Abstract
THE main value of this book will undoubtedly lie in the tables, which fill about 100 of its pages, and give in an admirably complete form the results of no less than 405 tests of the efficiency of steam boilers of almost every type. The labour of collecting the material must have been great, and the author has selected with judgment the information needed, practically everything wanted is to be found in the twenty-six columns of the tables, and no useless matter has been incorporated. The only addition which might have been made with advantage is the temperature of the feed-water, especially in those cases where no economiser was in use. Useful summary tables are given on pp. 116, 117 and 118, and in chapter xiii. the author discusses the general conclusions to be drawn from these trials, but without coming to any definite decision. As pointed out in the book, the wide variations in the efficiency of the same type of boiler when worked under different conditions makes it impossible to lay down any general laws, though the graphic representation on p. 223 of the relationship between efficiency and rates of evaporation per square foot of heating surface per hour, is of much value, and should be of use to the designer.
The Heat Efficiency of Steam Boilers: Land, Marine, and Locomotive. With tests and experiments on different types, heating value of fuels, analyses of gases, evaporation, and suggestions for testing boilers.
By Bryan Donkin Pp. xvi + 311. (London: Charles Griffin and Co., Ltd., 1898.)
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B., H. The Heat Efficiency of Steam Boilers: Land, Marine, and Locomotive With tests and experiments on different types, heating value of fuels, analyses of gases, evaporation, and suggestions for testing boilers. Nature 58, 543 (1898). https://doi.org/10.1038/058543a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/058543a0