IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR PURIFYING AND HEATING FEED WATER FOR STEAM GENERATORS AND OTHER PURPOSES, AND FOR CONDENSING STEAM."
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Henry Dane, of the City and County of San
Francisco, State of California, United States of America, Gentleman, for an
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR PURIFYING AND HEATING
FEED WATER FOR STEAM GENERATORS AND OTHER PURPOSES, AND FOR
CONDENSING STEAM."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Henry Dane at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 20th January 1881.
JAMES HENRY DANE, of the City and County of San Francisco, State of
California, United States of America, Gentleman. "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
FOR PURIFYING AND HEATING FEED WATER FOR STEAM GENERATORS AND
OTHER PURPOSES, AND FOR CONDENSING STEAM."
This Invention has for its object to purify, heat, and otherwise prepare water
to be fed to boilers and other steam generators, or to be used for manufacturing
and other useful purposes, by extracting and retaining in a purifier silica, carbonate,
and sulphate of lime, and other deleterious substances held in solution in the
water, more particularly such as produce scale in boilers and other generators of
steam, the water being heated to a high temperature in the process.
This I do by the following combination, that is to say:-I place a mass of
material in a perpendicular cylinder or other chamber suitable for the purpose.
This chamber has a perforated diaphragm or open grating fixed therein horizontally
so as to fit tightly to the walls thereof, and upon which the purifying material
rests, covering every part of the diaphragm or grating and filling the chamber
above it to within a short distance of the top. The whole of this mass is then
heated and kept heated at a high temperature by the agency of steam, more
particularly by the exhaust from the engine to which the apparatus is affixed, an
important feature of this Invention being the utilizing of the exhaust from the
steam engine in effecting said object.
This is done by projecting the steam horizontally through a steam inlet pipe

page_text: into the chamber immediately below the diaphragm or grating in such a manner
that it ascends freely throughout the mass above, heating it and keeping it heated
as already described.
On to this heated mass the water to be purified and prepared is fed from a spray
or sprinkling device placed immediately above it, which thus fed falls upon,
percolates through, and comes into intimate contact with every part thereof, keeps
it saturated, meets and passes through the ascending steam, and in its passage
precipitates and deposits the deleterious substances to be extracted which adhere
to the stones and other media used, or fall in a sediment to the bottom of the
cistern immediately below the purifier.
The purifying mass consists of cobble stones, pebbles, or other substances,
suitable for this method of irregular shape and size, so arranged as to provide
interstices of different sizes throughout it, through which the steam can freely
ascend.
By this construction so applied I secure pure feed water at or near boiling point
free from scale producing and other impurities, which after percolating as above
described is caught in the reservoir or cistern.
The reservoir may form a continuation and integral portion of the above
described chamber, or it may be separate and detached therefrom. From thence it
is conveyed by suitable appliances to the boiler or is drawn off for the purpose
already referred to..
The chamber is provided with the necessary water level tubes, gauge cocks,
man holes, etc., for the proper operation of the apparatus, and to facilitate cleaning
and removing the pebbles and other matter from the chamber above the diaphragm
when they become incrusted. The bottom of the reservoir is provided with a
discharge pipe to permit the withdrawal of sedimentary matter.
It will be evident that the form of this apparatus may be changed or modified
without materially altering the character of the Invention, the principles and
essential features of which have been herein described.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by 3
the said James Henry Dane in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 9th July
1881.
JAMES HENRY DANE, of the City and County of San Francisco,. State of
California, United States of America, Gentleman. "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
FOR PURIFYING AND HEATING FEED WATER FOR STEAM GENERATORS AND 3
OTHER PURPOSES, AND FOR CONDENSING STEAM."
This Invention has for its object to purify and otherwise prepare water which
is to be fed to boilers and other steam generators, or to be used for manufacturing
and other useful purposes, by extracting and retaining in a purifier the carbonate

