IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONDENSERS AND CONDENSING APPARATUS OF STEAM ENGINES
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONDENSERS AND CONDENSING
APPARATUS OF STEAM ENGINES."-A communication from abroad by
Francis Bowes Stevens, of Weehawken, New Jersey, United States of
America.
!
Sealed the 4th March 1862, and dated the 11th October 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th October 1861.
1, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONDENSERS AND CONDENSING APPA
RATUS OF STEAM ENGINES," to be as follows:-
In those low-pressure engines where the water that produces the steam is
(after its evaporation and condensation) again returned to the boiler in it
original state without mixing with any other water more impure than itself,
there are two known plans.
The first plan is the well-known surface condenser. In this the steam after
quitting the cylinder is condensed by being brought into contact with a metallic
surface, kept cool on the reverse side by the application of cold water, and after
being condensed is returned in the state of water back to the boiler.
The second plan is that of cooling the water that has been delivered into
Price Sd1

page_text: the hot well by the air pump by contact with a metallic surface kept cool on
the reverse side by the application of cold water, and after the water has been
so cooled, of re-injecting it into the condenser to condense the steam.
The object of this Invention is to produce the same effect that either of
these two plans produces, but by a less amount of surface, and this is done by
combining the two plans. Inthe external or surface condenser each square
foot of surface will condense a greater weight of steam on its entrance into
the external condenser than on its exit.
Suppose the external condenser is formed of tubes through which the steam
from the cylinder passes, and is condensed by the application of cold water on
theoutside, then the part of the tube that lies nearest to the cylinder will con-
dense a greater quantity of steam than the part that is adjacent to the condenser.
I therefore only condense by external condensation a portion of the steam that
is easily condensed, and I condense the remaining portion that is the most
difficult to condense by means of the water from the hot well, cooled and re-
injected into the condenser.
pur-
In using the water from the hot well after it has been cooled for the
pose of condensing the steam, a given amount of surface will produce a greater
effect when a greater quantity of water is cooled a less number of degrees
than when a less quantity of water is cooled a greater number of degrees.
Thus, supposing a square foot of surface to be in contact with the cooling
water at a temperature of about 50 degrees Fahrenheit, and that it cools a
given quantity of water from 100 degrees down to 60 degrees Fahrenheit,
then the same surface, to produce the same effect, should cool double the same
quantity of water from 100 down to 80 degrees; but it has been found that
it will cool much more than double. The ordinary sized air pump delivering the
ordinary quantity of water into the hot well may therefore be used, and as this
quantity has only to condense the vapor left uncondensed by the external con
denser, it is necessary that the water be cooled down only a few degrees to
effect this purpose, and the water is cooled down these few degrees by a small
proportional amount of surface. Thus, by the combination, I am enabled to
use only those portions of the external condenser and of the cooler that are
most energetic in their action, and thus to condense the steam of a steam
engine by a less amount of surface than would be necessary if either plan
were employed singly.
The operation of the improved apparatus is as follows:-The steam after
its escape from the cylinder passes through the external condenser, where it
is partially condensed, then the uncondensed portion of the steam, together
with the water that has been formed from the part condensed, passes on to the

