A NEW APPLICATION OR ADAPTATION OF CERTAIN APPARATUS FOR HEATING FLUIDS OR LIQUIDS, AND GENERATING STEAM FOR VARIOUS USEFUL PUR- POSES
Year: 1831

page_text: THOMAS
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME,
BRUNTON, of Park Square, Regent's Park, in the County of Middlesex,
Esquire, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present Majesty King William the Fourth, by His Letters
Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Fifteenth day of November now
last past, did give and grant unto me, the said Thomas Brunton, His especial
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Thomas Brunton,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas
Brunton, 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 England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my
Invention of "A NEW APPLICATION OR ADAPTATION OF CERTAIN APPARATUS FOR
HEATING FLUIDS OR LIQUIDS, AND GENERATING STEAM FOR VARIOUS USEFUL PUR-
POSES;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso, obliging me,
the said Thomas Brunton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in.
what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be
inrolled in His said Majesty's High Court of Chancery, within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said recited Letters Patent,
as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Thomas Brunton, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described and
ascertained in and by the Drawings hereunto annexed, and as follows, that is
to say:-
Figure 1, Drawing 1, a, b, represents a side elevation of two flat iron bars,
which I call chamber bars, through which holes are made to permit rivets to
pass, and at the ends of each bar a square hole is formed, as shewn at c, c, c,
to receive a wedge, the use of which will be explained hereafter; Fig. 2
shews a plan of the same bars; Fig. 3 represent the chamber bars a and b,
laid upon a plate of wrought iron d, which is used to form one side of a
heating chamber when the chamber bars are rivetted thereto. Fig. 4 re-
presents a side elevation of one of the improved heating chambers complete,
the chamber bars being placed between the two wrought-iron plates, in
which state the whole are fixed together by rivets, as may be seen in the
Figure. e represents an edge view of a cast-iron plate (which I call a
chamber plate), to which the chambers are firmly fixed, the ends of the
chamber bars passing through apertures made in the chamber plate for that
purpose, and in that position they are fixed by iron keys or wedges, which
are driven firmly into the square holes formed in the ends of each chamber
bar, as before described. Fig. 5 represents a front elevation of the
chamber plate e, having six apertures formed in it to receive six heating
chambers; in this Figure three of the heating chambers are fixed in their
places; and three of the apertures are shewn open, in order that the con-
struction and mode of combining the individual parts may be more plainly
seen. In Fig. 4, f represents a shoulder plate, one of which is fixed by
rivets on each side of each chamber. These serve to form a shoulder on
each side of the heating chambers when the keys or wedges are driven into
the square holes made in the ends of the chamber bars, and thereby form a
joint which the wedges assist in closing. Fig. 6 represents a plan of six
heating chambers combined with the chamber plate e; in this Figure the
position of the shoulder plates f. f, will be plainly seen, and also the short
wedges or keys g, g, that serve to fix the chambers to the chamber plate e.
Fig. 7 represents a vertical section of a furnace and apparatus combined,
suitable for heating brine in the manufacture of salt. A, A, e, e, is a furnace
within which five of the improved heating chambers are fixed to the chamber
plate e, e; the chamber plate e, e, serving to form the back plate of the heating
furnace. B, B, B, shews a large wooden vat or vessel within which the
heating furnace is placed, the mouth or open end of each chamber being made

