A Catechism of the Steam Engine Part 37

ERECTION OF ENGINES.

719. _Q._--Will you explain the operation of erecting a pair of side lever engines in the workshop?

A.--In beginning the erection of side lever marine engines in the workshop, the first step is to level the bed plate lengthways and across, and strike a line up the centre, as near as possible in the middle, which indent with a chisel in various places, so that it may at any time be easily found again. Strike another line at right angles with this, either at the cylinder or crank centre, by drawing a perpendicular in the usual manner.

Lay the other sole plate alongside at the right distance, and strike a line at the cylinder or crank centre of it also, shifting either sole plate a little endways until these two transverse lines come into the same line, which may be ascertained by applying a straight edge across the two sole plates. Strike the rest of the centres across, and drive a pin into each corner of each sole plate, which file down level, so as to serve for points of reference at any future stage; next, try the cylinder, or plumb it on the inside roughly, and see how it is for height, in order to ascertain whether much will be required to be chipped off the bottom, or whether more requires to be chipped off the one side than the other. Chip the cylinder bottom fair; set it in its place, plumb the cylinder very carefully with a straight edge and silk thread, and scribe it so as to bring the cylinder mouth to the right height, then chip the sole plate to suit that height.

The cylinder must then be tried on again, and the parts filed wherever they bear hard, until the whole surface is well fitted. Next, chip the place for the framing; set up the framing, and scribe the horizontal part of the jaw with the scriber used for the bottom of the cylinder, the upright part being set to suit the shaft centres, and the angular f.l.a.n.g.e of cylinder, where the stay is attached, having been previously chipped plumb and level.

The stake wedges with which the framing is set up preparatorily to the operation of scribing, must be set so as to support equally the superinc.u.mbent weight, else the framing will spring from resting unequally, and it will be altogether impossible to fit it well. These directions obviously refer exclusively to the old description of side lever engine with cast iron framing; but there is more art in erecting an engine of that kind with accuracy, than in erecting one of the direct action engines, where it is chiefly turned or bored surfaces that have to be dealt with.

720. _Q._--How do you lay out the positions of the centres of a side lever engine?

_A._--In fixing the positions of the centres in side lever engines, it appears to be the most convenient way to begin with the main centre. The height of the centre of the cross head at half stroke above the plane of the main centre is fixed by the drawing of the engine, which gives the distance from the centre of cross head at half stroke to the f.l.a.n.g.e of the cylinder; and from thence it is easy to find the perpendicular distance from the cylinder f.l.a.n.g.e to the plane of the main centre, merely by putting a straight edge along level, from the position of the main centre to the cylinder, and measuring from the cylinder flauge down to it, raising or lowering the straight edge until it rests at the proper measurement. The main centre is in that plane, and the fore and aft position is to be found by plumbing up from the centre line on the sole plate. To find the paddle shaft centre, plumb up from the centre line marked on the edge of the sole plate, and on this line lay off from the plane of the main centre the length of the connecting rod, if that length be already fixed, or otherwise the height fixed in the drawing of the paddle shaft above the main centre.

To fix the centre for the parallel motion shaft, when the parallel bars are connected with the cross head, lay off from the plane of main centre the length of the parallel bar from the centre of the cylinder, deduct the length of the radius crank, and plumb up the central line of motion shaft; lay off on this line, measuring from the plane of main centre, the length of the side rod; this gives the centre of parallel motion shaft when the radius bars join the cross head, as is the preferable practice where parallel motions are used. The length of the connecting rod is the distance from the centre of the beam when level, or the plane of the main centre, to the centre of the paddle shaft. The length of the side rods is the distance from the centre line of the beam when level, to the centre of the cross head when the piston is at half stroke. The length of the radius rods of the parallel motion is the distance from the point of attachment on the cross head or side rod, when the piston is at half stroke, to the extremity of the radius crank when the crank is horizontal; or in engines with the parallel motion attached to the cross head, it is the distance from the centre of the pin of the radius crank when horizontal to the centre of the cylinder. Having fixed the centre of the parallel motion shaft in the manner just described, it only remains to put the parts together when the motion is attached to the cross head; but when the motion is attached to the side rod, the end of the parallel bar must not move in a perpendicular line, but in an arc, the versed sine of which bears the same ratio to that of the side lever, that the distance from the top of the side rod to the point of attachment bears to the total length of the side rod.

