Apparatus for Liquefying Atmospheric Air and Utilizing the Same.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 25th July, 1899-Accepted, 23rd Sept. 1899
5
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Apparatus for Liquefying Atmospheric Air and Utilizing the Same.
I, CHARLES EASTMAN TRIPLER, of 40, West 77th Street, New York, County and
State of New York, U.S.A., Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of my
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
-
This invention relates to the treatment of atmospheric air for condensing it
to a liquid state in an expeditious and economical manner, and to the employment
of liquid oxygen or liquid air rich in oxygen for the further condensation or lique-
faction of air.
In the accompanying drawings;
Fig.
is a sectional elevation of one form of a liquefying apparatus;
Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional elevation of the expander;
Fig. 3 is a section on line - of Fig. 2;
Fig. 4 shows in side elevation and in sectional elevation respectively the
primary and secondary liquefiers ;
Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation showing a modification of Fig. 4;
Fig. 6 is an enlarged detailed section of the form of primary expander shown
in Fig. 5;
Fig. 7 is a section of the same on line y-y of Fig. 6;
Fig. is a sectional elevation of another form of expander, and
Fig. 9 is a section of the same on line -- of Fig. 8.
A, Figs. 1 and 2 represents an expander held in a chamber or casing B.
Small orifices a are formed through the body of the expander at a point above its
lower end so that that portion of the interior of the expander below the said
orifices forms a chamber or trap to receive and retain foreign matter which
iquefies in the expander, which foreign matter may from time to time be drawn
or blown out of the chamber by opening a cock b in the pipe A' which reaches
rom the trap to the outside of the casing B.
nside or outside to exclude external heat. Around the expander A is formed or
The chamber B may be lagged
laced a ring A2 which together with the outer surface of the body of the expander
orms narrow spaces a¹, and in said ring are screwed as many rods B' as there are
rifices a in the expander, each rod being provided with a small point a³ which
nters an orifice a more or less accordingly as the rod is screwed in or out by the
tside crank a. Surmounting the chamber B is a condensor or refrigerating
amber C. In a central compartment C₁ of said chamber C is placed one or more
pes Ca group of three of such pipes is here shown-the lower ends of which
ter the top of the expander A, while their upper ends enter another small
amber C3. C% an intermediate partition, preferably double walled, which
aches from the top C down nearly to the bottom C, the said
[Price 81.1

page_text: together with the walls of the central compartment or chamber C¹
from a chamber C7 while the same together with the outer exterior
wall or casing C forms a chamber C8. Around in this chamber 08
is placed a coil of pipe D to which compressed air is supplied by an
air compressor, which being of ordinary construction need not be shown in
the drawings. The pipe D terminates in a trap D¹. I have shown two of these
traps, one or more may be used, this trap, or these traps as the case may be, is,
or are, located in the chamber C. A valved draw off pipe D5 leads from the
bottom of each trap to the outside so that by opening the valve the foreign
matter which collects in the trap may be drawn off. From the top of each trap ])¹
leads a pipe D3 which conducts the compressed air to the chamber C3 from which
it enters the pipes C. The central chamber C¹ communicates with the interior
of the chamber B through the opening so that the air after being expanded
through the orifices a and reverted in the spaces a¹ back on the body of the
expander passes through the space into the central chamber C₁ among the
pipes C. From the central chamber C¹ the air enters the chamber C passes
lown this chamber Cup through which it passes among the pipes D to the outlet
pipe D³. A spiral partition 1 is placed in the chamber C8 to cause the exhaust
air to circulate entirely around among the pipes D. The air which is liquefied
flows down the outside of the expander A to the bottom of the chamber B where
it is protected from mingling with the lagging in the chamber B by a wire gauze
dome E. The air which is not liquefied but which is at a very low temperature
passes into the chamber C. Preceeding cold air which is in the chamber C7 on
its way out insulates the on coming cold air in chamber C and heat is rapidly
extracted from the air in the pipes C2 on its way forward to the point of expansion.
The air in the chamber C is in like manner insulated by air ascending in the
chamber Cs and thus the cold air in C extracts heat from the air in the pipes and
traps D, D. In practice it will be understood that the pipes D2 may be coils of
considerable length and it will be also understood that the casing or chamber C
will be externally lagged and that before the compressed air enters the pipes I)
a suitable cooler will be employed to extract the heat of compression from the
air as it leaves the compressor.
