IMPROVEMENTS IN GENERATING AND CONDENSING STEAM AND EVAPORATING LIQUIDS, AND IN-THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN."
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Humphrey Chamberlain, of Langley Fawley, in the
County of Hants, Engineer, for the Invontion of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
GENERATING AND CONDENSING STEAM AND EVAPORATING LIQUIDS, AND IN-THE
APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Humphrey Chamberlain
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 5th January 1863.
I, HUMPHREY CHAMBERLAIN, of Langley Fawley, in the County of Hants,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN GENERATING AND CONDENSING STEAM AND EVAPORATING LIQUIDS, AND IN
THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to an improved system or mode of generating steam,
which is also applicable to the evaporation or concentration of liquids generally,
and to a peculiar construction, arrangement, and combination of apparatus
employed therefor.
In generating steam according to this Invention, I cause a fine spray of hot
water mingled with a small proportion of steam to be directed between the
convolutions of one or more coils of hot-water pipes contained within the
generator, such hot-water pipes being connected to coils of similar hot-water
pipes contained in a suitable heating chamber or furnace, and give out their

page_text: heat to the spray and convert it wholly into steam.
This steam is collected in
a steam chest or chamber inside the generator, and passes off by a steam pipe
for use in the ordinary manner. A constant circulation of water is maintained
through the coils in the generator and in the heating chamber or furnace by
the aid of a centrifugal pump or other water-forcing apparatus.
In order to
maintain as even and invariable a temperature as possible round the coils
inside the furnace or heating chamber, I propose to fill in the vacant spaces
between the several coils and their convolutions of pipes with broken or whole
fire-bricks, tiles, or, which I prefer, fire-clay balls, so placed as not to
obstruct the draught but to act as magazines or stores of heat when the heat
is in excess, and to give out that heat to the coils when the fire gets
low, thereby equalizing the temperature. One or more of the coils in the
heating chamber are connected to a separate feed pipe in communication with
a force pump, injector, or other suitable contrivance, which keeps up a con-
stant supply of feed water to these particular coils. This feed water by the
time it has circulated through the heating coils attains a considerably elevated
temperature, and then passes off by another pipe to a pipe in the centre of
the generator opening into a valve box which contains a valve, seated upon the
pipe. So soon as the highly heated water passes the valve, a portion of it
instantly flashes into steam, which steam with the water is conducted by branch
pipes to a perforated pipe surrounding the interior of the generator above the
heating coils therein, and directs its jet of spray or steam and hot water on to
and amongst the heating coils, 'the result being the generation of steam as
herein-before described.
In evaporating by this apparatus, the liquid to be evaporated may be either
made to surround the heating coils which may be contained in any suitable
evaporating or concentrating vessel, or it may be directed on to the coils in the
form of a shower from a perforated pipe, which last arrangement will be found
in some cases preferable, as, for example, when a rapid evaporation is
desired.
In adapting this apparatus to the concentration of brine in the manufacture
of salt, I propose to place a series of trays over each set of hot-water pipes
heated as herein-before described, the whole to be contained within a steam
tight chamber. The brine is caused to flow in a thin stream over each tray,
which becomes heated by the pipes on which it rests. At the bottom of the
vessel the concentrated brine is forced out by the steam pressure into open
evaporating pans or salt moulds heated at the bottom and sides by the steam
from the closed vessel, such steam being conducted to the evaporating pan by
a special pipe for that purpose.

page_text: Another form of apparatus which I propose to adopt for generating steam, and
which may be applied also as a surface condenser, consists in enclosing the hōt-
water circulating pipe within an outer pipe, leaving a very small annular space
between the two pipes. To preserve the central position of the inner pipe, I
propose to apply a wire in a spiral form round its exterior, the spirals of which
shall fit the bore of the outer pipe and form at the same time a spiral passage
between the two pipes. The outer pipe is closed at one end and opens at
the other into a steam chamber. The length of this pipe is such as to enclose
the necessary amount of heating surface of the inner pipe for the generation of
steam from the feed water, which is pumped into the space between the pipes
from a branch pipe or main. By passing cold water through the inner pipe
and immersing the outer pipe in cold water a good surface condenser will be
obtained, the steam entering the space between the pipes.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Humphrey Chamberlain in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 4th July 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HUMPHREY
CHAMBERLAIN, of Langley Fawley, in the County of Hants, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Humphrey Chamberlain, Her special license that I, the said
Humphrey Chamberlain, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Humphrey Chamberlain, my executors, administrators,
or 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 for "IMPROVEMENTS IN GENERATING AND CONDENSING STEAM
AND EVAPORATING LIQUIDS, AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Humphrey Chamberlain, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, or under the hand and seal of one of them, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner

