IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT AND EMPLOYMENT OF STEAM IN STEAM ENGINES. AND IN APPARATUS FOR EFFECTING THE CONDENSATION OF STEAM."
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Benjamin Normand, of Havre, in the
Empire of France, Ship-builder, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE TREATMENT AND EMPLOYMENT OF STEAM IN STEAM ENGINES. AND IN
APPARATUS FOR EFFECTING THE CONDENSATION OF STEAM."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Benjamin Normand
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th March 1856.
I, CHARLES BENJAMIN NORMAND, of Havre, in the Empire of France, Ship-
builder, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for IMPROVE.
MENTS IN THE TREATMENT D EMPLOYMENT OF STEAM IN STEAM ENGINES, AND IN
APPARATUS FOR EFFECTING THE CONDENSATION OF STEAM," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates, firstly, to a mode of separating steam from the
particles of water often carried over with it when generated in boilers not
provided with sufficient steam room. The steam in its transit from the boiler
to the engine is made to take a rapid circular motion in an annular or helical
channel, which motion creating a powerful centrifugal action, all liquid parts
contained in the steam will be thrown towards the outer circumference, while
the pure steam will pass off through small apertures formed in a central
cylinder or channel. These openings may also be disposed in such a manner
Pin1

page_text: that globules of water carried by their rapid motion could not pass through
them. The steam collected in the central cylinder is conducted to the engine,
and the water which it deposited is returned to the boiler. To prevent undue
condensation in the cylinder of the engine, I propose to heat the piston and
piston rod by causing steam to circulate through them.
When steam is employed expansively in two cylinders of different sizes, as
in the engines usually termed Woolf's engines, the external cooling which
might have taken place in the first or high-pressure cylinder and that which
is always due to the expansion cause a part of this steam to be condensed.
Such steam mixed with particles of water becomes highly inefficient in its
subsequentemployment. To obviate this, a previous increase of temperature
has been sometimes given to steam, but this process is objectionable.on account
of the already existing high temperature, and the difficulties which attend the
Inbrication of the cylinder, slide valves, and other parts.
To remedy these objections, I cause the partially exhausted steam to pass
through an apparatus similar to that just described to clear it from the water
it contains, and moreover to superheat it to such a degree that no condensa-
tion can take place in the second or low-pressure cylinder. The steam then
passes to my improved condenser, which enables me to provide marine
bailers entirely with fresh water, and thereby obviate the evils arising from
incrustation when using sea water. The condenser consists of a number
of tubes of small diameter, bent in a hall circle through the middle of
their length, the two halves running parallel, and being inserted in the same
tube plate. This tube plate is bolted against flanges at the end of a tank in
which runs the cooling water. To the outer part of this tube plate is bolted a
chest or box divided in two parts. The steam entering one of these chambers
runs rapidly through the whole length of the tubes to the otherchamberof the
box, from which the condensed water is withdrawn by the air pump. Besides
the partition in the chest,several ribs or flanges press against the tubeplate to
resist the pressure of the atmosphere and head of water on the other side;
doors are provided in this chest, through which the interior of thecondensing
tubes may be examined and cleaned when required; similar doors are also
provided at the other end of the tank, from which the exterior of the tubes
can undergo such operation. To prevent or at least reduce in a greatmeasure
the deposit of fatty matter on the condensing surfaces, which would impair
their efficiency, I cause the exhaust steam on its way to the condenser to pass
through an apparatus similar to that proposed for removing the water from
the fresh steam, and I thus obtain the deposit of the fatty matter brought over
by the steam from the cylinders.

page_text: In order to provide for any waste of steam or fresh water, I divide the
condenser into two distinct apparatus. Part of the steam is first emitted from
the cylinder to the first and smaller of the two condensers, in which it is con-
densed at a high temperature, and there also it is made to heat the whole of
the feed water. A steam room of sufficient height is kept above the cooling
water, and put into communication with the interior of the second and main
condenser. By properly adjusting the size of the opening, steam arising from
the cooling water will be condensed in the second apparatus, and provide
for the losses of fresh water.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Benjamin Normand in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 17th September 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
BENJAMIN NORMAND, of Havre, in the Empire of France, Ship-builder, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her Most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six,in the nineteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Charles Benjamin Normand, Her special license that I, the said Charles
Benjamin Normand, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as 1, the said Charles Benjamin Normand, 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 IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT AND EMPLOYMENT OF STEAM IN STEAM
ENGINES, AND IN APPARATUS FOR EFFECTING THE CONDENSATION OF STEAM," po
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Charles Benjamin Normand,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Charles Benjamin Normand, do hereby