page_text: to communicate with the liquid contained in the vat. C, C, represents a
vertical section of the flue, which passes through the brine contained in the
vat to assist in imparting heat thereto; it is then continued on, passing in a
perpendicular direction through the feeding cistern D, and having assisted in
heating the contents of that vessel, it terminates at any convenient height in
the atmosphere. E, is a pipe which conveys the brine to be heated into the
feeding cistern; and F is a similar pipe which conveys the brine from the feeding
cistern into the vat, from which when it is sufficiently heated it passes through
the discharging pipe G, into the pan H, where it is evaporated sufficiently to
produce chrystallization. The pipes F and G are each furnished with cock's
to limit the quantities that are admitted from the feeding cistern, and also to
be discharged from the pipe G. The pan H is supported on brickwork,
between which and the pan there is a space left, as shewn at h, h, for steam to
enter; and by the heat it gives out to the brine contained in the pan evapora-
tion is produced, the escape of any heat into or through the brickwork being
prevented by a stratum for nonconducting material shewn at i, i, consisting
of powdered charcoal mixed with a sufficient quantity of any suitable
plastic substance to bind it together. I represents a safety valve to carry
off any superfluous steam that may be generated into the feeding cistern,
where it will be condensed, and accidents thereby be prevented. K is a
thermometer for indicating the temperature of the brine during the process
of heating. Figure 8 represents a front elevation of the vat B, B-and also
the heating furnace; the front plate to which the door for feeding the fire is
attached being removed. L is a plate of wrought iron, which is bolted
to the front of the vat; and to this plate and an angle iron bolted on the
plates that surround the chambers the front plate that carries the fire
door is attached. Fig. 9 shews an horizontal section of the vat and
heating furnace produced by a plane passing through the dotted line M, M,
seen in Fig. 7. The action of the apparatus when thus combined will be
as follows:-The saturated solution of brine being forced into the feeding:
cistern through the pipe E will pass through the pipe F into the vat B,
when the fire being lighted under the heating chambers, one of which
is shewn in section at a, b; the brine entering therein, will be heated in
the lower part of the chamber seen below the letter b, when it will begin to
move in the direction of the darts, and as the heat is increased the circulation
will proceed with greater rapidity, by which means the whole contents of
the vat will be repeatedly passed through the chambers, and owing to the
peculiar construction of the chambers, and also to the great surface they
present to the heat of the fire, the brine contained in the vat will be heated

page_text: with a rapidity and economy not to be produced by any other means now
made use of for that purpose; the principal part of the advantage being pro-
duced by the peculiar property of the dividing chamber bar b, by means of which
such currents are produced as have the effect of transmitting the heat with
greater facility than can be effected by any other kind of heating apparatus
now employed in the manufacture of muriate of soda or common salt. When
the brine has obtained a proper temperature the cock G is to be opened and
the pan H filled; and as the evaporation and chrystallization proceeds a fresh
supply is permitted to pass through the cock G, a similar quantity being
supplied from the feeding cistern; the operation of feeding and discharging
being capable of the most accurate regulation by means of the two adjusting
cocks near F and G. The evaporation of the brine in the pan H will be
greatly increased by a supply of high-pressure steam, which being conducted
into the space h, h, under the pan H will keep up the temperature of the
liquid and thereby facilitate the process of chrystallization. This apparatus
should be made of such dimensions that the vat B, B, may be capable of
holding about one hundred thousand gallons of brine, and then a sufficient
quantity may be heated to fill pans of large dimensions, and during the time
the refuse or mother water is withdrawn a sufficient supply will be heated in
the vat, so as to replenish the pans with the least possible loss of time. When
it is preferred to keep a continual supply running into the pans without having
recourse to so large an apparatus as has been just described, the following
combination will be found very suitable for that purpose:-Fig. 10 represents a
furnace and boiler, constructed with similar heating chambers, but for this pur-
pose they are made considerably higher and more capacious, in proportion to the
quantity of brine to be heated; the method of conducting, the process or manu-
facture being that of producing a continual supply of heated brine, the quantity
being regulated by cocks in the manner previously described. The individual
parts herein combined being in almost every case similar to those that have been
described in the previous Figures, are marked or designated by the same letters
of reference, the principal difference consisting in the supply from the feeding
cistern D being brought in at the bottom of the boiler instead of the upper part,
as shewn in Figure 7. The pan H, in Figure 10, is kept at the evaporating
temperature by steam, which is conducted into the jacket or spaces h, h, shewn
on each side of the pan, and any condensed steam is conveyed away by a pipe
inserted at any convenient part of the steamway or jacket. Fig. 11 represents
a vertical section of the furnace and boiler, by a plane at right angles to the
one shewn at Fig. 10, and through the dotted line N, O. In the combination
of the parts shewn in Figures 10 and 11, the property of water or brine to

