US1159775A - Condenser. - Google Patents

Description

C. V. KEER.

CONDENSER.

APPLICATION man ocT. 23, 1913.

Patented Nov. 9, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

C. V. KERR.

CONDENSER.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 23, i913.

Patented Nov. 9,1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

CHARLES voLNEY KEER, or WELLSVILLE, NEW YORK.4

CONDENSER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 9, 1915.

Application led October 23, 1913. Serial No. 796,747.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES V. KERR, a citizen of the United States, residing at VVellsVille, in the county of Allegany and State of New York, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Condensers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to condensers of the surface type and is particularly adapted to be used in connection with steam turbine plants.

The objects of my invention are, rst, to construct and arrange the parts of the condenser so that the steam is evenly distributed throughout the vertical steam tubes with the least resistance to its ow thereby decreasing the back pressure and materially increasing the vacuum produced in the condensing chamber; second, to arrange the tubes carrying the exhaust steam with respect to the inlet and outlet of the water of the condenser so that short tubes may be employed and each tube acts independent of any other tube; third, to arrange the condensing tubes in such a manner with respect to the inlet and outlet of the exhaust steam and their` relation with the inlet and outlet of the water, so that the steam with a minimum resistance sweeps both the condensed steam and entrained air ahead of it in each tube, into the hot-well situated below the tubes;

fourth, to construct and arrange the parts of the condenser, so that the tubes may be of minimum length without destroying the efciency and capacity of the condenser; fifth, to construct and arrange the elements of the condenser so that the adoption of short vertical ltubes, enables the use of thin tube sheets into which the ends of each tube are readily expanded thus avoiding the cost and labor, and repair of two stuffing boxes for each tube used; sixth, to construct and Aarrange the tube sheets with respect to the casing of the condenser so that the tube sheets with the ends of the tubes secured thereto are capable of breathing with the expansion of the attached tubes; seventh, to construct and arrange the parts of the lcondenser so that any air which may have a tendency to collect in the upper section of the water chamber of the condenser will be quickly removed vby the discharge of the water; eighth, to arrange the tubes with relation to the tube sheets, water inlet and outi taken apart,

appear from ,inner let, and hot-well, so that any leakageat the joints of the tubes and sheets may be readily detected by the flow of water into or discharge from the hot-well; ninth, to so construct and arrange the parts as to make a condenser which is compact, of low first cost, of a high and constant `eiiciency, and in which all the parts are easily assembled or quickly inspected or repaired, and kept clean of incrustation; tenth, other objects and advantages of construction will the detailed description to be hereinafter given in connection with the preferred form,.shown in the drawings.

My invention consists of structural Vfeatures and relative arrangements of the elements comprising the invention, which will be hereinafter more fully described and partlcularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings in which similar reference characters indicate the same parts in the several figures: Figure l is a longitudinal central section of the condenser on line I-I of Fig. 2; Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view on line lI-II of Fig. 1 with the lower baiie plate removed; Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary and sectional view Aof one of the condenser tubes, tube sheets and baile plates; and Fig. 4: is an enlarged top plan view of the upper tube sheet with the tubes attached.

Referring to the drawings 1 isv the con# denser casing having open ends and provided with a lower cooling water inlet 2 and an upper water outlet or discharge 3. Said casing may be provided with the usual hand holes 4 and 5, for the purpose of inspecting the condition, terior of the condenser. Attached to the anges of the top and bottom openings of the casing 1 are thin tube sheets 6 and 7,

repairing or cleaning the inthrough which are passed and secured a series o short brass tubes 8, 8, tinned on their and outer sides and arranged in a staggered relation, as shown in Fig. 2.

The tubes 8, 8, are preferably secured to the sheets 6 and 7, by expanding the ends of the tubes adjacent the sheets, thereby avoiding the expense of providing stuing boxes or other packing means at each end. The upper ends ofthe tubes a8, 8, are also vbeaded to reduce the resistance and make this entrance of the steam easier into said tu es.

9, 9, are bafiie plates preferably of the same material as the tubes 8, 8, and tube sheets 6 and 7, and drilled with holes larger than the tubes, for the purpose of not only permitting any sediment to easily pass down and olf of the plates through the clearance between the tubeS and plates to the bottom of the casing 1, but at the same time allow the tubes to expand longitudinally. Said plates 9, 9, may -be held and supported in the position shown in the casing 1 and between the sheets 6 and 7, by' any suitable means, and thereby cause the water to make three passes across the tubes 8, 8, before passing out through the discharge 3, and as the tubes are vertical and the water has an eddying flow across them, said tubes are 4constantly cleaned of all matter having a tendency to adhere to them. It will also be readily seen that owing to the large section of the conn denser shell or casing 1, the velocity of the water across and through the condenser is low, about two feet per second, and the water isconstantly being mixed up by the staggered relation of the tubes, whereby a uniform rise of temperature is secured with the most effective maximum cooling effect produced from the water used.

