AN IMPROVED REFRIGERATOR FOR COOLING BREWERS' AND DISTILLERS' WORTS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Riley, of No. 1, the Grove, in the Parish of
Saint Mary, Lambeth, in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of "AN
IMPROVED REFRIGERATOR FOR COOLING BREWERS' AND DISTILLERS' WORTS."
Sealed the 19th December 1856, and dated the 23rd June 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Riley at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 23rd June
1856.
I, GEORGE RILEY, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"AN IMPROVED REFRIGERATOR FOR COOLING BREWERS' AND DISTILLERS' WORTS," to
be as follows:-
The nature of my Invention consists in the cooling of brewers' and distillers'
worts by running the same through a great length of metal pipe, the same
being laid in a helical circle or spiral circle with many circumvolutions, with
metalic divisions between each circle, forming one continuous passage way, in
which cold water runs in a contrary direction to that of the article to be
cooled.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Riley in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
20th December 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
RILEY, of No. 1, the Grove, in the Parish of Saint Mary, Lambeth, in tho
County of Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Ier reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Georgo Riley, Her special licence that I, the said George Riley, my execu-
tors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said George Riley,
my executors, administrators, and 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 "AN IMPROVED REFRIGERATOR FOR
COOLING BREWERS' AND DISTILLERS' WORTS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said George Riley, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner 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 George Riley, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
The following is a full, clear, and exact description of the principle or
character which distinguishes it from all other things known, and of the
manner of making, constructing, and using the same, reference being had to
the accompanying Drawings, making part of this Specification; in which
Figure 1st is a plan of my apparatus, and Figure 2nd, a section through the
line A, B, Fig. 1.
The nature of my Invention consists in the cooling of brewers' and distillers'
worts and other fluids by running the same through a great length of metal
pipe, the same being laid in a continued helical circle or spiral circle with
many circumvolutions, with metallic divisions between each circle, forming

page_text: one continuous passage way, in which cold water runs in a contrary direction
to that of the article to be cooled.
The construction is as follows:-A tub (A) is constructed, twelve feet in
diameter and one foot deep, with a good pine bottom; there is now made
another bottom exactly fitting in the bottom of the tub; this is made of one-
inch clear pine boards, and strongly glued together, and when planed and
brought to an even thickness, I take a peg of wood or metal three-fourths of
an inch in diameter; round this I wind a piece of fine soft wire, with a loop
at the end, in which I insert a pencil; I drive this peg in the centre of this
false or inner bottom, and at nine inches from the centre I begin drawing a
continuous helical circle, with the pencil attached to the wire, unwinding it in
doing so), until I arrive within two inches of the outer diameter of the
bottom; this gives me a continuous circle of about five hundred and forty
feet in length, with a space between of nearly two inches and three-eighths.
I now, with a fine compas saw, saw out the whole of the mark made with the
pencil, taking care to saw very plumb and true. As the sawing proceeds, the
picces break in various lengths, and care must be taken to place them in their
original position, so as to be readily found for replacing at the bottom of the
tub. I now take the centre piece B, which is eighteen inches in diameter,
and place it exactly in the centre of the tub (A), nailing it tightly down, and
with an inch and a quarter auger, I bore a hole in a slanting direction through
the centre of it and the tub. I now take a coil of one-inch block tin pipe (C)
of the necessary length, or in shorter lengths, and solder them together as I
proceed, and put the one end of it through the hole thus made, until it pro-
jects through the bottom and reaches the outside diameter of the tub; I close
the space round the pipe by caulking or running pitch in it, or both, so as to
make it water-tight. I now take the metal intended for the partitions (D),
either copper, tin plate, zinc, or galvanized iron, but prefer galvanized iron,
and cut out the whole length required, commencing at twelve inches and
diminishing regularly to six inches deep at the end. I take the various pieces
and solder them together in lengths of from six to twelve feet; at the smaller
end of each of these pieces or lengths I solder on a piece of the same depth,
and two inches broad (E), the soldering being done at the back part of it, thus
leaving the end of the piece open to serve as a jaw or clasp for the end of the
next piece, which on being placed is inserted about one inch; this is done for
the purpose of keeping the divisions nearly water-tight, and yet to allow of
their contracting or expanding, as the case may be. At about half an inch
from the bottom of these metal partitions, at every three or four feet, I punch
a longitudinal hole, an inch long and one-eighth of an inch broad, for the

page_text: purpose of receiving a nail to keep it down in its place. I make the hole long
to allow for expansion. I now take the first or deepest piece of metal and
place it on its edge round the centre picce B, driving a headless nail in the
centre of the long slit, nearly but not quite home. I now take that part of
the wooden circle forming the first round of the inner bottom, putting it in its
original place and nailing it securely down to the bottom of the tub, the metal
occupying the space made by the saw, and being held securely down by the
headless nail. I now bend the pipe round the metal partition, laying it in the
centre of the space left. I now bring the metal partition round, securing it as
before, and following it with the pipe until the whole of the circles, partitions,
and pipe are laid down, taking care to insert the large end of each piece of the
partition in the jaws of the piece previously laid down. I now bend the end
of the pipe up, and connect it with the hop back or other vessel containing
the article to be cooled. To the end of the pipe coming through the bottom
and under the tub, I attach a stop-cock F, for the purpose of regulating the
passage of the wort.
G is an opening, level with the bottom of the tub, for
letting away the water used.
The operation of this apparatus is as follows:-Cold water is admitted into
the centre space left in the tub, from whence it runs round through the par-
titions until it reaches the exit pipe (G). The stop-cock F is now opened, and
the wort or other article is allowed to run into the fermenting tun, the heat
being regulated by increasing or dimiminishing the quantity of water used.
I find that a coil of about five hundred and fifty feet of one-inch pipe, with
a pressure of nine or ten feet head can be suffered to run full, and with about
the same quantity of water running in the contrary direction, the wort will be
cooled from the boiling point to within one or two degrees of the water
employed, at the rate of about eight barrels per hour; by using more water
the wort will be brought to the heat of it (the water). If largeer quantities
of wort are required to be cooled in the same time, I increase the height of
the partitions, and put in additional coils of pipe of the same size, laying them
on the coil previously laid down. For distillers' wash or beer, which does not
require to be cooled so low as ale or beer worts, I use larger pipe, say, from
one inch and a half to two inches and a half in diameter, and increase the
length in proportion.
What I claim as my Invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,
the cooling of brewers' and distillers' worts or other fluids by passing the same
through a length of metal pipe, the pipe being laid in continuous helical circles,
or in a continued series of spiral circles, diverging regularly from the centre.
with metallic or other divisions between each, forming one continued passage

page_text: way in which cold water runs in a contrary direction to that of the article to
be cooled; the apparatus, the construction of which I also claim, being made
substantially in the manner described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Riley, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Sixteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
GEORGE RILEY. (L.S.)