US1698787A

US1698787A - Feed-water heater

Info

Publication number: US1698787A
Application number: US9202A
Authority: US
Inventors: Lee O Garraway
Original assignee: JAMES R MEYERS
Current assignee: JAMES R MEYERS
Priority date: 1925-02-14
Filing date: 1925-02-14
Publication date: 1929-01-15
Anticipated expiration: 1946-01-15

Description

L. O. GARRAWAY FEED WATER HEATER Jan. 15, 1929.

Filed Feb. 14, 1925 3 She8t-S*$heet m W m w M m a 3 r a G. 0 & M

Jan. 15, 1929. 1,698,787

L. O. GARRAWAY FEED WATER HEATER Filed. Feb. 14, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jan. 15, 1929. 1,698,787 L. O. GARRAWAY FEED WATER HEATER Filed Fb. 14, 1925 a Sheets-Sheet 3 9 m o I if I L- O. Ga'rraM ay Patented Jan. 15, 1929.

v UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEE 0. GARRAWAY, O F MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-FOURTH TO JAMES R. MEYERS, 0F MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE.

FEED-WATER HEATER.

Application filed February This invention relates to feed water heaters and has special reference to means for preheating the water fed to locomotive boilers. One object of the invention is to provide a simple and compact apparatus whereby the heating of the water will be initiated at the cab and will continue through practically the entire passage of the feed water from the point where it is received below the cab to the intake port of the locomotive boiler. The invention seeks to utilize the heat of the smoke box of the locomotive'and also to utilize the exhaust steam in such a manner that, when the water is delivered into the boiler space of the locomotive, it will be highly heated and consequently the formation .of steam will be expedited thereby effecting an economy in the use of fuel. The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings and will be hereinafter first fully described and then more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a view, partly in elevation and partly broken away, of one side of a conventional locomotive having my invention applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is an elevation of the opposite side of the locomotive;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged transverse section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a plan View of the heater which is mounted in. the smoke box of the locomotive;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail section on the line 66 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged detail section on the line 7-7 of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 8 is a section on the line 88 of Fig. 7.

The locomotive is indicated as an entiretyv by the reference numeral 1 and may be ofany -well-known or preferred type. In carrying out my invention, I mount an oil separator 2 upon the cylinder saddle, indicated at 3, and this oil separator is connected to the exhaust ports of the cylinder saddle so that the exhaust steam and the oil carried therewith will be caused to circulate through the separator, the oil being retained in the separator and the steam passing upwardly therefrom through a pipe 4 into a chamber 5 which is provided within the tank 14,

14, 1925. Serial No. 9,202.

provided upon the locomotive preferably adjacent the smoke stack, indicated at 6. The oil separator may be of any preferred form and is illustrated as comprising perforated plates 7 covered with textile fabric 8 having oil-absorbing qualities, these separator plates or filters being removably supported within the shell oft-he oil separator. As stated, the exhaust steam will rise through the pipe 4, which may be disposed at either side of the locomotive, and is delivered thereby into the chamber 5. Preferably, a combined globe and check valve, indicated conventionally at 9, is fitted in the pipe 4 at its junction with the chamber 5 whereby the flow of the exhaust steam may be shut off or regulated so that the steam admitted to the chamber will be suflicient to flow back to the condensation tank and properly perform its preheating work. The chamber 5 is provided at its bot-- tom with an outlet 10 leading into a conduit 11 which extends longitudinally of the locomotive under the lagging, indicated at 12, to a point in front of the cab where it is carried downwardly, as indicated at 13, and then carried rearwardly under the cab to discharge into a heating and condensation tank 14. The inlet 15 to this tank, which constitutes the terminal of the conduit 11 is disposed at one side of the tank and enters top of the same, as shown most clearly in Fig. 7. A perforated horizontal partition 16 is as shown clearly in Figs. 7 and 8, and the walls of the conduit are so arranged that one wall terminates at said partition while the opposite wall continues as a wall of the tank, ample space for the accumulation of the steamand the condensation of the same being thereby provided within the tank below the partition. The main supply tank 17 is carried by the locomotive tender in the usual manner and is connected through a hose 18 with the rear wall of the tank 14 so as to discharge into the tank through a port 19 located at the partition 16. Connected with the front of the tank 14 is a pump 20, the discharge port of which is connected directly with a pipe 21 which is carried to and into the conduit 11, as shown at 22, and then extends along and within said conduit to the smoke box of the locomotive, a check valve 23 being provided in the pipe so that the through the water may flow toward the smoke box but cannot fiow rearwardly therefrom. The pump 20 is, of course, driven by live steam which is admitted thereto through a pipe 2% connected with the steam space of the 1003- heated by the shell of thelocomotive boiler,