page_text: move or circulate when heated is advantageously applied in the construction of
this boiler as well as the heating chambers; and for this purpose the spaces"
seen between the outsides of the boiler P, Q, and the side plates of the furnace
R, R, is separated or divided by the bars j, k, which being arranged in a
similar manner to those shown in the various Figures at a, b, will produce the
same effect, namely, that of directing the circulation of the brine, and thereby
producing a rapid distribution of the heat imbibed by the fluid in the lower
part of the boiler. The peculiar arrangement of the bars will be best seen by
the dotted lines j, k, shewn in Figure 10, the direction of the currents on each
side of the furnace being in the direction of the darts shewn in this Figure.
Having now described the application and adaptation of the peculiar heating
chambers, herein described, as applied to the heating of brine in the manu.
facture of salt; and having also shewn how the same arrangement or combi-
nation of the same parts may, with similar advantages, be applied to contain
parts of a boiler combined therewith, I shall now explain my method of
applying or adapting similar heating chambers and combining them with
other vessels or apparatus which I employ for heating water used to envelope
pans or other vessels, in which brine is placed to be evaporated and salt
chrystallized.
Drawing 2, Fig. 1, represents a vertical section of an apparatus for heating
water, which, when it is so heated, I employ in a jacket or space inclosing
the sides of a pan containing brine to be evaporated, and also under the
bottom, by which means the brine contained in such pan will be kept at
such temperature that evaporation will be rapidly effected, and christallization
most advantageously produced. A, A, shews the furnace, maile principally
of brickwork, within this are placed five heating chambers, one of which
is shewn in section at a, b, B, C. The method. of constructing these
chambers are very similar to what has been previously described; but in
this combination the front part of each heating chamber is made to
project beyond the furnace and the part or division that projects. at the
bottom of each chamber is furnished with a valve, which closes from within,
as shewn at C; and the upper portion is curved and rises considerably,
as shewn at B, the use of which will be explained hereafter. The open
end of each chamber is combined with a cistern D, which cistern is also
combined with a jacket E that incloses and surrounds the pans (not shewn
in this Figure) containing the brine to be evaporated. G represents an iron
plate, which separates the contents of the cistern D into two parts, the same
plate or division being continued so as to separate a portion of the contents of
the jacket E, as may be seen at F, an aperture or opening being made at H;

page_text: the use of this will be shewn hereafter. I represents a feeding cistern, and c
is the feed pipe employed to conduct a supply of water from the upper feeding
cistern into the lower portion or well of the vessel D; d is a float which opens
or closes the cock e, regulating the supply of water according to the necessity
of the case; f is a valve which will permit any superfluous steam to escape into
the cistern I, and if it be not condensed there it will escape through the safety
valve K. Fig. 2 represents an horizontal section of the furnace, heating
chambers, and evaporating pans, by a plane passing through the line L, M, in
Figure 1. The action of this apparatus will be as follows:-When the water
that is contained in the lower part of the heating chambers, Fig. 1, receives an
increase of heat, it will, by its motion, close the valve at C, in which state it
will remain until the whole of the water in the heating chamber attains the
boiling point, and then a quantity or jet will be forced through and over the
curved portion of the heating chamber at B, which will pass along in the jacket
between the pans, and passing through the aperture seen at H it will return
to the valve C, which it will open whenever the column of water on the right-
hand side of the valve C is superior to that contained in the heating chambers,
the circulation being continued by means of repeated jets that are driven from
the upper or curved portion of each heating chamber, which having passed in
the direction above shewn and given out a portion of its heat to the pans, the
water returns to the heating chambers to be again heated and repeat its circuit;
the height of the column causing the liquid to obtain a temperature above the
ordinary boiling point, the valve f being also loaded to produce a suitable
pressure, and which of course may be varied according to circumstances. Fig. 2
represents an horizontal section of two evaporating pans inclosed in a jacket of
iron plate; the wooden vat or outside case, being a nonconductor, serves in pre-
venting the escape of heat outwards; this section is produced by a plane passing
in the direction of the dotted line L, M, in Figure 1; and the same letters of
reference are applied to the parts that are similar wherever they can be seen.
Fig. 3 represents a vertical section of two evaporating pans and their jacket
complete by a plane passing in the direction of the dotted line, shewn at N, O,
in Fig. 1.
Having shewn the application or adaptation of the improved heating
chambers for heating water to supply evaporating pans used in the manu-
facture of common salt, I shall now describe another combination of aparatus for
generating steam for the purpose of supplying the jackets or other spaces that
surround, inclose, or pass through the whole or any part of the pans or other
vessels used for evaporating brine in the manufacture of common salt, the
principal variation of this combination consisting in constructing chambers of

