Mountings for Marine Boilers.
Year: 1885

page_text: Mountings for Marine Boilers.
I, JAMES WEIR, of 2 Commerce Street, Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North
Britain, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this Invention to be as follows,
that is to say :-
My said Invention has for its object to simplify and improve a number of the
mountings of marine boilers, including the pipe and valve connections with feed
pumps and similar connections, so as to render the parts less liable to get out of
order, to diminish the chances of leakage, and to lessen the number of parts directly
attached to the boilers. My improved apparatus is applicable generally to marine
boilers, but is especially designed for boilers in which are employed the very high
pressures which have recently come into use, the troubles and defects of ordinary
mountings having shown themselves more markedly in such boilers.
In connection with marine boilers there are generally feed pumps worked by the
main engines and feed pumps worked by a donkey engine, and two pipes connect
these pumps with the boiler these pipes having heretofore been exclusively used
for leading water into the boiler, whilst additional pipes have been connected to
the boiler for blowing off or emptying it and for drawing off scum.
Also in some
cases there have been other connections for hydrokineters or apparatus for
producing circulation in the water whilst the boiler is being heated up from the
cold state, and there have also been separate connections for pumping water out of
the boiler. By my Invention I connect the two feed pipes by a pipe or passage
fitted with a suitable stop valve or valves and I also provide the pipes if required
with other branch pipes or passages and valves, the connections being made
entirely apart from the boiler itself. I connect each feed pipe to the boiler, by
preference, by means of a conical nozzle or plug which projects into the boiler; and
inside of the boiler I attach a pipe made with a socket to fit on the conical nozzle
or plug and secure the same by a nut screwed on a stud formed ou or fixed in the
nozzle or plug. The internal pipe can be led in any desired direction from its
point of attachment, and it is arranged with its open end at about the water level
I Price R71

page_text: .
The
so that it can be used either for feeding in water or for drawing off scum.
usual check valve is provided in the feed pipe to act when feeding; but a by-pass
passage and stop valve is provided or means for holding open the check valve to
allow of water being drawn from the boiler. For emptying the boiler or blowing
off an internal pipe is led from the bottom of the boiler either to one of the feed
pipe connections or through the shell of the boiler to be externally connected to the
feed pipe. And in a similar way an internal pipe with a jet nozzle or combination
of nozzles may be provided for producing circulation by means of steam from the
donkey boiler or by means of water from the donkey pump, the internal pipe
being connected to one of the feed pipe connections, inside of the boiler or being
passed through the shell of the boiler and connected to the feed pipe externally.
With my improved arrangements hereinbefore described I utilise the pipes
heretofore used exclusively for feeding so as also to serve for drawing water from
the boiler or for making the water circulate.

page_text: Mountings for Marine Bollers.
I, JAMES WEIR, of 2 Commerce Street, Glasgow, in the County of Lanark,
North Britain, Engineer, 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, that is to say :-
My said Invention has for its object to simplify and improve a number of the
mountings of marine boilers, including the pipe and valve connections with feed
pumps and similar connections, so as to render the parts less liable to get out
of order, to diminish the chances of leakage, and to lessen the number of parts
directly attached to the boilers.
My improved apparatus is applicable generally to marine boilers, but it is
especially designed for boilers in which are employed the very high pressures
which have recently come into use, the troubles and defects of ordinary mountings
having shown themselves more markedly in such boilers.
In connection with marine boilers there are generally two feed pumps or sets of
feed pumps, one pump or set of pumps being in many cases worked by the main
engines and the other pump or set of pumps being worked by an auxiliary or
donkey engine, and two pipes connect these pumps with the boiler, these pipes
baving heretofore been exclusively used for leading water into the boiler, whilst
additional pipes have been connected to the boiler for blowing off or emptying it,
and for drawing off scum. Also in some cases there have been other connections
for hydrokineters or apparatus for producing circulation in the water whilst the
boiler is being heated up from the cold state; and there have also been separate
connections for pumping water out of the boiler. By my Invention I connect the
two feed pipes by a pipe or passage fitted with a suitable stop valve or valves and
I also provide pipes if required with other branch pipes or passages and valves, the
connections being made entirely apart from the boiler itself. I connect each feed
pipe to the boiler, preferably by means of a special connection which is shown in
the accompanying explanatory drawings and is hereinafter specially described;
and I arrange parts inside of the boiler for the various operations hereinbefore
referred to, so as to be in connection with the feed pipe connections. Thus the
feed pipes heretofore used exclusively for feeding are by my Invention also
utilised for other purposes such as drawing or discharging water from the boiler
and making the water circulate in the boiler.
I hereunto append two sheets of explanatory drawings showing the application
of my Invention. Figure, 1, on sheet, 1, is an end elevation of a marine boiler
showing the partial application of my Invention to a boiler having the usual
connections. Figure, 2, is a sectional end elevation of a marine boiler showing
a more complete application of my Invention. Figures, 3, and 4, on sheet, 2, are

