308. Q.—What precautions can be taken to prevent boiler explosions?

A.—One useful precaution against the explosion of boilers from too great an internal pressure, consists in the application of a steam gauge to each boiler, which will make the existence of any undue pressure in any of the boilers immediately visible; and every boiler should have a safety valve of its own, the passage leading to which should have no connection with the passage leading to any of the stop valves used to cut off the connection between the boilers; so that the action of the safety valve may be made independent of the action of the stop valve. In some cases stop valves have jammed, or have been carried from their seats into the mouth of the pipe communicating between them, and the action of the safety valves should be rendered independent of all such accidents. Safety valves, themselves, sometimes stick fast from corrosion, from the spindles becoming bent, from a distortion of the boiler top with a high pressure, in consequence of which the spindles become jammed in the guides, and from various other causes which it would be tedious to enumerate; but the inaction of the safety valves is at once indicated by the steam gauge, and when discovered, the blow through valves of the engine and blow off cocks of the boiler should at once be opened, and the fires raked out. A cone in the ball of the waste steam pipe to send back the water carried upward by the steam, should never be inserted; as in some cases this cone has become loose, and closed up the mouth of the waste steam pipe, whereby the safety valves being rendered inoperative, the boiler was in danger of bursting.

309. Q.—May not danger arise from excessive priming?

A.—If the water be carried out of the boiler so rapidly by priming that the level of the water cannot be maintained, and the flues or furnaces are in danger of becoming red hot, the best plan is to open every furnace door and throw in a few buckets full of water upon the fire, taking care to stand sufficiently to the one side to avoid being scalded by the rush of steam from the furnace. There is no time to begin drawing the fires in such an emergency, and by this treatment the fires, though not altogether extinguished, will be rendered incapable of doing harm. If the flues be already red hot, on no account must cold water be suffered to enter the boiler, but the heat should be maintained in the furnaces, and the blow off cocks be opened, or the mud hole doors loosened, so as to let all the water escape; but at the same time the pressure must be kept quite low in the boiler, so that there will be no danger of the hot flues collapsing with the pressure of the steam.

310. Q.—Are plugs of fusible metal useful in preventing explosions?

A.—Plugs of fusible metal were at one time in much repute as a precaution against explosion, the metal being so compounded that it melted with the heat of high pressure steam; but the device, though ingenious, has not been found of any utility in practice. The basis of fusible metal is mercury, and it is found that the compound is not homogeneous, and that the mercury is forced by the pressure of the steam out of the interstices of the metal combined with it, leaving a porous metal which is not easily fusible, and which is, therefore, unable to perform its intended function. In locomotives, however, and also in some other boilers, a lead rivet is inserted with advantage in the crown of the fire box, which is melted out if the water becomes too low, and thus gives notice of the danger.

311. Q.—May not explosion occur in marine boilers from the accumulation of salt on the flues?

A.—Yes, in marine boilers this is a constant source of danger, which is only to be met by attention on the part of the engineer. If the water in the boiler be suffered to become too salt, an incrustation of salt will take place on the furnaces, which may cause them to become red hot, and they may then be collapsed even by their own weight aided by a moderate pressure of steam. The expedients which should be adopted for preventing such an accumulation of salt from taking place within the boiler as will be injurious to it, properly fall under the head of the management of steam boilers, and will be explained in a subsequent chapter.



CHAPTER VI.

PROPORTIONS OF ENGINES.

* * * * *

STEAM PASSAGES.

312. Q.—What size of orifice is commonly allowed for the escape of the steam through the safety valve in low pressure engines?

A.—About 0.8 of a circular inch per horse power, or a circular inch per 1-1/4 horse power. The following rule, however, will give the dimensions suitable for all kinds of engines, whether high or low pressure:—multiply the square of the diameter of the cylinder in inches by the speed of the piston in feet per minute, and divide the product by 375 times the pressure on the boiler per square inch; the quotient is the proper area of the safety valve in square inches. This rule of course supposes that the evaporating surface has been properly proportioned to the engine power.

313. Q.—Is this rule applicable to locomotives?

A.—It is applicable to high pressure engines of every kind. The dimensions of safety valves, however, in practice are very variable, being in some cases greater, and in some cases less, than what the rule gives, the consideration being apparently as often what proportions will best prevent the valve from sticking in its seat, as what proportions will enable the steam to escape freely. In Bury's locomotives, the safety valve was generally 2-1/2 inches diameter for all sizes of boiler, and the valve was kept down by a lever formed in the proportion of 5 to 1, fitted at one end with a Salter's balance. As the area of the valve was 5 square inches, the number of pounds shown on the spring balance denoted the number of pounds pressure on each square inch of the boiler.

314. Q.—Is there only one safety valve in a locomotive boiler?

A.—There are always two.

315. Q.—And are they always pressed down by a spring balance, and never by weights?

A.—They are never pressed down by weights; in fact, weights would not answer on a locomotive at all, as they would jump up and down with the jerks or jolts of the train, and cause much of the steam to escape. In land and marine boilers, however, the safety valve is always kept down by weights; but in steam vessels a good deal of steam is lost in stormy weather by the opening of the valve, owing to the inertia of the weights when the ship sinks suddenly in the deep recess between the waves.

316. Q.—What other sizes of safety valves are used in locomotives?

A.—Some are as large as 4 inches diameter, giving 12 square inches of area; and others are as small as 1-3/16 inch diameter, giving 1 square inch of area.

317. Q.—And are these valves all pressed down by a Salter's spring balance?

A.—In the great majority of cases they are so, and the lever by which they are pressed down is generally graduated in the proportion of the area of the valve to unity; that is, in the case of a valve of 12 inches area, the long end of the lever to which the spring balance is attached is 12 times the length of the short end, so that the weight or pressure on the balance shows the pressure per square inch on the boiler. In some cases, however, a spiral spring, and in other cases a pile of elliptical springs, is placed directly upon the top of the valve, and it appears desirable that one of the valves at least should be loaded in this manner. It is difficult when the lever is divided in such a proportion as 12 to 1, to get sufficient lift of the valve without a large increase of pressure on the spring; and it appears expedient, therefore, to employ a shorter lever, which involves either a reduction in the area of the valve, or an increased strength in the spring.

318. Q.—What are the proper dimensions of the steam passages?

A.—In slow working engines the common size of the cylinder passages is one twenty-fifth of the area of the cylinder, or one fifth of the diameter of the cylinder, which is the same thing. This proportion corresponds very nearly with one square inch per horse power when the length of the cylinder is about equal to its diameter; and one square inch of area per horse power for the cylinder ports and eduction passages answers very well in the case of engines working at the ordinary speed of 220 feet per minute. The area of the steam pipe is usually made less than the area of the eduction pipe, especially when the engine is worked expansively, and with a considerable pressure of steam. In the case of ordinary condensing engines, however, working with the usual pressure of from 4 to 8 lbs. above the atmosphere, the area of the steam pipe is not less than a circular inch per horse power. In such engines the diameter of the steam pipe may be found by the following rule: divide the number of nominal horse power by 0.8 and extract the square root of the quotient, which will be the internal diameter of the steam pipe.

319. Q.—Will you explain by what process of computation these proportions are arrived at?

A.—The size of the steam pipe is so regulated that there will be no material disparity of pressure between the cylinder and boiler; and in fixing the size of the eduction passage the same object is kept in view. When the diameter of the cylinder and the velocity with which the piston travels are known, it is easy to tell what the velocity of the steam in the steam pipe will be; for if the area of the cylinder be 25 times greater than that of the steam pipe, the steam in the steam pipe must travel 25 times faster than the piston, and the difference of pressure requisite to produce this velocity of the steam can easily be ascertained, by finding what height a column of steam must be to give that velocity, and what the weight or pressure is of such a column. In practice, however, this proportion is always exceeded from the condensation of steam in the pipe.

320. Q.—If the relation you have mentioned subsist between the area of the steam passages and the velocity of the piston, then the passages must be larger when the piston travels very rapidly?

A.—And they are so made. The area of the ports of locomotive engines is usually so proportioned as to be from 1/10th to 1/8th the area of the cylinder—in some cases even as much as 1/6th; and in all high speed engines the ports should be very large, and the valve should have a good deal of travel so as to open the port very quickly. The area of port which it appears advisable to give to modern engines of every description, is expressed by the following rule:—multiply the area of the cylinder in square inches by the speed of the piston in feet per minute, and divide the product by 4,000; the quotient is the area of each cylinder port in square inches. This rule gives rather more than a square inch of port per nominal horse power to condensing engines working at the ordinary speed; but the excess is but small, and is upon the right side. For engines travelling very fast it gives a good deal more area than the common proportion, which is too small in nearly every case. In locomotive engines the eduction pipe passes into the chimney and the force of the issuing steam has the effect of maintaining a rapid draught through the furnace as before explained. The orifice of the waste steam pipe, or the blast pipe as it is termed, is much contracted in some engines with the view of producing a fiercer draught, and an area of 1/22d of the cylinder is a common proportion; but this is as much contraction as should be allowed, and is greater than is advisable.

321. Q.—In engines moving at a high rate of speed, you have stated that it is important to give the valve lead, or in other words to allow the steam to escape before the end of the stroke?

