Hornblower's Engine. — Woolf's Engine. — Cartwright's Engine.

(76.) The expansive property of steam, of which Watt availed himself in his single engine by cutting off the supply of steam before the descent of the piston was completed, was applied in a peculiar manner by an engineer named Hornblower, about the year 1781, and at a later period by Woolf. Hornblower was the first who conceived the idea of working an engine with two cylinders of different sizes, by allowing the steam to flow freely from the boiler until it fills the smaller cylinder, and then permitting it to expand into the greater one, employing it thus to press down two pistons in the manner which we shall presently describe. The condensing apparatus of Hornblower, as well as the other appendages of the engine, do not differ materially from those of Watt; so that it will be sufficient for our present purpose to explain the manner in which the steam is made to act in moving the piston.

Let C, fig. 41., be the centre of the great working beam, carrying two arch heads, on which the chains of the piston rods play. The distances of these arch heads from the centre C must be in the same proportion as the length of the cylinders, in order that the same play of the beam may correspond to the plays of both pistons. Let F be the steam-pipe from the boiler, and G a valve to admit the steam above the lesser piston, H is a tube by which a communication may be opened by the valve I between the top and bottom of the lesser cylinder B. K is a tube communicating, by the valve L, between the bottom of the lesser cylinder B and the top of the greater cylinder A. M is a tube communicating, by the valve N, between the top and bottom of the greater cylinder A; and P a tube leading to the condenser by the exhausting valve O.

At the commencement of the operation, suppose all the valves opened, and steam allowed to flow through the entire engine until the air be completely expelled, and then let all the valves be closed. To start the engine, let the exhausting valve O and the steam valves G and L be opened, as in fig. 41. The steam will flow freely from the boiler, and press upon the lesser piston, and at the same time the steam below the greater piston will flow into the condenser, leaving a vacuum in the greater cylinder. The valve L being opened, the steam which is under the piston in the lesser cylinder will flow through K, and press on the greater piston, which, having a vacuum beneath it, will consequently descend. At the commencement of the motion, the lesser piston is as much resisted by the steam below it as it is urged by the steam above it; but after a part of the descent has been effected, the steam below the lesser piston passing into the greater, expands into an increased space, and therefore loses its elastic force proportionally. The steam above the lesser piston retaining its full force by having a free communication with the boiler by the valve G, the lesser piston will be urged by a force equal to the excess of the pressure of this steam above the diminished pressure of the expanded steam below it. As the pistons descend, the steam which is between it continually increasing in its bulk, and therefore decreasing in its pressure, from whence it follows, that the force which resists the lesser piston is continually decreasing, while that which presses it down remains the same, and therefore the effective force which impels it must be continually increasing.

On the other hand, the force which urges the greater piston is continually decreasing, since there is a vacuum below it, and the steam which presses it is continually expanding into an increased bulk.

Impelled in this way, let us suppose the pistons to have arrived at the bottoms of the cylinders, as in fig. 42., and let the valves G, L, and O be closed, and the valves I and N opened. No steam is allowed to flow from the boiler, G being closed, nor any allowed to pass into the condenser, since O is closed, and all communications between the cylinders is stopped by closing L. By opening the valve I, a free communication is made between the top and bottom of the lesser piston through the tube H, so that the steam which presses above the lesser piston will exert the same pressure below it, and the piston is in a state of indifference. In the same manner the valve N being open, a free communication is made between the top and bottom of the greater piston, and the steam circulates above and below the piston, and leaves it free to rise. A counterpoise attached to the pump-rods in this case, draws up the piston, as in Watt's single engine; and when they arrive at the top, the valves I and N are closed, and G, L, and O opened, and the next descent of the pistons is produced in the manner already described, and so the process is continued.

The valves are worked by the engine itself, by means similar to some of those already described. By computation, we find the power of this engine to be nearly the same as a similar engine on Watt's expansive principle. It does not however appear, that any adequate advantage was gained by this modification of the principle, since no engines of this construction are now made.

