steamman
Private
- Joined
- May 26, 2020
- Location
- Columbus, Ga
The most known boiler explosions are on riverboats. The Sultana deaths according to The official count by the United States Customs Service was 1,547 comparable to the Titanic's 1500 deaths. Locomotive boilers also exploded but not as spectacularly.
Locomotive-type boiler explosions(Wikipedia)
Early locomomotive boiler design(from Pinterest)
The crown sheet is the covering over the firebox.
A large crack causes all of the water in the boiler to flash immediately into steam and expand violently. This expansion has a possible explosion equal to t1,160 kilograms (2,560 lb) of TNT. link Some images 30 Best Locomotive boiler explosions images
Other sources of failure were the plates in the boiler. The first overlapping plates could overstressed by repeated heating, building steam pressure up, followed by cooling and release of pressure. The expansion and contraction caused small cracks which enabled corrosion and more weakening followed by failure.
Locomotive-type boiler explosions(Wikipedia)
This was particularly true in the Civil War because the technology of steam power locomotives was still new. Lots of issues had not been encountered or addressed properly.Boiler explosions are of particular danger in (locomotive-type) fire tube boilers because the top of the firebox (crown sheet) must be covered with some amount of water at all times; or the heat of the fire can weaken the crown sheet or crown stays to the point of failure, even at normal working pressure.
Early locomomotive boiler design(from Pinterest)
The crown sheet is the covering over the firebox.
A large crack causes all of the water in the boiler to flash immediately into steam and expand violently. This expansion has a possible explosion equal to t1,160 kilograms (2,560 lb) of TNT. link Some images 30 Best Locomotive boiler explosions images
Other sources of failure were the plates in the boiler. The first overlapping plates could overstressed by repeated heating, building steam pressure up, followed by cooling and release of pressure. The expansion and contraction caused small cracks which enabled corrosion and more weakening followed by failure.