IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONDENSATION OF STEAM BY SURFACE CONTACT
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to. William Holland Furlonge, of Mark Lane, in the
City of London, Merchant, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
CONDENSATION OF STEAM BY SURFACE CONTACT."
Sealed the 25th April 1862, and dated the 29th October 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Holland Furlonge
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th October 1861.
I, WILLIAM HOLLAND FURLONGE, of Mark Lane, in the City of London,
Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE CONDENSATION OF STEAM BY SURFACE CONTACT," to be as
follows:-
I cause the steam which has performed its duty in the cylinder to pass into
a condenser, in which condensation is effected by cold water being brought in
contact with tubes or vessels in which the steam is contained, and my Inven-
tion consists in bringing water into contact with and carrying it off rapidly
from such surfaces by means of a centrifugal pump, or some analogous form of
rotary disc. I apply my Invention to what are known as condensing engines,
and to the working of non-condensing or high-pressure steam engines, in order
that the steam after having performed its duty in the cylinder may be passed
into the surface condenser and be reconverted into water, which is returned to
the boiler.
This Invention is more especially designed for marine purposes as per-
mitting the adoption of non-condensing steam engines by steam vessels, whereby
a large saving is effected in boiler and engine-room space, first cost of working
of machinery, and in the quantity of fuel consumed.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Holland Furlonge in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 29th April 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HOLLAND FURLONGE, of Mark Lane, in the City of London, Merchant, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Holland Furlonge, Her special licence that I, the said William
Holland Furlonge, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said William Holland Furlonge, 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 therein 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONDENSATION OF STEAM BY SURFACE
CONTACT," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Holland, Furlonge, 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 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 Holland Furlonge, 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, that is to say:-
I cause the steam which has performed its duty in the cylinder to pass into
a condenser, in which condensation is effected by cold water being brought in
contact with tubes or vessels in which the steam is contained, and my Inven-
tion consists in bringing water into contact with and carrying it off rapidly
froin such surfaces by means of a centrifugal pump, or some analogous form
of rotary disc. I apply my Invention to what are known as condensing
engines, and to the working of non-condensing or high-pressure steam engines,
in order that the steam after having performed its duty in the cylinder may be

page_text: passed into the surface condenser and be reconverted into water, which is
returned to the boiler.
This Invention is more especially designed for marine purposes as per-
mitting the adoption of non-condensing steam engines by steam vessels,
whereby a large saving is effected in boiler and engine-room space, first cost
and working of machinery, and in the quantity of fuel consumed.
Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying Drawings are views in vertical and
horizontal sections respectively of a surface condenser constructed according to
my Invention. A, A, A, A, is the outer casing of the condenser made by pre-
ference of cast iron and of a cylindrical form; B, B, are the tube plates,
through which a number of brass or copper tubes C, C, pass, which are
connected with the tube plates either by metallic rings or by means of india-
rubber washers of the form shown at C', C', in section on an enlarged scale at
Figure 3. This mode of connecting the tubes with the tube plates enables
any of the tubes to be withdrawn at pleasure, and at the same time allows for
their expansion and contraction. If the tubes are connected permanently
with the tube plates their expansion or contraction is provided for by the
introduction of large india-rubber rings x, x, x, x, shown in Figures 1 and 2 ;
the tubes being retained in position by means of a screw compresser having
four arms marked J screwed down upon an iron ring z, z, resting on the
india-rubber beneath; D is a pipe (the area of which is somewhat larger than
the aggregate areas of the condensing tubes) for the admission of water to the
condenser; E, E, are water spaces before and behind the tube plates; F is a
pipe for conveying away the condensing water after it has performed its duty
in the condenser; it is connected with a centrifugal pump or rotary disc, not
shown in the Drawing, and which may be of the form known as Gwynne's or
Appold's, or any other form of rotary disc suitable for the purpose of creating
a continuous flow of water through the apparatus; G shews the exhaust
steam pipe, through which the steam enters the condenser; H is a pipe,
through which any air or steam which may escape condensation passes off.
In the case of low-pressure engines this pipe is connected with a small air-
pump, and in the case of high-pressure or non-condensing engines it com-
municates directly with the atmosphere. Though one of the chief advantages
of the surface condenser applied to non-condensing engines is the power of
applying an air-pump communicating with the condenser in order to do away
with the resistance of the atmosphere to the exhaust or waste steam. The
pipe communicating with the feed pump for applying the boiler with the
condensed water from the condenser is not shown in the Drawing.
When my condensers are applied to screw engines I (if desired) cause the

page_text: screw propeller to act in the place of the centrifugal pump or disc before
described, and for this purpose a passage is provided from the condenser to
the stern post, by which the waste water is carried off.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I do not claim as my
Invention the centrifugal pump or rotary disc, or any modification thereof,
neither do I claim the condensation of steam by surface contact; but I
do claim as my improvements in the condensation of steam by surface
contact, ―
First, the application of a centrifugal pump or rotary disc to all forms of
apparatus used for the condensation of steam by surface contact, and known
as surface condensers, whereby through a small expenditure of power a large
and continuous supply of condensing water is maintained, and the temperature
of the condensed water may, if desired, be reduced to the temperature of the
water used for condensation, all as herein-before described.
Second, the construction of surface condensers, substantially in manner
herein-before described with reference to Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying
Drawings.
Third, the employment of india-rubber washers in surface condensers for
connecting the tubes with the tube plates, substantially in manner and of the
form shown in Figure 3 of the accompanying Drawings.
Fourth, the employment of surface condensers in high-pressure or non-
condensing engines for the purpose of recovering the exhaust or waste steam,
and thereby enabling the distilled water to be returned to the boilers, as.
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Holland Furlonge, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of April, One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
W. H. FURLONGE. (L.S.)

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