The fuel used was a smokeless Welsh coal, from the Llangennech colleries. It was analyzed by Mr. Snelus, of the Dowlais Ironworks, and in Table II. are exhibited the details of its composition, and the weight and volume of air required for its combustion. The total heat of combustion in 1 lb of water evaporated:

= 15.06 × (0.8497 + 4.265 × (0.426 - 0.035/8))
= 15.24 lb. of water from and at 212°
= 14,727 units of heat.

Table II

PROPERTIES OF LLANGENNECH COAL.

The temperature of the furnace not having been determined, we must calculate it on the supposition, which will be justified later on, that 50 per cent more air was admitted than was theoretically necessary to supply the oxygen required for perfect combustion. This would make 18 lb. of air per 1 lb. of coal; consequently 19 lb. of gases would be heated by 14,727 units of heat. Hence:

above the temperatures of the air, or 3,777° absolute. The temperature of the smoke, t, was 849° absolute; hence the maximum duty would be

The specific heat of coal is very nearly that of gases at constant pressure, and may, without sensible error, be taken as such. The potential energy of 1 lb. of coal, therefore, with reference to the oxygen with which it will combine, and calculated from absolute zero, is:

Hence work to be expected from the boiler:

of water evaporated from and at 212°, corresponding to 12,819 units. The actual result obtained was 11.83 lb.; hence the efficiency of this boiler was

I have already claimed for a boiler that it is a veritable heat engine, and I have ventured to construct an indicator diagram to illustrate its working. The rate of transfer of heat from the furnace to the water in the boiler, at any given point, is some way proportional to the difference of temperature, and the quantity of heat in the gases is proportional to their temperatures. Draw a base line representing -460° Fahr., the absolute zero of temperature. At one end erect an ordinate, upon which set off T = 3,777°, the temperature of the furnace. At 849° = t, on the scale of temperature, draw a line parallel to the base, and mark on it a length proportional to the heating surface of the boiler; join T by a diagonal with the extremity of this line, and drop a perpendicular on to the zero line. The temperature of the water in the boiler being uniform, the ordinates bounded by the sloping line, and by the line, t, will at any point be approximately proportional to the rate of transmission of heat, and the shaded area above t will be proportional to the quantity of heat imparted to the water.

Join T by another diagonal with extremity of the heating surface on the zero line, then the larger triangle, standing on the zero line, will represent the whole of the heat of combustion, and the ratio of the two triangles will be as the lengths of their respective bases, that is, as (T-t) / T, which is the expression we have already used. The heating surface was 220 square feet, and it was competent to transmit the energy developed by 41 lb. of coal consumed per hour = 12,819 u. × 41 u. = 525,572 units, equal to an average of 2,389 units per square foot per hour; this value will correspond to the mean pressure in an ordinary diagram, for it is a measure of the energy with which molecular motion is transferred from the heated gases to the boiler-plate, and so to the water. The mean rate of transmission, multiplied by the area of heating surface, gives the area of the shaded portion of the figure, which is the total work which should have been done, that is to say, the work of evaporating 544 lb. of water per hour. The actual work done, however, was only 485 lb. To give the speculations we have indulged in a practical turn, it will be necessary to examine in detail the terms of Carnot's formula. Carnot labored under great disadvantages.

He adhered to the emission theory of heat; he was unacquainted with its dynamic equivalent; he did not know the reason of the difference between the specific heat of air at constant pressure and at constant volume, the idea of an absolute zero of temperature had not been broached; but the genius of the man, while it made him lament the want of knowledge which he felt must be attainable, also enabled him to penetrate the gloom by which he was surrounded, and enunciate propositions respecting the theory of heat engines, which the knowledge we now possess enables us to admit as true. His propositions are:

1. The motive power of heat is independent of the agents employed to develop it, and its quantity is determined solely by the temperature of the bodies between which the final transfer of caloric takes place.

2. The temperature of the agent must in the first instance be raised to the highest degree possible in order to obtain a great fall of caloric, and as a consequence a large production of motive power.

3. For the same reason the cooling of the agent must be carried to as low a degree as possible.

4. Matters must be so arranged that the passage of the elastic agent from the higher to the lower temperature must be due to an increase of volume, that is to say, the cooling of the agent must be caused by its rarefaction.

This last proposition indicates the defective information which Carnot possessed. He knew that expansion of the elastic agent was accompanied by a fall of temperature, but he did not know that that fall was due to the conversion of heat into work. We should state this clause more correctly by saying that "the cooling of the agent must be caused by the external work it performs." In accordance with these propositions, it is immaterial what the heated gases or vapors in the furnace of a boiler may be, provided that they cool by doing external work and, in passing over the boiler surfaces, impart their heat energy to the water. The temperature of the furnace, it follows, must be kept as high as possible. The process of combustion is usually complex. First, in the case of coal, close to the fire-bars complete combustion of the red hot carbon takes place, and the heat so developed distills the volatile hydrocarbons and moisture in the upper layers of the fuel. The inflammable gases ignite on or near the surface of the fuel, if there be a sufficient supply of air, and burn with a bright flame for a considerable distance around the boiler. If the layer of fuel be thin, the carbonic acid formed in the first instance passes through the fuel and mixes with the other gases.

If, however, the layer of fuel be thick, and the supply of air through the bars insufficient, the carbonic acid is decomposed by the red hot coke, and twice the volume of carbonic oxide is produced, and this, making its way through the fuel, burns with a pale blue flame on the surface, the result, as far as evolution of heat is concerned, being the same as if the intermediate decomposition of carbonic acid had not taken place. This property of coal has been taken advantage of by the late Sir W. Siemens in his gas producer, where the supply of air is purposely limited, in order that neither the hydrocarbons separated by distillation, nor the carbonic oxide formed in the thick layer of fuel, may be consumed in the producer, but remain in the form of crude gas, to be utilized in his regenerative furnaces.

THE GENERATION OF STEAM. Fig 3.

THE GENERATION OF STEAM. Fig 4.

THE GENERATION OF STEAM. Fig 5.

THE GENERATION OF STEAM. Fig 6.

THE GENERATION OF STEAM. Fig 7.

(To be continued.)

[1]

Lecture delivered at the Institution of Civil Engineers, session 1883-84. For the illustrations we are indebted to the courtesy of Mr. J. Forrest, the secretary.

[2]

In the fifty-second volume of the Proceedings (1887-78), page 154, will be found a remarkable experiment on the evaporative power of a vertical boiler with internal circulating pipes. The experiment was conducted by Sir Frederick Bramwell and Dr. Russell, and is remarkable in this respect, that the quantity of air admitted to the fuel, the loss by convection and radiation, and the composition of the smoke were determined. The facts observed were as follows:

No combustible gas was found in the chimney.

I will apply Carnot's doctrine to this case.

Potential energy of the fuel with respect to absolute zero:

Temperature of furnace -

The whole of the fuel was heated up, but the heat absorbed in the evaporation of the water lowered the temperature of the furnace, and must be deducted from the heat of combustion.

And temperature of furnace:

Work of displacing atmosphere by smoke at 700°:

Actual work done:

The unaccounted-for work, therefore, amounts to only 1½ per cent. of the calculated available work.

Sir Frederick Bramwell ingeniously arranged his data in the form of a balance sheet, and showed 253,979 units unaccounted for; but if from this we deduct the work lost in displacing the air, the unaccounted-for heat falls to less than 4 per cent. of the total heat of combustion. These results show how extremely accurate the observations must have been, and that the loss mainly arises from convection and radiation from the boiler.

[Continued from SUPPLEMENT No. 437, page 6970.]