An Improvement or Improvements in Refrigerating and Ice-making Machines.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application (in United Kingdom), 22nd May, 1896
Complete Specification Left, 22nd May, 1896-Accepted, 24th Oct., 1896
An Improvement or Improvements in Refrigerating and Ice-making
Machines.
We ALEXANDER MCVICAR of the Western Spit in the Provincial District of
Hawke's Bay in the Colony of New Zealand Mechanical Engineer and WILLIAM
KINROSS WHITE of Napier in the said Provincial District Merchant 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 refrigerating and ice-making machines such as those
known as Hall's CO, or the Linde-British or the "Hercules" or the De la Vergne
ammonia machines. In these machines cold is produced by the cooling of a
compressed volatile liquid or gas and the subsequent expansion of the said liquid
or gas the compressed gas being forced from the compressor into the condenser
from which it passes either into refrigerating or cooling pipes immersed in brine or
(by the direct expansion system) into the freezing-chamber or ice-tanks or the
cooling-room.
Now the object of our invention is to further cool the condensed gas used in these
machines either by means of the expanded gas which has done its duty in the
refrigerator or in the freezing-chambers or in the cooling-room or in the ice-tanks
or by means of the cooled brine.
When we use expanded gas for this purpose we interpose between the condenser
and the refrigerator or the freezing-chamber or the cooling-room or the ice-tanks
a pipe or a vessel of cylindrical or other suitable form through which the expanded
gas from the refrigerator or the freezing-chamber or the cooling-room or the ice-
tanks is caused to pass on its way to the compressor. Through this pipe or vessel
the pipe conveying the condensed gas passes on its way from the condenser to the
refrigerator or the freezing-chamber or the cooling-room or to the ice-tanks (where
they are used) the inner pipe being fitted into the outer pipe or vessel with gas-
tight junctions. The said inner pipe is thus surrounded by the expanded gas
which is thus caused to further cool the condensed gas as the latter is on its way
to the refrigerator or to the freezing-chamber or to the cooling-room or to the ice-
tanks as the case may be.
After the expanded gas has been thus utilised in the further cooling of the
condensed gas in the inner pipe aforesaid the said expanded gas re-enters the
compressor for re-compression and the cycle is thus completed.
When we use the cooled brine for cooling the condensed gas we lead a pipe from
the refrigerator containing the said brine into an outer pipe or vessel which
surrounds the pipe leading from the pipe or pipes of the condenser to the pipe or
pipes of the refrigerator all junctions being made watertight. In this case the

page_text: condensed gas in the inner pipe is further cooled by the brine in the outer pipe or
vessel which brine after having been thus utilised is pumped back into the
refrigerator.
It will be obvious that various arrangements of pipes may be used for utilising
the expanded gas or the cooled brine in the further cooling of the condensed gas as
aforesaid. Thus in its simplest form the apparatus interposed between the
condenser and the refrigerator may consist of an outer pipe for containing the
expanded gas or the cooled brine and a straight pipe passing through the said outer
pipe the relative diameters of the said pipes being such as to leave an annular
space of sufficient capacity between them. Or (which we prefer) the inner pipe
may be in the form of a coil so as to afford a greater extent of cooling surface.
Or the aforesaid vessel may consist of a cylinder closed at each end by plates bored
with holes into which are fitted a number of pipes passing from end to end of the
said cylinder like the tubes of a tubular boiler or a surface condenser collecting-
caps being bolted upon the said ends which caps are furnished with inlet and outlet
pipes through which the condensed gas is admitted to and passes from the internal
pipes the said cylinder being furnished with inlet and outlet pipes connected
respectively to the refrigerator or (where the direct expansion system is used) to
the freezing chamber or the cooling room or the ice-tanks and to the compressor.
In every case of course gas-tight or water-tight junctions between the various pipes
and the parts into which they fit must be made by means of glands or otherwise.
Having thus described the nature of our invention we will proceed to describe
the manner in which the same is to be performed reference being had to the
accompanying drawings and to the letters and figures marked thereon.
Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of the condenser and refrigerator of a
refrigerating machine and of our cooling apparatus interposed between them the
compressor being represented in side elevation.
Figure 2 represents our said cooling apparatus separately in longitudinal vertical
.section.
Figure 3 represents in longitudinal vertical section one of the modifications of
.our cooling apparatus herein-before described.
The same letters and figures of reference indicate the same parts in all the
figures.
