Boiler room

“ In addition to these there are various other things almost essential for the proper doing of the work of the boiler room,—Fire and Water Pails, Lanterns, Rubber Hose, etc., which every wise steam user will provide of the best quality and which the engineer will as carefully keep in their appointed places ready for instant service. ”

“ An enormous amount of heat must be lost through the extended surface of the brick boiler setting. It is always observed that the hotter a boiler-room is kept the greater the efficiency of the boiler becomes. ”

“ Even the brick setting of a boiler looks very much better when nicely whitewashed than when of its natural color, and if the ceiling and walls of the boiler room are also whitewashed the effect is quite pleasing, more healthful and conduces greatly to cleanliness. ”

“ An arrangement in common use in Cornish and Lancashire boilers consists of a number of radial slits in the outer door which can be closed or opened at will in the same manner as an ordinary window ventilator. Other and more complicated arrangements have been frequently devised, which work admirably so long as they remain in order, but the frequent banging to which furnace doors are subjected, even in factory boilers, soon deranges delicate mechanism. ”

“ If the hot-water boiler in the kitchen is surrounded by an [Pg 71] enclosure which has an opening in the bottom, and which connects from above with the pipe duct previously described, there will be a current of warm air passing upward through the pipe duct as long as there is warm water in the boiler. The water in the boiler will be warm long after everything else is cold. This will insure safety from freezing when other helps fail.
The cistern water is supplied to the bath-room, and to the hot-water reservoir, by means of a tank placed in the attic, or at least above the highest fixture. ”

“ The kitchen boiler is to-day almost always made of galvanized iron and is placed on its own stand, usually back of the kitchen stove, although it may stand in an adjoining room,—the bath-room, for instance,—and aid in keeping that room warm. Such a tank costs about $12, to which must be added the necessary piping, and it is always desirable to put a stop-cock on the cold-water supply entering the tank. ”

“ It must not be forgotten either that a boiler adapted for the purpose can be placed, as well beneath as beside the conservatory to be heated, for the pipes in which the water circulates may range vertically or horizontally at discretion, provided the work is well done. In many cases a gas apparatus might be adapted to heat a bath-room and a plant house, and afford the additional convenience of management within doors, without any occasion for exposure to the night air in the winter season. ”

“ As these particles ascend it leaves a space which the cooler air eagerly hastens to fill; in the boiler furnace, the hot air pushing its way up the chimney, is replaced through the grate bars with cool, fresh air.
It is the mingling of this fresh air with the combustibles that produces heat, and the power of the draught is absolutely necessary to the reliable operation of the furnace.
An excess of draught can be corrected by the use of a damper or even by the closing of the ash pit doors, but no more unhappy position for an engineer can be imagined than a deficiency of draught. ”

“ The feed water is hotter and fresh; being hotter, it saves the fuel that would be used to bring it up to this heat; and being fresh it boils at a lower temperature. 2. Not forming so much scale inside the boiler, the heat passes through to the water more readily; and as the scum cock is not used so freely, all the heat that would have been blown off is saved. Its disadvantages are that being fresh water and forming no scale on the boiler, it causes the boiler to rust. ”

“ Staying of Flat Surfaces.—When boilers are formed principally of flat plates, like low-pressure marine boilers, or the fire-boxes of locomotive boilers, the form contributes nothing to the strength, which must, therefore, be provided for by staying the opposite furnaces together. ”

“ The stove-room, where a huge fire is kept up day and night all the year round, is situated at the back of the bath building. It is underground, and a large portion of its floor is covered with piles of logs, the fuel used for heating the water of the bath. The furnace itself is very much like an oven upon which is placed a huge boiler. ”

“ In conveying the cooked food from the kitchen, in houses where there is no lift, the heavy weighted dishes have to be conveyed down, the emptied and lighter dishes upstairs. The hot water from the kitchen boiler is distributed easily by conducting pipes into the lower rooms, so that in every room and bedroom hot and cold water can at all times be obtained for washing or cleaning purposes; and as on every floor there is a sink for receiving waste water, the carrying of heavy pails from floor to floor is not required. ”

“ Not only is this immense force to be withstood, but owing to the fact that the boiler grows weak with age—a safety factor of six has been adopted by inspectors, i.e., the boiler must be made six times as strong as needed in every day working practice. ”

“ When feed water is taken from the hot well, it will save 7 to 8 per cent.
Where all the steam generated by a boiler is used in the engine and the exhaust passed through a heater it is found by actual experiment, where iron tubes are used in the heater, that approximately ten square feet of heating surface will be required for each 30 lbs. of water supplied to the boiler at a temperature of 200 degrees Fahr. ”

“ Even when vigilant precautions are observed, from the moment a steam boiler is constructed until it is finally destroyed there are numerous insidious agents perpetually at work which tend to weaken it. ”

“ The kitchen fire-place is no larger than is requisite for roasting; all the other processes being performed either in the oven, the steaming vessels, or at the gas stoves. These stoves are placed in the bay of a large window, thus giving the cook the advantage of a good light above the level of the pans. A close boiler at the back of the grate affords steam for the cooking utensils and for a hot closet; it also contains a coil of iron tubing, through which the water of a bath, placed in a dressing-room on the chamber floor, is made to circulate when a hot bath is wanted. ”

“ The Franklin stoves in the large room would give the radiating warmth and cheerful blaze of an open fire, while radiating heat also from all their surfaces. In cold weather, the air of the larger chambers could be tempered by registers admitting warm air from the stove-room, which would always be sufficiently moistened by evaporation from the stationary boiler. The conservatories in winter, protected from frost by double sashes, would contribute agreeable moisture to the larger rooms. ”

