AN IMPROVED METHOD OF UTILIZING THE EXHAUST STEAM OF STEAM ENGINES
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,
Lake, & Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for
the Invention of "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF UTILIZING THE EXHAUST
STEAM OF STEAM ENGINES." A communication from abroad by
Alexander Winkler, of St. Petersburg, and Alexander Zitowitsch,
f hath in Russia
-
Scaled the 8th August 1871, and dated the 10th April 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 10th April 1871.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF UTILIZING
THE EXHAUST STEAM OF STEAM ENGINES," a communication, to be as
follows:-
This Invention has for its object an improved method of utilizing tho
from almoody used in steam engines.

page_text: The said Invention consists in supplying steam generators with steam
that has already been used; in re-conducting the steam already used in
steam engines to the original boilers or steam generators serving for
the supply of the steam engines, and in the manner in which this is
effected by the means herein-after specified. It is therefore evident that
by this Invention the same quantity of steam is repeatedly used in the
engine, whereby I not only effect a considerable saving of fuel but also
obtain many other important advantages.
To obtain the above-mentioned result steam that has already been
used in a steam engine is re-conducted into a reservoir which by means
of a suction pipe is connected with a pressure apparatus and with an
injector of simple construction, the ends of which are provided with stop.
cocks and extend into the steam space of the boiler or generator.
As the theory, construction, and mode of action of the injector is
well known and is not the object of this Invention it will be sufficient
to mention hero that for the attainment of my purpose, that is to say,
for re-conducting the used steam into the steam generator, I use the
ordinary known pressure apparatus with the difference that for the
supply of the boiler the injectors do not absorb water but steam that
has already been used in a steam engine. A pressure tube connects
the inlet gland of the injector with the steam space of the boiler, and a
steam pipe restores the connection between this steam space and the
steam gland of the injector. A suction tube conneots the suction space
of the injector with the reservoir. A tube conducts to one or several
steam oylinders of the engine. Blow-off cocks are provided and steam
and inlet cocks are placed in the ends of the tubes, by means of which
the connection of the injector with the steam space of the boiler may be
restored or interrupted. Between the injector and the inlet cock a
common lifting valve is inserted.
'
I may so modify the ordinary injector that the absorption and supply
can be effected not only by steam but by hot water, or by a mixture of
water and steam. While in a cortain moist condition of the steam to
be absorbed the latter can be reconducted to the boiler without any
mixture and solely by the change of its active power, moreover the
atcam to be absorbed may be suporheated. These modifications must
of course correspond not only to peculiarities of the entire arrange-

page_text: ment of parts, but also to changes in the construction of some of these
parts.
The above-described apparatus acts without intermission during the
entire operation of the steam engine. When the latter is put in motion
all blow-off cocks are first opened as also the reservoir cock, and the
pistons of the engine are allowed to make some strokes, during which
the steam and inlet cocks are kept closed. The blow-off cocks are then
closed and the entire arrangement is put in operation by opening the
steam and inlet cocks, by which the steam already used in the engine
and accumulated in the reservoir is reconducted into the steam space of
the boiler as it lifts the valve enclosed in the case.
This Invention can be applied to all kinds of engines, stationary,
portable, marine, and locomotive. In applying it to steam engines
now in use the latter do not require any changes in their construction,
as the addition of a reservoir for the reception of steam already used in
the steam engine is sufficient. It is obvious that I may employ instead
of one injector and one reservoir several of the same.
In cases in which the heating of buildings is effected by waste steam
the above-described reservoir may be replaced by steam heating pipes.
The common steam boiler may be replaced by a reservoir which is filled
with superheated steam. In this case the heat used for the work is
restored by the increasing heat of the effective or used steam; the steam
unavoidably lost can be replaced from a seperate steam generator.
The auxiliary apparatus of steam boilers hitherto in use are of course
retained.
The coromal parts of the arrangement above described must be sur
0
Office on the 9th October 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fourth ycar of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her special licence
that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert Lake, my
executors, administrators, 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 "AN IMPROVED
METHOD OF UTILIZING THE EXHAUST STEAM OF STEAM ENGINES," a communi-
cation to me from abroad by Alexander Winkler, of St. Petersburg, and
Alexander Zitowitsch, of Kovroff, both in Russia, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or
one of their hands and scals, 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 William Robert Lake, 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, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawing forming a part of this Specification.
This Invention has for its object an improved method of utilizing
the steam already used in steam engines.
The said Invention consists in supplying steam generators with steam
that has already been used, in re-conducting the steam already used in'
steam engines to the original boilers or steam generators serving for
the supply of the steam engines, and in the manner in which this
is effected by the means herein-after specified.
By this Invention the same quantity of steam is repeatedly used in
the engine, whereby I not only effect a considerable saving of fuel,
but also obtain many other important advantages.