page_text: and sulphate of lime, silica, and other deleterious substances held in solution in the
water, more particularly such as produce scale in boilers, the water being heated to
a high temperature in the process.
The Invention consists in the employment of a vertical, cylindrical, or other
suitably formed chamber, having a perforated diaphragm or open grating fixed
within it horizontally, upon which is placed the medium or material used in
purifying, as will be hereinafter more particularly described. The whole mass is
then heated and kept heated to a high temperature by the agency of steam, more
particularly by the exhaust from the engine to which the apparatus is connected or
affixed, an important feature of the Invention being the utilizing of the exhaust
steam from the engine in effecting said object. This is done by projecting the
steam horizontally through a steam inlet pipe immediately below the diaphragm or
grating into the chamber in such a manner that it may ascend freely through the
mass above, heating it and keeping it heated as already described.
heated mass the water to be purified and prepared is fed from a spray or sprinkling
device placed immediately above it, so that the water is distributed and percolates
through the mass, comes into intimate contact with every part thereof, keeps it
saturated, meets and passes through the ascending steam, and in its passage
precipitates and deposits the deleterious substances to be extracted which adhere
to the stones or other media used, in the form of incrustations, or fall in a sediment
to the bottom of the cistern immediately below the purifier.
Upon this
The purifying mass consists of cobble stones, pebbles, iron, coke, or other hard
substances of irregular shape and size, which will serve to retain heat and provide
insterstices throughout the mass, through which the steam can freely ascend, and
also provide surfaces which will receive and arrest the deposit from the water, and.
upon which incrustation therefrom will readily form. By this combination so
applied pure feed water is secured at or near the boiling point free from scale´
producing and other impurities, this water after percolating through the stones
being caught in the reservoir or cistern below. This reservoir may form a
continuous and integral portion of the above described chamber, or it may be
separate and detached therefrom. From thence this water is conveyed by suitable
appliances to the boiler, or is drawn off for the purposes already referred to. The
chamber is provided with the necessary water level tubes, gauge cocks, manholes, etc.,
for the proper operation of the apparatus, and to facilitate cleaning and removing
the pebbles and other matter from the chamber above the diaphragm when they
become incrusted. The bottom of the reservoir is provided with a discharge pipe
to permit the withdrawal of the sedimentary matter.
Referring to the accompanying Sheet of Drawing for a more complete explanation
of the Invention.
Figure 1 is a perspective view of the apparatus.
Figure 2 is a vertical section.
A is the chamber of the apparatus, which is here made cylindrical in shape, and
has its lower part B made funnel shaped as shown. At or near the centre of the
chamber is a grating or open diaphragm C, secured to the sides and adapted to
support the cobble stones, pebbles, or other hard irregular substances D, which are
placed upon it so as to form a mass from two to three feet in depth immediately
above the grating, having insterstices throughout it which allow the steam to ascend
freely through it. The depth here mentioned is usually sufficient, but it may be
increased to suit the requirements of any particular case.
Water is introduced in this chamber by means of a feed pipe E, which enters
through the side or top, and is carried to the centre, where it is bent downward and
terminates in a spray or sprinkling device F. The water enters through this pipe and
is discharged forcibly through the sprinkler, so as to be distributed over the whole
surface of the stones, and it will then percolate through the instertices passing to the
bottom through the ascending steam, and in its passage falling through the grating
into the cistern or reservoir beneath or adjacent thereto.
Steam from the boiler or generator is admitted into the chamber below the

page_text: +
grating through a pipe G, which enters horizontally and discharges the steam
across the space, so that the steam will rise freely through the mass above and
thoroughly heat it. The cobble stones have a. great capacity for retaining heat
when they are once heated, and they will maintain a nearly constant temperature,
which will not be altered by slight variations in the amount of steam which is
passed through, and this ability to retain the heat is an important feature of the
*apparatus.
The water percolating through it from above is raised to a high temperature
while it is entirely purified and rendered free from all silicious deposits, or those
containing carbonate or sulphate of lime or other scale forming substances, so that (
it is fit to be used in boilers or for manufacturing purposes in which pure water is
'needed. The steam not condensed escapes through the steam'outlet K.
The feed water may be brought to the apparatus through a pipe from a reservoir
situated somewhat above it, so that it will flow by gravitation, or the water may
; be pumped in. A pipe H from the lower chamber leads to the pump or other
point of discharge, while an overflow pipe at. I regulates the depth of water in
the reservoir, and discharges any surplus through a suitable trap. The supply of
water from the pipe E is regulated automatically by a cock K, which is operated
by a float L in a vessel or chamber M, which connects with the water in the main
chamber. A rod N unites the float with the lever arm of the cock K. Any soft:
sediment which may be deposited in the chamber below the grating may be drawn
off by the pipe J from the lower end of the funnel shaped bottom. It will be seen
that the form of this apparatus may be changed or modified or duplicated without
materially altering the character of the Invention, the principle and the essential
features of which are as herein described.
Having thus described my Invention, what I claim as new and as secured to me
by the hereinbefore in part recited Letters Patent is,―.
1st. The apparatus consisting of a chamber having its interior supplied with
stones or other suitable substance adapted to receive, distribute, and purify a
spray of water from above, which meets and partially condenses a column of steam.
as it rises through the perforated bottom of the chamber, while the condensed
and purified water is received into a reservoir below, substantially as herein
described.
5
2nd. In an apparatus adapted to receive and distribute a spray of water, which
passing downward meets a jet of upwardly moving steam within a chamber, the
distributing and purifying materials consisting of cobble, or other stones, pebbles,
or other substances having a capacity to receive, retain, and regulate the heat of
the steam, and receive and hold or retain the impurities, with which they become
coated, substantially as herein described.
·
In witness whereof, I, the said James Henry Dane, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of April, A.D. One thousand eight
hundred and eighty-one..
Witnesses,
STEPHEN HENRY NOURSE.
FRANK ANDREWS BROOKS.
JAMES HENRY DANE. (L.S.)