Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 21st Oct., 1896
Complete Specification Left, 21st July, 1897--Accepted, 21st Aug., 1897
We, HARRY FRANK STANLEY, Engineer, and THE FARRINGDON WORKS LIMITED,
Engineers, both of Shoe Lane in the City of London, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates partly to improvements in that kind of apparatus for cooling
air which is described in the Specification of a Patent granted to Alfred Glasson dated
the 8th day of November 1894 No. 21509, and partly to other improvements in
apparatus for similar purposes.
According to one improvement, instead of arranging the ammonia or other volatile
liquid evaporating coils at the bottom of the tank containing the cooling brine and
the rotating concentric metal cylinders, as described in the aforesaid specifications of
Alfred Glasson, they are arranged in vertical stacks in the tank at the side or sides of
the rotating cylinders, the inlet and outlet connections of the said coils being made in
the tank or above the top thereof without passing through the sides or ends of the same,
which enables the coils to be removed from the tank for cleaning, repair or renewal
without disturbing the rotating cylinders or running off the brine and without the
inconvenience of special joints which are necessary when the ends of the coils pass
through the sides or ends of the tank. In some cases the ammonia or other volatile
liquid evaporating coils are placed in vertical stacks at one or both sides of the rotating
cylinders and wholly or partly above the brine in the tank, the brine being caused
to circulate over the said coils by means of a suitable pump drawing the brine from
one end of the tank and delivering it through distributing pipes on to the top of the
coils over which it trickles and is thereby cooled and then drops into troughs or gutters
placed below the coils whence it is conducted to the other end of the tank and flows
back through the cylinders to the pump; the air being preferably driven through the
cylinders by a fan or otherwise in the reverse direction.
According to another improvement instead of the rotating cylinders being made in
one continuous length they are made in two or more lengths placed end to end, but
far enough apart to permit of suitable bearings being inserted between them to
serve as intermediate supports for the shaft on which the cylinders are fixed;
and to prevent escape of air and brine at the spaces between the ends of the
lengths such spaces may be covered with suitable casings, cover plates, or
partitions.
According to another improvement a screw propeller or any suitable pump is
placed at one end of the brine tank, and is adapted to draw the brine through
the lower part of the rotating cylinders and to deliver it on to the ammonia or other
cooling coils, over or in contact with which it flows back to the rear end of the tank
to be again drawn through the lower part of the rotating cylinders, thus effecting
an efficient circulation of the brine through the cylinders and in contact with the
cooling coils.
According to another improvement instead of making the rotating cylinders
of plain sheets of metal they are made of sheets or plates corrugated longitudinally

page_text: or transversely or otherwise whereby a larger and, in some cases, more effective
cooling surface is obtained in a given space than when the surfaces are plain.
According to another improvement the ammonia or other volatile liquid evaporating
coil over which the brine is caused to trickle, as above described, is enclosed in a
suitable chamber, and the air returning from the cold store, or other place where it
has produced its refrigerating effect, or other air to be cooled is caused to pass
through the said chamber in contact with the said coils, and with the brine trickling
over them, before it enters the rotating cooling cylinders, or if preferred the return
air, may be passed through the rotating cylinders first, and then through the chamber
containing the coils the air in either case coming in contact with a larger cooling
surface than when it is caused to pass through the rotating cylinders only.
According to another improvement instead of making the rotating air cooling device
of a series of cylinders placed one within the other, it is made of a series of plates
standing radially or tangentially to the central axis to which they are fixed. These
plates may be placed in planes parallel to the aforesaid axis, or they may be arranged
spirally with reference thereto. Instead of standing radially or tangentially to the
axis the plates may be placed more or less parallel to one another and be arranged as
chords of a circle their widths being varied in such manner that all their outer edges
stand at the same distance from the centre of the axis, or thereabout, so that the
general shape of the rotating device shall preferably be cylindrical. The plates whether
radial, tangential or chord like, may be corrugated longitudinally, transversely or
otherwise in order to increase the cooling surface..
We, HARRY FRANK STANLEY, Engineer, and THE FARRINGDON WORKS LIMITED,
Engineers, both of Shoe Lane in the City of London, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This invention relates partly to improvements in that kind of apparatus for cooling
air which is described in the Specification of a Patent granted to Alfred Glasson dated
the 8th day November 1894 No. 21,509, and partly to other improvements in apparatus
for similar purposes.
