IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR FEEDING WATER TO OR WITHIN BOILERS, SUCH APPARATUS ALSO FACILITATING THE COLLECTION AND THE DISCHARGE OF SEDIMENT THEREFROM.
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edmund Walker, of the Firm Emerson, Walker,
and Company, of Leadenhall Street, in the City of London, Ships'
Windlass Manufacturers, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR FEEDING WATER TO OR WITHIN BOILERS, SUCH APPARATUS ALSO
FACILITATING THE COLLECTION AND THE DISCHARGE OF SEDIMENT THEREFROM.'
"
-A communication from abroad by H. Paucksch, of Landsberg, in
the Kingdom of Prussia.
ealed the 21st September 1875, and dated the 25th March 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edmund Walker at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 25th March 1875.
I, EDMUND WALKER, of the Firm of Emerson, Walker, and Company,
of Leadenhall Street, in the City of London, Ships' Windlass Manu-
facturers, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR FEEDING WATER TO OR WITHIN BOILERS, SUCH
APPARATUS ALSO FACILITATING THE COLLECTION AND THE DISCHARGE OF SEDIMENT
THEREFROM, a communication from abroad by H. Paucksch, of Lands-
berg, in the Kingdom of Prussia," to be as follows:-
" 66
This Invention relates to improvements in annaratus for freding water.

page_text: to or within boilers, such apparatus also facilitating the collection and
the discharge of sediment therefrom, and consists of a cylinder or tube
fitted within and near the bottom of a boiler for nearly the whole of its
length. The upper portion of this cylinder or tube has a series of other
or vertical tubes fitted, whose top ends (open) arc level or nearly so with
the upper row of longitudinal tubes. A tube leading from the water
supply passes down one of the vertical tubes to furnish water to the first
named cylinder or tube, from whence it issues up through the vertical
tubes into the boiler proper in a heated state to commingle with the
general body of water. The cylinder tube has within it a pipe resting
upon supports on the cylinder bottom, said pipe having one open end,
and a series of slits or openings in its under side, the opposite end of the
pipe being in connection with a blow-off tap and "lead." One or more
of the vertical pipes stand up above the level of the water to facilitate the
passage of steam down into the cylinder when a blow-off is necessary,
the water supply being shut off at the time.
By this Invention the feed water enters a separate chamber within the
boiler before it enters the boiler proper, which it does in the form of jets
by ascension up the vertical pipes in a highly heated state; consequently
the solid and other impurities become retained in the chamber, from
which they can be forced under a pressure of steam from the tall pipe
when the blow-off tap is opened. By this means incrustation is prevented,
and economy of fuel and heat established.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edmund Walker in the Great Seal Patent Office 2
on the 24th September 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDMUND
WALKER, of the Firm of Emerson, Walker, and Company, of Leadenhall
Street, in the City of London, Ships' Windlass Manufacturers, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-

page_text: cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Edmund Walker, Her special
licence that I, the said Edmund Walker, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Edmund Walker, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, usc, exercise, and vend,
within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
FOR FEEDING WATER TO OR WITHIN BOILERS, SUCH APPARATUS ALSO FACILITATING
THE COLLECTION AND THE DISCHARGE OF SEDIMENT THEREFROM," (communicated
to me from abroad by H. Paucksch, of Landsberg, in the Kingdom of
Prussia,) upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Edmund
Walker, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed
in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edmund Walker, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to improvements in apparatus for feeding water
to or within steam boilers so as to prevent incrustation therein, such
apparatus also facilitating the collection and the discharge of sediment
therefrom, and consists of a cylinder or tube fitted within and near the
bottom of a boiler for nearly the whole of its length. The upper portion
of this cylinder or tube has a series of other or vertical tubes fitted,
whose top ends (open) are kept a short distance below the lowest water
O level of the steam boiler. A tube leading from a water supply passes
down one of the vertical tubes to furnish water to the first-named
cylinder or tube, from whence it issues up through the vertical tubes
into the boiler proper in a heated state to commingle with the general
body of water. The cylinder or tube has within it a pipe resting upon
supports on the cylinder bottom, said pipe having one shut up end, and
a series of slits or openings in its under side, the opposite end of the
pipe being in connection with a blow-off tap and " lead.”
One or more

page_text: of the vertical pipes stand up above the level of the water to prevent
unequal pressure acting on the apparatus when a blow-off takes place.
DESCRIPTION OF THE APPARATUS HEREIN-BEFORE REFERRED TO.
The apparatus is represented in the annexed Drawings, Figures 1, 2,
and 3, fitted in a boiler, and consists of a cylindrical pipe a made of very
thin sheet iron; this occupies preferably the whole length of the steam
boiler b. The front part of the pipe a has a cover & secured to an
clongation c of the boiler shell 6 by screws. Connected with this pipe a
within the boiler is a line of upright branch pipes d, d, d, of such
lengths that their outlets are kept a short distance below the lowest
water level of the steam boiler. The outlets of these branch pipes are
covered with perforated lids k, k, which can be easily taken off. The
sum of the areas of openings in all these lids together is equal or nearly
so to the arca of the feed pipe. One of the branch pipes fis not covered
with a lid, and projects above the water, as shown. Cast-iron sockets I, I,
are rivetted to the pipe a, and serve to support the upright branch
pipes d, d. These branch pipes receive wrought-iron collars m, m, to
keep them in a vertical position, and to prevent leakage.
It will be seen that the cylindrical pipe a, which is fastened to the
cover b¹, can be easily taken out of the boiler, and replaced through the
clongation c, the pipes d, d, being previously removed from inside the
boiler. One of these pipes is connected with the feed water pipe e. A
blow-out valve g fitted to the cover b' is in communication with a pipe h
of small diameter, which rests within the pipe a a short distance above
the bottom of it. In the under side of the pipe h are a number of small
slits s, s, s, for the purpose hereafter set forth.
The improved apparatus is surrounded with the water in the boiler, and
exposed to an equal pressure from the inside as well as from the outside,
the pressure varying with the tension in the boiler. This circumstance
allows the apparatus to be constructed of very thin sheet iron, because it
prevents all possibility of alteration of form.
By this apparatus the feed water which may have solid substances in
solution is kept separated from the water in the boiler, while parts of
the heat of the latter is transmitted to it; thus heated to a very high
temperature, the water gives off the solid substances, and while the latter

