THERAUSMENTS IN GENERATING STEAM IN MARINE AND OTHER BOILERS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Vincent Lee, lato of Prospect Cottage,
Dulwich, in the County of Surrey, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of
THERAUSMENTS IN GENERATING STEAM IN MARINE AND OTHER BOILERS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Vincent Lee at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th May 1855.
1, THOMAS VINCENT LEE, of Prospect Cottage, Dulwich, in the County of
Surrey, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN GENERATING STEAM IN MARINE AND OTHER BOILERS," to
be as follows (that is to say) :-
My Invention consists of certain improvements in apparatus to be used in
connection with marine or other boilers, whereby a great saving will be effected
in respect of the fuel used in generating steam, compared to what is now con-
sumed for similar purposes; and the frequent cleansing now requisite in marine
boilers is rendered unnecessary. My improvements may be briefly stated as
follows:-
The working boiler is constructed of copper or iron, or of any other suitable
material, and may be of any dimensions and of any shape, according to circum-
stances, and the position it may be intended to occupy. For the purpose of
illustration, it may be taken to be of the capacity required for working an
engine of 200-horse power. The boiler is insulated or surrounded by any

page_text: suitable non-conducting substance, or combination of substances, and is fitted
internally with perforated tubing, arranged in such a manner as to insure the
equal diffusion of hydro-caloric or surcharged steam, as herein-after mentioned.
The hydro-caloric or surcharged steam is generated and supplied in the
following manner :-A boiler, say, of 20-horse capacity, or one-tenth the
surface of the working boiler, is employed to generate steam, in the usual
manner. The steam being thus produced is then passed through a small
chamber at a high temperature, where, in cases in which sea water is employed,
it is deprived of its saline properties. It then passes to a coil constructed as
follows: The coil is composed of copper or cast iron, semicircular in shape,
and fitted into horizontal pipes or flanges, syphon bends, or other contrivances
for the same purpose. This coil differs from those commonly in use by having
three or more times the amount of heating surface in the same bulk, and con-
sequently more heat in the same proportion from a given amount of fuel.
Instead of using one row of pipes only, I use another over it, each pipe lying
over the interval between the two under it so as to make, for example, 600
feet of heating surface where only 200 has before been obtained, while the heat
imparted to the upper course is greater than to that nearest the fire. The coil
is placed longitudinally across the furnace from the back thereof to the front of
the fire bars. The coil being heated by the furnace, the steam is admitted
from the smaller boiler before mentioned, and having taken up in its passage
an amount of caloric proportionate to the surface with which it has come in
contact, and the degree of heat to which the coil has been raised, is thence
transmitted to the perforated tubing within the working boiler, and being
equally distributed throughout the body of water with great rapidity and at
inten-e heat, the steam for working is generated and maintained in a much
shorter time and with greater uniformity than by any method in which the fire
heat is directly applied to the external surface of the boiler. The supply of the
hydro-caloric or surcharged steam is under complete control, and can be
increased or diminished at pleasure by a suitable arrangement of valves and
stop-cocks.
It must be distinctly understood, that I do not claim the before-mentioned
coil, or the arrangement for heating the same, as herein-before described, as
any part of this Invention, inasmuch as the same or a part thereof form a por-
tion of certain Inventions previously patented by me, nor do I confine myself
to the before-mentioned method of heating the coil, or producing the hydro-
calorie or surcharged steam.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Vincent Lee in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
29th November 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
VINCENT LEE, late of Prospect Cottage, Dulwich, in the County of Surrey,
but now residing at 87, Queen Street, Cheapside, in the City of London, Civil
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Thomas Vincent Lee, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas
Vincent Lee, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Thomas Vincent Lee, 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 "Ix-
PROVEMENTS IN GENERATING STEAM IN MARINE AND OTHER BOLLERS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Vincent Lee, 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 Thomas Vincent Lee, 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 Drawings, in
which similar parts are marked by similar letters, that is to say :-
The said Invention has for its leading objects, first, the reduction of the
quantity of fuel required in generating and maintaining steam in marine and
other boilers, such reduction being to the extent of about nine-tenths as
compared with the quantity now consumed for such purposes. In the case
of marine boilers, a great saving of space which is now required for the
necessary amount of fuel is thus effected. Second, the removal of saline and
earthy matters from sea water. These objects I accomplish in the following
manner: In the accompanying Drawings, A, shewn in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4,

