IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING MOTIVE Damen Snow AIRARM FLUIDS AND PROM LIQUIDS
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Matthew Piers Watt Boulton, of Tew Park,
Oxfordshire, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING MOTIVE
Damen Snow AIRARM FLUIDS AND PROM LIQUIDS."
Scaled the 18th August 1865, and dated the 22nd February 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Matthew Piers Watt
Boulton at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 22nd February 1865.
I, MATTHEW PIERS WATT BOULTON, of Tew Park, Oxfordshire, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING
MOTIVE POWER FROM AERIFORM FLUIDS AND FROM LIQUIDS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to improvements in obtaining motive, power from
aeriform fluids and from liquids, and has more particularly for its object to
enable the heat produced by combustion to be utilized in the production of
motive power through a greater range of temperature than is now done, in
order that a larger proportion of the heat may be converted into mechanical
effect.
When it is desired to heat air or aeriform fluid contained in a vessel under
pressure, as in Stirling's air engine, this may be done by means of a current
[Price 8d.]

page_text: of heated matter in a state of fusion, which may be caused to flow through
pipes within the vessel, or which may be injected directly into the vessel as
water is into a condenser. The current may be produced by means of a
centrifugal pump revolving in the heated liquid. The liquid employed may
be a metal or metallic alloy in a state of fusion. It may also consist of some
compound of a metal with non-metallic elements, such as metallic oxides,
chlorides, fluorides, carbonates, silicates, borates, and mixtures of such sub-
stances. To prevent oxidation of material the aeriform fluid employed may
be some fluid other than atmospheric air, such as nitrogen, hydrogen, carbonic
oxide. The fused materials employed may also be kept from contact with the
air. The products of combustion passing off from the furnace employed to
keep these materials in a state of fusion may be employed to generate steam
in a boiler, this steam being used for the production of motive power.
The following is another mode of employing heated aeriform fluid for the
production of motive power. Heated aeriform fluid which has been contained
in a vessel under pressure is caused to issue in a constant stream through an
orifice into a tube or passage, within which it expands. This passage com-
municates with the atmosphere through one or more openings, and the fluid
acting like the blast in the chimney of a locomotive engine draws air or
causes air to be forced through these openings into the passage. Under these
circumstances the expansive force of the fluid performs work in forcing air
through the passage. The mixed acriform current set in motion in the pass-
age has a lower temperature than that of the heated fluid previous to its issue
from the orifice on account of performance of work and admixture of air.
The aeriform fluid having this reduced temperature passes onwards into a
chamber in which it exerts a pressure lower than that exerted by the heated
fluid previous to expansion according to the degree of expansion which has
taken place. From this chamber the cooled aeriform fluid passes to a cylinder
in which it works a piston in the ordinary way. The aeriform fluid should
pass into the chamber through a gradually expanding passage. By the means
above described, instead of a smaller quantity of fluid of higher pressure and
temperature a larger quantity is obtained of lower pressure and temperature,
which on account of its reduced temperature is capable of working a piston in
a cylinder without difficulty. Steam acting in the manner above described
may be employed to force air against pressure into a chamber in which it is
used for combustion. If the steam is condensed under pressure the water of
condensation should be utilized by being expelled into a boiler, where it is used
for the production of motive power. Again air may be drawn into a combus-
tion chamber by means of a jet of inflammable gas or yapour acting like a

page_text: blast in the manner previously described, the expansion produced by combus-
tion in the chamber co-operating to the same effect. A jet or current of high
pressure steam issuing into the passage by which the products of combustion
pass away from the combustion chamber, and there mixing with the products
of combustion, may also co-operate in drawing air or causing air to be forced
into the combustion chamber. In a manner similar to that previously
described the aeriform fluid may draw liquid into the passage, or it may draw
in liquid and air, and in this way it may set in motion a current of liquid. If
the acriform fluid employed is steam or condensible vapour it may be wholly
condensed by the liquid which it draws into the passage, and the whole energy
of the fluid may be expended in producing a current of liquid.
When steam
is employed in this manner to produce a current of water it is important that
the expansive force of the steam should perform work in urging it onwards
before the steam comes in contact with the cold water, and is condensed by it.
The part of the passage in which the expansion takes place should be pro-
tected as much as possible from cooling agencies. When a jet of steam is
injected directly into cold water, as in Giffard's injector, for which Letters
Patent were granted dated 23rd July 1858, No. 1665, the steam is con-
densed while in the act of expanding, and its expansive force or a large part
of it is lost; a current of water created in the manner above described may be
employed generally for the production of motive power by being employed to
work any instrument suitable for being worked by a current of water. The
following is one mode by which it may be employed:-Two vanes, surfaces,
cups, or vessels against which the water may strike are attached each to a
rod working backwards and forwards like a piston rod. The two rods are
connected with machinery, which they drive by their reciprocating motion.
The current of water issues from a pipe capable of being moved, so that the
current may at one time be made to strike against one of the vanes, surfaces,
cups, or vessels and at another time against another. The current is directed
against one of the vanes, surfaces, cups, or vessels, and striking against it
drives it forward with the rod attached to it, causing it to make the forward
stroke. The current is then shifted by the motion of the pipe so as to strike
against the other vane, surface, cup, or vessel, and causes this in like manner
to make the forward stroke, while the other rod makes the return stroke
without any force acting against it. The best form of the vanes is a curved
form, deflecting the water so that it quits the vane in a course parallel to that
which it had on striking the vane, but in the reversed direction. In order to
prevent shock at the end of the strokes three or more vanes and rods may be
employed, and the current may be directed against each of the vanes in suc-

