The Modern Boiler-House

Abstract

FEW departments of engineering practice have seen more radical changes than that of steam raising. Stokeholds of ships and power stations have been transformed. Where dirt, confusion, and inefficiency often reigned there is now order and method, and brawn and muscle have made room for skill and trained intelligence. Science has come into its own, and the modern boiler-room reflects the progress of the time. Installed in well-lighted and spacious buildings, the boilers and all their accessories are the objects of the care of the engineer-in-charge as much as the main machinery itself. Water-tube boilers, super-heaters, economisers, air heaters, mechanical stokers, pulverised fuel systems, forced and induced draught fans of many types have taken the place of tank boilers fired by hand, while new forms of gauges and indicators keep continuous records of the fuel consumed, the analyses of the gases, the temperatures of gases, steam, and water, and, in some instances, steam-flow meters are fitted which make the approximate test of a boiler a comparatively simple matter.