156 STEAM BOILERS 



be started in the manner already described, using the wood fire 

 to light the oil spray. The wood fire should be built on the 

 bottom of the furnace; or, in case it is a coal-burning furnace 

 converted for oil burning, the fire should be built on the brick 

 paving covering the grates. It is not necessary to remove the 

 bricks, nor must the burner be taken out while the wood fire 

 is burning, Care should be taken, however, to keep the fire 

 about a foot from the burner, to prevent overheating of the 

 latter. After the oil burner has become well started, the wood 

 fire may be raked out. 



Furnace Conditions With Oil Burning. When the brick- 

 work of the furnace has become heated and the burner is work- 

 ing normally, the furnace space should appear to be filled with 

 flame. In every properly arranged oil-burning boiler there 

 should be peep-holes at different points, to enable the fireman 

 to determine the conditions of combustion in the furnace. It 

 is also advantageous to have the top of the chimney visible to 

 the fireman, as the conditions at that point serve as a guide in 

 the regulation of the fire. The flame in the furnace should be 

 white or golden white in color, and should be steady. A prop- 

 erly adjusted steam burner will give a dazzling flame, whereas 

 an air burner will produce a duller, yellower flame. If the 

 burner passages are not kept clean, or if the burner is improp- 

 erly adjusted, the flame will become irregular and smoke will 

 be produced. No smoke should appear at the top of the chim- 

 ney; instead, there should be a light, grayish haze when the 

 burner is properly adjusted. 



Smoke will be produced if there is too great a supply of oil, 

 or too little air, or insufficient steam for atomization. The 

 remedies to be applied to rectify these faults of operation are 

 obvious. If the burner hisses or spits, it is probable that the 

 steam used for atomizing contains moisture, or that there is 

 water in the oil supplied to the burner, or that a leak has devel- 

 oped in the suction pipe, so that air is being forced into the 

 burner with the oil. As a rule, oil burning in steam-boiler 

 furnaces is accompanied by a roaring noise of greater or less 

 intensity, and firemen experienced in the burning of oil fuel 

 are able to detect changes in the furnace conditions merely by 

 the altered roaring of the burners. An excessive supply of 