721. _Q._--How do you ascertain the accuracy of the parallel motion?

_A._--The parallel motion when put in its place should be tested by raising and lowering the piston by means of the crane. First, set the beams level, and shift in or out the motion shaft plummer blocks or bearings, until the piston rod is upright. Then move the piston to the two extremes of its motion. If at both ends the cross head is thrown too much out, the stud in the beam to which the motion side rod is attached is too far out, and must be shifted nearer to the main centre; if at the extremities the cross head is thrown too far in, the stud in the beam is not out far enough. If the cross head be thrown in at the one end, and out equally at the other, the fault is in the motion side rod, which must be lengthened or shortened to remedy the defect.

722. _Q._--Will you describe the method pursued in erecting oscillating engines?

_A._--The columns here are of wrought iron, and in the case of small engines there is a template made of wood and sheet iron, in which the holes are set in the proper positions, by which the upper and lower frames are adjusted; but in the case of large engines, the holes are set off by means of trammels. The holes for the reception of the columns are cast in the frames, and are recessed out internally: the bosses encircling the holes are made quite level across, and made very true with a face plate, and the pillars which have been turned to a gauge are then inserted. The top frame is next put on, and must bear upon the collars of the columns so evenly, that one of the columns will not be bound by it harder than another. If this point be not attained, the surfaces must be further sc.r.a.ped, until a perfect fit is established. The whole of the bearings in the best oscillating engines are fitted by means of sc.r.a.ping, and on no other mode of fitting can the same reliance be placed for exact.i.tude.

723. _Q._--How do you set out the trunnions of oscillating engines, so that they shall be at right angles with the interior of the cylinder?

_A._--Having bored the cylinder, faced the f.l.a.n.g.e, and bored out the hole through which the boring bar pa.s.ses, put a piece of wood across the mouth of the cylinder, and jam it in, and put a similar piece in the hole through the bottom of the cylinder. Mark the centre of the cylinder upon each of these pieces, and put into the bore of each trunnion an iron plate, with a small indentation in the middle to receive the centre of a lathe, and adjusting screws to bring the centre into any required position. The cylinder must then be set in a lathe, and hung by the centres of the trunnions, and a straight edge must be put across the cylinder mouth and levelled, so as to pa.s.s through the line in which the centre of the cylinder lies. Another similar straight edge, and similarly levelled, must be similarly placed across the cylinder bottom, so as to pa.s.s through the central line of the cylinder; and the cylinder is then to be turned round in the trunnion centres-the straight edges remaining stationary, which will at once show whether the trunnions are in the same horizontal plane as the centre of the cylinder, and if not, the screws of the plates in the trunnions must be adjusted until the central point of the cylinder just comes to the straight edge, whichever end of the cylinder is presented. To ascertain whether the trunnions stand in a transverse plane, parallel to the cylinder f.l.a.n.g.e, it is only necessary to measure down from the f.l.a.n.g.e to each trunnion centre; and if both these conditions are satisfied, the position of the centres may be supposed to be right. The trunnion bearings are then turned, and are fitted into blocks of wood, in which they run while the packing s.p.a.ce is being turned out. Where many oscillating engines are made, a lathe with four centres is used, which makes the use of straight edges in setting out the trunnions superfluous.

724. _Q._--Will you explain how the slide valve of a marine engine is set?

_A._--Place the crank in the position corresponding to the end of the stroke, which can easily be done in the shop with a level, or plumb line; but in a steam vessel another method becomes necessary. Draw the transverse centre line, answering to the centre line of the crank shaft, on the sole plate of the engine, or on the cylinder mouth if the engine be of the direct action kind; describe a circle of the diameter of the crank pin upon the large eye of the crank, and mark off on either side of the transverse centre line a distance equal to the semi-diameter of the crank pin. From the point thus found, stretch a line to the edge of the circle described on the large eye of the crank, and bring round the crank shaft till the crank pin touches the stretched line; the crank may thus be set at either end of its stroke. When the crank is thus placed at the end of the stroke, the valve must be adjusted so as to have the amount of lead, or opening on the steam side, which it is intended to give at the beginning of the stroke; the eccentric must then be turned round upon the shaft until the notch in the eccentric rod comes opposite the pin on the valve lever, and falls into gear: mark upon the shaft the situation of the eccentric, and put on the catches in the usual way. The same process must be repeated for going astern, shifting round the eccentric to the opposite side of the shaft, until the rod again falls into gear. In setting valves, regard must of course be had to the kind of engine, the arrangements of the levers, and the kind of valve employed; and in any general instructions it is impossible to specify every modification in the procedure that circ.u.mstances may render advisable.

