A NEW MODE OF GENERATING POWER IN STEAM ENGINES
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henri Gustave Adrien Pecoul, Civil Engineer, of
39, Rue de l'Echiquier, Paris, in the Empire of France, and 4, South
Street, Finsbury, London, for the Invention of "A NEW MODE OF
GENERATING POWER IN STEAM ENGINES."
Sealed the 19th October 1855, and dated the 5th May 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henri Gustave Adrien
Pecoul at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition
on the 5th May 1855.
I, HENRI GUSTAVE ADRIEN PECOUL, Civil Engineer, of No. 39, Rue de
l'Echiquier, Paris, in the Empire of France, and 4, South Street, Finsbury,
London, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention for "A NEW MODE
OF GENERATING POWER IN STEAM ENGINES" to be as follows, that is to say:--
My improvements relate, firstly, to a new mode or method of generating the
vapour of sulphuric ether or other volatile liquid & employing it as a motive:
power in lieu of steam, by which mode I dispense with the use of a boiler or:
apparatus exclusively employed for generating power.
Secondly, in the construction of machinery for condensing & regulating the
same
The action of this machine is as follows:-The sulphuric ether by means of
a pump or other suitable means is forced from the reservoir into an internal
cylinder, the quantity admitted being regulated by valves actuated by a cam
& lovers, or other suitable machinery. The ether is then converted into

page_text: vapour by means of water heated in an external cylinder, the furnace being
placed at the end of the latter. The vapour being rapidly generated by this
means then forces the piston to the end of the cylinder, & on its return stroke
the etherial vapour passes thro' the exhaust port to the condenser. This con-
sists of an internal & external cylinder closed at each end, between which the
vapour is condensed by the evaporation of water, & by the use of fans or
other suitable machinery.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henri Gustave Adrien Pecoul in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 5th November 1855..
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRI
GUSTAVE ADRIEN PECOOL, Civil Engineer, of 39, Rue de l'Echiquier, Paris,
in the Empire of France, and 4, South Street, Finsbury, London, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Ilenri Gustave Adrien Pecoul, Her special license, that I, the said
Henri Gustave Adrien Pecoul, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Henri Gustave Adrien Pecoul, my executors, admi-
nistrators, 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 of "A NEW MODE OF GENERATING POWER IN STEAM ENGINES,”
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henri Gustave Adrien
Pecoul, an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should particu-
larly 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 Henri Gustave Adrien Pecoul, 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

page_text: by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawing hereto`
annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say :-
The Invention consists in the arrangement of apparatus for generating the
vapours of sulphuric ether as a motive power in lieu of steam.
Figure 1 is a section of the cylinder and slide valves; Figure 2, an elevation
of the boiler and cylinder; Figure 3, ether receiver; Figure 4, section of the
condenser.
'The ether is converted into vapour in the cylinder by means of spiral copper
tubes A, A', about two-thirds of an inch in diameter, and coiled round three
or four times, according to circumstances. These spirals are fixed to each end
of the cylinder B, and are made of the requisite strength. A current of steam
passes through the spiral tube from the boiler C, placed separate from or
underneath the cylinder. In this case, however, it is necessary to have a
partition entirely separating the opening of the furnace from the rest of the
engine, so as to avoid all contact of the ether vapours which might escape with
any heated body. The ether is taken by a force pump from the condenser E,
herein-after described, and is then conveyed to a receiver F, heated by steam
from the boiler by means of a spiral tube or worm G. A part of the ether is
reduced to vapour, the tension of which forces the liquid through a tube II,
placed at its lower part into the two slide valves L, L', of the cylinder. These
slido valves, which work in a suitable chest or chamber J, are made with ports
K, K', for the ingress and egress of the ether. When one of the ingress ports
comes opposite the tube L, it conducts the liquid to the spiral tube inside the
cylinder. The egress port of the slide valve serves for the egress of the vapour,
as in the eduction port of the ordinary steam engine. It follows, therefore,
that by the alternate movement which an excentric communicates to the slide
valve each time the induction port K comes opposite the conducting pipe L,
a certain quantity of ether enters the cylinder, and coming in contact with
the heated surface of the spiral tube A is reduced to vapor, which propels
the piston M with a force corresponding to its temperature. I regulate the
quantity of ether to be injected by means of a stop-cock, fixed to the con-
ducting tube L' and by the slide valve. When the piston has arrived at the
end of its stroke the eduction port K of the slide valve allows the waste
vapour to escape through the pipes L & N to the condenser E. The con
denser E consists of a cylinder of about double the diameter of the vapor
cylinder. It is furnished with a series of tubes O, of about one inch in
diameter, which are fixed to the top and bottom of the cylinder, as in tubular
boilers now employed. The number of tubes should be regulated according
to the size of the condenser. Chambers P, P', are made at the top and bottom

