It is almost impossible to thoroughly clean water legs internally, and in such places also is there a tendency to unsuspected corrosion under deposits that cannot be removed.
In Babcock & Wilcox boilers every portion of the interior of the heating surfaces can be reached and kept clean, while any soot deposited on the exterior surfaces can be blown off while the boiler is under pressure.
Inspection—The accessibility which makes possible the thorough cleaning of all portions of the Babcock & Wilcox boiler also provides a means for a thorough inspection.
Drums are accessible for internal inspection by the removal of the manhole plates. Front headers may be inspected through large doors furnished for the purpose. Rear headers in the inclined header designs may be inspected from the chamber formed by such headers and the rear wall of the boiler. In the vertical header designs rear tube doors are furnished, as has been stated. In certain designs of water-tube boilers in order to assure accessibility for inspection of the rear ends of the tubes, the rear portion of the boiler is exposed to the atmosphere with resulting excessive radiation losses. In other designs the means of access to the rear ends of the tubes are of a makeshift and unworkmanlike character.
By the removal of handhole plates, all tubes in a Babcock & Wilcox boiler may be inspected for their full length either for the presence of scale or for suspected corrosion.
Repairs—In Babcock & Wilcox boilers the possession of great strength, the elimination of stresses due to uneven temperatures and of the resulting danger of leaks and corrosion, the protection of the drums from the intense heat of the fire, and the decreased liability of the scale forming matter to lodge on the hottest tube surfaces, all tend to minimize the necessity for repairs. The tubes of the Babcock & Wilcox boiler are practically the only part which may need renewal and these only at infrequent intervals When necessary, such renewals may be made cheaply and quickly. A small stock of tubes, 4 inches in diameter, of sufficient length for the boiler used, is all that need be carried to make renewals.
Repairs in water-leg boilers are difficult at best and frequently unsatisfactory when completed. When staybolt replacements are necessary, in order to get at the inner sheet of the water leg, several tubes must in some cases be cut out. Not infrequently a replacement of an entire water leg is necessary and this is difficult and requires a lengthy shutdown. With the Babcock & Wilcox boiler, on the other hand, even if it is necessary to replace a section, this may be done in a few hours after the boiler is cool.
In the case of certain staybolt failures the working pressure of a repaired boiler utilizing such construction will frequently be lowered by the insurance companies when the boiler is again placed in service. The sectional nature of the Babcock & Wilcox boiler enables it to maintain its original working pressure over long periods of time, almost regardless of the nature of any repair that may be required.
Durability—Babcock & Wilcox boilers are being operated in every-day service with entirely satisfactory results and under the same steam pressure as that for which [Pg 76]
[Pg 77] they were originally sold that have been operated from thirty to thirty-five years. It is interesting to note in considering the life of a boiler that the length of life of a Babcock & Wilcox boiler must be taken as the criterion of what length of life is possible. This is due to the fact that there are Babcock & Wilcox boilers in operation to-day that have been in service from a time that antedates by a considerable margin that at which the manufacturer of any other water-tube boiler now on the market was started.