IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING POWER FROM ERIFORM FLUIDS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Matthew Piers Watt Boulton, of Tew Park, Oxford-
shire, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING POWER FROM
ERIFORM FLUIDS."
Sealed the 22nd November 1864, and dated the 30th June 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Matthew Piers Watt
Boulton at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 30th June 1864.
I, MATTHEW PIERS WATT BOULTON, of Tew Park, Oxfordshire, do hereby
declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING POWER
FROM RIFORM FLUIDS," to be as follows:-
When aeriform fluids, steam, gas, or vapour are highly heated there is
difficulty in employing them to work a piston in a cylinder. In order to
obviate this difficulty I propose the following construction:-Attached to the
piston rod below the piston is a cylindrical vessel nearly fitting the cylinder,
but not touching it, so that only a small portion of air or gas can find
its way between the sides of the vessel and those of the cylinder. The sides
of this vessel are of metal, and its interior contains water or other liquid.
Thus the small portion of aeriform fluid which finds its way between the
sides of the cylinder and of the interior vessel is cooled by contact with
the metal, kept cool by the liquid within. This liquid is introduced through
the piston rod or through some rod attached to the piston, and the vapour
generated from it by the action of the heated gases may be either discharged

page_text: as waste or may be utilized. This cylindrical vessel may be made as long
as or somewhat longer than the stroke of the piston. Under such an
arrangement the heated gases never find their way to the upper portion
of the cylinder, in which the piston and the piston rod work, and thus this
portion of the cylinder may be kept quite cool and fully lubricated, while
the gases in the lower part of the cylinder are intensely heated. The
arrangement may, of course, be reversed, the heated gases being introduced
at the upper part of the cylinder and the piston and piston rod working
in the lower, and the cylinder may be placed in any position, horizontal
or inclined. The exterior of the cylinder may be cooled to any required
degree by the contact of water or other liquid in a vessel encompassing
-it, the vapour generated from which liquid may, if it is desired, be utilized.
The cooling influence of the cylindrical vessel previously described may
be reduced to any desired degree by constructing a portion of it of some
substance which obstructs the passage of heat; especially the outer surface
of it, exposed to the full action of the heated gases, may be so constructed.
Between this cylindrical vessel and the piston may be a chamber containing
liquid, which liquid may communicate with that in the cylindrical vessel.
As the cylindrical vessel does not fit air-tight in the cylinder, that portion
of the cylinder in which the piston does not work need not be finished
very truly, and its interior need not be constructed of metal, but may be
formed of some substance which is a bad conductor of heat. The con-
struction above described may be employed on both sides of the piston,
in which case the engine will be double-acting. But in this case the piston
rod is not so well protected from the action of the heat.
If the gases are
admitted only to one side of the cylinder then two cylinders may be employed,
in one of which the piston performs work, while in the other the piston is
making the return stroke.
When highly heated gases are employed the valves may be constructed
as follows:-The valve is a metallic vessel containing water or other liquid
introduced through a rod. The channel for the passage of the heated
Between the sides of this passage and
gases passes through the liquid.
the liquid some substance which is a bad conductor of heat may be inter-
posed. The valve may either slide or rotate. A second valve may be
employed not fitting accurately the passage in which it works, which, when
closed, obstructs the communication of the heated gases with the principal
valve.
When heated gases are contained in a chamber steam may be introduced
in such a manner as to form a layer or film of steam between the heated

