A Catechism of the Steam Engine · Chapter 10Modern Marine and Locomotive Boilers
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275. Q.--These proportions appear chiefly to refer to old boilers. I wish you to state what are the proportions of modern flue and tubular marine boilers.
A.--In modern marine boilers the area of fire grate is less than in Mr. Watt's original boilers, where it was one square foot to nine square feet of heating surface. The heat in the furnace is consequently more intense, and a somewhat less amount of surface suffices to evaporate a cubic foot of water. In Boulton and Watt's modern flue boilers they allow for the evaporation of a cubic foot of water 8 square feet of heating surface, 70 square inches of fire grate, 13 square inches sectional area of flues, 6 square inches sectional area of chimney, 14 square inches area over furnace bridges, ratio of area of flue to area of fire grate 1 to 5.4. To evaporate a cubic foot of water per hour in tubular boilers, the proportions are--heating surface 9 square feet, fire grate 70 square inches, sectional area of tubes 10 square inches, sectional area of back uptake 12 square inches, sectional area of front uptake 10 square inches, sectional area of chimney 7 square inches, ratio of diameter of tube to length of tube 1/28th to 1/30th, cubical content of boiler exclusive of steam chest 6.5 cubic feet, cubical content of steam chest 1.5 cubic feet.
276. Q.--These proportions do not apply to locomotive boilers?
A.--Not at all. In locomotive boilers the draught is maintained by the projection of the waste steam which escapes from the cylinders up the chimney, and the draught is much more powerful and the combustion much more rapid than in cases in which the combustion is maintained by the natural draught of a chimney, except indeed the chimney be of very unusual temperature and height. The proportions proper for locomotive boilers will be seen by the dimensions of a few locomotives of approved construction, which have been found to give satisfactory results in practice, and which are recorded in the following Table: