• The Fire Burns Much Better...200 years of steam locomotive exhaust research 1804-2004 by J. J. G. Koopmans [top]
  Written by Jochem Jan Gerardus Koopmans as a thesis submission for the degree of Ph.D.
  First published in 2005 in Great Britain by the University of Sheffield
  Revised and reprinted in 2006 in Great Britain by the University of Sheffield, in paperback, 484pp, ISBN 9064640130 ; ISBN-13: 9789064640131. The revised edition makes use of textual changes to make certain sections more readable. The last section of Chapter 3 was moved to Chapter 4, to allow the last one to start on a proper page. The treatment of the Euler number in Chapter 7 was moved to section 7.5.5. The pictures were rescanned and a further three were added; along with two new appendices: B.1 and B.2, both covering the practical applications on heritage locomotives and live steam models. These were not included in the original thesis.
  Printed by Ponsen and Looijen BV, Wageningen, The Netherlands
  Cover picture: photograph made by M.M. Grootendorst: A look into the firebox of RTM54

About this book: Written in 2005, this edition is a revision of the original PH.D. thesis submitted to the University of Sheffield by the author to address one of the aspects of steam locomotive design where no satisfactory theoretical result had been achieved in the days when the steam locomotive ruled the world's railways. The author defined the objectives of the study as follows: 1. Review existing studies on the design of the steam locomotive front ends
2. Analyse why scientific research did not provide a definitive answer
3. Critically analyse the applicability of the different theories
4. Develop where possible a theory for the design of both single and multiple front ends
5. Contribute to more efficient operation of heritage steam traction and reduce CO2 emissions from preserved steam locomotives. Some changes to the objectives evolved over time, but the main thrust of the author's studies was as detailed by these points.

Literature Review
For the literature review, the author has only used sources that contributed to the mainstream of development. The relevant historical literature consists of some 35 contributions identified by the author as having had impact; with 'impact' here meaning whether the literature is referenced or is a guide for useful design.
The author has split the literature into four categories:
1. Pure theory: Zeuner, Legein, some textbooks
2. Pure theory with experiments for proof: Strahl, Giesl-Gieslingen, de Gruyter
3. Theoretical review with additional experiments: Chapelon
4. Experiments with "best fit" design formulae: van Borries/Troske, Goss, "Locomotive Engineer"

Concepts and Theories Considered and Reviewed
a) Zeuner's momentum theory of 1864 and his Air to Steam ratio formula
b) Strahl's Carnot/Borda concept of "shock loss", 1913 - introduced into the original Zeuner equation
c) The Porta theory of 1975

Contents:
Executive Summary for the study on "the steam locomotive front end"; Acknowledgements; Table of Contents; Appendices; List of Figures; List of Tables; Glossary of Terms

Notation;
1. Introduction: General; Brief; Scope; Methodology; Thesis Structure
Explanation of the Operation of A Steam Locomotive
- The Different Parts of a Steam Locomotive
- Description of the Function of A Steam Locomotive
- The Front End

2. The Early Years: Trevithick; Blenkinsop; Hedley; The Stephensons; The giant leap forward; Parallel advances in scientific thought; De Pambour; Nicholas Wood 1838; Brunel and Gooch; Le Chatelier and Polonceau; Longridge; Clark; Redtenbacher; Epilogue, the first sixty years of the 19th Century

3. The Contributors 1860-1919: Zeuner's work; Nozo and Geoffroy; Prusmann; Additional work by Zeuner on conical chimneys; Kohn, the English version of the Zeuner theory; Grove in the "Handbuch fur Specielle Eisenbahn-Technik"; Longridge; Adams annular "Vortex" orifice; Troske; Von Borries; American Research; Sweney's Orifice; Sauvage, Quereau and Ekman, International Congress Inquiry"; American Engineer tests 1902; Von Borries 1903; Master Mechanics tests 1906; Huygen; Theory and the Period from 1890-1910; Other Technical Developments; Strahl's Work; Railway Engineer Articel 1917/18/ Kylala Patent

4. Towards Economical Front Ends 1920-1940: Legein theory 1920; Early work by Giesl-Gieslingen; Legein; double chimneys; Chapelon; Giesl-Gieslingen's doctoral thesis; Wagner and Nordmann; Armstrong annular orifices; Godfernaux; Bulletin; Young; Java, de Gruyter; Lemaitre; Loubser and Cox; The Bulleid Lemaitre; Summary of the period 1900 to 1940

5. The Final Years, 1940-1960: Chapelon; Giesl-Gieslingen; S.O. Ell, the British Railways tests; Porta; National Coal Board; Post 1960: Wardale et al; Improved front ends on British heritage locomotives; Post 1960 literature; Historical Epilogue; The Remaining Questions

6. Basic Contributing Elements: The combustion process; The ratio of smokegas to steam; Boiler resistance; The vacuum - smokegas relationship; Historical research: The preludes to the jet theory; Present day jet theory

7. Exhaust Theory: The development of the momentum equation; The dimensionless forms of the momentum equation; The practical problems, BR Class 5 data; Proportions and dimensions, dimensional analysis; Analysis of the influence of the dimensionless numbers on performance; Flow aspects of front-end components; Steps to Improvement; The "matching" of the exhaust problem; Applications