page_text: a tubular form, and combining them in such a manner that a similar cir-
culation of the heated liquid will be produced, as has been explained in the
previous description of the heating chambers. Fig. 4 represents a vertical
section of an iron furnace and boiler, for generating steam for the purpose
aforesaid. A, A, A, A, shews a section of a cylinder of iron, within which is
placed the fire bars or grate for the fuel, seen at B. C, shews the tubular
chamber plate, to which are attached the set of tubular chambers a, a, a,
b, b, b, c, c, c. The ends of these tubular chambers open into a part of the
boiler, shewn at D; and the lower end of each tube has an elbow piece
attached to it, as shewn at d, e, f; the use of which will be explained here-
after. E, E, E, E, represent the external plates of the boiler which surround
the heating furnace; the water to be heated being contained between the two
circular plates. F, F, shews an horizontal flue which lays below the surface
of the water; and G is a perpendicular chimney, surrounded by a jacket H,
from which the boiler is supplied by means of the pipe I, the quantity being
regulated by a cock combined with the float g. h and i, are safety valves; and j
is a steamway, which is to be combined with the jackets that surround or enclose
the evaporating pans. K is the front plate containing the fire door k; L is
the back boiler plate, secured to the other circular plate by angle irons in the
usual manner. Figure 5 represents a vertical section of the boiler, furnace,
and tubular heating chambers, produced by a plane passing through the dotted
lines M, M, Figure 4. In Figure 5, l, m, n, m, n, shew the places of the
bars that are bolted between the cylindrical plates A, A, and E, E, serving to
unite them together, and also to separate the space between, in a similar
manner to what has been before described, by which means the water contained
between them will be made to circulate with advantages not to be obtained by
any other combination now used. Figure 6 represents a front view of the
cylindrical furnace and boiler plates A, A, and E, E, united by bolts, which
pass through the cylindrical bar or ring o, o. To this bar, and the three
brackets shewn at p, p, p, the lower front plate of the furnace is fixed by
screws, that enter tapped holes seen in the ring or bar o, o. Fig. 7. shews
a front elevation of the lower front plate K of the boiler and furnace
to which the fire-door is attached. Fig. 8 is a front elevation of the front
angle iron, the position of which when combined is shewn at 1, 1, 1, in Fig. 6.
This angle iron is bolted to the cylindrical furnace plate A, A, and likewise to
the external boiler plate E, E, as shewn in Fig. 6, and when so attached, the
upper front boiler plate is fixed to it by bolts, as shewn in the Figure.
Fig. 9 represents an edge view of Fig. 7; Figure 10 is a side elevation of
Fig. 8; and Fig. 11 represents a front elevation of the tubular boiler plate C.

page_text: Fig. 12 is a vertical section, through the centre of Fig. 11. The peculiar
action of this apparatus may be easily understood, for when the heat of the
furnace begins to operate upon the tubular chambers a circulation will be
produced, moving in the direction of the darts shewn in the vertical section,
Fig. 4, the currents entering continually at d, e, f, and again returning, it
enters the boiler with increased heat at a, b, c, by which means, as has been
shewn before, the whole contents of the boiler will be drawn through the
tubular chambers, and owing to the rapidity of the currents the chambers will
be found to keep free from those incrustations that have hitherto rendered
tubular boilers of other kinds so very objectionable, while the same circulation
becomes the means of imparting heat to the whole of the water contained in
Jess time and more effectually than can be accomplished by any other tubular
boiler now in use. Figure 13 represents an horizontal section of the furnace
and boiler, and also seven sets of tubular chambers, combined therewith by a
plane passing through the line N, N, in Fig. 4. Fig. 14 represents a ver-
tical section of a portion of the lower part of one of the tubular chambers
upon a larger scale, in order to show how it is combined with the chamber
plate. a, a, shews a portion of the chamber, which is tapped on the external
part from a to a. 7 is an iron nut screwed upon the pipe, serving
the
purpose
of a boss; r, r, are two copper collars, placed on each side of the chamber
plate C; s is a nut, which, when it is screwed tight, fixes the tubular chamber
very firmly to the chamber plate C; t is a coupling nut, which unites the
elbow pipe with the tubular chamber a. The upper part of the tubular
chambers are united to the chamber plate C by the same means, and should
the tubular chambers at any time become foul they may be readily cleaned by
removing the elbow pipes, the back boiler plate L, Fig. 4, being provided
with a man-hole for that purpose.
Drawing 3, Fig. 1, A, A, represents a vertical section of a furnace and
shaft of brickwork, the dimensions of the furnace being such as to inclose the
high heating chambers shewn at a, a, a, a, a, a, a, which I use for heating
brine previous to its being placed in pans to be evaporated; B represents
the fire-bars, which are of the usual description. Fig. 2 shews a vertical
section by a plane passing at right angles through the dotted line 0, 0,
in Fig. 1. In Fig. 2 D is a feeding cistern, which receives brine from the
pipe E, and from this cistern the brine enters and fills the heating cham-
bers, one of which is shewn at a; the lower part of the chambers pass
out through the brickwork and enter a reservoir, from which the brine
passes into a wooden pipe or canal P, from which it is delivered by pipes
into the evaporating pans F; Q is a separate division or pipe of wood, through

