Oil burner (engine)
Encyclopedia
Steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be...
that uses oil
Fuel oil
Fuel oil is a fraction obtained from petroleum distillation, either as a distillate or a residue. Broadly speaking, fuel oil is any liquid petroleum product that is burned in a furnace or boiler for the generation of heat or used in an engine for the generation of power, except oils having a flash...
as its fuel. The term is often used with reference to a locomotive
Locomotive
A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...
or ship
Ship
Since the end of the age of sail a ship has been any large buoyant marine vessel. Ships are generally distinguished from boats based on size and cargo or passenger capacity. Ships are used on lakes, seas, and rivers for a variety of activities, such as the transport of people or goods, fishing,...
engine that burns oil, to heat water, to produce steam which drives the piston
Piston
A piston is a component of reciprocating engines, reciprocating pumps, gas compressors and pneumatic cylinders, among other similar mechanisms. It is the moving component that is contained by a cylinder and is made gas-tight by piston rings. In an engine, its purpose is to transfer force from...
s, or turbine
Steam turbine
A steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and converts it into rotary motion. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Parsons in 1884....
s, from which the power is derived. Some engines of this form were originally designed to be coal powered and were converted. An early pioneer of this form of engine was James Holden
James Holden (engineer)
James Holden was an English locomotive engineer.He is remembered mainly for the "Claud Hamilton" 4-4-0, his pioneering work with oil fuel, and his unique "Decapod".- Biography :...
.
This is mechanically very different from a diesel engine
Diesel engine
A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...
that is a form of internal combustion engine
Internal combustion engine
The internal combustion engine is an engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer in a combustion chamber. In an internal combustion engine, the expansion of the high-temperature and high -pressure gases produced by combustion apply direct force to some component of the engine...
, which is sometimes colloquially referred to as an oil burner .
Conversion
When a coal-burning steam locomotive is converted to oil-burning,various modifications are usual:
- the grate is covered with broken firebrick to act as a reservoir of heat. If the oil flame is blown out (e.g. by a downdraft when entering a tunnel) the hot firebrick will re-ignite it
- the lower part of the inner firebox is lined with firebrick
- shorter superheaterSuperheaterA superheater is a device used to convert saturated steam or wet steam into dry steam used for power generation or processes. There are three types of superheaters namely: radiant, convection, and separately fired...
elements are fitted
Changes 2 & 3 are needed because oil firing produces higher temperatures than coal firing and can cause rapid erosion of metal. For a similar reason, the smokebox
Smokebox
A smokebox is one of the major basic parts of a Steam locomotive exhaust system. Smoke and hot gases pass from the firebox through tubes where they pass heat to the surrounding water in the boiler. The smoke then enters the smokebox, and is exhausted to the atmosphere through the chimney .To assist...
is sometimes painted with silver-coloured heat-resisting paint.
Oil-fired steam locomotives
- Darjeeling Himalayan RailwayDarjeeling Himalayan RailwayThe Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, nicknamed the "Toy Train", is a narrow gauge railway from New Jalpaiguri to Darjeeling in West Bengal, run by the Indian Railways....
- LNER Class U1LNER Class U1The London and North Eastern Railway Class U1 was a solitary 2-8-0+0-8-2 Beyer-Garratt locomotive designed for banking coal trains over the Worsborough Bank, a steeply graded line in South Yorkshire and part of the Woodhead Route. It was both the longest and the most powerful steam locomotive ever...
- Snowdon Mountain RailwaySnowdon Mountain RailwayThe Snowdon Mountain Railway is a narrow gauge rack and pinion mountain railway in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. It is a tourist railway that travels for from Llanberis to the summit of Snowdon, the highest peak in England and Wales....
- Union Pacific 737Union Pacific 737Union Pacific Railway Engine No. 737 or UP 737 is a 4-4-0 steam locomotive. It is currently the oldest preserved Union Pacific steam locomotive. It was originally acquired by the Union Pacific Railroad in 1887...
