US1963740A

US1963740A - Superheater header

Info

Publication number: US1963740A
Application number: US454770A
Authority: US
Inventors: English William Ernest
Original assignee: Superheater Co Ltd
Current assignee: Superheater Co Ltd; Superheater Co
Priority date: 1929-05-25
Filing date: 1930-05-22
Publication date: 1934-06-19
Anticipated expiration: 1951-06-19

Description

June 19, 1934. w. E. ENGLISH SUPERHEATER HEADER Filed May 22, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet i I 1 L J W f. ind/@2,

June 19, 1934.

SUPERHEATER HEADER Filed May 22. 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 w. E. ENGLISH 1,963,740

Patented June 19, 1934 UNITED 'STATES SUPERHEATER HEADER William Ernest English, Bishopston, Swansea, Wales, assignor to TheSuperheater Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application May 22, 1930, Serial No. 454,770 In Great Britain May 25, 1929 s claims. (o1. 122-462) apertures and waved or deformed oppositely at `This invention relates to superheater headers for example as used in locomotive boilers but which may be also employed in other types of boilers and having longitudinal saturated and superheated steam passageways or conduits running more or less in parallel with separate branched-off chambers which may be positioned side by side alternately along the conduits and to which the opposite ends of the tube elements are connected.

Constructions such as above indicated have generally been formed as castings often in one piece but the high pressures say up to some 950 lbs. per square inch now contemplated in steam boilers with corresponding temperatures of say 750 F. or thereabouts together with the temperature dierenees set up by the varying heat-absorbing capacities of Wet and dry steam render the making of satisfactory castings a complicated and diicult process and it may at times be practically impossible to obtain castings suitable for such apparatus. y

, The object of the present invention is to overcome objections such as the foregoing and to provide for the construction of an improved superheater header from material capable of withstanding a high degree of stress.

The invention consists in a superheater header of the kind indicated which is formed throughout from wrought steel components suitably connected together.

The invention further consists in a superheater header having one or more steel longitudinal components with saturated and superheated steam conduits provided in parallel therein and a series of chambers formed separately'from steel connected to and branched off alternately from said conduits.

The invention further consists in a superheater header formed of a drawn steel or like tubular longitudinal component suitably divided to provide saturated and superheated steam conduits side by side and having a series of steel branchedoil chambers connected alternately with said conduits and to which the tube elements are attached.

The invention further consists in a superheater header in accordance with the' preceding paragraph in which a rectangular drawn or otherwise formed steel tubular component having a` series of circular apertures valong one of its broadest sides is divided to provide saturated and superheated steam compartments by a longitudinal partition disposed, and Welded in, generally in a plane containing the axes of said alternate apertures to effect a junction with `a part of the perimeter of each aperture andwith the intervening strips of Wall which may con; stitute tangents thereto.

The invention further consists in a steel superheater header as indicated in which a longitudinal component is constructed from a suitable ingot having saturated and superheated steam con-v duits formed in parallel therein as by drilling while recesses are formed in a line in an `outer side in the material adjacent to both conduits for the connection of steel branched-off chambers which communicate alternately with said saturated and superheated conduits by holes drilled or otherwise formed at suitable angles from said recesses.Y

The invention further consists in a steel superheater header having separate longitudinal saturated and superheated conduit components in spaced relationship and a series" of steel transverse branched-off chambers to which the tube elements are attached extending between said components and connected to conduits of one'or the other alternately. Y

The invention further consists in a superheat-` er header in accordance with the preceding paragraph" and having a pair of drawn steel conduit components with suitably closed ends positioned in spaced relationship by a series of transverse chamber components each with an open end connected by screwing, expanding or otherwise alternately to one or other conduit and with their other ends closed and attached Where desirable to the exterior surface of the other conduit coinponent. f

The invention further consists in a steel superheater header having longitudinal saturated and superheated steam conduits formed from wrought material as separate components With a series of forged transverse branched-01T chamber components suitably fastened to the longitudinal components in such a manner that each alternate chamber connects to one conduit while the i'e-` maining chambers connect to the other conduit.l

The invention further consists in a super-heater header in accordance with the preceding para# graph having solid drawn hollow rectangular cross section longitudinal saturated and superheated steam conduit components arrangedv side by side with the transverse chamber components fastened to the undersides thereof.