page_text: which steam is conveyed from my improved steam boiler (before described)
into the jackets of the evaporating pans. By means of this form and combi-
nation of the chambers, a very extensive surface will be presented to the fire,
while the inclined position of the chambers have the effect of narrowing the
spaces between the upper parts, by which means the heated air, by being, as
it were, wire drawn is detained in its passage, and thereby made to impart its
caloric to the chambers with very great advantage, the saving of fuel being
an object of the greatest importance in the manufacture of salt. Fig. 3
shews a vertical section of two salt pans, and the apparatus by which they
are supplied with brine, and also steam for the jackets. F, F, are two
evaporating pans, filled with brine by pipes u, u, which are fixed to the square
canal or pipe P. When the pans are of considerable length the trough or
pipe has two or more of these pipes, according to the necessity of the case,
each pipe having a stop-cock, as shewn in this Figure. Q represents a square
pipe or steamway, which receives a supply of steam from the boiler pre-
viously described, through the pipe R, from which it is conveyed into the
jackets h, h, where having parted with its heat, it is condensed and the water
produced runs down the pipes v, v, v, into the pipe 8, which returns it to the
boiler to be used again. Fig. 4 represents a vertical section of two cylin-
drical wooden pipes, one for brine, and one for steam, bound by iron screw
hoops; these are to have similar pipes and cocks attached to them, as before
shewn, and both these and the square troughs before described should be hung
up or suspended to the roof, under which they are placed, by iron rods, in any
way that may be most convenient. Fig. 5 represents a side elevation of a
fragment or portion of the brine and steam pipes, described in the previous
Figures.
And I hereby declare that my Invention consists, firstly, in the application
or adaptation of peculiar heating chambers, various Figures thereof being
shewn in Drawing 1, which, being arranged and combined in the manner and
way I have described, will be found to heat brine used in the process of manu-
facturing salt with greater economy of fuel than any of the methods now
in use.
Secondly, in the construction and application of the peculiar heating
chambers, shewn in Drawing 3, when they are used for the purpose of heating
brine in the manufacture of salt, and also in combining therewith the pecu-
liarly constructed evaporating pans and combination of apparatus shewn in
Fig. 3, which, when the whole is united with a steam boiler, the pans are
filled with brine and the jackets with steam, producing thereby great economy
both in heating and evaporating brine used in the manufacture of salt.

page_text: Thirdly, I also claim the peculiar construction, combination, and application
of the heating chambers, to each of which a valve C is appended in the way
shewn in Drawing 2, Fig. 1, when they are applied for the purpose of
heating water, to be used either in the jackets of evaporating pans in the
manufacture of salt, or for any purpose where a circulation of heated water
is required for the heating buildings, manufactories, or other places requiring
to be heated by a circulation of boiling water.
Fourthly, I claim the peculiar construction, arrangement, and adaptation of
tubular chambers shewn in Drawing 2, Figs. 4 and 5, whether such cham-
bers have a circular, square, or any other form internally, my object being to
obtain a circulation of the heated liquid through the chambers, and which I
effect by the peculiar external form and arrangement of each set of chambers,
and which, when so constructed, combined, and arranged, may be most
beneficially applied in generating steam for the supply of jackets surrounding
evaporating pans in the manufacture of salt or any other purpose to which
steam can be beneficially applied.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Brunton, have hereunto set my
hand and seal the Fifteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Fifteenth day of May, in
the year above mentioned, the aforesaid Thomas Brunton came before our
Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification afore-
said, and all and every thing therein contained, in form above written. And
also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the
Statute in that case made and provided.
T
11
Tifteenth day of Mox in the year above written.