page_text: The
cession so as to act against each during only a portion of the stroke.
method above described is applicable whenever it is desired to employ the
impulse of a current of water or of liquid for producing motive power.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Matthew Piers, Watt, Boulton in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 19th August 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MATTHEW
PIERS WATT BOULTON, of Tew Park,, Oxfordshire, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date. the Twenty-second day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand. eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of
Her reign, did for Herself, Her heirs, and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Matthew Piers Watt Boulton, Her special licence that I, the said
Matthew Piers Watt Boulton, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Matthew Piers Watt Boulton, 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 OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER
FROM AERIFORM FLUIDS AND FROM LIQUIDS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Matthew Piers Watt Boulton, my executors or administra-
tors, 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 Paient Office within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the, said Letters Patent..
.
NOW KNOW YE that I, the said Matthew Piers Watt Boulton, 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 thereof, that is to say:-
'
When it is desired to heat air or aeriform fluid in a close vessel under
pressure this may be done by forcing into the vessel heated matter in a state
of fusion, which may be injected into the vessel in numerous small jets or
streams. The matter thus employed may be a metal or metallic, alloy in a
state of fusion. Or it may be some.compound of a metal with non-metallic

page_text: elements such as metallic oxides chlorides, fluorides, salts, such as carbonates,
silicates, borates, and mixtures of such substances. The heated liquid may be
made to flow in contact with plates, surfaces, or bodies surrounded by the
aeriform fluid which it is desired to heat, and may be made to pass through
perforations in these. Also, the aeriform fluid may be caused to pass through
the heated liquid, receiving heat in its passage through it. The piston of the
pump employed. for forcing the heated liquid may be similar to that which I
have described in a previous Patent as applicable to engines which are worked
The valves employed may be kept cool in the interior by
by heated gases.
The exterior of the cylinder
separated from this by some
This method of heating fluid
the passage through them of water or liquid.
may be kept cool by water, the interior being
substance which is a slow conductor of heat.
may be employed for superheating steam. It may also be employed to heat
aeriform fluid when used, as in. "Stirling's" air engine. In such a case to
.prevent oxidation of material the aeriform fluid employed may be some fluid
other than atmospheric air, such as nitrogen or carbonic oxide.
In Figure 1, A is a vessel containing aeriform fluid under pressure; B is a
mouthpiece, into which heated liquid is forced through the passage C, com-
municating with a pump or forcing apparatus. The heated liquid is forced
through the apertures d, d, d, and enters the vessel in numerous streams. It
is expelled through the passage E by the pressure in the vessel. In Figure 2
the liquid B is forced through the perforated plate C, C, and passes downwards
through the chamber A in the form of rain. In Figure 3 the liquid forced
into the chamber through the perforated plate C, C, passes in its downward
course through the perforated plates D, D, D, D.
When heated liquid is employed in the manner above described the
products of combustion passing off from the furnace which keeps the liquid in
a state of fusion may be employed to generate steam, this steam being used
for the production of motive power. Or they may be used to heat the air
which is employed to maintain coinbustion in the furnace.
For this purpose
they may pass through passages on the other side of which the air employed
for combustion is caused to pass, in its way to the furnace or combustion
chamber. Or they may pass successively through the chambers similar to
those called regenerators in Stirling's air engine, the air used for combustion
being afterwards passed through these chambers, so that the products of
combustion impart heat to. one set of chambers while the air passing to the
furnace abstracts heat from the other set.
When. heated gases are used to work a piston, water may be injected on to
the piston on any part desired, this water being converted into steam by the

