Pump room

“ The main feed pump is, even in the independent type, often placed in the engine room, while the auxiliary pump, or the injector, is in the fire room. The feed pumps draw usually from the hot well, feed heater and feed tanks and discharge through main feed pipe into the boiler.
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This “doctor” pump is a substantial piece of mechanism. The bases of columns and pump chamber flanges are accurately planed, the cylinder has spring piston packing and the plain slide valve is made of gun metal. ”

“ A well-sweep is of course picturesque, with its long swinging pole, and you seem to feel the refreshment and purity of the water when you see it brought up from such a distance; and an old roofed well with bucket, such as this one still in use at Bishop Berkeley's Rhode Island home is ever a homelike and companionable object. But a pump is really an awkward-looking piece of mechanism, and hasn't a vestige of beauty in its lines ”

“ There is nearly in front of our office, an old pump—a kind of town pump which every one mar use, and whose wet and bespattered base speaks plainer than sign boards could do, of water for man and horses; and a very excellent pump it is, too—never out of order, easily worked, and furnishing the purest, clearest, coolest water in the world. Many a thirsty school boy and omnibus driver has refreshed himself at that pump—the trackmen and draymen stop there and the old iron ladle that hangs by its side has been pressed to many a sweet and pretty lip. ”

“ Air-Cushions.—To prevent water-hammer on the pumping main, all pumps are provided with large air-chambers. In addition, and as the special feature for absorbing the shock of pumping under high pressure through a pipe 21 miles long, a large air-chamber in the form of a closed steel cylinder, 5 ft. in diameter and 15 ft. long, is mounted on the pumping main outside of the pump-house. This cylinder is set on its side, in concrete collars, directly over the pipe beneath, to which it is connected by a 12-in. ”

“ If you have sufficient water, it may be that there is air in the pump chamber, and the only way that it can get in is through the stuffing box around the plunger, if the pipes are all tight. Give this stuffing nut a turn, and if the pump starts off all right, you have found the trouble, and it would be well to re-pack the pump the first chance you get.
If the trouble is not in the stuffing box, go to the tank and see if there is anything over the screen or strainer at the end of the hose. If there is not, take hold of the hose and you can tell if there is any suction. ”

“ They have even begun to call the place Pump Court, as if I were no better than a common every-day pump! What is worst, there is an upstart just the other side of the way,—it lets out water to be sure, but it has nothing to say about it; it has no handle, and the water comes out by just turning a screw; altogether it is a very plebeian thing; it can know nothing of the pleasure of feeling a box go rumbling down your inside, and fetching up water from the depths of the earth. ”

“ Air chambers should be made as long in the neck as convenient, so that the water in passing through the pump barrel to the delivery pipe could not be forced up into the chamber, as, if such be the case, the air in the chamber is soon absorbed by the water.
Belt pumps are more economical than independent steam pumps, because the power they utilize is more nearly the equivalent of the power it takes to drive them, whereas in steam pumps there is a certain amount of steam, and therefore of power, expended in tripping the valves and in filling the clearance spaces in the cylinder. ”

“ The modern high buildings make such apparatus useless at the present time.
The numerous hand pumps would not receive notice here, were it not for the fact that one of them has been incorporated into a regular fire department. The Johnson pump, made by the National Manufacturing Company of Boston, is composed of a vertical cylinder and piston, provided with an air chamber. A short piece of hose that can be held in the hand is attached near the top. The pump is placed in a pail of water, and an adjustable clamp enables the operator to steady both pail and pump. ”

“ Every village pump is an apparatus for such experiments. In thousands of instances, moreover, pumps have refused to work; but on examination it has infallibly been found that the well was dry, that the pump required priming, or that some other defect in the apparatus accounted for the anomalous action. In every case of the kind the skill of the pump-maker has been found to be the true remedy. In no case has the pressure of the atmosphere ceased; constancy, as regards the lifting of pump-water, has been hitherto the demonstrated rule of nature. ”

“ And now, as if it were a monument raised to commemorate those dismal times, there stands, at a point where all the crossing footpaths meet, a huge town-pump, near ten feet high, carved and painted, with a great ball upon its top, and an iron ladle chained to its nose. In the torrid summer-days, from early morning till late at night, the old pump-handle has but little rest; for, though in a season of drought the neighboring wells are apt to run low, the ancient pump, like a steadfast friend, never fails at such a time of need. ”

“ Careful experiments on a large number of pumps of various makes at full speed, show that in a new pump with clean valves, and an air-tight suction pipe, and less than 15 feet lift, the actual delivery is only from 11⁄2 to 5 per cent. less than plunger displacement. This slip will increase with wear, and for a good average pump in practical use, probably 10 per cent. is a fair allowance to cover slip, valve leakage, slight short-stroke, etc. ”

“ A very useful pump, in regions where transportation is a problem, is the California pump. It is a rough chain-pump. A box 10 inches by 3 inches, inside measurement, and 10 feet to 30 feet in length, according to requirements, forms a tube reaching from the water to be removed to the level at which it is to be discharged. ”

“ The simplest form of compressed air pump consists of a closed chamber or tank immersed in the water, to be raised or fixed at such a level [Pg 95] that the water will flow into the tank. An air pipe is connected to the top of the chamber, and the rising main is carried inside the tank to the bottom. On opening the air valve, pressure is exerted on the surface of the water in the tank, and the water is expelled through the lift pipe or rising main. On closing the air valve, water again fills up the tank, and the process is repeated. ”

“ The balancing device referred to consists of two chambers, C and D, formed centrally in the bottom of the lowest section of the pump case. The large chamber, C, encloses a projecting hub, E, on the lower surface of the impeller. This hub of course rotates with the impeller, and the joint between the hub and the walls of the chamber is, therefore, loose enough to allow water from the delivery side of the last impeller to leak into chamber, C, and establish the full discharge pressure in that chamber. ”

