Improved Process and Apparatus for Cooling Liquids by Means of Air.
Year: 1890

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Process and Apparatus for Cooling Liquids by Means
of Air.
I, JOHANN KLEIN of Frankenthal in the Palatinate, in the Empire of Germany,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement :-
In the numerous industries and manufactures in which cooling water is employed,
it is frequently found necessary to utilize again water that has been used for cooling
before for instance in cases where water is scarce or where a fresh supply for
each operation would involve an expense which under the circumstances, might
appear excessive.
What is required in such and similar cases is some means of reducing the temperature
of the water previously utilized as a cooling agent so as to render it capable of
performing the same function once more. The most simple and economical method
of attaining this result is to bring water into as intimate a contact as possible with
the air, whereby the water is partly evaporated and freed from the heat causing such
evaporation and thus becomes considerably cooled. Both the evaporation and the
cooling however depend on the closeness of contact between or the thoroughness of
mixture of, the water and air. In order therefore to obtain water adapted to act as
a good cooling agent, the air and water should be so completely mixed together
that the power of the air to evaporate water should by absorption be reduced to a
minimum.
The improved apparatus devised for attaining this result being hereinafter
described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings mainly consists of a round
or polygonal upright shaft or chamber in which water admitted from the top is
brought into intimate contact with a current of air moving up in the opposite
direction.
In the accompanying drawings
Figs. 1 and 2 are two vertical sections of the apparatus.
Fig. 3 is a plan of the same.
Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are detail views on an enlarged scale.
Fig. 7 is a cross section and Figure 8 a sectional elevation of a modification of
the same apparatus the only difference being that a number of apparatns of this form
may be connected in a battery, either in succession or in juxtaposition.
In Figs. 1, 2 & 3 a is a polygonal or round upright chamber or shaft of sheet
iron wood masonry or the like in which a number of bands or plates cc and c cl
preferably made of wood, and connected in two (or more) series are arranged in
such a manner that the plates c of one series cross the plates c of the other series
at a suitable angle. For the suspension of these bands or plates two horizontal
supports are provided as shown in Figs. 5 and 6. These supports rest upon
projections or flanges formed within the shaft or chamber and are held the desired
distance apart by notched carriers d d attached to the sides of the plates c above
the supports b. The upper ends of the plates are provided with plates e in such a
manner that a groove is formed over each row of plates for the equal distribution of
the liquid it is desired to cool passing from the main feed pipe f into the branch
pipes ff. In order to ensure a uniform overflow in all parts of such groove, the
said plates e are toothed at their upper edges. At the lower ends of the plates are
provided paddles h h, whereby the liquid admitted at the top as it flows downwardly.
is caused to pass on to the next series of plates c¹ c' below. These paddles are
widened towards their lower ends in such a manner that they meet within the
grooves el formed by the row of plates cl cl as shown in Fig. 6. Owing to this
arrangement the plates always remain the desired distance apart.
TD 11T