Liquid air is drawn from the chamber B through the cock or valved pipe E¹.
The compressor which I use is of about 3000 pounds per square inch capacity.
In Fig. 4 the liquid air is allowed to flow into a receiver F in which is placed
a series of condensing pipes G open to the external air, that is to say as here
shown the pipes G connect at their upper ends with a chamber in dome G¹, and
a pipe G open to the external air admits air to said dome and to said pipes G.
The lower ends of said pipes G are open and are held liquid tight in the bottom
of the receiver F. H is an upright cell which holds the receiver F and projects
above it. H' is a larger cell inverted over the cell H. He is a still larger upright
cell enclosing the other two cells and H³ an exterior closed casing. In the
annular spaces H, H formed by the cells H, H', H³ is coiled a pipe J, which is
connected at one end to the exhaust port of an air pump J. From the space H*
the pipe J leads to a drum J2 in which it is coiled and from the bottom of which
it leads back to the central cell H either directly or through an expansion
valvo J4.
J3 is the pipe through which the air pump Jexhausts the casing H³ and causes
rapid evaporation of the liquid air in the receiver F and in practice the exhaust
will be continued until liquid oxygen or liquid air rich in oxygen remains in the
receiver F.
K represents a pump for conducting the liquid air from the cell H through
pipes K, K to the drum J2 where its evaporation cools the air in the pipe J
and from which drum the cold air expanded in the drum, may be taken through
pipe 3 for use for refrigeration or other purposes.
In Fig. 5, the compressed air enters a pipe 1) which is coiled up and also down
in the casing C. The lower end of the under coil communicates with a central

page_text: group of pipes L which connect with an expander A of the general form of
construction as shown enlarged in Figs. 6 and 7. A partition d reaches from the
bottom of the casing C nearly to the top thereof between the two coils of pipes
while another partition d' reaches from the top nearly to the bottom of the
casing C separating the inner coil of pipe from the central group of pipes and from
the expander so that the expanded air descends around the group of pipes L
ascends around the inner coil and descends around the outer coil and passes out
through a pipe d².
The expander shown in Figs. 6 and 7 is formed with one or more small
orifices a, as shown in Fig. 7. The orifices lead from a chamber e and a point or
needle is inserted in each orifice for partially opening and closing the same and
for clearing it of any accumulation of frozen air or foreign matter. The needles
are connected to a suitable piston head e¹ which is reciprocated by a rod e² (see
Fig. 5) connected to be slowly reciprocated throughout the operation, or at
intervals, by a lever e³ or by other proper mechanical means. A baffle e is
located adjacent to the orifices a and a hood e deflects the expanded air diverted
by the baffle e back upon the air approaching to be expanded.
The receiver F (Fig. 5) is surrounded or enclosed by a casing f, which latter is
also enclosed by another casing f¹. The space between f and fi is by preference
supplied with carbon dioxide or other gas which at low temperature turns into a
solid or liquid so that the low temperature of the receiver will cause a vacuum
to be formed in the said surrounding space to exclude external heat. As thus
constructed the receiver as a whole is by preference enclosed by a packing f
of felt, mineral wool or other similar material held in a main casing f³ of wood or
metal. The vacuum pump M exhausts the air from the receiver F but does not
utilize the same as in Fig. 4. The group of pipes f in the receiver F (Fig. 5) are
connected at their upper ends by a pipe f with a group of pipes fo. I have shown
three series of these pipes fe connected by short pipes f', but instead I may
employ a single long pipe in coiled form. The group of pipes fe are enclosed by
casings 8 connected together by short pipes or passages f, but if a single coil of
pipe f is used as above mentioned the said casings will be replaced by an outside
pipe of larger size in which the coil f" will be enclosed. The last casing f of the
series shown is connected by a pipe g to a group of pipes g', held in a casing g
and the latter group of pipes are open to the external air through the terminal
pipe . A rotating brush is placed within the group of pipes g₁ for removing
frost therefrom. The final group of pipes f" is connected by a pipe g with the
said casing g which latter is provided with an opening or pipe 8 from which cold
air may be taken for refrigerating or other uses.
A pump N, like the pump K Fig. 4, draws the condensed and liquefied air
from the pipes f* and forces it into the bottom of the first casing 8 and the
excess of liquid is drawn through pipe and emptied into the receiver F either
directly or through another expansion valve g².
