FIG. 3.
In those engines which have to perform unequal work, and in which sometimes a great drag is suddenly removed from the engine, some contrivance is necessary to prevent the too rapid motion which would ensue, to the great risk of damaging the engine; this is effected by what is called the “governor;” a contrivance by which a part of the steam is struck off when the action is too rapid, and again let on when it has diminished. This arrangement is shown in [fig. 3]; the two heavy iron balls swing round as the engine works, and the faster they revolve the more they tend to separate, from the natural tendency to fly off called “centrifugal force,” and in separating they bring the other ends of the rods to which they are attached nearer together, and so push up a collar, A, attached to the levers which turn off the steam-tap; and as the action subsides the balls sink down together and the collar also, the steam being thus turned on again. In order that the pressure of the steam in the boiler may be known, a “gauge” is used, which acts on the principle of the barometer, consisting of a column of mercury which is pressed up by the force of the steam, the height to which it rises indicating the pressure. With respect to the details of the steam-engine, they are too various and complicated to be enumerated or described here; but the motion—being regular, continuous, and powerful—can be applied to almost any sort of work by being adapted to the machine suitable for such work, and which receives its motion from the steam-engine, the same as though it were worked by water or by hand.
BOILERS.
Boilers are vessels in which fluids are boiled or heated, and are almost of every form and size. Some boilers, such as those attached to steam-engines, are more strictly called “steam generators,” as they are constructed solely for the production of steam at the lowest possible expense of time and fuel, and also to resist the pressure which the steam exerts at high temperatures; these boilers are not only used to produce the steam for the motion of engines, but are extensively used in its production for heating evaporating-pans and boilers (in the strict sense of the word), and also for warming and ventilating buildings. They are more particularly noticed under the head “Steam Engines.”
Boilers for all purposes were formerly made of metal (usually copper or iron), and were exposed directly to the fire intended to heat their contents, but since the properties of steam have been more fully recognised, it is now very frequently employed for heating boilers—especially where a heat at or below the boiling point of water is required. There are great advantages arising from this plan, one of which consists in doing away with the risk of the materials in the boiler being burnt. Some boilers are now made of wood, having steam-pipes running through them, and in those cases in which the admixture of water is no detriment steam—in the form of jets—is thrown directly into the fluid to be heated, which very quickly raises it to the boiling point. Boilers of cast-iron, lined with platinum or enamel, are also used for various purposes, as the condensation of acid substances, &c., which would act on most metals. Glass and glazed pans, too, can be used with a steam apparatus, without any danger arising from breakage, which would frequently occur if they were directly applied to the fire.
FURNACES.
