RMS Titanic - Boiler Room
Boilers
Altogther there were twenty-four double-ended and five single-ended boilers in Titanic, designed for a working pressure of 215 lb., which was maintained under natural draught conditions. The aftermost, or No. 1 boiler room contained the five single-ended boilers, boiler rooms 2, 3, 4 and 5 contained five double-ended, and the foremost, or No. 6 boiler room contained four double-ended boilers. Owing to the great width of the ships, it was found possible to arrange five boilers abreast, except in No. 6 boiler room, where, owing to the hull being slightly narrower at this point, only four abreast could be fitted.
Each of the double-ended boilers was 15 ft. 9 in. diameter and 20 ft. long, and contained six furnaces; while the single-ended boilers, which are of the same diameter as the double-ended but are 11 ft. 9 in. long, contained three furnaces, so that the total number of furnaces was 159 providing a total heating surface of 144,142 sq. feet. The latter are all of the Morison type, 3'9". inside diameter, and are provided with fronts of the Downie "boltless" pattern. The firebars are of the Campbell type, supplied by Messrs. Railton, Campbell & Crawford, of Liverpool. The shells of the single-ended boilers were formed in one strake, the double-ended boilers having, as usual, three strakes. All the shell plates are of mild steel 1-11/16. thick.
Funnel Uptakes
The arrangement of uptakes, by which the smoke and waste gases are conveyed to the funnels, was necessarily of a very elaborate nature, no less than twenty branches being required to one funnel in the case of boiler rooms 3 and 4. The branches from adjoining boiler rooms were united immediately above the watertight bulkhead separating the rooms, the bulkhead thus forming a valuable support to the uptakes and funnel above. One set of uptakes is shown [right] and well illustrates their numerous ramifications.
Funnels
At any time their was the possibility that there could be 159 individual fires burning. These fires produced large quantites of smoke and fumes which had to be discharged high above the ship, in order to ensure that the ship was largely-free of smuts and fumes, which also meant that the passengers would be able to walk around the decks without fear of being covered in soot!
To provide this, Titanic was equipped with four large funnels, although funnel No. 4 did not carry fumes, and was there almost purely for aesthetic reasons. Each funnel was elliptical in section, and measured 24.5 ft. from front to back, and 19ft. across. The distance from the boilers to the top of the funnels was 150ft. Each funnel was raked-back at an angle of 1:6 to provide a sleek profile, and was painted buff with a black top, as was the White Star Line tradition. A striking photograph of the last funnel of the Olympic leaving the shops is reproduced [left].
When running at a standard cruising speed of 21 knots, these furnaces would consume about 825 tons of coal per day.