8. Tests: The RTM 54 tests

9. Conclusions and Recommendations: Conclusions; Recommendations; Review of Approach and Future Work; Word Count

Appendices: There are 34 Appendices, numbered A.1 to A.34. The table of contents of the Appendices is on page 191. The additional Appendices numbered B.1 and B.2 cover practical applications

List of Figures; List of Tables; Glossary of Terms

Figures:
1.1 Superheating Principle
1.2 Steam locomotive front end
2.1 Trevithick locomotive
2.2 Nicholson's induced current
2.3 Nicholson's jet apparatus
2.4 Blenkinsop rack-rail locomotive
2.5 Wylam locomotive
2.6 Stephenson locomotive
2.7 Royal George
2.8 Lancashire Witch
2.9 Sans Pareil by Hackworth
2.10 Rocket by R. Stephenson [Mech. Mag.]
2.11 Novelty by Erickson
2.12 Orifices of Hackworth and Stephenson in 1827 [Colburn]
2.13 Front page of Wood's 1838 edition
2.14 GWR no.15 "Ajax"
2.15 GWR no.15 "Ajax", plated disc wheel
2.16 GWR no.16 "Thunderer"
2.17 GWR no.18 "Hurricane"
3.1 Zeuners test equipment
3.2 Nozo and Geoffroy test system
3.3 Simple Test System of Prusmann
3.4 Prusmann final chimney shape
3.5 Adams Vortex Blast pipe
3.6 Purdue University Locomotive test station
3.7 Goss cinder capture equipment
3.8 Amount of cinders
3.9 Sweney Patent Drawing
3.10 Webb experimental chimney
3.11 Russian fourfold orifice
3.12 American Engineer Questionnaire
3.13 Master Mechanics front-end
3.14 Huygen graph of velocity and temperature distribution
3.15 Kylala patent
4.1 SNCB type 10 double chimney
4.2 Chapelon single Kylchap front end
4.3 Nordmann graph of orifice area to heating area
4.4 SSJ Mallet series 1200 double chimney
4.5 Chimney exit velocity profile
4.6 Lemaitre front end of the French Nord
4.7 Pictures of exhaust steam jet drawn inwards at chimney entrance
4.8 Bulleid Lemaitre
5.1 Chapelon triple Kylchap
5.2 Giesl prototype ejector
5.3 Giesl combination of slender ejectors
5.4 National Coal Board Giesl ejector [F.Macgregor]
5.5 BR 9F Vacuum-Backpressure test results
5.6 Giesl Shock loss diagram 1986
5.7 The steam flow indicator
5.8 Test results of 5 1/8-in. orifice of BR class 5 locomotive
5.9 Front-end dimensions according to E11
5.10 GWR King class test graphs
5.11 Hunslet Porta inspired modifications for NCB 0-6-0 shunter
5.12 BR class 8 "Duke of Gloucester" new Kylchap front-end
5.13 'Clark ratio' in time
6.1 BR5 Vacuum-smokegas flux
6.2 LMS Duchess Vacuum-smokegas flux
6.3 Trupel velocity curves
6.4 Normalised Trupel curves
6.5 Velocity profile of a round jet according to Tollmien
6.6 Experimental setup
6.7 Ratio of Q to Q0
6.8 Tapered tube nr. 11
6.9 Barat pressure measurements
7.1 BR5 chimney exit velocity profile
7.2 BR5 Smokebox vacua from different orifices
7.3 BR5 Temperature-steam rate for different orifices
7.4 Influence of x/d from BR tests of less than 60% loads
7.6 Eu-Re plot fo 9F locomotive, single chimney
7.7 Eu vs. Str effects of BR 9F locomotive, single orifice
7.8 Eu vs. L/D of cylindrical chimneys of the Goss tests
7.9 Eu vs. L/D of tapered chimney of the Goss tests
7.10 Generated velocity profiles
7.11 Petticoats
7.12 Eu numbers plotted from table 7.2
7.13 Diffuser pressure recover coefficient, Fox
7.14 Pressure recovery coefficients for small Area ratios
7.15 BR 9F single orifice
7.16 BR 9F double orifice
7.17 SAR 26 Lempore exhaust system by Wardale
7.18 Bulleid-Lemaitre front-end
7.19 NBDS Nos. 30-35, 2 cylinder 4-6-0 steam locomotive
7.20 Superheat and free flue cross sectional area
7.21 Optimal steam consumption
7.22 Cylinder size correction
8.1 RTM 0-6-0 type tramway locomotive
8.2 Interface rack
8.3 RTM 54 Four-orifice blastpipe
8.4 Calibration of fresh steam pressure gauge
8.5 Graphical comparison of vacuum data
8.6 Water and coal consumption per trip
8.7 Cumulative water and coal consumption day 8
8.8 Vacua, % of exhaust pressure and steam flux for different orifices
8.9 Measured blast pipe vs. vacuum relationship with fitted trendlines
8.10 Calculated blast pressure v. vacuum with associated trendlines

Tables of Data:
1.1 Timeline of exhaust development
5.1 'Clark ratio'
6.1 Measurements with cylindrical tubes
6.2 Measurements with tapered tubes
7.1 Data of BR locomotives
7.2 Eu numbers measured and calculated
8.1 Comparison of pressure gauge data
8.2 Table of water and coal consumption, day 8
8.3 Values of steam rate, gas rate and exhaust pressures for 589 Pa vacuum
8.4 Values of vacuum, gas rate and exhaust pressures for a steam rate of 2100 kg/h