Improvements in Heating, Cleansing, or Filtering Feed Water and Promoting Circulation of same in Steam Boilers.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd Nov., 1893-Accepted, 20th Jan., 1894
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Heating, Cleansing, or Filtering Feed Water and
Promoting Circulation of same in Steam Boilers.
I, ALFRED AUSTIN RICKABY, of Bloomfield Engine Works, Sunderland, in
the County of Durham, 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 :-
The objects of this invention are:-
1st. To remove from impure feed water all solid matter by filtration, thus
preventing injurious deposit of sediment on the internal surfaces of the boiler.
2nd. To cause the feed water to be heated as it passes through the steam
space, whether being afterwards subjected to the cleansing process or not as may
be necessary.
3rd. To equalise the temperature of the water throughout the boiler by improving
the circulation.
When impure feed water is used it will be passed through an apparatus, preferably
placed inside the boiler, consisting of a vessel filled with charcoal or other filtering
substance from which vessel, after being cleansed and heated by contact with the
steam, the feed water flows by a pipe to the bottom of the boiler where it mixes
with and warms the colder water.
When placed outside the boiler the apparatus will be in equilibrio with both
steam and water pressure from the boiler.
a
In a modified form when the feed water is not so impure as to require cleansing
by a filtering process, but may carry certain substances such as lime in suspension
or may be injuriously greasy, the apparatus may consist of a series of trays,
preferably circular, placed above each other in the steam space and having inclined
surfaces, with perforations between one series and the next, the. feed water entering
from above and flowing downward over the trays and through the perforations in
succession until it reaches a receptacle below from which it flows either direct by
pipe down to the bottom of the boiler, or, if required, passes through the filtering
apparatus as before described, having deposited on the upper surfaces of the trays
the lime or grease, partly solidified by the heat of the steam, which has also heated
the feed water in its passage over the apparatus. Whether the filtering apparatus
is required or not the feed water may be heated by flowing on its passage to the
filter, or to the bottom of the boiler direct as the case may be, over an inclined
trough or troughs within the steam space, being acted upon in such passage by the
steam, and "baffle" plates may be fitted in the trough to retard the flow and keep
it longer in contact with the steam.
In order to further promote circulation and to cause it to commence with the
lighting of the fires and continue automatically thereafter, I propose to use pipes
or channels having inverted spreading mouths over the furnace crowns, or other
surfaces from which steam is rapidly generated, and passes upward to above the
water level in the boiler so as to cause rapidly ascending currents of globules of
steam, mixed with the colder water, drawn from the lower portions of the boiler,
which currents discharge above the water level the steam passing into the steam
space and the water returning by gravity, owing to difference of level, through
pipes into the lower portions of the boiler,

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
On the accompanying sheet of drawings I shew my invention as applied to a
"Coruish" land boiler but its application to marine or other types of boilers will
be readily understood.
The apparatus for performing the whole of the processes is shewn, viz. :-by
Figs. 1 and 3. Heating the feed water simply and in combination with the
extraction of lime or grease in suspension of deposition.
Fig. 2. Cleansing it by filtration from all impurities contained in it to prevent
deposit of sediment inside the boiler.
Fig. 4. Promoting circulation of feed water and generation of steam between
the bottom of boiler and the steam space.
One method of heating the feed water is shewn by Fig. 1 consisting in placing
in the steam space a vessel 1 under the feed pipe 2 which delivers into it and the
feed water flows down an inclined trough 3 into the inlet 4 of the filtering
apparatus 5 shewn by Fig. 2, whence, after being thoroughly cleansed, it flows
through the cock 6 by the pipe 6° down to the bottom of the boiler below the
furnace flue and heats the cold water lying there. To prevent the too rapid flow of
the feed water down the trough 3, "baffle" plates 7 are placed at intervals across
so as to keep the water longer acted upon by the steam.
The alternative method of heating the feed water and causing it to deposit any.
lime or grease held in suspension is shewn by Fig. 3, consists of a series of trays 8
surrounding a central pipe 9 into which the feed water is delivered by the pipe 10,
the apparatus being suspended in the steam space of the boiler. The water, rising
in the central pipe 9, overflows into the upper tray and runs through and over an
inclined perforated surface to the next lower tray and so on till it reaches the
vessel 11, having in its courses been heated by contact with the steam and deprived
of lime or grease which has been deposited in a semi-solid form upon the surfaces
of the trays from which it is cleaned off periodically. The partially cleansed
water now flows by a pipe 12 into the filtering apparatus 5 for filtration if
necessary, and thence as in the previous description by the pipe 6* to the bottom of
the boiler.
The filtering apparatus shewn by Fig. 2, consists of the circular vessel 5, the
inlet 13 to which is in the centre, and is opened or closed by a valve 14, through
which the feed water enters, worked by a rod 15, through a stuffing box on the
top of the boiler. The apparatus is divided by a perforated diaphragm 16,
the upper part of which is filled with charcoal or other good filtering material
through which the water passes upward, as indicated by the arrows, to the
upper portion of the apparatus, and thence to the bottom of the boiler through
the pipe 6. The charcoal or other material is agitated. from time to time by
a revolving rake 17, worked by gearing 18, operated by a spindle 19, from the
front of the boiler and a test cock 20, connected by a pipe 21 to the inlet 13,
indicates whether the apparatus is working properly by steam only issuing when
the cock is opened. If water issues the valve 14 is closed, and the cock 22 on the
front of the boiler is opened when the filtering apparatus is flushed and cleansed by
reverse action, the pressure in the boiler either forcing water through the 2 way
cock 6 up the pipe 6 or steam down the pipe 6b into the upper portion of the
apparatus through the charcoal or other material and out through the cock 22 into
a drain, or into the bilge or sea in case of a steam ship.
The apparatus for promoting the circulation of the feed water is shewn on
.Fig. 4, consisting of inverted dish shaped vessels with spreading mouths 23,
placed at intervals along the furnace crown, an outlet 24 on which projects
above the water level and is surrounded by a casing 25, extending into the
steam space into which opens the mouth of a pipe 26, leading from the bottom of
the boiler, and the action is as follows:-The heated water and globules of steam,
generated upon the furnace crown, are collected into the spreading mouth of the

page_text: vessel 23, and pass to the outlet 24, where the steam is liberated and escapes into
the space above, the hot water flowing over the top and descending by gravity
through the pipe 26, to displace the colder water lying in the bottom of the
boiler.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is :-
The improvements in heating, cleansing or filtering and promoting the
circulation of feed water in steam boilers comprising the feed heating and cleansing
apparatus shewn by Fig. 1, from which the feed water passes to a filtering apparatus,
shewn by Fig. 2, or the alternative apparatus, shewn by Fig. 3, in which the feed
water is both heated and cleansed from lime, grease, or other impurities in solution,
and is delivered to the filtering apparatus and thence, in either arrangement, passes
to the bottom of the boiler or, when cleansing by filtering is not required, passes
from the feed heating apparatus, in either form, direct to the bottom of the boiler in
combination with an apparatus shewn by Fig. 4 for promoting the circulation of the
feed water which has been heated and cleansed, or either, the whole constructed
and operating substantially as described and shewn.
Dated this 22nd day of November 1893.
T. J. DANSON, F.I.P.A.,
Chartered Patent Agent, Agent for Applicant.