Chaplin's Patent Distilling Apparatus with Steam Pump
Encyclopedia
Alexander Chaplin & Co. (also known as A.C. and Co., Alex. Chaplin & Co.) was an important and highly regarded engineering and manufacturing syndicate based in the United Kingdom during the mid-19th century to early 20th century with its manufacturing and plant facilities located at Cranstonhill Engine Works, Glasgow
. Of their numerous patented and manufactured products, one of the notable devices developed was the Chaplin's Patent Distilling Apparatus with Steam pump for circulating water attached. This was an early design of an evaporator
, a device for producing fresh water on board ship by distillation
of seawater
. An example of this apparatus has been recovered from the wreck of SS Xantho
(1872), a steamship used in Australia
to transport passengers and trade goods before ultimately sinking in Port Gregory, Western Australia
in 1872. It is purported that the Alexander Chaplin distiller from the SS Xantho
wreck is the only known surviving example of a Chaplin distilling apparatus on board a steamship of its time.
The Chaplin Apparatus was adopted by many important British and Continental shipping companies including the Peninsular and Oriental, the Inman, the North German Lloyd, and the Hamburg American Companies. The British Navy used such apparatus’. The Board of Bureau Chiefs of the United States Navy considered supplying the cruisers USS Baltimore (C-3)
and USS Philadelphia (C-4)
with distilling apparatus to provide fresh water for the boilers from distillation of sea water, but no reference was made to the Chaplin company in their reported discussions. In addition to merchant and passenger ships US gunboats used such distillers as well.
Chaplin distillers were also used in land settings. During the Sudan Campaigns (1881–1885), (1896–1899), British forces used the distillers to supply their soldiers with fresh drinking water in Suakin
and Sudan
. This supply of fresh drinking water was of utmost importance in the 1882 Anglo-Egyptian War. Similar distillers, such as Dr. Normandy's, were on a much larger scale, distilling some 12,000 gallons of water per hour, whereas the Chaplin distilling apparatus used onboard vessels produced roughly 23 gallons of fresh water per hour. Essentially, the distilled water produced for Egypt was made in a special apparatus with various forms of condenser employed. The principle for distillation is the same as the apparatus on steamships. On ships, steam is generated in one of the ships boilers then condensed, filtered and aerated in the apparatus. On land, the engines would have to be kept running in order to pump the distilled water out of the condenser.
By the order of H.M. Council on 5 December 1865, Government emigrant, troop and other passenger vessels fitted with this distilling apparatus were permitted to sail with only half the required amount of water under Section 26 of the Passengers Act 1855. This act states “Any passenger ship propelled by sails only, or by steam engines of less power than is sufficient, without the aid of sails, to propel the ship at the rate of five statue miles per hour, may be cleared out and proceed on her voyage, having on board, in tanks or casks, only half the quantity of pure water required by the said Act to be carried for the use of the passengers, provided that…there be on board such ship an efficient apparatus for distilling fresh water from salt water”. This, combined with the convenience and compact size of the apparatus made the Alexander Chaplin model very popular.
In direct competition with Alexander Chaplin, Dr. Alphonse Normandy’s (1809–1864) apparatus is another successful distiller. It consists of three essential parts, the evaporator, the condenser and the refrigerator. The apparatus passes a mixture of steam and gasses from the evaporator to the tubes of the condenser. Normandy’s distiller was very complex in structure, consisting of many numerous working parts. With an elaborate layout and expensive cost, the distiller wasn’t economically plausible from a moderate vessel’s standpoint (book). In France, the apparatus of Rocher and Nantes and that of Galle and Mazeline of Havre, have been "highly appreciated by French authorities and French seamen".
and the coils are made of copper
. The coils are supplied with steam by one of two methods. Either from the exhaust pipes of the engine, or from a small fitting leading directly from the boiler. A double-acting circulating pump produces a constant stream of water flowing through the condenser, using a pinion that can be disengaged from the crank shaft manually. At the upper end of the coils lie a covered brass cup for ventilating. This aerator is the essential feature in the invention and consists of small adjustable holes around the circumference of the brass cup that allows a pipe to enter the coils. When the apparatus is in action, a jet draws air in from the circumferential openings in the cup and fills the coils with a mixture of air and steam. After passing directly under the condenser, the aerated water is delivered clear, bright and odourless at a temperature of about 13 degrees Celsius. The resulting fresh water is of excellent quality and ready for immediate use. The machine can supply approximately 23 gallons of water per hour. “The samples of water subjected to analysis were collected at different times directly from the Patent Apparatus on board ship… and the results of my experiments with the water distilled in Alexander Chaplin & Co.’s are conclusive in showing that is of excellent quality in every particular.”