A.—Yes, this is very important, else the piston will have to force out the steam from the cylinder, and will be much resisted. Near the end of the stroke the piston begins to travel slowly, and if the steam be then permitted to escape, very little of the effective stroke is lost, and time is afforded to the steam, before the motion of the piston is again accelerated, to make its escape by the port. In some locomotives, from inattention to this adjustment, and from a contracted area of tube section, which involved a strong blast, about half the power of the engine has been lost; but in more recent engines, by using enlarged ports and by giving sufficient lead, this loss has been greatly diminished.

322. Q.—What do you call sufficient lead?

A.—In fast going engines I would call it sufficient lead, when the eduction port was nearly open at the end of the stroke.

323. Q.—Can you give any example of the benefit of increasing the lead?

A.—The early locomotives were made with very little lead, and the proportions were in fact very much the same as those previously existing in land engines. About 1832, the benefits of lap upon the valve, which had been employed by Boulton and Watt more than twenty years before, were beginning to be pretty generally apprehended; and, in the following year, this expedient of economy was applied to the steamer Manchester, in the Clyde, and to some other vessels, with very marked success. Shortly after this time, lap began to be applied to the valves of locomotives, and it was found that not only was there a benefit from the operation of expansion, but that there was a still greater benefit from the superior facility of escape given to the steam, inasmuch as the application of lap involved the necessity of turning the eccentric round upon the shaft, which caused the eduction to take place before the end of the stroke. In 1840, one of the engines of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway was altered so as to have 1 inch lap on the valve, and 1 inch opening on the eduction side at the end of the stroke, the valve having a total travel of 4-1/4 inches. The consumption of fuel per mile fell from 36.3 lbs. to 28.6 lbs, or about 25 per cent., and a softer blast sufficed. By using larger exhaust passages, larger tubes, and closer fire bars, the consumption was subsequently brought down to 15 lbs. per mile.



AIR PUMP, CONDENSER, AND HOT AND COLD WATER PUMPS.

324. Q.—Will you state the proper dimensions of the air pump and condenser in laud and marine engines?

A—Mr. Watt made the air pump of his engine half the diameter of the cylinder and half the stroke, or one eighth of the capacity, and the condenser was usually made about the same size as the air pump; but as the pressure of the steam has been increased in all modern engines, it is better to make the air pump a little larger than this proportion. 0.6 of the diameter of the cylinder and half the stroke answers very well, and the condenser may be made as large as it can be got with convenience, though the same size as the air pump will suffice.

325. Q.—Are air pumps now sometimes made double acting?

A.—Most of the recent direct acting marine engines for driving the screw are fitted with a double acting air pump, and when the air pump is double acting, it need only be about half the size that is necessary when it is single acting. It is single acting in nearly every case, except the case of direct acting screw engines of recent construction.

326. Q.—What is the difference between a single and a double acting air pump?

A.—The single acting air pump expels the air and water from the condenser only in the upward stroke of the pump, whereas a double acting air pump expels the air and water both in the upward and downward stroke. It has, therefore, to be provided with inlet and outlet valves at both ends, whereas the single acting pump has only to be provided with an inlet or foot valve, as it is termed, at the bottom, and with an outlet or delivery valve, as it is termed, at the top. The single acting air pump requires to be provided with a valve or valves in the piston or bucket of the pump, to enable the air and water lying below the bucket when it begins to descend, and which have entered from the condenser during the upward stroke, to pass through the bucket into the space above it during the downward stroke, from whence they are expelled into the atmosphere on the upward stroke succeeding. But in the double acting air pump no valve is required in the piston or bucket of the pump, and all that is necessary is an inlet and outlet valve at each end.

337. Q—What are the dimensions of the foot and discharge valves of the air pump?

A.—The area through the foot and discharge valves is usually made equal to one fourth of the area of the air pump, and the diameter of the waste water pipe is made one fourth of the diameter of the cylinder, which gives an area somewhat less than that of the foot and discharge valve passages. But this proportion only applies in slow engines. In fast engines, with the air pump bucket moving as fast as the piston, the area through the foot and discharge valves should be equal to the area of the pump itself, and the waste water pipe should be of about the same dimensions.

328. Q.—You have stated that double acting air pumps need only be of half the size of single acting ones. Does that relation hold at all speeds?

A.—It holds at all speeds if the velocity of the pump buckets are in each case the same; but it does not hold if the engine with the single acting pump works slowly, and the engine with the double acting pump moves rapidly, as in the case of direct acting screw engines. All pumps moving at a high rate of speed lose part of their efficiency, and such pumps should therefore be of extra size.

329. Q.—How do you estimate the quantity of water requisite for condensation?

A.—Mr. Watt found that the most beneficial temperature of the hot well of his engines was 100 degrees. If, therefore, the temperature of the steam be 212 deg., and the latent heat 1,000 deg., then 1,212 deg. may be taken to represent the heat contained in the steam, or 1,112 deg. if we deduct the temperature of the hot well. If the temperature of the injection water be 50 deg., then 50 degrees of cold are available for the abstraction of heat; and as the total quantity of heat to be abstracted is that requisite to raise the quantity of water in the steam 1,112 degrees, or 1,112 times that quantity one degree, it would raise one fiftieth of this, or 22.24 times the quantity of water in the steam, 50 degrees. A cubic inch of water therefore raised into steam will require 22.24 cubic inches of water at 50 degrees for its condensation, and will form therewith 23.24 cubic inches of hot water at 100 degrees. Mr. Watt's practice was to allow about a wine pint (28.9 cubic inches) of injection water, for every cubic inch of water evaporated from the boiler.

330. Q.—Is not a good vacuum in an engine conducive to increased power?

A.—It is.

331. Q.—And is not the vacuum good in the proportion in which the temperature is low, supposing there to be no air leaks?

A.—Yes.

332. Q.—Then how could Mr. Watt find a temperature of 100 deg. in the water drawn from the condenser, to be more beneficial than a temperature of 70 deg. or 80 deg., supposing there to be an abundant supply of cold water?

333. A.—Because the superior vacuum due to a temperature of 70 deg. or 80 deg. involves the admission of so much cold water into the condenser, which has afterward to be pumped out in opposition to the pressure of the atmosphere, that the gain in the vacuum does not equal the loss of power occasioned by the additional load upon the pump, and there is therefore a clear loss by the reduction of the temperature below 100 deg., if such reduction be caused by the admission of an additional quantity of water. If the reduction of temperature, however, be caused by the use of colder water, there is a gain produced by it, though the gain will within certain limits be greater if advantage be taken of the lowness of the temperature to diminish the quantity of injection.

334. Q.—How do you determine the proper area of the injection orifice?

A.—The area of the injection orifice proper for any engine can easily be told when the quantity of water requisite to condense the steam is known, and the pressure is specified under which the water enters the condenser. The vacuum in the condenser may be taken at 26 inches of mercury, which is equivalent to a column of water 29.4 ft. high, and the square root of 29.4 multiplied by 8.021 is 43.15, which is the velocity in feet per second that a heavy body would acquire in falling 29.4 ft., or with which the water would enter the condenser. Now, if a cubic foot of water evaporated per hour be equivalent to an actual horse power, and 28.9 cubic inches of water be requisite for the condensation of a cubic inch of water in the form of steam, 28.9 cubic feet of condensing water per horse power per hour, or 13.905 cubic inches per second, will be necessary for the engine, and the size of the injection orifice must be such that this quantity of water flowing with the velocity of 43.15 ft. per second, or 517.8 inches per second, will gain admission to the condenser. Dividing, therefore, 13.905, the number of cubic inches to be injected, by 517.8, the velocity of influx in inches per second, we get 0.02685 for the area of the orifice in square inches; but inasmuch as it has been found by experiment that the actual discharge of water through a hole in a thin plate is only six tenths of the theoretical discharge on account of the contracted vein, the area of the orifice must be increased in the proportion of such diminution of effect, or be made 0.04475, or 1/22d of a square inch per horse power. This, it will be remarked, is the theoretical area required per actual horse power; but as the friction and contractions in the pipe further reduce the discharge, the area is made 1/15th of a square inch per actual horse power, or rather per cubic foot of water evaporated from the boiler.

335. Q.—Cannot the condensation of the steam be accomplished by any other means than by the admission of cold water into the condenser?

A.—It may be accomplished by the method of external cold, as it is called, which consists in the application of a large number of thin metallic surfaces to the condenser, on the one side of which the steam circulates, while on the other side there is a constant current of cold water, and the steam is condensed by coming into contact with the cold surfaces, without mingling with the water used for the purpose of refrigeration. The first kind of condenser employed by Mr. Watt was constructed after this fashion, but he found it in practice to be inconvenient from its size, and to become furred up or incrusted when the water was bad, whereby the conducting power of the metal was impaired. He therefore reverted to the use of the jet of cold water, as being upon the whole preferable. The jet entered the condenser instead of the cylinder as was the previous practice, and this method is now the one in common use. Some few years ago, a good number of steam vessels were fitted with Hall's condensers, which operated on the principle of external cold, and which consisted of a faggot of small copper tubes surrounded by water; but the use of those condensers has not been persisted in, and most of the vessels fitted with them have returned to the ordinary plan.

