IMPROVEMENTS IN SURFACE CONDENSERS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Angier March Perkins, of Francis Street, Gray's
Inn Road, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SURFACE CONDENSERS."
Sealed the 18th March 1859, and dated the 21st September 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Angier March Perkins
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
21st September 1858.
I, ANGIER MARCH PERKINS, of Francis Street, Gray's Inn Road, do hereby
declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SURPACE CONDENSERS,'
to be as follows:
I employ upright pipes of wrought or cast iron, pairs of which I connect
together by a number of horizontal wrought-iron tubes, whose ends are screwed
and tinned or soldered, and are screwed into tapped holes or sockets on the
sides of the two upright pipes, which holes or sockets are also tinned or
soldered. Both ends of each horizontal wrought-iron tube may have right-
handed or left-handed screws, or one end may have a right-handed screw and
the other a left-handed screw. They may be screwed in hot, or may be
heated after they are screwed in, and in some cases one or both ends may be
simply tinned or soldered without being screwed. Zinc or other fusible metal
or alloy may be substituted for the tin. I apply a trough or other means for con-

page_text: ducting water over these tubes in small streams or jets, so that the evaporation
of the water may keep the pipes sufficiently cool to condense the steam
inside. In applying the condenser to a steam engine, one of the upright pipes
is connected to the eduction pipe of the engine, while the other upright pipe
is connected to the air pump. I also sometimes place a small stop or partial
partition at one end of each of the horizontal tubes, at which the steam enters
in order to cause the condensed water to flow out at the other end. These
condensers may also be completely immersed in water when a sufficient supply
of water is available, or they may be placed inside a chamber or condenser
into which the steam is admitted, and the water may be caused to flow through
the tubes. The position of the tubes may then be varied, as it is not then
necessary that the wrought-iron tubes should be horizontal. The tubes may
be galvanized or tinned if desired (other than where they are fixed at their
ends) to protect them from oxidation.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Angier March Perkins in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 21st March 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ANGIER
MARCH PERKINS, of Francis Street, Gray's Inn Road, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Angier March Perkins, Her special licence that I, the said Angier March
Perkins, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Angier March Perkins, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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
SURFACE CONDENSERS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Angier March Perkins, 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

page_text: 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 Angier March Perkins, 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:-
Various descriptions of surface condensers have heretofore been constructed
and proposed, and some of them have given good results, but some have failed
by becoming leaky after a time, and others have been objectionable on account
of their great cost, being constructed of copper. By the present Invention I
am enabled to employ wrought-iron tubes, which are cheaper and stronger
than copper tubes, and at the same time to avoid leakage by fixing them in a
secure and permanent manner. I employ upright pipes of wrought or cast
iron, pairs of which I connect together by a number of horizontal wrought-
iron tubes, whose ends are screwed and tinned or soldered, and are screwed
into tapped holes or sockets on the sides of the two upright pipes, which holes
or sockets are also tinned or soldered; both ends of each horizontal wrought-
iron tube may have right-handed or left-handed screws, or one end may
have a right-handed screw and the other a left-handed screw; they may
be screwed in hot, or may be heated after they are screwed in, and in some
cases one or both ends may be simply tinned or soldered without being
screwed. Zinc or other fusible metal or alloy may be substituted for the tin.
I apply a trough or other means for conducting water over these tubes in
small streams or jets, so that the evaporation of the water may keep the pipes
sufficiently cool to condense the steam inside.
In applying the condenser to a steam engine, one of the upright pipes is
connected to the eduction pipe of the engine, while the other upright pipe is
connected to the air pump. I also sometimes place a small stop or partial
partition at one end of each of the horizontal tubes at which the steam enters,
in order to cause the condensed water to flow out at the other end. These
condensers may also be completely immersed in water, when a sufficient supply
of water is available, or they may be placed inside a chamber or condenser
into which the steam is admitted, and the water may be caused to flow through
the tubes. The position of the tubes may then be varied, as it is not then
necessary that the wrought-iron tubes should be horizontal. The tubes may
be galvanized or tinned if desired (other than where they are fixed at their
ends) to protect them from oxidation.
Figure 1, Sheet I., of the accompanying Drawings is an elevation or front