(77.) The use of two cylinders was revived by Arthur Woolf, in 1804, who, in this and the succeeding year, obtained patents for the application of steam raised under a high pressure to double-cylinder engines. The specification of his patent states, that he has proved by experiment that steam raised under a safety-valve loaded with any given number of pounds upon the square inch, will, if allowed to expand into as many times its bulk as there are pounds of pressure on the square inch, have a pressure equal to that of the atmosphere. Thus, if the safety-valve be loaded with four pounds on the square inch, the steam, after expanding into four times its bulk, will have the atmospheric pressure. If it be loaded with 5, 6, or 10 lbs. on the square inch, it will have the atmospheric pressure when it has expanded into 5, 6, or 10 times its bulk, and so on. It was, however, understood in this case, that the vessel into which it was allowed to expand should have the same temperature as the steam before it expands.

It is very unaccountable how a person of Mr. Woolf's experience in the practical application of steam could be led into errors so gross as those involved in the averments of this patent; and it is still more unaccountable how the experiments could have been conducted which led him to conclusions not only incompatible with all the established properties of elastic fluids—properties which at that time were perfectly understood—but even involving in themselves palpable contradiction and absurdity. If it were admitted that every additional pound avoirdupois which should be placed upon the safety-valve would enable steam, by its expansion into a proportionally enlarged space, to attain a pressure equal to the atmosphere, the obvious consequence would be, that a physical relation would subsist between the atmospheric pressure and the pound avoirdupois! It is wonderful that it did not occur to Mr. Woolf, that, granting his principle to be true at any given place, it would necessarily be false at another place where the barometer would stand at a different height. Thus if the principle were true at the foot of a mountain, it would be false at the top of it; and if it were true in fair weather, it would be false in foul weather, since these circumstances would be attended by a change in the atmospheric pressure, without making any change in the pound avoirdupois.[23]

The method by which Mr. Woolf proposed to apply the principle which he imagined himself to have discovered was by an arrangement of cylinders similar to those of Hornblower, but having their magnitudes proportioned to the greater extent of expansion which he proposed to use. Two cylinders, like those of Hornblower, were placed under the working beam, having their piston-rods at distances from the axis proportioned to the lengths of their respective strokes. The relative magnitudes of the cylinders A and B must be adjusted according to the extent to which the principle of expansion is intended to be used. The valves C C´ were placed at each end of the lesser cylinder in tubes communicating with the boiler, so as to admit steam on each side of the lesser piston, and cut it off at pleasure. A tube, D´, formed a communication between the upper end of the lesser and lower end of the greater cylinder, which communication is opened and closed at pleasure by the valve E´. In like manner, the tube D forms a communication between the lower end of the lesser cylinder and the upper end of the greater, which may be opened and closed by the valve E. The top and bottom of the greater cylinder communicated with the condenser by valves F´ F.

Let us suppose that the air is blown from the engine in the usual way, all the valves closed, and the engine ready to start, the pistons being at the top of the cylinders. Open the valves C, E, and F. The steam which occupies the greater cylinder below the piston will now pass into the condenser through F, leaving a vacuum below the piston. The steam which is in the lesser cylinder below the piston will pass through D and open the valve E, and will press down the greater piston. The steam from the boiler will flow in at C, and press on the lesser piston. At first the whole motion will proceed from the pressure upon the greater piston, since the steam, both above and below the lesser piston, has the same pressure. But, as the pistons descend, the steam below the less passing into the greater cylinder, expands into a greater space, and consequently exerts a diminished pressure, and, therefore, the steam on the other side exerting an undiminished pressure, acquires an impelling force exactly equal to the pressure lost in the expansion of the steam between the two pistons. Thus both pistons will be pressed to the bottoms of their respective cylinders. It will be observed that in the descent the greater piston is urged by a continually decreasing force, while the lesser is urged by continually increasing force.

Upon the arrival of the pistons at the bottoms of the cylinders, let the valves, C, E, F be closed, and C´, E´, F´ be opened, as in fig. 44. The steam which is above the greater piston now flows through F´ into the condenser, leaving the space above the piston a vacuum. The steam which is above the lesser piston passes through E´ and D´ below the greater, while the steam from the boiler is admitted through C´ below the lesser piston. The pressure of the steam entering through E´ below the greater piston, pressing on it against the vacuum above it, commences the ascent. In the mean time the steam above the lesser piston passing into the enlarged space of the greater cylinder, loses gradually its elastic force, so that the steam entering from the boiler at C´ becomes in part effective, and the ascent is completed under exactly the same circumstances as the descent, and in this way the process is continued.

