IM- PROVEMENTS IN ENGINES TO BE OPERATED BY THE EXPANSIVE FORCE OF AMMONIA ETHER, OR OTHER LIQUIFIABLE GAS
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick Barker Hill, of Lambeth Road, Southwark, in
the County of Surrey, Engineer, and Toranoske Masayas Nishigawa, of the
City of Hiroshima, in the Empire of Japan, but at present of Finborough Road,
in the County of Middlesex, Analytical Chemist, for the Invention of " IM-
PROVEMENTS IN ENGINES TO BE OPERATED BY THE EXPANSIVE FORCE OF
AMMONIA ETHER, OR OTHER LIQUIFIABLE GAS."
Scaled the 23rd September 1876, and dated the 27th March 1876.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick Barker Hill and
Toranoske Masayas Nishigawa at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on
the 27th March 1876.
FREDERICK BARKER HILL, of Lambeth Road, Southwark, in the County of Surrey,
Engineer, and TORANOSKE MASAYAS NISHIGAWA, of the City of Hiroshima, in the
Empire of Japan, but at present of Finborough Road, in the County of Middlesex,
Analytical Chemist. "IMPROVEMENTS IN ENGINES TO BE OPERATED BY THE EX-
PANSIVE FORCE OF AMMONIA, ETHER, OR OTHER LIQUIFIABLE GAS."
Our said Invention relates to engines for developing the motive force derived
from the vaporization and expansion of liquid anhydrous ammonia or other sub-
stance capable of being obtained and held under pressure in a liquid condition in a
suitable reservoir, and which, when relieved from such pressure, will immediately
pass into a vapourous or gaseous state. But although we may in some instances
employ ether and other easily liquifiable gases for the purpose of our Invention,
we have more especially designed our improvements for the economical use of
liquid anhydrous ammonia as the source of motive power.
For the liquefaction of the ammonia, and to ensure the economical and most
advantageous use of the same in our improved engines, we use apparatus described
in the Specification of the said Toranoske Masayas Nishigawa, filed with his
Petition for Letters Patent the 26th February, A.D. 1876, No. 813. The said
apparatus comprises a boiler capable of sustaining a pressure of from 200 lbs. to
300 lbs. per square inch. A liquifactor composed of an upward and downward
coil or worm; a cooler, composed of an upward coil, which enters an absorber and
is placed within the said liquifactor; and a temperative equalizer, composed of a
cylinder containing a coil or worm, the cold liquid from the absorber and the hot
water from the boiler passing into opposite directions through the said equalizer.
[Price 6d.

page_text: According to our present Invention we construct an engine whereby the vaporiza-
tion and consequent expansion of liquified anhydrous ammonia are advantageously
developed into motive power as follows:-The said engine has a cylinder of any
suitable length and diameter, fitted with a piston and provided with a port face,
upon which is fitted a slide valve operated by an ordinary excentric or by other
suitable mechanism. This valve has in it a cavity or chamber, capable of holding
the quantity of liquid anhydrous ammonia to be vaporized at the commencement of
each stroke of the piston. From the liquefactor or reservoir containing the liquid
anhydrous ammonia under pressure a passage extends to a port or aperture in the
port; from the port face ports or passages extend to one end or both ends of the
cylinder, according as the piston is single or double acting therein; and the said
slide valve is so formed, arranged, and operated that for cach stroke of the piston it
covers the supply port whereby its cavity is filled with liquid anhydrous ammonia,
and noves therefrom to the cylinder admission port, thereby allowing the ammonia
to pass into and expand in the end of the cylinder, its expansion driving the piston
forward; then the said valves slides over an exhaust port communicating with the
absorber, into which the ammonia is discharged for recondensation.
Or we may modify the construction of our engine by dispensing altogether with
a slide valve, and employing a piston with a cavity or cavities arranged to slide
over a port or aperture at the side of the cylinder, through which port the liquid
anhydrous ammonia is admitted to the cavity or cavities in the piston at each stroke
or every alternate stroke of the same. At one or both ends of the cylinder we
form recesses or cavities so arranged that as the cavity in the piston comes opposite
one of these recesses the liquid anhydrous ammonia is discharged through the same
into the end of the cylinder, wherein it expands, driving the piston forward, as
above described.
We may vary or modify our Invention as required to adapt the same to any
particular type or class of engines. And we may adapt the said Invention to loco-
motive, marine, portable, or stationary engines of any form, size, or construction;
but in whatever form our said Invention is applied or adapted, the peculiar feature
will be the cavity in the valve or piston so operating as to alternately receive the
liquid anhydrous ammonia and discharge the same into the cylinder.
In ordinary cases we prefer that the engine should have a cylinder or cylinders
into which the liquid is admitted to one end only, the other end of the cylinder or
cylinders of the said engine opening into a chamber through which the crank shaft
passes, as in various well known forms of three or four cylinder engines wherein the
cylinders are arranged radially around a central crank shaft. The ammonia after its
expansion in the cylinder is exhausted chiefly through an exhaust port into the said
central chamber, wherein it is conducted to the absorber for recondensation.
piston is in this case secured to the connecting rod by a ball joint, which forms a
valve that closes on the forward stroke of the piston and opens on its return stroke,
to allow the remaining vaporized ammonia to pass into the said central chamber.
