Improvement in Surface Condensers for Vapors.
Year: 1885

page_text: Improvement in Surface Condensers for Vapors.
We, WILLIAM LAWRENCE and GEORGE LAWRENCE, respectively consulting
engineer and manager of Lawrence & Co, Limited, Brewers' Engineers, of
22, St. Mary Axe, in the county of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature
of said invention for IMPROVEMENT IN SURFACE CONDENSERS FOR VAPORS,"
to be as follows:-
Our invention relates to surface condensers and has for its object to condense
steam or vapors in the smallest possible space.
For this purpose we place a number of corrugated copper or other metal plates
parallel or otherwise to each other in such a manner that any fluid passing between
the plates is obliged to take a zig-zag course or otherwise, and we put the alternate
interstices or chambers formed between the plates in alternate communication with
the steam or vapor and with the cooling liquid. The plates may be circular or
other shape and the corrugations straight or curved, but the corrugations may form
concentric circles, and the plates may be conical or dished. The steam and the
water may be made to enter between the plates at opposite ends or on the same
side, and if the corrugations are circular, the steam or vapor is preferably admitted
in the centre and the water at the circumference, or vicé-versa.
The edges of the corrugated plates may be joined together direct, but preferably
they are mounted between rings or collars of brass or other suitable material, or
kept apart by distance-pieces. The condenser is thus composed of a stack of
frames or elements, each of which has two or more corrugated plates with the
necessary rings or distance pieces.
The frames are held together by a number of bolts distributed equally over the
circumference or edges, or by other suitable means, and the whole may be enclosed
by a casing provided with a lid and with inlet and outlet for water and steam, the
said casing forming around the set of discs a chamber in which may circulate the
water or liquid after having passed between the corrugated discs. The condenser
may, however, be simply placed in a tank.
Instead of using a separate casing, the sides of the casing may be formed by the
frames, which only require the addition of the end pieces (with the flanges, inlets
and outlets) to complete the apparatus. The end pieces may be of larger diameter
than the ring frames, in order to give room for the bolts which pass outside the
ring-frames. The size of the condenser may be altered by simply increasing or
diminishing the number of elements or ring frames.

page_text: Improvement in surface condensers 101 vapors.
We, WILLIAM LAWRENCE, and GEORGE LAWRENCE, respectively Consulting
Engineer and Manager of Lawrence and Co Limited, Brewers Engineers, of
22 St Mary Axe, in the County of Middlesex, 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:-
Our invention relates to surface condensers and has for its object the rapid
condensation of steam and other vapours in a small space.
For this purpose we place or build up a number of corrugated metal plates so as
to form a condenser of any given size and power the necessary condensing surface
being obtained partly by the size of each corrugated plate and partly by the total
number of plates formed into one apparatus, each plate being acted upon by steam
or vapour on one side and by cooling media (either water or any suitable liquid or
vapour) on the other side of the metal surface, the steam or the cooling media being
introduced through convenient apertures, as described hereafter. The separate
plates may be attached together either by having metal rims at the edges of the
condensing surface, as shown in the accompanying drawings in Figs 1 and 2, or
the plates may be connected in pairs, as shown at Fig 3 and 4, where the rims are
shown as soldered or brazed (either with soft or hard solder). In this last case the
pairs of plates are placed in a case as in Fig. 4 instead of having metal outer rims
which form part of the casing as in Fig. 2. The corrugations of the plates may be
straight, as in Fig. 1, or they may be curved for instance circular or annular as in
Fig. 3, and the general shape or outline of each plate may be flat as in Figs 2 and 4
or dished as in Fig. 13, or conical as in Fig. 14. The frame or the circumference of
the metal plates is preferably circular as in Fig. 10 or oval as in Fig. 11 but they
may also be rectangular as in Fig. 12 or of other suitable shape.
In Fig 1 and 2 a are the corrugated plates each of which is cast brazed or
soldered on to a ring b or c, so that two adjoining plates and rings form an element
of the condenser. Any number of these elements are placed upon each other and
covered at the sides by lids & and e of cast iron or other material the whole being
secured together by means of bolts d' passing from one lid to the other (preferably
without perforating the elements). At the top and at the bottom the rings are
enlarged, and perforated, so as to form passages f and g for the inlet and outlet of
steam, and passages h and i for the inlet and outlet of cooling liquid. 616¹ are
short ports in the alternate rings for the admission of steam from the passage f to
the steam chambers; 62 62 are outlet ports in the same rings leading to the exhaust
passage g. Each ring b, b, has on the opposite side of the corrugated plate also a
water inlet c¹ and an outlet c' which establish communication between the water
passage h or i and the cooling chambers. This construction is more clearly shown
by Fig 7, 8 and 9 which represent an element of the condenser in elevation,
vertical section and cross section respectively and Fig. 9° cross section through M N
Fig. 7 showing a mode of joining the edges of the frames to secure a more efficient
steam tight joint.

page_text: The alternate spaces between the corrugated plates are thus supplied with water
and with steam. The rings bb provided with ports as described, are separated
from each other by intermediate rings c, c, which are thinner than the rings b b
and have passages fand g like the latter, but no ports b¹ b² c² c².
Fig 3 and 4 are two sections of a condenser composed of corrugated discs a¹
which form concentric circular grooves, instead of straight parallel grooves as in
Fig 1 and 2.
The plates a¹, a¹ are soldered or brazed together in pairs at their outer edges,
instead of being secured to rings. The plates of each pair may, however, be
attached to the opposite faces of a loose ring which thus forms the circumference of
the steam chamber, and is separated from the next ring by the open water space.
The inlet of steam takes place in the centre f¹, and the outlet at the circum-
ference g. Each pair of plates is secured in the centre to a boss which has an
axial bore in line with the steam inlet b¹ and communicating with the steam
chamber by two short ports ba, bª see Fig. 3. The steam outlet is formed by flat
discs, the bore g¹ of which communicates with the steam chamber by short
ports b, b (see Fig. 3).
The corrugated elements are enclosed in a casing d', el, with water inlet h¹ and
outlet i, arranged so that the water is forced to pass between the elements formed
by the corrugated plates.
Figs 5 and 6 represent a condenser similar to that shown by Fige 1 and 2, but
enclosed in a casing D E.
F is the inlet for vapour and G the cutlet for the condensed liquid. I is the
inlet and H the outlet for the cooling liquid. The latter, besides flowing around
the whole stack of corrugated plates or condensing elements, also enters each
corrugated cooling chamber through a port I¹ and leaves it through a port H¹
formed in the circumference of the alternate rings B B-F and G are the steam
passages which communicate with the steam chamber through short ports formed
in the circumference of the rings B, B, but the steam ports and the water ports
are on opposite sides of the corrugated plate of each ring, as in Figs 7 and 9.
CC are the intermediate rings which have no ports.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is :-
1. A surface condenser composed of corrugated metal-plates forming closed
chambers and provided with inlets and outlets for steam and water, arranged so,
that one side of each plate is in contact with the stean to be condensed while
cooling liquid circulates on the opposite side of the plate.
2. A surface condenser composed of corrugated plates attached to and surrounded
by loose rings or frames placed one over the other and held together by bolts, the
said rings constituting the circumference of the alternate steam and water chambers
formed between the plates and being provided with steam and water passages
and ports for obtaining a circulation of steam and water in the said chambers,
substantially as described and illustrated by Figs 1 and 2, 5 and 6, 7, 8 and 9.
TEL: 001 IST 1000