GB193405A - Improvements in and relating to vapour or steam generators or boilers - Google Patents

Abstract

193,405. British Thomson - Houston Co., Ltd., (Assignees of Merrill, W. L., and Winne, H. A.). Feb. 15, 1922, [Convention date]. Generating by electricity.-A boiler of the kind in which steam is generated by the passage of an electric current between electrodes 19, Fig. 1, immersed in the water has an electrode chamber to which water is supplied continuously from a feed-chamber by a pump 28, and from which water overflows into the feed-chamber through small passages or pipes 25, the water level in the electrode chamber being maintained at such a height as to give the desired steam output or to utilize the desired amount of electrical energy. The water level may be maintained by regulating a valve 32 in the pump outlet pipe 30. The valve may be operated automatically by a motor 35 controlled by means responsible to the power supplied to the boiler. A blow-off valve 34 in the discharge pipe 33 may be similarly operated. The electrode chamber and the feed chamber are separated by a partition 18, which is perforated to receive the pipes 25 and pipes 24 projecting upwards to the highest water level permissible in the electrode chambers. The electrodes may consist of curved or angled plates, and partitions may be placed between the electrodes. The electrode chamber may consist of an open top vessel with perforated sides. Several electrode chambers may be arranged above a single feed chamber. The shaft of the motor 35 has a worm meshing with a wheel on the stem of the valve 32. The motor is supplied with current from a transformer 41, Fig. 2, in the line 22 connected to the boiler electrodes. The connection between the transformer and the motor is taken through switches 39, 40. When the switch 39 is closed, the motor is operated in a direction to close the valve, and when the switch 40 is closed the motor is operated in a direction to open the valve. The switches are operated by solenoids 45, 51, the currents through which are controlled by a switch 56 operated by a solenoid 57. The current flowing through the solenoid 57 is taken from a transformer 61 in the line 22, the switch 56 being therefore operated in accordance with the rise and fall of the power supplied to the boiler. The blow-off valve 34 is similarly operated by a motor 70 under the control of switches 73, 74 and a solenoid 112 energized by current from the transformer 61. Automatic and manually adjustable resistances 116, 115 control the strength of the current passing to the solenoid.