The invention further consists in a superheater header in accordance with the paragraph next but one preceding having solid drawn longitudinal saturated and superheated steam conduit components arranged one above the other and each having in section the form of a rectangle with a corner adjacent to the other rectangle heavily chamfered so that the walls of the charnfered regions stand adjacent and more or less normal to each other and are provided with apertures into which the alternately oppositely angled branches of a series of parallel branched-ofi` chamber components are fastened.

The invention further consists in a superheater header in accordance with any of thelpreceding paragraphs in which the transverse chamber components are formed as solid forgings having a at lower surface projecting on each side from an upper half round body part provided at an end with a branch or boss screwed externally formaking a connection to the longitudinal conduits and the solid material is bored to formthe internal chamber. The invention further consists in asuperheater header in accordance with the preceding paragraph in whichthe lower surface of the transverse chamber components is provided with a series of pairs of apertures for reception of the endsv of the tube elements, said apertures by drilling at opposite inclinations being made to diverge as they vproceed outward from the chamber and being shaped at their outer ends to facilitate connection of the tube element ends. i

The inventionfurther consists in a superheater header `inaccordance withany; one or moreof the preceding paragraphs in whichslots or spaces are provided between the projecting edges ofthe lower faces of adjacent transverse chamber 'components for accommodating bolts for connecting the superheater tube elements and in order to,re. duce the length and prevent rotation of said bolts recesses may be formed in the projecting edges for the bolt heads.

The invention also consists in the improved steel superheater headers havingbranched-off chambers as indicated in the following description. v

Referring now to the accompanying draw- 1ngs: y Figures 1 and 2 are, an elevation anda plan respectively of asuperheater header in accordancejwith the invention; Y

Figures 3 and are vend views partly insection,

jFigure 5-is a view of the partition ordiaphragm of thesaine header;V

. Figure 6 is a Asection to' an enlarged Vscale through two of the transverse chamber components, and

Figure .7 is a longitudinal section of a component shown in position in a header of av varied Figures 8 and 9 show anelevation and a plan respectively of a header of the kind shown in section in Figure L V Y In carrying the invention into eifect in one convenient form shown in Figures l, 2, 3, 4 and j 5 a drawn steel rectangular tubular member a say of91/2. by 5; int ernal dimensions and 1%" thick is made of a -length suiiicient to allow for closing'of theends'. as hereinafter described and is provided along the centre of one of its broader. sides with a series ofr say eight or other desirable number of circulary apertures b of a suitable size to be provided with internal screw threads for. the reception of screwthreaded members ofrsay. 4% external diameter as hereinafterdescribed.

The internal capacity of the tubular member a is divided into saturated and superheated steam compartments by inserting a diaphragm or partition c formed from a strip of material of say l" thick, the material being originally at and remaining substantially so along one edge but being waved upon the other edge `alternately upwards and downwards as shown at c', c2 so that when the piece is inserted longitudinally in the tubular member a the waved edge of the partition plate c will follow about one-quarter of the top or bottom of the perimeter of the apertures b.

This partition plate c is made of sufficient width so that after waving its edges may be planed level and in two parallel planes so that the plate will abut closely against the sides of the Vtwo opposite walls of the tubular member a, theone side following a straight line down the centre of the tube, with the exception of a depression c? for an enlarged aperture hereinafter described and the otherside following rst the top and then the bottomrof alternate apertures b andabutting against the wall between the apertures along a strip c4 inclined so as to form tangents to the curved abutting portions c, c2.

A small depression c3 is made in the centre. of the length of the partition plate on the opposite edge to the-waves c', c2 to clear a 6.diameter tapping hole formed in the wall of the upper. longitudinal compartment, said hole being positioned as close as possible to the upper side of the compartment and necessitatingv a vdeiieotion of the partition by some l1/2" at this point.