page_text: heat of the gases. This injection may be made during one stroke of the piston
and discontinued during the other. If the piston carries attached to it a body
nearly fitting the cylinder the injection of water may be made between this
body and the sides of the cylinder. Water may also be injected in a similar
manner on to the valves or on to any other part of the engine which it is
desired to cool.
If the heated aeriform fluid is produced by the combustion of petroleum, the
distillation of the petroleum or conversion of it into vapour or gas may be
effected by means of the heat developed in the combustion chamber. For
this purpose the petroleum is caused to pass in contact with the metal or
material forming the exterior of the combustion chamber, or with material in
contact with this. The petroleum is thus heated and converted into gaseous
products which pass into the combustion chamber, and are there ignited with a
mixture of air. A similar method may be employed for distilling or converting
into the aeriform state any other substances which, when heated, produce in-
flammable gases. And it may be employed generally, whatever be the purpose
for which the combustion of the gas is used.
In Figure 4, A represents a chamber in which gases resulting from the
distillation of petroleum or some other substance are burnt; b is an orifice
through which the petroleum or other liquid is forced by a pump or by
pressure. This liquid flows along the plate C, C, which is heated by the
combustion within the chamber A and is converted by the heat into gaseous
products, which pass through the passage E, and being mixed with air forced
into that passage are burnt in the chamber A. The petroleum or other
substance may also be caused to traverse numerous tubes exposed to heat and
converted therein into gaseous or aeriform products, as oil by a similar process
is converted into oil gas. The heat produced by the combustion of these
products mixed with air may be employed to heat the tubes and effect the con-
version of the petroleum or other substance into gas or vapour. The tubes
may pass through the chamber in which the combustion takes place. Other-
wise a portion of the gas or vapour generated may be employed to heat the pipes
or passages in which the petroleum or other substance is converted into gas or
vapour, while the remainder is conducted elsewhere and used to produce heat
for working an engine or for any other purpose desired.
When steam is generated in a boiler the water in the boiler may be caused
to circulate by the action of a pump, propeller, or forcing apparatus worked by
the engine, so as to move with rapidity over the surface to which the heat is
applied. The water may be caused to move in a direction contrary to that in
which the heated gases which heat the surface move. When combustion is

page_text: made to take place under pressure, water may be injected into the heated
products of combustion, it being caused to pass through them in numerous
streams or to pass in contact with plates, surfaces, or bodies surrounded by the
heated gases, or heated by steam, this water being converted into steam, which
steam mixes with the products of combustion and co-operates with them in
producing motive power by acting on a piston or otherwise.
The following is a mode of employing heated aeriform fluid for the pro-
duction of motive power. Heated aeriform fluid which has been contained in
a vessel under pressure is caused to issue in a constant stream or blast into a
passage communicating with the air. Acting like the blast in the chimney of
a locomotive engine, it draws air or causes air to be forced into the passage.
The cooler current of fluid thus created passes into a chamber in which it
creates pressure, and from this chamber the fluid passes to a cylinder in which
it works a piston; or it may work several pistons in several cylinders. By
the method above described, instead of a smaller quantity of fluid of higher
pressure and temperature a larger quantity is obtained of lower pressure and
temperature, which on account of its reduced temperature is capable of
working a piston in a cylinder without difficulty.
In Figure 5, A is a vessel containing heated aeriform fluid under pressure.
Fluid flows from this vessel in a constant steam through the pipe B, issuing as
a blast at the orifice b. Acting like the blast in the chimney of a locomotive
engine, this blast draws air or causes air to be forced into the passage C, C.
The current of mixed fluid in this passage having a lower temperature than
the blast issuing at b, owing to the admixture of air, passes into the chamber D
creating pressure in that chamber. From this chamber the fluid passes to a
cylinder or cylinders in which it works a piston or pistons. If it is desired
many blasts and many passages may be employed.
Instead of drawing air into a passage the heated fluid may draw into it
liquid, thus setting in motion in a passage a current of liquid. The current of
liquid thus set in motion may be used to work any instrument suitable for
being worked by a current of liquid. The following is one mode by which it
may be employed:-Two vanes, surfaces, cups, or vessels against which the
water may strike are attached each to a rod working backwards and forwards
like a piston rod. The two rods are connected with machinery which they
drive by their reciprocating motion. The current of water issues from a pipe
capable of being moved, so that the current may at one time be made to strike
against one of the vanes, and at another time against another.
The move-
ment is imparted to the pipe by the machinery. The stream is directed against

