66 



SCIENTIFIC NEAA^S. 



[May 2nd, 1887 



the flue. It will be seen that the burning coals are in 

 contact with the inner coil, which is made of iron pipe. In 

 order to prevent this from rapidly burning away, the cold 

 feed water is introduced at the bottom of this coil. It 

 passes upwards, acquiring heat as it goes, and then down 

 through the outer coil. In the meantime the products of 

 combustion are, by means of suitable sheet-iron divisions, 

 made to pass downwards in contact with the second coil, 

 afterwards ascending to the chimney. The steam formed 

 in the coil is taken directly to the engine without the inter- 

 vention of a separator, and this, of course, necessitates the 

 whole of the water that is pumped into the coils being 

 evaporated, supposing at least that anything like a good 

 efficiency is to be obtained. How to get this complete 

 evaporation without superheating the steam is a difficulty 

 that has puzzled many inventors, and has never before been 

 satisfactorily overcome. It would seem, however, that the 



being safe. The boiler should not be expensive to make, 

 and takes up little floor space. For domestic work, and for 

 industries where small power is required, the system 

 appears to be well suited, and certainly gives greater 

 promise of success than anything that has been introduced 

 for some time. Steam can be raised in a quarter of an 

 hour. The whole machinery must, however, be well pro- 

 portioned, and the boiler especially must not be below its 

 work, for it is not well suited to stand forcing. A very 

 great deal depends, too, on the efficiency of the pump. 



The engine itself is of the ordinary type, but contains 

 several ingenious details. In order to get water as pure as 

 possible, a surface condenser, or feed-water heater, is sup- 

 plied, as shown in the illustration. In the latter case the 

 water is brought to a sufficient temperature to cause it to 

 deposit a large proportion of the mineral salts, held in solu- 

 tion in greater or less quantities in nearly all waters, and 



THE CLIMAX MOTOR. 



designer of this boiler has practically solved the problem, 

 if we may judge by the records of practical work. The 

 outer coil is made of copper, and the greater heat conduc- 

 tivity of this metal has been taken advantage of to help out 

 of the difficulty. The fact is that the proportions of grate 

 and heating surface are so arranged that the gases are cooled 

 below the temperature that will superheat the steam — at any 

 rate to an undue extent — before they reach the part of the 

 coil where it is possible for complete evaporation to have 

 taken place. In order to make the plan effective, the pump 

 must be designed to throw sufficient water to keep that part 

 of the coil in contact with the fire well suppUed with water, 

 but at the same time the feed must not be excessive, other- 

 wise the surplus water would be carried to the engine 

 cylinder. No doubt some water is carried over in this way, 

 but the quantity cannot be excessive, to judge by the indi- 

 cator diagrams that have been submitted to us. 



As we have said, the arrangement possesses the merit of 



which prove such a fruitful source of trouble by forming 

 scale in pipe boilers and heating apparatus generally. 



A three-horse power engine on this principle has been 

 erected by Mr. William Bashall, at 17, Bear-alley, Farring- 

 don-street. With this a trial was recently made, and the 

 following are given as the results : — The consumption of 

 London gas coke was 5 '6 lbs. per indicated horse-power per 

 hour, and the brake horse-power was 7 7" 2 of the indicated 

 power. These results were obtained with 150 revolutions 

 per minute, and 83 lbs. pressure. 



Messrs. Geo. Philip and Son have in the press a second 

 and revised edition of Mr. Horace B. Woodward's work on 

 '' The Geology of England and Wales." The same firm 

 promise " Handy -Volume Atlas of the World," consisting of 

 sixty-four plates, containing upwards of one hundred maps 

 and plans, with statistical notes on each map ; size when 

 bound 6 in. by 4 in. 