page_text: 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 Humphrey Chamberlain, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
"My said Invention relates to an improved system or mode of generating:
steam, which is also applicable to the evaporation or concentration of liquids
generally, and to a peculiar construction, arrangement, and combination of
apparatus employed therefor.
In generating steam according to this Invention, I cause a fine spray of hot
water mingled with a small proportion of steam to be directed between the
convolutions of one or more coils of hot-water pipes contained within the
generator, such hot-water pipes being connected to coils of similar hot-water
pipes contained in a suitable heating chamber or furnace, and give out their
heat to the spray and convert it wholly into steam. This steam is collected
in a steam chest or chamber inside the generator, and passes off by a steam
pipe for use in the ordinary manner. A constant circulation of water is
maintained through the heating coils in the generator and in the heating
chamber or furnace by the aid of a centrifugal pump or other water-forcing
apparatus. In order to maintain as even and unvariable a temperature as
possible round the coils inside the furnace or heating chamber, I propose to
fill in the vacant spaces between the several coils and their convolutions of
pipes with broken or whole fire-bricks, tiles, or, which I prefer, fire-clay balls,
so placed as not to obstruct the draught but to act as magazines or storers of
heat when the heat is in excess, and to give out that heat to the coils when
the fire gets low, thereby equalizing the temperature.
coils in the heating chamber are connected to a separate feed pipe in com-
munication with a force pump, injector, or other suitable contrivance, which
keeps up a constant supply of feed water to these particular coils. This
feed water by the time it bas circulated through the special coils in the
furnace attains a considerably elevated temperature, and then passes off by
another pipe to a pipe in the centre of the generator opening into a
valve box which contains a valve seated upon the pipe: So soon as the
highly heated feed water passes the valve, a portion of it instantly flashes into
steam, which steam with the water is conducted by branch pipes to a perforated
pipe surrounding the interior of the generator, and situate above the heating
One or more of the

page_text: coils therein, and directs its jet of spray or steam and hot water on to and
amongst the heating coils, the result being the generation of steam as herein-
before described.
In evaporating by this apparatus, the liquid to be evaporated may be either
made to surround the heating coils which may be contained in any suitable
evaporating or concentrating vessel, or it may be directed on to the coils in the
form of a shower from a perforated pipe, which last arrangement will be found
in some cases preferable, as, for example, when a rapid evaporation is
desired.
In applying this Invention to the concentration of brine in the manufacture
of salt, I propose to place a series of trays over each set of hot-water pipes
heated as herein-before described, the whole to be contained within a chamber.
The brine is caused to flow in.a thin stream over each tray, which becomes
heated by the pipes on which it rests; or in lieu of trays an endless travelling
web or sheet may be employed. At the bottom of the vessel the concentrated
brine or salt is removed, or, if a web be, employed, the salt is scraped off by
"doctors."
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall
refer to the several Figures on the Sheets of Drawings hereunto annexed, the
same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts throughout all the
corresponding Figures.
Figure 1 on Sheet 1 of my Drawings represents a longitudinal vertical
section of one form of my improved apparatus for generating steam, shewing
the furnace and generator complete; Figure 2 is a sectional plan of the
furnace taken along the line 10 in Figure 1; and Figure 3 (Sheet 2) is
a sectional plan of the generator taken at different levels, as herein-after
explained.
A is a furnace communicating with the heating chamber B by the flue C.
The bottom D of the heating chamber has a number of apertures a, a, made
therein, communicating with the flue E. In the interior of the heating
chamber B, which may be constructed of ordinary brickwork lined with
fire-bricks, are placed a number of coils of pipes F; F, through which
coils a constant circulation of hot water is obtained by. means of a centri-
fugal pump or other suitable water-forcing apparatus. These coils Fare
entirely surrounded or enclosed in fragments of fire-clay bricks or fire-clay
balls G, herein-before referred to. The water which is made to: circulate
through the coils F is forced therein by the centrifugal pump. H. through
the pipe I, from which branch off the pipes of the several coils F; the water