336. Q.—You stated that the capacity of the feed pump was 1/240th of the capacity of the cylinder in the case of condensing engines,—the engine being double acting and the pump single acting,—and that in high pressure engines the capacity of the pump should be greater in proportion to the pressure of the steam. Can you give any rule that will express the proper capacity for the feed pump at all pressures?

A.—That will not be difficult. In low pressure engines the pressure in the boiler may be taken at 5 lbs. above the atmospheric pressure, or 20 lbs. altogether; and as high pressure steam is merely low pressure steam compressed into a smaller compass, the size of the feed pump in relation to the size of the cylinder must obviously vary in the direct proportion of the pressure; and if it be 1/240th of the capacity of the cylinder when the total pressure of the steam is 20 lbs., it must be 1/120th of the capacity of the cylinder when the pressure is 40 lbs. per square inch, or 25 lbs. per square inch above the atmospheric pressure. This law of variation is expressed by the following rule:—multiply the capacity of the cylinder in cubic inches by the total pressure of the steam in lbs. per square inch, or the pressure per square inch on the safety valve plus 15, and divide the product by 4,800; the quotient is the capacity of the feed pump in cubic inches, when the feed pump is single acting and the engine double acting. If the feed pump be double acting, or the engine single acting, the capacity of the pump must just be one half of what is given by this rule.

337. Q.—But should not some addition be made to the size of pump thus obtained if the pump works at a high rate of speed?

A.—No; this rule makes allowance for defective action. All pumps lift much less water than is due to the size of their barrels and the number of their strokes. Moderately good pumps lose 50 per cent. of their theoretical effect, and bad pumps 80 per cent.

338. Q.—To what is this loss of effect to be chiefly ascribed?

A.—Mainly to the inertia of the water, which, if the pump piston be drawn up very rapidly, cannot follow it with sufficient rapidity; so that there may be a vacant space between the piston and the water; and at the return stroke the momentum of the water in the pipe expends itself in giving a reverse motion to the column of water approaching the pump. Messrs. Kirchweger and Prusman, of Hanover, have investigated this subject by applying a revolving cock at the end of a pipe leading from an elevated cistern containing water, and the water escaped at every revolution of the cock in the same manner as if a pump were drawing it. With a column of water of 17 feet, they found that at 80 revolutions of the cock per minute, the water delivered per minute by the cock was 9.45 gallons; but with 140 revolutions of the cock per minute, the water delivered per minute by the cock was only 5.42 gallons. They subsequently applied an air vessel to the pipe beside the cock, when the discharge rose to 12.9 gallons per minute with 80 revolutions, and 18.28 gallons with 140 revolutions. Air vessels should therefore be applied to the suction side of fast moving pumps, and this is now done with good results.

339. Q.—What are the usual dimensions of the cold water pump of land engines?

A.—If to condense a cubic inch of water raised into steam 28.9 cubic inches of condensing water are required, then the cold water pump ought to be 28.9 times larger than the feed pump, supposing that its losses were equally great. The feed pump, however, is made sufficiently large to compensate for leaks in the boiler and loss of steam through the safety valve, so that it will be sufficient if the cold water pump be 24 times larger than the feed pump. This ratio is preserved by the following rule:— multiply the capacity of the cylinder in cubic inches by the total pressure of the steam per square inch, or the pressure on the safety valve plus 15, and divide the product by 200. The quotient is the proper capacity of the cold water pump in cubic inches when the engine is double acting, and the pump single acting.



FLY WHEEL.

340. Q.—By what considerations do you determine the dimensions of the fly wheel of an engine?

A.—By a reference to the power generated, each half stroke of the engine, and the number of half strokes that are necessary to give to the fly wheel its standard velocity, supposing the whole power devoted to that object. In practice the power resident in the fly varies from 2-1/2 to 6 times that generated each half stroke; and if the weight of the wheel be equal to the pressure on the piston, its velocity must be such as it would acquire by falling through a height equal to from 2-1/2 to 6 times the stroke, according to the purpose for which the engine is intended. If a very equable motion is required, a heavier or swifter fly wheel must be employed.

341. Q.—What is Boulton and Watt's rule for fly wheels?

A.—Their rule is one which under any given circumstances fixes the sectional area of the fly wheel rim, and it is as follows:—multiply 44,000 times the square of the diameter of the cylinder in inches by the length of the stroke in feet, and divide this product by the product of the square of the number of revolutions of the fly wheel per minute, multiplied by the cube of its diameter in feet. The quotient is the area of section of the fly wheel rim in square inches.



STRENGTHS OF LAND ENGINES.

342. Q.—Can you give a rule for telling the proper thickness of the cylinders of steam engines?

A.—In low pressure engines the thickness of metal of the cylinder, in engines of a medium size, should be about 1/40th of the diameter of the cylinder, which, with a pressure of steam of 20 lbs. above the atmosphere, will occasion a strain of only 400 Lbs. per square inch of section of the metal; the thickness of the metal of the trunnion bearings of oscillating engines should be 1/32d of the diameter of the cylinder, and the breadth of the bearing should be about half its diameter. In high pressure engines the thickness of the cylinder should be about 1/16th its diameter, which, with a pressure of steam of 80 lbs. upon the square inch, will occasion a strain of 640 lbs. upon the square inch of section of the metal; and the thickness of the metal of the trunnion bearings of high pressure oscillating engines should be 1/13th of the diameter of the cylinder. The strength, however, is not the sole consideration in proportioning cylinders, for they must be made of a certain thickness, however small the pressure is within them, that they may not be too fragile, and will stand boring. While, also, an engine of 40 inches diameter would be about one inch thick, the thickness would not be quite two inches in an 80 inch cylinder. In fact there will be a small constant added to the thickness for all diameters, which will be relatively larger the smaller the cylinders become. In the cylinders of Penn's 12 horse power engines, the diameter of cylinder being 21-1/2 inches, the thickness of the metal is 9/16ths: in Penn's 40 inch cylinders, the thickness is 1 inch, and in the engines of the Ripon, Pottinger, and Indus, by Messrs. Miller, Ravenhill and Co., with cylinders 76 inches diameter, the thickness of the metal is 1-11/16. These are all oscillating engines.

343. Q.—What is the proportion of the piston rod?

A.—The diameter of the piston rod is usually made 1/10th of the diameter of the cylinder, or the sectional area of the piston rod is 1/100th of the area of the cylinder. This proportion, however, is not applicable to locomotive, or even fast moving marine engines. In locomotive engines the piston rod is made 1/7th of the diameter of the cylinder, and it is obvious that where the pressure on the piston is great, the piston rod must be larger than when the pressure on the piston is small.

344. Q.—What are the proper dimensions of the main links of a land beam engine?

A.—The sectional area of the main links in land beam engines is 1/113th of the area of the cylinder, and the length of the main links is usually half the length of the stroke.

345. Q.—What are the dimensions of the connecting rod of a land engine?

A.—In land engines the connecting rod is usually of cast iron with a cruciform section: the breadth across the arms of the cross is about 1/20th of the length of the rod, the sectional area at the centre 1/28th of the area of the cylinder, and at the ends 1/35th of the area of the cylinder: the length of the rod is usually 3-1/2 times the length of the stroke. It is preferable, however, to make the connecting rod of malleable iron, and then the dimensions will be those proper for marine engines.

346. Q.—What was Mr. Watt's rule for the connecting rod?

A.—Some of his connecting rods were of iron and some of wood. To determine the thickness when of wood, multiply the square of the diameter of the cylinder in inches by the length of the stroke in feet, and divide the product by 24. Extract the fourth root of the quotient, which is the thickness in inches. For iron the rule is the same, only the divisor was 57.6 instead of 24.

347. Q.—What are the dimensions of the end studs of a land engine beam?

A.—In low pressure engines the diameter of the end studs of the engine beam are usually made 1/9th of the diameter of the cylinder when of cast iron, and 1/10th when of wrought iron, which gives a load with low steam of about 500 lbs. per circular inch of transverse section; but a larger size is preferable, as with large bearings the brasses do not wear so rapidly and the straps are not so likely to be burst by the bearings becoming oval. These sizes, as also those which immediately follow, suppose the pressure on the piston to be 18 lbs. per circular inch.

348. Q.—How is the strength of a cast iron gudgeon computed?

A.—To find the proper size of a cast iron gudgeon adapted to sustain any given weight:—multiply the weight in lbs. by the intended length of bearing expressed in terms of the diameter; divide the product by 500, and extract the square root of the quotient, which is the diameter in inches.

349. Q.—What was Mr. Watt's rule for the strength of gudgeons?

A.—Supposing the gudgeon to be square, then, to ascertain the thickness, multiply the weight resting on the gudgeon by the distance between the trunnions, and divide the product by 333. Extract the cube root of the quotient, which is the thickness in inches.

