Apparatus for condensing steam
Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 30th Sept., 1886.
Complete Left, 27th June, 1887.
Complete Accepted, 12th Aug., 1887.
I GEORGE BEST, of No. 9, Benthal Road, Stoke Newington, in the county of
Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
"
This invention relates to further improvements and modifications in the "Apparatus
for condensing steam for which Letters Patent were granted to me dated
3rd March 1885 No. 2797 and the principal object of my present improvements is to
so arrange and modify the various parts of the apparatus as to obtain a more perfect
admixture of cold air and steam in order to produce a more complete and rapid
condensation of the latter.
According to my present improvements, the casing or drum containing the wheel
or revolving fan of wire gauze, or perforated metal sheets, or other similar material,
is to be mounted on a horizontal spindle or axle so that the said fan revolves
vertically. The steam to be condensed is admitted into the centre of the fan through
the aforesaid spindle, which is hollow or tubular and perforated so as to allow the
steam to escape at that part where the blades of the fan are placed; the further end
of the hollow spindle is closed so that the steam can only issue out through the said
perforations. The fan is rotated by the motion derived from a pulley keyed on to the
shaft of the apparatus, or by other well known means. The case or drum of the fan
is to be so constructed that the periphery is disconnected from the sides, and this
periphery must be fixed or stationary, but the sides or ends of the case are keyed on,
or otherwise firmly attached, to the spindle of the fan so that the sides and the spindle
revolve together.
The aforesaid sides or ends of the case have openings in them through which cold
air can enter freely and in order to increase the quantity of air so entering I attach to
the said sides, projecting flaps or vanes, which, when the sides and the attached
spindle are revolving, catch the air and direct it through the aforesaid openings,
into the body of the wire gauze fan where the air penetrates through the apertures of
the wire gauze or perforated metal sheets and thus becomes intimately mixed with
the steam which, issuing out of the perforations in the hollow axle, fills the
compartments or divisions of the fan or wheel. The air becomes heated and by the

page_text: centrifugal action of the fan is thrown against the inside of the periphery of the case
where it is collected by a hollow channel or recess in the periphery, which prevents
the escape of the heated air until it reaches the outlet, (which outlet I term the hot
air exit tube) situated near the top of the case or drum. I sometimes provide the
periphery with a flange or rim around its inner edges, so as to assist in confining
the air and steam within the drum. The water of condensation is carried off by an
outlet pipe at the bottom of the case.
The aforesaid periphery can be conveniently constructed in two semicircular
sections or parts which are secured together by flanges at their ends, so that it can
be readily opened and closed whenever it may be necessary to do so. The
semicircular section which goes at the bottom of the drum may have a foot plate to
support it in its proper position. The wire gauze blades of the fan instead of being
attached direct to the spindle, can be attached to the sides of the case or drum, so that
the blades and the sides are rigidly secured and held together.
It will be obvious that the blades of the fan can be either straight and flat, or they
may be curved and corrugated, in any way that is most advantageous in order to
commingle the air and steam.
Dated the 20th day of Santamba- 1000
G. F. REDFERN,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London,
Agent for the Applicant.

page_text: Improvements in Apparatus for Condensing Steam.
I, GEORGE BEST, of No. 9, Benthal Road, Stoke Newington, in the county of
Middlesex, Gentleman, 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 :-
"
This invention relates to further improvements in the "Apparatus for condensing
steam for which Letters Patent were granted to me dated 3rd March 1885,
No. 2797, and the principal object of my present improvements is to so arrange and
modify the various parts of the apparatus as to obtain a more perfect admixture
of cold air and steam in order to produce a more complete and rapid condensation of
the latter.
According to my present improvements the sides of the case or drum containing
the wheel or revolving fan with blades of wire gauze, perforated metal sheets, or
other similar material is to be mounted on a horizontal spindle or axle so that the
said fan revolves vertically. The steam to be condensed is admitted into the centre
of the fan and this may be conveniently done through the aforesaid spindle which
may be constructed hollow or tubular and perforated so as to allow the steam to
escape at that part where the blades of the fan are situated, the further end of the
spindle being closed so that the steam can only escape through the aforesaid
perforations. The fan is rotated by the motion derived froin a pulley keyed on to the
spindle of the apparatus or by other well known means. The case or drum of the
fan is to be constructed so that the periphery is disconnected from the sides and this
periphery must be fixed or stationary but the said sides of the case are keyed on or
otherwise firmly attached to the spindle in such a manner that the fan, the sides and
the spindle revolve together.
The aforesaid sides (or ends) of the case have openings in them through which
cold air can enter freely and in order to increase the quantity of air so entering I
attach to the said sides projecting flaps or vanes which, when the sides and the
attached spindle are revolving, catch the air and direct it through the aforesaid
openings into the interior of the wire gauze fan so that the air penetrates through the
meshes of the wire gauze blades and thus becomes intimately mixed with the steam
which, issuing out of the perforations of the hollow spindle, fills the compartments or
divisions of the fan or wheel. The air becomes heated and by the centrifugal action
of the fan is thrown against the inside of the periphery of the case where it is
collected by a hollow channel or recess in the periphery which prevents an escape
until it reaches the outlet (which outlet I term the hot air exit tube) situated near
the top of the case. Although not absolutely necessary it may sometimes be
advantageous to provide the periphery with a flange or rim around its inner edge, to
assist in confining the air and steam within the drum. The water of condensation
is carried off by an outlet pipe at the bottom of the drum. The aforesaid periphery