page_text: first entering at the bottoms of the coils. K is a pipe with which the coils
communicate at their upper ends (shown clearly in Figure 2), and into which
'the circulating hot water passes as it leaves the coils F. From the pipe K
rises a pipe L, which enters one side of the generator M (provided with
the usual safety valve and pressure gauge) near the top thereof, and there
branches into six or any other number of smaller pipes N, as shown clearly in
that portion of the sectional plan of the generator, Figure 3 (Sheet 2), taken
along the line 1, 2, in Figure 1. The pipes N pass entirely round the
generator in the form of a circular or other coil from the upper to the lower
part of the generator (see Figure 1), a portion of such pipes or coil being also
shown in the sectional plan, Figure 3, at the part. where the section is taken
along the line 3, 4, in Figure 1. The pipes N unite at the bottom of the coil
with the main pipe O, as shown at Figure 3 in the horizontal section along
the line 5, 6, in Figure 1, and this pipe O leads back to the centrifugal
pump H, or other forcing or circulating apparatus, to which it serves as a
suction pipe. It will thus be evident that a constant circulation of hot water
'takes place through the coils F in the furnace, and thence through the coils
of pipes N in the generator, and back from the last-mentioned coils through
the pump Hto the coils F again. Of course the usual expansion tube and
other fittings well known to makers of hot-water heating pipes are to be
applied, but as these form no part of my present Invention I have not
considered it necessary to refer to them specifically. A steam chamber P is
formed in the centre of the generator, and between the exterior of this inner
chamber and the interior of the outer shell M of the generator are situate the
coils N. Up the centre of the steam chamber rises a pipe Q, provided with a
valve R, of any convenient construction, at its upper end opening outwards.
Above this valve and in communication with the valve chamber are a number
of radiating pipes S, S, which open at their outer ends into an annular pipe T,
perforated on its under side and situate just under the top or cover of the
generator and immediately above the coils of hot-water heating pipes N.
One of these radiating pipes S and a portion of the annular pipe T are shown
in the horizontal section (Figure 3) taken along the line 7, 8, in Figure 1.
The pipe Q communicates direct with one or more coils U in the furnace or
heating chamber, which coil or coils are entirely separate and distinct from the
hot-water coils F, as will be seen on referring to the sectional plan of the
furnace, Figure 2. The lower end of the coil or coils U communicate through
the pipe or pipes V with an ordinary feed pump injector or other convenient
well-known apparatus suitable for supplying feed water to steam generators.
In generating steam according to this Invention, the heat of the furnace is

page_text: communicated to the heating coils F through the direct action of the flame as
well as through the heat radiated from the fire-clay bricks or halls G, and the
water in a highly beated state is caused to circulate through the coils N in the
generator. At the same time feed water is being constantly forced through
the separate coil or coils U in the furnace or heating chamber and becomes
highly heated, and on its lifting the valve R as fresh water is injected at the
other end of the pipe escapes in the form of steam and hot water along the
radiating pipes S into the perforated annular pipe T, whence it is discharged
in the form of a fine shower or spray down upon and amongst the coils of hot-
water heating pipes N, which communicate sufficient heat to the spray or
shower to convert it wholly into comparatively dry steam. This steam passes
through a number of openings W, W, into the interior of the steam chamber P,
whence it is conveyed away for use through the steam pipe X. As fast as
the steam is generated, a corresponding supply of feed water is maintained by
the feed pump or other feeding appliance employed. It is obvious that many
variations in the form of my apparatus might be adopted without departing
from the essence of the Invention, as, for example, in the place of using a
generator of the form illustrated, I should in some cases prefer to make such
generator in the form of a long cylindrical chamber, and to dispose the heating
pipes N therein in straight lengths running parallel to the cylinder, each
length communicating at opposite ends with its neighbours by suitable bends
or elbow joints, which last-mentioned arrangement will probably be found less
costly than the one illustrated; and although I prefer to employ. a furnace
with a descending draught, as shown in my Drawings, still any other form or
construction of furnace capable of readily and economically heating the hot-
water pipes may be used, but in all cases I enclose or surround the pipes or
hot-water coils, to be heated with fire-clay balls or bricks, which act as
magazines or storers of heat, and equalize the temperature by giving out their
superabundant hent should the fire get too low. As it is advisable that as
little heat as possible be lost by radiation from the different pipes leading from
the furnace to the generator, I prefer to place the generator upon the top of
or in close proximity to the furnace in order to avoid unnecessary length of
pipe between the two.
The same general construction and arrangement of steam generator is
obviously applicable as a surface condenser by simply causing cold water to
circulate through the coils N in lieu of hot water, the steam to be condensed
being discharged from the pipe T or other steam pipes amongst the cold
water pipes below. The heating coils of hot-water pipes N may also be
employed in evaporating liquids, in which case they may either be placed in