page_text: settle at the bottom of the pipe a the water flows up the pipes d, d, and
over into the boiler in a thoroughly cleansed condition.
The action of the apparatus will be clearly understood by the fol-
lowing-If for instance the boiler be put under a pressure of 5
atmospheres the temperature of steam would be about 160° Celsius.
Suppose now that the boiler requires feeding, the water will be fed by
one of the usual feed apparatus through the feed pipe e into the cylinder a,
in which it is distributed over the whole area, from hence it rises after
a short time, according to the quantity fed by the pump into the vertical
pipes d, d, d, and from these it flows over and mingles with the water in
the boiler.
The before-mentioned contraction of area at the top of these stand
pipes puts a certain resistance to the outflow of the water, thereby
ensuring its passing into and through all the pipes, and not only through
those nearest to the feed pipe. In this way and through the great
heating surface of the apparatus, in the present case nearly equal to 10
metres, the temperature of the feed water is raised almost to the tempe-
rature of the boiler water, that is, to about 150° Cels.
It is impossible for steam to form within the apparatus a, because the
water does not receive a direct import of heat, it being only heated by
the surrounding boiler water, which itself has not yet taken up heat
cnough to be transformed into steam under the supposed tension. No
ebullition of the water therefore within the apparatus can possibly be
created by the generation of steam.
Even though the feed pump is working, little or no agitation can take
place, because the area of the main pipe or cylinder a, as well as the
sum of the areas of the branch pipes d, d, is nearly 30 times larger than
the area of the feed pipe. At the same time, if we consider that the
volume of the apparatus is much larger than the volume of water which
will be fed at a time, it follows at once not only that the feed water is
sufficiently heated to a temperature of about 150° Cels., but also that all
the solid substances which are separated at this temperature from the
water must settle at the bottom of the apparatus, because inside of it
there is no ebullition or agitation.
If there are substances in the feed water which do not separate even
at such a high temperature, but require an admixture of chemicals for

page_text: this purpose these can easily be admitted into the apparatus through the
feed pipe, and then the mixture and separation would take place inside
the apparatus.
The deposits which accumulate at the bottom of the main pipe a are
removed from time to time through the pipe h by a flow of water rushing
through it when the valve g is opened, the substances in question passing
through small slits 8, 8, 8, into the pipe h to be blown out by the pressure
that prevails in the boiler and in the apparatus.
In the same proportions in which the contents are thrown or drawn
off by the blow-out valve g the apparatus is refilled from the boiler
water through all the branch pipes. The tall pipe within the boiler is
not contracted at the outlet to accelerate the current of water from the
back part of the apparatus and equalize the flow throughout the whole
of it. At the same time the stand pipe serves as a safety apparatus in
case the other pipes d, d, should be choked up by negligence.
It will be seen that all demands which can be put to an apparatus for
purifying the feed water are satisfied, and are made accessible, and this
in a very simple way and with the greatest perfection.
The advantages to be derived by the use of this Invention arc,-
1. The apparatus takes up no separate room outside the main boiler,
and has no connection with the same which could impair its stability
and durability.
2. The apparatus does not require any special attention nor any fuel.
Its working is quite independent of the stoker.
3. It is made of very thin sheet iron, which has never to endure an
outside pressure, and is put to the smallest amount of wear and tear
possible, because it receives the heat which is necessary for its working
not by direct fire but through the medium of the boiling water.
4. The apparatus effects the most complete separation of all solid
substances from the feed water before it comes into contact with the
boiler and the water therein; therefore the boiler receives water which
is almost absolutely pure.
5. Besides this the feed water is heated to a temperature almost equal
to that of the boiler water; therefore the boiler shell is not put to any
strain by difference of the temperatures of the water, an advantage con-
tributing considerably to the durability of the boiler.

page_text: 6. The feed water by the pipes is equally distributed over the whole
length of the boiler.
7. The work usually done by the stoker for this purifying process is
reduced to a minimum, he having simply to open now and then the
blow-out valve, which may be done several times a day for a few seconds
only; but if the stoker should neglect this duty no immediate harm
would accrue to the boiler. The separation of the solid substances and
impurities from the feed water is done while the boiler is at work.
8. The necessity of periodically scaling the boiler is reduced to a
minimum, and in some cases quite done away with.
9. The apparatus can be used for almost all constructions of steam
boilers where there is or can be made room enough to get it in, but it
will be found of special value in locomotive and other longitudinal
tubed boilers, as they are especially liable to suffer if fed with bad
water.
"
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim as the
Improvements in Apparatus for Feeding Water to or within Steam
Boilers so as to prevent Incrustations therein,”-
The employment of a separate and detachable vessel provided with
vertical pipes arranged and fitted within a boiler in the manner herein-
before described and shown in the accompanying Drawings.
Secondly. As the improvements in collecting and discharging sedi-
ment an apparatus fitted within a separate and detachable vessel or feed
water heating and purifying apparatus within a boiler, as set forth, by
which a discharging of the sediment can take place under a pressure of
steam, as described and shown in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edmund Walker, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of September, One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.
EDMUND WALKER. (L.S.)