Just A Photo..
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Canada,
I'd it had a country number it would be 668,
neighbour of the beast,,,,,,
I'd it had a country number it would be 668,
neighbour of the beast,,,,,,
Going back to my original post and these boilers;
http://i1178.photobucket.com/albums/x373/resistance87/Hospital.jpg
I will describe operations there..
It was the boiler house for a very large hospital.. The one pictured in the link here, plus some additional buildings that had not been built at the time this photograph was taken.
http://i1178.photobucket.com/albums/x373/resistance87/H1.jpg
There were four boilers there as you can see, two larger ones, and two, slightly smaller ones. There were always one or two online producing steam, one on standby, that is, hot and nearly up to full pressure, ready to be brought online at a few minutes' notice, and one maybe having maintenance work carried out. Between them, they provided the heating and hot water for the entire hospital..
You think "steam boilers" and you think primitive stuff, but the entire setup was amazing, the place was so clean you could eat your food off the floor, spotless, pristine.
The boilers were powered by very heavy oil. It was kept in large oil tanks that were heated by steam, with electrical backup in case of disaster!! Adjacent to the oil tanks was a large valve, arranged with a large weight, such that if the oil cooled to below a certain temperature, the weight would drop, close the valve and the flow of oil would be cut off, as it was explained to me that if the oil was allowed to cool in the pipes, it would set in them, and then you would be in huge trouble..
Once the oil got to the boilers the temperature was again checked, I think it had to be about 170F but after 40 years I might be wrong. The burner was a huge thing that rotated on a hinge. There was a large motor that operated a centrifugal fan to provide air for combustion and another fairly small electric motor that powered the burner. This was a conical "cup" about the size of a coke can, that span at very high speed, belt driven from the motor I have described. The oil would issue forth I believe from around the perimeter of this cup and then be ignitited by what looked like a foot long spark plug. Every few hours the stokers would shut the boiler down, open the burner, clean it in general and the "cup" in particular with thinners and a rag, and then close the front up again.
Next there were checks to be made..
These boilers produced huge quantities of steam at 150PSI. I cannot remember the quantity, but it was measured in thousands of pounds of steam an hour, literally TONS of steam though.. Anyway, lots of water was required [More on this later] The boilers were kept full of water by large electrically driven multistage pumps that emitted a terrible high pitched and very loud whine. The water level was controlled automatically, but these systems had to be checked as they were paramount to safety, so, after cleaning the burner, recording oil temperature and re-firing the boiler, the stokers would override the controls and start the feed pumps. You would then watch the water rising in the gauge glasses. Suddenly, the "high water" alarm would sound a loud bell as I recall. Next you "blew down" the boilers. This involved opening a valve at the base of the boiler that led away the scalding water [at 150 PSI]to a pit outside. We are talking a 4 inch pipe here mind!!! Quite some steam!!
The idea was twofold; For one thing you blew the boiler down to remove any sediment/ sludge from the bottom of the boiler, and secondly, to test the "low water" alarms. You would open the blowdown valve and you could see the water dropping in the gauge glass. The water would drop and drop until another alarm would sound, this time a horn. You then switched the controls back to "automatic", the feed pumps would start and the water would start to rise in the gauge glasses again. Once it got to the correct level the feed pumps would stop and all was back to normal!! Boiler would go back online then.
Now it cost money to heat water, so here is how the system worked. Steam was piped all around the entire hospital though insulated pipes [painted red] in ducts underneath all the corridors. Once the steam got to the wards it was reduced in pressure by reducing valves for some applications and left at 150PSI for others. Hot water for taps and the like was provided, by means of "calorifiers",that is, heat exchangers, that were fed with mains cold water which then came out hot!! [You had figured that out!!]
Now, all the by now cooled and condensed steam [as water] was piped back to the boiler house through blue pipes where it re-entered the feed water tank to be used again. This made things cheaper as the water was still hot.
This meant that the only fresh feed water that had to be added was to counteract leaks and evaporation and that lost during "blow downs".
All fresh water added to the system was also tested once or twice a day, [with acid???] calculations made, and chemicals added, [salt?? to prevent boiler corrosion. Flue gasses from the boiler were led up a 180 foot high chimney to provide "draught"
As the gasses entered the flues, they were automatically analysed for content, temperature and I forget the term, but to make sure they were "clear" and not black. All this was recorded again automatically on large paper discs, just like lorry tacho charts only about 2 feet in diameter.
The entire place was a mass of electric motors, pumps, swirco "steam traps", reducing valves and expansion joints.
Not only that, but they had workshops with welding equipment, a geared head Kerry drill, and a Mitchell lathe exactly like this one...
http://i1178.photobucket.com/albums/x373/resistance87/H2.jpg
To a 13/14 year old like me, it was a dream come true and i learnt sooooooooo much.....
All the staff there are probably dead now, but Adrian, Archie, Roger, Glyn, Peter and Jack, wherever you are, god bless you all..
john
http://i1178.photobucket.com/albums/x373/resistance87/Hospital.jpg
I will describe operations there..