page_text: vertical sections as at right angles to each other, of my improved boiler mounting
or connection for feeding and other operations. Figures, 5, and 6, are a section
and elevation of an arrangement of feed pump apparatus that may be used in
carrying out my Invention. In these drawings the same reference letters and
Dumerals are used to mark the same or like parts wherever they are repeated.
In the arrangement shown in figure, 1, the two feed pipes, F 1, F 2, are connected
to the boiler in the usual way with boxes, C1, C2, containing check valves, and
fitted with screw spindles for fixing the valves in their closed positions when
required. The boiler has also attached to it a surface blow-off or scum cock, S, &
bottom blow-off cock, B, and a hydrokineter, H; and the blow-off cocks, S, and B,
have connected to them a pipe, .7, which is connected by a branch pipe, 8, to one of
the feed pipes, F 2, whilst the .hydrokineter, 'H, is connected to the other feed
pipe, F 1.
In the arrangement shown in figure, 2, each. feed pipe, F 1, F 2, is connected to
the boiler, through a combination valve piece, V1, V2, which is shown enlarged
and in section in figures, 3, and 4; and no other communication is made through
the boiler shell for any of the purposes herein before referred to. Each valve
piece, V, is attached to the boiler shell, 9, by a conical nozzle or plug, 10, which
projects through a hole in the shell into the boiler; and inside of the boiler there
is placed on the nozzle, 10, a pipe piece, 11, made with a socket to fit on the
conical nozzle and secured thereon by a nut, 12, screwed on the inner end of the
nozzle, 10. The pipe. piece, 11, can have branch pipes, 13, 14, fixed to it and
arranged to lead in any desired direction. Thus the upper branch, 13, may have
its open end at about the water level so that it can be used either for feeding in
water or for drawing off scum, whilst the lower branch, 14, may extend down to
the bottom of the boiler and have its lower end arranged for drawing off water or
for directing a jet of water or steam for producing circulation. Inside of the
conical nozzle, 10, there is fitted a hollow conical plug, 15, made with a spindle, 16,
which passes out through a stuffing box, and has a squared outer end to receive a
key for turning it by. The hollow conical plug, 15, is made with a port near its
inner end at one side, and can be turned to make this port communicate with the
upper internal pipe, 13, or with the lower one, 14, as may be required, access from
the interior of the valve piece, V, into the hollow plug being provided for by holes
in its sides. As usual a check valve, 17, in connection with the feed pipe, F, its
seat being fixed in an inlet passage, 18, in the valve piece, V; and a screw
spindle, 19, with an external hand wheel and entering through a stuffing box is
provided for closing down the check valve when required. It is sometimes
necessary to hold the valve, 17, in an open position, and for this purpose a screw
spindle, 20, is provided beneath it, with a squared external end for the application
of a turning key.
In figure, 6, are shown two direct-action steam pumps which may be of any
suitable known kind, one corresponding to the ordinary donkey pumps, and when
feeding, supplying the boiler through the feed pipe, F2; whilst the other pump
feeds through the other feed pipe, F1, and may be regarded as the main feed
being substituted according to a practice now common for feed pumps worked by
the main engines. For the purposes of my Invention additional valve boxes, 21, 22,
are provided in connection with the boxes, 23, 24, containing the usual inlet and
outlet check valves of the pump. The outlet or discharge passage, 25, (figure, 5),
communicates with three chambers through valves opened or closed by means of
screw spindles having handwheels, 26, 27, 28, and these chambers have respectively
connected to them pipes, 29, 30, and F.2, the last of which is one of the boiler feed
pipes and has already been referred to, whilst the other two may lead to various
parts as for example to the ship's side and to the deck. The chamber or box, 22,
to which the feed pipe, F 2, is connected has also in it a lower valve with its screw
spindle and handwheel, 31, which valve when open makes a communication
between the feed pipe, F 2, and the pump inlet, 23. With these arrangements by

page_text: suitably adjusting the various stop valves the pump can be made to pump water
into the boiler, or to pump or draw water out of the boiler. Or the valves may
be adjusted to allow water to pass from the boiler through the valve boxes and
one of the pipes, 29, to the ship's side, the valves at the boiler being of course also
suitably adjusted for whatever action is desired. There are also valves in boxes, 32,
between the two pumps, and these valves can be adjusted for various purposes; as
for example so that water may be drawn from the boiler through one feed pipe.
and returned to the boiler through the other feed pipe for the purpose of producing
circulation.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is:-
1. The utilising of the feed pipes of marine boilers and parts connected
there with so as in addition to their ordinary use of supplying water to the boilers
to also serve for other purposes such as drawing water from the boiler and
producing circulation substantially as herein before described.
2. The arranging and combining of the feed-pump and other connections or
mountings of marine boilers, so that the feed-pipe communications through the
boiler shell are made to serve also as the communications through which water is
blown or drawn from the boiler substantially as hereinbefore described.
3. The connecting of a feed pipe to a marine boiler by means of a valve
piece (V) and parts connected therewith substantially such as are hereinbefore
described, more particularly with reference to figures, 3, and 4, of the accompanying
drawings.