IMPROVEMENTS IN COMBINED BOILER AND STEAM VACUUM PUMPS AND IN THE REGULATION OF THE BOILER FEED AND THE WATER LEVEL THEREIN
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Herbert John Allison, of the firm of Allison Brothers,
"
"
Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for an Invention of
'IMPROVEMENTS IN COMBINED BOILER AND STEAM VACUUM PUMPS AND IN
THE REGULATION OF THE BOILER FEED AND THE WATER LEVEL THEREIN
communicated to him from abroad by Carroll Livingston Riker, of Brooklyn,
in the State of New York, United States of America, Mechanical Engineer,
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Herbert John Allison at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 30th October 1883.
HERBERT JOHN ALLISON, of the firm of Allison Brothers, Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, "IMPROVEMENTS IN COMBINED BOILER AND
STEAM VACUUM PUMPS AND IN THE REGULATION OF THE BOILER feed anD THE
WATER LEVEL THEREIN a communication to me from abroad by Carroll
Livingston Riker, of Brooklyn, in the State of New York, United States of
America, Mechanical Engineer,
"
This invention relates primarily to the construction and operation of that class
of steam-water elevators known as steam-vacuum pumps, in which, without the
intervention of any moving part other than the check-valves, the steam is
automatically made to force water out of the apparatus and by subsequent
condensation to cause its replenishment; and also to the regulation of the water
supply to a steam-boiler and of the water level therein.
It consists in an improved method of exhausting the steam from the working
chamber of a steam-vacuum pump and from the steam gonorator connected
therewith; of determining automatically the water level in the generator; of
regulating the water supply thereto; and of exhausting the water therefrom in
the operation of the pump; and also in improved devices for effecting these
operations.
The apparatus employed consists in general, of a pumping or working chamber
into which the steam pressure is brought to bear upon a column of water; a
second water chamber (which may be used also as a steam condensing chamber),
which communicates freely with the bottom of the working chamber and is
connected, preferably at its upper end, with the water supply and the discharge

page_text: pipes of the pump, each fitted with a check-valve; a quick acting steam generator
of maximum evaporating surface and of a minimum cubical capacity less than that of
the working chamber, to which it is connected by a steam discharge pipe opening
into its upper end and preferably controlled by a valve; a water-trapped, steam
exhaust tube, of which one arm terminates in the working chamber, preferably
immediately below the open end of the steam supply pipe, and whose opposite arm
opens freely into the water chamber, the delivery pipe, or a separate condenser ;
and an open feed orifice or feed pipe for supplying water to the generator, either
from the water chamber, the working chamber, or other source in which the
pressure is equivalent to that within said 'chambers, and whose capacity is so
limited, or admits of being so adjusted, as not to supply the generator with water
except as required, nor faster than the supply is vaporized.
In the operation of this improved apparatus, the steam, rapidly produced in the
steam generator, is at once discharged into the upper end of the working chamber
where, by its pressure upon the upper surface of the water therein, it will forco
this water out until the water level in the steam exhaust-tube has dropped below
the sealing point of the trap, and thus opened a free vent for the steam up into the
water chamber or condenser. The water thus forced out of the working chamber
into the water chamber, will displace and drive out through the discharge pipe an
equal volume of water from the latter. The steam escaping through the exhaust-
tube will, by its condensation as it is emitted from the tube, create a draft or
suction therein which, in connection with the back pressure of the column of water,
will operate to draw out all of the steam, not only from the working chamber, but
also from the generator, creating a void in the working chamber which the water,
previously forced into the water chamber, will be compelled to flow back therefrom
to fill, the consequent void in the water chamber being supplied by an inward flow
of fresh water from the supply pipe.
When the working chamber is refilled the exhaust-tube will also refill and be
sealed with water to prevent an escape of steam until the water level is reduced
as above described.
.
By closing more or less the valve in the steam discharge pipe and thereby
controlling the escape of steam, the pressure in the boiler will so far increase, if
there be an excess of steam, as to overbalance the pressure in the open feed-pipe
supplying water to the boiler and thus, not only arrest the feed, but, if the steam
pressure continues to increase, also force back through, said pipe the water in the
boiler until the generation of steam will cease from want of water, thus permitting
a reduction of the pressure to its normal point to allow a renewal of tho feed and
the consequent renewal of the generation of steam.
