IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM ENGINES AND BOILERS, AND IN GENERATING STEAM
Year: 1843

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
BENNETTS, of Gunnis Lake, in the County of Cornwall, Civil Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Fifteenth day of August, in the seventh year of Her reign, did
give and grant unto me, the said George Bennetts, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilige and authority,
that I, the said George Bennetts, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
and every of them, by myself and themselves, or by my and their deputy or
deputies, servants, or agents, or such others as I, the said George Bennetts, my
executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term of years therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
that part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England,
Dominion of Wales, the Town of Berwick upon Tweed, and in the Islands of
Jersey, Guernsey, Aldernay, Sark, and Man, and also in all Her said Majesty's
Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM
ENGINES AND BOILERS, AND IN GENERATING STEAM;" in which said Letters Patent
is contained a proviso that if I, the said George Bennetts, should not particu-
larly describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and seal, and cause the same to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately

page_text: .
after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, the said Letters
Patent should be void, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had,
will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
George Bennetts, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement, reference being had to the
Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that
is to say):-
My Invention consists in the construction and arrangement of certain appa-
ratus in connection with the engine and its boiler, for the purpose of rendering
the steam which has been employed in working the engine, and is in its
passage into the condenser or into the atmosphere, available for heating the
water from which the steam is to be generated; and my Invention further
consists in generating steam by injecting water in small jets into generators
clear of water, and maintained at such a temperature as to convert the water
into steam on its coming in contact with the surface of the generator. By
means of this my Invention I am able to reduce the size and cost of the
boilers, and to effect a saving in the power of the engines and in the consump-
tion of fuel. In order to give the best information in my power as to the
nature of my Invention, and the manner of performing the same, I will
proceed to describe the Drawing annexed, which represents a vertical section
and plan of part of the cylinder of a steam engine with eduction pipe, con-
denser, discharge pump, and usual apparatus, together with a double action
force-pump and the arrangements for applying the steam on its passage from
the cylinder to heat the water from which steam is to be generated.
The Drawing also represents a vertical and transverse section and the plan
of my steam generators, with furnace and flues, which I employ for generating
steam according to my said Invention. Figure 1 is a vertical section, and
Figure 2 the plan, of parts of a condensing steam engine. (The letters and
numbers in each Figure refer to the same parts of the machinery as the cor-
responding letters and numbers in the other Figure.) Letter a is the cylinder
with its piston rod, slide valve, and jacket; letter b, the eduction pipe;
letters c, the condenser; letter d, the discharge pump, with bucket, cover, and
discharge cistern, all which parts are well known and in use; letters e, e, e,
represent a vessel formed of three cylindrical pieces bolted together at the
flanches 4 and 5, so as to make steam-tight joints. At each of the places
where these pieces are joined there is an internal projection, which reduces
the area of the vessel at that place, so as to allow only sufficient space for the

page_text: water at each stroke of the pump to pass in a thin sheet between the outside of
the eduction pipe and these projections. The eduction pipe passes through
this vessel, and at the ends of this vessel where the pipe protrudes, a steam-
tight joint is formed in the fausetts 6 and 7. This vessel should be made
capable of containing as much water as the engine will require to supply
it with steam for eight or ten minutes. Letter g is a double action forcing
pump, connected at its eduction passage by means of the pipe h with the
vessel e, e, e, and at its induction passage by means of the pipe f with the dis-
charge cistern d; letter i is a pipe leading from the vessel e, e, e, to the
generators or boilers. No. 8 is a valve which I place, in pumping engines, in
the position shewn in the Drawing, Figures 1 and 2. This valve should be
kept open whilst the engine is in motion, so as to offer no resistance to the
steam in passing from the cylinder. When the engine is brought to a state of
rest this valve should be shut and the steam in the cylinder allowed to pass
into the eduction pipe, where it will give out its heat to the water in the
vessel e, e, e.
This valve may be alternately opened and shut by any of the
gearing now in use for opening and shutting valves. The mode of action of
this part of my Invention is as follows:-If the vessel e, e, e, is filled with
water, and the pump g set in motion, the water which it forces into the vessel
at he will force an equal quantity of water out of the vessel through the pipe i
into the generators or boilers, and the water thus forced into the vessel at h
will circulate through it for eight or ten minutes, until arriving at i it is forced
onwards into the generators or boilers, and during the time it has remained in
the vessel e, e, e, will have taken up as much heat as the steam is capable of
communicating, and the water entering at the part of the vessel next the con-
denser where the eduction pipe is coldest, and being forced out of the vessel
at the end next the cylinder where the eduction pipe is hottest, it is forced at
each stroke of the pump into a hotter position than that which it occupied
before, whilst the area of the vessel at 4 and 5 being contracted so as to allow
only sufficient room for the water forced in by the pump to pass freely,
prevents the water that has already passed these places from returning. By
these means the steam which has been employed to work the engine will be
available to raise the temperature of the water which is supplied to the boiler,
and a partial condensation of the steam may also be effected, whereby less
water than otherwise is required for condensing the steam in the condenser,
and a smaller discharge pump than otherwise necessary, will effectually free the
engine from water and air, thus leaving a greater available power in the engine,
and at the same time economising fuel. It will be seen that in the arrange-
ments above described the water is divided into several chambers or portions,

