A REFRIGERATING TURBINE

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 81, 1 May 1909, Page 5

A REFRIGERATING TURBINE

i\r London, March 19. _ !M. Leblanc, the engineer whose work in connection with condensers is so well known, has just constructed a refri»er-1 ati Jig machine of a wholly novel tfpei The Paris correspondent "of The Times destnbes it as the combination of a| steam ejector with a turbine used as a condenser. The steam ejector associated with the condenser produces a.vacuum over a receiver filled with brine; the water, as it evaporates, produces a progressive degree ot relrigeralion. The steam jet, as discharged from the ejector, enters into a receiving chamber, where the steam passes through a series of converging tubes, which at their outlet end are again made to diverge. From thence the steam reaches the condenser, which is of the Leblanc type—viz., a reversing turbine with injection of water at the centre. The steam from t.ie iejector, together with that from the brine-vessel, which is carried over along with it, becomes condensed in this latter apparatus. A centrifugal pump, keyed on to the same shaft as the condensing turbine, causes an active circulation of the brimin tl(e refrigerating plant. The return of the brine to the receiving vessel, where evaporation takes place, is favored by the "fact that a constant vacuum is • nfliintained in this vessel. The steam pressure at the ejector is two kilo-: grams, ami in expanding it assumes a speed of 1200 metres per second. By means of this machine it becomes possible- to obtain with the startling temperature of 4degJ C. of the brine a refrigeration equivalent to 3(10 frigorih'c ' units per kilogram of steam expended; for an initial brine temperature of 10 dpg- C. A machine of this kind, simple in action, without valves liable to rapid wear, and involving the use of no chemical reagents of any kind, appears to be capable of rendering useful service, -.lot : v lv in the navy, where it could be em-i-'oyed with advantage for cooling the holils and magazines of warships.