> I am no expert on this area, which is why I refrained from replying earlier:
> 1. a boiler for a steam engine for use at the prison in the 1780s seems
> highly improbable. Steam engines were until that decade solely used for
> pumping. (Except for certain pirates), all non-pumping engines up to 1800
> were made by Boulton & Watt; I believe the identify of all of them is known,
> and does not include Oxford Prison.
> 2. What would steam-power be used for during construction? The only
> possibility that I can think of is a hoist, but
> a. There is no evidence stream engines were thus used
> b. The contractor would surely have set it up in a way that would enable it
> to be removed at the end
> 3. It therefore seems much more likely that it was for the provision of hot
> water for some purpose.
> 4. One of the replies refers to the possibility of steel pipes. That is
> certainly wrong. Steel was not a readily available material and only used
> for certain quite specialised purposes in the early 19th century. If a
> ferrous material was in use it would be iron, quite probably cast iron,
> though I understand wrought iron pipes were made in Birmingham in the 1820s
> using much the same technique as for musket barrels. Was any of the pipe
> work saved?
if the boiler was found laying horizontally, without fixation to the
location, it seems to me he was probably forgotten ,but not actually used,
there.
May I suppose steam generators were vertically installed to produce heated
material on their upper part?
So, if not an horizontal steam locomotivelike boiler (and even the first of
those locomoted boilers were vertical), how was this heater actually heated
?
mean what kind of combustible traces was found around (If any)?
Coal or wood?
any marks/signs of ashes in the heater part of the boiler , or around the
actual location?
any chimney for exhaust gases to the outside ?
were the combustible located and burned from one end and some exhaust tube
on the opposite side ?
How long is the cylinder ?
how is disposed the internal tubing if any still present ? serpentine or
multiparallel tubing? what material is it made from?
what material (if any) is used for the wall/surface lining the inside part
of the cylinder shown on picts?
was the inside steel/cast iron covered progressively by a multilayered
deposit of calcareous material (minerals from the evaporated water) or heat
resistant bricks like in more modern dispositives?
also, if no tubing (or external connections to another place where the
heated product (water/ steam) was to be used) was found on site (I mean no
kind of "steel" including casted iron or eventually bronce ) this absence
means the actual location is not the "original" one.
the apparently "U" shaped pipe on the "right" end of the boiler seems to be
made/casted from one piece. (reason why i asked before how he was made or
soldered : if made in bronce, could be soldered...)
If cast iron, how then was he soldered to form a "U" shape ?
when did such production of Curved (at 90 degrees) pipe technique appear ?
if known, would this datation process be coherent with the actual dating of
the boiler ?
the actual position (horizontal) and absence of pipes work or other
testimonial of use in this location around ( combustible, chimney, a.s.o.)
would reinforce the option of unused crap forgotten in an enclosed place
there,
but i'm certainly not an expert on old boilers,
only old cast iron stoves collector...!!! (but i know some about modern
steam production)
ciu
Pat H. (Mexico)
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