page_text: 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 Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
These improvements relate, firstly, to a mode of separating from steam the
particles of water often carried over with it when the steam is generated in a
boiler not provided with sufficient beiling surface and steam room. The
bad results of such mixture, which takes place accidentally in most steam
boilers and permanently in some, are well-known to the practical engineer
under the names of "priming" or "foaming." Aconsiderable quantity of water
has to be heated in the boilers and cooled in the condensers without being
productive of any mechanical effect, and the presence of such water in the
cylinders increases to an enormous extent the expenditure of the working
steam.
In the accompanying Drawing, Figures 1 and 2 shew, in vertical and
horizontal section, the apparatus which I propose to employ for separating
water from steam. It consists of two concentric cylinders A and B, which
form between them an annular space, at the top of which steam is admitted
tangentially by the opening C, so that it takes a rapid circular motion. The
powerful centrifugal action thus created gradually removes all liquid or moist
portions towards the outer circumference, and the inner zones are readilydried.
The central cylinder B is the reservoir for the pure steam, which is there
admitted gradually by small vertical apertures D, opening in an opposite
direction to the flow of the surrounding steam, so that particles of water yet
retained partaking of its rapid motion could not penetrate. To prevent any
whirling in the steam, and maintain throughout the necessary speed, the
annular spaces in which it moves is divided in helical channels, reduced in
section in proportion to the quantity transferred at every point. The condensed
water collected at the bottom is returned to the boiler, and the pure steam is
directed to the engine from the top of the central cylinder. At a speed of
sixty feet per second in a circle three feet in diameter steam will be submitted
to a centrifugal action seventy-five times greater than gravity,a more complete
and rapid separation can then be expected in an apparatus much smaller than
the ordinary boiler steam chest.
In steam engines working very expansively, the cylinder is often enclosed in
an outer steam casing or steam jacket. The great superiority of this disposi-
tion over the most complete felting, proves that the losses of heat which are
thus obviated are not external(these would rather be increased by the greater
extent and higher temperature of the surfaces), but that they arise from an

page_text: nternal cooling of the steam,caused byits expansion, and resulting in a deposit
f water on the surrounding surfaces. Of these latter, the sides and ends of
he cylinder have alone been protected from such condensation. The piston,
lthough submitted to the same varying pressures and temperatures as the
cover and bottom of the cylinder, has only been steam-heated in those single
acting pumping engines, where steam, lying at a constant pressure over the
piston, performs, in fact, the part of a steam jacket. The superiority of such
engines over those double-acting is well established, notwithstanding the
greater relative amount of friction and external cooling
When the
To secure the same advantages in double-acting engines, I propose to in-
troduce steam at its maximum pressure in the body of the piston and in the
piston rods. This last disposition would be of some importance in trunk
engines, where the extent of cooling surface is considerable.
piston rod is extended to the outer end of the cylinder, by making such rod
hollow, and causing it to work in a closed tube, steam can be introduced in
the piston. The condensed water is withdrawn by a tap through the main
end of the piston rod. This arrangement is represented in Figure 4. When
such disposition is not possible, one or two small additional rods will form
the necessary communications. Steam might also be introduced into the
piston by a small valve opening inwards, the condensed water being removed
by an opening in the existing or in a supplementary piston rod. These last
modifications I have not represented in the Drawing, as they will be readily
understood, and their form of application could be varied without departing
from the principle of the improvement, the heating of the working piston.
To avoid all condensation of steam in its working in the cylinder, a previous
increase of temperature has been sometimes given in a special heating appa-
ratus. This mode of heating steam hias, moreover, the advantage of increasing
its bulk in a greater ratio than the expenditure of heat, so that a given volume
of superheated steam contains less heat than the same bulk of ordinary steam
at the same pressure. The practical realisation of these advantages has been
prevented by various causes, the principal of which are, first the rapid oxidation
of the vessels in which the superheating is effected; second, the increased
friction and rapid destruction of the cylinders, pistons, and valves,caused by
the desiccation and decomposition of the oils or grease under the high tempera-
ture, which also burns the packing round the piston and rods.
Thefollowing modes of operating are intended to remedy these difficulties:-
When steam is employed expansively in cylinders of different sizes, as in the
engines usually called Woolf's engines, I propose to effect the superheating of
the steam only after it has performed the first part of its work in the high-