The circulating pump of the condensing arrangement can be used as a fire engine in the event of an emergency. The waste pipe from the condenser allows for a cock to be attached, by which way the water can be directed to a fitted union which a hose can be attached. Theoretically, the water would be able to be pumped back into the boiler as well. It is preferred to place the apparatus in the Stokehole or elsewhere below deck, but may be placed on the main deck or any other convenient part of the vessel. In addition to the safety advantages offered by the Chaplin distiller by only having to carry half the amount of water on board it also provided an economic benefit in that the space and weight previously set aside for larger water tanks could be used more productively to carry additional cargo.
According to the manufacturer's specifications and a report generated by Dr. Frederick Penny Ph.D., F.R.S.E Professor of Chemistry, Andersonian University, Glasgow, this distiller filters out noxious chemical such as lead, copper, tin and iron through the use of a series of iron plates with perforated holes and matting. These plates are located in the large box like structure at the bottom of the apparatus.
Precisely when the Chaplin Distiller was installed on the SS Xantho
is open to conjecture. It is known that from 1864-1870 the SS Xantho
operated out of Wick, West Sussex
and was permitted to take excursions to sea. It is possible that this apparatus was installed during this period of time. It is just as feasible however that this device was installed at a later date as part of the major refurbishing programme implemented by the metal merchant Robert Stewart , who is known to have installed a new marine fire tube boiler and a second hand Horizontal Trunk Engine in 1871, designed by John Penn and Son.
Initially this artefact was considered to be a condenser or a heat exchanger perhaps circle condenser but the discovery of a brass manufacturer's nameplate found whilst de-concreting the object and subsequent archival documentation has confirmed its identity to be a Chaplin distilling apparatus.
On recovery the artefact was found to be in very fragile condition with the cast iron shell badly corroded and incomplete. Additionally there is evidence to suggest that the artefact is missing many of its mountings such as the aerator, connecting pipes and donkey engine. It is inconclusive whether these materials were removed by agents operating under the direction of the owner Charles Edward Broadhurst
(1826 – 26 April 1905) in the initial salvaging of the wreck in 1872 or by treasure hunters in more recent times.
The Chaplin Distiller which was damaged during the excavation and treatment processes is currently being reconstructed at the Western Australian Museum
, by the Department of Maritime Archaeology. It is envisaged that this rebuilding process will be completed by 2012 and that it will be available for public viewing in the ‘Steamships to Suffragettes Gallery’ shortly thereafter.
Because of its fragmented state and damage to the coil it is not possible at this stage to provide exact dimensions for this apparatus. A rough estimate would suggest something in the order of 5 foot 3 inches but a definitive answer will be able to be determined once it is reassembled and the coil has been correctly aligned and integrated.
The Chaplin Distilling apparatus excavated from the SS Xantho
is believed to be the only known example in existence and therefore can be regarded as a unique piece of maritime history that helps to explain how steamships and sailing vessels fitted with these devices were able to undertake prolonged voyages at sea with a minimal supply of fresh water.
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
. Of their numerous patented and manufactured products, one of the notable devices developed was the Chaplin's Patent Distilling Apparatus with Steam pump for circulating water attached. This was an early design of an evaporator
Evaporator (marine)
An evaporator, distiller or distilling apparatus is a piece of ship's equipment used to produce fresh drinking water from sea water by distillation...