“ The mud drum should be periodically examined and the sediment removed; blow-off cocks and check valves should be examined each time the boiler is cleaned; when surface blow-cocks are used they should be often opened for a few minutes at a time; be sure that all openings for air to boiler or flues except through the fire, are carefully stopped.
If a boiler is not required for some time, empty and dry it thoroughly. If this is impracticable, fill it quite full of water and put in a quantity of washing soda; and external parts exposed to dampness should receive a coating of linseed oil. ”

“ The view below represents the interior of one of the great boiler rooms where the boilers are put together by riveting the plates to each other at their edges. Some men stand inside, holding heavy sledges against the heads of the rivets, while others on the outside, with other sledges, beat down the part of the iron which protrudes, so as to form another head to each rivet, on the outside. This process can be seen distinctly in the boiler nearest to the observer in the view below. ”

“ In designing boilers with stayed surfaces, care should be taken that the opposite plates connected by any system of stays should, as far as possible, be of equal area, otherwise there is sure to be an unequal distribution of load in the stays, some receiving more than their proper share, and moreover, the least supported plate is exposed to the danger of buckling. ”

“ Both the boiler house and the engine house have five tiers of floor framing below the flat portion of the roof, the three upper tiers of the engine house forming galleries on each side of the operating room, which is clear for the full height of the building. ”

“ A pipe C is used for heating the liquor by means of waste steam at the commencement of the operation. The grass is fed into the boiler at the opening D. At E E are gauges for showing the height of the liquor in the boiler, F F F are pipes for the supply of steam, strong ley, and water, and the door G is for the discharge of the boiled grass. Each boiler is capable of holding 3 tons of esparto, and the boiling is completed in about two and a half hours, at [46] a pressure of from 35 to 40 lbs. per square inch. It is said that the boiler effects a saving both in time and the amount of soda used. ”

“ The boilers are placed over the furnaces, and the same fire which heats the water of the boiler, passes along the flue; the steam tube of the boiler is laid on [135] the top of the flue, and extends no farther than it extends. It is evident, therefore, that scarcely any advantage can result from the use of the boiler, unless it be that the heat is thus sent more effectually to the opposite end of the house to that at which the fire enters, or that the vapour is very readily admitted from the steam-pipe to fill the air of the house. ”

“ The boilers are upright cylinders, about 5 feet in diameter and 16 feet high, with semi-spherical ends, provided inside with straight perforated diaphragms, between which the chips from one cord of wood are confined. A solution of caustic soda, at 12° B., is introduced with the chips, and fires are started in a furnace underneath. At other works the boilers are heated by steam circulating through a jacket which covers the bottom and sides of the boiler. ”

“ Then a large receiver, into which meat, fowl, or fish is put to be cooked, is fitted on tight over the boiling water, and shut off from all possibility of being touched by steam or water by a close-fitting cover. Above this two other pans, or boilers, for vegetables, custards, etc., can be fitted with tight cover also; [Pg 219] and the whole boiler, which is about as large but higher than an ordinary wash-boiler, is also closely covered. Very little fuel will keep the water boiling hot when once it has reached that point, as no heat can escape by evaporation. ”

“ Water-ways thin enough to heat water rapidly. Quality and position of heating surface must not allow for waste of heat. 65% of heating surface should be in direct contact with heat, 35% in flue surface. Response to your dampers will show you if you have 65% of your heating surface in direct contact with flame! Go and see the best hot water boiler in your vicinity—before you buy consult your engineer and ask about others. ”

“ The boilers are generally internally fired, the furnace plates being surrounded with water and forming the most efficient portion of the heating surfaces. On leaving the furnace the products of combustion are led into a chamber and thence through flues or through numerous small tubes which serve to transmit some of the heat of combustion to the water contained in the boiler. ”

“ It commonly happens, however, that the house best adapted for gas-heating occupies a position adjacent to an entrance-hall or some other apartment, in which the boiler can be placed for both use and ornament. ”

“ Independent boilers are made in every conceivable size and form of construction, and many of them are capable of doing excellent work. In the choice of a boiler of this description it should be remembered that rapid heating, economical combustion of fuel, and facilities for cleaning, are requisites, the absence of any of which considerably lowers the efficiency of the apparatus. Boilers set in brickwork are sometimes used in domestic work, although they are more favoured for horticultural heating. ”

“ Amongst the essentials are a receptacle capable of containing the water and the steam produced by its evaporation, and strong enough continuously to withstand with safety the highest pressure of steam for which the boiler is intended. Another essential is a furnace for burning the fuel, and a further one is the provision of a sufficiency of heating surface for the transmission of the heat produced by the combustion of the fuel to the water which is required to be evaporated. ”

“ Incrustations on the heating surface not only lessen the efficiency of the boiler by obstructing the transmission of heat through the plates and tubes, but if excessive they become a source of considerable danger by permitting the plates to become overheated and thereby weakened. When the feed-water is very impure, therefore, the boilers used are those which permit of very easy cleaning, such as the Lancashire, Galloway and Cornish types, to the exclusion of multitubular or water-tube boilers in which thorough cleaning is more difficult. ”

“ The gases available for this class of work are almost invariably very dirty. It is essential for the successful operation of waste-heat boilers that ample provision be made for cleaning by the installation of access doors through which all parts of the setting may be reached. In many instances, such as waste-heat boilers set in connection with cement kilns, settling chambers are provided for the dust before the gases reach the boiler. ”