It was the boiler house for a very large hospital.. The one pictured in the link here, plus some additional buildings that had not been built at the time this photograph was taken.
http://i1178.photobucket.com/albums/x373/resistance87/H1.jpg
There were four boilers there as you can see, two larger ones, and two, slightly smaller ones. There were always one or two online producing steam, one on standby, that is, hot and nearly up to full pressure, ready to be brought online at a few minutes' notice, and one maybe having maintenance work carried out. Between them, they provided the heating and hot water for the entire hospital..
You think "steam boilers" and you think primitive stuff, but the entire setup was amazing, the place was so clean you could eat your food off the floor, spotless, pristine.
The boilers were powered by very heavy oil. It was kept in large oil tanks that were heated by steam, with electrical backup in case of disaster!! Adjacent to the oil tanks was a large valve, arranged with a large weight, such that if the oil cooled to below a certain temperature, the weight would drop, close the valve and the flow of oil would be cut off, as it was explained to me that if the oil was allowed to cool in the pipes, it would set in them, and then you would be in huge trouble..
Once the oil got to the boilers the temperature was again checked, I think it had to be about 170F but after 40 years I might be wrong. The burner was a huge thing that rotated on a hinge. There was a large motor that operated a centrifugal fan to provide air for combustion and another fairly small electric motor that powered the burner. This was a conical "cup" about the size of a coke can, that span at very high speed, belt driven from the motor I have described. The oil would issue forth I believe from around the perimeter of this cup and then be ignitited by what looked like a foot long spark plug. Every few hours the stokers would shut the boiler down, open the burner, clean it in general and the "cup" in particular with thinners and a rag, and then close the front up again.
Next there were checks to be made..
These boilers produced huge quantities of steam at 150PSI. I cannot remember the quantity, but it was measured in thousands of pounds of steam an hour, literally TONS of steam though.. Anyway, lots of water was required [More on this later] The boilers were kept full of water by large electrically driven multistage pumps that emitted a terrible high pitched and very loud whine. The water level was controlled automatically, but these systems had to be checked as they were paramount to safety, so, after cleaning the burner, recording oil temperature and re-firing the boiler, the stokers would override the controls and start the feed pumps. You would then watch the water rising in the gauge glasses. Suddenly, the "high water" alarm would sound a loud bell as I recall. Next you "blew down" the boilers. This involved opening a valve at the base of the boiler that led away the scalding water [at 150 PSI]to a pit outside. We are talking a 4 inch pipe here mind!!! Quite some steam!!
The idea was twofold; For one thing you blew the boiler down to remove any sediment/ sludge from the bottom of the boiler, and secondly, to test the "low water" alarms. You would open the blowdown valve and you could see the water dropping in the gauge glass. The water would drop and drop until another alarm would sound, this time a horn. You then switched the controls back to "automatic", the feed pumps would start and the water would start to rise in the gauge glasses again. Once it got to the correct level the feed pumps would stop and all was back to normal!! Boiler would go back online then.
Now it cost money to heat water, so here is how the system worked. Steam was piped all around the entire hospital though insulated pipes [painted red] in ducts underneath all the corridors. Once the steam got to the wards it was reduced in pressure by reducing valves for some applications and left at 150PSI for others. Hot water for taps and the like was provided, by means of "calorifiers",that is, heat exchangers, that were fed with mains cold water which then came out hot!! [You had figured that out!!]
Now, all the by now cooled and condensed steam [as water] was piped back to the boiler house through blue pipes where it re-entered the feed water tank to be used again. This made things cheaper as the water was still hot.
This meant that the only fresh feed water that had to be added was to counteract leaks and evaporation and that lost during "blow downs".
All fresh water added to the system was also tested once or twice a day, [with acid???] calculations made, and chemicals added, [salt?? to prevent boiler corrosion. Flue gasses from the boiler were led up a 180 foot high chimney to provide "draught"
As the gasses entered the flues, they were automatically analysed for content, temperature and I forget the term, but to make sure they were "clear" and not black. All this was recorded again automatically on large paper discs, just like lorry tacho charts only about 2 feet in diameter.
The entire place was a mass of electric motors, pumps, swirco "steam traps", reducing valves and expansion joints.
Not only that, but they had workshops with welding equipment, a geared head Kerry drill, and a Mitchell lathe exactly like this one...
http://i1178.photobucket.com/albums/x373/resistance87/H2.jpg
To a 13/14 year old like me, it was a dream come true and i learnt sooooooooo much.....
All the staff there are probably dead now, but Adrian, Archie, Roger, Glyn, Peter and Jack, wherever you are, god bless you all..
john
TC-Electric
Member
that's cool
I started as a Maintenance Apprentice Electrician at 15 . I worked here, mainly looking after those 1000 ton Cold Extrusion presses plus High frequency furnaces , general toolroom & steel cutting machines .
Went into contracting after 3 years .
The photo apparently , is from a film that was made there long after I left, hence that cockney guy in the white coat, whose name escapes me .
Went into contracting after 3 years .
The photo apparently , is from a film that was made there long after I left, hence that cockney guy in the white coat, whose name escapes me .
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