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Thermic siphon

Heat-exchanging element in the firebox of some steam boilers

Thermic siphon

Heat-exchanging element in the firebox of some steam boilers

A Nicholson syphon, before installation in the firebox

Thermic siphons (alt. thermic syphons) are heat-exchanging elements in the firebox or combustion chamber of some steam boiler and steam locomotive designs. As they are directly exposed to the radiant heat of combustion, they have a high evaporative capacity relative to their size. By arranging them near-vertically, they also have good water circulation by means of the thermosyphon effect.

History

The concept of a self-circulating thermic syphon began with stationary boilers and relatively simple Galloway tubes. They reached their peak in steam locomotive boilers, where the complexity of a syphon was justified by the need for a compact and lightweight means of increasing boiler capacity. One of the best-known forms for locomotives was invented by the English locomotive engineer John L. Nicholson who received a US patent. The Nicholson form combined a complex shape that provided more heating area in a given space than did the earlier tubes and funnels, yet was simple to make, being folded from a single sheet of steel.

Flued boilers

Galloway tubes in a Lancashire boiler

The first high-pressure boilers were a large drum with a central flue, such as the Cornish and Lancashire boilers. Simple tubes were inserted across this flue.

References

References

  1. "Thermic Siphon for Locomotives".
  2. [http://www.athra.asn.au/library/Thermic_Syphons.pdf Thermic siphons]
  3. (2000). "[[How Steam Locomotives Really Work]]". [[Oxford University Press]].
  4. {{Book-Hills-Power from Steam
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This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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