page_text: The
and 6, represents a generator or steam boiler of the ordinary construc-
tion, which will be in the proportion of one-tenth the capacity of the
working boiler, and is employed to generate steam in the usual manner.
steam, having been produced in the said generator, is then passed into a
small chamber or insulator, (marked D in Figures 1 and 4 in the accom-
panying Drawing,) and which chamber or insulator is made in two parts, the
under or lower portion thereof being charged with pumice stone, and which
will require to be occasionally cleaned and changed. By passing through the
insulator so charged as last aforesaid, the steam is deprived of all saline and
earthy properties. From the insulator D, the steam, thus purified, passes to the
coil B (shewn in Figures 1, 3, 4, and 5). This coil differs from any heretofore
in use, (except by myself, under a Patent granted to me, and bearing date the
Twenty-first day of December, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, for
"improvements in the construction of certain machinery and apparatus for the
manufacture of bricks and tiles,") having four or more times the amount of
heating surface in the same space. The coil may be constructed of copper,
cast iron, fire clay, or other suitable material, and semicircular in shape, the
pipes being either oval or round, and fitted into horizontal pipes or flanges,
syphon bends, or other suitable contrivances for the same purpose. Instead
of using one row of pipes only, I arrange them so that each pipe lies over the
interspace of the two under it, by which arrangement, amongst other advan-
tages, the heat communicated to the upper tier of pipes is greated than that
imparted to those nearest to the fire. The coil is placed across the furnace
bars, extending to the back of the furnace. To protect the metal or other
material of which the coil may be constructed from the direct or sensible action
of the fire, a lining intervenes of fire tile, cast or wrought iron, or other suit-
able material, while it is covered in and partially surrounded by a chamber
filled with water, from which the generator is supplied, and which at the same
time acts as a non-conductor. The coil being heated to the required tempe-
rature, and the steam from A having passed through the insulator D, and then
through the coil B, and having taken up in its passage an amount of caloric
proportionate to the extent of surface and the degree of heat to which the coil
has been raised, whereby it is converted into hydro-calorie or surcharged steam,
is thence transmitted into the working boiler C (shewn in Figures 1, 2, 3,
and 4), by means of a pipe, having at its extremity and near the bottom of the
boiler a globe E (see Figures 2, 3, and 4), with four apertures for the discharge
of the hydro-caloric or surcharged steam, thus insuring its equal diffusion
throughout the whole body of water contained in the working boiler. This
process being continued, the steam is generated much more rapidly, and main-

page_text: tained with greater regularity, in the working boiler, than by any method in
which the fire heat is applied to the external surface of the boiler. The pro-
cess is maintained with ease by simply keeping up the supply of steam in the
generator and the coil at a proper heat, while, should there be too great a
quanty at any time, by working the double valve G (see Figures 1, 2, and 4),
it can be turned off into the refrigerator F, whence is obtained fresh water.
This portion can be worked at any time fresh water may be required, either
with or without the working boiler. It may be as well to state that the
generator, working boiler, and the covering of the coil are each fitted with
the usual safety valve.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict myself
to the precise details or arrangements which I have described or referred to,
as variations may be made therefrom without deviating from the principles or
main features of the said Invention; but what I consider to be novel and
original, and which I therefore claim as my Invention, is,-
First, the application of hydro-caloric or surcharged steam for the purpose
of generating and maintaining steam in marine and other boilers, as hercin-
before described.
Second, the production of fresh water from sea water, by passing it in a
state of vapour through a heated chamber lined or charged with pumice
stone, as herein-before described and set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Vincent Lee, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of November, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-five.
Witness,
E. P. H. VAUGHAN,
59, Chancery Lane,
Agent for Patentee.
THOMAS VINCENT LEE. (L.S.)