page_text: one of the vanes and striking against it drives it forward with the rod attached
to it, causing it to make the.forward stroke. The pipe is then shifted and the
stream is directed against the other vane, causing this in like manner with the
rod attached to it to make the forward stroke while the other rod makes the
return stroke without any force acting against it. Three or more vanes may
be acted on by one stream, the stream acting against each vane during a
portion of its stroke, and two or more streams may be employed, the vanes
driven by these being connected with the same machinery. The method
above described is applicable whenever it is desired to employ the impulse of a
current of water or of liquid for producing motive power.
L
In Figure 6, A represents the pipe or passage through which the stream of
liquid flows, the end of this pipe being moveable by the machinery. B₁, B₂, are
vanes having attached to them the rods C₁, C₁. These vanes, with the rods
attached to them, move backwards and forwards, imparting by their recipro-
cating movement a movement to machinery in the ordinary manner. :D, D, is
a partition, on the opposite sides of which the vanes B₁, B, work, coming in
contact or nearly in contact with these sides. The pipe A, A, being in the
position represented, the stream of water strikes against the vane B₁, being
deflected by it so as to leave it in a direction nearly opposite to that which it
had on striking it. The impulse of the water drives the vane with the rod
attached to it so as to make the forward stroke in the direction C₁, E. . While
the vane B₁ is moving in this direction the vane B, with the rod C2, is being.
moved by the machinery in the direction C₂, F. At the end of the stroke
the pipe A is shifted by the action of the machinery, so that it discharges the
water or liquid on the other side of the partition D, D, acting against
the vane B, and forcing this with the rod attached to it to move in the
direction F, C, while the vane B, with its rod is brought back by the action.
of the machinery. The stream may be made to act in a similar manner
against three or more vanes acting against each during a portion of the
stroke. Also, several streams may act against different sets of vanes, the
vanes all co-operating to work one connected piece of machinery
The vanes may be of various forms. They may be hemispherical, as shown
in section at Figure 7, the stream striking them in their centre and being
deflected on all sides. They may be quarters of a sphere, as at Figure 8, one
side working against the face of a plane. In this case the stream strikes
the vane at A and is deflected in directions radiating from this to the circum-
ference.
Again they may be portions of a cylindrical surface or of surfaces formed

page_text: by parallel lines passing through a curve, of which curves a circular arc is the
simplest. In this case they deflect the water in parallel lines. The vane works
between three sides of a channel, which prevent the liquid from quitting the
vane, except in the direction desired. This form of vane is shown in Figure 9.
A, A, is the section of the vane which is formed by lines perpendicular to the
plane B, C, E, D, passing through the curve A, A. This vane works in a
passage formed by three planes; two planes parallel
plane perpendicular to this passing through B, C.
flowing in the direction F, B, A, strikes upon the vane in the part of it near
the plane of which B, C, is a section, and is deflected by the vane in lines
parallel to A, A, being prevented from taking any other course by the sides of
the channel and quitting the vane at the open side of the channel of which D, E,
is a section.
to B, C, E, D, and a
The stream of water
Again, the vane may be a bucket formed by a curved side as above described
between three planes, the water being deflected by the curved side of the
bucket as above described. This form is shown in Figure 10; there B, C, is
the section of a curved side placed between three plane sides, the plane A, B, C,
a plane parallel to this, and a third plane perpendicular to the two, of which
A, B, is a section. These pieces form a buckett. The water entering the
bucket strikes the curved side in the part near the plane, passing through A, B,
and is deflected by the curved side quitting the buckett at C.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that what I claim is,-
1. I claim as new the employment of heated liquids of the nature specified
for the purpose of heating aeriform fluid and producing thereby motive power.
2. The employment of this method of heating aeriform fluid in engines such
as that known as Stirling's air engine.
3. The employment in such engines of some gas or aeriform fluid which
does not, when heated, oxidize the material of the vessels employed or act in-
juriously upon it, such as nitrogen or carbonic oxide.
4. The method described of using heated air or gas, or it may be steam or
vapour, whose temperature is so high that it cannot conveniently be used
to work directly a piston in a cylinder by obtaining the energy of the fluid in
the form of a blast or blasts mixing the fluid in this state with air, thus reducing
its temperature and reconverting the greater part of its energy into elastic force
or pressure, the fluid in this state being employed to work a piston in a
cylinder. Also the application of this method to gaseous products of com-
bustion.

page_text: 5. The employment of a current of liquid set in motion by a blast of heated
aeriform fluid to produce motive power in the manner described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Matthew Piers Watt Boulton, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
M. P. W. BOULTON. (L.s.)