IMPROVEMENTS IN GENERATING OR OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER
Year: 1857

page_text: by the Act.)
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Edward Newton at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 23rd
June 1857. A communication from William Montgomery Storm, of
New York City.
I, 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 GENERATING OR OBTAINING
MOTIVE POWER," to be as follows:-
This Invention of improvements in generating or obtaining motive power
relates to a means of obtaining an elastic vapor by the action of heat upon
water or other liquids in a highly subdivided state, and in suspension in
some elastic "vehicle," aided in some cases by the action of heat, producing
expansion of such "vehicle" itself.
The Invention consists, firstly, in generating steam or elastic vapor to be
used as a motive agent from water or other liquid (held in suspension in an
elastic "vehicle") through the agency of heat conveyed to it by a medium,
without the exposure of its vaporizing vessel to the direct action of fire or
products of combustion, and without admixture of the water or liquid held in
suspension, and the "vehicle" which holds it in suspension with the heating
medium during such process of generating steam or clastic vapor.

page_text: It is well known that water is converted into steam very rapidly when
exposed in a finely divided condition to the action. of heat, as a given weight
of it in such condition presents a vast surface to. be acted upon, in comparison
to what it would if heated in a mass., It is also the case that from water in a
finely divided condition anhydrous steam, the value of which is well known,
can more readily and certainly be supplied than by evaporation from a body of
water. Now in order to obtain this water in a state of extremely minute
subdivision, and to maintain it in this condition for a sufficient length of time
for the radiant heat brought to act upon it to convert it into steam or elastic
vapor, the water or other liquid intended to be converted into steam or elastic
vapor for the purpose of obtaining motive power is to be taken up in
mechanical suspension (by the aid of heat and agitation) in some elastic
"vehicle," such as a portion of steam, air, or other gaseous body, which will
serve to convey such water or other liquid held suspended in it to the heating
vessel, where it is vaporized, and from whence that portion of vapor which
constitutes the "vehicle," and the portion formed from the suspended water or
liquid, go together to actuate an engine, the latter portion, however, being by
far the most economical and the quickest formed, by reason of the almost
incalculable amount of surface presented to the action of the radiated heat
upon which its vaporization by this system mainly depends. Great advantage
may be derived from making steam anhydrous, or converting the mechanically
suspended water in it into steam possessed of elasticity, expansion, or niotive
power; yet this has not been carried out to any extent, because the pipes,
vessels, or other apparatus employed for drying the steam after it has been
generated, and previous to use, have been exposed to the fire or hot products
of combustion, and consequently burnt out in so short a time as to over-
balance by that loss and the delay and annoyances entailed, the saving in other
respects effected; in addition to which it has been found practically impossible
to prevent thus far the steam passed through the pipes or vessels employed
for drying it from becoming at times superheated to such an extent as to
seriously and incurably injure the packing, joints, valves, working surfaces, and
other parts about the engine.
. J
For the above reasons it has been considered that the economy of dry or
anhydrous steam, however great, is an economy they must forego, as being in
effect unavailable, as the vessels, pipes, &c. exposed to the fire or hot products
of combustion through which the steam passes to be rendered anhydrous, in all
the methods yet known, cannot stand.
The present Invention (though this is not its ultimate object) removes all
obstacles of the above nature, by removing the cause, viz., the direct exposure

page_text: of the drying vessels or pipes to the fire or products of combustion, which is
not essential to the production of the desired effect, and for supplying heat to
the vessel or pipes, which the Inventor denominates the "flasher," in which
the water or other liquid taken up in suspension is to be converted into steami
or elastic vapor through a proper medium. The medium best suited for the
purpose is steam, or water heated under a pressure of steam, such medium
being made to surround the "flasher," as, for instance, by placing the flasher
within a boiler, which may be the same which supplied the water taken up in
suspension, and the steam constituting the vehicle in which it is suspended, or
a separate and distinct boiler, or by conveying steam in pipes through the
flasher; but it is considered preferable to arrange the flasher within a boiler.
The flasher may be made in various ways, the principal point of importance
in its construction being that it shall present a large amount of superficial area
to act upon the steam.
It has been found that surfaces heated by steam (like the flasher) present
the phenomenon that if the steam without, or that which is the heating
medium, and the steam formed within, or that which is the medium absorbing
lieat, present a difference of temperature (maintained by regulating the relative
pressures) of only 30° Fahr., such surface will vaporize for an equal area as
much water as if exposed over a naked fire.
Now if the pressure in the boiler is kept at about 50 lbs. per square inch
above the atmospheric pressure, and the pressure in the flasher at about
25 lbs. above the atmospheric pressure, about that difference of temperature
(30°) will be maintained, whether the engine be at rest or in motion, because
the load on the safety valve on the boiler will in either case prevent the
pressure exceeding a certain degree before it will "blow off," and the quantity
of water in suspension in the flasher being limited, the pressure can of course
increase no farther, and there being no loss, except from leakage, it would
be an item of unimportant expense if the liquid so employed were some other
than water, and more volatile, and giving higher pressures at less relative
temperatures, such, for instance, as naphtha, in which case the pressure in the
boiler would not need to exceed, or peraphs even equal, that in the flasher.
It is preferable to employ as the vehicle' to support the water or other liquid
in suspension some aeriform fluid, as common air, that is incondensible (in
itself) into a liquid state at any temperature to which the condenser can fall
while the engine is stopped.
The use of such fluid as the vehicle is preferable to the employment of
steam or similar vapor, notwithstanding that it entails the use of a larger
pump, or less difference of pressure between that in the condenser and that in.

