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Oil fired loco firebox design


Talltim
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Been looking at photos of locos purpose built for oil firing (as opposed to converted from coal) and I can’t really see any external differences to the design of the fireboxes. Am I missing something, or is it broadly true that they look much the same?

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There's no difference between the basic design and construction of fireboxes for coal or oil fired locos. The differences are in the details. Coal fired locos have ashpans, oil fired locos have firepans, and use refractory brick lining on the lower firebox sidesheets to prevent damage from the burner, and to provide a heat reserve. The firehole of an oil fired loco usually has a fixed fire door with a peephole to view the fire, and a small door to admit sand to clean the tubes.

 

All the best,

 

Mark.

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I think it may be a little more difficult to ensure good combustion in a firebox with oil-firing.  One critical thing is the length of the burner flame and the length of the firebox - the flame (burning carbon particles) must not touch the firebox walls or it will be cooled instantly, resulting in lots of unburnt sooty particles and waste of fuel.  

 

Peterfgf

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and no ashpan.

No, but they typically have a firepan or flamepan. You still need to control the amount of air entering the firebox for combustion, and prevent the flame from blowing back and out of the firebox. Watch some video of Cuban oil burners and you can see why running without a pan is not good practice.

 

I'm not at home right now, but when I get back I can post some photos and diagrams showing typical firebox, burner and firepan arrangements on US-built locos.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

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