350. Q.—How do you find the proper strength for the cast iron beam of a land engine?

A.—If the force acting at the end of an engine beam be taken at 18 lbs. per circular inch of the piston, then the force acting at the middle will be 36 lbs. per circular inch of the piston, and the proper strength of the beam at the centre will be found by the following rule:—divide the weight in lbs. acting at the centre by 250, and multiply the quotient by the distance between the extreme centres. To find the depth, the breadth being given:—divide this product by the breadth in inches, and extract the square root of the quotient, which is the depth. The depth of a land engine beam at the ends is usually made one third of the depth at the centre (the depth at the centre being equal to the diameter of the cylinder in the case of low pressure engines), while the length is made equal to three times the length of the stroke, and the mean thickness 1/108th of the length—the width of the edge bead being about three times the thickness of the web. In many modern engines the force acting at the end of the beam is more than 18 lbs. per circular inch of the piston, but the above rules are still applicable by taking an imaginary cylinder with an area larger in the proportion of the larger pressure.

351. Q.—What was Mr. Watt's rule for the main beams of his engines?

A.—Some of those beams were of wood and some of cast iron. The wood beams were so proportioned that the thickness was 1/58th of the circumference, and the depth 1/375. The side of the beam, supposing it square, was found by multiplying the diameter of the cylinder by the length of the stroke, and extracting the cube root of the quotient, which will be the depth or thickness of the beam. This rule allows a beam 16 feet long to bend 1/8th of an inch, and a beam 32 feet long to bend 1/4 of an inch. For cast iron beams the square of the diameter of the cylinder, multiplied by the length between the centres, is equal to the square of the depth, multiplied by the thickness.

352. Q.—What law does the strength of beams and shafts follow?

A.—In the case of beams subjected to a breaking force, the strength with any given cohesion of the material will be proportional to the breadth, multiplied by the square of the depth; and in the case of revolving shafts exposed to a twisting strain, the strength with any given cohesive power of the material will be as the cube of the diameter.

353. Q.—How is the strength of a cast iron shaft to resist torsion determined?

A.—Experiments upon the force requisite to twist off cast iron necks show that if the cube of the diameter of neck in inches be multiplied by 880, the product will be the force of torsion which will twist them off when acting at 6 inches radius; on this fact the following rule is founded: To find the diameter of a cast iron fly wheel shaft:—multiply the square of the diameter of the cylinder in inches, by the length of the crank in inches, and extract the cube root of the product, which multiply by 0.3025, and the result will be the proper diameter of the shaft in inches at the smallest part, when of cast iron.

354. Q.—What was Mr. Watt's rule for the necks of his crank shafts?

A.—Taking the pressure on the piston at 12 lbs. pressure on the square inch, and supposing this force to be applied at one foot radius, divide the total pressure of the piston reduced to 1 foot of radius by 31.4, and extract the cube root of the quotient, which is the diameter of the shaft: or extract the cube root of 13.7 times the number of cubic feet of steam required to make one revolution, which is also the diameter of the shaft.

355. Q.—Can you give any rule for the strength of the teeth of wheels?

A.—To find the proper dimensions for the teeth of a cast iron wheel:— multiply the diameter of the pitch circle in feet by the number of revolutions to be made per minute, and reserve the product for a divisor; multiply the number of actual horses power to be transmitted by 240, and divide the product by the above divisor, which will give the strength. If the pitch be given to find the breadth, divide the above strength by the square of the pitch in inches; or if the breadth be given, then to find the pitch divide the strength by the breadth in inches, and extract the square root of the quotient, which is the proper pitch in inches. The length of the teeth is usually about 5/8ths of the pitch. Pinions to work satisfactorily should not have less than 30 or 40 teeth, and where the speed exceeds 220 feet in the minute, the teeth of the larger wheel should be of wood, made a little thicker, to keep the strength unimpaired.

356. Q.—What was Mr. Watt's rule for the pitch of wheels?

A.—Multiply five times the diameter of the larger wheel by the diameter of the smaller, and extract the fourth root of the product, which is the pitch.



STRENGTH OF MARINE AND LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES.

357. Q.—Cannot you give some rules of strength which will be applicable whatever pressure may be employed?

A.—In the rules already given, the effective pressure may be reckoned at from 18 to 20 lbs. upon every square inch of the piston, as is usual in land engines; and if the pressure upon every square inch of the piston be made twice greater, the dimensions must just be those proper for an engine of twice the area of piston. It will not be difficult, however, to introduce the pressure into the rules as an element of the computation, whereby the result will be applicable both to high and low pressure engines.

358. Q.—Will you apply this mode of computation to a marine engine, and first find the diameter of the piston rod?

A.—The diameter of the piston rod may be found by multiplying the diameter of the cylinder in inches, by the square root of the pressure on the piston in lbs. per square inch, and dividing by 50, which makes the strain 1/7th of the elastic force.

359. Q.—What will be the rule for the connecting rod, supposing it to be of malleable iron?

A.—The diameter of the connecting rod at the ends, may be found by multiplying 0.019 times the square root of the pressure on the piston in lbs. per square inch by the diameter of the cylinder in inches; and the diameter of the connecting rod in the middle may be found by the following rule:—to 0.0035 times the length of the connecting rod in inches, add 1, and multiply the sum by 0.019 times the square root of the pressure on the piston in lbs. per square inch, multiplied by the diameter of the cylinder in inches. The strain is equal to 1/6th of the elastic force.

360. Q.—How will you find the diameter of the cylinder side rods of a marine engine?

A.—The diameter of the cylinder side rods at the ends may be found by multiplying 0.0129 times the square root of the pressure on the piston in lbs. per square inch by the diameter of the cylinder; and the diameter of the cylinder side rods at the middle is found by the following rule:—to 0.0035 times the length of the rod in inches, add 1, and multiply the sum by 0.0129 times the square root of the pressure on the piston in lbs. per square inch, multiplied by the diameter of the cylinder in inches; the product is the diameter of each side rod at the centre in inches. The strain upon the side rods is by these rules equal to 1/6th of the elastic force.

361. Q.—How do you determine the dimensions of the crank?

A.—To find the exterior diameter of the large eye of the crank when of malleable iron:—to 1.561 times the pressure of the steam upon the piston in lbs. per square inch, multiplied by the square of the length of the crank in inches, add 0.00494 times the square of the diameter of the cylinder in inches, multiplied by the square of the number of lbs. pressure per square inch on the piston; extract the square root of this quantity; divide the result by 75.59 times the square root of the length of the crank in inches, and multiply the quotient by the diameter of the cylinder in inches; square the product and extract the cube root of the square, to which add the diameter of the hole for the reception of the shaft, and the result will be the exterior diameter of the large eye of the crank when of malleable iron. The diameter of the small eye of the crank may be found by adding to the diameter of the crank pin 0.02521 times the square root of the pressure on the piston in lbs. per square inch, multiplied by the diameter of the cylinder in inches.

362. Q.—What will be the thickness of the crank web?

A.—The thickness of the web of the crank, supposing it to be continued to the centre of the shaft, would at that point be represented by the following rule:—to 1.561 times the square of the length of the crank in inches, add 0.00494 times the square of the diameter of the cylinder in inches, multiplied by the pressure on the piston in lbs. per square inch; extract the square root of the sum, which multiply by the diameter of the cylinder squared in inches, and by the pressure on the piston in lbs. per square inch; divide the product by 9,000, and extract the cube root of the quotient, which will be the proper thickness of the web of the crank when of malleable iron, supposing the web to be continued to the centre of the shaft. The thickness of the web at the crank pin centre, supposing it to be continued thither, would be 0.022 times the square root of the pressure on the piston in lbs. per square inch, multiplied by the diameter of the cylinder. The breadth of the web of the crank at the shaft centre should be twice the thickness, and at the pin centre 1-1/2 times the thickness of the web; the length of the large eye of the crank would be equal to the diameter of the shaft, and of the small eye 0.0375 times the square root of the pressure on the piston in lbs. per square inch, multiplied by the diameter of the cylinder.

363. Q.—Will you apply the same method of computation to find the dimensions of a malleable iron paddle shaft?

A.—The method of computation will be as follows:—to find the dimensions of a malleable iron paddle shaft, so that the strain shall not exceed 5/6ths of the elastic force, or 5/6ths of the force iron is capable of withstanding without permanent derangement of structure, which in tensile strains is taken at 17,800 lbs. per square inch: multiply the pressure in lbs. per square inch on the piston by the square of the diameter of the cylinder in inches, and the length of the crank in inches, and extract the cube root of the product, which, multiplied by 0.08264, will be the diameter of the paddle shaft journal in inches when of malleable iron, whatever the pressure of the steam may be. The length of the paddle shaft journal should be 1-1/4 times the diameter; and the diameter of the part where the crank is put on is often made equal to the diameter over the collars of the journal or bearing.

364. Q.—How do you find the diameter of the crank pin?

A.—The diameter of the crank pin in inches may be found by multiplying 0.02836 times the square root of the pressure on the piston in lbs. per square inch, by the diameter of the cylinder in inches. The length of the pin is usually about 9/8th times its diameter, and the strain if all thrown upon the end of the pin will be equal to the elastic force; but in ordinary working, the strain will only be equal to 1/3d of the elastic force.

