US88960A - Improvement in surface-condensers - Google Patents

Description

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@anni fr IMPROVEMENT IN SURFACE-CONDENSERS.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN HoUPT, of Springfield, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, have invented an 1m# provement in Sulttltce-Condensers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

My invention consists of a surface-condenser, constructed and arranged as fully described hereafter, in which, by the employment of a number of vertical tubes, closed at their upper ends, and of a certain-arrangement of chambers, I am enabled to overcome the objections arising from the contraction and expansion of the tubes in ordinary condensers, and to effect a more thorough and rapid condensation of steam.

In order toenable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will now proceed to describe its construction and operation, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, which forms a part of this specification, and in which- Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of my improved surface-condenscr, and

vFigure 2, a sectional plan view of the same, on the line 1 2, iig. l.'

The apparatus consists of a case A, made in the' present instance of cast-iron, the interior of which is separated into four compartments, B, B1, B2, and B3, by the horizontal, inclined, and vertical partitions, ad, and c, the upper compartment, or water-space B, containing a cluster of vertical tubes, F.

The lower ends of the latter are secured in the usual manner to the partition-plate c, and are open and communicate with the steam-space B-, but the upper ends ofthe said tubes are closed, and are fiee to contract or expand without loosening or causing the jointsat their lower ends to leak.

The cold water, which is caused to circulate among the tubes F, is first admitted to the apparatus through a pipe, h., into one end of the compartment B2, passingentirely through the latter and through a pipe, ri, before it enters the upper water-space B. u In the latter there is apartitiomj, which causes the cold water to rst iiow" towards the opposite end of the compartment, and to consequently circulate among the lower ends of all the tubes, and then to flow in a contrary direction above the partition `and around the upper ends of the tubes, until it finally' reaches the pipe k, through which it passes from the apparatus. (See arrows in iig. l.)

H is the pipe through which the exhaust steam is admitted to the compartment' B, and i are inclined tubes, forming a communication between the compartments B and B", and intended for carrying'oi the water formed by condensation of the steam.

A pipe, in., communicating with the bottom of the compartment B3, leads to the air-pump.

The operation of my improved condenser is as follows:

Cold water is forced through the compartments B2 and B as above described, and the necessary vacuum is maintained within the tubes F, and the steamspaces with which they communicate, by means of the air-pump, as usual.

The exhaust steam is admitted to the compartment B through the pipe H, and,y immediately fills the. vertical tubes F, which, as before described, are entirely urroBunded by the water passing through the cham- The steam is rapidly condensed by contact with' the cold surfaces of thesevertical tubes, and the water formed drops from the same on to the inclined partition Flowing to the rear end of the partition, by reason of its inclination, the water enters the inclined tubes i, and in passing through the same towards the compartment B3, is coolen by the water contained in the chamber B2.

It will be understood that the air-pump, with which the pipe m is connected, draws off this condensed steam, and acts in the usual manner in preserving a vacuum within the apparatus.

The advantages possessed by the above condenser over ordinary surface-condensers may be enumerated as follows:

First, in ordinary condensers, the tubes, which are generally placed in a horizontal position, are open at are not permitted to expand or contract, the joints consequently becoming loosened and leaky, and the` that the condensation and cooling of the water formed are more thorough and rapid, inasmuch as the steam, which risesA to the top of each tube, has to return through the same tube before it can again reach the chamber B.

The vertical tubes also possess an advantage over those placed in any other position, when the condenwater of condensation is less likely to be directed into improper channels by the motions of the vessel; and to still further aid the air-pump, by directing the Water towards it, the partition d and tubes l are somewhat inclined, as before described.

I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patentl. The arrangement, in a surface-condenser, of vertical tubes F, open at their lower ends but closed at the top, substantially as herein described.

2. The vertical tubes F, closed at the top, in combination with chambers B, B1, B2, and B3, arranged in respect to each other and to the tubes, and communicating as set forth. Y

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing' witnesses. V

JOHN HOUPT. Witnesses JOHN WHITE, Lotus BoswELL.

each end, and are so secured to rigid plates that theyv ser is used in connection with marine engines, as the

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