Attached to the upper end and over the opening of the ycasing 1 is a cap 10 having an exhaust inlet or opening 11. Secured to the bottom of and supporting the casing 1 and arranged below the outlet of the tubes 8, 8, is a hot-well 12, which is provided with an upper annular air receiving chamber 13 below the lower ends of the tubes 8, 8, said chamber 13, having an opening 14 connected with any suitable form of vacuum pump or preferably with a barometric pump, as shown for example in my co-pending application filed Oct. 29, 1913, Serial Number 797 ,960. At the bottom of the hot-well is an opening 15 for the discharge of the conn densed steam which is connected to any suitable type of centrifugal or piston pump for feeding steam boilers.

16, 16 are supports for the condenser which engage 'the underside of a ange formed on the hot-well casing 12 by the annular chamber 13.

To provide for the expansion and con traction of the tubes 8, 8, which have their ends expanded into the holes of and rigidly connected with the tube sheets 6 and 7, and to permit each of the said tube sheets to breathe or slightly rise and fall., due to said expansion and contraction. of the tube, I have slightly out away at 17, as shown, lthe inner edges of the meeting flanges of the top and bottom of the casing 1, bottom of the cap 10 and top of the hot-well 12, whereby is formed the V- hape annular clearance space which permits the outer section of said sheets to have a slight movement up or down from the horizontal and thereby relieve said tube sheets 6 and 7 and tube con nections, would have a tendency to start the joints between the sheets and tubes to leak, and permit the cooling water to enter into the tubes 8, 8, and destroy the efiiciency of the condenser.

The operation ofthe invention is as follows: vWater from the circulating pump being admitted into the lower water inlet 2, it passes at first in contact with and around the lower section of the tubes 8, 8, and owing to the staggered 4relation of the tubes is thoroughly mixed and agitated to insure a uniform cooling effect.v The water', due to the arrangement of the baffle plates 9, 9, takes a sinuous course upwardly and makes in the present form, as shown, three passes across the tubes 8, 8, before said water passes out through the upper discharge opening 3. Any air which may collect at the upper section of the water chamber or casing 1, and below the plate 6, is entrained by the heated discharging water, and carried out of the outlet 3 to the pump, not shown. The steam entering at the top through inlet 11 passes into the top of the tubes 8, 8, and is condensed into a thin lm of moisture therein by the cooling water surrounding the outside of said tubes, and as said steam is condensed on the inside of the tubes 8, 8, the incoming steam sweeps both the condensed steam or film of water, and the air, ahead of it to the lower ends of each of the tubes from which said water and air are discharged into the hot-well 12 below the tubes, said a-ir collecting in the chamber 13, and the water passing out through the opening 15 to a feed pump, not shown. The air collecting at the top ofthe hot-well 12 .in the chamber 13 is continuously drawn out through the openingl 14 by an air `pump,not shown.

From the -oregoing arrangement it will be seen that each condensing tube acts independent of any other, and the condensed steam with the air liberated therefrom are brought in contact with and stored in proximity to the coolest water in the condenser, which assures and makes it practicable to maintain a vacuum approaching that due to the cooling water temperature. Discharg ing the water at the top brings the warmest water in contact with the section of the tubes iirst receiving the incoming steam and this water is in the best position for entraining the air which may' collect on the upper sections of the tubes 8, 8, and water space or casing 1 and under the upper tube sheet 6.

As will be seen from the foregoing description of the operation of the apparatus, all the objects recited in the statement of invention are fully and eiiiciently carried out and a compact condenser is produced which is capable not only of condensing the maximum amount of steam with a minimum of any distorting strains, which,I

use of water, but at the sametime approaching nearer the vacuum due to temperature of cooling water used.

What I claim is 1. A surface condenser comprising a casing having an inlet for steam in the top thereof, vertical steam tubes arranged within the casing, a lower inlet and an upper outlet for the cooling water in the casing, baffle plates within the casing for ,directing the flow of cooling water back and forth across or substantially at right angles to the steam tubes, a hot well at the bottom of the casing communicating with the tubes and having an outlet for condensed steam at the bottom, and an air chamber at the upper end adjacent to the lower end of the tubes, and

an air pump connection in the hot well adjacent to and below the steam tubes.

2. A surface condenser comprising a cas-V ing having upper and'lower open ends and provided with a lower water inlet and an upper water'.- outlet, tube sheets closing the upper and lower open ends, separated baiiie plates between the tube sheets extending partly across the casing alternately from opposite sides, vertical steam tubes pass- 111g through the tube sheets and baille plates i tubes, said hot well also having a condensed steam outlet at its lower end and being secured to the lower end of the communicating with the steam tubes.

In testimony whereof I aiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES VOLNEY KERR. Witnesses:

VoLNEY A. KERK, ELIZABETH A. KERR.

sheets, a cap casing and

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