How Do Boilers Work?

jim murtaugh

i commend your willingness to learn if you really want some good reading and info. check uot the books by dan on this websight my recomendation supersize dan best bang for your buck. thanks jim

Carl_11

a student need of help

Hello my name is Carl and i am currently enrolled in a vocational high school and this is my second year in the plumbing and heating trade. I know that there are two kinds, a fire-tube and a water tube. My question is, how do boilers work in relation with the water heater and the rest of the house. If there is a website or a book that may help me i am open to any suggestions. I havn't learned this topic yet but I just want to stay ahead of the game. Please help, thank you.

jeff_51

try this site

www.go2atp.com also try a good library. Alot of times they have good technical manuals

Wild Bill

A step ahead

Besides the numerous books offered by Dan Holahan (all of which are EXCELLENT), there is a wonderful book out there called "Modern Hydronic Heating" by John Siegenthaler. To order use ISBN # 0-8273-6595-0. This, along with any of the Mr Holahan publications, will put you way ahead of the curve. The teacher will be impressed.

Good Luck to you, I admire your initiative!!
Wild Bill

Carl PE

Wow.

More Carls.

Yes, read those books. Study them. Know them.

Good luck, grasshopper.

Carl_11

thanks

thanks guys i'll check into those books!

Rodney Summers

Anna Conda

And definitely keep hanging around here. The best teacher is experience, but this place is a pretty good runner-up. Lots of real life situations and their solutions, lots of little tricks to tuck in the back pocket of your mind. No matter how long you're in the business, sooner or later you're going to run into a situation where you're as green as the day you walked out with your diploma. This place is great for keeping those situations active in your mind.

DanHolohan

We sell John's book

in Books & More.

jerry scharf_3

a tech of the future

or is it the past. Your computer seems to think it's last year. Seriously, we all love seeing young, interested people come into this field. Thank's for dropping by.

The first thing to remember about a boiler is what it does. It takes the energy from a heat source and moves it into a fluid to be moved around for heating. That's the difference between it and a furnace, which heats the air directly. Since you talked about combustion, we'll leave electric boilers and nuclear reactors out as well.

Since James Watt did his thing to pump mines, there have been innumerable designs, but they all come down to having the hot combustion gas come in contact with a metal surface that separates it from the fluid (usually water.) In rough terms, the more contact surface between the combustion gas and the metal/water, the more heat moves from the gas to the water. This needs to be traded off against things like output, size, ability to service the boiler, combustion stability, longevity and cost.

General classes of boilers like water tube vs. fire tube may not be so useful any more. There is 200+ years of engineering involved, and each design has been very heavily refined.

One idea is to look at the boiler manufacturers, they may have nice descriptions of how their boilers work. I don't have any off hand to point you at, but it would give you someting to do while waiting for the books.

One other suggestion if I may. Don't neglect your math and English. You will find you will need both as you go into the field. You will be doing lots of calculations to design heating systems, and the organized approach that math teaches you will also help in programming the advanced controls. Most of business is reduced tot he written word at some point, the easier it is for you to write clearly, the easier that part of the job will be.

wishing you all the best,
jerry