- Practice · 5 marks
Classification of steam boilers
Short answer
Boilers are classified by: tube content (fire tube e.g. Lancashire, water tube e.g. B&W); axis (horizontal e.g. Lancashire); furnace position (internally fired e.g. Cochran); use (stationary e.g. Lancashire); pressure (low/medium/high); circulation (natural e.g. Lancashire, forced e.g. La Mont); number of tubes; gas passes; and fuel (coal, oil, gas, waste heat).
Classify steam boilers on different bases and give one example for each class.
Boilers are classified in the following ways.
| Basis | Types | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Tube content | Fire tube / Water tube | Lancashire / Babcock and Wilcox |
| Axis of shell | Horizontal / Vertical / Inclined | Lancashire / Cochran / rarely used |
| Furnace position | Internally fired / Externally fired | Cochran / Babcock and Wilcox |
| Use | Stationary / Mobile (portable) | Lancashire / Locomotive boiler |
| Pressure | Low (below 10 bar), medium (10 to 80 bar), high (above 80 bar) | Cochran / Babcock and Wilcox / Benson |
| Circulation | Natural / Forced | Lancashire, B&W / La Mont, Velox |
| Number of tubes | Single tube / Multi-tube | Cornish / Lancashire, Cochran |
| Passes of flue gas | Single-pass / Multi-pass | Simple vertical boiler / Lancashire |
| Fuel | Coal / Oil / Gas / Electric / Waste-heat | Lancashire (coal), electrode boiler (electric), waste-heat boiler |
Note: a boiler may belong to several classes at once. For instance, the Babcock and Wilcox boiler is a water tube, horizontal-drum, externally fired, stationary, natural-circulation boiler.
✓ Answer checked by Claude Opus 5.5 (high effort)
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