page_text: and advanced from the coldest to the hottest part of the eduction or waste
steam pipe. The numbers or sizes of these chambers may be increased or
diminished at pleasure, or made of such a size that each may contain the
water required to be injected into the boiler or generators at each stroke of the
engine, according to the other part of my Invention. Further, the steam
might be placed exterior to the water, the successive portions or compartments
of the vessel to contain the water being separated from or connected with each
other by small orifices or communications, so as to prevent the hotter portions
of the water from intermixing with the other or colder portions. It will be
obvious also that the steam might be contained between an interior and exterior
series of vessels or compartments arranged respectively, as above described. I
would remark, that I am aware that the steam has been used after it has per-
formed its work in the cylinder for the purpose of heating the water intended
as a supply for the boiler. I do not, therefore, claim as of my Invention the use
of steam after it has performed its work in the cylinders generally for the pur-
pose of heating water, but only when applied according to the modes herein
described. I will now proceed to describe the other part of my Invention,
which consists in a mode of generating steam by injecting the water upon the
surface of metals raised to such a temperature as to convert such water imme-
diately into steam. Figure 3 is a vertical section; Figure 4 is a transverse
section; and Figure 5, the plan of the generators with furnace flues, &c. Letter
is the furnace door and frame; letter 7, the ash pit; letter m, the fire-place;
letter n, n, furnace bars; letter B is a flue leading from the fire-place to the
back end of the generators 0, 0, 0. The width of this flue is equal to the sum
of the diameters of the generators 0, 0, 0. On arriving at the end of these
generators opposite the furnace door, the flue turns upwards and joins the flue C
formed by the arrangement of the generators, as shewn in Figure 4. This
flue C at the ends of the generators p, p, and q, divides, and (passing around the
ends of them) enters the flues D, D. These flues meet at E, and proceed from
thence to the chimney. The flues D, D, may be formed of brick or other
suitable material. Letters 0, 0, 0, p, p, and q, are the steam generators, which
may be made either of iron or any other metal of sufficient strength to bear
the pressure of the steam, and at the same time remain uninjured by the action
of the fire. These generators are so connected at their ends by means of the
pipes t, t, and w, and the branches A, A, as to form one continuous vessel.
Letters y, y, represent a pipe leading from the water heating vessel e, e, e, and
through which the water passes into the generators 0, 0, 0, through the
branches 1, 2, 3, and the pipes placed in the interior of the generators 0, 0, 0.
One of these pipes is shewn in Figure 3. These pipes should project as far

page_text: into the generators as the end of the fire-place m, and should be perforated
throughout their length with a number of small holes. These pipes are also
furnished with a flanch of the same size as the external diameter of the
generators o, o, o, to the ends of which they should be fastened by means of an
internal flanch, as shewn at the end of the generator o, where the pipe is shewn.
The flanches of these pipes answer the twofold purpose of confining the pipes in
their proper position and of closing the ends of the generators 0, 0, 0, and may
be removed when necessary for the purpose of cleaning the interior of the
generators 0, 0, 0. Letter r is the pipe through which the steam is conveyed to
the engine, and letter s is the safety valve. The manner of using this part of
my Invention is as follows:-To provide steam for the first starting the engine
a sufficient quantity of water should be placed in the generators for that
purpose, and if the whole or nearly the whole of this water is not used in
starting the engine no more water should be injected until it is exhausted.
This may be ascertained by means of cocks placed in the under sides of the
generators 0, 0, 0. When the water is exhausted the force pump g should be
allowed to inject at each stroke of the engine a sufficient quantity of water to
supply the engine with a stroke of steam. The water entering through the per-
forated pipe is divided into a number of minute jets, which coming in
contact with the heated surfaces of the generators 0, 0, 0, is converted into
steam, this steam entering through the branches A, A, of p, p, passing through
them, and out at the opposite ends through v, v, and through the pipe t, entering
at u, from whence it proceeds to the engine through the pipe r, or, lifting
the valve s, escapes into the atmosphere. The steam being made to pass
through these generators, which are surrounded by the flues leading from the
fire to the chimney, has its elasticity increased considerably, whilst the water
is converted into steam (when thrown on the heated surfaces of these generators
in such minute jets) with less fuel than is used when a body of water is
suffered to lodge in them. The fire by which the generators are heated may
be regulated by any of the usual and well-known methods, so as to take care
and not overbeat the generators, which ought never to be brought to a tem-
perature approaching a red heat. I prefer a double action pump for injecting
the water, as the supply is much more regular than it would be with a single
action one. To regulate the quantity of water to the demand of the engine
the chamber of the pump should be connected above and below the piston by a
pipe large enough to allow the water which the pump is capable of raising to
pass freely through it. This pipe should be furnished with a stop cock, the opening
or shutting of which will regulate the quantity of water forced into the boilers
or generators. In the event of water accumulating in the generators (which

page_text: may be ascertained by means of the cocks in the under sides of the generators
0, 0, 0, referred to before), it should be withdrawn, or no more water injected
until that is evaporated. At the same time I would remark, that in order to
generate steam in the most economical and efficient manner according to my
said improvement, the quantity of water injected at each stroke of the engine
should be that requisite for affording steam of the quantity and elasticity
required to work the engine at each stroke, the precise adjustments requisite
for ensuring this perfect effect being made according to the circumstances of
the working of the engine and boiler in each particular case.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, I would wish it to be understood that I do not claim
as of my Invention or the exclusive use of any of the several parts of steam
engines and boilers herein-before described and referred to, except when the
same are employed in and for the construction and arrangement of the
apparatus for the heating of the water by the eduction of steam, and in and for
the generation of steam, as above described.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fifteenth
day of February, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and forty-four.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Fifteenth day of February, in
the seventh year of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, the said George
Bennetts came before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknow-
ledged the Instrument aforesaid, and all and everything therein contained and
specified, in form above written. And also the Instrument aforesaid was
stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made in the fifty-fifth year of
the reign of IIis late Majesty King George the Third.
Inrolled the Fifteenth day of February, One thousand eight hundred and
forty-four.