essary, submits the
conservative figures, figures which may readily be exceeded under test
conditions and which may be closely approached under the ordinary plant
conditions that will be met in daily operation.

OPERATION AND CARE OF BOILERS

The general subject of boiler room practice may be considered from two
aspects. The first is that of the broad plant economy, with a suggestion
as to the methods to be followed in securing the best economical results
with the apparatus at hand and procurable. The second deals rather with
specific recommendations which should be followed in plant practice,
recommendations leading not only to economy but also to safety and
continuity of service. Such recommendations are dictated from an
understanding of the nature of steam generating apparatus and its
operation, as covered previously in this book.

It has already been pointed out that the attention given in recent years
to steam generating practice has come with a realization of the wide
difference existing between the results being obtained in every-day
operation and those theoretically possible. The amount of such attention
and regulation given to the steam generating end of a power plant,
however, is comparatively small in relation to that given to the balance
of the plant, but it may be safely stated that it is here that there is
the greatest assurance of a return for the attention given.

In the endeavor to increase boiler room efficiency, it is of the utmost
importance that a standard basis be set by which average results are to
be judged. With the theoretical efficiency obtainable varying so widely,
this standard cannot be placed at the highest efficiency that has been
obtained regardless of operating conditions. It is better set at the
best obtainable results for each individual plant under its conditions
of installation and daily operation.

With an individual standard so set, present practice can only be
improved by a systematic effort to approach this standard. The degree
with which operating results will approximate such a standard will be
found to be directly proportional to the amount of intelligent
supervision given the operation. For such supervision to be given, it is
necessary to have not only a full realization of what the plant can do
under the best operating conditions but also a full and complete
knowledge of what it is doing under all of the different conditions that
may arise. What the plant is do