A Catechism of the Steam Engine

by C. E. John Bourne

A.--When a boiler primes, the engineer generally closes the throttle valve partially, turns off the injection water, and opens the furnace doors, whereby the generation of steam is checked, and a less violent ebullition in the boiler suffices. Where the priming arises from an insufficient amount of steam room, it may be mitigated by putting a higher pressure upon the boiler and working more expansively, or by the interposition of a perforated plate between the boiler and the steam chest, which breaks the ascending water and liberates the steam. In some cases, however, it may be necessary to set a second steam chest on the top of the existing one, and it will be preferable to establish a communication with this new chamber by means of a number of small holes, bored through the iron plate of the boiler, rather than by a single large orifice. Where priming arises from the existence of dirty water in the boiler, the evil may be remedied by the use of collecting vessels, or by blowing off largely from the surface; and where it arises from an insufficient area of water level, or an insufficient width between the flues for the free ascent of the steam and the descent of the superincumbent water, the evil may be abated by the addition of circulating pipes in some part of the boiler, which will allow the water to descend freely to the place from whence the steam rises, the width of the water spaces being virtually increased by restricting their function to the transmission of a current of steam and water to the surface. It is desirable to arrange the heating surface in such a way that the feed water entering the boiler at its lowest point is heated gradually as it ascends, until toward the superior part of the flues it is raised gradually into steam; but in all cases there will be currents in the boiler for which it is proper to provide. The steam pipe proceeding to the engine should obviously be attached to the highest point of the steam chest, in boilers of every construction.

297. Q.--Having now stated the proportions proper to be adopted for evaporating any given quantity of water in steam boilers, will you proceed to show how you would proportion a boiler to do a given amount of work? say a locomotive boiler which will propel a train of 100 tons weight at a speed of 50 miles an hour.

A.--According to experiments on the resistance of railway trains at various rates of speed, made by Mr. Gooch, of the Great Western Railway, it appears that a train weighing, with locomotive, tender, and carriages, about 100 tons, experiences, at a speed of 50 miles an hour, a resistance of about 3,000 lbs., or about 30 lbs. per ton; which resistance includes the resistance of the engine as well as that of the train. This, therefore, is the force which must be imparted at the circumference of the driving wheels, except that small part intercepted by the engine itself, and the force exerted by the pistons must be greater than that at the circumference of the driving wheel, in the proportion of their slower motion, or in the proportion of the circumference of the driving wheel to the length of a double stroke of the engine. If the diameter of the driving wheel be 5-1/2 feet, its circumference will be 17.278 feet, and if the length of the stroke be 18 inches, the length of a double stroke will be 3 feet. The pressure on the pistons must therefore be greater than the traction at the circumference of the driving wheel, in the proportion of 17.278 to 3, or, in other words, the mean pressure on the pistons must be 17,278 lbs.; and the area of cylinders, and pressure of steam, must be such as to produce conjointly this total pressure. It thus becomes easy to tell the volume and pressure of steam required, which steam in its turn represents its equivalent of water which is to be evaporated from the boiler, and the boiler must be so proportioned, by the rules already given, as to evaporate this water freely. In the case of a steam vessel, the mode of procedure is the same, and when the resistance and speed are known, it is easy to tell the equivalent value of steam.

STRENGTH OF BOILERS.

298. Q.--What strain should the iron of boilers be subjected to in working?

A.--The iron of boilers, like the iron of machines or structures, is capable of withstanding a tensile strain of from 50,000 to 60,000 lbs. upon every square inch of section; but it will only bear a third of this strain without permanent derangement of structure, and it does not appear expedient in any boiler to let the strain exceed 4,000 lbs. upon the square inch of sectional area of metal, especially if it is liable to be weakened by corrosion.

299.Q.--Have any experiments been made to determine the strength of boilers?

A.--The question of the strength of boilers was investigated very elaborately a few years ago by a committee of the Franklin Institute, in America, and it was found that the tenacity of boiler plate increased with the temperature up to 550°, at which point the tenacity began to diminish. At 32°, the cohesive force of a square inch of section was 56,000 lbs.; at 570°, it was 66,500 lbs.; at 720°, 55,000 lbs.; at 1,050°, 32,000 lbs.; at 1,240°, 22,000 lbs.; and at 1,317°, 9,000 lbs. Copper follows a different law, and appears to be diminished in strength by every addition to the temperature. At 32° the cohesion of copper was found to be 32,800 lbs. per square inch of section, which exceeds the cohesive force at any higher temperature, and the square of the diminution of strength seems to keep pace with the cube of the increased temperature. Strips of iron cut in the direction of the fibre were found to be about 6 per cent. stronger than when cut across the grain. Repeated piling and welding was found to increase the tenacity of the iron, but the result of welding together different kinds of iron was not found to be favorable. The accidental overheating of a boiler was found to reduce the ultimate or maximum strength of the plates from 65,000 to 45,000 lbs. per square inch of section, and riveting the plates was found to occasion a diminution in their strength to the extent of one third. These results, however, are not precisely the same as those obtained by Mr. Fairbairn.

300. Q.--What were the results obtained by him?

A.--He found that boiler plate bore a tensile strain of 23 tons per square inch before rupture, which was reduced to 16 tons per square inch when joined together by a double row of rivets, and 13 tons, or about 30,000, when joined together by a single row of rivets. A circular boiler, therefore, with the ends of its plates double riveted, will bear at the utmost about 36,000 lbs. per square inch of section, or about 12,000 lbs. per square inch of section without permanent derangement of structure.