An Improved Refrigerating Apparatus.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 20th Oct., 1890-Accepted, 21st Feb., 1891
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Refrigerating Apparatus.
I, REUBEN ALFRED MESSERVEY, of 28, Duke Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia,
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of my invention the title of which is
AN IMPROVED REFRIGERATING APPARATUS, 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 refrigerating systems in which the cooling agent is a
volatile liquid which is caused by its expansion into gaseous form to exert a
refrigerific effect on a liquid circulated through a storage chamber or chambers.
The invention has for its objects to provide certain improvements in refrigerating
systems of this class looking to the purification of the air in the preserving chamber,
and the extraction of all injurious moisture therefrom, it being my aim to make
the air as free from moisture as is consistent with the perfect preservation of animal
and vegetable matter. To these ends the invention consists in the improved con-
struction which I will now proceed to describe and claim.
Of the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this Specification,
Figure 1 represents a sectional view of a building provided with my improved
refrigerating or cooling apparatus or system.
Figure 2 represents a sectional view of a vessel provided with the same.
Figure 3 represents a sectional view of one of the tanks in which the circulating
liquid is cooled by the action of the volatile refrigerant.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in all the figures.
In the drawings-
a represents a pump of any suitable form by which a strong solution of chloride
of sodium, or brine, is forced through a system of pipes or conduits b.
The pipes or conduits through which the brine is forced by the aforesaid
pump a are preferably iron tubes, but they may be made of any other suitable
material. The said pipes are provided with casings c, which are preferably made
of thin sheet metal. The said tubes bare packed in their casings with rock-salt,
or other suitable conductor of heat.
The object of the casing e and the packings therein is to prevent the formation
of frost on the surface of the conduits. If the pipes b were uncovered the
moisture condensed on their outer surfaces by reason of their low temperature,
would be frozen and would require to be scraped off. The packing of rock-salt
and the outer casing c prevent the freezing of the condensed moisture on the outer
surface of said casing, and at the same time from a conducting medium which will
allow of the absorption of heat by the refrigerating or cooling liquid which is
being forced through the conduits.
Another, and perhaps more important and useful feature of the casings, is the
fact that they present a much greater surface of low temperature to the surrounding
air upon which the moisture from the air will be condensed,' thus drying the air
and rendering it free from many impurities which may be held therein, and which
will be dissolved by the condensed water on the said surface of the casings and held
thereby in solution. The said condensed moisture may be collected and run off by
means of drip troughs formed under the conduits or casings.
It will be seen that by the employment of rock-salt as a packing, and of the
casings c, owing to the greater outside surface of the casing, the air is more
thoroughly and easily cooled by a refrigerating liquid passing through the tubes b
than could be done by the same liquid passing through said tubes b at the same
temperature without the packing and casing.
After completing its circuit throughout the building or vessel in which the

page_text: system of pipes is laid, the refrigerating liquid or solution is led by said system of
pipes into the expansion chambers of an ammonia cooling apparatus of any suitable
form, where it is cooled or refrigerated, and whence it is again forced through the
system of pipes b by the pump a, and thus an endless circulation is kept up
In the drawings I have shown several different arrangements of the pipes or
conduits. On floor f I have shown the conduits as at the top, above a false ceiling
or partition f. To said false ceiling I attach at one end the upwardly projecting
partition g, and at the other end I attach a downwardly projecting partition h. The
partitions and are for the purpose of ensuring a thorough circulation throughout
the apartment. The circulation of the air is shown by the arrows, entering the
apartment by one hole i in the false ceiling and leaving it by the other hole i¹.
On the next floor I have shown the apartment to be cooled and the com-
partment between the two ceilings divided by a central partition m which comes
down to within a few inches of the floor of the apartment. In this case the false
ceiling is provided with two upwardly projecting partitions g¹ gl, and with two
downwardly projecting partitions. The circulation of the air through the
holes ii is shown by the arrows.
On the next floor n I show the conduits and their casings c arranged in one
compartment to form a vertical partition in the centre of the room.
In this case
I provide the two partitions gq one on each side of the vertical arrangement of
conduits, which are calculated to produce a circulation of the air in the directions
indicated by the arrows.
In another compartment on the floor n I have shown the conduits and their
casings c arranged in banks against the end walls of the apartment, and provided
with the partitions ss, the arrangement of which is such as to produce the currents
of air indicated by the arrows. The conduits and their casings are shown as
arranged along the inner sides of the partitions ss.
Said
In each of the compartments under the casings c I have shown drip pans p
arranged to receive the water of condensation that falls from the casing c.
pans may have suitable waste or outlet pipes p'.
In the hold of the vessel shown in Figure 2, I show the conduits c arranged in
banks along the sides of the hold, in the same manner as in the last described floor
or the building, partitions q' being arranged near the said banks.
The ammonia refrigerating apparatus may, as already stated, be of any suitable
kind. The tanks through which the condensed and expanded ammonia circulates
are shown in Figure 1 as divided into groups or sections, each group or section
being contained in a separate apartment r, having an outlet for any gas that may
escape from the apparatus, hence in the event of leakage from the ammonia pipes
of one tank or group of tanks, that group can be shut off from the rest while repairs
are being made, the escaping gas being conducted away without obtaining access to
the compartments containing the other tanks.
In the construction shown in Figure 2 the gas outlet pipes r l are extended
outwardly over the deck and downwardly over the sides of the vessel.
x, is the ammonia pipe shewn in Fig. 3.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is-
1st. A chemical refrigerating apparatus comprising suitable means for the con-
densation and expansion of a chemical refrigerant, pipes or conduits containing
brine or other suitable liquid or solution arranged to subject said liquid to the
action of the expanded chemical and to conduct the same through a suitable air-
space, sheet metal casings surrounding the pipes in said air space and packings
of rock-salt or other conducting material around the pipes in said casings, as
set forth.
2nd. The combination of conducting pipes arranged to conduct a refrigerating
liquid through an air-space or compartment, sheet metal casings surrounding said

page_text: pipes, fillings of conducting material in said casings, a compartment containing said
pipes and casings, and provided with means for guiding warm air into the upper
portion of said compartment and with cold air outlets, as set forth.
3rd. A chemical refrigerating apparatus comprising a series of tanks containing
pipes for the reception of compressed and expanded ammonia, said tanks being
divided into groups or sections, combined with compartments containing said
groups, each compartment having a gas outlet r', as set forth.
4th. The combination of circulating pipes arranged to conduct refrigerated
liquid, sheet metal casings enclosing said pipes, a storage chamber or compartment
communicating with the air-space containing said casings, and walls or partitions
arranged to partially separate said casings from the storage chamber, said partitions
forming flues or passages which conduct air received from the upper portion of the
storage chamber downwardly along the cooled surfaces of the casings and prevent
its escape into the said chamber, as set forth.
Dated this 20th day of October 1800
S. S. BROMHEAD,
97, Newgate Street, London, E.C., Patent Agent.