Improvements in Apparatus for Evaporating Water by Means of Steam.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 4th May, 1897
Complete Specification Left, 1st Feb., 1898-Accepted, 26th Mar., 1898
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Evaporating Water by Means of
Steam.
I, WILLIAM WEIR, of Holm Foundry, Cathcart, in the County of Renfrew,
North Britain, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows, that is to say:-
My said invention has for its object by an improved construction and combina-
tion of parts to render apparatus for evaporating water by means of steam, more
efficient and compact, and more convenient for examining and cleaning.
An evaporator as made with the improvements comprises an upper or steam
part and a lower or evaporating part both being by preference of a circular form
in plan. The lower part or vessel, which may be of cast iron is made with a
separable side arranged to be fixed by flanges to the main part and also so that it
can be swung open like a door. This separable side or door is made of an inter-
nally concave form so as when closed to form part of the shell of the vessel and so
that tubes within the vessel are partly in the concave space of the door and project
when the door is opened. The steam for effecting the evaporation is passed
through a number of coiled tubes, the inlet ends of which are fixed to a vertical
inlet stand pipe, whilst the other ends are fixed to a vertical outlet or draining
stand pipe placed opposite to the inlet stand pipe. The two stand pipes are con-
nected by top and bottom stay plates which are placed diametrically and brace
the stand pipes and tubes so as to form a rigid structure. The outlet ends of the
tubes are by preference contracted for the purpose of preventing unequal flow
of steam through the tubes. The structure formed by the set of tubes with their
stand pipes is hinged to a small bottom cover plate fixed to the lower or
evaporating part or vessel, and it can be turned out from the vessel when the door
is opened. The inlet stand pipe receives the steam through a short branch pipe
which is connected by a flanged joint to a steam inlet pocket or passage formed
at the top of the main part of the evaporating vessel, the flange joint being
unbolted when the tubes are to be turned outwards. A similar arrangement is
made for conveying the water due to condensation of the steam to a drainago
outlet provided at the lower part of the vessel. The hinges of the door are arranged
with the axis of the eye brackets or lugs fixed to the vessel a small distance out-
wards from the joint plane of the flange on the vessel, and when the door has been
swung inwards into the position in which its flange is parallel to that of the vessel,
the hinge pin is removed and the door is then forced home by means of screw nuts
on the bolt studs, this arrangement allowing the door flange to clear the bolt
studs when opening or closing the door. Or the same object may be attained by
making parts of the hinge fastenings movable with means to secure them in
position as required.
The upper vessel is by preference made of iron or steel plate, and the steam
formed in the lower vessel enters it by a tube the upper open end of which is
covered by a deflecting hood, to throw down water carried up with the steam such

page_text: water returning to the lower vessel by a passage extending down to the lower part
thereof. The evaporator is provided with the usual connections and fittings;
and the steam and water connections of the water gauge are fixed to the upper
and lower vessels respectively.
The evaporator may be made without a separate upper compartment or vessel
for steam and various parts of the apparatus may be modified without departing
from the main features of the invention.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Evaporating Water by Means of
Steam.
I, WILLIAM WEIR, of Holm Foundry, Cathcart, in the County of Renfrew,
North Britain, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement, that is to say:-
My said invention has for its object by an improved construction and combina
tion of parts to render apparatus for evaporating water by means of steam, more
efficient and compact, and more convenient for examining and cleaning.
An evaporator as made with the improvements comprises an upper or steam part
and a lower or evaporating part. The lower part is made with a separable
internally concave side fixed and hinged so that it can be swung open like a door.
The steam for effecting the evaporation is passed through coiled tubes fixed to
inlet and outlet stand pipes which with the tubes are hinged so that they can be
turned out from the vessel when the door is opened. Steam formed in the lower
vessel enters the upper vessel by a tube and any water carried up with the steam
returns to the lower vessel, by a pipe extending down internally to the lower part
thereof.
And in order that my said invention and the manner of performing the same
may be properly understood 1 hereunto append two sheets of explanatory drawings
to be hereinafter referred to in particularly describing my improvements.
Figure 1, on Sheet 1, of the accompanying drawings is a sectional elevation
slowing the door open, of one modification. Figure 2 is a plan of the same but
with the door partly closed. Figure 3 is a vertical section as at right angles to
Figure 1, showing the door open and the steam coil turned out from the vessel,
Figure 4, being a similar vertical section, and Figure 5, a horizontal section show-
ing the steam coil in position and the door completely closed. Similar views of
a second modification are shown in Figures 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, on Sheet 2.
Figures 11 and 12, on Sheet 1, are respectively a plan and an elevation of a
modification of a detail of the improved apparatus. Figure 13, on Sheet 2, is a
vertical section showing on a larger scale a detail as used in the second modifica-
tion. In these drawings the same reference letters and numerals are used to
mark the same or like parts wherever they are repeated.
As shown in Figures 1 to 5, of the drawings; an evaporator as made with
the improvements comprises an upper or steam part, A, and a lower or evaporating
part, B, both being, by preference, of a circular form in plan. The lower part or
vessel, B, which is made of castiron or other metal, is made with a separable
side, B1, arranged to be fixed by flanges, B2, to the main part, B, and also so that
it can be swung open like a door as hereinafter described. This separable side or