725. _Q._--Is a similar method of setting the valve adopted when the link motion is employed.

_A._--Each end of the link of the link motion has the kind of motion communicated to it that is due to the action of the particular eccentric with which that end is in connection. In that form of the link motion in which the link itself is moved up or down, there is a different amount of lead for each different position of the link, since to raise or lower the link is tantamount to turning the eccentric round on the shaft. In that form of the link motion in which the link itself is not raised or lowered, but is susceptible of a motion round a centre in the manner of a double ended lever, the lead continues uniform. In both forms of the link motion, as the stroke of the valve may be varied to any required extent while the lap is a constant quant.i.ty, the proportion of the lap relatively to the stroke of the valve may also be varied to any required extent, and the amount of the lap relatively with the stroke of the valve determines the amount of the expansion. In setting the valve when fitted with the link motion, the mode of procedure is much the same as when it is moved by a simple eccentric. The first thing is to determine if the eccentric rods are of the proper length, and this is done by setting the valve at half stroke and turning round the eccentric, marking each extremity of the travel of the end of the rod. The valve attachment should be midway between these extremes; and if it is not so, it must be made so by lengthening or shortening the rod. The forward and backward eccentric rods are to be adjusted in this way, and this being done, the engine is to be put to the end of the stroke, and the eccentric is to be turned round until the amount of lead has been given that is desired. The valve must be tried by turning the engine round to see that it is right at both centres, for going ahead and also for going astern. In some examples of the link motion, one of the eccentric rods is made a little longer than the other, and the position of the point of suspension or point of support powerfully influences the action of the link in certain cases, especially if the link and this point are not in the same vertical line. To reconcile all the conditions proper to the satisfactory operation of the valve in the construction of the link motion, is a problem requiring a good deal of attention and care for its satisfactory solution; and to make sure that this result is attained, the engine must be turned round a sufficient number of times to enable us to ascertain if the valve occupies the desired position, both at the top and bottom centres, whether the engine is going ahead or astern. This should also be tried with the starting handle in the different notches, or, in other words, with the sliding block in the slot or opening of the link in different positions.

MANAGEMENT OF MARINE BOILERS.

726. _Q._--You have already stated that the formation of salt or scale in marine boilers is to be prevented by blowing out into the sea at frequent intervals a portion of the concentrated water. Will you now explain how the proper quant.i.ty of water to be blown out is determined?

_A._--By means of the salinometer, which is an instrument for determining the density of the water, constructed on the principle of the hydrometer for telling the strength of spirits. Some of the water is drawn off from the boiler from time to time, and the salinometer is immersed in it after it has been cooled. By the graduations of the salinometer the saltness of this water is at once discovered; and if the saltness exceeds 8 ounces of salt in the gallon, more water should be blown out of the boiler to be replenished with fresher water from the sea, until the prescribed limit of freshness is attained. Should the salinometer be accidentally broken, a temporary one may be constructed of a phial weighted with a few grains of shot or other convenient weight. The weighted phial is first to be floated in fresh water, and its line of floatation marked; then to be floated in salt water, and its line of floatation marked; and another mark of an equal height above the salt water mark will be the blow off point.

727. _Q._--HOW often should boilers be blown off in order to keep them free from incrustation?

_A._--Flue boilers generally require to be blown off about twice every watch, or about twice in the four hours; but tubular boilers may require to be blown off once every twenty minutes, and such an amount of blowing off should in every case be adopted, as will effectually prevent any injurious amount of incrustation.

728. _Q._--In the event of scale acc.u.mulating on the flues of a boiler, what is the best way of removing it?

