IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO STEAM BOILERS
Year: 1883

page_text: "
LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake,
and Cº, Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London for an Invention of
IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO STEAM BOILERS." communicated to
him from abroad by Gebr. Stollwerck of Cologne-on-the-Rhine in the Empire
of Germany
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 10th April 1883.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake, and Co, Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO STEAM
BOILERS "[A communication to him from abroad by Gebr. Stollwerck of Cologue-
on-the-Rhine in the Empire of Germany]
This invention relates to tubular steam boilers for generating steam preferably
for engines of great capacity or for other purposes, the said boilers occupy com-
paratively little space and require less fuel than any boiler as heretofore constructed.
According to the said invention the tubular boiler consists of one compartment or
preferably of a number of compartments each consisting of two chambers closed at
their outer ends by means of detachable covers and communicating with each
other by means of tubes entering the opposite walls of the said chambers. The said
boiler compartments, each forming a small boiler of itself, are preferably arranged
Interally adjoining each other as well as over and above each other, in such a manner
as to form vertical sets, the front chambers of the said compartments communicating
with a system of discharge pipes for the passage of steam and water ascending
through the said system of discharge pipes which ultimately discharge the steam into
only one or a number of steam reservoirs, and the water into another system of
pipes which communicates with the rear chamber or chambers of the said compart-
ment or compartments composing the main body of the said boiler, so that the
water after fresh feed water has been added from any suitable source is again
conveyed into the boiler after its circulation through all the tubes, chambers, and
pipes, of the latter and again circulated as before.
In combination with the improved boiler some suitable intermediate apparatus
may be employed for purifying the feed water before entering the boiler and thus
preventing incrustation

page_text: The said apparatus which may consist of a number of depositing chambers
communicating with each other by means of connecting pipes and traversed by the
feed water on its way to the system of pipes leading to the rear chambers of the boiler
compartments is preferably arranged below the steam reservoirs communicating
with the same and between the two systems of pipes ultimately connecting the
front chambers of the boiler compartments with the rear chambers of the same.
The arrangement in this case is such that the communication of the said system of
discharge pipes with the steam reservoirs on one hand and the communication with
the said other system of pipes entering the rear chambers on the other hand is
established through, and by means of, the said intermediate apparatus.
The steam and water from the system of discharge pipes enters the several
depositing chambers of the apparatus thereby agitating and circulating the feed
water which enters the first of the depositing chambers and thence traverses all
of the said depositing chambers thus freeing the said feed water from incrustation.
The steam then ascends into the steam reservoirs mounted above the said depositing
chambers of the apparatus by means of short connecting pipes and is there collected
whence it may be taken for use while the water traversing the intermediate
depositing chambers by means of their connecting pipes, together with the feed
water which it carries along with it, is ultimately discharged from the last of the
depositing chambers into the rear system of pipes with the feed-water, and is thence
returned into the boiler. A thorough circulation is thus obtained through the
whole system of the boiler and all its connecting pipes, as well as through the
intermediate apparatus if such be employed in connection with the said boiler.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
4th September 1883.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co, Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO STEAM-
BOILERS A communication to me from abroad by Gebr. Stollwerck, of Cologne-
on-the-Rhine, in the Empire of Germany
This invention relates to steam-boilers, which are preferably composed of a
number of tubular boilers or compartments arranged and connected in such a
manner as practically to form one single steam-boiler.
The object of the said invention is to produce, at a comparatively low cost, a
boiler for generating steam preferably for engines of great capacity but also for
other purposes, the said boiler at the same time occupying comparatively little
space, and requiring less fuel than a boiler of similar capacity as heretofore
constructed.
The said invention consists in constructing a number of tubular boilers or
compartments containing two chambers firmly closed at their outer ends by means
of detachable covers, communicating with each other by a number of tubes tightly
fitted into the opposite walls of the said two chambers, and in arranging these
tubular boilers or compartments in sets above or alongside each other, or both, and
connecting the front ends of the different compartments with the rear ends of the
same, by means of a system of pipes, in such a manner as practically to form one
single large boiler, In the said connecting pipes of which, as well as in the tubes
of each of the compartments composing the same, a constant circulation of steam
and water is maintained.
The improved boiler is particularly adapted for use with an apparatus for
purifying the feed water before entering the said boiler and thus preventing deposit
therein.
In order to enable the nature of this invention to be better understood I will now
proceed to describe the same in combination with such purifying apparatus, although
the boiler may be used without the said apparatus or in combination with any
other similar device for purifying the feed-water before it enters the tubes of the
said boiler.
In the accompanying drawing
Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section of a boiler constructed according to
this invention.
Figure 2 is a horizontal section of the boilers or depositing chambers mounted
above, and connected with, the boiler, the said depositing chambers forming part of
the device for purifying the feed-water described in the specification of former
Letters Patent dated October 30th A.D. 1882 Nº 5168.
Figure 3 is a front view of the improved boiler partly in section and shows the
system of pipes connecting the front chambers of the compartments.
Figure 4 is an end view of the same showing the system of pipes connecting the
rear chambers of the compartments.
Figure 5 is an end view partly in section of some of the compartments composing
the improved boiler drawn to an enlarged scale.
Figure 6 is a transverse vertical section through the said compartments,
Figure 5.
The improved steam-boiler comprises one, or, preferably, a number of smaller.
boilers or compartments A arranged alongside of, or above, each other, or both, and
in such a manner as to form vertical sets,

