IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING AND APPARATUS FOR DRAWING OFF WATER FOR CONDENSING ENGINES, FOR FEEDING STRAM BOILERS, AND FOR SCOURING, BLEACHING, AND DYEING.”
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Stevenson Macdonald, of Manchester,
in the County of Lancaster, Practical Chemist and Engineer, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING AND APPARATUS FOR
DRAWING OFF WATER FOR CONDENSING ENGINES, FOR FEEDING STRAM BOILERS,
AND FOR SCOURING, BLEACHING, AND DYEING.”
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Stevenson
Macdonald at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 28th June 1875.
.
I, WILLIAM STEVENSON MACDONALD, of Manchester, in the County
3 of Lancaster, Practical Chemist and Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING AND
APPARATUS FOR DRAWING OFF WATER FOR CONDENSING ENGINES, FOR FEEDING STEAM.
BOILERS, AND FOR SCOURING, BLEACHING, and Dyeing," to be as follows:-
The water for generating steam and for other purposes being collected
in 'an iron cistern: is with the aid of heat which nasses from the hoiler

page_text: to the chimney, or from other source allowed sufficient time to settle so
as to permit the matters in suspension to sink to the bottom, the same
effects will be produced by injecting the exhaust high pressure steam
into the water or into pipes passing through the water. If the water
contains mineral solutions or free acids, carbonate of soda, or potash may
be added to neutralise these injurious matters. Under ordinary circum-
stances the water being thus prepared the day before and allowed to
settle over night, will be in fit condition for use the following morning.
The supernatant clear water is then drawn off to supply the boiler or
for other purpose by means of a float pipe which is not allowed to dip:
so low as to catch the deposit or sludge at the bottom of the cistern,
neither can it rise sufficiently high to draw off the injurious scum which
floats or swims on the surface when foul water is heated. This float
pipe swivels on a ball-and-socket joint placed near the bottom of the
cistern, and the range is limited by stops.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Stevenson Macdonald in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 24th December 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
STEVENSON MACDONALD, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, 2
Practical Chemist and Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give 2
and grant unto me, the said William Stevenson Macdonald, Her special
licence that I, the said William Stevenson Macdonald, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Stevenson Macdonald, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all g
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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING AND APPARATUS FOR DRAWING

page_text: OFF WATER, FOR CONDENSING ENGINES, FOR FEEDING STEAM BOILERS, AND FOR
SCOURING, BLEACHING, AND DYEING," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said William Stevenson Macdonald, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument 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 William Stevenson Macdonald, do
hereby declare the nature of my said 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) :-
The water for generating steam and for other purposes being collected
in an iron or other cistern, tank, or lodge, is with the aid of heat which
passes from the boiler to the chimney, allowed sufficient time to settle
so as to permit the matters in suspension to sink to the bottom, the
same effects will be produced by injecting the exhaust high-pressure
steam into the water or into pipes passing through the water, or the
water may be allowed sufficient time to clarify by subsidation. If the
water contains mineral solutions or free acids, carbonate of soda, or.
potash, or chloride of lime or other equivalent agents may be added to
neutralise these injurious matters. Under ordinary circumstances the
water being thus prepared the day before and allowed to settle over
night should be in fit condition for use the following morning. The
supernatant clear water is then drawn off to supply the boiler or for
other purpose by means of a float pipe which is not allowed to dip so
low as to catch the deposit or sludge at the bottom of the cistern, tank,
or lodge, neither can it rise sufficiently high to draw off the injurious
seum which floats or swims on the surface when foul water is heated.
This float pipe swivels on a ball-and-socket or other joint formed near
the bottom of the cistern, tank, or lodge, and the range is limited by
stops.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into operation, I will proceed to describe the accompanying
Drawing which represents an elevation in section, as shewn at Fig. 1,
and a plan, Fig. 2, of an apparatus suitable for preparing and drawing off

page_text: '
the water for feeding steam boilers; a similar apparatus on an enlarged
scale may be applied to a tank or lodge for preparing water to be used
for a condensing steam engine or for scouring, bleaching, and dyeing,
and for other purposes.
a is a cast-iron or other cistern, near the bottom of which is the
discharge pipe b, which coincides with the elbow pipe c; to the elbow
pipe c is jointed the swivel piece d which is bolted to the hollow arm e,
at the end of which is fixed the float f, the buoyancy of which can be
varied by the introduction of water through a hole above, or otherwise.
Near the float and at the under side of the arm e is the orifice e',
through which the water flows down the arm e, elbow pieces d and c
to the discharge pipe b. The hollow arm e is guided between the
uprights g, in which are holes for the stop pin g' by which the fall of
the hollow arm is limited. The stop pin is placed at such a distance
from the bottom of the cistern that the sediment or deposit is not drawn :
off with the clean water, and the orifice e¹ being placed at the under
side of the hollow arm e prevents the scum on the surface being
drawn off.
3. In some cases a flexible tube may be used instead of the hollow
arm.
The mode of operation is as follows:-When the water or other liquid
in the cistern has been allowed to settle either with or without the aid
of heat, and after the injurious matters, if any, have been preciptated by
the application of carbonate of soda, chloride of lime, or other suitable
agents, it is ready for use and may be drawn off by turning the tap in a
the discharge pipe, and the water will continue to flow until the descent
of the hollow arm e is stopped by the pin 9¹, after which the cistern
must be again filled and the water or other liquid prepared as above
described.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention and described an
apparatus suitable for carrying the same into operation, I wish it to be
understood that I do not intend to limit myself to the details given, as
the same may be considerably varied and modified according to the
particular purpose to which my Invention is applied, and I declare that
I claim,―
The mode of purifying or preparing water or other liquid by heat or
____imitation in the mound for the H dessuth

page_text: Secondly. The apparatus shewn and described or any equivalent
apparatus for drawing water out of cisterns, tanks, or lodges, within
certain limits, as shown and as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Stevenson Macdonald,
have hereto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of
December, One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.