1840.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



299 



by which the effect must be produced, must be of hvrge size and great 

 power. 



By consequence of that t)/s inertice, the friction, and tlie great weight 

 to be put in motion — and when steam-engines are employed, the alter- 

 nate action or reciprocation of the great lever or beam oif the engine — 

 the number of feet of (ffictive strokes, made, per minute, is compara- 

 tively small, being generally, in deep mines, from about 50 to !S0 feet. 

 To explain this more fully, the whole mass of water in the ten columns, 

 having to be raised at one and the same time, and therefore being 

 equal in weight to one column of water of the same diameter and 

 1000 feet in depth, may be considered as being lifted in the mass, 

 through a distance of 50, or from that to So feet in a minute. Whereas, 

 by my " Impro vemenis in raising naiti-from Jiiinea and other deep ptaci,s, 

 or from a loner level to a higher; which improvemenls are applicable to 

 the raising of liepiids gineralhj, and to other purposes," I do not raise 

 water or other liquids in the mass, nor do I find it necessary to exert a 

 pressure, at one and the same time, of 45 pounds on each square inch, 

 when the height to which the water must be raised is lOU feet ; nor 

 do I raise water by pumps and pump-rods ; but in the manner to be 

 described. 



That is to say, by the aid of a steam-engine, water-wheel, or other 

 prime mover, I give motion to a fan, or i'anner (such as is used very 

 commonly by foundry-men, engineers, millwrights, and others, to force 

 a current of air into cupolas and other kinds of furnaces), or to the 

 piston of a blowing cylinder (such as is used by iron-masters, and 

 makers of iron, to force a current of air into blast furnaces, for the re- 

 duction of ores), and by aid of such fan or fanner, or blowing cvlinder, 

 I condense atmospheric air, that it may, when liberated from its con- 

 finement, have a tendency to escape into the atmosphere, with a velo- 

 city due to its pressure. 



When atmospheric air is condensed to a quarter of a pound pressure 

 per square inch, beyond the atmospheric piessure, and is liberated 

 from its confinement, it moves, or has a tendency so to do, at the rate 

 of 173 feet in each second of time ; at half a pound pressure per square 

 inch, the speed, due to the pressure, is 245 feet per second ; at three 

 quarters of a pound pressure, 290 ft.; at one pound, 340 ft. ; at a pound 

 and a quarter, 375 feet; at a pound and a half, 410 feet; at a pound 

 and three quarters, 43G feet ; at two pounds, 4t)7 feet ; at three pounds, 

 555 feet; at four pounds, 624 feet; and at other pressures, with other 

 velocities or rates of speed, as may be known by reference to, or con- 

 sulting tlie Treatises that have been published on the science of Pneu- 

 matics. 



Now, instead of raising w-ater in the mass, as herein-before describ- 

 ed, by pumps and pump-rods, and sucli like contrivances, I avail my- 

 self of the mechanical etfects that may be obtained from the velocities 

 of the air, as due to the pressures herein-before made known, or any 

 other pressures that circumstances connected with mines, in dilf'erent 

 localities, may prove to be desirable. 1 cause the water that must be 

 raised from the mine, or from a lower level to a higher, to be dispersed 

 and carried up in drops, like drops of rain ; but the velocity of those 

 drops, itp.rards, in consequence of the velocity of the air, is far greater 

 than the descending velocities of rain. 



For drops of rain, when not receiving an impulse from winds, can 

 only descend through the atmosphere with a speed of about eight feet 

 in a second, when the diameter of each sphere or drop of rain is the 

 hundredth part of an inch. When the diameter of the drop is the six- 

 teenth part of an inch, the greatest descending velocity through the 

 atmosphere is about 17 feet in a second ; and the velocities in a second, 

 through the atmosphere, for drops of rain of other diameters, may be 

 thus stated : for drops of rain an eighth of an inch diameter, 24 feet; 

 for drops three sixteenths of an inch diameter, 30 feet; and for drops 

 a quarter of an inch diameter, 34 feet per second. Whereas, the 

 velocity of the air, when allowed to escape from a pipe upwards at 

 one pound pressure per square inch beyond the atmosphere, and v. ith- 

 out making any deductions for the friction against the sides of the 

 pipes, is about 310 feet in a second. But it should be stated that, 

 when the air is commingled with the water that must be carried up by 

 it from a mine, or from a lower level to a higher, its motion, to a cer- 

 tain extent, is retarded. The velocity of the drops of water iiprrards, 

 however, by this mode, or by these modes of raising water from mines 

 and other deep places, is far greater than the velocities at which rain 

 usually descends, as herein-before has been described. 



In the engravings. Fig. 1, Fig. 2, and Fig. 3, represent the apparatus, 

 and Figs. 2 and 3 show a variation of the lower part. In each figure 

 the same letters of reference denote contrivances to accomplish similar 

 objects. 



The three kinds of apparatus are shown in section — 



a a, represents a pipe, made of zinc, iron, or other material, to con- 

 vey air from the fan or fanner, or blovving cylinder, to the bottom of 

 the shaft or pit of the mine — or, in a similar manner, air may be con- 



veyed to any reqviired place, or depth, from which water or other 

 liquid must be raised. 



_ I) b, another pipe, somewhat larger than the pipe a a, to convey the 

 air aforesaid, and the water which is carried up by it from the mine 

 or other depth, in drops, like drops of rain, to the surface of the earth 

 or to the adit, or to any required height, or place of discharge. 



0, the sump, chamber, or reservoir, from which the water or other 

 liquid must be raised. 



(/, metal, stone, or wood, to serve as supports. 



By the rapid revolution of the fan or fanner, or the upward and 

 downward motion of the piston in the blowing cylinder, by a steam- 

 engine, water-wheel, or other piitne mover, imparting motion to it, 

 atmospheric air of the requisite amount of density is made to flow 

 down the pipe a a, and where the pipe turns upwards in the chamber 

 or reservoir c c, it comes in contact with the water or other liquid, 

 disperses it into drops, forces it up the pipe, 6 b, and delivers it at 

 the top. 



In Fig. 1, a series of apertures is represented nearly at the bottom 

 of the pipe, /j 6. It is through those apertures that water or other 

 liquid flows into the pipe b b, in jets ; there to be met with, dispersed, 

 and carried up the pipe, by the ascending stream of air. 



In Fig. 2, and in Fig. 3, the pipe 6 6 terminates in a chamber, com- 

 pounded, in shape, of a cone and cylinder; and the lower part of the 

 cylindrical chamber is represented as perforated with a series of aper- 

 tures, through which the water, or other liquid, flows from the reser- 

 voir or chamber c c into it. Tlie vfatev ascends, by the difference of 



Fig. 1. 



Fig. 2, 



