IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED FOR HEATING THE FEED WATER OF STEAM BOILERS
Year: 1867

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Stafford and William
Porter M°Callum at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 3rd April 1867.
We, WILLIAM STAFFORD and WILLIAM PORTER MCCALLUM, both of
Blackburn, in the County of Lancaster, Engineers, do hereby declare the
nature of our said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED FOR
HEATING THE FEED WATER OF STEAM BOILERS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to that class of feed water heating apparatus
consisting of a number of vertical pipes placed in the flues and connected by
an horizontal supply or feed pipe.
Our improvements consist, firstly, in connecting the vertical pipes by
means of an horizontal feed pipe, near the top of such pipes, and in hanging
or supporting the whole upon cross beams or bearers, in order that the lower
part of the vertical pipes may be free from flanges or other projections on which
soot or other deposit may lodge, and in order to admit of a valve being placed
in the lower end of each vertical pipe, thro' which valve mud or sediment may
be discharged, the lower end of each pipe is stopped by means of a cap
which may readily be removed for the purpose of brushing or cleaning the
insides of the pipes.
Secondly, in constructing the vertical pipes with an internal longitudinal
partition or midfeather extending near the whole length of each pipe, so that as

page_text: the water proceeds from the feed pipe, it is (by the partitions or midfeathers
herein-before mentioned) diverted and turned from its usual course (that is,
entering the lower part of each pipe) and is caused to circulate on each side
of each midfeather in each pipe, thus obtaining the desired circulation of the
water. Soot and deposit is removed from the pipes by means of scrapers, which
we construct of a casting, the upper and lower parts of which form an arc
of radius equal to the diameter of the pipes; we thus "scrape" or remove
deposit from the whole of a pipe with one appliance; we couple or hinge
these scrapers in pairs by means of a pin or joint placed at or near the centre
part of the said scrapers, so that the lower parts of the scrapers being heavier
will naturally close on the pipes, the lower part or arc of each scraper closing
on the outside half of each pipe. The upper part or are of each scraper is
adjustable by means of a bolt and closes on the inner half of each pipe; these
scrapers being raised and lowered by the ordinary gearing for that purpose
will remove soot or other matter as deposited.
The construction and arrangement of apparatus for the purpose herein-
before mentioned and described possess also the further advantages that
any one of the vertical pipes may be removed from the top or upper part of
the apparatus without entering the flues, the pipes so removed being replaced
by a "branch" or "connecting pipe" so as to maintain communication; the
removal of a pipe or pipes will not thus necessitate suspension of the use of the
whole apparatus. Where desirable to supply feed water at the bottom of the
vertical pipes a flanged "bonnet" will be applied when one of the pipes is
removed in order to maintain the apparatus in use.