AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR GENERATING SUPERHEATED STEAM
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical
Draughtsman, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND
APPARATUS FOR GENERATING SUPERHEATED STEAM."-A communication
from abroad by Ebenezer Danford, of Geneva, State of Illinois,
United States of America.
Sealed the 17th April 1866, and dated the 15th February 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 15th February 1866.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND.
APPARATUS FOR GENERATING SUPERHEATED STEAM," to be as follows:-
Attempts have been made, but with no commercial success, to. produce
steam instantaneously by. injecting water on the inside surface of a heated
generator (so called), the object being the production of natural steam.
intermittently, as required by the engine. It has also been proposed to
produce an economical effect in this direction by injecting water into super-

page_text: heated steam of such a volume that a saturated or wet steam was the
product, which was afterwards conducted over a heated surface to produce
superheated steam. Now the object of the present Invention is to
maintain such relation between the volume of superheated steam and the
injected water that the incoming water shall be converted into superheated
steam. To this end a spherical vessel of such capacity as will furnish the
volume of superheated steam required is placed in a suitable furnace, the
fire and heat of which will act on the exterior surface of the vessel. A
small quantity of water being placed in the vessel when it is under the
action of heat will yield as much natural steam as the capacity of the vessel
will permit at a determinate temperature. The water not converted into
natural steam (because there is no room for any more natural steam of
that pressure) is to be blown out of the vessel through a discharge pipe. The
continued application of heat to the natural steam so made will convert
it into superheated steam, which will be the means of converting water when
forced into it into superheated steam. A pipe or coil of pipes furnished
with numerous orifices at one end enters and extends to about the centre of
the generator, and is intended to discharge, water in regulated quantity in
jets into the superheated steam. Instead of forcing the water through
orifices in the pipe a series of smaller pipes branching off from a main pipe
and passing through the furnace. to the steam generator, may be used;
the water will then be heated by the direct action of the flame of the
furnace on its passage to the generator, or the pipes may enter the plate
which closes the generator. In either case the regulated quantity of
water is converted into superheated steam immediately. The water supply
pipe is connected with a Giffard injector or some form of force pump, by
means of which water is forced through the pipe or coil. A branch from
this pipe leads to the water reservoir, and by means of a cock on it such
part of the water delivered by the injector or force pump is thrown back
into the reservoir as may be found advisable. A discharge pipe extends
to near the bottom of the vessel, by means of which any accumulation of
water is blown out when desired, and the steam pipe for conveying theisuper-
heated steam from the generator to the place where it is to be used rises
from the cap or cover of the spherical vessel. It will be understood that
it is not. intended to inject the water on 'to the surface of the vessel, for the
volume of superheated steam is the material (so to designate it) which
receives the entering jets, and supplies, as far as any additional heat is
necessary, the heat which converts the entering water into superheated
steam.
It will be understood that with any vessel of known.cubic content

page_text: and surface there is a certain quantity of water which with that cubic
content of superheated steam and surface under the action of a certain
amount of heat will be continuously and satisfactorily converted into
superheated steam, and, therefore, by regulating the quantity of water
entering vessels of any relative surface and content can be used; and, as the
quantity of water is a matter of regulation, it is only necessary to provide
ample means of supply and regulation, leaving to the engineer the adaptation.
of these means to the proportion of the other elements.. Continued use of
these combinations will define, as cannot be done beforehand, the exact
quantity of water which should be injected under known circumstances..
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent.
Office on the 15th August 1866..
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE. PRESENTS: SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery. Lane, in the:
County of Middlesex, Mechanical. Draughtsman,, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by. Her:Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of February,, in. the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six,. in the twenty-ninth. year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,, give and grant.
unto me, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special licence that I, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns,,
or such others as 1, the said Alfred. Vincent Newton, 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 MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR.
GENERATING. SUPERHEATED STRAM," being a communication from abroad, upon
the condition (amongst others), that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing, under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, 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..

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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, Drawing hereunto
'annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
In the usual mode of generating steam there intervenes between the
metallic surface on which the fire acts and the volume of steam in the
boiler a body of water which receives the heat transmitted, and when steam
is made under these circumstances it is when of the same pressure.always
of the same temperature, and tables prepared for the purpose state what
are the temperatures of steam of various pressures when so made. Steam
so formed may be called natural steam, and when formed it admits of
being heated by being subjected to the action of heat of adequate temper-
ature without water being present to take up the heat. Steam so heated
is superheated, and is called superheated steam. In the processes hitherto
employed for producing superheated steam natural steam is first obtained,
'and then that steam is superheated by being subjected by itself to the
action of heat. Attempts have been made, but with no commercial
success, to produce steam instantaneously by injecting water on to a heated
generator (so called), the object being the production of natural steam
intermittently, as required by the engine. It has also been proposed to
produce an economical effect in this direction by injecting water into
superheated steam of such a volume that a saturated or wet steam was the
'product, which was afterwards conducted over a heated surface to produce
superheated steam.
Now the object of the present Invention is to maintain such relation
between the volume of superheated steam and the injected water that the
incoming water shall be converted into superheated steam. The combi-
nations designed for this purpose are represented in the accompanying
Drawing, wherein Fig. 1 is a vertical central section of one arrangement
of superheated steam generator; Fig. 2 shews in vertical central section a
modification of Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a partial sectional elevation of a
further modification of the superheated steam generator.
A, Fig. 1, is a spherical vessel of such sectional thickness as will furnish
adequate strength, and of such capacity as will furnish the volume of
superheated steam required, as herein-after set forth. This vessel is placed
in a suitable furnace B, the. fire and heat of which will act on the exterior
surface of the vessel. A small quantity of water being. admitted into the
vessel A while it is under the action of heat will yield as much natural

