Steam at high pressure exhausting into the atmosphere is still commonly used, but the great power required for raising heavy loads from deep pits at high speeds has brought the question of fuel economy into prominence, and more economical types of the two-cylinder tandem compound class with high initial steam pressure, superheating and condensing, have come in to some extent where the amount of work to be done is sufficient to justify their high initial cost.
The principal features of this invention are, first, a much more thorough purification of the burner-gas than had been practised up to that time, both in a chemical and a mechanical sense, and second, the prevention of superheating of the contact substance, which formerly always occurred by the heat generated in the process itself.
The chief advantage of this apparatus is that a low temperature can be used for fixing owing to the enormous surface for superheating, and thus to a great extent the deposition of carbon is avoided.
The expanded vapour enters the refrigerator at a temperature below that of the substance to be cooled, and whatever cooling effect is produced is brought about by the superheating of the vapour, the result being that above the critical point of carbonic acid the difference T2-T2 is increased and the efficiency of the machine is reduced.