AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR PRE- VENTING INCRUSTATION IN STEAM BOILERS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents, 66,
Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman,
for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR PRE-
VENTING INCRUSTATION IN STEAM BOILERS."-A communication from abroad
by George Tracy Parry, of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania,
and United States of America.
Sealed the 15th November 1864, and dated the 15th September 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
15th September 1864.
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 "AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR
PREVENTING INCRUSTATION IN STEAM BOILERS," to be as follows:-
A close inspection of nearly all kinds of scale or incrustation within a steam
boiler, whether it be produced by salt water or water charged with lime, silex,
or what not, shows the scale to consist of well defined crystals or of crystalline
formation.
Now in order to destroy or to prevent the formation of this scale it is
proposed to employ an arrangement of electrical apparatus which will tend to
neutralize the action which induces this deposit, it having been found by ex-
periment that positive electricity expels or throws off, while negative attracts
or collects together small particles; therefore, when by ebullition or otherwise
positive electricity is liberated or collects within the steam room of a boiler,
its action is to precipitate or throw down these released particles in the forin
of crystals or scale.

page_text: Now to counteract the negative condition of the boiler, and to charge or
convey to it a counter active positive electrical current, the following appa-
ratus is applied to the boiler. Fitted into the crown of the boiler is a cast-
iron box lined with a thick enamel of glass or other non-conducting material.
This box is fitted with a brass or copper rod, which runs through the hollow
box at its lower end; this rod is fitted below the box with a collar, and its
uppor end has a screw thread. The box is filled tight with ground glass or
any other good non-conducting substance, so as to make the vertical rod which
passes through the box perfectly insulated; a cap then closes the box, and by
a nut. on the screw thread on the top or pointed end of the rod the collar is
pressed hard and steam-tight against the lower end of the hollow box. Scrowed
to the lower extremity of the rod, or that part which projects down into the
steam room of the boiler, is a T-joint, into which, running horizontally cach
way, a hollow brass or copper rod is screwed. These screws have on their
extremities a projection or knob, to which are fixed any convenient number of
magnetic points. The T-joint is fitted with an eye, to which is attached a
copper wire. The other end of this wire is socured to a metal pin screwed
into the crown of the boiler.
The horizontal rod with its magnetic points is placed directly over the fire-
bridge wall of the boiler, or in the steam room thereof, or the hottest part of
the boiler, and these magnets being negative, and having a powerful attraction
thoy induce or gather up a strong negative electrical current, which being
carried by means of the insulation of the rod to the copper wire, and thence to
the pin screwed into the top or coolest part of the boiler, the current by this
reverse plan according to the Inventor's theory becomes a positive current,
and being induced under a greater heat than the heat of the spot where it is
delivered into the shell of the boiler it becomes by this arrangement a thermo-
electrical current of great quantity, but of more feeble intensity than a direct
shock, which from its rapidity would fail in doing what this more feeble and
constant thermo-electrical current accomplishes. This current then entering
the shell of the boiler finds its way to all the tubes, flues, sheets, and sholl of
the boiler, and on touching or grasping the handle of the blow-off cock
vibrations or tremblings can be felt, somewhat similar to those from the poles
of a galvanic battery, and theso tremblings or vibrations being incessant,
although strong or weak as the current within the boilers may determine,
they have the effect of causing the old scale to loosen and fall off, while it'
effectually prevents new scale from forming or adhering to the interior of a
steam boiler.

page_text: 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 15th March 1865.
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 Fifteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, 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 "AN IN-
PROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING INCRUSTATION IN STEAM BOILERS,"
being a communication from George Tracy, of Philadelphia, in the State of
Pennsylvania, and United States of America, 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 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 Alfred Vincent 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 thereou (that is to say) :-
A close inspection of nearly all kinds of scale or incrustation within a steam
boiler, whether produced by salt water or water charged with lime, silex, or
other impurity, shews the presence of well defined crystals, or of crystalline
formation, and as many persons of scientific attainments have come to the
conclusion or do not deny that all natural crystals found in rocks or in
crevices owe their existence either to electrical attraction or precipitation,
the Inventor of the present improvements naturally concluded that the scale
or crystals found within a steam boiler arose from the same cause (that is to