And in order that the said invention may be fully understood we will proceed to
describe the same with the aid of the accompanying 2 sheets of Drawings, in which
Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of an apparatus of the kind above
mentioned, with our improvements applied thereto, Figure 2 a sectional plan of
same, and Figure 3 à transverse sectional elevation taken on the line 1-1 of
Figures 1 and 2. Figure 4 is a diagrammatic cross section of a similar apparatus
somewhat modified. Figure 5 is a diagrammatic plan and cross-section of another
modification. Figures 6, 7 and 8 show modified constructions of the rotating device,
and Figure 9 detail views.
According to one improvement, instead of arranging the ammonia or other volatile
liquid evaporating coils at the bottom of the tank containing the cooling brine or other
incongealable liquid and the rotating concentric metal cylinders, as described in the

page_text: aforesaid specification of Alfred Glasson, they are arranged in vertical stacks in the
tank at the side or sides of the rotating cylinders, the inlet and outlet connections of
the said coils being preferably made in the tank or above the top thereof without
passing through the sides or ends of the same, which enables the coils to be removed
from the tank for cleaning, repair or renewal without disturbing the rotating
cylinders or running off the brine and without the inconvenience of special joints
which are necessary when the ends of the coils pass through the sides or ends of the
tank.
In Figures 1, 2 and 3 of the Drawings A represents the tank containing part of the
cooling brine and the rotating concentric metal cylinders B described in the aforesaid
specification of Alfred Glasson, C the ammonia or other volatile liquid evaporating
coils arranged, as shown, in a vertical stack in the tank A' at one side of the rotating
cylinders B. D is the inlet connection leading the volatile liquid from the condenser
not shown in the Drawing to the said evaporating coils C, and E is the outlet connec-
tion leading the gas produced in the said coils to the pump, absorber or other apparatus,
also not shown in the Drawings, for reducing the pressure in the said coils. It will be
seen that neither the inlet D nor the outlet E passes through the side or end of the
tank A', consequently the entire stack of coils C can be lifted out of that tank without
inconvenience as above explained.
The circulation of the brine or other incongealable liquid over the surface of the
evaporating coils C for the purpose of being cooled by the latter is effected in the
following way:-F is a centrifugal or other pump the suction pipe G of which is
connected with one end of the tank A, and the delivery pipe H with split or perforated
spray pipes H1 placed over the coils C. The pump F draws the brine from the tank A
and delivers to the spray pipes H₁ from which it falls in thin streams on to, and
trickles down over the surfaces of the pipes composing the coils C and is thereby
cooled, finally falling to the bottom of the tank A¹ whence it flows through an opening A
in the partition dividing the tank A from the tank A¹, into the end of the tank A
opposite to that at which the suction pipe G is situated. The cooled brine flows along
the tank A and becomes heated by contact with the lower parts of the concentric
cylinders B which are rotate therein, by means of the worm-gearing I and shaft. I'
upon which the cylinders B are mounted. When the heated brine reaches the end
of the tank A it is drawn away by the pump F and returned to the coils C to be
re-cooled and so on continuously. The air to be cooled by the apparatus is forced
or drawn through the cylinders B by means of a fan or propeller J or other suitable
air moving device.
In some cases the ammonia or other volatile liquid evaporating coils C are placed
in vertical stacks at one or both sides of the rotating cylinders and wholly or partly
above the brine in the tank, as illustrated diagrammatically in Figure 4 the brine
being caused to circulate over the said coils by means of a suitable pump drawing the
brine from one end of the tank and delivering it through distributing pipes on to the
top of the coils over which it trickles and is thereby cooled as already described and
then drops into troughs or gutters A³ placed below the coils whence it is con-
ducted to one end of the tank A and flows back through the cylinders to the pump;
the air being preferably driven through the cylinders by a fan or otherwise in the
reverse direction.
According to another improvement instead of the rotating cylinders being made in
one continuous length they are made in two or more lengths as shown in Figures 1
and 2 placed end to end, but far enough apart to permit of suitable bearings K being
inserted between them to serve as intermediate supports for the shaft I' on which the
cylinders are fixed; and to prevent escape of air and brine at the spaces between
the ends of the lengths such spaces may be covered with suitable casings, cover plates,
or partitions.
In Figures 1, 2 and 3 the rotating cylinders B are shown enclosed in a casing L
forming a kind of cover to the tank A, the said tank and cover being together of a
square or quadrilateral cross section, and to prevent escape of air at the spaces between
the ends of the lengths of the cylinders corner filling pieces M are used against which

page_text: the end supporting frames N of the cylinders revolve in sufficiently close proximity to
prevent the escape past them of any material quantity of the air passing through the
interior of the cylinders.