365. Q.—What are the dimensions of the cross head?

A.—If the length of the cross head be taken at 1.4 times the diameter of the cylinder, the dimensions of the cross head will be as follows:—the exterior diameter of the eye in the cross head for the reception of the piston rod, will be equal to the diameter of the hole, plus 0.02827 times the cube root of the pressure on the piston in lbs. per square inch, multiplied by the diameter of the cylinder in inches; and the depth of the eye will be 0.0979 times the cube root of the pressure on the piston in lbs. per square inch, multiplied by the diameter of the cylinder in inches. The diameter of each cross head journal will be 0.01716 times the square root of the pressure on the piston in lbs. per square inch, multiplied by the diameter of the cylinder in inches—the length of the journal being 9/8ths its diameter. The thickness of the web at centre will be 0.0245 times the cube root of the pressure on the piston in lbs. per square inch, multiplied by the diameter of the cylinder in inches; and the depth of web at centre will be 0.09178 times the cube root of the pressure on the piston in lbs. per square inch, multiplied by the diameter of the cylinder in inches. The thickness of the web at journal will be 0.0122 times the square root of the pressure on the piston in lbs. per square inch, multiplied by the diameter of the cylinder in inches; and the depth of the web at journal will be 0.0203 times the square root of the pressure upon the piston in lbs. per square inch, multiplied by the diameter of the cylinder in inches. In these rules for the cross head, the strain upon the web is 1/2.225 times the elastic force; the strain upon the journal in ordinary working is 1/2.33 times the elastic force; and if the outer ends of the journals are the only bearing points, the strain is 1/1.165 times the elastic force, which is very little in excess of the elastic force.

366. Q.—How do you find the diameter of the main centre when proportioned according to this rule?

A.—The diameter of the main centre may be found by multiplying 0.0367 times the square root of the pressure upon the piston in lbs. per square inch, by the diameter of the cylinder in inches, which will give the diameter of the main centre journal in inches when of malleable iron, and the length of the main centre journal should be 1-1/2 times its diameter; the strain upon the main centre journal in ordinary working will be about 1/2 the elastic force.

367. Q.—What are the proper dimensions of the gibs and cutters of an engine?

A.—The depth of gibs and cutters for attaching the piston rod to the cross head, is 0.0358 times the cube root of the pressure of the steam on the piston in lbs. per square inch, multiplied by the diameter of the cylinder; and the thickness of the gibs and cutters is 0.007 times the cube root of the pressure on the piston in lbs. per square inch, multiplied by the diameter of its cylinder. The depth of the cutter through the piston is 0.017 times the square root of the pressure on the piston in lbs. per square inch, multiplied by the diameter of the cylinder in inches; and the thickness of the cutter through the piston is 0.007 times the square root of the pressure on the piston in lbs. per square inch, multiplied by the diameter of the cylinder.

368. Q.—Are not some of the parts of an engine constructed according to these rules too weak, when compared with the other parts?

A.—It is obvious, from the varying proportions subsisting in the different parts of the engine between the strain and the elastic force, that in engines proportioned by these rules—which represent nevertheless the average practice of the best constructors—some of the parts must possess a considerable excess of strength over other parts, and it appears expedient that this disparity should be diminished, which may best be done by increasing the strength of the parts which are weakest; inasmuch as the frequent fracture of some of the parts shows that the dimensions at present adopted for those parts are scarcely sufficient, unless the iron of which they are made is of the best quality. At the same time it is quite certain, that engines proportioned by these rules will work satisfactorily where good materials are employed; but it is important to know in what parts good materials and larger dimensions are the most indispensable. In many of the parts, moreover, it is necessary that the dimensions should be proportioned to meet the wear and the tendency to heat, instead of being merely proportioned to obtain the necessary strength; and the crank pin is one of the parts which requires to be large in diameter, and as long as possible in the bearing, so as to distribute the pressure, and prevent the disposition to heat which would otherwise exist. The cross head journals also should be long and large; for as the tops of the side rods have little travel, the oil is less drawn into the bearings than if the travel was greater, and is being constantly pressed out by the punching strain. This strain should therefore be reduced as far as possible by its distribution over a large surface. In the rules which are contained in the answers to the ten preceding questions (358 to 367) the pressure on the piston in lbs. per square inch is taken as the sum of the pressure of steam in the boiler and of the vacuum; the latter being assumed to be 15 lbs. per square inch.



CHAPTER VII.

CONSTRUCTIVE DETAILS OF BOILERS.

* * * * *

LAND AND MARINE BOILERS.

369. Q.—Will you explain the course of procedure in the construction and setting of wagon boilers?

A.—Most boilers are made of plates three eighths of an inch thick, and the rivets are from three eighths to three fourths of an inch in diameter. In the bottom and sides of a wagon boiler the heads of the rivets, or the ends formed on the rivets before they are inserted, should be large and placed next the fire, or on the outside; whereas on the top of the boiler the heads should be on the inside. The rivets should be placed about two inches distant from centre to centre, and the centre of the row of rivets should be about one inch from the edge of the plate. The edges of the plates should be truly cut, both inside and outside, and after the parts of the boiler have been riveted together, the edges of the plates should be set up or caulked with a blunt chisel about a quarter of an inch thick in the point, and struck by a hammer of about three or four pounds weight, one man holding the caulking tool while another strikes.

370. Q.—Is this the usual mode of caulking?

A.—No, it is not the usual mode; but it is the best mode, and is the mode adopted by Mr. Watt. The usual mode now is for one man to caulk the seams with a hammer in one hand and a caulking chisel in the other, and in some of the difficult corners of marine flue boilers it is not easy for two men to get in. A good deal of the caulking has also sometimes to be done with the left hand.

371. Q.—Should the boiler be proved after caulking?

A.—The boiler should be filled with water and caulked afresh in any leaky part. When emptied again, all the joints should be painted with a solution of sal ammoniac in urine, and so soon as the seams are well rusted they should be dried with a gentle fire, and then be painted over with a thin putty formed of whiting and linseed oil, the heat being continued until the putty becomes so hard that it cannot be readily scratched with the nail, and care must be taken neither to burn the putty nor to discontinue the fire until it has become quite dry.

372. Q.—How should the brickwork setting of a wagon boiler be built?

A.—In building the brickwork for the setting of the boiler, the part upon which the heat acts with most intensity is to be built with clay instead of mortar, but mortar is to be used on the outside of the work. Old bars of flat iron may be laid under the boiler chime to prevent that part of the boiler from being burned out, and bars of iron should also run through the brickwork to prevent it from splitting. The top of the boiler is to be covered with brickwork laid in the best lime, and if the lime be not of the hydraulic kind, it should be mixed with Dutch terrass, to make it impenetrable to water. The top of the boiler should be well plastered with this lime, which will greatly conduce to the tightness of the seams. Openings into the flues must be left in convenient situations to enable the flues to be swept out when required, and these openings may be closed with cast iron doors jointed with clay or mortar, which may be easily removed when required. Adjacent to the chimney a slit must be left in the top of the flue with a groove in the brickwork to enable the sliding door or damper to be fixed in that situation, which by being lowered into the flue will obstruct the passage of the smoke and moderate the draught, whereby the chimney will be prevented from drawing the flame into it before the heat has acted sufficiently upon the boiler.

373. Q.—Are marine constructed in the same way as land boilers?

A.—There is very little difference in the two cases: the whole of the shells of marine boilers, however, should be double riveted with rivets 11/16ths of an inch in diameter, and 2-3/8th inches from centre to centre, the weakening effect of double riveting being much less than that of single riveting. The furnaces above the line of bars should be of the best Lowmoor, Bowling, or Staffordshire scrap plates, and the portion of each furnace above the bars should consist only of three plates, one for the top and one for each side, the lower seam of the side plates being situated beneath the level of the bars, so as not to be exposed to the heat of the furnace. The tube plates of tubular boilers should be of the best Lowmoor, or Bowling iron, seven eighths to one inch thick: the shells should be of the best Staffordshire, or Thornycroft S crown iron, 7/16ths of an inch thick.

374. Q.—Of what kind of iron should the angle iron or corner iron be composed?

A.—Angle iron should not be used in the construction of boilers, as in the manufacture it becomes reedy, and is apt to split up in the direction of its length: it is much the safer practice to bend the plates at the corners of the boiler; but this must be carefully done, without introducing any more sharp bends than can be avoided, and plates which require to be bent much should be of Lowmoor iron. It will usually be found expedient to introduce a ring of angle iron around the furnace mouths, though it is discarded in the other parts of the boiler; but it should be used as sparingly as possible, and any that is used should be of the best quality.

375. Q.—Is it not important to have the holes in the plates opposite to one another?

A.—The whole of the plates of a boiler should have the holes for the rivets punched, and the edges cut straight, by means of self-acting machinery, in which a travelling table carries forward the plate with an equal progression every stroke of the punch or shears; and machinery of this kind is now extensively employed. The practice of forcing the parts of boilers together with violence, by means of screw-jacks, and drifts through the holes, should not be permitted; as a great strain may thus be thrown upon the rivets, even when there is no steam in the boiler. All rivets should be of the best Lowmoor iron. The work should be caulked both within and without wherever it is accessible, but in the more confined situations within the flues the caulking will in many cases have to be done with the hand or chipping hammer, instead of the heavy hammer previously prescribed.