- Mount Washington Cog Railway
- most cab forwardCab forwardThe term cab forward refers to various rail and road vehicle designs which place the driver's compartment substantially farther towards the front than is common practice.- Rail locomotives :...
locomotives - some FairlieFairlieA Fairlie is a type of articulated steam locomotive that has the driving wheels on bogies. The locomotive may be double-ended or single ended...
locomotives - Advanced steam technologyAdvanced steam technologyAdvanced steam technology reflects an approach to the technical development of the steam engine intended for a wider variety of applications than has recently been the case...
locomotives
Oil-fired steamships
.jpg)
- USS Drayton (DD-23)USS Drayton (DD-23)USS Drayton was a Paulding-class destroyer in the United States Navy. She was the first ship named for Captain Percival Drayton....
- USS Terry (DD-25)USS Terry (DD-25)USS Terry was a modified in the United States Navy during World War I, and later in the United States Coast Guard, designated CG-19. She was the first ship named for Edward Terry....
- USS Perkins (DD-26)USS Perkins (DD-26)USS Perkins was a modified in the United States Navy during World War I. She was the first ship named for Commodore George H. Perkins....
- USS Sterett (DD-27)USS Sterett (DD-27)USS Sterett was a modified in the United States Navy during World War I. She was the first ship named for Andrew Sterett.Sterett was laid down on 22 March 1909 at Quincy, Massachusetts, by the Fore River Shipbuilding Company...
- USS McCall (DD-28)USS McCall (DD-28)USS McCall was a in the United States Navy during World War I and later in the United States Coast Guard, designated CG-14...
- USS Warrington (DD-30)USS Warrington (DD-30)The first USS Warrington was a modified in the United States Navy during World War I. She was named for Lewis Warrington.Warrington was laid down on 21 June 1909 at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by the William Cramp & Sons Ship & Engine Building Company; launched on 18 June 1910; sponsored by Mrs....
- USS Burrows (DD-29)USS Burrows (DD-29)USS Burrows was a modified Paulding-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War I and later in the United States Coast Guard, designated '...
- USS Monaghan (DD-32)USS Monaghan (DD-32)The first USS Monaghan was a modified in the United States Navy during World War I and later in the United States Coast Guard, designated '. She was named for Ensign John R. Monaghan....
- USS Trippe (DD-33)USS Trippe (DD-33)The second USS Trippe was a in the United States Navy during World War I and later in the United States Coast Guard, designated '. She was named for Lieutenant John Trippe....
- USS Walke (DD-34)USS Walke (DD-34)The first USS Walke was a in the United States Navy during World War I. She was named for Rear Admiral Henry A. Walke.Walke was laid down on 5 March 1910 at Quincy, Massachusetts, by the Fore River Shipbuilding Company; launched on 3 November 1910; sponsored by Miss Mildred Walke Walter,...
- USS Ammen (DD-35)USS Ammen (DD-35)The first USS Ammen was a Paulding-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War I and later in the United States Coast Guard, designated as CG-8...
- USS Jarvis (DD-38)USS Jarvis (DD-38)The first USS Jarvis was a modified in the United States Navy during World War I. She was named for James C. Jarvis.Jarvis was laid down by the New York Shipbuilding Company, Camden, New Jersey on 1 July 1911; launched on 4 April 1912; sponsored by Mrs. Jean King; and commissioned on 22 October...
- USS Henley (DD-39)USS Henley (DD-39)The first USS Henley was a modified in the United States Navy during World War I and later in the United States Coast Guard, designated as CG-12...
- USS Jouett (DD-41)USS Jouett (DD-41)The first USS Jouett was a modified in the United States Navy during World War I and later in the United States Coast Guard, designated as CG-13...
- USS Jenkins (DD-42)USS Jenkins (DD-42)The first USS Jenkins was a modified in the United States Navy during World War I. She was named for Rear Admiral Thortan A. Jenkins....
- USS George Washington (1908)
See also
- Oil refineryOil refineryAn oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where crude oil is processed and refined into more useful petroleum products, such as gasoline, diesel fuel, asphalt base, heating oil, kerosene, and liquefied petroleum gas...
- Steam power during the Industrial RevolutionSteam power during the Industrial RevolutionDuring the Industrial Revolution, steam power began to replace water power and muscle power as the primary source of power in use in industry. Its first use was to pump water from mines...
- Timeline of steam powerTimeline of steam powerSteam power developed slowly over a period of several hundred years, progressing through expensive and fairly limited devices in the early 17th century, to useful pumps for mining in 1700, and then to Watt's improved steam engine designs in the late 18th century...