Boiler

“ A very slight experience suffices to show that a pipe taken from the top of a boiler and given a direct or gradual rise to the point furthest from the boiler, and then returned and connected into it at the bottom will, upon the application of heat, cause the water to circulate. ”

“ In one end of a cylindrical high-pressure boiler, about 41⁄2 feet in diameter and 10 feet high, is fixed a false bottom, whereby the wood placed upon it may be removed from the liquor resulting from steam condensed in the chamber, the whole being mounted on lateral bearings which serve for the introduction of the vapour, and the wood is fed through a manhole at the upper end of the boiler. ”

“ The din of the frame shed and the unearthly noise of the pneumatic apparatus on the headstocks and plates is not to be compared with the tremendous uproar of the boiler shop. Here are no less than two hundred huge boilers, either new ones being made, or old ones undergoing repairs and engaging the attentions of four or five hundred boilersmiths, to say nothing of tubers and labourers hammering and battering away on the shells and interiors. There are boilers in every stage of construction and in every conceivable position on the stocks. ”

“ The boiler is to be filled with straw and alkaline solution and then closed fluid and steam-tight. The boiler is made to revolve slowly, say about one or two revolutions per minute, and the steam is to be admitted. I find it desirable to keep up the heat and pressure during about three hours after the pressure above mentioned has been obtained, when the process of boiling is complete. A steam-gauge proper y fixed upon the boiler will enable one to ascertain when the pressure has attained the required degree. ”

“ The boiler having been securely closed, the heat is raised till a pressure of 180 to 200 lbs. on the square inch is obtained, when the fire is withdrawn and the boiler allowed to cool, after which the ley is blown off, the top door removed, and the contents scalded. The discharge door is now opened and the pulp transferred to a poaching-engine to be washed with pure water, when the resin, &c., are easily removed and the clean fibres obtained, which, it is said, are longer and firmer than those obtained by other methods. ”

“ As the heat passes up the boiler tubes, after heating the bottom of the boiler, the water is heated and boiled, and the steam rises, filling the space between the water-level and the top of the boiler. ”

“ First, the boiler may be full and the water clean and clear; or, secondly, the boiler may not only be full but the water may be hot, very hot, hot enough to scald you, almost boiling; thirdly, it may be just one degree hotter and at the boiling point, giving forth its vapor in clouds of steam, pressing through the valves and driving the mighty piston which turns the wheels and propels the train of cars across the country. ”

“ In its travel broken fibres and dirt escape, and the grass arrives at the mouth of an upright cylindrical boiler, stationary, and so arranged that the boiling liquor is vomited over the mass of esparto. The boiler is filled, and a fairly strong solution of caustic soda is run in, the manhole is fastened down, and steam under pressure introduced. ”

“ The boiler that heats this house is about seven feet long, three deep, and three feet six inches wide, and consequently contains a large body of water, when once heated it gives out a great portion of caloric from its sides and surface, being placed at the back of the house, but in the interior, and concealed by the plants. ”

“ 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. ”

“ In the marine boiler the course taken by the products of combustion is as follows; the coal enters through the furnace doors on to the fire-bars, the heat and flames pass over the fire bridge into the flame or combustion chamber, thence through the tubes into the smoke-box, up the up-take and funnel into the air. ”

“ In the centre of the range is the grate, with an oven on one side and on the other a twelve-gallon boiler, in which water is kept hot for domestic purposes. Boiling water can be obtained by raking down live fuel into a small secondary grate under the boiler through a small hole made for the purpose. If desired, clothes can be boiled in the boiler and access to it from the scullery may be gained by opening a curved door. ”

“ Everything being arranged as described for applying the process, the boiler is completely filled with water and the cylinder is filled with water to one-third of its height, and then it is filled to the level of the upper cock, shown in the drawings, with the fatty substances to be decomposed, the latter substance or substances being above the water in the cylinder, which is still not filled, there being a vacant space in the cylinder above the fatty substance. Heat is then applied to the boiler, which is placed in a furnace where it may be exposed to fire. ”

“ As already stated, the life of a boiler setting is dependent to a large extent upon the material entering into its construction and the care with which such material is laid. A third and equally important factor in the determining of such life is the care given to the maintaining of the setting in good condition after the boiler is placed in operation. ”

“ The boilers should be of iron, two in number, — one for meal and the smaller one for flesh. The large boiler should render it necessary to be used not more than once in four days or a week. The food should be stirred for two hours, then transferred to flat coolers, until sufficiently gelatinous to be cut with a kind of spade. ”

“ The fittings to a marine boiler are—funnel and air casings, up-takes and air casings, smoke boxes and doors, fire doors, bars, bridges, and bearers, main steam stop valve, donkey valve, safety valves and drain pipes, main and donkey feed check valves, blow-off and scum cocks, water gauge glasses on front and back of boiler, test water cock for trying density of water, steam cock for whistle, and another for winches on deck. ”

