Condensing Plant: a Complex Treatise on the Principles and Details of Construction of Modern Steam Condensing Apparatus; for Designers, Users, and Students

Abstract

A MODERN steam power plant can be divided into three main sections: the boilers and their accessories, the turbines, and the condensing plant. Most text-books on steam machinery deal partially with the three sections, but the multiplication of types of machinery in power houses and the increasing complexity of the systems tend to make specialisation desirable. Many engineers therefore will welcome this book, which is devoted entirely to the condensers, air pumps, feed pumps, and feed systems. All the earliest steam engines were condensing engines, and the patent of Savery introduced the practice of surface condensation. Newcomeii led the injection water into the steam cylinder, and Watt made the capital improvement of a separate condenser. Of other inventors, one of the least known, is Samuel Hall, whose patent for surface condensers for steam vessels, taken out in 1836, is a most interesting one. With the introduction of high -pressure steam the jet condensers gave place to surface condensers, and with the coining of the steam turbine a new chapter in the history of the condenser opened. An immense amount of investigation has been carried out on the design of condensers, the corrosion of the tubes, new forms of air pumps, and improved systems of feeding the boilers, and all these matters are admirably treated by Messrs. Kaula and Robinson in the work under notice.