page_text: steam as the capacity of the vessel will permit at a determinate tempera-
ture. Any water not converted into natural steam (by reason of there
being no room for more natural steam of that pressure) is to be blown out
of the vessel through the discharge pipe D by opening the cock H. The
continued application of heat to the natural steam so made will convert it
into superheated steam, and the vessel will be full of superheated steam,
and the volume of superheated steam will be the means of converting
water into superheated steam when water is forced into it in the manner
herein-after described. C is a pipe, or it may be a coil of pipes, which
extend to about the central part of the generator A, and is furnished with
numerous orifices, the greater number being near the end of the pipe.
Through this pipe and out of these orifices m, m, m, water is forced in jets
into the superheated steam. The pipe C, being surrounded by super-
heated steam, will partake of its heat, and transmit the same to the water
in the pipe, and the length of the pipe or coil C must be such that by the
time the water issues therefrom into the superheated steam it will be
nearly the same temperature as that of the superheated steam. Under
these circumstances the entering water, regulated in quantity by the
engineer, is converted into superheated steam immediately.
In Fig. 2 C, C, C', are pipes which enter the vessel A after passing
through a part of the furnace; out of the ends of these pipes the water is
forced into the superheated steam in the generator A. The length of
pipes exposed to the action of the furnace should be such as to afford time
for the heat that plays over the pipes to raise the temperature of the water
passing through the pipes nearly to the temperature of the superheated
steam in the vessel A. Under these circumstances the entering water,
regulated in quantity by the engineer, is converted into superheated steam
immediately.
C", C, C", Fig. 3, are pipes which enter the plate which closes the
vessel A; they are in number such that each stream or jet is small, or the
water issues from the ends through orifices that produce jets adequately
small. Water forced by the action of the injector through these orifices
will penetrate the superheated steam, and being regulated in quantity by
the engineer will be converted into superheated steam. A Giffard injector,
or some form of force pump; is required to force the water through the
pipe or coil C. A branch M from this pipe leads to the water reservoir,
and by means of a cock L on it such part of the water delivered by the
injector or force pump is thrown back into the reservoir as may be found
advisable. The discharge pipe D extends to near the bottom of the

page_text: vessel A, by means of which any accumulation of water is blown out when
desired. S is a steam-pipe which conveys the superheated steam from the
vessel A to the place and parts where it is to be used.
In the use of these arrangements of apparatus their satisfactory opera-
tion will depend on the proper adjustment of the supply of water by the
pipes C, C', C", to the state of the fires, and the rate at which superheated
steam is taken away by pipes.
It will be seen that in either case it is not intended that water be
injected on to the surface of the vessel, but that the volume of super-
heated steam is the material (so to designate it) which receives the enter-
ing jets, and supplies, as far as any additional heat is necessary, the heat
which converts the entering water into superheated steam. It is this part
of the combination and its operation which distinguishes it from attempts
to make steam continuously and satisfactorily by injecting water on the
inner surfaces of heated vessels. The hot surface of the vessel was the
part provided to convert the water thrown upon it in spray or jets into
steam. Various as these attempts have been they have all had this
'common feature, viz., that the hot metallic surface was to receive the
water, whereas by this Invention special care is taken to provide such a
'depth of volume of superheated steam to receive the water as will cause
the water to pass into a state of superheated steam before it reaches the
hot metallic surface.
It will be understood that with the use of any vessel of known cubical
contents containing a corresponding amount of superheated steam and
surface under the action of a given amount of heat there is a certain
quantity of water which will be continuously and satisfactorily converted
into superheated steam, and, therefore, it will be seen that by regulating the
quantity of water entering vessels of any relative surface and content can
be used; and, as the quantity of water is a matter of regulation, it is only
necessary to provide ample means of supply and regulation, leaving to the
'engineer the adaptation of these means to the proportion of the other
elements. Continued use of these combinations will define, as cannot be
done beforehand, the exact quantity of water which should be injected
under known circumstances.
...In practice it has been found that a spherical vessel, as represented in
the Drawing, of thirty inches internal diameter, placed in a furnace having
three square feet of grate surface, into which vessel when filled with super-
heated steam of one hundred to one hundred and twenty pounds pressure,
and five hundred to six hundred degrees temperature, twelve cubic inches

page_text: of water per minute is supplied through about forty orifices of about one-
tenth of an inch diameter, will run an engine having a cylinder five inches
diameter, eight inches stroke, at a pressure of eighty pounds per square
inch and two hundred revolutions per minute.
In determining the plan and proportions of the elements of these combi-
nations it is to be remarked for the guidance of those interested, 1, that a
body of superheated steam of five hundred to six hundred degrees tem-
perature, and one hundred and twenty to one hundred and fifty pounds
pressure, is not readily penetrated by jets of water without a communica-
tion of heat that will convert the water into superheated steam; but that,
2, it is advisable to have a considerable depth of superheated steam in
advance of the entering jets, and that it is not advisable to have less than
ten inches, though less depth would answer with less efficiency; 3, that
orifices of one-sixteenth to one-eighth of an inch diameter permit jets which
operate well in practice.
The form of vessel or generator represented in the Drawing is spherical,
selected as the one of greatest strength and capacity with a given amount
of material, but any form of vessel of adequate thickness of parts in relation
to its form and sustained pressure can be used.
To secure the most efficient generator with given weight of parts
regard must be had to the practical suggestions herein contained.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "An Improved
Mode of and Apparatus for Generating Superheated Steam," and explained
the manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood
that under the above in part recited Letters Patent I claim, the generating
of superheated steam by injecting water into an atmosphere of superheated
steam, under the conditions and by the means above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Fifteenth day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.s.)