It
a¹ is the condenser (which may be of any kind or shape) and a² is the pipe
through which the condensed gas passes. ¹is the refrigerator and 62 63 are the
pipes through which the expanded gas passes. c is the compressor and is the
pipe through which the expanded gas is drawn into the said compressor from
the vessel d' which is interposed between the condenser and the refrigerator as
represented. 3 is the pipe through which the compressed gas is forced from the
compressor into the pipe a². d¹ is the cooling vessel herein-before referred to.
consists of a cylinder the ends of which are closed by covers d' d' having glands d³ d³
and flanges d d which are bolted to the flanges d d through which glands the
ends of the coiled pipe e pass the said ends having flanges which are bolted
to flanges on the pipes a respectively. d is the inlet pipe through which the
expanded gas passes from the pipe 63 and d is the outlet pipe which is bolted to
the pipe c².
The action of our cooling apparatus is as follows: The compressed gas passes
from the compressor c through the pipes and a wherein it is condensed and
thence into the coiled pipe e¹ (wherein the said gas is further cooled by the
expanded gas in the vessel d') and through the pipe b in the refrigerator the brine
in which is cooled by the said expanded gas which then passes through the said
pipe into the vessel d' in which the said gas further cools the condensed gas passing
through the coiled pipe el. From this vessel the expanded gas is drawn through
the pipes and c into the compressor and thus the cycle is completed as indicated
by the arrows.
When brine is used for effecting the further cooling of the condensed gas as
aforesaid we arrange the cooling vessel d relatively to the condenser and the

page_text: refrigerator as represented in longitudinal vertical section in Figure 3. In this
modification we connect the vessel'd' to the refrigerator by an inlet-pipe 6 through.
which the cooled brine enters the said vessel and we cast on or affix to the said
vessel an outlet pipe d' which is bolted to a pipe de connected to the brine-pump fr
by which the said brine is pumped back into the refrigerator either directly through
the pipe for indirectly. In this arrangement the pipe 63 is led directly to the
compressor c¹.
Figure 4 represents in longitudinal vertical section another of the modifications.
of our cooling apparatus herein-before described which apparatus is interposed
between the condenser and the refrigerator in substitution for the vessel d' Figure 1...
The said apparatus consists of a vessel g¹ of cylindrical or other suitable form
closed at each end by gland-plates g g with holes drilled therein through which
pass the pipes . These pipes have flanges or collars screwed brazed or
otherwise fixed upon them which enter cylindrical recesses in the gland-plate g³ into
which are screwed glands go having flanges 9 g. Cylindrical recesses are also
formed in the gland-plate g into which are screwed glands og so as to compress
packing at 9. are the collecting-caps or covers. 9 are screw-bolts which
pass through holes in the flanges ig and go and hold them together. is the
inlet-pipe through which the condensed gas passes from the pipe a² (see Figure 1).
and is the outlet-pipe through which the said gas passes into the pipes
b
and 2 are flanges screwed upon the ends of the pipes ji aud k' respectively which
flanges are affixed to the caps by studs jk. 11 are washers of soft metal or
other suitable material. m is the inlet-pipe through which the expanded gas passes
from the pipes 63 63 and n is the outlet-pipe through which the said gas passes to.
the pipe cand so to the compressor c¹.
When cooled brine is to be used in the vessel g the arrangement of the pipes
relatively to said vessel and to the other parts of the refrigerating machine must be
modified as berein-before described with reference to the apparatus represented in
Figure 3.
We wish it to be understood that we do not limit ourselves to the precise details
herein-before described as any arrangement of pipes and vessels may be interposed
between the condenser and the refrigerator which will effect the further cooling.
of the condensed gas by means of the expanded gas or of the cooled brine. And
we make no claim to the use of the arrangements or cooling apparatus described.
for the cooling of air in refrigerating machines in which compressed cooled and
expanded air is used as the refrigerant our invention being applicable only to those
refrigerating machines in which volatile gases such as carbonic acid gas (CO,) or
anhydrous ammonia or sulphurous acid or ether are used.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what
we claim is :-
The improvement or improvements in refrigerating and ice-making machines.
herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings that is to say
the interposition between the condenser and the refrigerator of a suitable pipe or
vessel through which passes or pass the pipe or pipes conveying the condensed gas
from the condenser to the refrigerator the space between this pipe or these pipes.
and the outer pipe or vessel being filled either with expanded gas or with cooled
brine so as thereby to effect the further cooling of the condensed gas in the inner
pipe or pipes essentially as herein-before described and illustrated in the
accompanying drawings.
Dated this Twentieth day of January 1896.
ALEXANDER MCVICAR.
WILLIAM KINROSS WHITE.