, a device for producing fresh water on board ship by distillation
Distillation
Distillation is a method of separating mixtures based on differences in volatilities of components in a boiling liquid mixture. Distillation is a unit operation, or a physical separation process, and not a chemical reaction....
of seawater
Seawater
Seawater is water from a sea or ocean. On average, seawater in the world's oceans has a salinity of about 3.5% . This means that every kilogram of seawater has approximately of dissolved salts . The average density of seawater at the ocean surface is 1.025 g/ml...
. An example of this apparatus has been recovered from the wreck of SS Xantho
SS Xantho
Powered by a horizontal trunk engine, SS Xantho was a steam ship used in the colony of Western Australia as a pearling transport and mothership, as a tramp steamer, carrying passengers, including Aboriginal convicts and trade goods before she sank at Port Gregory, Western Australia in 1872.The...
(1872), a steamship used in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
to transport passengers and trade goods before ultimately sinking in Port Gregory, Western Australia
Port Gregory, Western Australia
Gregory is a small town and fishing port in the Mid West region of Western Australia. At the 2006 census, Gregory had a population of 46.Port Gregory, located close to the mouth of the Hutt River, was established in 1849 and named after brothers Augustus and Frank Gregory, two of Western...
in 1872. It is purported that the Alexander Chaplin distiller from the SS Xantho
SS Xantho
Powered by a horizontal trunk engine, SS Xantho was a steam ship used in the colony of Western Australia as a pearling transport and mothership, as a tramp steamer, carrying passengers, including Aboriginal convicts and trade goods before she sank at Port Gregory, Western Australia in 1872.The...
wreck is the only known surviving example of a Chaplin distilling apparatus on board a steamship of its time.
History
Founded in 1857, the administrative office of Alexander Chaplin & Co. was located at 63 Queen Victoria Street, London, England, before being taken over by Herbert Morris, LTD in 1932. Well known manufacturers, Alex. Chaplin & Co. prided themselves as “always in stock or in progress”. Chaplins' patent steam engines and boilers powered steam cranes, hoists, locomotives, pumping and winding engines, ship’s deck engines and sea water distilling apparatus throughout the world during the 19th and 20th century. Chaplin's patent sea water distilling apparatus with steam pump attached for circulating water was a very compact and convenient apparatus, used not only for seafaring purposes but on land as well.The Chaplin Apparatus was adopted by many important British and Continental shipping companies including the Peninsular and Oriental, the Inman, the North German Lloyd, and the Hamburg American Companies. The British Navy used such apparatus’. The Board of Bureau Chiefs of the United States Navy considered supplying the cruisers USS Baltimore (C-3)
USS Baltimore (C-3)
The fourth USS Baltimore was a United States Navy cruiser, the second protected cruiser to be built by an American yard. Like the previous one, , the design was commissioned from the British company of W...
and USS Philadelphia (C-4)
USS Philadelphia (C-4)
The fourth USS Philadelphia , also known as "Cruiser No. 4", was a cruiser of the United States Navy.She was laid down 22 March 1888 by William Cramp and Sons, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, launched 7 September 1889, sponsored by Miss Minnie Wanamaker, daughter of merchant and philanthropist John...
with distilling apparatus to provide fresh water for the boilers from distillation of sea water, but no reference was made to the Chaplin company in their reported discussions. In addition to merchant and passenger ships US gunboats used such distillers as well.
Chaplin distillers were also used in land settings. During the Sudan Campaigns (1881–1885), (1896–1899), British forces used the distillers to supply their soldiers with fresh drinking water in Suakin
Suakin
Suakin or Sawakin is a port in north-eastern Sudan, on the west coast of the Red Sea. In 1983 it had a population of 18,030 and the 2009 estimate is 43, 337.It was formerly the region's chief port, but is now secondary to Port Sudan, about 30 miles north. The old city built of coral is in ruins...
and Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
. This supply of fresh drinking water was of utmost importance in the 1882 Anglo-Egyptian War. Similar distillers, such as Dr. Normandy's, were on a much larger scale, distilling some 12,000 gallons of water per hour, whereas the Chaplin distilling apparatus used onboard vessels produced roughly 23 gallons of fresh water per hour. Essentially, the distilled water produced for Egypt was made in a special apparatus with various forms of condenser employed. The principle for distillation is the same as the apparatus on steamships. On ships, steam is generated in one of the ships boilers then condensed, filtered and aerated in the apparatus. On land, the engines would have to be kept running in order to pump the distilled water out of the condenser.
