AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS. FOR COOLING WORT AND OTHER LIQUIDS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Wilks Drayson, of Woolwich, in the
County of Kent, Captain Royal Artillery and Major in the Army,
for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR
Sealed the 14th May 1869, and dated the 18th November 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Wilks Drayson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 18th November 1868.
I, ALFRED WILKS DRAYSON, of Woolwich, in the County of Kent,
Captain Royal Artillery and Major in the Army, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS.
FOR COOLING WORT AND OTHER LIQUIDS," to be as follows:-
'This Invention relates to the cooling of liquids by applying thereto
the cold produced by evaporation, which is induced or expedited by the
aid of artificial currents of air. Supposing, for example, that I design
to cool brewers' wort, I provide a series of deep narrow troughs or
vessels composed of sheet metal or other suitable material, and I place

page_text: them in a chamber which communicates at one end with one or more
fans or blowers, and at the other either directly with the open air or
with a shaft opening thereto. These troughs I mount upon non-con-
ductors of heat, and if desired they may communicate one with the
other to allow of the circulation of the liquor, or they may be separate
so as to retain the liquor in a quiescent state. The external surfaces of
the troughs or cooling vessels I keep damp, either by supplying water
thereto in the form of trickling streams or by capillary attraction in
any approved manner, and over the surfaces of the troughs I cause a
blast of air from the fan case in connection with the air chamber to
pass; or by equivalent means I set up and maintain a rapid evaporation,
and the vapour as it escapes from the air chamber will quickly rob the
wort or other liquor of its heat. The amount of evaporation produced
on the surface of the troughs or vessels will depend in a measure on
the dryness of the air which passes over that surface. I therefore in
some cases prefer to draw the air into the centrifugal blowing machine
through a pipe or vessel, in which I place a material which shall first
dry that air. For the purpose of thus drying the air I prefer the
material termed chloride of calcium. Under ordinary circumstances I
propose to use water (by preference rain water) for evaporating on the
surface of the troughs, but when either a great degree of cold is
required or rapidity of cooling is an object, I prefer to use sulphuret of
carbon or photogen.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alfred Wilks Drayson in the Great Seal Patent 2
Office on the 18th May 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
WILKS DRAYSON, of Woolwich, in the County of Kent, Captain Royal
Artillery and Major in the Army, send grecting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters 3
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of November, in the year
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-second
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give, and
grant unto me, the said Alfred Wilks Drayson, Her special licence that.
I, the said Alfred Wilks Drayson, my executors, administrators, and 3

page_text: assigns, or such others as I, the said Alfred Wilks Drayson, my exe-.
cutors, 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
MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR COOLING WORT AND OTHER LIQUIDS,"
upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred Wilks Drayson,
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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alfred Wilks Drayson, 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to
say):-
--
This Invention relates to the cooling of liquids by employing the
well-known principle of evaporation (which evaporation is induced or
expedited by the aid of artificial currents of air) to produce greater cold
on the surface of the vessels containing the liquid to be cooled than the
liquid indicates which is evaporated on those vessels. This result I obtain
by alternately moistening and then drying the surface of the vessels
containing the fluid to be cooled. Supposing, for example, that I design
to cool brewers' wort, I provide a series of deep narrow vessels composed
of sheet metal or other suitable material being a good conductor of
heat, and I place them in a chamber which communicates at one end
with one or more blast or exhaust fans or blowers, and at the other with
with the open air. These troughs I mount in the chamber upon non-
conductors of heat, and if desired they may communicate one with the
other to allow of the circulation of the liquor, or they may be separate
so as to retain the liquor in a quiescent state. The external surfaces
of the cooling vessels I keep damp by supplying water thereto by
capillary attraction in any approved manner, and over the surfaces of
these vessels and through the chamber I cause currents of air to flow