page_text: Each of the said compartments consists of two chambers a a' firmly closed by
means of covers 6 b¹ and communicating with each other by means of the open
water tubes & tightly fitted in, and connecting the perforated inner walls o cl
of the water-chambers a and a¹ of each compartment. The covers bb¹ are provided
with handles g g' to allow the same to be easily removed, and in order to add to
their strength stay-bolts f are provided. The said compartments, each forming a
small boiler of itself and arranged in vertical sets alongside of each other, are each
provided with a short pipe h³ connecting the same by means of the intermediate
system of pipes h¹ h³ with the feed-water and circulation pipe h and entering the
rear water chamber a¹ of each compartment at its lower end, while the short
discharge pipes attached to the upper part of each of the front chambers a connect
the compartments of each vertical set with a common discharge pipe i for each set.
The said pipes i are preferably constructed wider at the top than below, and the
upper elbow of the said pipes should be of larger diameter than the pipes, so as to
offer as little friction as possible to the ascending water and steam.
The discharge pipes i may communicate with the steam-reservoirs from which the
steam is taken for use, and continuations thereof then discharge into the feed water
and circulation pipe h. In the construction however illustrated in the drawing
(wherein the boiler is shown as being connected with the device for purifying the
feed-water) the discharge pipes i are not connected directly with the steam-
reservoirs, and the circulation-pipe h, but are first made to enter the depositing-
chambers K' to K', so as to meet the fresh feed-water entering the said depositing
chambers through the pipe m, and by causing a circulation of the said feed-water
in the apparatus, in the manner hereinafter described, to assist in purifying the
same. In this case the connection with the steam-reservoirs is established by
means of the short pipes o o' o os leading from the depositing chambers K' K³ and
KK to the steam reservoirs D'D', while all the steam-reservoirs communicate
with each other through the short pipes p p leading from the reservoirs D' and D³
to the reservoir D whence the steam is ultimately taken in a practically dry state
to be used for whatever purpose it may be intended. The connection of the
discharge pipes i with the circulation and feed-water pipe h is likewise not a direct
one in this instance, but is made at the depositing chamber K* by which means the
feed water carried along by the circulating mixture of steam and water issuing
from the short pipe K is first made to pass through all the intervening depositing
chambers before discharging into the pipe h.
It is evident that in connecting the above described, or any other, apparatus with
the improved boiler the number of steam-reservoirs employed may be varied to any
desired extent, this depending on the number of sets of compartments composing
the steam-boiler, or on the character of the intermediate apparatus connected with
the same.
In the drawing, the improved boiler is shown as being composed of four vertical
sets of boiler compartments, but I wish it understood that I do not confine myself
to this number, and that the same may be varied to any desired extent without
deviating from the nature of this invention.
Instead of connecting each vertical set of boiler-compartments directly with the
steam reservoirs or with the depositing chambers of the apparatus, here shown as
connected with the improved steam boiler by means of the pipes i, the latter may
first be made to enter some transversely arranged pipe or chamber which commu-
nicates with the several steam reservoirs, or with the several depositing chambers
by means of short pipes. Such arrangement is preferable when the number
of vertical sets of boiler compartments differs from the number of depositing
chainbers.
The corners of the several compartments are rounded off and openings a are
formed at the points where the corners of four compartments meet. These openings
serve for cleaning the tubes of ashes and soot, such cleaning being effected by
introducing a jet of steam or a scraper, brush, or the like into the said openings.
The operation of the improved steam-boiler is as follows, that is to say ;—The

