Fireman (steam engine)#Mechanical stoker

As Stoker, of Engl. to stoke ( stoke ) is called a mechanical device used to fire the grate of a steam engine with solid fuel (coal). The heater is much relieved by a Stoker; in very large combustion engines without a manual Stoker would not be possible. So had the "Big Boy" in the United States a grate area of nearly 14 square meters and a coal consumption of up to 25 tons per hour; an amount which is not manually cope of a heater.

Construction

The stoker consists of a screw conveyor that transports the coal from the tender with the help of piping to firebox. The screw conveyor is driven by a small steam engine. To free the auger from the clamped pieces of coal or foreign bodies, the steam engine is designed reversible.

There are two ways to obtain the coal into the firebox. One possibility is the stoker. With it, the coal is simply pushed to the level of the grate. The other option is to attach a plate to the amount of fire hole. In this, the coal is pushed by the screw conveyor and raised by means of steam jets from the top of the fire bed. Since, in any case, the coal is broken into smaller pieces by the stoker, than is the case with Handfeuerung, requires a special grating type that sufficient combustion air can pass through despite smaller column grid.

Dissemination

While Stoker were at large locomotives in the United States as standard, they were widespread in Central Europe little. In Germany, only a few freight locomotives of the series were 44 and 45 temporarily equipped with it. The somewhat higher coal consumption of this device prevented along with the introduction of oil fired another spread. Another disadvantage was the reduced water content of the Tender Enders when retrofitting of devices for Stokerfeuerung. In the German Express locomotive 05 003 with front-mounted cab coal dust was blown by a steam-driven turbine by means of a 14 m long cable from the tender to the firebox.

Several major French steam locomotives had also stoker firing, the 2'D1 ' h3 locomotive series 241 of the Compagnie des chemins de fer de l' État and created from one of these machines by rebuilding SNCF 242 A 1 Next several were after 1945 Škoda delivered series of the Czechoslovak State Railways ČSD standard with Stokern.

A large spread of Stoker found in southern Africa. Especially in modern South African steam locomotives, for example, in the series GMAM and 25 with rust land of about 6 to 6.5 m, the Stoker has proven very useful.

• Steam locomotive technology
• Part of a firing
• Fuel Technology