This invention embraces various modifications in the general plan, arrangement,
and construction of the improved apparatus and in its several details. In one form
of the apparatus the working chamber is formed or placed within the bottom of
the water chamber so as to be surrounded thereby at top and sides, its walls being
made non-conducting of heat. In another form, the working chamber is apart.
from the water chamber, the two being connected by a pipe leading from the
bottom of the one to the other. In one form of-my apparatus the steam generator
consists of a tubular coil; in another, a generator is employed composed of
concentric, dished or concaved, copper plates, united at their edges, leaving a very
shallow, narrow interval between the two in which to vaporize the water. The
steam generator may be placed wholly under the working chamber, or constructed
to encircle it, the outer wall of the chamber being made, in such case, as far as
possible non-conducting.
:
In some instances a simple bent tube, is used and in others an inner tube within
an outer concentric case, to form the trapped steam-exhaust leading from the
working to the water chamber,

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Herbert John Allison in the Patent Office on the 28th April 1884.
HERBERT JOHN ALLISON, of the firm of Allison Brothers, Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, "IMPROVEMENTS IN COMBINED BOILER AND STEAM.
VACUUM PUMPS AND IN THE REGULATION OF THE BOILER FEED AND THE WATER
"
LEVEL THEREIN a communication to me from abroad by Carroll Livingston Riker,
of Brooklyn, in the State of New York, United States of America, Mechanical
Engineer
This invention relates primarily to the construction and operation of that class.
of steam-water elevators known as steam-vacuum pumps, in which, without the
intervention of any moving part other than the check-valves, the steam is auto-
matically made to force water out of the apparatus and by subsequent condensation,
to cause its replenishment; and also to the regulation of the water supply to a
steam-boiler and of the water level therein.
It consists in an improved method of exhausting the steam from the working
chamber of a steam-vacuum pump and from the steam generator connected there-
with; of determining automatically the water level in the generator; of regulating
the water supply thereto; and of exhausting the water therefrom in the operation
of the pump; and also in improved devices for effecting these operations.
The apparatus employed consists in general, of a pumping or working chamber
into which the steam pressure is brought to bear upon a column of water; a second
water chamber (which may be used also as a steam condensing chamber), which
communicates freely with the bottom of the working chamber and is connected,
preferably at its upper end, with the water supply and the discharge pipes of the
pump, each fitted with a check-valve; a quick-acting steam generator of maximum
evaporating surface and of a minimum cubical capacity less than that of the work-
ing chamber to which it is connected by a steam discharge pipe opening into its
upper end and preferably controlled by a valve; a water-trapped, steam exhaust
tube, of which one arm terminates in the working chamber, preferably immediately
below the open end of the steam supply pipe, and whose opposite arm opens freely
either into the water chamber, the delivery pipe or a separate condenser; and an
open feed orifice or feed pipe for supplying water to the generator either from the
water chamber, the working chamber, or other source in which the pressure is
equivalent to that within said chambers, and whose capacity is so limited, or admits
of being so adjusted, as not to supply the generator with water except as required,
nor faster than the supply is vaporized.
In the operation of this improved apparatus, the steam, rapidly produced in the
steam generator, is at once discharged into the upper end of the working chamber
where, by its pressure upon the upper surface of the water therein, it will force this
water out until the water level in the steam exhaust tube has dropped below the
sealing point of the trap, and thus opened a free vent for the steam up into the
water chamber or condenser. The water thus forced out of the working chamber
into the water chamber, will displace and drive out through the discharge pipe an
equal volume of water from the latter. The steam escaping through the exhaust-
tube will, by its condensation as it is emitted from the tube, create a draft or
suction therein which, in connection with the back pressure of the column of water,
will operate to draw out all of the steam, not only from the working chamber, but
also from the generator, creating a void in the working chamber which the water,
previously forced into the water chamber, will be compelled to flow back therefrom
to fill, the consequent void in the water chamber being supplied by an inward flow
of fresh water from the supply pine.
'

page_text: When the working chamber is refilled the exhaust-tube will also refill and be
sealed with water to prevent an escape of steam until the water level is reduced as
above described.
By closing more or less the valvo in the steam discharge pipe and thereby con-
trolling the escape of steam, the pressure in the boiler will so far increase, if there
be an excess of steam, as to overbalance the pressure in the open feed-pipe supply-
ing water to the boiler and thus, not only arrest the feed, but, if the steam pressure
continues to increase, also force back through said pipe the water in the boiler
until the generation of steam will cease from want of water, thus permitting a
reduction of the pressure to its normal point to allow a renewal of the feed and the
consequent renewal of the generation of steam.
In the accompanying drawings:—
Figure 1 is an elevation in outline, and Figure 2, a vertical section of my
improved steam-vacuum water elevator in the form which I deem best adapted
for general use.
Fi
Figures 3 and 4 are sectional views, illustrating my invention in simplest form.
