide, is converted into work, and the use of coal or other fuel
obviated.
An arrangement of motor or apparatus according to this invention in which
carbon dioxide can be used as a motive fluid, comprises two cylinders which open,
either at diametrically opposite parts, or in any other position to each other, into a
cylindrical chamber in which a crank is arranged to work. In the two said
cylinders are fitted pistons provided with rods which are connected together through

page_text: an intermediate part formed with a transverse slot in which the pin of the said
crank is adapted to work. The said cylinders are provided at each of their ends
that are remote from the cylindrical chamber, with a cover and with two cylindrical
oscillatory valves, one for the admission into the corresponding cylinder of gaseous
carbon di-oxide from a vaporizer, and the other for allowing the escape of the
exhaust carbon di-oxide from the cylinder to a reservoir called the receiver, aud
which may be placed above the aforesaid cylindrical chamber and which is provided
with means for conducting the carbon di-oxide to the admission valve-chest of
another motor similar to that just described. The number of motors placed in
series in this manner will vary according to circumstances. Corresponding with
the last set of cylinders, near their exhaust valves, there is provided means adapted
to cause electrical discharges to traverse the gas, to drain off the then reliquefied
carbon dioxide, and to pump the latter back to the vaporizer. The remaining part
of the gas, after the expansion in the last set of cylinders, may also be reliquefied
by a compression pump and then pumped back into the vaporizer. Other arrange-
ments of valves than those mentioned, may, of course he employed for the control
of the motive fluid used. The engine above described may be worked with motive
fluids or gases other than carbon dioxide under pressure.
The vaporizer may comprise one or more chambers in which are supported,
horizontally or otherwise, a number of strong tubes or cylinders adapted to contain
liquid carbon dioxide and provided with means for communicating with the admission
valves of the first of the motors. At one end, the chamber or chambers is or are
provided with an inlet and at the other with an outlet for the water, or heating
Huid, employed for vaporizing the carbon dioxide. The said chamber or chambers
may be provided with baffles to ensure the efficient distribution of the streaming
water between the tubes or cylinders containing the liquid carbon dioxide.
Dated this 12th day of September 1894.
W. LLOYD WISE,
acoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Chartered Patent Agent.
Improved Method of and Apparatus for Converting the Heat
Contained in Streaming Water, such as the Water of the Sea,
of Rivers, Streamlets, Brooks, and Channels, at the Ordinary
Temperature, into Mechanical Energy.
I, REINIER DIRK VERBEEK, of Wilhelminastraat 19, Haarlem, in the
Kingdom of The Netherlands, Civil 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 :-
The usual way of utilizing heat for motive power purposes consists in
converting water into steam at a high temperature and using the steam thus
produced in a suitable motor. The steam, after performing a certain part of the
work which it is able to do in the motor-cylinder or cylinders, is allowed to escape
into the atmosphere or into a condenser, such exhaust steam containing the latent
and sensible heat necessary to convert water into steam at the temperature of such
exhaust steam, which heat is wholly wasted except such as may be returned to the
boiler in the form of heated feed water.
Now the latent heat of steam varies with the temperature of the steam, the total
number of units of heat contained in one kilogramme of steam at a certain
temperature being, according to Regnault, equal to 606-5 +0.305 t.
It will,
therefore, be seen that this high co-efficient of the latent heat of steam is very

page_text: prejudicial to the economical utilization of the heat employed at the present
time only a small percentage (in the very best steam-engines now in use only
about 12%) of the heat employed is converted into work.
Now this invention has for object to utilize the whole, or nearly the whole, of
the disposible heat, any loss of heat that might take place in practice being
supplied or renewed by some natural source of heat, such as the heat contained in
sea water, or in the water of rivers and other water courses, which sources of heat
may be considered as infinitely great.
In carrying out this invention I employ as a medium for utilizing these sources
of heat, liquid carbon-di-oxide, the striking properties of which, viz., its high
pressures at relatively moderate temperatures, its small co-efficients of latent heat,
which are different at different temperatures, and the laws of its expansion co-
efficients for saturated volumes at different temperatures, which have been
determined by investigations which have been conducted in connection with this
invention render this substance, in both the liquefied and gaseous forms, the most
suitable of all liquefiable gases for converting heat into work. Furthermore, as
liquid carbon-dioxide is immiscible with many oils used for lubrication, and does
not attack, when dry, that is to say when in an anhydrous condition, cast iron or
brass, the engines in which it is to be used can be constructed of the same materials
as are commonly used in the construction of steam-engines.
1
The following is a table showing the vapour tension, the latent heat, and the
weight of a cubic metre, of carbon-dioxide at temperatures between 5° Celsius
and +25° Celsius, which are those I have in view for practical purposes :-