page_text: the flasher. The partial drawback resulting from the use of a larger air pump
or a less difference of pressure between the condenser and flasher, without
surrendering the advantage of a vehicle that would not, if the engine were
for any length of time at rest, almost entirely condense by the mere consequent
loss of temperature, may be overcome by employing as the vehicle a gaseous
medium, incondensible at the temperature and pressure that would exist in
the condenser, even when the latter had cooled down to the balancing tem-
perature of the atmosphere, but over which water has a self-acting power of
absorption. Such a gaseous vehicle would be carbonic acid, or,ammid of
hydrogen (ammonia), but more especially the latter, which posseses every
requisite for the purpose in view, without a single demerit, retaining its, elastic
character under ordinary atmospheric temperatures and pressures, and being
in an exceedingly high degree expansible by heat, especially when in a humid
state, or holding water in suspension in it, as after having been set free from
water which has held it absorbed; which latter property makes it, when used
as a vehicle in which to hold water in suspension, to be converted into steam
by the agency of heat, constitute a more important element of motive.power
than the steam generated from the water which it holds in suspension; and
therefore the present Invention may be said to..consist, secondly, in taking
advantage of and rendering available to the obtaining of motive power, that
particular phenomenon of nature by which water has the power to absorb
without the aid of artificial means a very large amount of certain gases.
6
Water will absorb ammonia to an amount exceeding 500 fold its own
volume, at the average temperature and pressure of the atmosphere, and more
as the pressure is made greater. This reduction of the gas by absorption
being equivalent in mechanical result to the compression of so much air, by
means of a force pump, to a density affording a pressure of several hundred
pounds per square inch, and which when released would of course afford a
very great power. By employing in lieu of the force pump, water possessing
as it does this peculiar property of absorbing so powerfully this particular gas,
the compressing power is as it were. self-created, and the immense power
produced by its re-expansion (on its being set free from the water by the
application of a little heat, or so far free as only to contain some water, which
it takes up in suspension) is of course. almost entirely spare power. It may
be set free from the water at any desirable or manageable pressure, high or
low, and at temperatures within the very moderate limits of from 130° to 400°
Fahr, according to the extremes of such pressures within practical limits.
This gas (ammonia), it is well known, is plentiful in nature, and cheap of
production, and in fact the gas-charged water itself under the name of "water

page_text: The
of ammonia" is an article of commerce, ready in the most advantageous form
for use in an engine as a motive agent, on the plan herein set forth.
quantity of gas required for "charging" and operating an engine is limited,
and the same is used over and over continuously, and as its first cost is trifling,
its use cannot fail to be attended with economy, if suitable provision be made
against leakage. Neither the gas nor the water charged with it has any
injurious effect on the metals ordinarily used in engines, and in fact iron seems
rather to be preserved by it from rust and tarnish, and on that account iron
is used solely in those parts of the engine with which the gas comes in
contact.
The essential features of the Invention which I desire to protect by Letters
Patent are,
"
1st. Generating steam or, elastic vapor to be used as a motive agent from
water or other liquid held in suspension in an elastic "vehicle," as steam or
other vapor, or air or other gaseous fluid, through the agency of heat conveyed
to it by a medium, without the exposure of its vaporizing vessel to the direct
action of fire or products of combustion, and without admixture of the water
or other liquid held in suspension, and the "vehicle" in which it is held in
suspension with the heating medium during such process of generating steam
or elastic vapor.
2nd. The employment, as the "vehicle" for holding water or other liquid
in suspension to be converted into steam or vapor through the agency of heat,
of a gas permanently aeriform at ordinary atmospheric temperatures, as
ammonia, and over which water or such other liquid has a self-acting power of
absorption, for the purpose of obtaining motive power additional to that
obtained from the steam or vapor so formed by the expansion of the said gas.
The use of such gas. as the "vehicle" for holding water in suspension is also
an important element of the Invention.
In the process of operation, the ammonia gas is set free by heat from water
charged with it, the gas being passed with such water as it takes up. in
suspension, and which is converted into steam, through the engine to actuate
the piston thereof, and thence to a vessel, to which passes contemporaneously
a sufficient quantity of the same water which had just previously held the gas
absorbed to re-absorb it, both water and gas being cooled meanwhile by means
specially provided, to an extent sufficient to cause their re-combination in the
form of gas-charged water, which means the gas is re-concentrated and
preserved for re-use, without entailing an accumulation of water in the heating
or separating vessel, or an accumulating pressure of free gas in the vessel in
which the re-absorption is effected, all as berein set forth.

page_text: 3rd. In the engine to be operated by the agency of elastic vapors, generated
in whole or part from a liquid held in suspension in a "vehicle" as explained,
there are employed cylinders provided with absorbing wicks, or equivalent
substitutes therefor, for the purpose of drawing up the fluid into the injecting
pump.
4th. In the construction of the engine to be operated by the agency of
clastic vapors, and "vehicles," such as herein specified, each stuffing box is
provided with a space between two gaskets; and which space is connected with
the "cold receiver," or other receiving and re-concentrating vessel, for the
purpose of carrying away and absorbing any ammonia gas that may pass
through the stuffing box into the space.
As solution of ammonia is a lubricator, no oil need be used, and solid rings
of: vulcanized india-rubber may, be employed as part of the packing of the
stuffing boxes.