page_text: door, B1, is made of an internally concave form so as when closed to form part of
the circular shell of the vessel, B, and so that tubes, C, within the vessel are
partly in the concave space of the door, B1, and project when the door is opened.
The steam for effecting the evaporation is passed through a number of coiled
tubes, C, the inlet ends of which are fixed to a vertical inlet stand pipe, C1, whilst
the other ends are fixed to a vertical outlet or drain stand pipe, C2, placed opposite
to the inlet stand pipe. The two stand pipes, C1, C2, are connected by top and
bottom stay plates, 1 1, D2, which are placed diametrically opposite and brace the
stand pipes, C1, C2, and tubes, C, so as to form a rigid structure. The outlet ends
of the tubes are, by preference, contracted as in J. and G. Weirs' Patent No. 6007
of 1887, for the purpose of preventing unequal flow of steam through the tubes, C.
The structure formed by the set of tubes, C, with their stand pipes, C1, C2, is hinged
to a small bottom cover plate, 133, fixed to the bottom of the lower or evaporating
part or vessel, B. The hinge piece, E, itself, is bolted on to the bottom stay
plate, D2, and the eye of the hinge is formed on the head of a bolt, E1, passing
through the cover plate, B3, and secured with an external screw nut. This arrange-
ment permits of the tube structure being turned out of the vessel, 13, for cleaning
and examination when the door, B1, is opened as shown in Figure 3. The inlet
stand pipe, C1, receives the steam through a short branch pipe, F, which is con-
nected by a flanged joint, F1, to a steam inlet pocket or passage, F2, formed at
the upper part of the lower vessel, B, the flanged joint, F1, being unbolted when
the tubes, C, are to be turned outwards. The last or bottom tube is used as a
return pipe for returning the water due to condensation of the steam to the bottom
of the inlet stand pipe, C1, a division, CB (Figure 1) being cast in the stand pipe
above the bottom pipe to prevent the steam in the stand pipe, C1, getting access to
that pipe. More than one of the tubes, C, may be used as return pipes. The water
of condensation is then led by a small pipe, G, to a drain outlet pocket, G 1, cast
on the bottom of the vessel, B. The connection of the pipe, G, with the pocket, G 1,
must also be unbolted when the tubes, C, are to be withdrawn. The hinges of the
door, B1, are arranged with the axis of the eye bracket or lug, H, of each hinge
fixed to the vessel, B, a small distance outwards from the joint plane of the
flange, B2, on the vessel, B. The corresponding part, H1, of each hinge with the
other eye is fixed or cast on the door, B1, and when the door has been swung inwards
into the position shown in Figure 2, in which position the flange is parallel or
nearly so to that of the vessel, B, the hinge pin is removed and the door, 131, is
then forced home being guided fairly on to the bolt studs, H2, by means of a small
guiding bar, J. This arrangement allows the door flange, B2, to clear the bolt
studs, H2, when opening or closing the door, B 1. Or the same object may be
attained by making parts of the hinge fastenings movable, with means to secure
them in position as required.
The upper or steam vessel, A, is made of metal plates and it is fixed by flanges
to the lower vessel, B. The steam formed in the lower vessel, 13, enters the upper
vessel, A, by a tube, A1, the upper open end of which is covered by a deflecting
hood, A2, to throw down water carried up with the steam, such water returning
to the lower vessel, B, by an internal passage or pipe, A3, extending to the lower
part thereof. The steam rising up from the hood, A2, escapes down another
tube, A4, to an outlet passage, A5, formed in the top of the lower vessel, B.
The evaporator is provided with the usual connections and fittings. The steam
and water connections for the water gauge, J 1, are fixed at J2, J3, (Figure 1)
and a pipe connection, J 4, is made from J2, to the upper vessel, A, for the purpose
of showing the presence of water, if any, in the upper vessel.
In the modification shown in Figures 6 to 10, and 13, the upper part, A, of
the evaporator is made of cast metal and the steam outlet, A5, is formed on the
top of the upper part above the hood, A 2. The hinge, E, for the tube structure is
bolted, as in the modification herein before described, to the bottom stay plate, D2,
but the hinge pin is put in from the outside and rests in a socket, K, (Figure 13)
formed in the bottom of the vessel, B. With this arrangement the pin can be

page_text: turned from the outside in case of its becoming stiff with dirt or disuse. The
parts of this modification not particularly referred to are to be understood to be
the same as or similar to the corresponding parts in the modification hereinbefore
described.
Figures and 12 show a modification in which new couplings, L, are used
for fixing the tubes, C, to the stand pipes, C1, C2. The ends of the tubes, C, are
fixed alternately on the right and left sides of the stand pipes, C1, C2, thus allow-
ing the centres of the joints of the tubes, C, to be comparatively close while the
couplings, L, are far enough apart to allow them to be easily screwed up.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1. The improved construction and combination of parts forming the steam-
heated evaporator substantially as herein before described and as shown in Figures 1
to 5, of the accompanying drawings.
2. The improved construction and combination of parts forming the steam-
heated evaporator substantially as hereinbefore described and as shown in Figures G
to 10 and 13, of the accompanying drawings.
3. In a steam-heated evaporator the combined structure of tubes with stand pipes
and stay plates, and with flanged or screw-coupling inlet and outlet pipe connec-
tions, such structure being hinged to allow of its being turned outwards sub-
stantially as herein before described.
4. In a steam-heated evaporator the combination of separated upper and lower
compartments the steam formed in the lower compartment passing to the upper
one through an uptake pipe, and water returning by a separate internal pipe to
the lower part of the lower compartment substantially as herein before described.
5. In a steam-heated evaporator arranging movable hinge eyes and a guiding
bar in connection with the side door substantially as and for the purposes here-
in before described.
Dated this Thirty-first day of January 1898.
EDMUND HUNT,
Applicant's Agent.