I agree the size and shape of the coal gun boilers make it unlikely "stays" are needed.Bob wrote:When I visited AHS I saw boilers during assembly and welding. I don't believe that the coal gun incorporates stays--basically the pressure vessel is a series of concentric circles and don't need the reinforcement that stays provide in designs that have relatively large flat plate sections.
Most of the boilers AHS makes do incorporate relatively large flat plate sections and use stays. If you go to the AHS home page http://www.alternateheatingsystems.com/boilers.htm you can see the ends of the stays on the Multi fuel boiler.
EFM Pressure Is Too High
- Yanche
- Member
- Posts: 3026
- Joined: Fri. Dec. 23, 2005 12:45 pm
- Location: Sykesville, Maryland
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Alternate Heating Systems S-130
- Coal Size/Type: Anthracite Pea
- stoker-man
- Verified Business Rep.
- Posts: 2071
- Joined: Mon. Nov. 19, 2007 9:33 pm
- Location: Lehigh Valley, PA
- Hand Fed Coal Boiler: 1981 efm wcb-24 in use 365 days a year
- Coal Size/Type: Anthracite/Chestnut
- Other Heating: Hearthstone wood stove
I was talking to a dealer yesterday from Summit Hill and he thinks that Nate, the L&I inspector, PO'd enough people up there, that he might have been transferred to another area.
Coming soon....... to a theater near you ?
Coming soon....... to a theater near you ?
- stoker-man
- Verified Business Rep.
- Posts: 2071
- Joined: Mon. Nov. 19, 2007 9:33 pm
- Location: Lehigh Valley, PA
- Hand Fed Coal Boiler: 1981 efm wcb-24 in use 365 days a year
- Coal Size/Type: Anthracite/Chestnut
- Other Heating: Hearthstone wood stove
I got the scoop today about what happened at the church explosion.
Forgive me for technical errors but it went like this:
The high limit on the aquastat stopped functioning at a point sometime in the past and the company that serviced the boiler a few days earlier didn't check for it during the servicing procedure and didn't catch it. Also the pressure relief valve was stuck closed and wasn't caught either.
A water leak and loss of water in a zone piping caused the boiler to continue to run because the tstat wasn't satisfied and since the high limit switch stopped working, the boiler continued to run up to about 260 degrees. As the pressure increased, the relief valve didn't release pressure until it finally gave way at 45#. At that point the superheated water blew out and "flashed" into steam, which the inspectors determined to be about 750,000# per psi, which blew a nearby 4 inch block wall 2" off plumb. The block wall was put in by "somebody" when they removed a supporting pillar for the 2nd floor of the church. Being 2" off plumb, the wall collapsed and the entire church collapsed internally, up to and including the roof. The gauge was found in the debris and the pressure needle was frozen at 45#.
So, the moral of the story is: Check your high limit switch and pressure relief valve when you service your boiler.
Forgive me for technical errors but it went like this:
The high limit on the aquastat stopped functioning at a point sometime in the past and the company that serviced the boiler a few days earlier didn't check for it during the servicing procedure and didn't catch it. Also the pressure relief valve was stuck closed and wasn't caught either.
A water leak and loss of water in a zone piping caused the boiler to continue to run because the tstat wasn't satisfied and since the high limit switch stopped working, the boiler continued to run up to about 260 degrees. As the pressure increased, the relief valve didn't release pressure until it finally gave way at 45#. At that point the superheated water blew out and "flashed" into steam, which the inspectors determined to be about 750,000# per psi, which blew a nearby 4 inch block wall 2" off plumb. The block wall was put in by "somebody" when they removed a supporting pillar for the 2nd floor of the church. Being 2" off plumb, the wall collapsed and the entire church collapsed internally, up to and including the roof. The gauge was found in the debris and the pressure needle was frozen at 45#.
So, the moral of the story is: Check your high limit switch and pressure relief valve when you service your boiler.