Figures 5 and 6 are similar views, illustrating modifications therein as hereinafter
described, and
Figure 7 is a detached, sectional view of a double seated valve which may be
employed to control the steam supply pipe.
My invention admits of exemplification in two general forms, viz: with the
steam pumping or working chamber and the water chamber apart from each other,
the two being connected by suitable steam and water pipes, as shown in Figures
2, 5 and 6; or with a pumping or working chamber completely enclosed within the
water chamber and communicating freely therewith as shown in Figures 3 and 4.
In cach of the Figures, A represents the working chamber and B the water
chamber of the pump.
In the simple form of apparatus shown in Figure 3, the working chamber A con-
sists of a cylindrical vessel constructed with walls of non-conducting material and
which is closed at top and open at bottom. This vessel is supported within an
outer cylindrical water chamber B, also closed at the top, and whose lower end is
fitted upon a steam generator C preferably constructed of sheet metal in a conical
or concavo-convex form, with an exceedingly narrow or shallow interval between its
upper and lower plates, so as to present the largest possible area of surface with
the smallest containing capacity.
A small supply opening D' controlled by a valve D connects the bottom of the
water chamber with the lowest portion of the conical steam generator C.
An open pipe E (see Figure 4) projects from the upper portion or apex of this
generator upwards within the working chamber A nearly to the top thereof.
An open, exhaust-tube F, extends from a point near the lower end of the working
chamber up into the water chamber and terminates at or about the middle thereof.
This exhaust-tubo F is trapped by means of a concentric encircling tube G, closed
at the bottom, and which extends up nearly to the top of the chamber A, or it may
be trapped by bending it and extending its inner end upward within the working
chamber, as shown in Figures 4 and 5, and in either case communication therewith
from the working chamber is effected near to the top of the chamber only.
This simple pumping apparatus is completed, by fitting to the upper end of the
water chamber B, a feed or suction pipe H, to connect it with a suitable source of
supply, and with a discharge pipe I, for the delivery of water therefrom, these pipes
being fitted with suitable check-valves to prevent a re-flow of the water therein.
It is made ready for use by placing a gas or coal furnace or other suitable calorific
device under the steam generator C.
In the operation of the apparatus, the valve D is opened so that the generator C
is supplied with water from the chamber B. The water, spread out in a very thin
sheet between the walls of the generator, is thereby exposed to a comparatively
large heating surface so as to become very quickly converted into steam. The
steam thus readily generated, passes freely upward. through the pipe E to the

page_text: top of the working chamber B, and bearing with its full pressure upon the upper
surface of the water therein, will force this water down and out of the bottom of
Baid chamber into the water chamber A, causing an outward flow of the water
already in said chamber A through the discharge pipe at I.
As the water is forced out from the working chamber B, it will also be driven
out simultaneously from the trapped exhaust-tube F, until the bend or sealing
point of the exhaust-tube is reached at the level k, whereupon, as the tube becomes
unsealed by the removal of the water, an upward vent is thereby supplied through
which the steam confined under pressure in the working chamber will instantly
escape, and issuing into the water chamber B, will be condensed by contact with
the fresh water therein. The rapid exhaust of the steam through the exhaust-tube
will create a void in the working chamber which the water in the bottom of the
water chamber will rush back to fill, creating thereby an exhaust in the latter
which will create an inward flow of fresh water thereinto from the supply pipe.
It will be observed that a large proportion of the water forced out of the working
chamber will be drawn back into it again, whilst the fresh water drawn from tho
supply pipe will be forced out through the discharge pipe without entering the
working chamber. The volume of water thus forced in and out of the bottom
of the working chamber becomes heated and serves as a non-conducting, fluid-
piston between the steam and the fresh water flowing through the pump.
It will also be observed that slight condensation takes place in the working
chamber, but that the steam is drawn out therefrom with a powerful draft through
the exhaust-tube when the latter is unsealed, by reason of the condensation which
takes place at the outer end of the tube and of the pressure of the column of water
entering at the bottom of the working chamber due to the momentary difference in
level between said chamber and the water chamber from which the water flows.
When the entire volume of steam in the apparatus is thus condensed, and the
exhaust-tube and its trap refilled with water, the apparatus is restored to the
condition at which it started, and the operation of generating steam and thereby
displacing the water is renewed and continued as before, until the point of
condensation is again reached.