page_text: pressure cylinder. The superheating will then be of the greatest advantage,
on account of the cooling and partial condensation which the expansion and
external cooling have caused in the steam, and which have much lessened its
efficiency. The reduced pressure and temperature of this steam enable me to
effect a sufficient superheating without reaching a degree injurious to the
lubrication and durability of the cylinder and packings.
To render this superheating less expensive, the particles of water mixed
with the steam should be first separated in a centrifugal dryer,similar to that
shewn in Figures 1 and 2.
To regulate and limit with perfect certainty the superheating of the steam,
I propose to effect it in pipes immersed in high-pressure steam; for example,
steam at fifteen pounds pressure, being at its minimum temperature of two
hundred and fifty degrees Fahrenheit, may be heated to three hundred and
thirty degrees by steam at ninety pounds without any risk of burning the
heating apparatus or causing any injury to the engine. This mode of super-
heating steam is also applicable to steam issuing from the boiler wherein it
is generated.
The above improvements in the use of heated steam, being independent of
any form of application and being easily understood, it is unnecessary to
illustrate them with Figures.
'
In order to prevent the rapid rise of temperature which happens from
different causes, especially after stopping the engines, I propose to place
between the superheating apparatus and the engine a vessel containing a
number of plates of metal or other heat-absorbing substance, leaving but
small intervals for the passage of the steam, and presenting an extensive
surface. These plates will act as regulators of the temperature, absorbing a
momentary excess and giving it back when the action of the heater declines,
and always rendering the changes so slow that they may be kept within
narrow limits, either by a mixture of common steam or the action of the
dampers. This apparatus is represented in Figure 3.
To secure with a high temperature of the working steam the durability of
the packings and lubrication of the rubbing parts, I propose to protect the
whole cylinder rods and slide valves with a stream ofwater from the boiler,or
otherways boiling under the same pressure. In this manner the temperature
of the working parts will never be raised to an injurious degree, all the heat
transmitted beingemployedin vaporising part of the surroundingwater, which
steam mixes in the valve box with that generated in the boiler. No special
Figure has been made for this arrangement, as Fig. 4 may be a correct
indication, thecasings round the cylinder and passages to and from thepiston

page_text: being supposed to be filled by a stream of water from the boiler instead of
steam.
The last part of my Invention consists in an improved surface condenser,
that is, an apparatus in which the steam is condensed and collected, unmixed
with the cooling water and returned to the boilers, so that marine boilers can
be fed with distilled water.
Condensers of this kind have been proposed and employed from the earlier
days of the steam engine, but notwithstanding the improvements which they
have received their use is yet attended with many inconveniences. The
principal of these are, first, the accumulation of grease or fatty matter over
the condensing surfaces, which much lessens their efficiency; second, the
difficulty in cleaning, examining, and repairing the different parts of the appa-
ratus; third, the insufficiency in the supply of fresh water to the boilers, the
losses by leakage and others not being provided for, or only being so at an
expense of steam and fuel.
To prevent the deposit of grease or oil in the condenser,, the exhaust steam
is first conducted to a separating apparatus, similar to that shewn in Figures 1
and 2,where, the greasy particles being thrown towards the circumference, the
pure steam is collected in the central part and sent to the condenser, which is
represented in longitudinal vertical section at Fig. 5, and in cross section at
Fig. 6. The condensing surfaces are formed of tubes E, the section of which
is either round, square, elliptical, or otherwise bent in a half circle in the
middle of their length, and thus taking the shape of the letter U. Both
extremities of these tubes are fixed to the same tube plate F, and at equal
distances above and below the middle of its height. This arrangement
obviates the evil effects of unequal expansion, which occurs when straight
tubes are attached at both ends to tube plates, and the number of joints and
causes of leakage are reduced (with the same dimension of condenser) to one
half. The tank G, surrounding the tubes, contains the cooling water, which is
introduced below by the opening H, and escapes by that above, marked I.
The horizontal partition J forces the water to flow twice the length of the
tank parallel to the tubes. The flow of cooling water is maintained by a
pump, or simply by the shape and direction of the openings in the side of the
vessel. The chest K, bolted to the outside of the tube plate and divided into
two parts by the horizontal partition L, is. the main part of the condenser, and
that only in which the joints are subject to atmospheric pressure, and in
which leaks would be detrimental to the working of the engine. Besides
the partition L, several vertical and horizontal ribs P are set against the tube
plate; and sustain the atmospheric pressure and head of water in the other

