1840.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



77 



convenient form may be employed, and the tire may be either external 

 as shown in the figure, or internal according to the system usually 

 adopted in steam-vessels. 



Figure 1 exhibits a cross section of the boiler, pump, and water- 



Fig. 1. — Cross section. 



^^-^ 



valve, with a representation of the water-regulating apparatus. A is 

 a boiler, made of cast iron or other metal, around which is cast the 

 spiral flue 13, and having its interior formed into ridges or corrugated, 

 which ridges increase in width as they approach the bottom of the 

 boiler. B is the tire-place, C the brickwork in which the boiler is 

 set, D the water-pipe, by which the water in the boiler flows oft' as 

 soon as it has risen to a level with the mouth of the pipe ; the water 

 then descends through the pipe e e, to the water-valve box /, and 

 would pass out into the cistern F if not kept back by the valve g ; the 

 valve g is loaded with weight /, and lever //, so that it resists the 

 pressure of the steam, in the same way as the safety-valve 10 ; but 

 when the water accumulates in the descending pipe e, so that there 

 shall be an altitude of water above the surface of the valve of from 

 four to six feet, the valve will be unable to sustain the additional 

 pressure of from two to three pounds per square inch upon its area, 

 and it will lift and let out the water, until the descending column 

 balances the weight of the valve ; the cock / is for the purpose of 



blowing out any sediment which may have accumulated in the valve 

 box, this is done by depressing the rod g g, attached to the lever g', 

 which is fixed on the plug of the cock. 



Another mode of self-regulation for marine or other engines, when 

 there would be an objection to the length of the pipe e, is as follows 



Fig. 2. — Water-regulating Apparatus. 



a pipe descends, and is connected with the suction-pipe of a pump, 

 which may be either a bucket or force-pump ; the exit valve or 

 clack, is loaded by a weight and lever, like a safety-valve, with the same 

 object as the water-valve already described, viz. that it may counteract 

 the pressure of the steam in the boiler. When the pump is full of 

 water, the action of the plunger will force out of the pump us much 

 water as it displaces in its descent, and draw into the pump from the 

 pipe a corresponding quantity of water, thus emptying the pipe, 

 and preventing the water rising above its proper level in the 

 boiler. 



A glass tube is employed at t ', by which the state of the water may 

 always be observed, and the usual brass mounting is attached, for the 

 purpose of cleaning either the lying or vertical pipes ; C is the force 

 or supply-pump, the suction-pipe K' draws its supply from the cis- 

 tern F, so that the hot water escaping from the boiler is used over 

 again and no heat lost ; k is the injection pipe of the pump connected 

 with the nozzle m; at about one-third its length from the bottom, the 

 nozzle is perforated with a circle of small holes, drilled so as to dis- 

 charge the water in a direction slanting upwards, or in such a direction 

 that it may be reflected upwards from the sides of the boiler or gene- 

 rator, (any number of holes in any figure which experience may sug- 

 gest may be adopted), the best pUui I find is to make them about a 

 quarter of an incli apart, anil about the hundredth part of an inch in 

 diameter, and drilled in such way that they may be largest outside, 

 by which means they will be less likely to be clogged up ; the ends of 

 the nozzle are loose, the upper end screws into its place, and the 

 lower end is made a good joint and ground in, so that when the bolt 

 which passes through it, and the upper end is screwed with a nut and 

 spanner from the top, the nozzle becomes perfectly closed, and no 

 water can escape excepting through the small perforations in the 

 sides ; it is necessary to form the ends loose, or provide some 

 other adequate means to discharge the sediment, which may from time 

 to time collect in the nozzle ; tin's adjustment is easily made by merely 

 taking out the plunger s, and the perforated plate s', when a spanner 

 can be introduced into the boiler, and the nut or upper end unscrewed 

 as may be required ; sometimes the nozzle is formed in a circle with 

 jets like a gas burner, but the above described method I have fomid 

 to be the best. 



The action of the injected water is clearly seen by the dotted and 

 prolonged descendieg lines, the water impinges violently against the 

 sides of the vessel, and is then thrown off at an equal angle in an op- 

 posite direction, after which it descends in a vertical shower as shown, 

 it is not necessary that this mode should be always observed, any mode 

 is good that minutely divides the water, and then allows it to descend 

 slowly upon the heated surfaces may be adopted to my invention ; but 

 it is essential that the water should be first discharged upwards, either 

 in an inclined direction or perpendicularly, or that it should be dis- 