page_text: sea or other water is caused to enter and surround the vessels containing the liquid
carbon-dioxide, to which the, water gives off some of its heat. For instance, I
introduce into the vaporizer water..having a temperature of, 25° C..to.. produce
gaseous carbon-dioxide at 15° C. There will be in this case a difference of
10, degrees of temperature between, the water, and the gaseous carbon-dioxide, and.
each kilogramme of water. will give, up ten units of heat, or nearly. so, to, the
carbon-dioxide the steel of the vessel.not being taken into account. As the latent
heat of gaseous carbon-dioxide at 15° C. = 42 (see table), only 42 kilos., of water
at 25° C. are required to produce 1 kilo. of gaseous carbon-dioxide at 15° C. Now
the weight of this saturated gas at 15° C., at which temperature it has a tension
of 52 16 atmospheres, is 167 kilos. per cubic metre (see table); hence, the volume
1000000
of 1 kilo. of it is-
or nearly 6000 cubic centimetres.
167
=
Knowing the co-efficients of expansion of any expanding volume of saturated
-carbon-dioxide gas starting at 15° C., the pressures corresponding to different
points in the, stroke of, a. piston, can be determined and indicated in a diagram;
and when this diagram. is cut by a horizontal line the height of which corresponds
to the terminal pressure of the exhaust, a graphical representation of the work
done by expansion will be obtained. Now, as 424 kilogrammetres
1 calorie,
this work expressed in kilogrammetres must be divided by 424 in order to find the
number of calories absorbed by the work done. If the expansion be carried far
enough (which in, steam-engines is not possible) to give an amount of work
equivalent, or, nearly so, to the number of calories corresponding to the latent heat
of the original volume of saturated carbon-dioxide, this volume will be liquefied
by its own expansion, without the aid of any other condensing or refrigerating
process, or without bringing the expanded carbon dioxide in contact with a colder
agent. It will, however, not be wholly condensed, because the re-liquefied carbon-
-dioxide at the same temperature as the original liquid carbon-dioxide, contains also
a certain quantity of heat, due to its specific heat, which partly converts the
liquefied carbon-dioxide into gaseous carbon-dioxide again, thus leaving a certain
-quantity of gas and a certain quantity of liquid. The latter is drained off from
the cylinder and pumped back to the vaporizer or gas-producer where it is again
vaporized by the water entering the reservoir at one end and leaving it at
the other.
As the steel vessels partly filled with the liquid carbon-dioxide would be made
to withstand pressures of from say 250, to 300 atmospheres, risk of explosion of
the vessels and vaporizer would be very small, and should one of the vessels fail,
no danger would arise, as each vessel, which forms, a small part of the whole,,is
surrounded by the flowing water, which offers considerable resistance.
When carrying out my invention on board a ship, one or more vaporizers
-containing the vessels charged with liquid carbon-dioxide, are placed in a suitable
position, and put into communication with the sea or river water, before and
behind, by means of pipes,, so, as to allow the water to enter the vaporizer or
vaporizers at the front and escape, at the rear. By passing through the reservoir,
the water will be cooled through a certain number of degrees, which may be easily
determined beforehand, the heat given up by the water being utilised in converting
the liquid carbon-dioxide into gaseous carbon-dioxide at a sufficiently high pressure
to act in an engine in the same way as steam in a steam-engine, but with this
difference that the expansion of carbon-dioxide is carried sufficiently far to cause
nearly all the carbon-dioxide to condense without the aid of any external cooling
agent.
.
As, herein before explained, when the work done by the expanding carbon-dioxide
gas is equivalent to the latent heat, of the original saturated gas, the greater
portion of the gaseous carbon-dioxide is, by expansion, converted again into liquid
carbon dioxide, the remaining portion of the carbon-dioxide being caused to
assume or retain the gaseous state, by reason, of the specific heat of the liquid at
the original temperature... In order that there should be no loss, of carbon-dioxide,