The two ends of the partitionv plate c are diiferently formed,Y as at one end shown at c5 the full width ofthe plate rises in an inclined direction from following rather vmore than onequarter of the perimeter of the second aperture up to the top of the tubular member. From this end c5 one edge is waved downward at the second, fourth, sixth and eighth apertures :as shown at c and upwards at the third, fifth and seventh apertures as shown at c2. -From the wave below the eighth aperture the full width of. the plate shown at c6 so that the edge of the plate follows about-one-half Aor rather more of the perimeter of the eighth aperture. v .f

When inposition as indicated and before any closing of the end of the tubular member a takes place, the partition' plate c is welded along the whole of the length of both of its edges and at both ends to the walls of the tubular member a with which it is in contact.

The welding is eifected by an acetylene blow pipe or electric welding or other process for example through the apertures in the wall `of the tube, the welding being carried at each aperture round the' periphery and up tothe line of the centre oi the apertures. At the line'of the centre of `the aperturesthe welding is carried right through to the other side ofthe plate and-then it is picked up on the other side through the nextapertureand carried round another half and so on until the turned-up end portions of the plate are reached, these-regions being easily accessible through the unclosed ends of the tu.- bular member a.- Upon the edge of the plate c remote from the apertures the welding is similarly effected through the apertures in theopposite side, a length equivalent to the distance apart of the apertures being welded at one aperture on one side of the plate and a similar operation performed from the nextaperture on the other side of the plate, the welding being care ried across at the junction as already described in connection with the welding of the waved edge. The depressed central portion c3 of the normally straight edge of the plate is treated as the rest.

The eight apertures b may be positioned at say 6% apart and in the bottom narrow side of the member a there is formed at each end a screw-threaded hole b2 of say 5" external diameter for the reception of the externally screwed branches d for the outlet of the superheated steam, the central hole b Vat the top of the centre of the tubular member' a being for the saturated steam and being also tted with a suitable branch e. This branch may be formed from a short length of 6 external diameter 1/" thick tube with a suitable diameter flange formed integral therewith, the end of the tubeV being screwed into the central aperture of the tubular member and welded externally. For the superheated steam outlets the branches d are formed as tubular elbows having say rectangular iianges for 4% internal diameter pipe at their ends so disposed as to be level with the front of the tubular member when the branches are screwed up. These branches d may also be welded externally after being screwed in.

The tubular member a may have an overall l length of some 5 feet and the ends maybe curved away from the upper to the lower side for example as shown to follow the interior of a locomotive smoke box within which the superheater may be fixed. The closing of these ends may be effected in any desired way as for example by the insertion of separate pieces and welding over of the material of the edge of the walls of the tubular member to form a pressuretight junction therewith.

The branched-off chamber components f shown enlarged in Figures 6 and '7 and in connection with a modied tubular member in the latter View are fitted to the apertures b in the front Wall of the tubular member a and form connecting means for the tubular elements of the superheater.

In one form these chambers may be made from solid steel drilled out and may be conveniently stamped from a bar having a cross section which provides a D-shaped upper part with a somewhat wider or anged lower portion g. The flanged lower portion g may have a width say of 51A" with a thickness of 11/4 and the D-shaped upper part may have a semicircular back of say 3%" diameter with a parallel intervening portion of some "/8" between the centre of the semicircle and the back of the flanged part. The overall length of each of these chamber components f may be about /8 and they may be conveniently drilled or bored lengthwise with say 2% diameter holes to within a short distance of the closed end, the axis of the bore corresponding with the centre of the semicircular back so as to leave the metal about y2" thick round the rounded side of the component and about UAL" thick in the centre of the flanged side. At the open end the anged side will be cut away for a length of say 11/2l to form a circular end h of say 41/4 diameter which will be screw threaded externally for connection to the tapped apertures b of the header component, the chamber components being spaced 6%" centres along the header and having the flanged sides of 5%." wide will provide intervening spaces of 11/8 wide in which bolts may be inserted for attaching the tubular elements to the rchambers bymeans of clips of any known or convenient form.