By the order of H.M. Council on 5 December 1865, Government emigrant, troop and other passenger vessels fitted with this distilling apparatus were permitted to sail with only half the required amount of water under Section 26 of the Passengers Act 1855. This act states “Any passenger ship propelled by sails only, or by steam engines of less power than is sufficient, without the aid of sails, to propel the ship at the rate of five statue miles per hour, may be cleared out and proceed on her voyage, having on board, in tanks or casks, only half the quantity of pure water required by the said Act to be carried for the use of the passengers, provided that…there be on board such ship an efficient apparatus for distilling fresh water from salt water”. This, combined with the convenience and compact size of the apparatus made the Alexander Chaplin model very popular.
In direct competition with Alexander Chaplin, Dr. Alphonse Normandy’s (1809–1864) apparatus is another successful distiller. It consists of three essential parts, the evaporator, the condenser and the refrigerator. The apparatus passes a mixture of steam and gasses from the evaporator to the tubes of the condenser. Normandy’s distiller was very complex in structure, consisting of many numerous working parts. With an elaborate layout and expensive cost, the distiller wasn’t economically plausible from a moderate vessel’s standpoint (book). In France, the apparatus of Rocher and Nantes and that of Galle and Mazeline of Havre, have been "highly appreciated by French authorities and French seamen".
How it works
For successful preparation of potable water from seawater, the following conditions of a distilling apparatus are essential. First, the distilled product must be aerated so it may be immediately available for drinking and storage purposes. Second, the amount of coal used to obtain the maximum volume of drinkable water must be at a minimum expenditure level and third, the apparatus’ working parts must be simple enough to prevent from breaking down and to enable unskilled attendants to safely operate. "The Alexander Chaplin distilling apparatus is among the forms of apparatus which have most fully satisfied such conditions". :Commons:File:Chaplin Distilling Apparatus with Key.pdfThe apparatus
The Alexander Chaplin & Co. distilling apparatus is designed for use on board steam vessels and may be connected from the main boiler or a donkey boiler. The apparatus consists of a coiled pipe approximately 60 feet in length placed inside a cylindrical casing. The casing is cast ironCast iron
Cast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...
and the coils are made of copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
. The coils are supplied with steam by one of two methods. Either from the exhaust pipes of the engine, or from a small fitting leading directly from the boiler. A double-acting circulating pump produces a constant stream of water flowing through the condenser, using a pinion that can be disengaged from the crank shaft manually. At the upper end of the coils lie a covered brass cup for ventilating. This aerator is the essential feature in the invention and consists of small adjustable holes around the circumference of the brass cup that allows a pipe to enter the coils. When the apparatus is in action, a jet draws air in from the circumferential openings in the cup and fills the coils with a mixture of air and steam. After passing directly under the condenser, the aerated water is delivered clear, bright and odourless at a temperature of about 13 degrees Celsius. The resulting fresh water is of excellent quality and ready for immediate use. The machine can supply approximately 23 gallons of water per hour. “The samples of water subjected to analysis were collected at different times directly from the Patent Apparatus on board ship… and the results of my experiments with the water distilled in Alexander Chaplin & Co.’s are conclusive in showing that is of excellent quality in every particular.”
The circulating pump of the condensing arrangement can be used as a fire engine in the event of an emergency. The waste pipe from the condenser allows for a cock to be attached, by which way the water can be directed to a fitted union which a hose can be attached. Theoretically, the water would be able to be pumped back into the boiler as well. It is preferred to place the apparatus in the Stokehole or elsewhere below deck, but may be placed on the main deck or any other convenient part of the vessel. In addition to the safety advantages offered by the Chaplin distiller by only having to carry half the amount of water on board it also provided an economic benefit in that the space and weight previously set aside for larger water tanks could be used more productively to carry additional cargo.
