US829999A - Apparatus for distilling water. - Google Patents

Description

PATENTED- SEPT. 4, 1906.

0. PARKER. APPARATUS FOR DISTILLING WATER.

APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 9, 1903.

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PATENTED SEPT. 4, 1906.

0. PARKER. APPARATUS FOR DISTILLING WATER.

"APPLICATION FILED JUNE9,1903.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 4, 1906.

Application filed June 9,1903. Serial N0- 160,699-

To (tZZ whom it play concern.-

Be it known that I, ORIN PARKER, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city and county of Dubuque and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Distilling Tater; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which Will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention has relation to apparatus for distilling water, with special reference to small stills for family use; and its objects are to avoid loss of vapor from the boiler; to separate all particles of spray or water otherwise involved from the steam before reaching the condenser; to. avoid loss of distillate by the condensation of the steam while on route from the boiler to the condenser; to prevent heat reaching the condenser from the boiler, otherwise than in the vapor distilled; to secure automatically in the condenser the mixture of air and steam that will best provide for the condensation of the vapor sent into the condenser; to secure equal efliciency of operation with varying amounts of heat; to store and aerate the water distilled in the apparatus; to provide means for supplying distilled water at a small cost and without the employment of an expert, and With but little care and attention on the part of the operator, and a further object is to provide an apparatus in which it makes but little difference what the temperature of the condensing surface is so long as it is below boiling-point of water.

It consists in a boiler or retort open at the top, into which is set a diaphragm and a tank forming a steam-tight or water sealed boiler. This tank is divided into compartments, consisting of a separator, a conduit, a reservoir for holding the distillate, an air-tight con- (lensing-chamber, and a tank at the top supplied with water against the bottom of which the steam is condensed. The boiler and condenser are connected through the separator by a steam-conduit, and the condenser and reservoir by a discharge-pipe that dips into a water-tank and forms a water seal.

The following specification, when taken in connection with the drawings accompanying the same, will point out in detail the manner in which I accomplish the objects sought.

Figure 1 is a vertical section through the center of the device. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section on line 1 1 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a perspective of the diaphragm, showing the openings therein. Fig. 4 is an enlarged perspective View of one of the openings in the diaphragm.

Referring to the drawings, A represents the boiler, which preferably consists of a circular tank holding the Water to be distilled. l/Vithin this boiler A is set a tank B, smaller than the boiler, open at its bottom and resting on the inner surface of the bottom of the boiler, thereby making a water seal for the boiler and rendering it practically a steamtight boiler. This tank B extends above the boiler and is divided into various compartments hereinafter described.

lVithin the tank B and over the top of the water in the boiler A is set a diaphragm D (shown in Figs. 1 and 3) upon the standards or legs E, conveniently set in triangular position. This diaphragm is provided with openings f, which are set to open in different directions toward the circumference of the diaphragm and at no great distance from the center. The openings are preferably made by cutting a slot in the body of the diaphragm and pressing the metal F on one side of the slot up into a half-cone shape, leaving the only opening f. I have shown four of these openings arranged about the center of the diaphragm, but it is manifest more or fewer of these openings may be used.

Over the diaphragm D is a separator or separating-chamber G, into which the steam passes on its way to the condenser. In this separator or separating-chamber all the particles of water carried up by the steam through the'opening's f are separated from the steam before the steam' passes up through the conduit into the condenser.

Over the separator or separating-chamber is a compartment I, filled with non-heat-con ducting meterial J, designed to prevent the condensation of the steam on the bottom of the compartment and also to prevent the transmission of heat to the condenser, and this compartment also surrounds the conduit H, which leads from the steam-generating chamber to the condensing-chamber. Around the conduit H above the compartment I is a reservoir K, in which the distillate is received, stored, and aerated. Around this reservoir K near the top are port-holes 7r through the sides of the tank B, which provide means for the complete aeration of the distillate. Within the reservoir K there is attached on the under side of the covering L of the reservoir K a "water seal M, which consists of a tank O, with opening an at i s top and a pipe R extending through the covering L and. opening at its upper end into the condenser N and at its lower end into the tank 0.

Above the reservoir K is a condensingchamber N. This chamber is made airtight by the water seals in the tank 0 and in the boiler A. Above the condenser N is a water-condensing tank P. The roof of the chamber N is curved up at N at the center over the conduit H for the purpose of preventing any distillate that may be formed over the conduit from falling back into the conduit H.

The manner of operating my device is substantially as follows: The boiler A is filled with water and the tank B is set therein and tank P is also filled with water. Heat is then applied to the base of the boiler. The steam generated in the boiler will rise with the particles of water and will immediately come in contact with the under side of the diaphragm D, and a large portion of-the par ticles of water that may be carried by the steam will be separated from the steam and will fall back into the boiler. The steam will then rush up through the openings f in the diaphragm, and as these openings are formed at right angles to each other around the diaphragm the steam will acquire a rapid rotary movement within the separator and the remaining particles of water will be' separated from the steam and will pass back into the boiler over the rim of diaphragm D and the dried steam will escape through the conduit up into the condenser.