“ The pump is usually of the centrifugal type and consists of a fan-shaped wheel operated in a snugly fitted housing. The water enters at the hub and is thrown out against the housing and is forced on by the rapid action of the fan blades. Another type of pump is used by some manufacturers which consist of two meshed gears of the same size, which operate in a snugly fitted housing. ”

“ To make this pump work I of course opened, and left open, the pump-pipe, so that the air from the interior rushed in and filled the tank as fast as the pump discharged the water, and at each stroke of the pump, after the first few, the boat, as I had hoped, began to rise; the water, having been just so much ballast to carry it down, being discharged by the pump, was just so much thrown overboard in weight to allow it to rise. ”

“ The air-lift is also very advantageous for pumping water which contains a large amount of sand or similar gritty material which would cut and score the walls of an ordinary piston pump. Air-lift pumping is frequently used, therefore, on new bore-holes until the sand, etc., has been eliminated, after which the final pump can be installed without fear of damage. ”

“ The diameter of the neck should not exceed one-third the diameter of the chamber. When the pumps work under pressure exceeding 85 or 90 pounds per square inch, it is frequently found that the air gradually disappears from the air chamber, the air passing off with the water by absorption. In this case air should be supplied to the air chamber unless the pump runs at very low speeds, say, from 10 to 20 strokes for the smaller sizes and from 3 to 5 strokes per minute for pumping engines. ”

“ A vacuum pump is an apparatus consisting of, 1, a chamber or barrel; 2, a suction pipe with a valve to prevent return flow; 3, a discharge pipe which has a valve which is closed when the chamber is emptied and, 4, a steam induction pipe provided with a valve that is opened when the chamber is filled with water and closed when the chamber is filled with steam.
It is not right to call an air pump a vacuum pump, as the latter does not move air alone; it removes water, vapor and air from the condenser to form a vacuum. An air pump is designed to pump air alone. ”

“ It is due very largely to the numerous designs of steam valves, that difficulty has been encountered in managing single-cylinder pumps as successfully as those of the duplex type, the similarity of construction in the latter type, even in minor details, being much more marked.
The successful operation of a pump depends to a great extent upon the intelligence displayed in its management, and an engineer can scarcely hope to obtain quiet and smooth running pumps and freedom from breakdowns and perplexing delays except by a thorough knowledge of the details of construction and operation. ”

“ This pump is very popular with the users of power driven pumps and is generally selected for high pressures and for hot or gritty water. Its simplicity of design and construction, together with the convenient arrangement of working parts, renders it desirable in isolated places where little attention is given to any kind of pumps. ”

“ Fig. 161 represents a double acting force pump used extensively on ship-board, wharves, around factories, mills, etc., and in residences, for tank pumping. On ships these pumps perform the three-fold purpose of filling boilers when cold, washing down decks and to satisfy government inspection as to fire protection; in service in mines they are unaffected by mine water, the working parts being made non-corrosive. It is claimed that a three-inch diameter cylinder with a stroke of four and a half inches with a 11⁄4-inch suction pipe and 1-inch discharge pipe will lift and force water 150 ft. ”

“ The full-stroke crosshead pump with which the Jenny Lind (fig. 22) is equipped, was of course the most common style of feed pump used in this country in the 19th century.
Of all the mechanisms on a 19th-century locomotive, the feed pump was the most troublesome. If an engineer could think of nothing else to complain about, he could usually call attention to a defective pump and not be found a liar. ”

“ Experience shows that duplex pumps are more certain of starting after long disuse. The whole power of the main cylinder is available for moving a corroded valve or valve rod, whereas on a single pump with a “steam-thrown” valve no such surplus of power is available.
Further, the direct acting duplex has the great advantage over a fly-wheel pump of not suffering breakage if water gets into steam cylinder. ”

“ This engraving is plain and requires no description. Fig. 170 shows a diaphragm pump in which a sheet of rubber or its equivalent is used as a substitute for a piston in a cylinder.
Fig. 170.
Note.—When an ox or a horse plunges his mouth into a stream, he dilates his chest and the atmosphere forces the liquid up into his stomach precisely as up the pipe of a pump. It is indeed in imitation of these natural pumps that water is raised in artificial ones. The thorax is the pump; the muscular energy of the animal, the power that works it ”

“ If the water level is less than twenty feet below ground, a shallow-well pump will be perfectly adequate and as it is much less expensive than the more elaborate deep-well pump, we recommend its use if possible. Most plumbers invariably advise the deep-well pump, especially for driven wells. They do this in all honesty and with no ulterior motive. There is always a bare chance that the water level may drop below the suction limit of the shallow pump under abnormal pressure. ”

“ In practice it is advisable to keep the pump always working, and to regulate the delivery to the boiler by means of a by-pass tap on the feed pipe, through which all or some of the water may be returned direct to the tank. ”

“ In both these cases it may be a simple matter to connect a small duplex pump with the installed boiler, as is done frequently in creameries, for the sake of pumping the necessary water-supply for the house. Whenever extensive improvements are contemplated, it is well worth while to consider the possibilities of one boiler operating the different kinds of machinery referred to. In Fig. 48 is shown a small pump, made by The Goulds Manufacturing Co., capable of lifting forty-eight gallons of water per minute against a head of a hundred feet. ”

“ Such a pump could not, of course, be economically used in practice on account of the friction of the column of water against a wide surface in the interior of the tube. It is necessary to consider the pistonless pump for what it is worth—an interesting experimental apparatus that any one can make for himself.—La Nature. ”