The
All parts of our engines should be formed of cast iron, wrought iron, or steel.
The joints of the cylinder and other flanges should be formed of lead, and the
packings for the working shafts and rods should be of india-rubber or india-rubber
and canvas.
In a locomotive and other engines where it is necessary or desirable to economize
space the parts of the condensing and other apparatus described in the said former
Specification may be arranged one within the other with the engine in the centre,
the whole of their parts being enclosed within a tank or cistern arranged in a
convenient position.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by the
said Frederick Barker Hill and Toranoske Masayas Nishigawa in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 27th September 1876.
FREDERICK BARKER HILL, of Lambeth Road, Southwark, in the County of Surrey,
Engineer, and TORANOSKE MASAYAS NISHIGAWA, of the City of Hiroshima, in the
Empire of Japan, but at present of Finborough Road, in the County of Middlesex,
Analytical Chemist. "IMPROVEMENTS IN ENGINES TO BE OPERATED BY THE EX-
PANSIVE FORCE OF AMMONIA, ETHER, OR OTHER LIQUIFIABLE CAS."
Our said Invention relates to engines for developing for motive power the force
derived from the vaporization and expansion of liquid anhydrous ammonia or other
substance capable of being obtained and held under pressure in a liquid condition
in a suitable reservoir, and which when relieved from such pressure will imme-
diately pass into a vapourous or gaseous state. But although we may in some
instances employ ether and other easily liquefiable gases for the purpose of our In-
vention we have more especially designed our improvements for the economical
use of liquid anhydrous ammonia as the source of motive power.
For the liquefaction of the ammonia and to ensure the economical and most
advantageous use of the same in our improved engines, we use apparatus described
in the Specification of former Letters Patent granted to the said Toranoske Masayas
Nishigawa, dated the 26th February, A.D. 1876, No. 813. The said apparatus
comprises a boiler capable of sustaining a pressure of from 200 lbs. to 300 lbs. per
square inch. A liquefactor, composed of an upward and downward coil or worm;
a cooler, composed of an upward coil, which enters an absorber and is placed within
the said liquefactor; and a temperature equalizer, composed of a cylinder containing
a coil or worm, the cold liquid from the absorber and the hot water from the boiler
passing in opposite directions through the said equalizer.
According to our present Invention we construct an engine whereby the vaporiza-
tion and consequent expansion of liquified anhydrous ammonia are advantageously
developed into motive power, and, as shewn in the accompanying Drawing, in
which Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of part of an engine constructed according
to our said Invention; Figure 2 is a similar section embodying another form of
our said Invention; Figure 3 is a sectional plan of the same; Figure 4 is an end
view of the said engine. Like letters indicate the same parts throughout the
Drawing.
The engine shown in Figure 1 has a cylinder a, of any suitable length and
diameter, fitted with a piston b, and provided with a valve chamber c, within which
is fitted a slide valve d, operated by an ordinary eccentric or by other suitable
mechanism. This valve has in or around it cavities or recesses capable of holding
the quantity of liquid anhydrous ammonia or other fluid to be vapourized at the
commencement of each stroke of the piston. A pipe or passage extends from the
said liquefactor or other suitable reservoir containing liquid anhydrous ammonia to
a port or aperture c', and from this port passages c² extend and open into the valve
chest or chamber. There may be one or two of these passages, according as the
piston is single or double acting; as shewn in the Drawing it is double acting. We
prefer to use a cylindrical valve and chamber, as shewn, but may use a flat faced
valve sliding on a port face like an ordinary slide valve.
The said valve d, with the said cavities, recesses, or spaces at d, is so formed,
arranged, and operated that at each stroke of the piston one of its cavities & covers
one of the supply ports c², and is thereby filled with liquid anhydrous ammonia,
and then moves from the same to the corresponding cylinder admission port f
thereby allowing the ammonia to pass into and expand in the end of the cylinder,
its expansion driving the piston b forward with great force; at the same time the
cavity at the other end of the valve is filling with ammonia, and the exhaust
takes place through the ports fand f, the latter of which extends to the exhaust
passage communicating with the absorber, into which the ammonia is discharged
for recondensation.

page_text: But we prefer to embody our said Invention in a form wherein we dispense
altogether with a slide valve, and employ a piston with cavities arranged to slide
over a port or aperture formed through the side of the cylinder, through which
port the liquid anhydrous ammonia is admitted to a cavity in the piston at each
stroke or every alternate stroke of the same. At one or both ends of the cylinder
we form recesses or spaces so arranged that as the cavity in the piston comes
opposite one of these recesses the liquid anhydrous ammonia is discharged through
the same into the end of the cylinder, wherein it expands, driving the piston
forward, as above described.
