BUCYRUS ERIE 50-B

STEAM SHOVEL

Part 10 - The boiler - by Alberto Celot

The boiler was built in stainless steel and TIG welded. The testing was performed at 35 bar (3.5 MPa) (500psi); I am sure it would withstand higher pressures, but I preferred not to over-stress the structure.

Here are some photos of the boiler and the hydraulic test:

The work continued with the construction and assembly of the various parts connected to the boiler and the steam circuit.

The connections to the boiler are numerous, as you can see from the pictures below:

Parts marked with a letter in the third photo are:

A - safety valves

B - auxiliary air inlet valve  for compressed air for starting

C - the steam valve to feed the three engines

D - Oil burner supply valve (with air power and then by steam)

E - blower valve

F - ejector valve (to load the water in the tank)

G - valve steam injector 1

H - valve steam injector 2

I - boiler drain valve

L - steam outlet for steam clutch (RAM)

M - steam control valve cylinder  for opening Bucket

N - steam outlet for Main Engine

O - steam outlet manifold for front power engines Swinging Engine and Engine Thrusting

P - oil input from the lubricator

Q - needle valve to control oil flow

R - oil pressure gauge

S - steam pressure gauge

T - input from the Main Engine and Swinging Engine exhausts

U - inlet water injector 1

V - inlet water injector 2

Z - water auxiliary input (for emergency pump)

X - steam whistle

And now pictures of the water gauge and the furnace door (which in this case serves only to inspect the burner flame):

Under the boiler is mounted the combustion chamber of the burner, easily removable for cleaning and maintenance.

It is insulated with two layers of ceramic fibre and has a side door for to light the flame and for inspection.

The flame is stabilised with a stainless steel mesh.

The steam coming from the dome, after being suitably lubricated, passes in part to a manifold on the front. This has three valves, two of which supply the motors for the Swinging Engine and Thrusting engine, while the third serves to warm the supply piping before passing steam to the two motors; in that way it at least partly avoids the annoying problem of water condensation when starting up. The two valves of the engines are placed opposite the operator to for ease of  operation. The second of the photos below gives an idea of the small size of the valves that I had to make.
I mounted the boiler plus the water and fuel tanks, and connected it all together.
Parts marked with a letter in the photo are:

A - fuel tank valve

B - fuel filter

C - valve for adjusting the flow of steam (during ignition of the air) at the burner

D - needle valve for adjusting the flow of fuel to the burner

E - injector 2 (horizontal model)

F - 1 injector (vertical model)

G 2 water valves for the two injectors

H - I - one-way valve connector and auxiliary input compressed air (for starting). I removed the valve on the dome.

L - water auxiliary input connector (for emergency pump)

M - water inlet for ejector

N - valve for filling / emptying the water tank

I used two injectors with different characteristics to have more chances of working in different operating conditions.

Part one   part two   part three   part four   part five  part six  part seven  Part eight

part nine   part ten   part eleven  part twelve  Conclusion


 




MEWS IS SPONSORED BY - CHRONOS -   PAULTHECAD.CO.UK - ECCENTRIC ENGINEERING - WARCO - BRISTOL EXHIBITION - HARROGATE EXHIBITION - MERIDIENNE EXHIBITIONS - CAMDEN MINIATURE STEAM - TRANSWAVE CONVERTERS - CHERRY’S MODEL ENGINES -



Editor - David Carpenter