According to another improvement illustrated diagrammatically in Figure 5 a screw
propeller P or any suitable pump is placed at one end of the brine tank A and is
adapted to draw the brine through the lower part of the rotating cylinders and to
deliver it to the ammonia or other cooling coils C over or in contact with which it
flows as shown by the arrows back to the rear end of the tank to be again drawn
through the lower part of the rotating cylinders by the propeller P, thus effecting
an efficient circulation of the brine through the cylinders and in contact with. the
cooling coils.
According to another improvement instead of making the rotating cylinders of plain
sheets of metal they are made of sheets or plates corrugated longitudinally or trans-
versely or otherwise, whereby a larger and, in some cases, more effective cooling surface
is obtained in a given space than when the surfaces are plain.
According to another improvement illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 3 volatile liquid
evaporating coil C over which the brine is caused to trickle, as above described, is
enclosed in a suitable more or less air-tight chamber Q and the air returning, from
the cold store, or other place where it has produced its refrigerating effect, through
the conduit R, or other air to the cooled, as the case may be is caused to pass through
the said chamber Q in contact with the said coils C, and with the brine trickling over
them, before it enters the rotating cooling cylinders B through the fan or propeller J
or if preferred the return air may be passed through the rotating cylinders B first, and
then through the chamber Q containing the coils C the air in either case coming in
contact with a larger cooling surface than when it is caused to pass through the
rotating cylinders only.
According to another improvement instead of making the rotating air cooling device
of a series of cylinders placed one within the other, it is made of a series of plates
standing radially or tangentially to the central axis S to which they are fixed as
illustrated in Figures 6 and 7 respectively. These plates may be be placed in planes
parallel to the aforesaid axis S or they may be arranged spirally with reference thereto.
Instead of standing radially or tangentially to the axis the plates may be placed more
or less parallel to one another and be arranged as chords of a circle their widths being
varied in such manner that all their outer edges stand at the same distance from the
centre of the axis, or thereabouts so that the general shape of the rotating device shall
preferably be cylindrical as illustrated in Figure 8. The plates whether radial,
tangential or chord-like, may be corrugated longitudinally, transversely or otherwise
in order to increase the cooling surface, and may if desired be perforated to a greater
or lesser extent.
When the rotating device is composed of a series of concentric cylinders we have
found it convenient to mount them between frames N as shown in Figures 1 and 2 the
radial spokes of which are notched, as shown in Figure 9, to receive the ends of the
cylinders, and the latter may be held tightly between such frames by means of the bolts
or other suitable means of connection, passing through the frames and between the
cylinders.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is :-
First. In a refrigerating apparatus of the kind herein referred to arranging the
volatile liquid evaporating coils in a vertical stack or stacks at the side or sides of the
rotating cylinders, substantially as described.
Second. In a refrigerating apparatus of the kind herein referred to arranging the
volatile liquid evaporating coils in a stack or stacks at the side or sides of the rotating
cylinders, and circulating the brine or other incongealable liquid through the tank
containing the rotating cylinders and over or in contact with the said stack or stacks
of evaporating coils, substantially as described.

page_text: Third. In a refrigerating apparatus of the kind herein referred to, making the
rotating cylinders in two or more lengths placed end to end but with spaces between
them for the reception of suitable bearings to serve as intermediate supports for the
central shaft of the cylinders, and means for preventing the escape of air from the
interior of the said cylinders through the said spaces between the adjacent ends
thereof, substantially as described.
Fourth. In a refrigerating apparatus of the kind herein referred to making
the rotating cylinders or other rotating devices of sheets or plates corrugated
longitudinally transversely or otherwise, and perforated or not, as described.
Fifth. In a refrigerating apparatus of the kind herein referred to enclosing the
volatile liquid evaporating coils in a chamber and passing the air to be cooled through
the said chamber in contact with such coils and with the brine trickling over the same
before or after passing such air through the rotating cylinders or other rotating devices,
substantially as described.
Sixth. In refrigerating apparatus of the kind herein referred to constructing the
rotating part of such apparatus of plates standing radially or tangentially with
reference to the axis, or parallel to one another and arranged as chords of a circle,
substantially as described with reference to Figures 6, 7 and 8 of the Drawings.
Dated this 20th day of July 1897