IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR SUPERHEATING STEAM
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF AND APPARATUS
FOR SUPERHEATING STEAM."-A communication from abroad by Solomon
Nunes Caravalho, of the City of Baltimore, in the United States of
America.
Sealed the 18th January 1861, and dated the 8th August 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
8th August 1860.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF AND APPARATUS
FOR SUPERHEATING STEAM," to be as follows:-
In the apparatus heretofore used for superheating, and thereby increasing
the power of steam, it has been found very difficult, if not impossible, to prevent
the rapid oxidation of the metal of which the apparatus has been composed,
consequent upon its exposure to a high degree of heat on its one surface, and
to the gases resulting from the decomposition of a portion of the steam' on the
other surface. To obviate this difficulty, and also to increase the power of the

page_text: steam economically, it is now proposed to pass a continuous supply of ordinary
steam from the boiler to a retort containing the black protoxide of iron or
protoxide of other metal, and turnings, shavings, or other scraps of iron, which
will produce an extended heating surface, the retort being placed either in the
furnaces of the boiler or in the flues or connections thereof, or in a separate
furnace.
When applying the Invention to a locomotive boiler, the retort is set in
the fire box and connected to one end in a steam pipe leading from the steam
dome, and to the other a pipe or system of pipes, which lead through the water
space to the cylinders of the engine. The pipe from the dome is fitted with a
check valve, and the other pipe is similarly provided. The spindles of these
valves project upwards to receive each a hand wheel, by which the valves are
operated through the agency of a thread cut upon the spindles and working in
a tapped bearing. Fitted to the pipe which leads off the steam to the engine is
a slide valve which opens a communication directly between the steam space
in the boiler and this pipe. By the opening, therefore, of this slide valve,
common steam may be admitted from the boiler to the superheated steam
passing from the retort to the engine, and the proportions of this admixture
may be readily regulated as judged necessary, or the common steam may be
cut off when it is desired to supply superheated steam only to the cylinders of
the engine.
For stationary or marine boilers, the retort may with advantage be set in
the smoke box. In this case the steam communications will be outside and
on opposite sides of the boiler, the steam being taken from the crown of the
boiler, passed through the retort, and conducted into the dome. A guard is
provided in the retort for preventing the materials contained therein being
blown into the eduction pipe.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed.
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 8th February 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents; 66," Chancery Lane, in the County.
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters,
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of August, in the year of our Lord!
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her reign,

page_text: did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license that I, the said Alfred Vincent
Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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
." IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR SUPERHEATING STEAM," being
a communication from abroad upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
.said Alfred Vincent Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 Alfred Vincent Newton, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to bo
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
In the apparatus heretofore used for superheating and thereby increasing
the power of steam, it has been found very difficult, if not impossible, to
prevent the rapid oxydation of the metal of which the apparatus has been
composed consequent upon its exposure to a high degree of heat on its one
surface, and to the gases resulting from the decomposition of a. portion of the
steam on the other surface. To obviate this difficulty, and also to increase the
power of the steam economically, is the object of the present Invention. To
this end a continuous supply of ordinary steam is passed from the boiler to a
retort containing black protoxide of iron or protoxide of other metal, and
turnings, shavings, or other scraps of iron that will produce an extended heating
surface, the retort being placed either in the furnace of the boiler or in the
flues or connections thereof, or in a separate furnace.
The Invention also consists in certain arrangements of the steam pipes and
their connections in combination with the retort and the boiler.
.. In the accompanying Drawing, forming part of this Specification, Figures 1
and 2 illustrate the application of the retort within the fire-box of a locomotive
boiler; Fig. 1 exhibiting a longitudinal, and Fig. 2 a transverse. vertical
section of the boiler; and Figures 3 and 4 .illustrate the application of the
retort within the back connection between the direct and return flues of a

