An Apparatus for Introducing Liquids into Tubes employed in the Congealment of Aquiferous Soil and of Moving Sands.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 13th July, 1893-Accepted, 23rd Sept., 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Apparatus for Introducing Liquids into Tubes employed in the
Congealment of Aquiferous Soil and of Moving Sands.
I AUGUSTE GOBERT of No. 222 Chaussée de Charleroi Brussels in the
Kingdom of Belgium Honorary Mining 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 congealing tubes or pipes closed at the bottom and placed vertically in
aquiferous soils have for their object to congeal such soils in such a manner that
pumping is unnecessary and so that moreover the soil may readily stand when it is
being dug in order to form a pit for mining purposes or other similar work. In
order to congeal the soil, its heat must be withdrawn by reducing the temperature
inside the congealing tubes below zero centigrade. This temperature as well as
the number of negative calories required for the congealment should be produced
in a rational manner having regard to the rules governing stability of structures
that is to say, supposing that the said soil has an uniform consistency the wall of
congealed soil which has to be formed should be thicker at the lower part than at
the upper part.
Moreover it is desirable to produce in the congealing tubes as much cold as
possible in a given time in conjunction with the lowest temperature possible in
order that the wall of congealed soil may be formed as quickly. as possible.
The cold is produced inside the congealing tubes by the evaporation of a suitable
liquid such as for instance anhydrous ammonia liquefied by compression.
The congealing tubes communicate with an exhausting and forcing machine
which exhausts the gas, compresses it into a liquid form and forces this liquid into
the congealing tubes through the medium of the apparatus forming the object of
this invention.
When the liquid to be evaporated is introduced into the congealing tube, the
said liquid should be prevented from falling to the bottom of the congealing tube,
this would occur if the apparatus through which the liquid enters was a straight
tube, vertical and open at the bottom. If the liquid were thus to fall it would
collect at the bottom of the congealing tube and would evaporate slowly because
its evaporating surface would be small relatively to the mass of liquid to be
evaporated and because the source of heat would be small relatively to the said
mass of liquid. The lowering of the pressure in the congealing tube by means of
the exhausting machine would but slightly remedy this evil as such lowering of
pressure would bring about a more intense cooling of the liquid to be evaported;
the latter cooled to an unnecessary extent would then become what is technically
known as "lazy" that is to say it would evaporate slowly on account of the
excessive lowering of its temperature. In other words there is in practice a limit
to the possible lowering of pressure.
To prevent the liquid from falling to the bottom of the congealing tube and to
ensure evaporation of as much of the liquid as possible during a given space of
time, I give to the pipe through which the liquid enters an undulating or wavy or
zig-zag form by bending or curving it in opposite directions in one plane as shown
at a Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings or I give to the said pipe a
helicoidal form as shown in Figure 3. I cause the said pipe a to extend nearly to
the bottom of the congealing tube b.
The liquid the entrance or inlet of which into the tube or pipe a is carefully
regulated descends slowly in the said tube or pipe in the form of a small stream in
the path of which small openings c are formed at intervals in the said tube through
which openings c the liquid escapes into the congealing tube b. The liquid forms

page_text: really a very small slowly advancing stream of which portions escape at intervals
as it advances. This escape of successive portions of the liquid and the slow
downward motion of the said liquid are consequent on the form given to the pipe
or tube a as above described.
The heat which is necessary for the evaporation of the liquid is supplied by the
soil and passes through the wall of the congealing tube and through that of the
congealed soil which soon surrounds the congealing tube.
The undulating or zig-zag or helicoidal tube a is closed at its lower extremity.
Owing to the above described arrangement, the liquid to be evaporated escapes
at all depths simultaneously into the congealing tube and the whole source of heat
at disposal is thus utilized at the same time for evaporation of the said liquid. In
other words the refrigeration is effected simultaneously at all parts.
The size and number and arrangement or distribution or relative positions of
the openings c in the pipe or tube a may be varied and the form of the bends or.
pitch of the helix of the said pipe may be varied in such a manner that the number
of openings per unit of length of the pipe will be different at different depths or
different parts of the length of the said pipe and in such a manner that the
inclination of the bends of the pipe or the pitch of the helix may be different at
different depths or different parts of the length of the said pipe.
The object to be attained is to congeal the greatest volume of soil within a
given time, while distributing the production of cold in a rational manner having
regard to the rules governing stability of structures in other words the object to
be attained is to form within a minimum. of time a solid wall of suitable
proportions that is to say of a thickness varying according to the depth or height
of the said wall.
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 :-
•
An apparatus consisting of a tube having a bent or wavy or undulating or
helicoidal form permitting of a comparatively slow descending motion of the liquid
which tube has openings formed in it for the egress of the liquid into the
congealing tube, the form of the first named tube and the openings in its walls
being capable of being so arranged that the production of cold shall not be
uniform at all depths but rationally variable having regard to the laws of stability
of structures or buildings substantially as above described and shown in the
accompanying drawings.
Dated the Thirteenth day of July 1893.
W. T. WHITEMAN,
Agent for the Applicant.