The Shipyard ( Dry Dock ): Builds & Questions > Steam

A Beginners Guide to Steam

(1/33) > >>

Bunkerbarge:
This thread has been put into the R&D board as a guide for all modellers new to the delights of steam plant to help them with any challenges they may encounter along the way.  Beginners can feel free to ask any question, no matter how simple it may seem, and one of our esteemed experts will help out in any way they can.

I would also ask any experienced steam modellers to add any post in this thread that they feel may be of benefit to newcomers such as defenitions, explanations or even tutorials.  Please keep them at a level that can be understood by all and therefore will be of benefit and interest to everyone.

Let's not forget that there is no such thing as a daft question and encourage all to ask whatever may be on thier minds.

sheerline:
Hi Bunkerbarge, I'm not involved with steam boats as such, don't own or run them (as yet) but recently I have had a little insight to the regulations regarding steamboat safety checks and boiler testing regs etc.
What are the regulations, if any, governing the use of flash steam plants, presumably they are not subject to the same rigorous test proceedure?
Many thanks.......Chris

gondolier88:
Hi Sheerline,

Flash steam plants, if that is definitely what you are building, are not covered by current EU regs, or most model engineering clubs.

The reason is that usually they are made of one continuous length of thickwall small diameter (hence very high safety rating) tube with extremely small water content (so if it did do the unlikely and explode then it would not do any damage- steam expands at a ratio of 1600:1 so 1L of water would theoretically become 1600Lt of steam).

If however you have an accumulator or header that stores the steam or water then it becomes a shell boiler and has far more stored potential energy and this would need to be pressure tested to 1.5 x working pressure in the presence of a boiler inspector.

Greg

Bunkerbarge:
I am not actually aware of any regulations that cover Flash steam plants because technically they are not an enclosed pressure vessel.  The "Blue Book" and the MPBA rules therefore do not apply and, as Greg has already said, neither do current EU regs.  The minute however you enclose a space and subject it to a pressure it becomes a pressure vessel and hence rules apply.

sheerline:
Thanks for that chaps. No, I wasn't intending to build one....( %) yet) but I met a fellow the other day who has done so many times. He uses uniflo engines for hi speed runs and it fired my imagination a tad.
Two of the main problems for me though A: time and B: noise ....but the whole scenario of pumping water and turning it into a red hot gas to be instantly used up has a kind of poetic engineering beauty about it. Anyway, for now the world is a safer place as I'm bogged down with work.
My main question was the regs and you have answered it kind sirs.
Regards...........chris

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page