page_text: t is therefore necessary to re-liquefy also this remaining portion of gaseous carbon-
dioxide. This may be done :-
(1.) By causing electrical discharges to traverse it as for example when it is in the
last engine cylinder or set of cylinders and whilst the piston or pistons therein is or are"
making its or their return stroke or strokes. The effect of such electrical
discharges is analogous to that of a lightning-flash in air charged with moisture,
where the air between two clouds is cansed to expand and produce a very great
refrigeration, causing a heavy fall of rain, or hailstones of large size. The said'
electrical discharges may be produced by an electrical machine driven by the
carbon-dioxide engine itself.
(2.) By compressing the said remaining portion.
In this way, practically the whole of the heat of the water imparted to the
liquid carbon-dioxide is converted into work and the use of coal or other fuel
obviated.
When an engine according to this invention is not placed in a ship the motion
of which is sufficient, or more than sufficient, to create a current of water through
the vaporizer containing the vessels charged with liquid carbon-dioxide-as, for
example, in the case of a stationary engine and vaporizer-a suitable pump, such
as a centrifugal pump, is necessary to cause the water to circulate through the
reservoir; but as the latent heat of carbon-dioxide is small, a pump of small size
will suffice.
An arrangement of motor or apparatus according to this invention in which
carbon-dioxide can be used as a motive fluid is represented in the accompanying
drawings, Fig. 1 being a longitudinal vertical section, and Fig. 2 an end elevation
partly in cross section on the line of Fig. 1.
It comprises two cylinders 1 which open, so as to face each other, into an
In the two
intermediate chamber 2 in which a crank 3 is arranged to work.
cylinders are fitted pistons 4 provided with rods 5 which are connected together
through an intermediate part 6 formed with a transverse slot 7 in which works a
block 8 journalled on the pin 3" of the crank 3. The cylinders I are provided, at
each of their ends that are remote from the chamber 2, with a cover 9 and with
two cylindrical oscillatory valves 10 and 11, one (10) for the admission of gaseous
carbon-dioxide from a vaporizer, and the other (11) for allowing the escape of the
exhaust carbon-dioxide from the corresponding cylinder 1 through a pipe 12 to a
receiver 13, which may as shown, be placed above, and form an enlargement of
the chamber 2 and which is provided with an outlet 13 for conducting the carbon-
dioxide to the admission valve-chest of another motor which is similar to that
just described but the cylinders of which are, of course, of larger diameter.
14 are pipes for conveying gaseous carbon-dioxide from the vaporizer to the chests
of the admission-valves 10. The number of motors placed in series in this manner¹
will vary according to circumstances. Corresponding to the last set of cylinders,
near their exhaust-valves 11, there is provided means, such as an induction coil,
adapted to cause electrical discharges to traverse the gas remaining in this set of
cylinders and means such as drain pipes 15 (Figs. 1 and 2) and a pump (not shown)
for draining off the then reliquefied carbon-dioxide, and pumping it back to the
vaporizer. Or the remaining part of the gas, after the expansion in the last set of
cylinders, may be re-liquefied by a compression-pump and then pumped back into
the vaporizer. Other arrangements of valves than those mentioned, may of course,
be employed for the control of the motive fluid used. The engine above described
may be worked with motive fluids or gases other than carbon-dioxide under
pressure.
The vaporizer may be of the form represented in longitudinal vertical section
in Fig. 3 and in transverse vertical section in Fig. 4 of the accompanying
drawings. It then comprises a chamber 15 in which are supported on suitable
brackets 16 a number of strong tubes or cylinders 17 adapted to contain liquid
carbon-dioxide and provided with means for communicating with the pipes 14
leading to the chests of the admission-valves 10 of the first of the motors.
The

page_text: chamber 15 is provided at one end with an inlet 18, and at the other with an
outlet 19, for the water employed for vaporizing the carbon-dioxide. The
chamber is also provided with baffles 20 to ensure the efficient distribution of the
streaming water between the tubes or cylinders 17 containing the liquid carbon-
dioxide.
It will be understood that the apparatus is suitably provided with appropriate
material to prevent the loss of heat by radiation and conduction; and that it may
be variously modified without departing from my invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I deciare that what I
claim is :-
1. The method of converting heat contained in flowing water into mechanical
energy, consisting in imparting this heat to liquid carbon-dioxide so as to thereby
convert the same into a gas by causing the water to flow around and in
contact with vessels containing the said liquid carbon-dioxide, then successively
expanding the carbon-dioxide gas thus obtained in a motor or series of motors
until it is nearly wholly reliquefied in consequence of the conversion of the
heat absorbed by the original liquid carbon-dioxide from the flowing water, into
mechanical energy, reliquefying the remaining portion of the gas by causing
electrical discharges to traverse it, while in the last stages of expansion, or by
compressing it, and draining off the reliquefied carbou-dioxide and returning it
by a force pump to the vaporizing vessels for re-use as set forth.
2. For expanding the gaseous carbon-dioxide as referred to in Claim 1, a fluid
pressure motor constructed with two cylinders opening into a chamber between
them and fitted with pistons connected together through a slotted part working
on to a crank arranged to work in the said chamber, the ends of the said cylinders
remote from the said chamber being provided with admission and exhaust valves
and the exhaust outlets being connected with a reservoir or receiver common to
them, substantially as described and shown.
3. For expanding the gaseous carbon-dioxide acid gas as referred to in Claim 1,
two or more motors of the kind specified in the preceding claim combined together in
series, the exhaust reservoir of one motor being in communication with the
admission-valves of the next succeeding motor, and the last set of motor cylinders
being combined with apparatus for producing electrical discharges and with drain
pipes and a force pump for returning the re-liquefied carbon-dioxide to the
vaporizing apparatus, substantially as described.
4. In apparatus for carrying out the method referred to in Claim 1, the
improved vaporizer herein before described with reference to and shewn in Figs. 3
and 4 of the accompanying drawings.
REINIER D. VERBEEK.
W. Lloyd Wise,
46, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Chartered Patent Agent.