It will be observed that as the roof of the separator and the conduit are constructed of nonheat-conducting material little or no steam will be condensed till it reaches the condenser.

The steam in the condenser will be condensed against the bottom of the tank P and the distillate will pass down through the pipe R into the tank 0, and when the tank 0 is filled will pass out through the opening an of the tank into the reservoir K, where it will be cooled and aerated by the air supplied through the port-holes 7r.

Since the greater the admixture of air or other foreign gases or vapors with steam in a condenser the slower the condensation, other things being equal, and the less the admixture the more rapid the condensation, it fol lows that if there is too great a quantity of air present the condensation will be delayed and the supply of steam be more rapid than the condensation, the pressure in the condenser will be raised, resulting in the breaking of the seal outwardly, whereupon the air will be expelled with a portion of the steam until such a moment that the steam condenses as rapidly as furnished. Should the steam condense in the condensing-chamber more rapidly than furnished, the pressure would. fall in the condenser below that of the atmosphere in the reservoir and the seal between the reservoir and condenser be broken inwardly by the air which would then enter the condenser. The effect of this admission of air to the condenser would be to retard the condensation of the steam until such a time that the rate of condensation and supply would become equalized, whereupon the seal would be reestablished. It also follows as a further result that the efficiency of the device will be very nearly the same whatever the amount of heat applied to the boiler, so long as this be within the capacity of the machine. The conduit H is projected above the bottom of the condenser to provide storagespace for the water drawn up from the water seal. when broken inward. Hence the pipe R and tank M serve not only for a water seal to render the condensingchamber air-tight, but also serve to provide an air-clearance or equalizer to equalize the rate of condensation to the rate of supply in the condenser and secure the proper admixture of air for the most effective condensation, and it will be seen that there will be an. effective water seal as long as there is any distillate from the condenser. This method of supplying air to the condenser also avoids the possibility of drawing water up from the boiler into the condenser upon the sudden formation of a partial vacuum in the condenser, as in the case where the source of heat is suddenly removed. The regulation of the pressure in the condenser in proportion to the steamsupply and to the needs ofthc condensation also provides that the machine may continue working practically at an unchanged rate until the temperature of water in the con- (lensing-tank reaches near to the boilingpoint. This avoids the necessity for frequent or, in fact, for any change in the water in the tank -P. Hence little care and attention is required to operate this device to the best advantage.

It will be observed that the boiler and the condenser are water sealed and that there is no opening for the free escape of steam intended for condensation at any point from the place of formation to the point of condensation. and that therefore there can be no loss of distillate from the steam escaping without being subjected to pressure in the condenser, and, further, that the insulation between the conduit, the separator, and the boiler, on the one side, and the reservoir and the condenser on the other side, avoids loss of heat from and condensation of. the steam while en route from the boiler to the point of utilization in the condenser and prevents heat being conveyed from the boiler to the condenser otherwise than in the steam, thus l securing great economy in operation.

Having now described my invention, what I claim is- 1. A water-still comprising a boiler and a diaphragm arranged in the path of the steamcurrent, said diap agm being formed with a series of hooded openings directing the currenit1 of steam at right angles to its normal pat v 2. A water-still comprising a boiler and a diaphragm arranged in the path of the steamcurrent, said diaphragm being formed with a series of hooded openings directing the current of steam at right angles to its normal path, the mouth of said openings leading in the said direction circumferentially of the diaphragm, whereby to give the steam passing therethrough a rotary motion.

3. A water-still comprising a boiler, a conduit leading therefrom, a condensing-chamer arranged above the conduit, a reservoir arranged below the condensing-chamber and a normally water-sealed communication between said condensing-chamber and reservoir.

4. A water-still comprising a boiler, a conduit leading therefrom, a condensing-chamber arranged above the conduit, a reservoir arranged below the condensingchan1ber, a cylinder depending within the reservoir and in communication therewith and an inlettube depending within the cylinder and in gommunication with the condensing-cham- 5. A water-still comprising a boiler, a conduit leading therefrom, a condensing-chamber arran ed above the conduit, a reservoir arran ed below the condensing-chamber, a cylinder depending within the reservoir and in communication therewith and an inlet tube depending within the cylinder and in communication with the condensing-chamber, the outlet of said tube being arranged below the communication between the cylinder and reservoir.

6. A still comprising a boiler, a diaphragm arranged in the path of the steam travel and constructed to direct the steam at right angles to its normal path, a condensing-chamber, a reservoir arranged between the condensingchamber and diaphragm, and means of com munication between the spaces above the diaphragm and reservoir.

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

ORIN PARKER.

Witnesses:

- M. M. CADY, M. REINKER.

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