page_text: view, and Figure 2 is a vertical section of an evaporative condenser con-
structed according to my Invention; Figure 3 is a horizontal section of the
same. The same letters refer to similar parts in each Figure. A and B are
two vertical cast or wrought iron pipes, open at the bottom and closed at the
top. A portion of one or both sides of each of these pipes is flat, and is bored
with a series of holes or sockets, which are tapped to receive the screwed ends
of a number of wrought-iron tubes C, C, C, arranged in two parallel rows.
D is a trough, which is supplied with water by a pipe E. A number of
notches are made in the sides of this trough at intervals of a few inches, or
more or less. The water overflows at these notches, and runs down the
outside of the trough and drips from its bottom, which is recessed so as
to leave two edges a and b over the two rows of tubes. The water thus
drops upon the two upper tubes, and from them to the next, and so on,
wetting the surfaces of all the horizontal tubes C, C. These tubes are placed
in a horizontal position to prevent the water from flowing to either end. The
pipe A is connected to the eduction passage of the steam engine, and the
pipe B is connected to the air pump. The tubes C, C, are kept cool by the
evaporation of the water which drips upon them, and the steam is thus con-
densed within the tubes. The condensed water and the air are removed by the
air pump. The steam in entering from the pipe A has a tendancy to blow
the condensed water through the tubes C into the pipe B; any water, however,
which may flow back or may condense in the pipe A, may be removed from
the bottom of this pipe in any convenient manner, or may be caused to flow
through the lowest tubes C, C, to the pipe B, by carrying up the inlet pipe
for the steam within the pipe A above the ends of the lowest tubes. One
mode of preventing the return of condensed water from the tubes C, C, into
the pipe A, consists in fitting into the end of each tube a small ring or ferule,
as shewn on a larger scale at c in Figure 4, and having a projection or
segmental piece within, which forms a dam, and prevents the return of the
water. Figure 4 is an elevation of a portion of the pipe A, with sections of
two of the tubes C, C; Figure 5 is a horizontal section of the same. In lieu
of this segmental dam a simple ferule may be employed. In some cases,
especially when the sum of the sectional areas of all the tubes C, C, is greater
than that of the pipe B, I partially contract the ends of the tubes which join
the pipe B either by ferules or by plugs of square or triangular or other
suitable form, as shown at d and e, in Figure 6, which is an elevation of a
portion of the pipe B, with sections of two of the tubes C; Figure 7 is a
horizontal section of the same.

page_text: The tubes C, C, are fixed in the pipes A and B in the following manner :-
One end of each tube has a right-handed screw cut upon it, and the other end
has a left-handed screw. The holes in the pipes A and B are tapped with
corresponding screws. The tubes C, C, are then laid across a table or bench,
or on a rack or other support at the proper distances apart, and the two pipes
A and B are applied to their ends, so that each tube C may be presented to
its proper holes. Each tube C is then turned on its axis a little until they
have all entered their holes, and each tube is then gradually screwed in by
turning each in succession a little at a time; or clamps or tongs may be
attached to each tube, and all the tubes may be turned simultaneously, so as
to screw them all in at once. In lieu of employing right and left handed
screws, both ends of each tube C may have screws of the same sort. In this
case I screw all the wrought-iron tubes into one pipe to such an extent that
their ends project within the pipe to a distance about equal to the thickness of
the side of the pipe; I then apply the other pipe to the opposite ends of the
tubes, and screw them back into this pipe, thus leaving their ends flush or nearly
so with the insides of the two pipes A and B. Before screwing the wrought-iron
tubes into the pipes I coat the screwed end of the tubes and the interior of the
tapped holes in the pipes with tin or solder, or zinc, or other suitable fusible
metal or alloy, by any of the known methods of tinning or coating metals.
After the tubes are screwed into the pipes I heat the junctions until the tin or
fusible metal is melted, and I then allow them to cool. A little tin or fusible
metal may also be applied to the exterior of the junction by a soldering iron
or otherwise; or the tinned tubes and pipes may be first heated, and the tubes
screwed in while hot. The wrought-iron tubes are thus connected in a firm
and air-tight manner to the pipes A and B. The screws render the junctions
In some
strong, and the tin or other fusible metal renders them air-tight.
cases, however, if sufficient care be taking in fitting the screwed parts together,
the joints may be made sufficiently tight without the use of tin or solder. The
pipes A and B, with the wrought-iron tubes C, C, in Figures 1, 2, and 3, form
one set or panel; where a greater amount of surface is required I place two
or more of these panels on each other.
Thus Figure 8, Sheet II., is a front view, and Figure 9 is a transverse
vertical section, and Figure 10 is a horizontal section of a condenser, consisting
of two wings, each of which consists of four panels placed one above another.
I make the pipes A and B of greater width at the bottom than at the top, so
as to afford free entrance for the steam, and also to give greater stability to
the structure. In this case the steam enters by a pipe F, which branches out