page_text: gases and the sides of the chamber, or water may be introduced through
numerous apertures which is converted into steam by the heat in the interior
of the chamber so as to produce the same effect. In this way a layer or
thin body of steam may be introduced between the heated gases and the
sides of the vessel or chamber, so that these sides may be kept cool while
the gases in the interior are intensely heated. In employing heated gases
for the production of motive power any gases may be employed whose
combination generates heat and expansive force. The gases may be forced
into the combustion chamber by the pressure developed in the vessels in
which they are generated.
After an inflammable gas or inflammable vapour has been burnt in a
combustion chamber with a mixture of air, oxygen or other suitable gas,
the gaseous products of combustion may be forced into water, passing
through it in numerous small streams, which may be made to take a zig-zag
course by passing in contact with metallic surfaces suitably disposed in the
water so as to generate steam, and the resulting mixture of heated gases and
steam may be used for the production of motive power.
When air is forced into the combustion chamber for the purpose of com-
bustion, instead of doing this by means of a force pump worked by the engine,
the following method may be employed:-Steam being generated in a boiler
presses on liquid in a receiver, causes this liquid to rise in a second vessel or
receiver, and drives the air contained in this vessel through a valve into
the combustion chamber. The air having been driven out of the second
receiver, the passage which admits steam into the first receiver is closed,
and communication between both receivers and the atmosphere opened, air
re-enters the second receiver, the liquid resumes its former place, and the
operation is ready to be repeated. It is preferable that the liquid employed
should be one whose boiling point is higher than that of water, and whoso
heat is at least as high as that of the steam employed, so that the steam
may not be condensed by contact with it. The valves may be worked either
by the engine moved by the heated gases or by the movement of the liquid
employed in the forcing apparatus itself. In such an arrangement, during
the first part of the stroke, while the air in the receiver is not much com-
pressed, there is excess of force in the steam employed. The effect of this
is to cause rapid movement and thus develope heat by friction, and the
momentum and heat thus generated may both be utilized. If it is desired
to equalize the force and the resistance, this may be done by causing the liquid
in the first part of the stroke to pass through small tubes or interstices. The
number and size of these passages may be varied at pleasure, and thus the

page_text: resistance due to the friction may be made to diminish as that due to the
compression of the air increases. The heat resulting from the friction so
caused may be utilized; otherwise air may be forced into the combustion
chamber in the following manner:-Steam is generated in a boiler and
raised to a higher pressure than that existing in the combustion chamber.
A jet of this steam is caused to act like the blast of a locomotive engine,
so as to set in motion in a tube a mixed current of steam and air moving
at a high velocity. The tube in which this current is made to move con
municates with the combustion chamber, and the mixed current of steam
and air forces its way through this into the combustion chamber. A large
portion of the steam may be removed by condensation; the current being
made to pass through a chamber traversed by numerous pipes, through which
a current of cold water or other liquid passes. Inflammable vapour, such as
vapour of petroleum, may be employed to force air in conjunction with itself
into the combustion chamber in a similar manner, and inflammable gas
generated at a high pressure may be similarly employed. When the heated
gases which have issued from the combustion chamber are discharged after
moving a piston in a cylinder or otherwise performing work, the heat retained
in them is capable of being used to produce further motive power by heating
water or air. They may be employed to heat water in a boiler and so
generate steam, or to superheat steam by heating the exterior surface of tubes
or vessels through which steam passes, or they may be made to pass through
an air heater or chamber similar to that called the regenerator in various
air engines, into which air or steam is afterwards admitted and thereby heated,
the expansive force thus produced being used as motive power. For this
purpose the air-heating chamber is provided with valves worked by the engine,
so that the heated gases and the air or steam whose force it is desired to use
may be alternately admitted into the heating chamber or regenerator.
Instead of employing the heated gases or aeriform fluids to work a piston in a
cylinder they may be employed to work a turbine, re-action wheel, screw,
fan, or similar instrument. The heat retained by them after performing
this work may be utilized and the turbine or wheel may work in a chamber
constructed with a view of utilizing the heat by imparting it to water
Under such circumstances what is usually reckoned as loss
steam, or air.
in the working of a turbine is no longer to be reckoned as entire loss, since
the friction and the velocity of the issuing fluid generate heat from which
If the heated
the due proportion of mechanical effect may be obtained.
gases are used alone to work a turbine, the velocity of the turbine requisite
for. the attainment of maximum efficiency will be very great. This velocity