page_text: by the action of a rapidly revolving fan. By these means I set up
and maintain a rapid evaporation, and the vapor as it escapes from the
chamber will quickly rob the wort or other liquor of its heat.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 shews in plan view, and Fig. 2
in longitudinal section, and Fig. 3 in transverse section my improved
refrigerating apparatus constructed for cooling water. It consists of a
series of metallic cooling vessels arranged side by side and set at
suitable distances apart within a chamber, access to the interior of which
may be obtained by hinged doors. These vessels will measure about
fifteen feet in length, once inch interior space, and about two feet in
depth; they are marked A, B, C, D, E, F, and G, in Fig. 1. The
vessels are placed parallel to each other, and may be held firmly in
position by transverse fastenings or wedges. Short transverse tubes
a, a, a, serve to connect these vessels internally, so that any fluid entering
the vessel A will pass from A to B, from B to C, from C to D, and so
on to the last of the series. The first vessel A is connected with the
liquor supply tank by a pipe H, and the last vessel of the series with a
receiver by a pipe I.
Fig. 4 shews on an enlarged scale a sectional elevation of one of
these vessels constructed for cooling water. For this purpose I form a
narrow longitudinal opening in the top of the vessels, and I cover the
sides thereof with linen, lint, or other fabric, allowing a small portion
of the fabric to dip into the water contained in the vessels. By this
arrangement I conduct water by capillary attraction from the interior
down the sides of the vessels, and thus present surfaces of damp cloth
or woven fabric to the action of the currents of air which I cause to
travel through the chamber by the action (by preference) of an exhaust
fan K. The case in which this fan works is connected at its centre
with the chamber by a funnel-shaped case L, which serves to close the
discharging end of the chamber. When I employ a blast I split up the
current of air as it enters the chamber so as to direct the air into the
several spaces between the cooling vessels. When liquid other than
water is to be cooled, I close the top of the cooling vessels, and place
above the vessels a small open trough, shewn in the transverse section,
Figures 5 and 6. These troughs I fill from time to time with water,
into which dip the cloths that cover the cooling vessels and serve to
conduct moisture over their surfaces. I may here remark that under
special conditions, as, for example, on ship board, where the rolling of

page_text: the vessel would interfere with the troughs charged with water, I may
use pipes pierced with holes for dropping water on to the cloths covering
the vessels.
It will now be understood that whether using a blast or exhausting
fan when the same is set in action, a current of air will be driven or
drawn between the cooling vessels, and thus evaporation will be set up,
the air in its passage through the chamber rapidly drying the moistened
cloths. The troughs upon being filled will again moisten the cloths,
which will again be dried by evaporation and so on. Thus by alternately
wetting and drying the cloths covering the outer surfaces of the vessels,
I produce considerable external cold, whereby the liquid contained in
the cooling vessels will be robbed of its superior heat, which so soon as
it is taken up by the metallic surfaces will be carried off by reason of
the continued evaporation going on in the chamber. A regular flow
of the liquid to be cooled may be obtained by means of a head of water
above the first vessel A, but care must be taken when using open vessels,
like that shewn at Fig. 4, that no overflow (arising from an over-supply)
shall take place. The amount of evaporation produced on the surfaces
of the cooling vessels will depend in a measure on the dryness of the
air which passes over those surfaces; I therefore in some cases prefer
(for example when the atmosphere is humid and a low temperature is
required) to draw the air into the centrifugal blowing machine through
a pipe or vessel, in which I place a material which shall first dry the
air. For the purpose of thus drying the air I prefer the material
termed chloride of calcium. Under ordinary circumstances I propose
to use water (by preference rain water) for evaporating on the surface
of the cooling vessels, but when a great degree of cold is required and
rapidity of cooling is an object, I prefer to use sulphuret of carbon or
photogen, supplying it to the troughs as explained with respect to
the water, or discharging it in the form of spray upon the cooling
vessels.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of an improved
mode of and apparatus for cooling wort and other liquids, 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. The novel arrangement of cooling apparatus above described,
whereby an extended evaporating surface is presented to the action of

page_text: passing currents of air, in the manner and for the purpose above set
forth.
Secondly. I claim the alternate damping and drying of the external
surfaces of the cooling vessels, as explained for the purpose above set
forth.
Lastly. In connection with my improved apparatus the means above
described for drying the air admitted to the apparatus and obtaining a
great degree of cold and rapidity of cooling.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Wilks Drayson, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Seventeenth day of May, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
nine.
A. W. DRAYSON. (L.S.)