page_text: to the pipes A, A, of the two wings of the condenser. The steam is condensed
in the wrought-iron tubes C, C, and the condensed water and the air are with-
drawn by the air pump, which is connected to the two pipes B, B. The
condensing water is supplied by the pipe E to the trough D, from which it
drops upon the tubes C, C, and from one tube to another until it drops from
the last tubes into a trough, from which it may be again pumped up into the
trough D. A quantity of this water is evaporated during its descent in pro-
portion to the quantity of steam condensed in the interior of the tubes, and the
supply of condensing water may be adjusted so that it may just be evaporated
during its descent. The evaporation and cooling of the condensing water may
be promoted by causing it to drop from each pair of tubes into a small trough,
as shown.at f in Figure 2, or on a board or shelf, as shown at g, and to over-
flow again from this trough or board, and drop from its two edges on the next
tubes, and so on. A large surface of the warmed water is thus exposed to
the air.
.
Figure 11, Sheet III., is a front view, and Figure 12 is a transverse
vertical section of a condenser of very similar form to that shewn in Sheet II.;
it is composed of several single panels, each of which consists of two vertical
wrought-iron pipes with a single set of horizontal wrought-iron tubes fixed
between them. Two of these panels A, B, C, A, B, C, form the upper part
of the condenser, and are fixed on the top of two vertical pipes G, H, which
may be made of cast iron, and are provided with short branches I, I, J, J;
on these branches are fixed the panels A, B, C, A3, B2, C². The water is
supplied by a pipe E to a trough D, and drops on the horizontal wrought-iron
tubes in the upper panels, and is conducted or directed by a trough or by
sloping boards or plates, so as to drop upon the tubes C¹, C'; the pipe G
receives the steam from the steam engine, and the pipe H is connected to the
air pump. Figure 13 is a vertical section of one of the wrought-iron pipes A¹;
and Figure 14 is a horizontal section of the same, shewing one of the wrought-
iron tubes C¹ screwed into it. These condensers are advantageously placed
out of doors and exposed to free access of air; if exposed to a cold wind a
sufficiently good vacuum may sometimes be obtained without the application
of water to the exterior of the tubes; and by giving a sufficient extent of tube
surface a proportionately good vacuum may be obtained even in warm calm
weather. The application of water to the exterior, however, improves the
vacuum, and enables me to obtain a sufficient vacuum with a much smaller
extent of tube surface.
.
I also employ these condensers in the following manner:-I enclose in a

page_text: box or case a single panel or several panels placed side by side, and I fill the
box or case with water, and keep a stream of water flowing through it. The
steam is introduced at one pipe, and the air and condensed water withdrawn
at the other pipe, as before; or I make the box or case air-tight, and I
introduce the steam into the box, and condense it by causing a current of
water to traverse the tubes.
Figure 15 is a longitudinal section, and Figure 16 is a transverse section
of another condenser, constructed with wrought-iron tubes C, C, fixed in two
plates K, L, being respectively the top and the bottom of the passages M
and N, which form part of the pipes O and P, these pipes being made broader
at their ends than elsewhere in order to admit of a large number of wrought-
iron tubes being assembled in a small space. These tubes are surrounded by.
a case Q; a current of water is introduced by the pipe O into the box N, and
passes through the wrought-iron tubes C, C, into the box O, and out at the
outlet pipe P; the steam enters the case Q at the pipe R, and the condensed
water and air pass through the pipe S to the air pump; or the steam may be
conducted through the wrought-iron tubes C, C, while the condensing water
is conducted through the caso Q. I fix the wrought-iron tubes C in the
plates K, L, in one or other of the following manners :-Figure 17 is a section
on a larger scale, or full size, of portions of the plates K, L, and tubes; the
tubes may be made with right-handed screws at one end, and left-handed
screws at the other end, and the holes in the plates K, L, are then tapped
with corresponding screws. In this case their lower ends are just entered into
the holes in the plate K, and the plate L is placed over them; each tube is
then turned a little by means of a key or mandril inserted in it; this mandril
may be square, with sharp or steeled edges; or it may have two flat sides and
may fit the tube at the two other sides, and it is divided diagonally into two
long wedges; one of these pieces or wedges is inserted at each end of the
tube, and the two are driven together by a hammer, or forced together by
screws, or otherwise. The mandril is thus forced against the sides of the
tube, and obtains a firm hold of it; any other convenient form of expanding
mandril may be used. One of these mandrils is fixed in each tube with its end
projecting a little. A square socket or a socket of a form to fit the end of the
mandril, and furnished with a cross handle, is then used to turn each tube a
little in succession, and thus by repeatedly turning each tube to screw their
ends gradually into the plates. Each tube cannot be separately screwed up
nt once, because the plates K, L, are kept apart by the other tubes. The
elasticity of the whole, however, admits of the tubes being screwed in by degrees.

