Gr. H. F. Nuttall 
461 
along each side wall; these pipes are provided with taps below for 
draining off water of condensation. A second pipe from the boiler 
carries live steam down to a pipe on the floor, whence the steam escapes 
from variously directed jets when a stopcock near the boiler is opened. 
This pipe should have a stopcock at its lowest point for purposes of 
drainage, and the pipe should be fixed to the floor. A wooden grid 
(7x3 feet) rests 6 inches above the floor and serves as a gangway for 
those who enter the disinfector; it protects the steam pipe and prevents 
the attendants’ feet being wetted by condensation water. The various 
dimensions are given in the plan, but a height of 6 feet 9 inches is pre¬ 
ferred to that of 7 feet. A boiler with injector system is preferable to 
that figured. The door to the chamber should have a clutch handle and 
socket for security of fastening. A maximum thermometer wrapped in 
four thicknesses of blanket and placed down on the floor level was found 
to attain a temperature of 80° C. within 5 minutes. 
A hut of this type is capable of dealing with 200 blankets at a time or 
1200 blankets per day of 6 turns. A staff consisting of 1 non-commissioned 
officer, 6 men and a boilerman is required. The coal consumed amounts 
to 7 cwt. a week. The total cost of the plant was £65 in 1916. 
Procedure. The clothing or blankets are hung on 200 hooks attached 
on the radiator pipes beneath the ceiling. It is well to turn the clothing 
inside out. The chamber is first heated by the radiators, steam is then 
allowed to enter gradually, the hut door being left slightly ajar for half 
a minute to facilitate the expulsion of air from the chamber by the steam. 
The door is then closed and the steam is maintained in the chamber for 
a period of 20-30 minutes. The chamber door is now opened and the 
steam escapes, the supply having been cut off from the boiler. Con¬ 
densation water is drained away from the piping and the effects are 
removed and shaken a couple of times in the air to dry. 
Type B. Paired huts (see Fig. 20) naturally accomplish much more 
than a single hut, for the one may disinfect whilst the other is being 
loaded or unloaded. A number of paired huts are being used in France 
chiefly for louse destruction. A threshing engine is used for generating 
the steam, but the latter may be derived from any suitable and available 
source. 
N.B. A hut of type A with wooden floor can be mounted on a steam 
lorry, the steam from the lorry engine being used, or the hut can be 
placed on a tractor tender (Grant). 
Railway vans converted into steam disinfectors have been extensively 
used in the present war, especially in situations where large amounts of 
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