376. Q.—How is the setting of marine boilers with internal furnaces effected?

A.—In the setting of marine boilers care must be taken that no copper bolts or nails project above the wooden platform upon which they rest, and also that no projecting copper bolts in the sides of the ship touch the boiler, as the galvanic action in such a case would probably soon wear the points of contact into holes. The platform may consist of three inch planking laid across the keelsons nailed with iron, nails, the heads of which are well punched down, and caulked and puttied like a deck. The surface may then be painted over with thin putty, and fore and aft boards of half the thickness may then be laid down and nailed securely with iron nails, having the heads well punched down. This platform must then be covered thinly and evenly with mastic cement and the boiler be set down upon it, and the cement must be caulked beneath the boiler by means of wooden caulking tools, so as completely to fill every vacuity. Coomings of wood sloped on the top must next be set round the boiler, and the space between the coomings and the boiler must be caulked full of cement, and be smoothed off on the top to the slope of the coomings, so as to throw off any water that might be disposed to enter between the coomings and the boiler.

377. Q.—How is the cement used for setting marine boilers compounded?

A.—Mastic cement proper for the setting of boilers is sold in many places ready made. Hamelin's mastic is compounded as follows:—to any given weight of sand or pulverized earthenware add two thirds such given weight of powdered Bath, Portland, or other similar stone, and to every 560 lbs. weight of the mixture add 40 lbs. weight of litharge, 2 lbs. of powdered glass or flint, 1 lb. of minium, and 2 lbs. of gray oxide of lead; pass the mixture through a sieve, and keep it in a powder for use. When wanted for use, a sufficient quantity of the powder is mixed with some vegetable oil upon a board or in a trough in the manner of mortar, in the proportion of 605 lbs. of the powder to 5 gallons of linseed, walnut, or pink oil, and the mixture is stirred and trodden upon until it assumes the appearance of moistened sand, when it is ready for use. The cement should be used on the same day as the oil is added, else it will be set into a solid mass.

378. Q.—What is the best length of the furnaces of marine boilers?

A.—It has already been stated that furnace bars should not much exceed six feet in length, as it is difficult to manage long furnaces; but it is a frequent practice to make the furnaces long and narrow, the consequence of which is, that it is impossible to fire them effectually at the after end, especially upon long voyages and in stormy weather, and air escapes into the flues at the after end of the bars, whereby the efficacy of the boiler is diminished. Where the bars are very long it will generally be found that an increased supply of steam and a diminished consumption of coal will be the consequence of shortening them, and the bars should always lie with a considerable inclination to facilitate the distribution of the fuel over the after part of the furnace. When there are two lengths of bars in the furnace, it is expedient to make the central cross bar for bearing up the ends double, and to leave a space between the ends of the bars so that the ashes may fall through between them. The space thus left enables the bars to expand without injury on the application of heat, whereas without some such provision the bars are very liable to get burned out by bending up in the centre, or at the ends, as they must do if the elongation of the bars on the application of heat be prevented; and this must be the effect of permitting the spaces at the ends of the bars to be filled up with ashes. At each end of each bed of bars it is expedient to leave a space which the ashes cannot fill up so as to cause the bars to jam; and care must be taken that the heels of the bars do not come against any of the furnace bearers, whereby the room left at the end of the bars to permit the expansion would be rendered of no avail.

379. Q.—Have you any remarks to offer respecting the construction and arrangement of the furnace bridges and dampers of marine boilers?

A.—The furnace bridges of marine boilers are walls or partitions built up at the ends of the furnaces to narrow the opening for the escape of heat into the flues. They are either made of fire brick or of plate iron containing water: in the case of water bridges, the top part of the bridge should be made with a large amount of slant so as to enable the steam to escape freely, but notwithstanding this precaution the plates of water bridges are apt to crack at the bend, so that fire brick bridges appear on the whole to be preferable. In shallow furnaces the bridges often come too near the furnace top to enable a man to pass over them; and it will save expense if in such bridges the upper portion is constructed of two or three fire blocks, which may be lifted off where a person requires to enter the flues to sweep or repair them, whereby the perpetual demolition and reconstruction of the upper part of the bridge will be prevented.

380. Q.—What is the benefit of bridges?

A.—Bridges are found in practice to have a very sensible operation in increasing the production of steam, and in some boilers in which the brick bridges have been accidentally knocked down by the firemen, a very considerable diminution in the supply of steam has been experienced. Their chief operation seems to lie in concentrating the heat within the furnace to a higher temperature, whereby the heat is more rapidly transmitted from the furnace to the water, and less heat has consequently to be absorbed by the flues. In this way the bridges render the heating surface of a boiler more effective, or enable a smaller amount of heating surface to suffice.

381. Q.—Are the bridges behind the furnaces the only bridges used in steam boilers?

A.—It is not an uncommon practice to place a hanging bridge, consisting of a plate of iron descending a certain distance into the flue, at that part of the flue where it enters the chimney, whereby the stratum of hot air which occupies the highest part of the flue is kept in protracted contact with the boiler, and the cooler air occupying the lower part of the flue is that which alone escapes. The practice of introducing a hanging bridge is a beneficial one in the case of some boilers, but is not applicable universally, as boilers with a small calorimeter cannot be further contracted in the flue without a diminution in their evaporating power. In tubular boilers a hanging bridge is not applicable, but in some cases a perforated plate is placed against the ends of the tubes, which by suitable connections is made to operate as a sliding damper which partially or totally closes up the end of every tube, and at other times a damper constructed in the manner of a venetian blind is employed in the same situation. These varieties of damper, however, have only yet been used in locomotive boilers, though applicable to tubular boilers of every description.

382. Q.—Is it a benefit to keep the flues or tubes appertaining to each furnace distinct?

A.—In a flue boiler this cannot be done, but in a tubular boiler it is an advantage that there should be a division between the tubes pertaining to each furnace, so that the smoke of each furnace may be kept apart from the smoke of the furnace adjoining it until the smoke of both enters the chimney, as by this arrangement a furnace only will be rendered inoperative in cleaning the fires instead of a boiler, and the tubes belonging to one furnace may be swept if necessary at sea without interfering injuriously with the action of the rest. In a steam vessel it is necessary at intervals to empty out one or more furnaces every watch to get rid of the clinkers which would otherwise accumulate in them; and it is advisable that the connection between the furnaces should be such that this operation, when being performed on one furnace, shall injure the action of the rest as little as possible.

383. Q.—Can any constructive precautions be taken to prevent the furnaces and tube plates of the boiler from being burned by the intensity of the heat?

A.—The sides of the internal furnaces or flues in all boilers should be so constructed that the steam may readily escape from their surfaces, with which view it is expedient to make the bottom of the flue somewhat wider than the top, or slightly conical in the cross section; and the upper plates should always be overlapped by the plates beneath, so that the steam cannot be retained in the overlap, but will escape as soon as it is generated. If the sides of the furnace be made high and perfectly vertical, they will speedily be buckled and cracked by the heat, as a film of steam in such a case will remain in contact with the iron which will prevent the access of the water, and the iron of the boiler will be injured by the high temperature it must in that case acquire. To moderate the intensity of the heat acting upon the furnace sides, it is expedient to bring the outside fire bars into close contact with the sides of the furnace, so as to prevent the entrance of air through the fire in that situation, by which the intensity of the heat would be increased. The tube plate nearest the furnace in tubular boilers should also be so inclined as to facilitate the escape of the steam; and the short bent plate or flange of the tube plate, connecting the tube plate with the top of the furnace, should be made with a gradual bend, as, if the bend be sudden, the iron will be apt to crack or burn away from the concretion of salt. Where the furnace mouths are contracted by bending in the sides and top of the furnace, as is the general practice, the bends should be gradual, as salt is apt to accumulate in the pockets made by a sudden bend, and the plates will then burn into holes.

384. Q.—In what manner is the tubing of boilers performed?

A.—The tubes of marine boilers are generally iron tubes, three inches in diameter, and between six and seven feet long; but sometimes brass tubes of similar dimensions are employed. When brass tubes are employed, the use of ferules driven into the ends of the tubes is sometimes employed to keep them tight; but when the tubes are of malleable iron, of the thickness of Russell's boiler tubes, they may be made tight merely by firmly driving them into the tube plates, and the same may be done with thick brass tubes. The holes in the tube plate next the front of the boiler are just sensibly larger in diameter than the holes in the other tube plate, and the holes upon the outer surfaces of both tube plates are very slightly countersunk. The whole of the tubes are driven through both tube plates from the front of the boiler,—the precaution, however, being taken to drive them in gently at first with a light hand hammer, until the whole of the tubes have been inserted to an equal depth, and then they may be driven up by degrees with a heavy hammer, whereby any distortion of the holes from unequal driving will be prevented. Finally, the ends of the tubes should be riveted up so as to fill the countersink; the tubes should be left a little longer than the distance between the outer surfaces of the tube plates, so that the countersink at the ends may be filled by staving up the end of the tube rather than by riveting it over; and the staving will be best accomplished by means of a mandril with a collar upon it, which is driven into the tube so that the collar rests upon the end of the tube to be riveted; or a tool like a blunt chisel with a recess in its point may be used, as is the more usual practice.