page_text: can be conveniently constructed in two semi-circular sections or parts which are
secured together by flanges at their ends so that it can be readily opened and closed
whenever it may be necessary to do so. The semi-circular section which goes at the
bottom of the drum may have a foot plate to support it in its proper position. The
wire gauze blades of the fan instead of being attached direct to the spindle can be
attached to the sides of the case or drum, so that the blades and the sides are rigidly
secured and held together.
In order to enable my invention to be fully understood I will proceed to describe
how it can be carried into practice by reference to the accompanying drawing in
which figure 1 is a perspective exterior view of an apparatus for condensing steam
mounted on its supports and constructed according to my present improvements;
figures 2 and 3 are vertical sections (the latter partly in elevation) of the apparatus
taken at right angles to one another. Similar letters in all the figures represent
similar parts.
a, is the horizontal spindle or axle on which I now mount the sides b, b, of the
casing or drum containing the wheel or revolving fan c, of wire gauze or perforated
metal sheets or other similar material so that the fan' revolves in a vertical position.
d, represents the perforated portion of the spindle a, which is hollow or tubular as
shewn clearly in figure 3 and closed at one end through which perforations the steam
to be condensed is admitted into the centre of the fan e, as shewn by the arrows in
the said figure, and rises in a vertical direction amongst the blades of the fan; a¹, is
the steam inlet; e, is the pulley for driving the fan, the said pulley being keyed on the
spindle a, which revolves in bearings f, f. g, is the periphery of the case or drum
which is disconnected from the sides b thereof the said periphery being fixed by
means of a foot g¹, to the base plate h, of the apparatus, the fan c, the sides b, b, and
the spindle a, revolving together within the said periphery g, in the direction shewn
by the arrows in figures 1 and 2. i, i, are the openings in the sides b, b, of the case
of the drum through which cold air can enter freely; j, j, are the projecting flaps or
ranes which I attach to the sides b, b, in order to increase the quantity of cold air so
entering when the sides and the attached spindle are revolving, the said flaps
or vanes then catching the air and directing it through the openings i, i, into the
interior of the fan c, so that the air is caused to penetrate and be diffused through the
meshes of the wire gauze blades. k, is the channel or recess in the periphery 9,
which the air is collected as it is thrown against the inside of the said periphery by
the centrifugal action of the fan after having become heated by admixture with the
steam. This admixture is effected by the steam which has filled the uppermost
divisions of the fan c, being carried around the interior of the case, and continuously
meeting during its revolution the opposing body of cold air which enters through the
openings i, i. The result of this admixture is a thorough condensation of the steam.
The steam does not escape out of the openings i, i, on account of the inward
pressure of the cold air when the apparatus is revolving; 1, is the outlet for the hot
air from the channel k. From this point the hot air may be conducted either to the
furnace of the boiler in order to economise fuel, or to places where it may be
required for warming and ventilating or other useful purposes; m, is the outlet
pipe for the water of condensation at the bottom of the drum. As shewn in
figures 1 and 2 the periphery of the drum or case can advantageously be made in two
parts, n, n, representing the flanges by which the said parts can be secured together
by bolts and nuts or their equivalents so as to allow of the drum or case being
readily opened or closed when required.
in
In figures 2 and 3 I have illustrated the manner in which I find it advantageous
to construct the wire gauze fan c, and to fix it to the sides b, b, of the case;
H, H, H, H, are four rods, preferably of copper, which pass through holes punched
near each of the corners of the blades of wire gauze. Between each of the blades
place on the rods a copper washer or distance piece I, in order to keep the blades at a
suitable and equal distance from each other. When the requisite number of blades
of which the fan c, is to be composed are all strung on the aforesaid rods H, H, with
the intervening distance pieces I, I, the ends of the rods H, are brought together and

page_text: secured so as to form four hoops and the fan or wheel will then be rigid and ready to
fix in the drum or case.
The fan is then secured to the sides b, b, of the case by means of bolts, screws, or
pins J, passing from the distance pieces on the copper rods H, through the solid
parts of the sides of the case and secured by nuts outside as shewn in figure 3. The
spindle a, is then put in its place and keyed to the sides, and the fan, the sides and
the spindle will then be all rigidly secured together. In this way I can
advantageously arrange the blades of the fan so as not to touch the spindle but to
leave an annular space between the inner ends of the blades and the spindle a, as
shewn thus allowing the steam to issue freely out of the latter.
It will be obvious that the blades of the fan may be either straight and flat as
shewn in the drawing or they may be curved and corrugated in any way that most
advantageous in order to commingle the air and steam.
It will also be obvious that instead of employing a hollow spindle as hereinbefore
described and illustrated the steam can be introduced into the centre of the fan by
any other suitable means.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I claim is :-
1. An apparatus for condensing steam consisting of a wheel or fan of wire gauze,
perforated metal or other similar material combined with a case or drum having
openings in its sides and furnished with projecting flaps or vanes, the sides of which
case or drum revolve simultaneously and in conjunction with the said fan whereby
currents of cold air are drawn into the apparatus and subdivided by the action of the
fan during the revolutions, steam at the same time being conveyed into the centre of
the fan substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying
drawing.
2. In an apparatus for condensing steam constructed as herein described, fixing
the fan by means of metal hoops passing through holes in the blades, with washers
or distance pieces to keep the blades rigid and separate, the whole being fixed to the
sides of the case or drum by means of bolts, pins or the like, substantially as and for
the purpose herein before described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing.
3. The improved apparatus for condensing steam hereinbefore described and
illustrated in the accompanying drawing.
Dated the 27th T
1007