page_text: may be reduced if the gases are employed to act as a blast, and thus set in
motion a current of air in conjunction with them. A succession of such
blasts may be employed. In this way, instead of a small current of aeriform
fluid moving at a very high velocity, a much larger current moving at a
lower velocity is obtained, and the velocity of the turbine suitable to obtain
the maximum of power is reduced accordingly. Again, the aeriform fluid,
instead of acting directly on the wheel or turbine, may be employed to give it
rotation by forcing liquid through it. For this purpose the aeriform fluid
may issue alternately into two chambers, driving alternately liquid out of
them, and thus forcing it in a constant stream through the wheel or turbine.
When the liquid is forced out of the chamber the passage by which the-
aeriform fluid enters and that through which it forces the liquid are closed
by valves, while another valve opens a passage through which the chamber
is refilled with liquid. A more continuous mode of action may be obtained
as follows: The aeriform fluid is caused to issue at a high velocity into
liquid in such a manner as to act as a blast, and thus to set in motion a current
of liquid, and a succession of such blasts may be employed. The current of
liquid thus established is employed to give motion to a turbine wheel or
similar instrument. The blast of aeriform fluid may also be employed to
give rotary motion to the liquid, and thus play the part performed by
directrices in a turbine. When a re-action wheel is employed for this
purpose the following construction may be employed:-The passages through
which the fluid is forced to flow are curved in the first instance on a cylinder
whose axis is the axis of the wheel as the passages are curved in a parallel
flow or Fontaine's turbine, after which they are continued spirally, increasing,
constantly their distance from the axis till they are brought into the plane.
of the wheel, and their final curvature is like that of the passages in an
ordinary re-action wheel or an outward flow turbine. Otherwise the curva-
ture of the passages may be described as that of a line winding spirally round
a surface of revolution whose radius gradually increases and whose section in;
a plane drawn through the axis is a line at first parallel to the axis and
afterwards gradually curving, till ultimately it is at right angles to the axis..
The spiral line winding round this surface is at first parallel to the axis of
the wheel, and terminates in the plane of the wheel, tangential or nearly so
to its circumference. The construction may be varied by making the
passages wind inwards instead of outwards, so that they ultimately become
like those of an inward flow turbine or vortex wheel. A turbine or wheel set.
in motion in any of the above methods may be employed to give rotation to a
screw for the propulsion of vessels or for any purpose to which rotary motion

page_text: produced by steam engines is now applied. If steam is employed to work a
wheel or turbine by forcing liquid through it, then it is preferable that the
liquid employed should be some liquid whose boiling point is higher than that
of water and whose temperature is at least as high as that of the steam used.
If intensely heated gases are employed, then the liquid should be some
substance which is liquid at a high temperature.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Matthew Piers Watt Boulton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 27th December 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MATTHEW
PIERS WATT BOULTON, of Tew Park, Oxfordshire, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of June, 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 Matthew Piers Watt Boulton, Her special licence that I, the said
Matthew Piers Watt Boulton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Matthew Piers Watt Bolton, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING POWER FROM AERIFORM FLUIDS,'
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Matthew Piers Watt
Boulton, my executors or administrators, by au instrument in writing under
my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 Matthew Piers Watt Boulton, 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 thereof, that is to say :-
When aeriform fluids, steam, gas, or vapour are highly heated there is
difficulty in employing them to work a piston in a cylinder. In order to
"

page_text: obviate this difficulty I propose the following construction:-Attached to the
piston rod below the piston is a cylindrical vessel nearly fitting the cylinder,
but not touching it, so that only a small portion of air or gas can find its way
between the sides of the vessel and those of the cylinder. The sides of this
vessel are of metal, and its interior contains water or other liquid. Thus the
small portion of aeriform fluid which finds its way between the sides of the
cylinder and of the interior vessel is cooled by contact with the metal, kept
cool by the liquid within. This liquid is introduced through the piston rod or
through some rod attached to the piston, and the vapour generated from it by
the action. of the heated gases may be either discharged as waste or may be
utilized. This cylindrical vessel may be made as long as or somewhat longer
than the stroke of the piston. Under such an arrangement the heated gases
never find their way to the upper portion of the cylinder, in which the piston
and the piston rod work, and thus this portion of the cylinder may be kept
quite cool and fully lubricated, while the gases in the lower part of the cylinder
are intensely heated. Figure 1 represents such a mode of construction.
C, C, C, C, represents the cylinder, the top of which is open to the air. The
piston P works in the upper part of this cylinder C, C, c, c. Attached to the
lower side of the piston is the vessel A, A, B, B, which nearly fits the cylinder,
but does not touch it. The interior of the vessel d, d, d, d, contains water or
other liquid introduced through a rod attached to the piston, or through
passages such as e, e. The heated gases enter by the passage D and B; the
part exposed to the action of these gases is fire-brick or some substance which
resists heat, and which is a bad conductor of heat. F is a chamber filled with
sand or other material which is a bad conductor of heat. These substances
check the passage of heat from the heated gases to the liquid in the interior of
the vessel. The space between the vessel. A, A, and the sides of the cylinder
being small, only a small portion of the heated gases can find their way into
this space, and as they do so they are cooled by contact with its metallic
sides, kept cool by the liquid within. It is not necessary that the whole of the
interior of the vessel should be filled with liquid, the outer portion alone may
contain this, and the central part may be empty..
The cooling influence of the cylindrical vessel' may be reduced to any
desired degree by constructing a portion of it of some substance which obstructs
the passage of heat; especially the outer surface of it, exposed to the full
action of the heated gases, may be so constructed, as shown in the Figure.
As the cylindrical vessel does not fit air-tight in the cylinder, that portion of
the cylinder in which the piston does not work need not be finished very truly.
The arrangement may of course be reversed, the heated gases being introduced

