3000 Horse-power Installation of Babcock & Wilcox Boilers in the Main Power Plant, Chicago & Northwestern Ry. Depot, Chicago, Ill.
BRICKWORK BOILER SETTINGS
A consideration of the losses in boiler efficiency, due to the effects of excess air, clearly indicates the necessity of maintaining the brick setting of a boiler tight and free from air leaks. In view of the temperatures to which certain portions of such a setting are subjected, the material to be used in its construction must be of the best procurable.
Boiler settings to-day consist almost universally of brickwork—two kinds being used, namely, red brick and fire brick.
The red brick should only be used in such portions of the setting as are well protected from the heat. In such location, their service is not so severe as that of fire brick and ordinarily, if such red brick are sound, hard, well burned and uniform, they will serve their purpose.
The fire brick should be selected with the greatest care, as it is this portion of the setting that has to endure the high temperatures now developed in boiler practice. To a great extent, the life of a boiler setting is dependent upon the quality of the fire brick used and the care exercised in its laying.
The best fire brick are manufactured from the fire clays of Pennsylvania. South and west from this locality the quality of fire clay becomes poorer as the distance increases, some of the southern fire clays containing a considerable percentage of iron oxide.