page_text: side. The exhaust steam is introduced into the upper portion of the chest K by
the pipe M. and it thence passes into the bent tubes E, where it is condensed.
The condensed water is collected in the lower portion, from which the air-
pump N draws it into the tank O with the air which may have been intro-
duced through the leaks. Doors Qare provided in the condenser K, so that
the joints of the tubes may be casily examined and repaired, and their interior
thoroughly cleared (by a jet of an alkaline solution) from any grease which
might have escaped the separator. The other end of the condenser being shut
by one large door R. the exterior of the tubes is rendered easily accessible.
and the sediment which the sea water may have deposited can be removed.
A leaky tube can also be changed by opening a little the flexible rows of tubes
on each side.
To render the jointing and removing of the tubes more easy, instead of
rivetting them in the tube plate in the usual way with or without ferrules. I
propose the following disposition, shewn in full size in Figures 7 and 8 :-
Each end of the tubes E. I contract in a mandril, and I increase their
thickness to admit of a screw being cut on the outside thereof. The hole in
the tube plate F, I make conical, and keep the joint tight by a nut S, screwing
on a washer of india-rubber.
Instead of this arrangement the ends of the tube E may be brazed to a
short pipe T. contracted at the part where it enters the tube plate, so as to
leave room for the nuts, without increasing the distance between the tubes.
The joint is made tight, as before, by screwing on an indian-rubber washer.
This arrangement is shewn in Fig. 9. The leaks which unavoidably take place
in various parts of the engines and boilers occasion a loss of fresh water, which
the present arrangement is intended to supply, without special expense of steam
and fuel.
The condensing apparatus is divided into two parts, the principal one, which
has just been described, and another smaller situated above the fresh water
tank, and which acts also as a distillator. The tubes in this condenser are
also bent in the shape of a U, but the planes of the bands instead of being
vertical are horizontal. The exhaust from the cylinder is divided into two
successive parts; two or three tenths are first past through the small con-
denser or distillator U, where part is condensed, the water formed, and the
remainder of the steam run in the tank below to raise the temperature of
the feed water.
This first condensation is effected under a high temperature and com-
paratively high pressure, that is little inferior to that of the steam remaining in
the cylinder after this first exhaust. Steam immediately after passes into the

page_text: main condenser, where a relative vacuum is maintained as perfect as possible
by the flow of the cooling water and the action of the air pump. The cooling
water in the distillator U is not unceasingly renewed, but is allowed to grow
hot and vaporise by the heat transmitted by the tubes. The steam, so gene-
rated, is carried by the pipe X into the main condenser. The quantity of
steam condensed in this apparatus has then been productive of a double weight
of freshwater, its owncollected in the tank,and another,nearly equal, vaporised
from the surrounding water, and collected in the main condenser. This extra
yield can always be rendered equal to the loss of fresh water, which occurs
in the working of the engines, and even afford a certain quantity for the use
of the ship's crew.
The division of the exhaust into two distinct parts can be effected in various
ways. If there is much lead on the exhaust side, that is, if the opening with
the condenser begins when the crank is yet at thirty degrees or forty degrees
from the end of the stroke, the following arrangement represented by Figure 10
will be convenient. Steam issuing from the cylinder enters a cylindrical
chamber, pierced at its circumference by two series of narrow annular open-
ings, each series communicating with one of the condensers. A ring piston
movesover these openings,and is itself pierced by similarapertures, so arranged
that one series of apertures to one condenser are opened while the commu-
nication with the other is shut. A small longitudinal motion given by a cam
or in any other manner performs the required changes. When there is very
little lead to the exhaust, it will be better to direct the steam to the distillator
by a separate set of valves, opening when the crank is yet about fifty degrees
from the end of the stroke and closing when the main exhaust begins.
In compound or two cylinders expansion engines a more simple mode of
operating would consist in withdrawing a certain portion of the steam in its
transit from the high-pressure to the low-pressure cylinder and directing it
into the distillator. The further working of such part of the steam would be
lost, but anequivalent saving wouldarise fromthehigher temperatureof the feed
water. Theheatingof the feedwater at a temperatureof onehundred andeighty
degrees to two hundred and twenty degrees, according to the pressure of the
steam in the cylinder at the end of the stroke, offers an important advantage,
especially when the boilers are fed with salt water, the loss of heat by the
blow-off being reduced.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "Improvements in
the Treatment and Employment of Steam in Steam Engines, and in Appa-
ratus for Effecting. the Condensation of Steam," and explained the manner
of carrying the same into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that I do not

page_text: mean or intend to confine myself rigidly to the precise arrangemont and
construction of parts herein shewn and described, as they may be varied
without departing from the nature and object of my Invention; nor do I
intend to claim such well-known parts herein shewnand described as havebeen
heretofore used for similar purposes, except when they are combined and
arranged in the manner herein set forth; but that which I consider to be new,
and therefore claim under the above in part recited Letters Patent is.―
First, the method herein shown and described of separating from steam the
particles of water and of grease contained therein, and that whether the steam
be acted upon immediately upon its issuing from the boiler or after it has
performed a part of its work.
Sccund, I claim the introductionof steam at boiler pressure into the pistons
of steam engines; for the purpose of heating the said pistons and improving the
economy of the engine.
Third, I claim superheating partially exhausted steam, or steam at a low
pressure when deprived of the water it contained, by mixing therewith
ordinary high-pressure steam.
Lastly, I claim as of my improvements in relation to surface condensers the
general arrangement of the parts as described; also the mode of connecting
the tubes to the tube plate; the division of the condenser into two parts
(operating at different temperatures). for the purpose of providing for the
loss of fresh water and heating the feed, and also effecting a division in
the exhaust of the engine, whether in conjunction with surface or common
condensation.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Benjamin Normand, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Thirteenth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
BN. DENISE,
of Havre de Grace.
C. B. NORMAND. (L.s.)