page_text: To obtain the above-mentioned results steam that has already been
used in a steam engine is re-conducted into a reservoir, which by means
of a suction pipe is connected with a pressure apparatus and with an
injector of simple construction, the ends of which are provided with
stop-cocks, and extend into the steam space of the boiler or generator.
As the theory, construction, and mode of action of the injector is well
known, and is not the object of this Invention, it will be sufficient
to mention here that for the attainment of my purpose, that is to say,
for re-conducting the used steam into the steam generator, I use the
ordinary known pressure apparatus, with the difference that for the
supply of the boiler the injectors do not absorb water, but steam that
has already been used in a steam engine.
Steam Doc in connection wiLIT
the injector and the reservoir for the steam already used in the
engine; Figure 2 is a longitudinal section of the injector drawn to an
enlarged scale.
A is the steam boiler of the engine; B, the injector; C, the reservoir
for the steam already used.
a is a pressure tube which connects the inlet gland g (Figure 2) of the
injector B with the steam space of the boiler A; 6 is the steam pipe
which restores the connection between the steam space of the boiler A
and the steam gland h (Figure 2) of the injector B; d (Figures 1 and 2)
is a suction tube, which connects the suction space i of the injector B
with the reservoir C; c is a tube conducting to one or several steam
cylinders of the engine; e is a blow-off cock; f is a valve for cleansing
the reservoir 0; D and E are the steam and inlet cocks placed in the
ends of the tubes a and b, by means of which the connection of the
injector B with the steam space of the boiler A may be restored or
interrupted. Between the injector B and the cock E a common "lifting
valve" is inserted, the casing k of which is shown in Figure 1. As
the construction of such a valve is generally known and offers nothing
new, a detailed illustration is therefore not needed. It is clear that the
casing with the aforesaid valve can also be inserted between the
cock E and the boiler wall. As seen in Figure 1 the pipes a and b
terminate in the boiler A above the water level x, y.
The pipes
a and b have a slight incline towards the injector B, in order that the

page_text: condensation water and also all sediment may be discharged into the
reservoir C, from which it is discharged or blown off by the cock e.
The apparatus B, represented in Figure 2, which serves the purpose
of re-conducting into the boiler A the steam already used in the steam
engine and accumulating in the reservoir C, resembles in its construction
a common injector of the most simple kind, as used for supplying boilers
with water; I must observe however that to the modifications of the
water injectors already existing the following are still to be added for
my purpose:-
:―
1. The absorption and supply can be effected not only by steam, but
by hot water, or by a mixture of water and steam.
2. In a certain moist condition of the steam to be absorbed the latter
can be re-conducted to the boiler without any mixture, and solely by
the change of its active power.
3. The steam to be absorbed may be superheated.
These modifications must of course correspond not only to peculiarities
of the entire arrangement of parts, but also to changes in the con-
struction of some of these parts, and this may be the proper place to
observe that although I have presented in the Drawing the general
connection of the entire arrangement in such a manner as I believe
to be most advantageous, yet I do not consider it as essential, and
reserve to myself the right to adopt several modifications without
however departing from the nature or principle of my Invention.
without intermission during the
When the latter is put in motion
also the cock e, and the pistons of
The above-described apparatus acts
entire operation of the steam engine.
all blow-off cocks are first opened, as
the engine are allowed to make some strokes, during which the cocks D
and E are kept closed. By this the steam cylinders and other parts of
the engine, as also the pressure or supply apparatus, become heated, and
the parts of the latter are freed from any scum and condensation water.
The blow-off cocks are then closed, and the entire arrangement is put in
operation by opening the cocks D and E, by which the steam already
used in the engine and accumulated in the reservoir C is reconducted
through the pipe a into the steam space of the boiler A as it lifts the
valve enclosed in the case k. The action of the injector B is regulated
by the reservoir C in which the accumulation of the used steam first
takes place, so that the action of the same is not interrupted either

page_text: Lake's improved Method of Utilizing waste steam.
during the communication of the reservoir C with the space behind the
pistons, or during the cut-off of the steam by expansive engines. From
this is evident that the greater the capacity of the reservoir C the more
regular is the work of the injector B. By opening the cock D more or
less the action of the injector and also the degree of the expansion of
the steam behind the piston can be regulated in a more perfect manner
than by a condenser.
The advantages of this method in the utilisation of the steam already
used in the engine by reconducting it to the boiler arc,-
1. A considerable saving of fuel effected by the reconduction to the
boiler of the latent heat used for the production of steam. According
to theoretical calculation this saving amounts to 80 or 90 per cent.
2. A diminution of the required heating surface of the boiler, and
consequently a decrease in the body of water and in the weight and cost
of the boiler.
3. A saving in the construction of condensing engines in the condensers
and also the air and water pumps, as the pressure behind the piston can
be diminished to the desired degree.
4. Repeated working with the same quantity of steam and independence
of the existence of water at the place of putting up the engine and
boiler.
5. The replacing of common piston expansion engines by steam turbines
or other rotary steam motors which work with greater quantities of steam
of less expansion.
3 This Invention can be applied to all kinds of engines, stationary,
portable, marine, and locomotive. In applying it to steam engines now
in use the latter do not require any changes in their construction, as tho
addition of a reservoir for the reception of steam already used in the
steam engine is sufficient.
It is obvious that I may employ instead of one injector and one
reservoir several of the same.
In cases in which the heating of buildings is effected by waste steam
the above-described reservoir C may be replaced by steam heating pipes.
The common steam boiler may be replaced by a reservoir which is
5 filled with superheated steam. In this case the heat used for the work
is restored by the increasing heat of the effective or used steam, the
steam unavoidably lost can be replaced from a separate steam generator.

page_text: The auxiliary apparatus of steam boilers hitherto in use are of course
retained.
The several parts of the arrangement above described must be
surrounded by bad conductors of heat in order to prevent the loss of
heat.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondents, I wish it understood that I do not
confine myself to the precise details of arrangement herein described,
as these may be varied according to circumstances, and I claim, the
application of the new and peculiar method of utilising the steam already
used in steam engines by reconducting it to the original steam boiler or
generator, as above described, by any conveniently constructed injector
and with any modifications in the construction of the steam motors
which may be rendered necessary by the adoption of this Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here-
unto set my hand and scal, this Ninth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
Witness,
W. J. LOWE.
ROD. LAAD. 11.3.