Mark Iverson <zeropo...@charter.net> wrote: Ever look at how a steam locomotive boiler is constructed? The flow is > straight thru and the heat xfer surface area is many many times the surface > area of the outer enclosing cylinder. I posted a reply about this and > attached a jpeg, but I guess Bill hasn't had time to let it thru the > filter. Come to think about it, a nuclear reactor core looks similar, but > is vertically oriented instead of horizontal... >
Exactly. Nothing fancy about them. No fins. Made of steel, the internal temperature is coal combustion temperature (1500 to 3200°C). You cannot upload images here. The limits are 40 KB. You can find any number of images of these like this: http://www.google.com/search?q=fire+tube&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi&biw=999&bih=1262 They used to have fire tubes (with the fire in the tube and the water surrounding, and water tubes (vice versa). A fission reactor core resembles the former. I think water tubes are no longer used. Here is a fire tube boiler: http://www.directindustry.com/prod/loos/fire-tube-superheated-water-boilers-7270-50109.html More detail, including a schematic of the fire tube: http://www.loos.de/loos/asp/Main.asp?nLanguageId=1&nPageId=1001 http://www.loos.de/loos/pdf/broschueren/Heisswasser_en.pdf 120°C. "Generates hot water in a range from 650 up to 19,200 kW at low temperature and pressure level." It burns "LFO" (?) or gas. - Jed