Improvements in Apparatus for Evaporating Salt Water for Supplying Extra Feed for Marine Boilers.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 18th Apr., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 19th Jan., 1891-Accepted, 21st Feb., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Evaporating Salt Water for
Supplying Extra Feed for Marine Boilers.
I, JAMES KERR, of 20 Thorndale Road, Waterloo, near Liverpool, in the
County of Lancaster, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to
be as follows:-
The object of my present improved apparatus is to supply extra feed for marine
boilers which are used in conjunction with surface condensers, in order to make up
for the inevitable waste of water which occurs under these circumstances.
I construct such apparatus as follows:-
I provide a tall outer vessel preferably cylindrical and vertical, open and flanged
at each end. The lower flange is jointed on to a suitable opening on the top of
the condenser the manhole may be conveniently utilised for this purpose in
most cases.
Within this outer vessel I place an inner vessel, of smaller diameter, with a
dished bottom and an open flanged top, the said flange resting on the top flange
of the outer vessel when the vessels are in place, and closing the top of the annular
space between the vessels. The top of the inner vessel is closed by a flanged
cover or dome.
Within the inner vessel and resting on the bottom of it is a flat spiral coil of
thin copper or other suitable metal tubing. The end of the tube at the periphery
of the spiral passes steam tight through the inner and outer vessels, and forms the
steam inlet, which is connected by a suitable valve and pipe to the steam in the
boiler or in one of the cylinder casings; the other end of the tube at the centre of
the spiral passes steam tight through the bottom of the inner vessel and opens into
the condenser in the form of a contracted nozzle.
The inner vessel contains the water to be evaporated, and the vapour generated
therein is conveyed by a vapour pipe from the top of the cover or dome to the
condenser. The said vapour pipe may conveniently be led into the outer vessel
through a cock or valve near its bottom.
The uncondensed steam in the condenser has free access to the annular space
between the vessels and supplies the necessary heat to effect the evaporation, as the
latter takes place under a partial vacuum.
When however it is found that the heat so supplied is insufficient, or when it is
desired to evaporate water when the engines are not working, steam from the boiler
or from one of the cylinder casings is admitted to the spiral worm, is condensed or
partially condensed therein and Hows into the condenser through the contracted
nozzle, having given up its heat to the water in the inner vessel.
The feed water for the inner vessel is introduced through a suitable connection
controlled by a cock which is adjusted to maintain the water at a proper level.
The feed may be conveniently taken from the circulating pump discharge pipe.
The inner vessel is fitted with a gauge glass and drain cock, the connections for
which pass air tight through the outer vessel. The said drain cock may con-
veniently be incorporated with the lower mounting of the gauge glass.
As the water in the inner vessel becomes concentrated by evaporation, it must
be drained out at intervals; to effect this, the communication with the condense
must be closed and a small air cock opened so as to destroy the vacuum within the
inner vessel. The gauge glass herein before mentioned may be fitted with one or
more balls of suitable specific gravity so as to act as a continuous salinometer in
the well known manner.
In order to prevent, as far as possible, the deposition of scale on the inner vessel

page_text: and on the spiral coil I provide a shallow pan or collector of as large diameter as
possible, which is supported just over the spiral coil on short feet which pass
between the convolutions of the coil and rest on the bottom of the vessel; the
collector is provided with an eyebolt, so as to be readily removable for cleaning
and scaling.
171 1
J
A
11000
SLOAN & LLOYD BARNES,
Castle Chambers, Castle Street, Liverpool, Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Evaporating Salt Water for
Supplying Extra Feed for Marine Boilers.
I, JAMES KERR, of 20 Thorndale Road, Waterloo, near Liverpool, in the
County of Lancaster, 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 :—
The object of my present improved apparatus is to supply extra feed for marine
boilers which are used in conjunction with surface condensers, in order to make up
for the inevitable waste of water which occurs under these circumstances.
I construct such apparatus as follows, reference being made to the accompanying
drawings in which
Fig. I is a sectional elevation of the apparatus on the line A A of Fig. IV;
Fig. II a plan of the spiral coil 9 ;
Fig. III a side elevation of the apparatus as viewed from the left of Fig. 1; and
Fig. IV a sectional plan on the line B B of Fig. 1.
Throughout the drawings the same parts are indicated by the same reference
figures, and in the case of sections the direction in which they are viewed is
indicated by the small arrows placed adjacent to the letters denoting the plane of
section.
I provide a tall outer vessel 1 preferably cylindrical and vertical, open and
flanged at each end. The lower flange is jointed on to a suitable opening on the
top of the main condenser 2; the man-hole 3 may be conveniently utilised for this
purpose in most cases.
Within this outer vessel I place an inner vessel 4 of smaller diameter, with a
dished bottom 5 and an open top provided with a flange 6, the said flange resting
on the top flange of the outer vessel when the vessels are in place, and closing the
top of the annular space 7 between the vessels. The top of the inner vessel is
closed by a flanged cover or dome 8.
Within the inner vessel and resting on the bottom of it is a flat spiral coil 9 of
thin copper or other suitable metal tubing. The end 10 of the coil at the periphery
of the spiral is attached to the stem 11 of the stop valve 12 which passes steam-
tight through the inner and outer vessels and forms the steam inlet, and is connected
by a suitable pipe 13 to the steam in the boiler or in one of the cylinder casings;
the other end 14 of the coil at the centre of the spiral passes steam-tight through
the bottom 5 of the inner vessel and opens into the main condenser in the form of a
contracted nozzle 15.
The inner vessel contains the water to be evaporated, and the vapour generated
therein is conveyed by a vapour pipe 16 from the top of the cover or dome 8 to the
main condenser 2. The said vapour pipe is shown led to the outer vessel 1 through
a cock 17 near its bottom.
The uncondensed steam in the condenser 2 has free access to the annular space 7
between the vessels and supplies the necessary heat to effect evaporation, as the
latter takes place in a partial vacuum.
When however it is found that the heat so supplied is insufficient, or when it is
desired to evaporate water when the engines are not working, steam from the-boiler