_A._--If the boilers require to be scaled, the best method of performing the operation appears to be the following:--Lay a train of shavings along the flues, open the safety valve to prevent the existence of any pressure within the boiler, and light the train of shavings, which, by expanding rapidly the metal of the flues, while the scale, from its imperfect conducting power, can only expand slowly, will crack off the scale; by washing down the flues with a hose, the scale will be carried to the bottom of the boiler, or issue, with the water, from the mud-hole doors. This method of scaling must be practised only by the engineer himself, and must not be intrusted to the firemen who, in their ignorance, might damage the boiler by overheating the plates. It is only where the incrustation upon the flues is considerable that this method of removing it need be practised; in partial cases the scale may be chipped off by a hatched faced hammer, and the flues may then be washed down with the hose in the manner before described.

729. _Q._--Should the steam be let out of the boiler, after it has blown out the water, when the engine is stopped?

_A._--No; it is better to retain the steam in the boiler, as the heat and moisture it occasions soften any scale adhering to the boiler, and cause it to peel off. Care must, however, be taken not to form a vacuum in the boiler; and the gauge c.o.c.ks, if opened, will prevent this.

730. _Q._--Are tubular boilers liable to the formation of scale in certain places, though generally free from it?

_A._--In tubular boilers a good deal of care is required to prevent the ends of the tubes next the furnace from becoming coated with scale. Even when the boiler is tolerably clean in other places the scale will collect here; and in many cases where the amount of blowing off previously found to suffice for flue boilers has been adopted, an incrustation five eighths of an inch in thickness has formed in twelve months round the furnace ends of the tubes, and the stony husks enveloping them have actually grown together in some parts so as totally to exclude the water.

731. _Q._--When a tubular boiler gets incrusted in the manner you have described, what is the best course to be adopted for the removal of the scale?

_A._--When a boiler gets into this state the whole of the tubes must be pulled out, which may be done by a Spanish windla.s.s combined with a pair of blocks; and three men, when thus provided, will be able to draw out from 50 to 70 tubes per day,--those tubes with the thickest and firmest incrustations being, of course, the most difficult to remove. The act of drawing out the tubes removes the incrustation; but the tubes should afterward be sc.r.a.ped by drawing them backward and forward between the old files, fixed in a vice, in the form of the letter V. The ends of the tube should then be heated and dressed with the hammer, and plunged while at a blood heat into a bed of sawdust to make them cool soft, so that they may be riveted again with facility. A few of the tubes will be so far damaged at the ends by the act of drawing them out, as to be too short for reinsertion: this result might be to a considerable extent obviated by setting the tube plates at different angles, so that the several horizontal rows of tubes would not be originally of the same length, and the damaged tubes of the long rows would serve to replace the short ones; but the practice would be attended with other inconveniences.

732. _Q._--Is there no other means of keeping boilers free from scale than by blowing off?

_A._--Muriatic acid, or muriate of ammonia, commonly called sal-ammoniac, introduced into a boiler, prevents scale to a great extent; but it is liable to corrode the boiler internally, and also to damage the engine, by being carried over with the steam; and the use of such intermixtures does not appear to be necessary, if blowing off from the surface of the water is largely practised. In old boilers, however, already incrusted with scale, the use of muriate of ammonia may sometimes be advantageous.

733. _Q._--Are not the tubes of tubular boilers liable to be choked up by deposits of soot?

_A._--The soot which collects in the inside of the tubes of tubular boilers is removed by means of a brush, like a large bottle brush; and the carbonaceous scale, which remains adhering to the interior of the tubes, is removed by a circular sc.r.a.per. Ferules in the tubes interfere with the action of this sc.r.a.per, and in the case of iron tubes ferules are now generally discarded; but it will sometimes be necessary to use ferules for iron tubes, where the tubes have been drawn and reinserted, as it may be difficult to refix the tubes without such an auxiliary. Tubes one tenth of an inch in thickness are too thin: one eighth of an inch is a better thickness, and such tubes will better dispense with the use of ferules, and will not so soon wear into holes.

734. _Q._--If the furnace or flue of a boiler be injured, how do you proceed to repair it?