page_text: the liquid to be evaporated.contained in any convenient vessel or receptacle,
or such liquid may be directed on to and amongst the coils N from the pipe T
in the form of a fine shower or spray, which last-mentioned method
will be found to answer well in cases where a very rapid evaporation is
required.
.
.
Figure 4 represents. in vertical section one arrangement of hot-water
apparatus for evaporating or concentrating brine in the manufacture of salt;
Figure 5 is a front elevation of the same; and Figure 6 is a plan and half
horizontal section of the apparatus..
The object of this part of my Invention is to submit the brine in a thin
stream or film to the action of heat radiated from hot-water pipes, for which
purpose it may either be allowed to flow over shallow trays in close proximity to
the hot-water pipes, or, which I prefer, it may be permitted to flow over and
saturate an endless web or sheet of any suitable textile fabric which is heated
by the hot-water pipes herein-before referred to. In my Drawings I have
shown this last-mentioned arrangement, although I do not limit, myself strictly
thereto so long as the essential feature of my Invention be retained, namely,
the concentration of brine for the manufacture of salt by the heat radiated
from hot-water pipes in lieu of steam, heat, or of a naked fire.
In Figures 4, 5, and 6, A is an endless cloth of moleskin or other suitable
material carried by two rollers B, B¹, either of which is caused to rotate slowly
by any well-known mechanical contrivance, so as to cause the cloth to travel
with them. The space between the two rollers is closed in by two hollow
iron casings or air chambers C, C, and upon the edges of these air chambers
the endless web travels, strips of leather or other stout and flexible material
a, a, being secured to the edges or selvages of the sheet at the part where
they come in contact with the edges of the air chambers. D, D, represent a
coil or series of coils of hot-water pipes, through which a constant circulation
of water at a considerably elevated temperature is maintained in any well-
known manner, the water entering and leaving by the pipes b and c respec-
tively. The stratum or film of air enclosed in each of the air chambers being
a good non-conductor of heat prevents any appreciable loss from lateral
radiation. The brine is caused to trickle down the endless web from a
trough E placed over the top roller B, and saturates such web, but by the
time it arrives at the bottom roller B', the heat emitted from the hot-water
pipes D, D, enclosed inside the space between the web A and the air
chambers C, C, evaporates the moisture from the brine, and the salt is left
adhering to the web, from which it is removed by a "doctor" or scraper F,
and falls into a receptacle G below. If it be desired to remove the salt in a

page_text: drier state, then it is passed on to the second "doctor" F¹ at the top roller,
the first "doctor" F being removed.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that what I consider to be novel and
original and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent, is,―
First, the general constructions, arrangements, and combinations of
apparatus for generating and condensing steam and evaporating liquids,
substantially as herein-before described.
Second, the system or mode of generating steam by causing a fine shower or
spray of hot water and steam to be directed on to and amongst a series of hot-
water pipes, substantially as herein-before described.
Third, the system or mode of evaporating liquids by causing the liquid to
be evaporated to be directed in the form of a fine spray or shower over and
amongst a series of hot-water pipes, as herein-before described.
Fourth, the system or mode of concentrating brine by causing the brine to
be passed in the state of a thin stream or film in close proximity to a series of
hot-water pipes, substantially as herein-before described.
Fifth, the application and use to and in the heating of hot-water circulating
pipes and pipes containing water to be generated into steam, of fire-clay balls
or bricks or fragments of fire-brick made to enclose or surround the pipes to
be heated, substantially as herein-before described.
Sixth, the peculiar construction and arrangement of apparatus for con-
lensing steam, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Humphrey Chamberlain, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Second day of July, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-three.
HUMPHREY CHAMBERLAIN. (L.S.)