Water loss in steam boilers
Analyzing the causes of accidents of ball boilers on ships of the navy, the Main Technical Inspectorate of the People's Commissariat of Defense made sure that the most characteristic accident is overheating of individual firing parts of the boiler, accompanied by burns of hot water pipes, sagging of furnaces, sagging and bulging of firing chambers with simultaneous rupture of short connections, leakage of smoke pipes, etc. About 60% of steam boiler accidents were caused by water loss due to gross violations of the rules of technical operation, insufficient qualifications of maintenance personnel, lack of proper discipline and criminally negligent supervision of boilers during their operation.
Serious violations of watch discipline are allowed on many ships: watch mechanics on the move, often unnecessarily, leave the engine room and stay on deck; during the running watch and even during the reception and handing over of the watch, the water measuring glasses are not blown, etc.
The loss of water from the boiler is, generally speaking, an old and well—known phenomenon. Over the many years of widespread use of steam boilers on ships and in stationary installations, a lot of practical experience has accumulated in the process of dealing with such accidents, summarized in a number of rules, instructions, manuals, etc. Similarly, very effective tools have been developed, both constructive and operational, to prevent such accidents. For example, the lowest height of the water level is regulated at its lowest position above the uppermost point of the boiler heating surface, water taps are installed to control the operation of water-indicating devices and to establish the actual water level in the boiler in case of their failure (clogging, glass bursting), etc.
It can be argued that with the correct design of the boiler, the proper condition of the water-indicating devices and rationally supplied maintenance, the loss of water from the boiler is absolutely impossible. If, due to any special unforeseen circumstances (clogging of the water measuring glasses, malfunction or breakdown of the feed pump with hot water ingot, etc.), the water level in the water measuring glass is lower than the bottom nut, then even in this case, not the very fact of water loss is dangerous. The most dangerous thing is confusion, procrastination and the odd actions of the service personnel if they do not know how to properly assess the situation and, due to the lack of proper training and skills, they do not do what is needed, not how it is required, which takes precious time, a possible accident becomes real and there is a serious threat of failure of the boiler unit.
Unfortunately, in a number of textbooks, rules and instructions for the care of steam boilers that we have reviewed, this important issue has not been given due attention. In most of them, there is no clear regulated sequence of actions and operations of the service personnel when water is lost. chicken road 2
Serious violations of watch discipline are allowed on many ships: watch mechanics on the move, often unnecessarily, leave the engine room and stay on deck; during the running watch and even during the reception and handing over of the watch, the water measuring glasses are not blown, etc.
The loss of water from the boiler is, generally speaking, an old and well—known phenomenon. Over the many years of widespread use of steam boilers on ships and in stationary installations, a lot of practical experience has accumulated in the process of dealing with such accidents, summarized in a number of rules, instructions, manuals, etc. Similarly, very effective tools have been developed, both constructive and operational, to prevent such accidents. For example, the lowest height of the water level is regulated at its lowest position above the uppermost point of the boiler heating surface, water taps are installed to control the operation of water-indicating devices and to establish the actual water level in the boiler in case of their failure (clogging, glass bursting), etc.
It can be argued that with the correct design of the boiler, the proper condition of the water-indicating devices and rationally supplied maintenance, the loss of water from the boiler is absolutely impossible. If, due to any special unforeseen circumstances (clogging of the water measuring glasses, malfunction or breakdown of the feed pump with hot water ingot, etc.), the water level in the water measuring glass is lower than the bottom nut, then even in this case, not the very fact of water loss is dangerous. The most dangerous thing is confusion, procrastination and the odd actions of the service personnel if they do not know how to properly assess the situation and, due to the lack of proper training and skills, they do not do what is needed, not how it is required, which takes precious time, a possible accident becomes real and there is a serious threat of failure of the boiler unit.
Unfortunately, in a number of textbooks, rules and instructions for the care of steam boilers that we have reviewed, this important issue has not been given due attention. In most of them, there is no clear regulated sequence of actions and operations of the service personnel when water is lost. chicken road 2