“ It is composed of two parts, the boiler proper and the “economizer.” Each of these consists of several sets of elements placed side by side; those of the boiler Belleville.proper are situated immediately over the fire, and those of the economizer in the uptake above the boiler, the intervening space being designed to act as a combustion chamber. Each element is constructed of a number of straight tubes connected at their ends by means of screwed joints to junction-boxes which are made of malleable cast iron. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Bertrams' Rag Boiler.—An illustration of a spherical boiler, as manufactured by Bertrams, Limited, of Edinburgh, is given in Fig. 9. The shell of this boiler is made from malleable iron, is 8 feet in diameter and 9 feet deep. The boiler is constructed on what is termed the "vomiting" principle, by which a free circulation of the alkaline liquor is constantly maintained. These boilers are made to withstand any pressure of steam, but the size [30] given is usually worked at from 35 to 45 lbs. pressure, and carries about 30 cwt. of dry esparto. ”

“ To prevent the salt accumulating, a constant stream of boiling water is ejected from, and cold water in its stead injected into the boiler, which occasions a constant fluctuation in the height of water in the boiler, and requires a constant caution in the Engineer to prevent mischief. ”

“ The boiler being charged with the proper solution of caustic alkali or other suitable fluid, and with the material which is to be reduced to pulp, the plate d is placed upon it, and the cover G is screwed down tightly. The boiler A is then heated, either by a direct fire or by any other heating apparatus, and the mass in the boiler is boiled and stirred until thoroughly disintegrated. During this process the steam arising from the fluid rises through the perforated plate, d, and fills the expansion-chamber, C, when e it exerts a pressure upon the boiling mass in the boiler. ”

“ All they claim is that their invention consists of an apparatus wherein water and the fatty substances are heated separately in two different boilers, the first boiler being heated in the furnace, called in the specification the source of heat, while the second boiler, called the cylinder, is heated from the first boiler. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The heat more or less intercepted by these substances collects in the metal of the boiler, and raises it to a temperature far exceeding that of the water within. It may even, if the incrustation be great, be sufficient to render the boiler red-hot. These circumstances occasion the rapid wear of the boiler, and endanger its safety by softening it. ”

“ These last in stationary boilers usually consist of valves kept in their seats against the steam-pressure in the boiler by levers carrying weights, but in marine and locomotive boilers the valves are kept closed by means of steel springs. One at least of the safety-valves is fitted with easing gear by which it can be lifted at any time for blowing off the steam. Blow-out cocks are fitted for emptying the boiler.
Openings must always be made in boilers for access for cleaning and examination. When these are large enough to allow a man to enter the boiler they are termed man-holes. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Broadly stated, the evaporative capacity of a certain amount of heating surface in a well-designed boiler, that is, the boiler horse power it is capable of producing, is limited only by the amount of fuel that can be burned under the boiler. ”

“ As the particles of the steam have to escape to the surface of the water in the boiler, unless that is in proportion to the amount of steam to be generated, it will be delivered with such violence that the water will be mixed with it, and cause foaming. ”

“ The boiler should have been represented over a fireplace.
“To cause the revolution of a sphere on a pivot by means of a boiler placed over a fire.
“Let Α Β (Fig. 2 [10] ) be a boiler containing water and placed over a fire. It is closed by means of a cover, Γ Λ, which is traversed by a bent tube, Ε Ζ Η, whose extremity, Η, enters the hollow sphere, Θ Κ, in the direction of the latter’s diameter. ”

“ All boilers are, or should be, provided with ample accommodation for removing the incrustated deposit, which forms with moderate rapidity, as the water is continually boiling, and as evaporation in a steam boiler is very rapid, the supply of water is constantly being renewed, and each successive charge of water brings its proportion of lime to be deposited. ”

“ In No. 9, present volume, you illustrated a plan for setting steam boilers. I was much pleased with it and showed it to a friend of mine who was about re-setting a 60-horse power boiler in his machine shop. He adopted the plan. Four week's use of the improved furnace proves all you claimed for it. My friend will be one of your new subscribers. I shall, in a few days, re-set my 15-horse power boiler according to the plan. Every live mechanic should take your valuable journal. ”

“ A boiler, of thick sheet-iron, made to rest on the top of an arch, by which the sides would be free from heat, and only the bottom is exposed, is doubtless a secure and rapid process of evaporation. The sides and ends of the boiler may be made of well-seasoned boards, which will answer the same purpose as if made solely of sheet-iron. When the sap is boiled down into syrup or thin molasses, it must be taken out of the boiler and strained through a flannel cloth into a tub, where it should settle about twenty-four hours. ”

“ I place all the vessels, bottles or jars, upright in a boiler, which I then fill with cold water up to the necks of the vessels; I then cover the boiler with its lid, which is made to rest upon the vessels. I cover the upper part of the lid with a piece of wet linen, in order that the sides of the lid may exactly fit, and all evaporation from the water-bath be impeded as much as possible. ”

“ Once a week is usually often enough if the boiler is blown down a little every day. If your water is fairly good, once a month will be often enough. A boiler should be blown off about one gauge at a time two or three times a day with the blow-off if the water is muddy. ”