According to the manufacturer's specifications and a report generated by Dr. Frederick Penny Ph.D., F.R.S.E Professor of Chemistry, Andersonian University, Glasgow, this distiller filters out noxious chemical such as lead, copper, tin and iron through the use of a series of iron plates with perforated holes and matting. These plates are located in the large box like structure at the bottom of the apparatus.
Precisely when the Chaplin Distiller was installed on the SS Xantho
SS Xantho
Powered by a horizontal trunk engine, SS Xantho was a steam ship used in the colony of Western Australia as a pearling transport and mothership, as a tramp steamer, carrying passengers, including Aboriginal convicts and trade goods before she sank at Port Gregory, Western Australia in 1872.The...
is open to conjecture. It is known that from 1864-1870 the SS Xantho
SS Xantho
Powered by a horizontal trunk engine, SS Xantho was a steam ship used in the colony of Western Australia as a pearling transport and mothership, as a tramp steamer, carrying passengers, including Aboriginal convicts and trade goods before she sank at Port Gregory, Western Australia in 1872.The...
operated out of Wick, West Sussex
Wick, West Sussex
Wick is a community in the Arun district of West Sussex, England. Originally a separate village, it now forms part of the built up area around Littlehampton. It lies on the A284 road 0.6 miles north of the town centre....
and was permitted to take excursions to sea. It is possible that this apparatus was installed during this period of time. It is just as feasible however that this device was installed at a later date as part of the major refurbishing programme implemented by the metal merchant Robert Stewart , who is known to have installed a new marine fire tube boiler and a second hand Horizontal Trunk Engine in 1871, designed by John Penn and Son.
Excavation and confirmation of identity
This Chaplin distiller was excavated from the steamship (1872) wreck site in 1994. It was found outside the hull on the port side of the vessel. It is possible that this apparatus was installed on the ship’s deck or in its cabin and as a result of the wreck sites natural transformation has rolled off the deck onto the seabed.Initially this artefact was considered to be a condenser or a heat exchanger perhaps circle condenser but the discovery of a brass manufacturer's nameplate found whilst de-concreting the object and subsequent archival documentation has confirmed its identity to be a Chaplin distilling apparatus.
On recovery the artefact was found to be in very fragile condition with the cast iron shell badly corroded and incomplete. Additionally there is evidence to suggest that the artefact is missing many of its mountings such as the aerator, connecting pipes and donkey engine. It is inconclusive whether these materials were removed by agents operating under the direction of the owner Charles Edward Broadhurst
Charles Edward Broadhurst
Charles Edward Broadhurst was a pioneer pastoralist and pearler in colonial Western Australia. He was a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council in 1874 and 1875...
(1826 – 26 April 1905) in the initial salvaging of the wreck in 1872 or by treasure hunters in more recent times.
The Chaplin Distiller which was damaged during the excavation and treatment processes is currently being reconstructed at the Western Australian Museum
Western Australian Museum
The Western Australian Museum is the state museum for Western Australia.The Western Australian Museum has seven main sites: two in Perth within the Perth Cultural Centre, two in Fremantle , and one each in Albany, Geraldton, and Kalgoorlie-Boulder...
, by the Department of Maritime Archaeology. It is envisaged that this rebuilding process will be completed by 2012 and that it will be available for public viewing in the ‘Steamships to Suffragettes Gallery’ shortly thereafter.
Because of its fragmented state and damage to the coil it is not possible at this stage to provide exact dimensions for this apparatus. A rough estimate would suggest something in the order of 5 foot 3 inches but a definitive answer will be able to be determined once it is reassembled and the coil has been correctly aligned and integrated.
The Chaplin Distilling apparatus excavated from the SS Xantho
SS Xantho
Powered by a horizontal trunk engine, SS Xantho was a steam ship used in the colony of Western Australia as a pearling transport and mothership, as a tramp steamer, carrying passengers, including Aboriginal convicts and trade goods before she sank at Port Gregory, Western Australia in 1872.The...
is believed to be the only known example in existence and therefore can be regarded as a unique piece of maritime history that helps to explain how steamships and sailing vessels fitted with these devices were able to undertake prolonged voyages at sea with a minimal supply of fresh water.