it being noted that the conduit 11 and duct 21 have a bottom common to both elements. The front end of the pipe or passage 21 is coupled directly into the receiving arm 27 of the heat-- er 28 which is secured within the smoke box of the locomotive. As shown most clearly in Fig. 4., this heater consists of a shell having parallel portions 29 connected by arcuate ends or elbows 30 whereby a tortuous path forthe water is provided within the smoke box, and, in order that the water may be exposed to the heat of the gases and smoke in the smoke box through the entire period of its circulation through the heater shell, open-ended nipples or tubes 81 are provided in staggered relation throughout the area or extent of the heater, and these nipples, as shown clearly in Fig. 5, may be formed integral with the top and bottom walls of the heater shell. The outlet arm 32 of the heater 28 is coupled to the pipe 33 which extends to and communicates directly with the usual water intake port of the locomotive boiler, as indicated conventionally in Fig. 1.

The heating and condensation tank 14 is preferably provided with a wash-out and drain plug 35 in its bottom for an obvious purpose, and a safety valve 36, of any approved form, is provided on the chamber 5 to relieve possible excessive pressure therein.

The exhaust steam from the pump 20 passes into a pipe or conduit 37 which leads over the locomotive boiler just in front of the cab and connects with the xhaust pipes of the air pumps 38, 39 on the left side of the locomotive.

The exhaust from the two air pumps and the pump 20 is carried into an oil separator l0, and a pipe 4-1 is shown leading from said oil separator over the boiler into the conduit 11, although it may be carried into the reservoir 5 or into the tank 1 1.

By referring to Figs. 7 and 8, it will be noted that the port 19 is defined by an upstanding branch of an elbow or valve casing 42 located within the condensation tank 1st and in communication with the pipe or hose 18, a valve seat 43 being formed in said casing around the inlet of the same. A disk valve 44 is provided to engage said seat and the stem 45 of the valve is rotatably fitted in the casing and formed with a coarse thread or spiral rib 46 engaging a spiral groove 47 in the casing whereby as the stem rotates or rocks endwise movement will be imparted thereto and the valve consequently shifted to and from the seat. The inner end of the stem carries a crank or lever 48 upon which is secured a float 19. 'The level of water in the tank will thus be kept substantially constant, the float dropping and unseating the valve as the water is used and moving upward to seat the valve and cut off the flow as the level of thewater again rises.

In practice, if the locomotive is not running but has been fired so that steam is generating and the locomotive is held ready for service, the pressure of the steam in the boiler will hold back the feed water in the pipe 33 so that the water will be heating in the heater 28 under the influence of the smoke and products of combustion which are flowing through the smoke box. When the. throttle valve is opened so as to admit steam to the cylinders, the exhaust steam will rise through the pipe 4. and accumulate in the chamber 5 and the heating system tillthe pressure opens the safety valve 36 to permit escape of the excess, or the pump 20 is started to effect circulation of the feed water and replenish the supply in the boiler. lVhen exhaust steam is rising from the cylinders, the check valve 9 will open and the exhaust from the cylinders will flow into the heating system. When the throttle is closed, the valve 9 instantly seats so that the steam will be held in the system. It is frequently the case that, when an engine is being held ready for service, steam is exhausting froin the several pumps and, heretofore, this exhaust has been permitted to waste but with the present ap paratus this exhaust steam is trapped and held in the heating system. When the valve 25 is opened and the pump 20 thereby caused to operate, feed water will then flow from the tank 17 into the tank 14., being delivered in said tank through the port 19 above the partition 16. The water will, of course, percolate through the perforations of the said partition and will enter the lower compartment of the tank 14 in the form of a spray, mingling with the exhaust steam and condensate delivered through the inlet '15 and absorbing heat therefrom. The steam, of course, will condense and this water of condensation as well as the heated feed water will be forced by the pump 20 through the pipe or passage 21 to the heater 28, and inasmuch as nearly the en tire extent of the said pipe or passage 21 is housed within the conduit 11, the water flowing therethrough will be raised in temperature through the action of the exhaust steam in the conduit and the heat rising from the locomotive shell. From the passage 21, the waterwill flow back and forth along the interior of the heater 28 and will be thereby caused to fiowi, around the several nipples 31 through: which, the smoke 1 and: other heated:

gases iii-the smoke-box arecirculating;v The water w-ill, of,oour.se.,- beveryhighly heated as a result of receivingsteam-in the tank 14, its flow through-the-heat-ing conduit 11, andits circulation in.the smokeboxcandwill be delivered through the pipex33 and the boiler intake port at such a temperature that steam is formed very rapidly without intense firing.