page_text: at the upper part of the cylinder, and the piston and piston rod working in the
lower; and the cylinder may be placed in any position, horizontal or inclined.
The exterior of the cylinder may be cooled to any required degree by the
contact of water or other liquid in a vessel encompassing it; the vapour
generated from which liquid may, if it is desired, be utilized. The inner part
of the lower portion of the cylinder to which the heated gases have access
may be lined with some substance which is a bad conductor of heat, as shown
by G in the Figure.
Figure 2 represents another arrangement. Here P is the piston; a, a, a, a,
the cylindrical body attached to it; A, the passage by which the heated
aeriform fluid enters; B, the cylinder in which the piston works; C is a
substance which is a slow conductor of heat; D, a chamber containing liquid
supplied through the piston rod and kept cool; E, a substance which is a
slow conductor of heat, lining that portion of the cylinder in which the piston
does not work; F, a substance which is a slow conductor of heat filling a
portion of the cylindrical body attached to the piston; G, water or liquid,
keeping cool the outside of that part of the cylinder in which the piston P
:works.
The construction above described may be employed on both sides of the
piston, in which case the engine will be double-acting. But in this case the
piston rod is not so well protected from the action of the heat. If the gases
are admitted only to one side of the cylinder, then two cylinders may be
employed, in one of which the piston performs work, while in the other the
piston is making the return stroke.
When highly heated gases or aeriform fluids are employed, the valves may
be constructed as follows:-The valve is a metallic vessel containing water or
other liquid introduced through a rod. The channel for the passage of the
heated gases passes through the liquid. Between the sides of this passage
and the liquid some substance which is a bad conductor of heat may be inter-
posed. The valve may either slide or rotate. A second valve may be
employed not fitting accurately the passage in which it works, which when
closed obstructs the communication of the heated gases with the principal
valve.
Figure 3 represents such a valve. A, A, A, A, is a vessel forming the body
of the valve, fitting the passage C, C, C, C. In the interior of this is cold
water or other liquid, introduced through a tube or rod attached to the valve.
D is the passage for the heated aeriform fluid, closed or opened by the action
of the valve; B, B, some substance which is a bad conductor of heat.
Figure 4 represents a similar valve, in which the passage is curved and the

page_text: quid was in praces access to the sides or the cylinder in which the valve
works.
When heated gases are contained in a chamber steam may be introduced in
such a manner as to form a layer or film of steam between the heated gases
and the sides of the chamber, or water may be introduced through numerous
apertures, which is converted into steam by the heat in the interior of the
chamber, so as to produce the same effect. In this way a layer or thin body
of steam may be introduced between the heated gases and the sides of the
vessel or chamber, so that these sides may be kept cool while the gases in the
interior are intensely heated.
In employing heated gases for the production of motive power any gases
may be employed whose combustion generates heat and expansive force. The
gases may be forced into the combustion chamber by the pressure developed
in the vessels in which they are generated. The heat resulting from the
combustion may be reduced to any desired degree by the injection of steam.
After an inflammable gas or inflammable vapour, such as vapour of petroleum,
has been burnt in a combustion chamber with a mixture of air, oxygen or
other suitable gas, the gaseous products of combustion may be forced into
water passing through it in numerous small streams, which may be made to
take a zig-zag course by passing in contact with metallic surfaces suitably
disposed in the water so as to generate steam, and the resulting mixture of
beated gases and steam may be used for the production of motive power.
Figure 5 represents an apparatus for this purpose. B is a boiler containing
water; A is a chamber in which inflammable gas or vapour is burnt. The
products of combustion pass from this chamber through the passages C, C,
into the water of the boiler, and rising through this generate steam. In doing
this they may be made to pass through a number of small apertures D, D,
through which they rise in fine streams. They may also, if desired, be made
to take a zig-zag course through the water by plates disposed as E, E. The
mixed steam and gases passing from the boiler are employed to move a piston
in a cylinder or otherwise perform work. When it is required to force air
into the combustion chamber for the purpose of combustion, instead of a piston
in a cylinder, liquid worked by the pressure of steam may be employed. The
steam being generated in a boiler and admitted into a vessel containing liquid,
forces this liquid to rise in a second vessel communicating with it, and drives
the air contained in this vessel through a valve into the combustion chamber.
When the air is driven out of this vessel, the port or passage which admits
steam into the first vessel is closed, and communication between both vessels
and the atmosphere opened by means of valves, upon which air re-enters the

