Full steam ahead!

Steam was produced in these boilers to operate the engines. Each boiler has three combustion chambers, each with a door at the front of the boiler. Fuel oil was burned to heat the water.

The boilers were never shut down. There was always at least one boiler in operation, because it would have been too hard to reheat the entire system each time.

ignition of S.S. JOHN W. BROWN boilers

This fan forced the air needed to burn fuel in the combustion chambers. The fan also served to clear smoke.

For efficient combustion, the quantity of burned fuel oil and blown air always had to be adjusted appropriately. What is one of the best ways to make sure that the air-fuel oil mix is well balanced? By checking the colour of the smoke coming out of the ship’s stack!

On the blower, there are pressure gauges that indicate the pressure in the boilers.

The nozzles that sprayed the fuel oil were cleaned at the beginning of each work shift to prevent their clogging. The nozzles were cleaned on the bench located at the back of the room. You will find nozzles on it.

Now, back track to return to the engineers’ and officers’ quarters. Mind your head!