page_text: ordinary condenser, where the uncondensed steam is condensed by the water
from the cooler entering by the injection pipe in the same manner that steam
is ordinarily condensed by injection.
From the foregoing it will be seen that the essential feature of the presen
Invention is the combination of a surface or external condenser placed between
the side pipes and the ordinary condenser of a steam engine, with a cooler
for cooling the water from the hot well, this cooler being placed between the
hot well and the ordinary condenser, so that the steam after being partially
condensed by the external condenser, is then further condensed by means of
the injection of the cooled water from the hot well into the ordinary
condenser.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 11th April 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said William
Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and
assigus, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time andat
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 "IM
PROVEMENTS IN THE CONDENSERS AND CONDENSING APPARATUS OF STEAM ENGINES,"
being a communication from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said William Edward Newton, by an instrument in writing under
my
hand and seal, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I. the said William Edward Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the 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):
:-
In those low-pressure engines where the water that produces the steam is
(after its evaporation and condensation) again returned to the boiler in its
original state, without mixing with any other water more impure than itself,
there are two known plans for effecting the desired object. The first plan is
the well-known surface coudenser. In this the steam after quitting the
cylinder is condensed by being brought into contact with a metallic surface,
kept cool on the reverse side by the application of cold water, and after being
condensed is returned in the state of water back to the boiler. The second
plan is that of cooling the water that has been delivered into the hot well by
the air pump (after sufficient quantity has been taken to feed the boiler) by
contact with a metallic surface, kept cool on the reverse side by the application
of cold water, and after the water has been so cooled of re-injecting it-iuto-the
condenser-to-condeuse the steam. The object of the present Invention is to
produce the same effect that either of these two plans will produce, but with
a less amount of surface, and this is done by combining the two plans above
mentioned, as it has been found by experiments that less surface will be
required in the combination to produce the required effect.
In the external or surface condenser each square foot of surface will
condense a greater weight of steam on its entrance into the external condenser
than on its exit, and if we suppose that the external condenser is formed of
tubes, through which the steam from the cylinder passes, and is condensed
(during its passage) by the application of cold water on the outside; then the
part of the tube that lies nearest to the cylinder will coudense a greater
quantity of steam per square foot of surface than the part that is adjacent to
the condenser; I therefore only condense by external condensation a portion
of the steam that is easily condensed, and I condense the remaining portion
that is the most difficult to condense by means of the water from the hot well,
cooled and re-injected into the condenser.
In using the water from the hot well after it has been cooled for the
purpose of condensing the steam, a given amount of surface will produce a
greater effect when a greater quantity of water is cooled a less number of
degrees, than when a less quantity of water is cooled a greater number of
degrees. Thus, supposing a square foot of surface to be in contact with the
cooling water at a temperature of about 50 degrees Fahrenheit, and that it

page_text: cools a given quantity of water from 100 degrees down to 60 degrees Fahren-
heit, then the same surface to produce the same effect should cool double the
same quantity of water from 100 down to 80 degrees, but it has been found
by the Inventor of the present improvements that it will cool much morethan
double. The ordinary sized air pump, delivering the ordinary quantity of
water into the hot well may therefore be used, and as this quantity has only
to condense the vapor left uncondensed by the external condenser, it is
necessary that the water be cooled down only a few degrees to effect this
purpose, and the water is cooled down these few degrees by a small pro-
portional amount of surface. Thus by the combination the Inventor is
enabled to use only those portions of the external condenser and of the cooler
that are most energetic in their action, and thus to condense the steam of a
steam engine by a less amount of surface than would be necessary if either
plan were employed singly.
In the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1 represents in side elevation an
arrangement of the new combination of an external condenser with a cooler;
Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same; Fig. 3 is a horizontal view of the
same..
A is the ordinary condenser, and B a pipe leading from the cylinder and
side pipes to the external condenser C, which is placed between the side pipes
and the ordinary condenser. This external condenser is here formed of the
small tubes a, a, a, through which the steam passes on entering the external
condenser by the nozzle M, and leaving by the nozzle N. These small tubes
a, a, are surrounded on the outside by a coutinuous supply of cold water,
which enters the case D (in which they are placed) by the nozzle E, and
leaves it by the nozzle F. G is the cooler that cools the water taken from
the hot well, and is placed between the hot well and injection pipe. This
cooler is here formed by two tubes c,c,coiled in a helical form,and surrounded
by a continuous supply of cold water, which enters the case H (in which the
coils c, c, are placed) at the nozzle 1, and leaves it at the nozzle K. L is the
injection pipe that conducts the water from the hot well to the cooler; W is
the injection pipe that conducts the water from the cooler to the ordinary
condenser.
The operation of this novel or improved combination or arrangement of
condensing apparatus is as follows:- The steam after its escape from the
cylinder passes through the external condenser C, where it is partially con-
densed; then the uncondensed portion of the steam, together with the water
that has been formed from the part condensed, passes on to the condenser A,
where the uncondensed steam is condensed by the water from the cooler

page_text: entering by the injection pipe W in the same manner that steam is ordinarily
condensed by injection.
Having now described this Invention of improvements in the condensers
and condensing apparatus of steam engines,and having explained the manner
of carrying the same into effect, as communicated tome by my foreign corre-
spondent, I wish it to be understood that what I claim as the Invention
secured to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid is, the combination of a surface
orexternal condenser placed between the side pipes and the ordinary condenser
of a steam engine with a cooler for cooling the water from the hot well. This
cooler being placed between the hotwell and the ordinary condenser, so that the
steam after being partially condensed by the external condenser, will then be
further condensed by means of the injection of the cooled water from the hot
well into the ordinary condenser.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunt
set my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)