page_text: second vessel, while the liquid re-enters the first vessel, and the operation is
ready to be repeated. The liquid employed in such a case should be as hot as
the steam. The valves may be worked by the movement of the liquid by
means of a tumbler or similar contrivance. They may also be worked as
follows: A float moving with the liquid imparts motion to an arm or piece
outside the vessel, which alternately connects and disconnects an electro-
magnet with a voltaic pile or battery. The iron of the electro-magnet when
magnetized lifts a weight or moves a piece against pressure, which piece,
this
when the iron cases to be a magnet, drops or is forced back by pressure,
piece by its movement working the valve; and this method is appplicable to
other cases.
In such an arrangement during the first part of the stroke, while
the air in the receiver is not much compressed, there is excess of force in the
steam employed. The effect of this is to cause rapid movement, and thus
develope heat by friction, and the momentum and heat thus generated may
both be utilized. If it is desired to equalize the force and the resistance, this
may be done by causing the liquid in the first part of the stroke to pass
through small tubes or interstices, thus generating heat, which imparted to
the steam creates expansive force. The number and size of these passages
may be varied at pleasure, and thus the resistance due to the friction may be
made to diminish as that due to the compression of the air increases. When
the liquid returns the opening of a valve or valves allows it to pass without
being forced through the narrow passages. When a piston working in a
cylinder is employed to force air into the combustion chamber, this piston may
carry a certain quantity of liquid on its upper side, a portion of which liquid
may at each stroke be forced through the valve into the chamber or passage
beyond, communicating with the combustion chamber; the excess of this
liquid being constantly forced back through a small pipe by the pressure in
that chamber. This liquid may be kept cool by cold water introduced into
the piston through the piston rod. Otherwise air may be forced into the
combustion chamber in the following manner :-Steam is generated in a boiler
at high pressure, and a jet of this steam is caused to issue into a larger tube,
acting like the blast of a locomotive, so as to set in motion in the tube a mixed
current of steam and air. The steam in this pipe is cooled by contact with
the air, and also by conduction from the outside, being thereby contracted and
condensed, and the mixed current in the pipe is forced onwards into the com-
bustion chamber. In this chamber, if it is desired, a portion of the moisture
suspended in the fluid may be precipitated, for which purpose a portion of the
chamber is kept cool by pipes, through which a current of cold water or
liquid passes. The water so precipitated is collected in a receptacle, and the

page_text: excess forced outwards through a small pipe by the pressure in the chamber;
also, to effect more completely the separation of the moisture, the mixed
current may be made to pass through the water in the chamber. The air,
either thus freed from the particles of water, or carrying these with it, passes
on to the heated part of the combustion chamber, and is there used for
combustion.
Figure 6 represents such an arrangement. A is a pipe from which a
jet of steam or other vapour issues into the larger pipe B, causing a current
of air to move in that pipe along with it; D is cold water or other liquid
which cools the fluid moving in the pipe by conduction; C is the combustion
chamber, into which the mixed current forces it way; E, E, are pipes through
which a current of cold water or liquid passes, keeping that part of the cham-
ber in which they are placed cool. This portion of the chamber may be
divided from the other part by a partition, through which there is a passage
of communication. Fis water which has collected at the bottom of the vessel;
G, a small pipe through which this water is forced outwards by the pressure
in the chamber. Many jets of steam or vapour and many passages may be
employed, and the form of the passages through which the vapour passes may
be greatly varied. When the heated gases which have issued from the com-
bustion chamber are discharged after moving a piston in a cylinder or otherwise
performing work, the heat retained in them is capable of being used to produce
further motive power by heating water or air. They may be employed to
heat water in a boiler and so generate steam, the steam thus generated being
employed for the production of motive power. Instead of employing the
heated gases or aeriform fluids to work a piston in a cylinder, they may be
employed to work a turbine, wheel, screw, fan, or similar instrument.
The heat retained by them after performing this work may be utilized in the
manner previously mentioned, and the turbine or wheel may work in a cham-
ber constructed with the view of utilizing the heat by imparting it to water in
a boiler. Under such circumstances what is usually reckoned as loss in the
working of a turbine is no longer to be reckoned as the entire loss, since the
friction and the velocity of the issuing fluid generate heat, from which the due
proportion of mechanical effect may be obtained. If the heated gases are
used alone to work a turbine, the velocity of the turbine requisite for the
obtainment of maximum efficiency will be very great. This velocity may be
reduced if the gases are employed to act as a blast, and thus set in motion a
current of air in conjunction with them. A succession of such blasts may be
employed. In this way, instead of a small current of aeriform fluid moving
at a very high velocity, a much larger current moving at a lower velocity is

