Re: Oil Burner Advice Needed

Hi, J.D.,

There is a risk in using too much atomizer because all you do is blow the fire against the back wall (door sheet) of the firebox. Besides the carbon deposits this makes, an incredible glaze of melted brick and partiallu-burned oil forms on the firebrick below the door opening. I doubt that this glaze is a very good heat transmitter.

What the fireman is trying to do simultaneously is keep up water, keep up steam, atomize the oil, and keep the flame dancing in the middle of the firebox without dropping it on the floor or blowing it against the door sheet--all the while balancing the whole process to meet the demands of the engineer's throttle position. There's that black art again!

Who said oil firing was easy?

Mike