Riteway steam boiler

molly

We've been asked to poke an oil burner in a Riteway LB70 (serial #19907) wood fired steam boiler. Any ideas on where to find btu ratings, manuals, any info at all on this beast? It does have a mounting flange for a burner on it. I personally can't see how it works, it's huge, about the size of my pick up. I don't know the water content, but it HAS to be in the 100's of gallons. It's uninsulated. It looks like a battle ship. It's currently running on wood. The wood fire isn't doing it, and I don't know if it EVER worked. I know everyone will say to replace the boiler, and they are. This oil burner will be used only until the old asbestos coated boiler(coupled to this newly resurrected wood boiler) is moved out and the new one is up and running. Any input is greatly appreciated.

Christian Egli_2

The right way boiler horse power measuring method

To check for common sense figures, here is a ball park method for getting one estimation.

Measure the number of square feet of heat exchange surface there is between the fire and the water. The walls of the fire chamber and the smoke passages, but not the flue (it's not in contact with the water anymore). If there are fins, add the additional area of each fin.

Maybe there is a label giving you ft2 or boiler horse power (1 BHP = 10 ft2 boiling surface)

Then, for the boiler surface, plan on using up to 1 kW of fire power per square foot.