page_text: obtained, and the velocity of the turbine suitable to obtain the maximum of
power is reduced accordingly. Again, a succession of turbines or wheels may
be employed, each utilizing a portion of the velocity of the issuing fluid, and'
thus ultimately reducing it to a moderate amount.
In Figure 7, A is an orifice from which heated gases or aeriform fluids issue;,
acting like the blast of a locomotive, they set in motion in the tube B¹ a
current of air in conjunction with them. The blást issuing from the tube B'
sets in motion a further body of air in the tube B. In this way a larger body
of aériform fluid is set in motion at a lower velocity, and this current is passed
through the turbine C. The velocity of the current being reduced, the velocity
of the turbine requisite for the attainment of maximum efficiency is reduced
correspondingly. Again, the aeriform fluid instead of acting directly on the
wheel or turbine may be employed to give it rotation by forcing liquid through
it. For this purpose the aeriform fluid may issue alternately into two chambers,
driving alternately liquid out of them, and thus forcing it in a constant stream
through the wheel or turbine.
In Figure 8, A represents a vessel containing liquid, into which aeriform
fluid (steam, vapour, or gas) is admitted under pressure by a valve through the
passage a. After a sufficient quantity has been admitted the valve in the
passage a is closed, and the aeriform fluid is allowed to expand. The aeriform
fluid entering the vessel A, and expanding in it, drives out the liquid through
the valve B into the passage C, which may be connected with an air vessel D,
and onwards through the turbine into the liquid F in the external vessel.
When a sufficient quantity of the liquid has been driven out of the vessel A, a
valve opens a communication with the atmosphere or with a condenser through
the passage b, upon which the liquid in the external vessel enters the vessel A
through the valve G, driving out the aeriform fluid and refilling it with liquid,
when the operation is ready to be repeated. The valves may be worked by
the movement of the liquid. This may work a tumbler or it may work the
valves in the manner previously described, vizt., by means of a float, which causes
the wire surrounding an electro-magnet to be alternately connected and dis-
connected with a voltaic pile or battery, and in this way to give movement to
a weight or moving piece connected with the valves. Two or more vessels
similar to A may communicate with one passage and with one air vessel, the
aeriform fluid being admitted into them alternately. The current of liquid
thus established is employed to give motion to a turbine wheel or other instru-
ment suitable for being worked by a current of liquid. When steam or
vapour is used in this manner, the liquid employed should be as hot as the
steam or vapour. Two currents may be employed working a pair of turbines

page_text: on a common axis from opposite directions, so that the bearings of the turbines
may be relieved from pressure. A more continuous mode of action may be
obtained as follows:-The aeriform fluid is caused to issue at a high velocity
into liquid in such a manner as to act as a blast, and thus to set in motion a
current of liquid; and a succession of such blast may be employed. The
current of liquid thus established is employed to give motion to a turbine,
wheel, or similar instrument, or to any instrument suitable for being worked
by a current of water. The blast of aeriform fluid may also be employed to
give rotary motion to the liquid, and thus play the part performed by directrices
in a turbine. A turbine or a wheel set in motion in any of the above methods
may be employed to give rotation to a screw for the propulsion of vessels, or
for any purpose to which rotary motion produced by steam engines is
now applied. If intensely heated gases are employed the liquid should be
some substance which is liquid at a high temperature.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, what I claim is,-
First, the construction of piston and valves as described.
Second, the mode of introducing air into the combustion chamber by the
action of a current of steam or vapour.
Third, the employment of vapour of petroleum in the manner described,
i.c., causing it to undergo combustion, and forcing the products through water
in a boiler.
Fourth, the employment of beated products of combustion to produce
motive power power in the manner described, the heated products being sub-
sequently employed to generate steam for the production of motive power.
Also, the combination described for employing steam or other heated aeriform
fluid to force heated liquid through one or more turbines.
In witness whereof, I, the said Matthew Piers Watt Boulton, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of December,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
M. P. W. BOULTON.
(LS.)