Smoke chamber

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View through the open smoke chamber door into the smoke chamber. The blowpipe head is located under the chimney.
Smoke chamber with smoke chamber door, mixing box and final profile ring on a new 39E boiler during repairs in the boiler shop. The chimney has been removed. (Meiningen, 2003)

The smoke chamber is the foremost part of the boiler of a steam locomotive , above which the chimney is located. The negative pressure required to suck in the combustion air is generated in the smoke chamber by directing the exhaust steam emerging from the cylinders into the smoke chamber through a blower pipe located under the chimney . Furthermore, unburned fuel particles, the extinguishers , which have been carried away by the smoke gases collect in the smoke chamber .

Constructive features

The smoke chamber is essentially of a cylindrical shot , of a profile ring with the forward long boiler is connected, and an annular wall door with the smoke chamber door. The smoke chamber is riveted to the profile ring or, in modern boilers , welded.

The blowpipe head is arranged under the chimney and is adjusted so that the emerging cone-shaped steam jet fills the cross section of the chimney exactly. This creates a negative pressure in the smoke chamber, which continues through the boiler tubes into the fire box and there ignites the fire. So that the negative pressure can develop in the smoke chamber, it is important that the smoke chamber door closes airtight and that all pipe penetrations into the smoke chamber are tight. The smoothly ground door is therefore pressed against the door wall with cam screws and usually locked with a central lock.

So that the fire can also be fanned while stationary or when driving with the regulator closed, there is also the auxiliary blower in the smoke chamber , which is arranged in a ring around the mouth of the blower pipe and starts the fire with a small amount of live steam taken from the boiler.

The spark arrester is located under the chimney to prevent glowing fuel from leaving the chimney. The parts carried away by the smoke gases collect at the bottom of the smoke chamber and have to be extinguished with water from time to time through a spray pipe installed across the smoke chamber, which is why they are also called extinguishing . The smoke chamber floor is lined with refractory concrete to protect against overheating (annealing) and strong corrosion. There is a drainage connection on the smoke chamber floor for the drainage of the spray water, which must be screwed with a union nut during operation. The inside of the smoke chamber door is protected with an easily replaceable protective plate, the smoke chamber door protector.

In the case of superheated steam locomotives , the steam collecting box is also located in the smoke chamber . The live steam flows from the steam dome in the vapor collection box and enters there into the flanged to the collection box in the smoke pipes laid superheater elements one. In newer steam locomotives, the superheated steam regulator is also located in the steam collecting box.

In a niche in front of the chimney there is usually a surface preheater or the mixing box of the mixing preheater system .

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