Note 12 — Chapter I · ON WATER AND ITS COMPOUNDS

When it is necessary to heat a considerable mass of liquid in different vessels, it would be very uneconomical to make use of metallic vessels and to construct a separate furnace for each; such cases are continually met with in practice. Steam from a boiler is introduced into the liquid, or, in general, into the vessel which it is required to heat. The steam, in condensing and passing into a liquid state, parts with its latent heat, and as this is very considerable a small quantity of steam will produce a considerable heating effect. If it be required, for instance, to heat 1,000 kilos of water from 20° to 50°, which requires approximately 30,000 units of heat, steam at 100° is passed into the water from a boiler. Each kilogram of water at 50° contains about 50 units of heat, and each kilogram of steam at 100° contains 637 units of heat; therefore, each kilogram of steam in cooling to 50° gives up 587 units of heat, and consequently 52 kilos of steam are capable of heating 1,000 kilos of water from 20° to 50°. Water is very often applied for heating in chemical practice. For this purpose metallic vessels or pans, called ‘water-baths,’ are made use of. They are closed by a cover formed of concentric rings lying on each other. The vessels—such as beakers, evaporating basins, retorts, &c.—containing liquids, are placed on these rings, and the water in the bath is heated. The steam given off heats the bottom of the vessels to be heated, and thus effects the evaporation or distillation.