It is evident that the valves may be easily worked by the mechanism of the engine itself.

In this arrangement the pistons ascend and descend together, and their rods must consequently be attached to the beam at the same side of the centre. It is sometimes desirable that they should act on different sides of the centre of the beam, and consequently that one should ascend while the other descends. It is easy to arrange the valves so as to effect this. In fig. 45., the lesser piston is at the bottom of the cylinder, and the greater at the top. On opening the valves C´, E´, F´, a vacuum is produced below the greater piston, and steam flows from the lesser cylinder, through E´, above the greater piston, and presses it down. At the same time steam being admitted from the boiler through C´ below the lesser piston, forces it up against the diminishing force of the steam above it, which expands into the greater cylinder. Thus as the greater piston descends the lesser ascends. When each has traversed its cylinder, the valves C´, E´, F´ being closed, and C, E, F opened, the lesser piston will descend, and the greater ascend, and so on.

(78.) The law according to which the elastic force of steam diminishes as it expands, of which Mr. Woolf appears to have been entirely ignorant, is precisely similar to the same property in air and other elastic fluids. If steam expands into twice or thrice its volume, it will lose its elastic force in precisely the same proportion as it enlarges its bulk; and therefore will have only a half or a third of its former pressure, supposing that as it expands its temperature is kept up. Although Mr. Woolf's patent contained the erroneous principle which we have noticed, yet, so far as his invention suggested the idea of employing steam at a very high-pressure, and allowing it to expand in a much greater degree than was contemplated either by Watt or Hornblower, it became the means of effecting a considerable saving in fuel; for engines used for pumping on a large scale, the steam being produced under a pressure of forty or fifty pounds or more upon the square inch, might be worked first through a small space with intense force, and the communication with the boiler being then cut off, it might be allowed, with great advantage, to expand through a very large space. Some double-cylinder engines upon this principle have been worked in Cornwall, with considerable economy. But the form in which the expansive principle, combined with high pressure, is now applied in the engines used for raising water from the mines, is that in which it was originally proposed by Watt. A single cylinder of considerable length is employed; the piston is driven through a small proportion of this length by steam, admitted from the boiler at a very intense pressure: the steam being then cut off, the piston is urged by the expansive force of the steam which has been admitted, and is by that means brought to the bottom of the cylinder.

It is evident, under such circumstances, that the pressure of the steam admitted from the boiler must be much greater than the resistance opposed to the piston, and that the motion of the piston must, in the first instance, be accelerated and not uniform. If the piston moved from the commencement with a uniform motion, the pressure of the steam urging it must necessarily be exactly equal to the resistance opposed to it, and then cutting off the supply of steam from the boiler, the piston could only continue its motion by inertia, the steam immediately becoming of less pressure than the resistance; and after advancing through a very small space, the piston would recoil upon the steam, and come to a state of rest. The steam, however, at the moment it is cut off being of much greater pressure than the amount of resistance upon the piston, will continue to drive the piston forward, until by its expansion its force is so far diminished as to become equal to the resistance of the piston. From that point the impelling power of the steam will cease, and the piston will move forward by its inertia only. The point at which the steam is cut off should therefore be so regulated that it shall acquire a pressure equal to the resistance on the piston by its expansion, just at such a distance from the end of the stroke as the piston may be able to move through by its inertia. It is evident the adjustment of this will require great care and nicety of management.

(79.) In 1797 a patent was granted to the Rev. Mr. Cartwright, a gentleman well known for other mechanical inventions, for some improvements in the steam-engine. His contrivance is at once so elegant and simple, that, although it has not been carried into practice, we cannot here pass it over without notice.