385. Q.—Should not stays be introduced in substitution of some of the tubes?

A.—It appears expedient in all cases that some of the tubes should be screwed at the ends, so as to serve as stays if the riveting at the tube ends happens to be burned away, and also to act as abutments to the riveted tube—or else to introduce very strong rods of about the same diameter as a tube, in substitution of some of the tubes; and these stays should have nuts at each end both within and without the tube plates, which nuts should be screwed up, with white lead interposed, before the tubes are inserted. If the tubes are long, their expansion when the boiler is being blown off will be apt to start them at the ends, unless very securely fixed; and it is difficult to prevent brass tubes of large diameter and proportionate length from being started at the ends, even when secured by ferules; but the brass tubes commonly employed are so small as to be susceptible of sufficient compression endways by the adhesion due to the ferules to compensate for the expansion, whereby they are prevented from starting at the ends. In some, of the early marine boilers fitted with brass tubes, a galvanic action at the ends of the tubes was found to take place, and the iron of the tube plates was wasted away in consequence, with rapidity; but further experience proved the injury to be attributable chiefly to imperfect fitting, whereby a leakage was caused that induced oxidation, and when, the tubes were well fitted any injurious action at the ends of the tubes was found to cease.

386. Q.—What is the best mode of constructing the chimney and the parts in connection therewith?

A.—In sea-going steamers the funnel plates are usually about nine feet long and 3/16ths thick; and where different flues or boilers have their debouch in the same chimney, it is expedient to run division plates up the chimney for a considerable distance, to keep the draughts distinct. The dampers should not be in the chimney but at the end of the boiler flue, so that they may be available for use if the funnel by accident be carried away. The waste steam pipe should be of the same height as the funnel, so as to carry the waste steam clear of it, for if the waste steam strikes the funnel it will wear the iron into holes; and the waste steam pipes should be made at the bottom with a faucet joint, to prevent the working of the funnel, when the vessel rolls, from breaking the pipe at the neck. There should be two hoops round the funnel, for the attachment of the funnel shrouds, instead of one, so that the funnel may not be carried overboard if one hoop breaks, or if the funnel breaks at the upper hoop from the corrosive action of the waste steam, as sometimes happens. The deck over the steam chest should be formed of an iron plate supported by angle iron beams, and there should be a high angle iron cooming round the hole in the deck through which the chimney ascends, to prevent any water upon the deck from leaking down upon the boiler. Around the lower part of the funnel there should be a sheet iron casing to prevent any inconvenient dispersion of heat in that situation, and another short piece of casing, of a somewhat larger diameter, and riveted to the chimney, should descend over the first casing, so as to prevent the rain or spray which may beat against the chimney from being poured down within the casing upon the top of the boiler. The pipe for conducting away the waste water from the top of the safety valve should lead overboard, and not into the bilge of the ship, as inconvenience arises from the steam occasionally passing through it, if it has its termination in the engine room.

387. Q.—Are not the chimneys of some vessels made so that they may be lowered when required?

A.—The chimneys of small river vessels which have to pass under bridges are generally formed with a hinge, so that they may be lowered backward when passing under a bridge; and the chimneys of some screw vessels are made so as to shut up like a spyglass when the fires are put out and the vessel is navigated under sails. In smaller vessels, however, two lengths of chimney suffice; and in that case there is a standing piece on deck, which, however, does not project above the bulwarks.

388. Q.—Will you explain any further details in the construction of marine boilers which occur to you as important?

A.—The man-hole and mud-hole doors, unless put on from the outside, like a cylinder cover, with a great number of bolts, should be put on from the inside with cross bars on the outside, and the bolts should be strong, and have coarse threads and square nuts, so that the threads may not be overrun, nor the nuts become round, by the unskilful manipulations of the firemen, by whom these doors are removed or replaced. It is very expedient that sufficient space should be left between the furnace and the tubes in all tubular boilers to permit a boy to go in to clear away any scale that may have formed, and to hold on the rivets in the event of repair being wanted; and it is also expedient that a vertical row of tubes should be left out opposite to each water space to allow the ascent of the steam and descent of the water, as it has been found that the removal of the tubes in that position, even in a boiler with deficient heating surface, has increased the production of steam, and diminished the consumption of fuel. The tubes should all be kept in the same vertical line, so as to permit the introduction of an instrument to scrape them; but they may be zig-zagged in the horizontal line, whereby a greater strength of metal will be obtained around the holes in the tube plates, and the tubes should not be placed too close together, else their heating efficacy will be impaired.



INCRUSTATION AND CORROSION OF BOILERS.

389. Q.—What is the cause of the formation of scale in marine boilers?

A.—Scale is formed in all boilers which contain earthy or saline matters, just in the way in which a scaly deposit, or rock, as it is sometimes termed, is formed in a tea kettle. In sea water the chief ingredient is common salt, which exists in solution: the water admitted to the boiler is taken away in the shape of steam, and the saline matter which is not vaporizable accumulates in process of time in the boiler, until its amount is so great that the water is saturated, or unable to hold any more in solution; the salt is then precipitated and forms a deposit which hardens by heat. The formation of scale, therefore, is similar to the process of making salt from sea water by evaporation, the boiler being, in fact, a large salt pan.

390. Q.—But is the scale soluble in fresh water like the salt in a salt pan?

A.—No, it is not; or if soluble at all, is only so to a very limited extent. The several ingredients in sea water begin to be precipitated from solution at different degrees of concentration; and the sulphate and carbonate of lime, which begin to be precipitated when a certain state of concentration is reached, enter largely into the composition of scale, and give it its insoluble character. Pieces of waste or other similar objects left within a marine boiler appear, when taken out, as if they had been petrified; and the scale deposited upon the flues of a marine boiler resembles layers of stone.

391. Q/—Is much inconvenience experienced in marine boilers from these incrustations upon the flues?

A.—Incrustation in boilers at one time caused much more perplexity than it does at present, as it was supposed that in some seas it was impossible to prevent the boilers of a steamer from becoming salted up; but it has now been satisfactorily ascertained that there is very little difference in the saltness of different seas, and that however salt the water may be, the boiler will be preserved from any injurious amount of incrustation by blowing off, as it is called, very frequently, or by permitting a considerable portion of the supersalted water to escape at short intervals into the sea. If blowing off be sufficiently practised, the scale upon the flues will never be much thicker than a sheet of writing paper, and no excuse should be accepted from engineers for permitting a boiler to be damaged by the accumulation of calcareous deposit.

392. Q.—What is the temperature at which sea water boils in a steam boiler?

A.—Sea water contains about 1/33rd its weight of salt, and in the open air it boils at the temperature of 213.2 deg.; if the proportion of salt be increased to 2/33rds of the weight of the water, the boiling point will rise to 214.4 deg.; with 3/33rds of salt the boiling point will be 215.5 deg.; 4/33rds, 216.7 deg.; 5/33rds, 217.9 deg.; 6/33rds, 219 deg.; 7/33rds, 220.2 deg.; 8/33rds, 221.4 deg.; 9/33rds, 222.5 deg.; 10/33rds, 223.7 deg.; 11/33rds, 224.9 deg.; and 12/33rds, which is the point of saturation, 226 deg.. In a steam boiler the boiling points of water containing these proportions of salt must be higher, as the elevation of temperature due to the pressure of the steam has to be added to that due to the saltness of the water; the temperature of steam at the atmospheric pressure being 212 deg., its temperature, at a pressure of 15 lbs. per square inch above the atmosphere, will be 250 deg., and adding to this 4.7 deg. as the increased temperature due to the saltness of the water when it contains 4/33rds of salt, we have 254.7 deg. as the temperature of the water in the boiler, when it contains 4/33rds of salt and the pressure of the steam is 15 lbs. on the square inch.

393. Q.—What degree of concentration of the salt water may be safely permitted in a boiler?

A.—It is found by experience that when the concentration of the salt water in a boiler is prevented from exceeding that point at which it contains 2/33rds its weight of salt, no injurious incrustation will take place, and as sea water contains only 1/33rd of its weight of salt, it is clear that it must be reduced by evaporation to one half of its bulk before it can contain 2/33rds of salt; or, in other words, a boiler must blow out into the sea one half of the water it receives as feed, in order to prevent the water from rising above 2/33rds of concentration, or 8 ounces of salt to the gallon.

394. Q.—How do you determine 8 ounces to the gallon to be equivalent to twice the density of salt water, or "two salt waters" as it is sometimes called?

A.—The density of the water of different seas varies somewhat. A gallon of fresh water weighs 10 lbs.; a gallon of salt water from the Baltic weighs 10.15 lbs.; a gallon of salt water from the Irish Channel weighs 10.28 lbs.; and a gallon of salt water from the Mediterranean 10.29 lbs. If we take an average saltness represented by a weight of 10.25 lbs., then a gallon of water concentrated to twice this saltness will weigh 10.5 lbs., or the salt in it will weigh .5 lbs or 8 oz., which is the proportion of 8 oz. to the gallon. However, the proportion of 2/33rds gives a greater proportion than 8 oz. to the gallon, for 2/33 = 1/16 nearly, and 1/16 of 10 lbs. = 10 oz. By keeping the density of the water in a marine boiler at the proportion of 8 or 10 oz. to the gallon, no inconvenient amount of scale will be deposited on the flues or tubes. The bulk of water, it may be remarked, is not increased by putting salt in it up to the point of saturation, but only its density is increased.

395. Q.—Is there not a great loss of heat by blowing off so large a proportion of the heated water from the boiler?

A.—The loss is not very great. Boilers are sometimes worked at a saltness of 4/33rds, and taking this saltness and supposing the latent heat of steam to be at 1000 deg. at the temperature of 212 deg., and reckoning the sum of the latent and sensible heats as forming a constant quantity, the latent heat of steam at the temperature of 250 deg. will be 962 deg., and the total heat of the steam will be 1212 deg. in the case of fresh water; but as the feed water is sent into the boiler at the temperature of 100 deg., the accession of heat it receives from the fuel will be 1112 deg. in the case of fresh water, or 1112 deg. increased by 3.98 deg. in the case of water containing 4/33ds of salt— the 3.98 deg. being the 4.7 deg. increase of temperature due to the presence of 4/33rds of salt, multiplied by 0.847 the specific heat of steam. This makes the total accession of heat received by the steam in the boiler equal to 1115.98 deg., or say 1116 deg., which multiplied by 3, as 3 parts of the water are raised into steam, gives us 3348 deg. for the heat in the steam, while the accession of heat received in the boiler by the 1 part of residual brine will be 154.7 deg., multiplied by 0.85, the specific heat of the brine, or 130.495 deg.; and 3348 deg. divided by 130.495 deg. is about 1/26th. It appears, therefore, that by blowing off the boiler to such an extent that the saltness shall not rise above what answers to 4/33rds of salt, about 1/25th of the heat is blown into the sea; this is but a small proportion, and as there will be a greater waste of heat, if from the existence of scale upon the flues the heat can be only imperfectly transmitted to the water, there cannot be even an economy of fuel in niggard blowing off, while it involves the introduction of other evils. The proportion of 4/33rds of saltness, however, or 16 oz. to the gallon, is larger than is advisable, especially as it is difficult to keep the saltness at a perfectly uniform point, and the working point should, therefore, be 2/33rds as before prescribed.

396. Q.—Have no means been devised for turning to account the heat contained in the brine which is expelled from the boiler?

A.—To save a part of the heat lost by the operation of blowing off, the hot brine is sometimes passed through a number of small tubes surrounded by the feed water; but there is no very great gain from the use of such apparatus, and the tubes are apt to become choked up, whereby the safety of the boiler may be endangered by the injurious concentration of its contents. Pumps, worked by the engine for the extraction of the brine, are generally used in connection with the small tubes for the extraction of the heat from the supersalted water; and if the tubes become choked the pumps will cease to eject the water, while the engineer may consider them to be all the while in operation.

397.Q.—What is the usual mode of blowing off the supersalted water from the boiler?

A.—The general mode of blowing off the boiler is to allow the water to rise gradually for an hour or two above the lowest Working level, and then to open the cock communicating with the sea, and keep it open until the surface of the water within the boiler has fallen several inches; but in some cases a cock of smaller size is allowed to run water continuously, and in other cases brine pumps are used as already mentioned. In every case in which the supersalted water is discharged from the boiler in a continuous stream, a hydrometer or salt gauge of some convenient construction should be applied to the boiler, so that the density of the water may at all times be visible, and immediate notice be given of any interruption of the operation. Various contrivances have been devised for this purpose, the most of which operate on the principle of a hydrometer; but perhaps a more satisfactory principle would be that of a differential steam gauge, which would indicate the difference of pressure between the steam in the boiler and the steam of a small quantity of fresh water enclosed in a suitable vessel, and immerged in the water of the boiler.

398. Q.—What is the advantage of blowing off from the surface of the water in the boiler?

A.—Blowing off from a point near the surface of the water is more beneficial than blowing off from the bottom of the boiler. Solid particles of any kind, it is well known, if introduced into boiling water, will lower the boiling point in a slight degree, and the steam will chiefly be generated on the surface of the particles, and indeed will have the appearance of coming out of them; if the particles be small the steam generated beneath and around them will balloon them to the surface of the water, where the steam will be liberated and the particles will descend; and the impalpable particles in a marine boiler, which by their subsidence upon the flues concrete into scale, are carried in the first instance to the surface of the water, so that if they be caught there and ejected from the boiler, the formation of scale will be prevented.

399. Q.—Are there any plans in operation for taking advantage of this property of particles rising to the surface?

A.—Advantage is taken of this property in Lamb's Scale Preventer, which is substantially a contrivance for blowing off from the surface of the water that in practice is found to be very effectual; but a float in connection with a valve at the mouth of the discharging pipe is there introduced, so as to regulate the quantity of water blown out by the height of the water level, or by the extent of opening given to the feed cock. The operation, however, of the contrivance would be much the same if the float were dispensed with; but the float acts advantageously in hindering the water from rising too high in the boiler, should too much feed be admitted, and thereby obviates the risk of the water running over into the cylinder. In some boilers sheet iron vessels, called sediment collectors, are employed, which collect into them the impalpable matter, which in Lamb's apparatus is ejected from the boiler at once. One of these vessels, of about the size and shape of a loaf of sugar, is put into each boiler with the apex of the cone turned downwards into a pipe leading overboard, for conducting the sediment away from the boiler. The base of the cone stands some distance above the water line, and in its sides conical slits are cut, so as to establish a free communication between the water within the conical vessel and the water outside it. The particles of stony matter which are ballooned to the surface by the steam in every other part of the boiler, subside within the cone, where, no steam being generated, the water is consequently tranquil; and the deposit is discharged overboard by means of a pipe communicating with the sea. By blowing off from the surface of the water, the requisite cleansing action is obtained with less waste of heat; and where the water is muddy, the foam upon the surface of the water is ejected from the boiler—thereby removing one of the chief causes of priming.

400. Q.—What is the cause of the rapid corrosion of marine boilers?

A.—Marine boilers are corroded externally in the region of the steam chest by the dripping of water from the deck; the bottom of the boiler is corroded by the action of the bilge water, and the ash pits by the practice of quenching the ashes with, salt water. These sources of injury, however, admit of easy remedy; the top of the boiler may be preserved from external corrosion by covering it with felt upon which is laid sheet lead soldered at every joint so as to be impenetrable to water; the ash pits may be shielded by guard plates which are plates fitting into the ash pits and attached to the boiler by a few bolts, so that when worn they may be removed and new ones substituted, whereby any wear upon the boiler in that part will be prevented; and there will be very little wear upon the bottom of a boiler if it be imbedded in mastic cement laid upon a suitable platform.

401. Q.—Are not marine boilers subject to internal corrosion?

A.—Yes; the greatest part of the corrosion of a boiler takes place in the inside of the steam chest, and the origin of this corrosion is one of the obscurest subjects in the whole range of engineering. It cannot be from the chemical action of the salt water upon the iron, for the flues and other parts of the boiler beneath the water suffer very little from corrosion, and in steam vessels provided with Hall's condensers, which supply the boiler with fresh water, not much increased durability of the boiler has been experienced. Nevertheless, marine boilers seldom last more than for 5 or 6 years, whereas land boilers made of the same quality of iron often last 18 or 20 years, and it does not appear probable that land boilers would last a very much shorter time if salt water were used in them. The thin film of scale spread over the parts of a marine boiler situated beneath the water, effectually protect them from corrosion; and when the other parts are completely worn out the flues generally remain so perfect, that the hammer marks upon them are as conspicuous as at their first formation. The operation of the steam in corroding the interior of the boiler is most capricious—the parts which are most rapidly worn away in one boiler being untouched in another; and in some cases one side of a steam chest will be very much wasted away while the opposite side remains uninjured. Sometimes the iron exfoliates in the shape of a black oxide which comes away in flakes like the leaves of a book, while in other cases the iron appears as if eaten away by a strong acid which had a solvent action upon it. The application of felt to the outside of a boiler, has in several cases been found to accelerate sensibly its internal corrosion; boilers in which there is a large accumulation of scale appear to be more corroded than where there is no such deposit; and where the funnel passes through the steam chest the iron of the steam chest is invariably much more corroded than where the funnel does not pass through it.

402. Q.—Can you suggest no reason for the rapid internal corrosion of marine boilers?

A.—The facts which I have enumerated appear to indicate that the internal corrosion of marine boilers is attributable chiefly to the existence of surcharged steam within them, which is steam to which an additional quantity of heat has been communicated subsequently to its generation, so that its temperature is greater than is due to its elastic force; and on this hypothesis the observed facts relative to corrosion become to some extent explicable. Felt, applied to the outside of a boiler, may accelerate its internal corrosion by keeping the steam in a surcharged state, when by the dispersion of a part of the heat it would cease to be in that state; boilers in which there is a large accumulation of scale must have worked with the water very salt, which necessarily produces surcharged steam; for the temperature of steam cannot be less than that of the water from which it is generated, and inasmuch as the boiling point of water, under any given pressure, rises with the saltness of the water, the temperature of the steam must rise with the saltness of the water, the pressure remaining the same; or, in other words, the steam must have a higher temperature than is due to its elastic force, or be in the state of surcharged steam. The circumstance of the chimney flue passing through the steam will manifestly surcharge the steam with heat, so that all the circumstances which are found to accelerate corrosion, are it appears such as would also induce the formation of surcharged steam.