In the apparatus illustrated in Figure 4, modifications are introduced tending to
an economy in the generation of the steam. These consist, first, in removing the
steam generator C, constructed as above described, far enough below the bottom of
the working chamber to admit of the interposition of a non-conducting lining, or
of an air space J between them, the bottom of the working chamber being closed
by an independent plate L; second, in connecting the feed opening into the steam
generator with the interior of the working chamber A by means of a feed-tube D',
extending and opening into the upper portion of said chamber, so that the feed
water supplied through the tube to the generator shall be drawn from the upper,
heated strata in the working chamber. The length of the feed-tube 1' is so
adjusted with reference to the trapped exhaust-tube F, as that the supply of
water to the generator shall almost cease by reason of the fall of the water level
below the upper end of the tube, just before the condensation of steam in the
apparatus takes place by the operation of the exhaust as above described. To
prevent a possible cessation of the operation of the pump under conditions in
which the supply of water through the upper end of the tube M might prove
inadequate, one or more small perforations m, m, may be made in said feed-tube D',
near the botton of the chamber B, as shown in Figure 4.
In this Figure 4, the exhaust-tube is represented as bent to form its own seal,
instead of being left straight and encircled by a concentric trap as shown in
Figure 3. A cap or deflecting plate O is also preferably fitted over its upper end
to diffuse the steam escaping therefrom and by presenting it to the cold water in
smaller quantities around the edge of said plate or through minute perforations
therein, effect its condensation more rapidly and with less noise than when the tube
is left uncovered.
In the form of apparatus illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, the working chamber is

page_text: in the shape of an upright cylinder closed at the top, and which communicates
freely at the bottom through a large pipe or passage N with the bottom of a
separate water chamber B elevated above it. An exhaust-tube F bent to form
a trap G at a level k below the middle of the working chamber connects the
working chamber with the upper part of said water chamber B, its upper end
terminating beneath a conical deflecting plate O, and it may be controlled by any
Buitable form of valve, although this is by no means essential.
The water chamber B and the working chamber A are mounted together upon
a suitable base or pedestal R adapted to contain or enclose the steam generator.
The steam generator or boiler may be heated by a gas furnace as shown in tho
drawing, Figure 2, or by any other suitable calorific device, and may consist of a
coil of pipe S (see Figure 5) or preferably of a concavo-convex metallic shell C,
Figure 2, whose concentric walls are separated by a very narrow or shallow
interval, and which is supported within the base R of the apparatus with its
convex side downward. At the lowermost point in this cup-shaped generator, a
depression or pocket 6 is formed, and an open water supply-tube D is carried from
near the bottom of this pocket up into the exhaust-tube F of the working chamber
above its trap. This tube is controlled by a cock or valve o therein, whereby the
flow or feed from the pipe is adjusted at pleasure.
0
In the operation of the apparatus constructed and arranged in manner as last
described, when the steam, flowing from the generator, has forced the water out of
the working chamber A down to the sealing level of the trap in the exhaust-
tube F, and, unsealing the trap, escapes, with great force up the tube, the strong
current flowing over the mouth of the feed-pipe D", will, upon the principle of an
injector, create a strong draft in said pipe, which will operate to draw all the water
in the generator into the pocket 6 and thence up into the pipe D", so that the
generation of steam will be thereby automatically arrested for want of water
during the interval of exhaust in the working chamber. So soon however as the
reflowing water fills the trap and again seals the exhaust-pipe F, the hot water
in the feed-pipe D", will drop back into the generator and be quickly converted
into steam to renew the pressure in the working chamber.
In view of the changes in the flow of water from the supply pipe, and other
circumstances which may tend to produce irregularities of action, I deem it
expedient to combine a simple check-valve L with the upper end of the steam-
pipe E to prevent an admission of water to the generator through said pipe. The
weight of this valve may be adjusted to maintain a constant definite pressure of
steam in the generator and will prevent an out-flow of water with the steam.
The steam discharge pipe E is preferably led from the upper end of the generator
to the top of the working chamber through an enclosing tube or case f, Figures 2
and 5, which protects the steam pipe from radiation and from contact with the cold
water in said chamber. In Figure 5 the pipe is illustrated as having its upper
end fitted with a valve P to control the size of the outlet. By adjusting the
size of the outlet for the steam from the generator, the feed of water to the
generator may be so controlled as that it shall supply automatically the exact
quantity of water required to produce the amount of steam needed in the working
of the pump, for by closing the valve so as to limit the discharge of the steam, the
pressure accumulating within the generator while the steam is generated faster
than it can escape, will force back the feed-water in the feed-pipe against the
pressure exerted thereon from the working chamber or other source whence it is
supplied and thus stop the feed, and by reason of the consequent deficiency of
water in the generator, arrest the generation of steam until the pressure is so far
reduced as that it will no longer counterbalance the feed pressure, and a new supply
of water is allowed to enter. The pump itself is thus made to dictate the feed of
water to the generator.