_A._--If from any imperfection in the roof of a furnace or flue a patch requires to be put upon it, it will be better to let the patch be applied upon the upper, rather than upon the lower, surface of the plate; as if applied within the furnace a recess will be formed for the lodgment of deposit, which will prevent the rapid transmission of the heat in that part; and the iron will be very liable to be again burned away. A crack in a plate may be closed by boring holes in the direction of the crack, and inserting rivets with large heads, so as to cover up the imperfection. If the top of the furnace be bent down, from the boiler having been accidentally allowed to get short of water, it may be set up again by a screw jack,--a fire of wood having been previously made beneath the injured plate; but it will in general be nearly as expeditious a course to remove the plate and introduce a new one, and the result will be more satisfactory.

735. _Q._--In the case of the chimney being carried away by shot or otherwise, what course would you pursue?

_A._--In some cases of collision, the funnel is carried away and lost overboard, and such cases are among the most difficult for which a remedy can be sought. If flame come out of the chimney when the funnel is knocked away, so as to incur the risk of setting the ship on fire, the uptake of the boiler must be covered over with an iron plate, or be sufficiently covered to prevent such injury. A temporary chimney must then be made of such materials as are on board the ship. If there are bricks and clay or lime on board, a square chimney may be built with them, or, if there be sheet iron plates on board, a square chimney may be constructed of them. In the absence of such materials, the awning stanchions may be set up round the chimney, and chain rove in through among them in the manner of wicker work, so as to make an iron wicker chimney, which may then be plastered outside with wet ashes mixed with clay, flour, or any other material that will give the ashes cohesion. War steamers should carry short spare funnels, which may easily be set up should the original funnel be shot away; and if a jet of steam be let into the chimney, a very short and small funnel will suffice for the purpose of draught.

MANAGEMENT OF MARINE ENGINES.

736. _Q._--What are the most important of the points which suggest themselves to you in connection with the management of marine engines?

_A._--The attendants upon engines should prepare themselves for any casualty that may arise, by considering possible cases of derangement, and deciding In what way they would act should certain accidents occur. The course to be pursued must have reference to particular engines, and no general rules can therefore be given; but every marine engineer should be prepared with the measures to be pursued in the emergencies in which he may be called upon to act, and where everything may depend upon his energy and decision.

737. _Q._--What is the first point of a marine engineer's duty?

_A._--The safe custody of the boiler. He must see that the feed is maintained, being neither too high nor too low, and that blowing out the supersalted water is practised sufficiently. The saltness of the water at every half hour should be entered in the log book, together with the pressure of steam, number of revolutions of the engine, and any other particulars which have to be recorded. The economical use of the fuel is another matter which should receive particular attention. If the coal is very small, it should be wetted before being put on the fire. Next to the safety of the boiler, the bearings of the engine are the most important consideration. These points, indeed, const.i.tute the main parts of the duty of an engineer, supposing no accident to the machinery to have taken place.

738. _Q._--If the eccentric catches or hoops were disabled, how would you work the valve?

_A._--If the eccentric catches or hoops break or come off, and the damage cannot readily be repaired, the valve may be worked by attaching the end of the starting handle to any convenient part of the other engine, or to some part in connection with the connecting rod of the same engine. In side lever engines, with the starting bar hanging from the top of the diagonal stay, as is a very common arrangement, the valve might be wrought by leading a rope from the side lever of the other engine through blocks so as to give a horizontal pull to the hanging starting bar, and the bar could be brought back by a weight. Another plan would be, to lash a piece of wood to the cross tail b.u.t.t of the damaged engine, so as to obtain a sufficient throw for working the valve, and then to lead a piece of wood or iron, from a suitable point in the piece of wood attached to the cross tail, to the starting handle, whereby the valve would receive its proper motion. In oscillating engines it is easy to give the required motion to the valve, by deriving it from the oscillation of the cylinder.

739. _Q._--What would you do if a crank pin broke?

_A._--If the crank pin breaks in a paddle vessel with two engines, the other engine must be made to work one wheel. In a screw vessel the same course may be pursued, provided the broken crank is not the one through which the force of the other engine is communicated to the screw. In such a case the vessel will be as much disabled as if she broke the screw shaft or screw.