A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force is transformed, by a connecting rod and flywheel, into rotational force for work. The term "steam engine" is generally applied only to reciprocating engines as just described, not to the steam turbine.
A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, central heating, boiler-based power generation, cooking, and sanitation.
A safety valve is a valve that acts as a fail-safe. An example of safety valve is a pressure relief valve (PRV), which automatically releases a substance from a boiler, pressure vessel, or other system, when the pressure or temperature exceeds preset limits. Pilot-operated relief valves are a specialized type of pressure safety valve. A leak tight, lower cost, single emergency use option would be a rupture disk.
A fire-tube boiler is a type of boiler in which hot gases pass from a fire through one or (many) more tubes running through a sealed container of water. The heat of the gases is transferred through the walls of the tubes by thermal conduction, heating the water and ultimately creating steam.
A high pressure watertube boiler is a type of boiler in which water circulates in tubes heated externally by the fire. Fuel is burned inside the furnace, creating hot gas which heats water in the steam-generating tubes. In smaller boilers, additional generating tubes are separate in the furnace, while larger utility boilers rely on the water-filled tubes that make up the walls of the furnace to generate steam.
A thermal power station is a power station in which heat energy is converted to electric power. In most of the places in the world the turbine is steam-driven. Water is heated, turns into steam and spins a steam turbine which drives an electrical generator. After it passes through the turbine, the steam is condensed in a condenser and recycled to where it was heated; this is known as a Rankine cycle. The greatest variation in the design of thermal power stations is due to the different heat sources; fossil fuel dominates here, although nuclear heat energy and solar heat energy are also used. Some prefer to use the term energy center because such facilities convert forms of heat energy into electrical energy. Certain thermal power stations are also designed to produce heat energy for industrial purposes, or district heating, or desalination of water, in addition to generating electrical power.
A boiler explosion is a catastrophic failure of a boiler. As seen today, boiler explosions are of two kinds. One kind is a failure of the pressure parts of the steam and water sides. There can be many different causes, such as failure of the safety valve, corrosion of critical parts of the boiler, or low water level. Corrosion along the edges of lap joints was a common cause of early boiler explosions.
A fusible plug is a threaded metal cylinder usually of bronze, brass or gunmetal, with a tapered hole drilled completely through its length. This hole is sealed with a metal of low melting point that flows away if a pre-determined, high temperature is reached. The initial use of the fusible plug was as a safety precaution against low water levels in steam engine boilers, but later applications extended its use to other closed vessels, such as air conditioning systems and tanks for transporting corrosive or liquefied petroleum gasses.
Alberta Municipal Affairs is a ministry of the Executive Council of Alberta. Its major responsibilities include assisting municipalities in the provision of local government, administering the assessment of linear property in Alberta, administering a safety system for the construction and maintenance of buildings and equipment, and managing Alberta's network of municipal and library system boards.
A steam drum is a standard feature of a water-tube boiler. It is a reservoir of water/steam at the top end of the water tubes. The drum stores the steam generated in the water tubes and acts as a phase-separator for the steam/water mixture. The difference in densities between hot and cold water helps in the accumulation of the "hotter"-water/and saturated-steam into the steam-drum.
A boiler or steam generator is a device used to create steam by applying heat energy to water. Although the definitions are somewhat flexible, it can be said that older steam generators were commonly termed boilers and worked at low to medium pressure but, at pressures above this, it is more usual to speak of a steam generator.
The Technical Standards and Safety Authority (TSSA) administers and enforces technical standards in the province of Ontario in Canada.
Canadian Crown corporations are state-owned enterprises owned by the Sovereign of Canada. They are established by an Act of Parliament or Act of a provincial legislature and report to that body via a minister of the Crown in the relevant cabinet, though they are "shielded from constant government intervention and legislative oversight" and thus "generally enjoy greater freedom from direct political control than government departments."
A shell or flued boiler is an early and relatively simple form of boiler used to make steam, usually for the purpose of driving a steam engine. The design marked a transitional stage in boiler development, between the early haystack boilers and the later multi-tube fire-tube boilers. A flued boiler is characterized by a large cylindrical boiler shell forming a tank of water, traversed by one or more large flues containing the furnace. These boilers appeared around the start of the 19th century and some forms remain in service today. Although mostly used for static steam plants, some were used in early steam vehicles, railway locomotives and ships.
The South African Railways Class 14C 4-8-2 of 1922 was a steam locomotive.
Technical Safety Authority of Saskatchewan is an arms length agency of the Government of Saskatchewan in Canada. The agency is responsible for the inspection and safety monitoring of boilers, pressure vessels, elevating devices and amusement park rides in the province of Saskatchewan. At is creation 52 Licensing and Inspections Branch staff were transferred from the Ministry of Corrections, Public Safety and Policing.
The National Board of Boiler and Pressure Vessel Inspectors (NBBI) is composed of chief boiler and pressure vessel inspectors representing states, cities, and provinces enforcing pressure equipment laws and regulations. Created to prevent death, injury and destruction, these laws and regulations represent the collective input of National Board members.
The Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security is a Commonwealth of Massachusetts organization whose focus is the protection of individuals, groups or environment issues which will, subsequently, affect individuals or groups health or well being. As an executive agency, the Office is managed by a Commissioner who is appointed by the Governor.
Boiler design is the process of designing boilers used for various purposes. The main function of a boiler is to heat water to generate steam. Steam produced in a boiler can be used for a variety of purposes including space heating, sterilisation, drying, humidification and power generation. The temperature or condition of steam required for these applications is different, so boiler designs vary accordingly.
