CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF PREVENTING AND REMOVING INCRUS- TATION IN STEAM BOILERS AND STEAM GENERATORS
Year: 1851

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
ASHWORTH, of Bristol, Manager of the Great Western Cotton Works, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Twenty-ninth day of May, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-
one, and in the fourteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said John Ashworth, Her especial
license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said John Ash-
worth, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, and such others as I, the said John
Ashworth, my exors, adiñiors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and
no others, from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
England and Wales and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF PREVENTING AND REMOVING INCRUS-
TATION IN STEAM BOILERS AND STEAM GENERATORS;" in which said Letters
Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said John Ashworth, shall cause
particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be enrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of
Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of
the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being
thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, 1, the said
John Ashworth, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention,

page_text: and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following explanation thereof, that
is to say:
My improvements in the method of preventing and removing incrustation
in steam boilers and generators, is applicable to boilers for steam engines
employed either for stationary, locomotive, or marine purposes, and to all
other steam generators, liable to internal incrustation. The improvements
consist in the application, employment, or use of a certain compound or com-
pounds of materials for the purpose of preventing the lime, or any other
substance which the water may contain in solution (where fresh water is
employed) and the saline compound, such as sulphate of magnesia, chloride
of sodium, &c. (in marine boilers) from forming into an insoluble incrustation,
and adhering to the interior of the boiler, or for loosening and removing such
incrustation when already formed. The ingredients which I employ for this
purpose are coal tar, linseed water, plumbago, and "Castile'
or other soap.
The method of preparing and using the compound, and the proportions of the
several ingredients which I have found to answer the purpose best, are as
follows: To thirty-three gallons of coal tar add twenty-one gallons of linseed
water [this I prepare by boiling in water fourteen pounds of linseed, by
means of steam or otherwise, and straining or removing the seeds and other
extraneous matter]. I then add five pounds of plumbago, or common black lead
in a pulverized state, and eight pounds of "Castile " soap. These ingredients
are to be mixed and stirred together until they are intimately combined and
the compound is of a creamy consistency. I would here remark, that although
the above are the ingredients and the proportions of the same which I prefer,
yet they are capable of slight modification; for instance, common soft or black
soap may be substituted for the Castile soap, although I prefer the latter, or
the exact proportions might be slightly varied more or less, without materially
affecting the action of the mixture. In making use of the above compound,
pour in (through the man-hole or other suitable inlet valve) about one
gallon of the mixture into the water in the boiler (after blowing off the steam)
about twice a week for a thirty-horse power boiler, increasing or diminishing
the quantity of the mixture according to the capacity of the boiler to be
operated upon, and the average amount of the incrustating material contained
in the water employed therein. The effect of employing this mixture upon
a new boiler is entirely to prevent any serious amount of incrustation upon
the interior of the boiler, as what little deposit is made is of a thin, brittle,
porous, and crumbling nature, and may readily be removed from the bottom
of the boiler (where it will have fallen) by sweeping or otherwise. In old
I

page_text: encrusted boilers, the action of the mixture upon the internal incrustation will
be found in a short time to loosen and entirely remove the same.
Having thus described the nature and object of my said Invention, together
with the best method I have ascertained of carrying the same into practical
effect, I desire it to be understood, that I claim as my Invention the appli-
cation, employment, or use of a mixture or composition of coal tar, linseed
water, plumbago, or black lead, and "Castile" or other soap, for the purpose
of preventing or removing incrustation in steam boilers and steam generators,
without confining myself to the exact proportions of the ingredients named,
or the precise method of using the same, as above particularly set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Ashworth, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of November, in the year of our
Lord Que thousand eight hundred and fifty-one