page_text: or from one of the cylinder casings is admitted to the spiral coil 9, is condensed or
partially condensed therein and flows into the condenser through the contracted
nozzle 15 having given up heat to the water in the inner vessel.
The feed water for the inner vessel is introduced through the valve 18 which is
adjusted to maintain the water at a proper level. The feed may be conveniently
taken from the circulating pump discharge pipe. The inner vessel is fitted with a
gauge-glass 19, drain cock 20 and drain pipe 21, the connections for which pass
steam-tight through the outer and inner vessels. The said drain cock may be
conveniently incorporated as shown with the lower mounting of the gauge-glass.
In each case where the connections pass steam-tight through both the outer and
inner vessels the joint is made staunch by the use of the ferrules 22.
As the water in the inner vessel becomes concentrated by evaporation, it must be
drained out at intervals; to effect this, the communication with the main condenser
must be closed and a small air cock 23, which may conveniently be placed on the
vapour pipe 16 as shown, opened so as to destroy the vacuum within the inner
vessel. The gauge-glass hereinbefore mentioned may be fitted with one or more
balls of suitable specific gravity (which are not shown) so as to act as a continuous
salinometer in the well known manner.
In order to prevent as far as possible, the deposition of scale on the inner vessel 4
or on the spiral coil 9, I provide a shallow deposit collecting pan 24 of as large a
diameter as possible which is supported just over the spiral coil on short feet 25
which pass between the convolutions of the coil and rest on the bottom of the
vessel; the collector is provided with an eye-bolt 26 so as to be readily removable
for cleaning and scaling, and for the same reason the coil 9 may if preferred be
connected to the outlet nozzle 15 by a screwed union accessible from the inside of
the vessel 4.
As the apparatus is self-contained it will be seen that by taking advantage of the
man-hole of the condenser, the apparatus can be fitted to existing engines without
any structural alterations beyond providing connections for the water and steam
supply.
When the heat supplied by the steam in the coil 9 is considerable, the com-
paratively large quantity of vapour delivered by the pipe 16 into the annular
space 7 will practically prevent the access of vapour from the condenser to the said
annular space; the inner vessel 4 will thus be jacketed by its own vapour and loss
of heat by conduction and radiation will be prevented or minimised.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is,
1. In apparatus for evaporating salt water for supplying extra feed for marine
boilers, an outer vessel opening at its lower end into the vapour space of the main
condenser, within which vessel is placed a closed inner vessel, so forming between
the vessels a steam-tight annular space communicating with the vapour space of the
main condenser, the upper part of the said inner vessel communicating by means of
a pipe and cock with the vapour space of the main condenser, either directly or
through the lower part of the said annular space, substantially as set forth.
2. In apparatus for evaporating salt water for supplying extra feed for marine
boilers, an outer vessel opening at its lower end into the vapour space of the main
condenser, within which vessel is placed an inner vessel closed by a removable
cover and having an external flange jointed to the upper part of the outer vessel, so
forming a steam-tight annular space between the vessels, communicating with the
vapour space of the main condenser, the upper part of the inner vessel communi-
cating by means of a pipe and cock with the vapour space of the main condenser
through the lower part of the said annular space substantially as described.
3. In combination with the outer and inner vessels of claims one and two, a steam
heating coil placed within the said inner vessel, the inlet to which passes steam-
tight through the outer and inner vessels, and the outlet of which passes steam-tight

page_text: through the inner vessel into the vapour space of the main condenser, substantially
as described and illustrated.
4. In apparatus for evaporating salt water for supplying extra feed for marine
boilers, the use of the vapour generated in the apparatus as a vapour jacket in
order to prevent loss of heat, substantially as described and illustrated.
5. The use of the deposit collecting pan 24 substantially as described and
illustrated.
6. The improved apparatus for evaporating salt water for supplying extra feed
for marine boilers, substantially as described and illustrated in the drawings.
Dated this 17th dox of January 1891
SLOAN & LLOYD BARNES,
Castle Chambers, Castle Street, Liverpool, Agents for the Applicant.