The steam-pipe from the boiler is represented cut off at B (fig. 46.); T is a spindle-valve for admitting steam above the piston, and R is a spindle-valve in the piston; D is a curved pipe forming a communication between the cylinder and the condenser, which is of very peculiar construction. Cartwright proposed effecting a condensation without a jet, by exposing the steam to contact with a very large quantity of cold surface. For this purpose, he formed his condenser by placing two cylinders nearly equal in size one within the other, allowing the water of the cold cistern in which they were placed to flow through the inner cylinder, and to surround the outer one. Thus the thin space between the two cylinders formed the condenser.

The air-pump is placed immediately under the cylinder, and the continuation of the piston-rod works its piston, which is solid and without a valve: F is the pipe from the condenser to the air-pump, through which the condensed steam is drawn off through the valve G on the ascent of the piston, and on the descent, this is forced through a tube into a hot well, H, for the purpose of feeding the boiler through the feed-pipe I. In the top of the hot well H is a valve which opens inwards, and is kept closed by a ball floating on the surface of the liquid. The pressure of the condensed air above the surface of the liquid in H forces it through I into the boiler. When the air accumulates in too great a degree in H, the surface of the liquid is pressed so low that the ball falls and opens the valve, and allows it to escape. The air in H is that which is pumped from the condenser with the liquid, and which was disengaged from it.

Let us suppose the piston at the top of the cylinder; it strikes the tail of the valve T, and raises it, while the stem of the piston-valve R strikes the top of the cylinder, and is pressed into its seat. A free communication is at the same time open between the cylinder, below the piston and the condenser, through the tube D. The pressure of the steam thus admitted above the piston, acting against the vacuum below it, will cause its descent. On arriving at the bottom of the cylinder, the tail of the piston-valve R will strike the bottom, and it will be lifted from its seat, so that a communication will be opened through it with the condenser. At the same moment a projecting spring, K, attached to the piston-rod, strikes the stem of the steam-valve T, and presses it into its seat. Thus, while the further admission of steam is cut off, the steam above the piston flows into the condenser, and the piston being relieved from all pressure, is drawn up by the momentum of the fly-wheel, which continues the motion it received from the descending force. On the arrival of the piston again at the top of the cylinder, the valve T is opened and R closed, and the piston descends as before, and so the process is continued.

The mechanism by which motion is communicated from the piston to the fly-wheel is peculiarly elegant. On the axis of the fly-wheel is a small wheel with teeth, which work in the teeth of another large wheel L. This wheel is turned by a crank, which is worked by a cross-piece attached to the end of the piston-rod. Another equal-toothed wheel, M, is turned by a crank, which is worked by the other end of the cross-arm attached to the piston-rod.

One of the peculiarities of this engine is, that the liquid which is used for the production of steam in the boiler circulates through the machine without either diminution or admixture with any other fluid, so that the boiler never wants more feeding than what can be supplied from the hot-well H. This circumstance forms a most important feature in the machine, as it allows of ardent spirits being used in the boiler instead of water, which, since they boil at low heats, promised a saving of half the fuel. The inventor even proposed, that the engine should be used as a still, as well as a mechanical power, in which case the whole of the fuel would be saved.

In this engine, the ordinary method of rendering the piston steam-tight, by oil or melted wax or tallow poured upon it, could not be applied, since the steam above the piston must always have a free passage through the piston-valve R. The ingenious inventor therefore contrived a method of making the piston steam-tight in the cylinder, without oil or stuffing, and his method has since been adopted with success in other engines.

A ring of metal is ground into the cylinder, so as to fit it perfectly, and is then cut into four equal segments. The inner surface of this ring being slightly conical, another ring is ground into it, so as to fit it perfectly, and this is also cut into four segments, and one is placed within the other, but in such a manner that the joints or divisions do not coincide. The arrangement of the two rings is represented in fig. 47. Within the inner ring are placed four springs, which press the pieces outward against the sides of the cylinder, and are represented in the diagram. Four pairs of these rings are placed one over another, so that their joints do not coincide, and the whole is screwed together by plates placed at top and bottom. A vertical section of the piston is given in fig. 48.

One of the advantages of this piston is, that the longer it is worked, the more accurately it fits the cylinder, so that, as the machine wears it improves. Metallic pistons have lately come into very general use, and such contrivances differ very little from the above.