page_text: The plates c¹¹ of the second series similarly to those c c are suspended from the
longitudinal supports 6' 6¹ and are also maintained the desired distance apart by
carriers d d resting upon brackets or projections provided for the purpose within the
shaft a and having notches formed in them like the carriers d d of the first series.
This second series of wood plates is not situated in the same vertical plane as those of
the first series but transversely to them with the result that the liquid flowing from
the plates cc when it passes on to the plates c'c' alters its course in such a manner
that upon reaching the lower end of the plates c c it collects in the grooves i i
and hence is conducted on by the curved back wall k through pipe k¹ into the
collector l.
To ensure the passage of the liquid from the first series of plates c to the second
series in a regular manner the plates c¹ of the second series may also be provided
at their upper ends with two toothed sheets or plates oo as shown in Fig. 4
while the plates c of the first series may be tapered or pointed at their lower ends.
In this case the plates oo form grooves and enable the liquid entering the space
between them to flow on in a state of even distribution.
The current of air or blast necessary for cooling the liquid is produced by a fan g
provided on one side of the chamber or shaft a and conveyed into the interior of
the shaft by suitable pipe connection.
The liquid it is desired to cool is conveyed by means of a suitable pump or
equivalent into the main pipe f and hence into the branch pipes f1f1 from which it
passes on to the plates cc and c¹ c' arranged crosswise as above set forth. Upon
reaching these the water is distributed into thin and even layers and in this con-
dition flows down the rows of plates whereby owing to its power of adhesion to the
wood plates and the horizontal grooves nn Figs. 5 and 6 provided on or in those
plates it is brought into as intimate a contact as possible with the blast moving in
the opposite direction and in so doing it parts with a portion of its inherent heat
which the air absorbs and thus reaches the collector or reservoir in a considerably
cooled condition. The small amount of water evaporated during such cooling
escapes in the condition of vapour from the upper end of the apparatus along with
the air.
It will be understood that the water in this arrangement can never be divided
into drops inasmuch as the water admitted at the top is evenly distributed into small
streams before it reaches the series of plates or bands and is discharged below by
means of the collecting grooves or channels i.
Instead of the stationary inlet pipe and its overflow or safety pipe f* Figs. 1
and 2, an oscillatory or rotary arrangement may be employed for conveying water
into the channels e.
In Figs. 7 & 8 an apparatus is represented constructed upon the same principle
as that herein before stated but so modified as to be suitable for a plant carried out
on a large scale. In this case combined series of wood bands or plates
enclosed in their respective shafts or chambers are arranged in juxtaposition and in
succession.
c, c¹ cl
Fig. 7 is a cross section of this modified form of apparatus or plant and Fig. 8 is
a sectional side view of the same. f is the main inlet pipe arranged in the centre
of the plant and distributing water evenly to. the various shafts or chanbers. 9 are
the fans arranged on either side of the plant and to which motion is imparted by
means of a driving belt and pulley or equivalent. The remaining arrangements are
exactly the same as those described above and shown on sheet 1. It may be
mentioned however that the wood bands or plates may be replaced if desired by
corrugated or fluted metal sheets or by frames covered with cloth and the like
without departing from the principle of this invention. To make the mixture of the
air and water more thorough, pegs or plugs m m may be driven into the plates or
bands so as to break joint with each other as shown in Fig. 4 on an enlarged scale
so that the air as it rises encounters them and is thereby caused to mix with the
descending water.
From the foregoing it will be seen that a plant of this description enables a deter-

page_text: mined amount of water to be reduced to a low temperature in such a manner that no
more need be replaced by fresh supplies than is evaporated in the process of the
absorption of heat; this being sufficient at all times to maintain the water on the
same level so long as the quantity of water is the same.
When instead of air gases or vapours are admitted into the bottom part of the
apparatus such gases or vapours will be absorbed by the descending water and
accordingly precipitated.
This is another possible application of the apparatus.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
:-
1. A process for cooling liquid by means of air in which the air is conducted
through a number of vertical or nearly vertical superposed series of cells or spaces of
oblong section the central vertical planes of which are parallel while the cells of one
series are situated at a suitable angle in relation to the cells of the series immediately
following above or below so that as the air passes from one bundle of cells to the
other the prisms of air formed in the one series are, by the following one, divided
into smaller prisms while as they reach the next series of cells they again combine
into larger prisms and so on with the result that each time different minutely
divided portions of the air come in contact with the liquid descending along the
walls of the said cells substantially as described.
2. For the purpose of carrying out the process as set forth in the preceding claim
a cooling apparatus in the interior of which are arranged two or more air dividing
bodies such as c c consisting of a number of parallel partitions which are formed of
rows of plates or frames lined with cloth or otherwise and constituting a number of
cells; such bodies being so arranged in relation to each other that the axial planes
of their respective cells are situated at a determined angle to each other, the plates c
forming the said apparatus being tapered or pointed at their lower ends and provided
with paddles h which are situated in a plane coinciding with the central plane of
the partition placed immediately below; whereby the liquid is enabled to pass without
crossing the current of air or blast from one dividing body c to the next c¹ and so
on and ultimately to collect in a suitable collector or receiver substantially as
described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
3. In apparatus constructed substantially as described in claim 2 the arrangement
of pegs or plugs m inserted between the plates so as to break joint with one another
for the purpose of ensuring a thorough mixture of the ascending air currents
saturated with damp evaporations.
4. The combination of the plates c with the overflow channels e and deflected
paddles substantially as described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
5. The combination of the plates c with the overflow channels e or o and with the
collecting channels or grooves i substantially as described and illustrated in the
accompanying drawings.
6. The combination and arrangement of parts constituting the complete cooling
apparatus substantially as described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Dated this Eighteenth day of July 1890.
BARTH
W. F. THOMPSON & DOULT,
Agents for the Applicant.