The Steamboating Forum

I'm considering using an injector as a secondary means of filling the boiler (I do plan on having a good hand pump as well, least anybody was worried). My local cruising waters are salt, so I will need to condense. Could I use a heat exchanger, similar to a keel condenser, to cool feedwater from the hotwell?

Yes, this will work just fine.

From http://valves.pentair.com/valves/Images ... jector.pdf

Maximum temperature of Suction Water:
3 ft lift and steam pressures as follows:

Standard:

120°F at 60 to 80 psi
115° at 100 psi
105°F at 120 psi
90°F at 140 psi

High pressure:

120°F at 120 PSI
115°F at 140 PSI
105°F at 170 PSI
1090°F at 200 PSI


The cooler the better from what I know of these units... Note that unless your hotwell is quite
large, the injector will soon empty it; the smallest one does 1 - 1.5 gpm. Another pump
may be a better backup for regular boiler feed.

- Bart

If you do decide to use an injector you will also want to plumb your injector overflow drain back to the hotwell as you sometimes get a fair amount out of the overflow until it settles in. do not want to put any good water into the bilge.

Thanks, everything is still in the planning stages. Are there any pumps suitable for 3 hp? I'm leaning towards a crosshead style main pump, but would like something for stationary filling, and back up.

I use a hand pump made from a piece of 1/2" brass pipe, a tee and two check valves, and a piece of 5/8" stainless polished to fit into the bore.. You can either use packing or use o-rings; both work.

For a boiler feed pump I use a hypro because it's almost dead quiet; it is chain driven from the end of the crank.

Since my fire can be turned off in a couple of seconds (steam atomizing oil fire) this seems adequate. An injector would be fun, but new ones are pretty spendy. I've used a eccentric driven pump in the past; that works but any slack anywhere soon is a knock.

- Bart