Feed Water in Connection with Steam Engines.
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 16th Sept., 1887
Complete Left, 12th May, 1888
Complete Accepted, 15th June, 1888
of Feed Water in Connection with Steam Engines.
ALEXANDER MAC LAINE of No. 1 Queens Elms Belfast in the County of Antrim
Shipowner do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
I heat boiler feed water by means of the waste heat in the smoke box, up take, or
funnel of steamships by introducing therein vaporising pipes supplied with sea water,
and I lead the steam produced by said waste heat in said vaporising pipes into a
Feed water Heater constructed substantially as described in my Provisional specifi-
cation No. 3701 filed 11th March 1887 and I thereby heat the feed water and
incorporate in it the steam from the sea water so as to increase its volume and make
good the steam waste of the engines without introducing sea water into the main
boilers.
I by preference arrange an automatic supply of sea water to said vaporising pipes
and arrange blow off and other means of keeping them free from salt deposit and I
also arrange a supply of fresh water from the main boilers or main boiler feed to
said vaporising pipes for use when deemed expedient.
I govern and regulate the flow of feed water to boilers in the manner
following viz.
I fit a float, composed of sheet copper or other suitable material and arrange same
in the air and oil receiver described in my said Provisional specification No. 370187 so
that the float rises and falls with the level of the oil or water in the said receiver, and
I connect this float by means of rods and levers or other attachments to a valve or
cock placed in the boiler feed pipe so that when the level of the oil or water in the
receiver falls the valve or cock opens and when said level rises the valve or cock closes
and consequently the supply of feed water to the boilers is thereby increased or

page_text: diminished and becomes automatically regulated by the height of the oil or water in
the receiver.
I declare that I do not limit myself to the precise details as described and may use
in connection with my said vaporising apparatus 'any Feed-Water Heater in which
the steam supply comes into direct contact with the feed water and I may use a
receiver or cistern for said float different from the air and oil receiver described in my
sad Provisional specification No. 370187 and may fit said automatic apparatus to the
feed supply to said vaporising pipes or to other feed water supply and may generally
vary aforesaid details to suit circumstances.
Dated Fifteenth day of Santember 1887

page_text: Improvements in Heating, Increasing, and Regulating the Supply
of Feed Water in Connection with Steam Engines.
I ALEXANDER MAC LAINE of No. 1 Queens Elms Belfast in the County of Antrim
Shipowner, 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 :-
I heat boiler feed water by means of the waste heat in the smoke box uptake or
funnel of steamships by introducing therein vaporising pipes supplied with sea water
and I lead the steam produced by said waste heat in said vaporising pipes into a
Feedwater Heater constructed substantially as described in the Provisional specifi-
cation of my Patent No. 3701 of 11th March 1887 and I thereby heat the boiler
feed water and incorporate with it the steam from the sea water so as to increase its
volume and make good the steam waste of the engines without necessarily introducing
sea water into the main boilers.
I by preference arrange an automatic supply of sea water to said vaporising pipes
with blow off and other arrangements for keeping them free of salt deposit and I may
also arrange a supply of fresh water from the main boilers, or main boiler feed, to
said vaporising pipes for use when deemed expedient.
I govern and regulate the flow of feed-water to steam boilers in the manner
following, viz.
I fit a float composed of copper or other suitable material and construction and
arrange same in the oil and air Receiver described in the Provisional specification of
my Patent No. 3701 of 11th March 1887, so that the float rises and falls with the
level of the oil or feed-water in said Receiver and I connect this float by means of
rods and levers or other attachments to a valve or cock placed in the boiler feed pipe
arranged by preference so that when the level of the oil or feed-water in the Receiver
rises the valve or cock opens, and when the level falls the valve or cock closes and
consequently the supply of feed-water to the boilers is thereby increased or diminished
and becomes automatically regulated by the height of the oil or feed-water in the
Receiver and I fit said regulating valve or cock either in the boiler feed pump suction,
or discharge, or in both, according to the variety and description of the boiler
feed-pumps.
I declare that I do not limit myself to the precise details as described and may
use other forms than pipes for heating surface in the vaporising apparatus aforesaid
and may use in combination with said vaporising apparatus any Feed-water Heater
in which the steam supply comes into direct contact with the feed-water and I may
use a Receiver or cistern for holding feedwater and holding and influencing said float
different in shape and construction from the oil and air Receiver described in my
Provisional specification No. 3701 of 11th March 1887 and I may vary generally
aforesaid details to suit circumstances.

page_text: And in order that my said Invention may be more fully described, I shall now
proceed to refer to the drawings upon the sheets hereunto annexed the same letters
or figures of reference indicating the same or corresponding parts in each sheet of
drawings.
Fig. 1 sheet 1 is a side elevation of a single ended steamship boiler fitted with
vaporising apparatus in the base of the funnel and
Fig. 2 sheet 1 is a front view of same; in both of which Figs. a is the boiler, b the
funnel, c c vaporising tubes across the base of the funnel by preference filled with sea
water and exposed to the heat of the waste gases going up the funnel, d d are steel
plates through which the ends of the vaporising pipes pass and are secured steam
tight, e e are cast metal frames outside these steel plates and ffare additional steel
plates outside these cast metal frames to which they are securely fastened steam tight
and stayed throughout as requisite, so that the whole internal space in vaporising
pipes and between the steel plates at each end of the pipes will withstand by
preference an internal outward pressure of about 40 lbs. to the square inch g is a sea
water feed supply pipe by preference automatically regulated so as to maintain the
vaporising pipes and the water spaces at ends always full of sea water, h is a steam
pipe leading to the Feedwater Heater, i is a safety valve loaded by preference to about
40 lbs. to the square inch, k is a blow off pipe and are removable flanges to
facilitato freeing the lower parts of the apparatus from salt deposit.
Fig. 1 sheet 2 is a sectional elevation of a Feedwater Heater fitted with an Oil and
air Receiver substantially as described in the Provisional specification of my Patent
No. 3701 of 11th March 1887 in which is the oil and air Receiver m m cocks for
drawing of oil at intervals n n air pipe leading to the upper part of the hotwell or
other convenient place of discharge o the approximate level of the oil or feedwater in
the oil and air Receiver, and R a guage glass to show the level of the oil or feedwater
in the Oil and air Receiver, 1 is a float to be placed in the Oil and air Receiver as
described and attached by rods and lever to and working a valve 2 placed in the
boiler feed-pump discharge, and which float may also be connected if required by
rods and lever to and work a valve 3 on the boiler feed-pump suction.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is
First The use of vaporisers substantially as described placed in the boiler smoke
box, uptake, or funnel of steamships, combined with the use of a Feedwater Heater
substantially as described in the Provisional specification of my Patent No. 3701 of
11th March 1887.
Second The use of vaporisers substantially as described placed in the boiler smoke
box, uptake, or funnel of steamships, combined with the use of any Feed water
Heater in which the steam supply for heating comes into direct contact with the
feedwater, and
Third The use of water Regulating apparatus upon the feedwater of boilers of
steam engines substantially as described and shown upon the drawings hereunto
attached.
Dated: 1141 1
1000