IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND MATERIALS.OF SURFACE. CONDENSERS
Year: 1861

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Vaughan Pendred at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 25th
'November 1861.
I, VAUGHAN PENDRED, junior, of Bullycurron, Kilkenny, Ireland, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
CONSTRUCTION AND MATERIALS.OF SURFACE. CONDENSERS," to be as follows:
My improvements in surface condensers consist, firstly, in à particular mode
of attaching the tubes of such condensers to the plates through which their
ends pass, and by means of which the said tubes are supported.
Secondly, in the adoption of diaphragms for regulating the course both of
the steam passing into the condenser, and also for regulating the course of the.
water used for. causing, condensation.
Thirdly, in the materials of which the condenser or parts of it are composed.
And, fourthly, in the mode of arranging and fixing the tube plates, so that
any section or stack of tubes can be readily removed for repair, the condenser
being still left in a state more or less complete and fit for use..
My improvement in the mode of attaching the tubes to the tube plates
consists in forming within the thickness of the said plates, or within bosses.
cast or otherwise attached to them, recesses. to contain india-rubber, hemp,
leather, canvas, or other elastic packing, which is made to encircle the ends of
the tubes, and press more or less upon them, so as to ensure a perfectly steam-

page_text: tight joint, and yet allow of the free expansion of the tubes, especially in the
direction of their length. The packing is retained entirely within the sub-
stance of the tube plate or bosses, and perfectly free from the contact both of
the water used for condensation, as also from the steam to be condensed, by
means on the one side of small copper, brass, or other metallic collars, braized
or otherwise attached to the tubes near their ends, and which collars are made
to fit accurately the recesses in the tube plates or bosses, and on the other side
by portions of the tube plates or bosses themselves, the recesses terminating in
holes just large enough to admit the rods of the tubes, but so as to allow
them to work freely when the expansion of the tubes takes place. The object
of this arrangement being that of entirely, or as far as possible, excluding
both steam and water from the material employed as packing. Any desirable
pressure is readily put upon the packing by allowing the distance between the
packing faces of the collars to exceed more or less the distance between the
inner faces of the packing material, so that upon the tube plates being bolted
in place, the packing at each end of the tube is compressed to any degree
required, provision being, or not being, as preferred, made in the recesses for
the consequent expansion of the packing rings in a radial direction.
My improvement in the disposition of diaphragms for the proper distribution
of either steam and water, or both, consists in attaching to the sides of the
condenser or tube plates, or to both of them, divisional plates, which, however,
do not always entirely close the communication between the several parts of
the condenser, but serve to compel the water and steam to take certain
courses, by which the whole surface of the condenser is made available, instead
of a portion only, which is invariably the case when either the steam or water
is allowed to pass in a straight or nearly straight course from the points
where either of them enter the condenser to the points at which they leave
the same.
My improvement as regards the material of which surface condensers may
be made consists in adopting galvanized iron in lieu of copper or brass, both
for the tubes and tube plates, where cheapness is an object, as well as for the
outer casing of condensers in cases where it is desired to keep the water of
condensation as pure as possible and free from rust. To this end I some-
times employ iron protected with glazing, similar to that employed for
protecting iron pipes from oxydation.
The last part of my improvements consists in so arranging the tube plates
of surface condensers that any small number or stack of tubes can be removed
for repair without in any way interfering with the working of the remainder of

page_text: the tubes. This is accomplished by attaching or casting to the inside of the
condenser suitable flanges or angle pieces properly secured together, and to
the condenser to which the tube plates are separately bolted, thus allowing of
any pair of them being removed, their places being temporarily supplied by
plain plates of metal. By this arrangement I am enabled to repair the whole
condenser-by-degrees-during-the-time-of-its-being-in-use, merely stopping in-
order to remove and refix the separate stacks of tubes one by one.