page_text: stationary or steam boat boiler; Fig. 3 exhibiting a longitudinal, and Fig. 4 a
transverse vertical section of the boiler..
. A in Figures 1 and 2 is the retort made of cast iron, of cylindrical or other
form, arranged across the upper part of the fire-box B near the front thereof.
a is a pipe for conveying steam from the steam dome C'of the boiler to one end
of the retort; this pipe is fitted with a check valve c, to prevent the steam
passing back toward the dome; a screw d is applied to the valve for the
purpose of controlling it and making it serve as a stop valve or regulator.
The 'stem of this screw works through a stuffing box 6 in the shell of the boiler;
e is a pipe forming a communication between the opposite end of the retort to
that at which the pipe a is connected with the ordinary steam pipe f, which
leads to the engine. The pipe é is furnished with a check valve h, like. the
check valve.c.in the pipe a, and this check valve h has applied to it a screw i,
similar to the screw d. The pipe e communicates with the retort through a
second pipe g, see Fig. 1, which is perforated in such a manner as to con-
stitute a screen to prevent any solid matters from the retort being carried into
it with the steam; j is a sliding regulator fitted to the steam pipe f to control
the admission thereinto of steam from the boiler. By closing the valve j and
opening the valves c and.h, -all the steam is caused to pass through the retort
(as indicated by arrows in Fig. 2) and be superleated before it can reach the
pipe f, to be conveyed to the engine; but by opening the valve jas well as
the valves c and h, a certain quantity of natural or common steam is allowed to
enter the pipe to mingle with the superheated steam for the purpose:of
tempering. it. It will be observed that the pipes a and e represented in
Figures 1 and 2, are arranged entirely within the boiler, being connected with
the crown plates of the fire-box by flanges and bolts, or other means,. opposite
where the retort is connected with the said plates, and communicating with the
retort through openings provided in those plates.
D, in Figures 3 and 4, is the retort made like A, of cast iron, of cylindrical
or other form; this retort extends right across the back connection E, between
the direct flues F, F, and return flues G, G, of the boiler; and is extended
right through the sides of the boiler to enable the steam pipes to be connected
outside thereof. Connected with the steam space of the boiler, below the
steam dome H, is a pipe for conveying steam from the boiler to one end of
the retort, and fitted to this pipe is a valve m, which constitutes a check valve
and a stop and regulating valve like the valve c represented in Fig. 2; n is a
pipe leading from the other end of the retort to the steam dome H: of the
boiler furnished with a valve p, which like m serves as a check valve and a
stop and regulating valve; the valves m, p, operating as check valves only,

page_text: permit the circulation of the steam through the retort in the direction of the
arrows shown in Fig. 4. At the connection of the pipe n with the retort D,
there is a perforated plate or grating 9, which constitutes a screen to prevent
any solid matter leaving the retort by the pipe n. In this arrangement the
steam is supposed to be conveyed direct from the dome H to the engine.
'
If the superheating retort A or D be charged with about equal parts of iron
turnings and the black protoxide of iron mixed together, and the steam generated
in the boiler be allowed to pass into the retort by the pipe provided for the.
purpose, as the steam comes in contact with the metal it will be distributed
upon an extent of heating surface much greater than would be afforded by the
retort itself, without the fragments of metal. At all ordinary degrees of
temperature the steam would pass through the retort and simply receive a
limited increase of heat, and without materially affecting the metal of the retort,
but with such a temperature of the retort as would be necessary to superheat
the steam to a desirable degree, the steam coming in contact with the iron of
the retort, becomes decomposed, and is resolved into oxygen and hydrogen
gases, and the retort would be rapidly destroyed were it not for its being
charged with the substances above mentioned, but these substances operate in
the following manner :-The metallic iron absorbs the oxygen, setting free the
hydrogen, while the hydrogen at the same temperature passing over the pro-
toxide of iron converts it again into the metallic state. As the steam continues
to pass through the retort, the metallic iron parts with the oxygen it had
absorbed or combined with, and in its turn takes the place of the protoxide,
while the protoxide takes the place of the metallic iron, and this compensating
action continues for an indefinite period of time, or for such period as the use
of the material and the circumstances attending it control or govern. Under
these actions the metal of the retort is not materially affected, the exposure of
the iron turnings and protoxide of iron to the gases being so much greater,
prevents, in a great degree, the corrosion of the interior surface of the retort.
In the changes which thus take place, it is believed that a portion of the latent
heat of the steam is liberated and becomes sensible heat.
The superheating retort may be placed in any part of the boiler, furnace, or
in any of the flues or connections where there is room for it, and sufficient
heat to effect the superheating of the steam, or it may be placed in a separate
furnace conveniently placed near the boiler. The system of connections.
between the retort and the boiler may be varied to suit circumstances.
The protoxide of copper may be used in the retort as a substitute for the
protoxide of iron, but the use of the latter is preferred as being far more
effective in its operation.

page_text: Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of improvements in the
mode of and apparatus for superheating. steam, as communicated to me from
abroad, and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it
to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent, I
claim,―
First, subjecting steam while undergoing the superheating process to the
action of the metallic substances herein specified, substantially as and for the
purpose herein set forth.
And, secondly, the arrangement of the retorts and their connecting pipes
and.valves, substantially as herein specified, for taking the steam from the
boiler, heating it, and returning it to the boiler, or conveying it to the engine,
⚫as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Eighth day of February, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON.
(L.S.)