In the form of expander shown in Figs. 8 and 9 the orifices a are cleared by a
rotating head or block i, to which the spring-supported sections are applied
for sweeping the orifices. A pipe leads the compressed air to the interior of
the expander. When placed in a casing like that shown by d¹ Fig. 5 or when
provided with a surrounding spaced ring like or similar to A2 of Fig. 2, the
rods B being omitted, the jets of compressed air baffled around the outside of
the expander thus progressively cooling the compressed air before expansion until
liquefaction takes place.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:
1. A hollow expander for the condensation of atmospheric air the same having
one or more orifices and a baffle for the expanding air adjacent to the outer surface
of the expander, substantially as described.

page_text: 2. A hollow expander for the condensation of atmospheric air, the same having
one or more orifices, a baffle for the jets adjacent to the outer surface of the
expander, and a trap for collecting condensed foreign matter, substantially as
described.
3. A hollow expander for the condensation of atmospheric air the same having
one or more orifices, a baffle for the jets adjacent to the outer surface of the
expander the orifice or orifices and the baffle being above a trap to receive
condensed foreign matter, substantially as described.
4. An expander for liquefying atmospheric air formed with a chamber having
one or more orifices, a baffle adjacent to said orifice or orifices and movable points
working in said baffle and in said orifice or orifices, substantially as described.
5. A hollow expander for liquefying atmospheric air constructed to separate
condensed foreign matter from the compressed air in the expander, substantially
as described.
6. A hollow expander for liquefying atmospheric air, a pipe or conduit for
supplying compressed air to the interior of said expander which pipe or conduit
is enclosed by chambers for the outgoing expanded air, the chambers being arranged
so as to subject the compressed air in the pipe or conduit to successive cooling
actions of the expanded air increasing in intensity and insulating each succesive
step in said cooling actions by that preceding it, substantially as described.
7. A condensor for refrigerating and liquefying atmospheric air having a
series of cooling chambers or channels each successive channel applying a lower
temperature to the compressed air than and arranged within the channel preceding
it, substantially as described.
8. A liquefier for atmospheric air consisting of a series of coils of pipes to the
outer end of which air is supplied under pressure, a central group of pipes
connected with the last coil and an expander in which said pipes terminate, and
partitions between the said coils whereby the air currents pass in opposite direc-
tions and interchange temperature, substantially as described.
9. A condensor for refrigerating atmospheric air, a series of cooling chambers
or channels in said condensor, a conduit for compressed air in said chambers or
channels and a trap in said pipe or conduit located within the condensor,
substantially as described.
10. An expander for liquefying atmospheric air, substantially as illustrated in
Figs. 1, 2 and 3.
11. An air liquefying apparatus substantially as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 5.
12. The use of liquid oxygen or liquid air rich in oxygen for condensing
atmospheric air, the liquid oxygen or liquid air rich in oxygen beng produced
by a vacuum pump exhausting a receiver, the exhaust from which pump is
passed through a pipe or conduit cooled by the evaporation from the liquid air or
oxygen in the receiver, substantially as described.
13. The use of liquid oxygen, or liquid air rich in oxygen for condensing
atmospheric air, the liquid oxygen or liquid air rich in oxygen being produced
by a vacuum pump exhausting a receiver, the exhaust from which pump is
passed through a pipe or conduit cooled by the evaporation from the liquid air or
oxygen in the receiver and by the evaporation of air liquefied in the receiver,
substantially as described.
14. A receiver for containing liquid air or liquid oxygen and a pump for
maintaining a vacuum therein and for evaporating the liquid air or oxygen to
produce a low température, condensing pipes contained in said receiver, said
condensing pipes being connected to inlet pipes or chambers forming a conduit for
conducting external air to said condensing pipes, exit pipes connecting with
said condensing pipes forming a conduit for return air and passing around or
through the inlet conduit whereby the air in the condensing pipes is condensed,
substantially as described.
15. A receiver for liquid air or liquid oxygen enclosed by a casing, condensing
pipes held in said receiver open at one end to the external air and connected to

page_text: a chamber or conduit at the other, a vacuum pump for exhausting air from the
receiver, and a pipe connecting said chamber or conduit with the said receiver or
its casing, substantially as described.
Dated this 24th day of July 1899
CRUIKSHANK & FAIRWEATHER,
Chartered Patent Agents,
62, Saint Vincent Street, Glasgow, Agents for the Applicant.