IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM PUMPS
Year: 1882

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Worby Beaumont
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 1st August 1882.
1
...
WILLIAM WORBY BEAUMONT of the Strand in the County of Middlesex
"IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM PUMPS
"
My invention relates to that class of pump or apparatus for raising water or
other liquids which works by the alternate action of steam under pressure and the
vacuum resulting from the condensation of that steam.
Hitherto these pumps have required more steam to do a given quantity of work
than either piston or centrifugal pumps, because the steam is employed in the
chamber into which the cold water is drawn in raising it, and great condensation
and loss of steam is the result.
I.
My invention has for its.object the construction of a pump equally as simple as
those of the class hereinabove mentioned, but so made that the steam does not
come into contact with the water being raised or with those surfaces of the interior
of the pump chamber or chambers which are cooled by that water. This I effect
by the employment in the water lifting and forcing chamber of the pump which is
cylindrical, of a piston the length of which is equal to or greater than the length of
the stroke or is of such a length that the steam is prevented by it from undesirable
contact with the cold part of the cylinder in which it works. This piston may be
hollow and filled with slag-wool, saw-dust, or other slow heat conductor or it may
be of wood suitably covered as with a metal coating such as lead or a lead alloy or
with other metal and provided with suitable means for making it if necessary steam
tight. The cylinder may also be lined with lead or an alloy of lead., Suitable
valves for the admission and discharge of the water are provided at one end of the
cylinder or the pipes connected thereto, and a steam valve by which the admission
of steam is controlled is placed at the other end. A simple form of condenser is
employed which may be an annular chamber round the discharge pipe of the pump.
The steam valve may be actuated by the piston itself by means of, a rod passing
through it and connected to the valve. In action, steam forces the piston to the
end of its stroke when the steam having been exhausted into the condenser, the
vacuum brings it, back, the water being lifted by the vacuum and forced by the
steam. For continuous discharge two such cylinders and pistons would be
required.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said William Worby Beaumont in the Great Seal Patent Office on the'.
1st February 1883.
WILLIAM WORBY BEAUMONT of the Strand in the County of Middlesex
"IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM PUMPS
"
My invention relates to that class of pump or apparatus for raising water or
other. liquids which works by the alternate action of steam under pressure and the
vacuum resulting from the condensation of that steam.
Hitherto these pumps have required more steam to do a given quantity of work
than either piston or centrifugal pumps because the steam is employed in the
chamber into which the cold water is drawn in raising it, and great condensation
and loss of steam is the result.
My invention has for its object the construction of a pump equally as simple as
those of the class hereinabove mentioned, but so made that the steam does not
come into contact with the water being raised or with those surfaces of the interior
of the pump chamber or chambers which are cooled by that water. This I effect
by the employment in the water lifting and forcing chamber of the pump which is
cylindrical, of a piston the length of which is equal to or greater than the length of
its stroke or is of such a length that the steam is prevented by it from undesirable
contact with the cold part of the cylinder in which it works. This piston may be
hollow and filled with slag-wool, sawdust or other slow heat conductor or it may
be of wood suitably covered as with a metal coating such as lead or a lead alloy or
with other metal and provided with suitable means for making it if necessary
steam tight. The cylinder may also be lined with lead or an alloy of lead with a
small quantity of tin or antimony. Suitable valves for the admission and discharge
of the water are provided at one end of the cylinder or the pipes connected thereto,
and a steam valve by which the admission of steam is controlled is placed at the
other end. A simple form of condenser is employed which may be an annular
chamber round the discharge pipe of the pump. The steam valve may be actuated
by the piston itself by means of a rod passing through it and connected to the
valve. In action steam forces the piston to the end of its stroke when, the steam
having been exhausted into the condenser, the vacuum brings it back, the water
being lifted by the vacuum and forced by the steam. For continuous discharge two
such cylinders and pistons would be required.
In order that my invention may be clearly understood I now describe it with
reference to the drawings hereunto attached
Figure 1 is a front elevation of the pump as made with two cylinders-one pump
'being shown in section.