In ordinary cases we prefer that this form of our Invention should be carried
into practise, as shewn in Figures 2, 3, and 4 of the Drawing, that is to say, the
said engine has two cylinders a, into which the ammonia vapour is admitted to one
end only, the other end of the cylinders of the said engine opening into a central
chamber g, through which the crank shaft h passos, as in various well known forms
of three or four cylinder engines, wherein the cylinders are arranged radially
around a central crank shaft. At the side of each cylinder a is a port a¹, and at
its end farthest from the crank is a recess a². Each of the pistons b has in or
around it an annular recess b₁, which, as the piston moves outward or away from
the central chamber receives the liquid anhydrous ammonia through the port a¹,
and conveys it to the recess a² at the end of the cylinder, where it expands, and by
its expansion the piston is driven forward. The ammonia after its expansion in
the cylinder is exhausted mainly through an exhaust passage i in the cylinder, and
an aperture in the piston into the said central chamber, whence it is conducted
to the absorber for recondensation; but we provide auxiliary means for the
exhaust as follows:-
The piston b in this form of our Invention is secured to the connecting rod' j by
a ball joint, the ball of which has a passage through it, arranged to communi-
cate with the passage through the piston. The said ball forms a valve that
closes the apertures, on the forward stroke of the piston, as shewn in Figure 2,
and opens the said apertures or passages on its return stroke to allow the remaining
quantity of vapourized ammonia to pass through the same into the said central
chamber. The main exhaust takes place at the moment when the piston reaches
the end of its forward or inward stroke, and the auxiliary exhaust continues during
a part of the return stroke of the said piston. In Figure 2 the left-hand piston is
shown in the position in which the main exhaust takes place.
We may vary or modify our Invention as required to adapt the same to any
particular type or class of engine; and we may adapt the said Invention to loco-
motive, marine, portable, or stationary engines of any form, size, or construction;
but in whichever form our said Invention is applied or adapted the peculiar feature
will be the cavity in the valve or piston so operating as to alternately receive a
determined or measured quantity of the liquid anhydrous ammonia and discharge
the same into the cylinder in which it expands and drives the piston.
All parts of our engine should be formed of cast iron, wrought iron, or steel:
The joints of the cylinder and other flanges should be formed of lead, and the
packings for the working shafts and rods should be of india-rubber or india-rubber
and canvas.
In a locomotive and other engine wherein it is necessary or desirable to economize
space, the parts of the condensing and other apparatus, described in the said former
Specification, may be arranged one within the other with the engine in the centre;
the whole of these parts being enclosed within a tank or cistern arranged in a
convenient position.
Our improved engine for utilizing the power of liquid ammonia may be employed
for driving torpedo vessels. for naval warfare. In this case a receiver full of liquid
ammonia is placed inside the vessel, and the exhaust of the engine takes place into.
the sea or other water in which the same operates. To increase the power heat
may be applied to the engine or receiver, which heat may be obtained by the dis-
solution of the ammonia in a small quantity of water surrounding the engine or the

page_text: receiver, or by lamps, heated water, or other suitable means. When the engine is
used for the purpose of propelling ships the cold produced by the expansion of the
ammonia in the engine may be employed for the preservation of meat or other
similarly perishable substances.
In all cases in which our improved engine is employed heat may be applied in
any convenient manner to increase its power.
Having thus fully described our said Invention, and the manner of performing the
same, we wish it understood that we claim in and forming part of an engine to be
operated by the expansive force of ammonia or other suitable liquifiable gas,-
First. A cavity, recess, or space, or any required number of the same, formed in
a slide valve or piston, or other sliding or reciprocating part, and so arranged and
operating, in combination with suitable ports or passages, as to receive and deliver
into the cylinder a determined or measured quantity of liquid at each stroke of the
piston, for the purpose specified.
Second. The slide valve fitted in a cylindrical chamber at the side of the cylinder,
and constructed with recesses or cavities, as shewn in Figure 1 of the Drawing, and
arranged and operating in combination with ports and passages connected with the
cylinder as shown, and with the reservoir from which the gas is supplied in such a
manner that the piston is driven by the expansion of the gas at the commencement
of cach stroke, as above set forth.
Third. In combination with a piston formed with cavities or recesses for receiving
and distributing the fluid, and the cylinder formed with the said ports and recesses,
and where no slide valve is used the main exhaust passage and auxiliary exhaust
passage and the ball joint serving as a valve in the latter, as above set forth.
Fourth. The two cylinders opening into a central exhaust chamber, in which
the cranks are enclosed, the pistons formed with cavities or recesses, the ports and
recesses in the cylinders, the means for effecting the main and auxiliary exhaust,
and the pistons united by ball joints with the connecting rods, combined and
operating as above set forth.
In witness whereof, we, the said Frederick Barker Hill and Toranoske Masayas
Nishigawa, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twenty-seventh day
of September, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
Seventy-six
F. B. HILL.
(L.S.)
T. M. NISHIGAWA. (L.S.)