page_text: say), electrical attraction or precipitation, also that the matter which formed
such crystals or scalo was released from its combination with water the
moment the said water was converted into steam. The particles thus released
from their combination with water were in a state ready to be precipitated or
thrown down to the negative iron of the boiler (it being in connection with the
carth) as often as positive electricity was induced by ebullition of the water.
It was found by experiment that positive (N pole) electricity expels or
throws off, while negative electricity (S pole) attracts or collects together small
particles; therefore, when by ebullition or otherwise positive electricity is
liberated or collects within the steam room of a boiler, its action is to precipitate
or throw down to the bottom or on to the flues these released particles in the
form of crystals or scale.
Now to counteract the negative condition of the boiler, and to charge or
convey to it a counter active positive electrical current, is the object of the
present Invention, and for this purpose the apparatus shewn in the accom-
panying Drawing is applied to the boiler. Fitted into the crown of the
boiler A is a cast-iron box B lined with a thick enamel of glass or other non-
conducting material. In this box is fitted a brass or copper rod C, which
runs through the hollow box. At its lower end this rod is provided (below the
box B) with a collar, and at its upper end it is furnished with a scrow thread for
receiving a clamping nut. The box is filled tight with ground glass or any other
good non-conducting substance in order to insulate the vertical rod C, which
passes through the box; and a cap B', pierced to allow the rod C to pass through
it, is placed over the box and held down by the nut applied to the screw
thread at the top or pointed end of the rod. By turning this nut the collar
on the rod C is pressed hard and steam-tight against the lower end of the
hollow box. Screwed to the lower extremity of the rod, or that part which pro-
jects down into the steam room of the boiler, is a T-socket joint D, into which,
running horizontally each way, a hollow brass or copper rod D' is screwed.
These rods have on their extremities a projection or knob, to which are fixed
any convenient number of magnetic points arranged radially around them.
The socket joint D is fitted with an eye E, to which is attached a copper
wire F, which may be coiled or twisted throughout its entire length. The
other end of this wiro is secured to a metal pin L screwed into the crown of
the boiler.
The horizontal rod D' with its magnetic points is placed directly over the
fire-bridge wall of the boiler, or in the steam room thereof, or the hottest part
of the boiler, and these magnets being negative, and having a powerful
attraction, they induce or gather up a strong negative electrical current, which

page_text: being conducted by reason of the insulation of the rod C to the copper
wire D', and passing thence to the pin L, which is screwed into the top or
coolest part of the boiler, the current by this reverse plan (according to the
Inventor's theory) becomes a positive current, and being induced under a
greater heat than the heat of the spot where it is delivered into the shell of
the boiler, it becomes by this arrangement a thermo-electrical current of great
quantity, but of more feeble intensity than a direct shock, which, however, from
its rapidity would fail in doing what this more feeble and constant thermo-
electrical current accomplishes. This current then entering the shell of the
boiler finds its way by its own laws of transmission to all the tubes, flues, sheets,
and to the shell of the boiler, and on touching or grasping the handle of the
blow-off cock vibrations or tremblings can be felt, somewhat similar to those
from the poles of a galvanic battery, and these tremblings or vibrations being
incessant, although strong or weak as the current within the boiler may
determine, they have the effect of causing the old scale to loosen and fall off,
while new scale is effectually prevented from forming or adhering to the
interior of the steam boiler.
I would here remark that whether the theory of the formation of scale, or
the precise course of action within the boiler as set forth, be scientifically
correct or not, the often repeated experiments of the Inventor have demonstrated
that old scale may with certainty be disengaged from and new scale prevented
from forming within steam boilers by the means above described, the result is
therefore the production of a useful Invention, whatever may bo its rationale.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "An Improved Mode
of and Apparatus for Preventing Incrustation in Steam Boilers," 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 preventing the for-
mnation of scale in steam boilers by means of electric currents obtained and
applied as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Fifteenth day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)