Improvements in Steam Engines.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 7th Dec., 1392
Complete Specification Left, 9th Oct., 1893-Accepted, 11th Nov., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Steam Engines.
I, WILLIAM HARDING SCOTT of Gothic Works, Norwich in the County of
Norfolk Electrical Engineer do hereby declare the nature of my invention to be as
follows:-
My invention has for its object to provide means whereby I effect the super-
heating of steam and prevent initial condensation in the steam chest, steam pipe or
special chamber close to the engine through which steam passes on its way to the
cylinder or part in which the steam acts or in a receiver between two cylinders or
other part in which the steam acts as my invention is applicable not only to
reciprocating engines but also to other than reciprocating engines for example to
rotary or turbine engines.
This I effect by providing in one or more of such places extended passages such
as a coil or coils of piping into which I pass steam or other vapour of very high
pressure or a boiling liquid, the boiling point of which is very high the heat of the
said steam vapour or liquid being sufficiently greater than that of the steam passing
towards the cylinder or the like to superheat the said steam and prevent initial
condensation the degree of heat imparted to the steam being under ready; control
thus obviating difficulty of regulating which has hitherto been a serious objection
to the use of superheated steam in steam engines.
Dated the 7th day of December 1892.
J. H. JOHNSON & Co.,
47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agents.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Steam Engines.
I, WILLIAM HARDING SCOTT of Gothic Works, Norwich in the County of
Norfolk Electrical Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this invention and
in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
My invention has for its object to provide means whereby I can effect the super-
heating of steam and prevent initial condensation in the steam chest, steam pipe or
special chamber close to the engine through which steam passes on its way to the
cylinder or part in which the steam acts or in a receiver between two cylinders or
other parts in which the steam acts as my invention is applicable not only to
reciprocating engines but also to other than reciprocating engines for example to
rotary or turbine engines. This I effect by providing in one or more of such places
extended passages such as a coil or coils of piping into which I pass steam or other
vapour of very high pressure or a boiling liquid, the boiling point of which is very
high the heat of the said steam vapour or liquid being sufficiently greater than that
of the steam passing towards the cylinder or the like to superheat the said steam
or heat it to such a degree as to prevent initial condensation the degree of heat
imparted to the steam being under ready control thus obviating difficulty of
regulating which has hitherto been a serious objection to the use of superheated
steam in steam engines.
Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawing are sections at right angles to
each other of so much of a turbine steam engine as is necessary to illustrate the
application of my invention thereto.

page_text: Figures 3 and 4 are sections at right angles to each other of an ordinary slide
valve box or steam chest shewing my invention applied thereto and
Figures 5 and 6 are similar sections of a steam, supply pipe fitted with a super-
heating device according to my invention.
Referring to Figures 1 and 2 a is the cylinder or casing of the turbine engine
and the shaft carrying a series of turbine wheels c on which the steam admitted
to the interior of the cylinder acts to rotate the shaft b.
Between each two turbine wheels is a stationary disc or ring d the eyes or central
openings in these discs or rings being of such diameter as to leave a passage for
steam between them and the shaft. These discs or rings carry guiding blades e
which direct the steam onto the blades g of the turbine wheels c. Steam is admitted
by a suitable valve into the space between the end of the cylinder and the first
turbine wheel and passes over the edge or periphery of the said wheel and is
directed by the guiding blades e on the adjacent stationary disc or ring d onto the
blades g of the wheel C and thereby give rotation to the shaft. The steam passes
thence through the eye or opening in the stationary disc or ring d to the space
between the said disc and the next turbine wheel c² of the series over the periphery
of which wheel c² the steam passes and is directed by the guiding blades on the
next disc or ring d2 onto the blades g² of the wheel c². The steam passes in a
similar manner over each of the turbine wheels of the series to the opposite end of
the cylinder where it exhausts through a suitable passage into the atmosphere or
into a condenser. In one or more of the annular spaces between the peripheries of
the turbine wheels and the inner circumference of the cylinder a I provide coils of
pipe (as shewn in five of the said spaces in Figure 1) through which coils or some
of them I cause steam or other suitable fluid or vapour to flow, the said fluid being
of such greater heat than that of the motive steam passing through the cylinder a
as to superheat the said steam as it passes through the space or spaces containing
the coils h and thereby prevent condensation of the motive steam.
The superheating pipes or coils are arranged so that the superheating fluid may
freely drain off for which purpose they may be made in sections arranged in a
vertical direction as shewn, the sections being connected at their upper end to a
chamber into which the superheating fluid enters, the lower ends of the said
sections being connected to a similar chamber k provided with a discharge pipe
through which the superheating fluid escapes. Or if a continuous coil be employed
the convolutions of the coil should be arranged horizontally as shewn in Figures 3
and 4 so that no fluid will remain in the coil but will flow downward and out
therefrom through-the-lower-end--of the coil.
In applying my invention to the valve chest of a steam engine the superheating
coil may be arranged in a chamber m interposed between the steam supply pipe n
and the valve chest o as shewn in Figures 3 and 4 or in any other suitable position
so that the motive steam in its passage to the valve chest will impinge on the coil h
and be thus heated by the superheating fluid passing through the said coil.
In Figures 5 and 6 the superheating pipes are shewn arranged in a chamber m
constituting a portion of the steam supply pipe n the said superheating pipes being
connected at their upper and lower ends to chambers i and k respectively, formed
in a piece p which support the pipes. Superheating fluid is admitted to the upper
chamber and passes thence through the pipes into the lower chamber k and out
therefrom through the pipe l. The motive steam in its passage through the pipe n
to the valve boxes of the engine takes up heat by coming into contact with the
pipes which as hereinbefore described are maintained at a higher temperature
than the steam by the fluid passing through the pipes.
I do not limit myself to the constructions and arrangements or disposition of the
superheating pipes or coils as described and illustrated as it is evident that they
may be considerably varied without departing from the nature of my invention but
I have described what I consider the best means whereby my said invention may be
carried into effect.
65
By superheating" in the foregoing Specification I do not mean necessarily

page_text: imparting sufficient heat to the motive steam to superheat the actual steam itself as
in some cases it may be such a degree of heat as will serve to superheat it only in
the sense of drying it by evaporating the water contained in it.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
In steam engines providing in the passage or passages in which compression does
not take place but which lead into, or connect together the part or parts of the
engine in which work is done by the motive steam, a pipe or pipes or a coil of pipe
or coils of pipe or equivalent passage or passages through which water steam or
other suitable fluid at a greater heat than the initial temperature of the motive
steam passing through the first named passage or passages is caused to flow to
superheat or dry the said motive steam and prevent condensation substantially as
hereinbefore described.
J Catab-1902
J. H. JOHNSON & Co.,
Agents.