page_text: water in the water chambers a a' and tubes & forming the compartments A being
heated, steam is generated in the same, the said steam and the water in the
compartments ascending in the tubes thereof. The steam carrying particles of
water along with it, then ascends through the pipes i i entering the same from
each of the several compartments through the discharge-pipes and is by them
conveyed either directly to the steam-reservoirs or preferably, as shown in the
drawing, into the several depositing chambers K¹ K³ K³ K*. After having served
its purpose in the intermediate apparatus in the manner to be hereinafter described
with regard to the particular apparatus shown in this instance, the steam ascends
into the steam reservoirs D1 D2 and ultimately enters the reservoir D through the
pipes p p. Coming in contact with a number of plates or corrugated sheet metal
arranged in the several reservoirs it is freed from its water by condensation and is
collected in the reservoirs and ultimately taken from the reservoir D to be used as
may be desired. The water which is carried along by the steam coming from the
boiler and ascending through the pipes i is ultimately discharged from the latter
either directly into the pipe h, or in case of the depositing chambers K' K³ K³ K'
being employed in combination with the boiler as shown, it first enters the
depositing chamber K* together with the steam thence passing, and at the same
time carrying along with it the fresh feed water entering through the pipe m,
preferably in a highly heated state, into the next depositing chamber K³, where it
is met by the circulating mixture of steam and water issuing from the next short
pipe K. and again carried into the next depositing chamber K². This operation is
repeated until the entire mixture of circulating and purified feed water is ultimately
discharged at n into the feed water and circulation pipe h from the last depositing
chamber K¹ to be again conveyed into the one or more compartments A composing
the boiler proper and to be again circulated through the several compartments,
pipes and intermediate apparatus in the manner as heroinbefore stated. The feed
water is shown in the drawing as entering the boiler through the pipe m which
connects with the depositing chamber K, but it may also be made to enter through
the pipe h when no intermediate apparatus is employed.
It will be seen from the above that a continuous circulation is thus obtained
through the entire system of compartments and pipes composing the improved
boiler.
The advantages derived from the use of the improved tubular steam boiler
herein before described are as follows. First I am enabled to generate steam for
engines of any size say from 20 to 1000 H. P. by means of one single boiler, the
said boiler being non-explosive since the tubes which form the heating surface may
be of small external diameter, say from 35 to 60 / Also the quantity of water
used is very small, and as the latter is generally purified before entering the boiler
repairs may be seldom required. Second, the water surface at the water level is
very large for tubular boilers, and the space for the steam may be as large as
desired and adapted to the requirements of any stationary working system.
Third, a saving in space and masonry is obtained as compared with "Cornish
boilers having the same area of heating surface. Fourth, the original cost of the
said boiler is considerably less than that of boilers as heretofore constructed, and
Fifth, by means of the construction shown a more thorough utilization of the
heating gases is obtained, resulting in great saving of fuel and labor.
"
Having thus fully described the said invention as communicated to me by my
foreign Correspondent, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it under-
stood that I claim
First The combination, with the boiler compartments A, constructed as herein
described, of the steam and water eduction pipes i, preferably made wider at the
top than at the bottom and connected to the hollow heads a at one end, and the
return pipe h connecting with the hollow heads a' at the opposite end, all arranged
substantially as specified.
Second The combination of a series of boiler compartments A, arranged
substantially as shown, having steam and water discharge pipes at one end

page_text: connected to the hollow heads a, and feed water and circulation water return pipes
at the other end, with the depositing chambers K¹, K³, K³, K', provided with
corrugated plates, and arranged to successively receive the feed water, as specified..
Third The combination of a series of tubular compartments A, having steam
and water discharge pipes i, made wider at the top than at the bottom, and
connected at one end to the hollow heads a, and to the feed water and circulation
water return pipes h at the other end, with the depositing chambers K¹, K³, K³, Kª,
and steam reservoirs D, D¹, D³, all arranged substantially as described.
Fourth-The combination of a series of tubular compartments A, the steam and
water discharge pipes i, made wider at the top than at the bottom, and connected
to the hollow heads a, and the feed water and circulation water return pipes h,
with the depositing chambers K', K2, K³, Kª, provided with corrugated plates, all
arranged substantially as described.
In witness whereof I the said William Robert Lake have hereunto set my hand
and seal this Third day of September in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and eighty three.