page_text: Another mode of securing the wrought-iron tubes consists in cutting right-
handed or left-handed screws on both ends, in lieu of right-handed screws at
one end, and left-handed screws at the other end. C', in Figure 17, shows
a tube thus secured; one end is screwed for a length equal to twice the
thickness of the plate K, or thereabouts; the tubes are first screwed down
into the plate K, so as to project below the plate to a distance equal to the
thickness of the plate, or thereabouts; the top plate L is then placed over
them, and each tube is separately screwed up into it at once, being thus
unscrewed from the plate K sufficiently to bring their ends flush, or nearly so,
with both the plates K and L. Whether the two ends of each tube have
respectively right-handed and left-handed screws, or both ends have the same
screws, the ends of the tubes and the holes are tinned or coated with a fusible
metal, which is afterwards melted and united by heating the parts, and tin or
solder, or fusible metal, may be applied to the exterior of the junction by a
soldering iron, or otherwise. When the tubes are made with a right-handed
screw at one end, and a left-handed screw at the other end, the joints may
be made so tight that the tin or fusible metal may be dispensed with.
The tubes C, C, C, in Figure 17, are represented with screws at one end
only; the other ends are turned, and the holes in the plate L are bored to
receive them. The screwed ends may be tinned or not, but the plain turned
ends, or the holes which receive them, or both, are always to be tinned or
coated with other suitable fusible metal.
It is better to tin both the turned ends of the tubes and the holes which
receive them before putting them together, but it will sometimes suffice to tin
one of these parts, and to put them together before the untinned part has become
rusty. A little solution of chloride of zinc or other suitable flux may be applied
to the parts, and then by heating them sufficiently to melt the tin or other
fusible metal, the previously untinned part will become tinned, and a good joint
will be produced. C² in Figure 17 represents a wrought-iron tube, which is
turned at both ends and fitted into bored holes in both plates K and L. The
turned ends of the tubes or the bored holes in the plates, or both, are tinned
or coated with fusible metal, and fixed by heat in the manner herein-before
described in reference to the turned ends of the tubes C, C. By turning the
ends of the wrought-iron tubes, I am enabled to fit them well into the bored
holes in the plate or plates, and the tin or fusible metal has to fill but a very small
space, whereas, if the rough unturned tube were to be tinned and introduced
into the hole, its irregularities would produce much larger and irregular spaces
to be filled by the tin, and would endanger the soundness of the joint. At the

page_text: same time, by turning the end of the tube, a slight shoulder is produced, which
serves to support the plates and keep them at the proper distance apart; or
the ends of the tubes may be turned without a shoulder, but slightly taper or
conical. When the wrought-iron tubes have been fixed in the two plates K
and L by either of the methods herein-before described for that purpose, they
are placed in the case M, in Figures 15 and 16. The plates K and L rest
upon two vulcanized india-rubber rings or washers, and are secured to the
case M by screws or bolts and nuts; or each plate may rest upon two rings of
vulcanized india-rubber, one lying within the screws and the other without
them, or they may be fixed in any other convenient and suitable manner. In
some localities the vapour produced by the condenser might be objectionable
if allowed to escape freely into the atmosphere, and then I place the condensor
in a case, and employ a fan to cause a current of air to pass through the case,
and carry the vapour into a flue, or otherwise, as may be desired. In
cases in which it is not required to maintain a vacuum in the condensor, it,
in place of being connected with an air pump, may be left open at one end to
the atmosphere; condensers constructed as herein-before described may be
employed for condensing the steam from high-pressure engines, so that the
boiler may be fed with the condensed water, and they may be so employed in
connection with stills for distilling spirits or other matters.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that what I
claim is,―
First, constructing evaporative surface condensers of an assemblage of
horizontal wrought-iron tubes, screwed at both ends with right-handed screws
or with left-handed screws, or with a right-handed screw at one end and a left-
handed screw at the other end, and screwed into tapped holes, as herein-before
described.
Second, constructing evaporative and other surface condensers of an assem-
blage of wrought-iron tubes screwed with a right-handed screw at one end and
a left-handed screw at the other end, and screwed into tapped holes, as herein-
before described.
Third, constructing evaporative and other surface condensers of an assemblage
of wrought-iron tubes screwed at both ends with right-handed screws or with
left-handed screws, or with a right-handed screw at one end and a left-handed
screw at the other end, and screwed into tapped holes or turned at one or both
ends, and fitted to bored holes, and having in either case their ends, whether
screwed or turned, or the holes which receive them, or both, tinned or coated

page_text: with solder or other suitable fusible metal or alloy, and united by heat, as
herein-before described.
Fourth, constructing evaporative and other surface condensers of an assem-
blage of wrought-iron tubes turned at one end and screwed at the other end,
and having their turned ends, or the holes which receive them, or both, tinned
or coated with solder or other suitable fusible metal or alloy, and united by
heat, while the screwed ends are either simply screwed into their holes, or are
also united by tin or other suitable fusible metal or alloy, as herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Angier March Perkins, have hereunto set
my band and seal, this Nineteenth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
S. CARPMAEL.
A. M. PERKINS. (L.S.)