:
1
Figure 2 is a plan of the same
Figure 3 is a vertical section on line X X Figure 2 showing in side view that
part of the pump which carries the rising main, the part of the foot of the pump
provided with the delivery valve being shown in section and part of the rising
main being encircled with a pipe the annular space between it and the rising main
forming a condenser.
Figure 4 is a sectional view of an alternative form of valve for the admission
and discharge of the steam, and showing two alternative methods of operating the
'valve.
Figure 5 is a part plan of a pump arranged with one form of valve.

page_text: Figure 6 is a sectional view of part of the pump arranged with the pumping.
cylinder or cylinders horizontal instead of vertical.
Figure 7 shows an alternative form of piston and
Figure 8 shows an alternative form for the pumping cylinder for use when forcing
liquids against high heads or to great pressure
Figure 9 is an alternative form of steam valve.
In all the drawings the same letters refer to the same parts.-
A is the pumping cylinder into the upper part of which steam is admitted by
the valve B and into the lower part of which water is drawn through the suction
valve C which may be of any suitable wellknown form according to the purpose
required.
Li
Steam from the steam pipe enters into the passage a thence through the port a¹
into the steam end of the cylinder A where it drives the piston D downwards or
towards the valve C thus closing the latter and expelling the water through the
delivery valve E up the rising main F. The delivery valve E. may be of any
suitable well known form according to the purpose required. When the piston in
making its steam or delivery stroke either in the forms shown at Figures 1, 6 or 7
strikes against the enlarged end c of the rod G which is attached to the steam
valve B, it moves that valve in completing its delivery stroke and thus shuts off the
steam inlet a and places the port 6 of the valve opposite the exhaust passage b!
thus allowing the spent steam to escape from the cylinder through the pipe b² into
the annular space d of the condenser where it is condensed by contact with the
cold surface of the rising main, the cooling action of which when not sufficiently
quick or powerful may be increased by allowing any necessary small quantity of
water to enter in the form of spray through the perforated pipe e Figure 3 which
admits water from the rising main the quantity being regulated by the cock f.
The vacuum thus formed raises the piston D and water is thereby drawn in
through the suction valve C. The piston in completing this suction stroke raises
the valve B by contact with its inner end B' when the piston is of the form shown
at Figure 1 or by contact with the extremity C of the rod G when the piston is of
the form shown at Figures 6 and 7. The steam port a¹ is thus again placed in
communication with the space or the passage a and steam again admitted to
repeat the operation.
:
In Figure 1 the valve B is tubular and in Figure 4 it is an ordinary D slide valve
operated through the medium of the bent lever H or by means of separate gear
shown at J Figure 4 to be hereafter described.
The piston D in the forms shown at Figures 1 and 6 may be filled with the
materials already named or about one fourth of it from the steam end may be filled
with these or with prepared (not lump) asbestos, and the remainder may be filled
with sawdust or granular cork incorporated with pitch or paraffin wax only as
much of the latter materials being used as is necessary to coat every grain of the
sawdust or cork and cause them to bind in a compact mass. This filling is
employed to prevent the conduction of heat from the steam to the water end of
the piston and to prevent the piston from filling with water if not perfectly water-
tight. In order further to ensure against the latter contingency which some times
will arise in case of high pressure I may coat the interior of the piston with tin in
a manner similar to that adopted by Mess. Puitsch Brothers for their gas
receivers.
At K Figure 3, is shown a valve opening outwards through which air and part
of the steam exhausted from the pump may find exit the quantity of steam
allowed to escape being determined by the strength of the spiral spring g. At L
Figure 3 is shown a valve controlled by a spring 1 for permitting the escape of the
water from the condensed steam and the water admitted by the pipe e when
injection water is used.
I do not confine myself to this form of condenser as in some situations condensers
of other forms may be more convenient such for instance as those described in
"The Engineer” Newsnaner of the 2nd October 1868.
;

page_text: In Figure 1 the steam valves B B of the two pumping cylinders are shown
connected by a rocking lever M so as to secure synchronism of action of the two
pistons, but this is not necessary if, two rising mains or a large rising are used.
