158 STEAM BOILERS 



Shutting Down an Oil Burner. To shut down an oil-burner 

 that is in active operation in a furnace, the oil valve in the sup- 

 ply pipe should be closed. The steam valve should next be 

 nearly closed, so that only a small amount of steam passes. 

 The oil-regulating valve should then be opened a full turn, and 

 the by-pass valve should be fully opened, after which steam 

 should be turned on again by manipulating the steam valve. 

 Steam will thus be discharged through the oil passages of the 

 burner, and all oil in them will be blown out, thus preventing 

 baking or carbonizing of the oil and the clogging that would 

 otherwise result. When the burner has been blown out, the 

 by-pass valve should be closed, and finally the steam should 

 be shut off completely. The burner will then be put out of 

 action, but will be in condition to be started again at short 

 notice. 



Precautions in Relighting Fires. If the fire should go out 

 completely, the fireman should not open the fire-door to look 

 for the cause of the trouble. His first act should be to shut off 

 the oil, and this should be followed by shutting off of the steam. 

 Then the furnace door may be opened, a piece of waste may be 

 set on fire and thrown in, and the fire may be restarted in the 

 usual way. The damper should be wide open when this is 

 being done. When the fire goes out for only a moment, as may 

 happen if a slug of water comes through the burner, it will 

 generally be reignited by the heat of the incandescent walls. 

 It is dangerous to leave the steam turned on and to increase 

 the amount of oil fed, in order to restart the fire in an incan- 

 descent furnace; for the explosion at the instant of reignition 

 may blow open the doors of the furnace, knock down the brick- 

 work, or cause other damage. The safest methed is to relight 

 the fire with burning waste. 



Accidental Oil Fires. If oil should escape in quantities 

 from the system and should become ignited, no attempt should 

 be made to put out the fire by spraying it with water, as this 

 will serve merely to spread the blazing oil and will make mat- 

 ters worse. Instead, sand or loose earth should be thrown on 

 the burning oil, to smother the flames. In some plants, boxes 

 of sand are kept at convenient points, in readiness for emergen- 

 cies of this nature. Also, in some cases, steam pipes are run 