The underside flat faces of thel flanged lower portion g of the transverse chamber components j are provided with apertures i for the ree ception of the ends of the superheater tube elements, these apertures being formed Vby drilling at opposite inclination holes arranged in pairs transversely of theV axis of the chamber components, eachk chamber with 'certain exceptions where necessary being conveniently provided 'with three pairs of holes, one pair situated atthe centreand the other two pairs being each adjacent to one or the ends. Y i

The holes i of each pair are drilled at an inclination to one another in order to enter the bored chamber of the component and at the same time to be spread far enough aparton the surface to permit o1" the connection ofthe tube elements. Countersunk Vor other recesses are formed around the holes to provide suitable seating surfaces for the ends of the tube elements.

A known form of connectionv for the tube elements may comprise a dog 7' embracing the two tubes Z of an element and provided with a central aperture through which a bolt ,k is inserted to pull the tube ends into the recesses of the holes i by means of the dog fi.

A dust cover or shield piece m abutting against 195 the face of the apertures on the header component a and extending over the top and front of the chamber components f may be provided for protecting the nuts and bolt ends when in use.

In another form of the invention shown in Figures 8 and 9 and enlarged at Figure 7 the tubular member or component may be formed from a solid forging or ingot a of the required length and external dimensions, there being provided as for example by drilling two parallel channels or passageways a2, a3 running from one end to the other of the member a and providing the separate compartments for saturated and superheated steam.

The exterior may be shaped in any desired manner for example with rounded edges a4 to reduce the thickness of material at the corners and with a thickened band a5 to provide deeper recesses for screw-threaded connections.

Along the band a5 of the member a' so formed there is drilled a series of holes or recesses b3 which may be 63/8" apart and screw threaded to receive branched-oir chambers f of a kind similar to those already described, the recesses being made of such a depth that suicient material is left between the edge of the recess b3 upon each side and the bores of the two conduits a2, a3 in the member. Holes b4 or b5 are then drilled from each of the recesses into one or other of the conduits alternately and the connection of the branched-off chambers f with the conduits is thus effected. A hole bf is also made in the upper conduit a2 at or about the middle of its length for the insertion of a saturated 14@ steam branch e and at each end of the lower conduit holes bl are provided for the insertion of superheated steam outlet branches d all more or less as hereinbefore described in connection with the other construction. The ends of the drilled conduits may nally be closed in any desirable or convenient manner as for example by means of screwed plugs or other devices.

If desired an ingot or forging of rectangular cross section and suitable dimensions may be used instead of the form last described for the drilled tubular header member or component.

It is to be understood that the constructions hereinbefore described are given by way of exam-V ple only and that modications and additions may be introduced without departing from the nature of the invention as set forth in thevforegoing statements..

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent iszl. A superheater header comprising a component formed to withstand internal pressures of 1000 lbs. per square inch and upward. and having a series of apertures through one of its walls in a line parallel to the length of the header, and divided to provide saturated and superheated steam compartments by a longitudinal partition disposed generally in a plane with said apertures, passages being provided sloping alternately upward and downward putting said apertures into communication alternately with said two compartments, and branched-off chambers fixed to said header so as to communicate with said aper- 255 tures.

2. A superheater header comprising a rectangular tubular component formed to withstand with said conduits and to which the tube elements are attached.

3. 'A steel superheater header formed to withstand about 1000 1bs.,pressure per square inch and comprising a longitudinal component constructed from a suitable ingot having parallel drilled saturated and superheated steam conduits, recesses disposed in a line in an outer side in the material adjacent to both conduits, a series of steel branched-0H chambers fixed in said recesses and holes drilled at suitable angles from said recesses which communicate alternately with said saturated and superheated conduits.

WILLIAM ERNEST ENGLISH.