It is to be noted that exhaust steam from the water pump and both air pumps, as well as from the engine cylinders, is delivered into the heating system which includes the chamber 5, relatively wide shallow conduit 11, tank lt and heater 28. WVhen the engine is not running, the exhaust from the pumps is sufficient to maintain the pressure in the system and heat the feed water, the check valve 9 preventing flow of exhaust steam to the idle engines. When the throttle is opened and the engine is working, the demand upon the boiler is increased and the pumps will not supply sufficient exhaust steam to maintain the pressure and preheat the feed water to the desired degree but the exhaust from the engines will then flow to the chamber 5 and back up in the heating system to supply the deficiency, so that, under all conditions, the exhaust steam in the heating system and the condensation that occurs therein will preheat the feed water and effect a very appreciable saving of fuel.

The chamber 5, resting directly on the 10- comotive smoke box and being immediately adjacent the stack, is exposed to the heat radiating from the smoke box and the stack, and the wide shallow conduit is exposed to the heat from the boiler shell so that, notwithstanding exposure of the pipe 4 and the chamber 5 to the air, condensation of steam trapped in the chamber is minimized. Any condensate that does form will be hot water and will drain at once into the conduit to flow to the initial heater or tank 14 in heat exchange relation to the pipe 21, but, owing to the high temperature of the boiler shell to which the conduit is exposed, the condensate entering the tank 14 will be highly heated and will effect an initial heating of the feed water in the tank.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be seen that I have provided a very compact, simple and efiicient means whereby water fed to a locomotive boiler will be heated before it enters the boiler so that the consumption of fuel needed to eventually convert the water into steam will be minimized.

Having thus described the invention, I claim:

1. In a feed water-heating system for locomotives, a relatively wide shallow conduit having a portion extending longitudinally of and in direct contact with the locomotive boiler; shell. under thelagging thereof, means for deliveringexhaust steamafromthe loco.-

motive cylinders into the front end of said' conduit, a shallow water-conveying ducthoused within and extending longitudinally through said conduit, the bottomof the con: duit forming the bottom of the duct and bearing upon the locomotive shell, a tank supported below the locomotive cab andhaving the rear end of the conduit secured therein, means for delivering feed water into the tank, means for delivering feed water from the tank into said duct, and means for conveying the feed water from the duct into the locomotive boiler.

2. A feed water-heating system for locomotives comprising a chamber for exhaust steam resting on the locomotive boiler shell adjacent the smoke stack, a pipe leading from the exhaust ports of the engine cylinders into said chamber, a heating and condensing tank supported under the locomotive cab, a conduit extendin from said chamber longitudinally of the boiler in contact with the boiler shell and having a portion beneath the acket and lagging thereof and leading exhaust steam and condensate from said chamber into the heating and condensing tank, and a water discharge duct carrying water from the heating and condensing tank through said conduit to be delivered into the locomotive boiler, said duct being in contact with the boiler shell.

3. A feed water-heating system for locomotives including a chamber receiving exhaust steam from the locomotive engine, a heating and condensation tank at the rear of the locomotive boiler, a relatively wide shallow conduit extending longitudinally of the boiler from said chamber to the tank and in direct contact with the boiler shell, and a water pipe extending from the tank through the conduit to the boiler, the bottom of the tank and the bottom of the conduit being in common.

4. In a locomotive structure, the combination of a chamber provided with a safety valve, means for conducting exhaust steam from the locomotive cylinders to said chamber, a check valve in said conduct-ing means, a heater, a water supply pipe leading thereto, a float valve controlling the inflow of water through said pipe to the heater to maintain a predetermined level therein, a conduit'arranged to conduct steam from said chamber to the space above said water level, a pipe having a portion disposed in said conduit, said pipe being arranged to conduct water from said heater to the boiler in heat exchange relation through said portion with the exhaust steam in said conduit, and means for conducting exhaust steam from a second source to said conduit at a point intermediate said chamber and said heater.

5. In a locomotive structure, the combination of a chamber resting on the smoke box of the locomotive, means for conducting exhaust steam from the locomotive cylinders to said chamber, a check valve in said conducting means, a heater, a water supply pipe leading to the heater, means to maintain a predetermined level in the heater, a conduit arranged to conduct steam from said chamher to the space above said Water level, and

a pipe having a portion disposed in said con- 10 duit, said pipe being arranged to conduct Water from said heater to the boiler in heat exchange relation through said portion with the exhaust steam in said conduit.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

LEE 0. GARRAWAY. [L. s.]