The same kind of steam valve may be used if only one pumping cylinder is used.
To the right of Figure 4 at J an alternative method of working the steam valve
is shown by which the rod G is dispensed with. To the slide valve spindle n a
vertical lever N is attached. This lever is stepped into a recess in the bracket
casting O and receives a reciprocating motion from the crank pin p in the disc o
shown by a dotted circle and carried by a spindle with a bearing at the top of the
bracket O. The crank pin p has a stroke equal to the stroke of the slide valve
plus the length of the slot 7 in the rod rattached to a projection of the lever N
at 8. The slide valve thus receives an intermittent or pause action reciprocation.
The disc o may be a wheel worked by any available source of power or it may be
a cog-wheel worked by a small steam engine mounted for the purpose on the top
of the pump cylinder or cylinders.
This valve gear may also be modified so as to give a shorter period of opening
for the admission of steam than for the exhaust, as for instance, by giving steam
lap to the valve and increasing the length of the exhaust port 6 of the slide valve
and increasing the width of the bars between the steam and exhaust ports a' and b¹
in the way and by the rules well known to Engineers
Figure 7 shows an alternative form of piston consisting of two common pistons
with one or more spring packing rings, and connected by an intermediate trunk,
which would be, hollow when the steam valves are worked by means of a rod G
but which may be smaller in diameter and solid if the steam valve or valves are
worked by an arrangement such as that shown at J. Figure 4 Pistons of the forms
shown at Figures 1 and 6 may also be used with the arrangement of valve gear
indicated at J Figure 4 in which case they would not be provided with the hole
for the passage of the rod G The arrangement shown at J Figure 4 would be
chiefly used for pumps of large size.
I
In Figure 8 t at the smaller part D¹ of the piston indicates a pair of cup leathers
held in place in the usual manner by a cap and screw bolt or stud and nut. The
piston may be made as shown for working with a steam valve arrangement as
shown at J Figure 4 or for steam valves as shown at Figures 1, 4 and 9.. This
form of piston of two diameters D and D¹ is suitable when water is to be forced
to a considerable height.
0
In Figure 9 the rod G is shown as passing through a gland at the top of the
steam port casting and a pair of springs v, v, adjustable by screws ww are shewn
for the purpose of holding the valve in the position in which it is placed by the
piston
.
The pistons of the forms shown at Figures 1 and 6 may be grooved on their
periphery to make them steam tight and the steam valve casing of the form shown
at Figures 1 and 2 may be provided with a "Stannah's" stuffing box or groove as
shown at x x
"
;
The piston should have a length always somewhat in excess of the length of its
stroke..
1
In order to be able to start the pump when there is no water in the rising main
I in some cases attach a small pipe by which a jet of water may be conveyed into
the, steam part of the cylinder at a point where the water jet will enter the steam
part, of, the cylinder when the piston is at the end of its steam stroke thus creating
a preliminary vacuum
In some cases I make, my cylinder in two lengths fastened together by flänges
between which is placed a layer of nonconducting material such as asbestos felt
I claim
..
111
First-In a direct acting condensing steam pump in which both the working
steam and the water to be raised, enter at opposite ends of the same cylinder so
arranging and operating the piston in the cylinder that the steam end of the piston
cannot enter or uncover to the steam the water wetted part of the cylinder and
10

page_text: that the water end of the piston cannot enter or uncover to the water the steam
end of the cylinder the principal object being to prevent condensation of the steam
in the pump by contact with water or water wetted surfaces substantially as
described.
Second: The combination of parts. forming the new or improved direct acting
condensing single or double cylinders steam pumps consisting essentially of cylinder A
having a piston D or D D¹ a steam distributing valve B actuated thereby or by
the other means described and a condenser in connection therewith substantially
as described with reference to Figures 1, 2, 6, 7 and 8.
Third In combination with a cylinder and piston constructed and operating as
described the steam distributing valve gear described with reference to Figures 1,
2, 4, and 9.
In witness whereof I the said William Worby Beaumont have hereunto set
my hand and seal this first day of February in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty three.