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I saw some interesting pumps today (Dan H.)

bob young
bob young Member Posts: 2,177
in THE MAIN WALL
Fairbanks valves.....nice

Comments

  • DanHolohan
    DanHolohan Member, Moderator, Administrator Posts: 16,598
    These have been in service since 1951.

    There are two of them. They're each 80 HP and run on steam. They're being replaced with electric pumps, each with a VFD.
    Retired and loving it.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    Neat,,,

    What pressure steam? How about exit pressure?

    I've worked on a few steam powered pumps in my day but it's been a while. 1200 psi in my case. The turbines would knock the pressure all the way down into 28" of vacuum. I assume Tim Mc has seen a few too.
  • DanHolohan
    DanHolohan Member, Moderator, Administrator Posts: 16,598
    Pressure

    was about 70 psi at the boilers. Couldn't tell the exit pressure. It was very much fun to watch.
    Retired and loving it.
  • Charlie from wmass
    Charlie from wmass Member Posts: 4,366


    what are they doing with the old steam motors?
    could be fun for a project I was going to build.
    Cost is what you spend , value is what you get.

    cell # 413-841-6726
    https://heatinghelp.com/find-a-contractor/detail/charles-garrity-plumbing-and-heating
  • jeff_124
    jeff_124 Member Posts: 2
    ahh steam

    The funny thing is that those old steam pumps worked around the clock and gave very little trouble over their lifetime. How long before the new motor quits or the VFD is put in bypass. Its like I say about IKEA furniture { it lasts about as long as most relationships]
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    Wow,

    that's mighty low! But most of them old steam locomotives ran 100-150# and they got quite a lot of work done too. The "Big Boy" ran 300#. Quite a chunk of metal, if I recall correctly 16 drive wheels each 6' in diameter. They have one at Steamtown in Scranton if you ever feel like going to take a look. Very interesting place for a steam lover. Really just big boilers that pushed themselves around. ;)
  • Bob D._2
    Bob D._2 Member Posts: 34
    Steam Pumps

    Used many small turbine driven pumps on ships - usually one or two electrics and a second or third turbine driven. I've seen a couple in (older) campus central plants that take 125-250 PSIG inlet and exhaust at 3-5 PSIG into a LPS heat main for campus distribution. Others I've seen are in steel mills, where they literally pumped molten steel around, and were "steam cooled". The central plant boilers have (or had) legal time delay relays and manual by-pass switches to prevent boiler trips without a darn good reason, always a 2nd boiler on line, etc. Imagine what would happen to a steel mill if the turbine driven pumps stopped and allowed a melt to cool . . . . USN(Ret.)
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