Figure 5 illustrates the use of a coil of pipe S as a steam generator, supplied with
water by means of an independent pipe D¹¹ controlled by a valvo.c', and which is

page_text: The steam supply pipe E may be controlled by a double-seated valve shown at X
in Figure 7, in lieu of the valves P or L, and when it is employed, the feed-
pipe D need not be connected with the steam exhaust-pipe to exhaust the
generator of water, as the closing of the valve X against its upper seat at the
moment of vacuum, will, by confining the steam in the generator, cause it to force
out the water therefrom through the pipe D" and so einpty the generator.
In the modifications shown in Figure 6, the base R is extended up solidly, or as
a frame, to enclose the working chamber, and upon it rests a metal plate T which
supports the other parts of the apparatus. The walls of the concavo-convex steam
gonerator C, constructed in same manner as shown in Figure 1, are extended
upward in cylindrical form to encircle the working chamber, which is made with a
thick wall of non-conducting material whose outer surface constitutes the inner
surface of the steam generator. The outer wall of the generator is connected by a
steam-tight joint to tho plate T. The working chamber A is suspended from said
plate by means of set-screws e, c, which permit of an adjustment of the annular
opening left between the top of the chamber and the plate T above, and which
establishes communication with the upper end of the steam generator. The water
chamber B is supported centrally over and upon the plate T, and the connecting
pipe N therefrom is carried centrally through said plate, down, nearly to tho
bottom of the working chamber. The water supply-pipe D to the generator is led
from the trap of the exhaust-pipe down into the pocket b at the bottom of the
generator.
A concentric vessel W of thin metal, is inserted within the steam generator to
form a partition therein extending from near the top to the bottom thereof, for the
purpose of permitting a return through the inner compartment formed by the
partition, of any water which may be carried up with the ascending steam, leaving
the steam to pass up into the working chamber by way of the outer compartment
free from water.
Perforated plates or diaphragms U, U, may be inserted horizontally in the water
chamber B of either form of the pump to prevent circulation, so that the incoming
cold water shall not mix with the warmer water, which, not being discharged at
each stroke, remains pulsating up and down as an intermediate hot fluid-piston or
diaphragın interposed between the steam and the body of water, which ontering
from the supply-pipe H, flows out on the same level through the discharge pipe I.
I claim as my invention :-
1 The method, substantially as described, of exhausting the steam from the
working chamber of a steam-vacuum pump, which consists in applying to the
steam in the working chamber the pressure of a column of water contained in a
separate chamber at a higher level, by means of the open connection of said higher
water chamber with the lower portion of the working chamber, and in providing
for the steam subjected to said pressure an exhaust vent, so soon as it has forced
the water out from the working chamber to a given level, by means of a water
trapped tube connecting the upper part of said chamber with a separate condensing
chamber, and which is automatically unsealed by the depression of the water therein
to said level, substantially in the mannor set forth.
2nd The combination with the steam pressure or working chamber of a steam-
vacuum pump, and with a separate condensing chamber communicating freely with
the bottom of said working chamber, of a water-sealed or trapped, steam exhaust-
pipe, leading from the one to the other, substantially in the manner and for the
purpose herein set forth.
3rd The combination in an automatic, steam water-clevating apparatus, with its
steam pressure or working chamber, of a quick-acting steam generator commu-
nicating freely with the top of the working chamber and constructed with a
maximum hoating and vaporizing surface and a capacity so small as to admit of
being completely exhausted at each condensation of the steam in the working
chamber; a separate reservoir or water chamber communicating freely with and
extending above the bottom of the working chamber; and suitable supply and

page_text: discharge pipes controlled by check-valves opening into the water chamber,
substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein set forth.
4th The combination with the steam pressure or working chamber in a steam-
vacuum pump; a trapped steam exhaust-tube extending therefrom into a
condensing chamber; and a quick-acting steam generator of small capacity
communicating freely with the upper end of the working chamber; of a feed-pipo
extending from the lowermost portion of the generator into the steam exhaust-tubo,
and adapted to be itself exhausted by the escape of steam through said tube,
substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein set forth.
5th The combination with the steam pressure or working chamber in a steam-
vacuum pump; its steam generator, and a steam delivery pipe leading from the one
to the other; of an automatic valve in the upper end of said steam pipe adapted to
prevent an escape of steam from the generator at the moment of condensation
within the pump, substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Herbert John Allison, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this 28th day of April, in the year of Our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and eighty-four