In this article, I will share an overview of the scotch marine boiler, its components and its working principle.
The first thing you should know about the scotch marine boiler is that it’s a fire tube boiler.
You might like this: Advantages And Disadvantages Of Fire Tube Boilers
The combustion gasses are conveyed in the boiler system via tubes while the boiler water surrounds the fire tubes.
As we all know with boilers, before the water is fed into it, it has to be checked if it’s going to contribute to the higher efficiency of the boiler.
Water treatment is done to ensure the steam that will be generated will be of quality, the boiler will remain effective for longer and reduce maintenance issues.
But with the scotch marine boiler, there is no need to worry about the type of water that will be fed into it.
Scotch marine boiler is efficient and that is why it can use any type of water without any issues.
In addition to that, this kind of boiler is compact; occupies less space and its installation is easier compared to large-scale industrial boilers.
The scotch marine boilers are of different types according to their length.
There are single and double-ended scotch marine boilers; the length of a single-ended scotch marine boiler is about 3.5 metres while the double-ended one is 6.5 metres long.
Components of scotch marine boiler
These are some of the main components of a scotch marine boiler;
- Furnace
- Smokebox
- Combustion chamber
- Shell
- Bar stay
- Fire tubes
Furnace
It’s in the furnace where the fuel is fed and burnt and the combustion gasses are conveyed to the combustion chamber.
Combustion chamber
The combustion chamber holds the combustion gasses, allows complete combustion of the remaining unburnt carbon and then supplies the flue gasses to the fire tubes.
Fire tubes
The fire tubes are mainly used to convey the flue gasses around the boiler to heat up the water surrounding them; they are the heating element of the scotch marine boiler.
Smokebox
It’s used to clean the flue gasses before they are released into the atmosphere via the stack.
Shell
It’s used to hold the boiler water around all the fire tubes and provides a steam space for the generated steam.
Bar stay
They are used to support the boiler shell and prevent it from bulging under extreme steam pressure and temperature.
Working principle of scotch marine boiler
The fuel is fed into the furnace and burnt, the combustion gasses are then taken to the combustion chamber where all the unburnt fuel is completely burnt.
The flue gasses are then taken around the fire tubes that are surrounded by the water held by the boiler shell.
To maximize heat transfer, the combustion chamber, the fire tubes and the smoke tubes are surrounded by water.
This is to increase the heating surface area and a little amount of fuel can be used to heat a large volume of water in the boiler.
It turns out to be economical for the power plant or industry to use this kind of boiler.
This is made possible by the help of the design of the boiler shell.
The water in the boiler shell circulates around the smoke tubes (the fire tubes carrying the flue gasses) thus ensuring that the heat energy is evenly distributed in the boiler shell.
This leads to quality steam being generated by scotch marine boilers.
As the water is being heated, its level keeps on decreasing, for a higher efficiency of the boiler, the water level should be maintained a little above the combustion chamber.
The steam collects in the steam space of the boiler shell while the flue gasses are conveyed by draught to the smoke box to be cleaned before they are taken out of the boiler through a stack.
That is the simple working principle of a scotch marine boiler.
Lastly…
I have just shared a summary of what you should know about the scotch marine boiler and how it works.
If you want to learn more about its design and its operating efficiency you will have to try to dig deep into the specific materials that talk about this type of boiler.
Hopefully, you have enjoyed what I have shared, if you have any questions or additional points you would like me to add to this article just let me know in the comment section.
Thanks so much for reading, see you in my next piece.
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