page_text: of the pipes. The upper chamber P receives cold water from a pump put in
motion by the engine, and which escapes through a pipe Q from the lower
chamber P' after passing through the tubes, which are thus maintained at a
temperature suitable for the condensation of the vapour. The condenser E
is provided with a level indicator R, and at the lower part is adapted a tube S,
through which the ether is pumped up to feed the receiver F. The capacity
of the heated receiver is from eight to ten pints for a ten-horse high-pressure
engine, and in all cases it ought to be such that the quantity of liquid re-
quired in the engine for each injection should only be the twentieth part of its
contents, so as to enable a uniform temperature to be kept up. T, T', Figure 3,
tubes to which a manometer is fixed; U, tube which communicates with the
ether pump for feeding the receiver; V, Figure 4, tube conveying cold water
to the condenser; W, funnel, furnished with a stop-cock, through which ether
is poured in the condenser; X, tube to which a thermometer is fixed; N, pipe
which conducts the vapour from the cylinder to the condenser; Z, Z', Figure 2,
tube conveying steam from the boiler to the spiral tube A, A'. The receiver
and condenser may be made of sheet or cast iron. The tubes of the condenser
and spiral tube may be of copper, capable of resisting the requisite pressure.
A pump should also be employed for feeding the boiler with the condensed
water from the spiral tubes. The cylinder, when it is placed in the boiler at a
depth of about half its diameter, should be provided with two purge cocks, for
drawing off the oil deposited during the evaporation of the ether. To indicate
the pressure in the cylinder, a tube communicating with a manometer is adapted
to the cylinder, which tube is provided with a valve, to prevent the return of
the vapour into the cylinder. This tube conducts to the manometer the vapour
produced alternately at one and the other side of the piston, and it will be easily
understood, that were it not furnished with a valve, when the vapour escapes
from the cylinder through the eduction port, the pressure would be removed on
this side before the piston had time again to pass over the opening of the tube;
thus the pressure would be lessened in the manometer, and produce oscillations
powerful enough to prevent observation. By means of the valve, the vapour
retained in the manometer is prevented from being completely condensed
before the arrival of a fresh supply. A partial condensation, however, takes
place each time, which would cause a quantity of liquid to accumulate in this
chamber, were not a stop-cock employed for drawing it off' from time to time.
The other parts which compose the vapour cylinder, videlicet, the piston rod
& stuffing box of the covers, are similar to those of ordinary steam engines.
In the above description I have only spoken of the parts necessary for the
production of motive power. The other parts of the mechanism, for the trans-

page_text: mission of movement, are constructed as in ordinary steam engines. I will
simply observe, in conclusion, that a boiler of a capacity for a ten-horse power
engine will suffice by this improved system for heating the cylinder of an
engine of one hundred horse power.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I do not confine myself
to the precise details of construction herein laid down, reserving to myself the
right of modifying the same; but what I claim is,-
First, the general arrangement and construction of ether engines, as before
described, and referred to in the Figures of the annexed Drawing.
Secondly, the mode or method of generating ether vapour by means of steam
passing through a spiral tube placed at each end of the cylinder, as herein-
before described, and referred to in Figure 1 of the Drawing.
Thirdly, the mode of constructing slide valves, for the purposes and in the
manner herein-before described, and referred to in Figure 1 of the Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henri Gustave Adrien Pecoul, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.