FIRE-TUBE BOILER

Safety considerations[edit]
Because the fire-flume boiler itself is the pressure vessel, it requires a number of safety features to
prevent mechanical failure. Boiler explosion, which is a type of BLEVE (Boiling Liquid Expanding
Vapor Explosion), can be devastating.

 Safety valves release steam before a dangerous pressure can be built up

 Fusible plugs over the firebox melt at a temperature lower than that of the firebox
plates, thereby warning the operators by the noisy escape of steam if the water level is
too low to cool the firebox crown safely.
 Stays, or ties, physically link the firebox and boiler casing, preventing them from
warping. Since any corrosion is hidden, the stays may have longitudinal holes,
called tell-tales, drilled in them which leak before they become unsafe.
The fire-tube type boiler that was used in the Stanley Steamer automobile had several hundred
tubes which were weaker than the outer shell of the boiler, making an explosion virtually impossible
as the tubes would fail and leak long before the boiler exploded. In nearly 100 years since the
Stanleys were first produced, no Stanley boiler has ever exploded. [