page_title: Three-drum boiler
section_title: Mumford boiler
hierarchical_section_title: Three-drum boiler / Types / Mumford boiler
caption_attribution_description: Mumford boiler (Rankin Kennedy, Modern Engines, Vol V).jpg
context_page_description: Three-drum boilers are a class of water-tube boiler used to generate steam, typically to power ships. They are compact and of high evaporative power, factors that encourage this use. Other boiler designs may be more efficient, although bulkier, and so the three-drum pattern was rare as a land-based stationary boiler.
  The fundamental characteristic of the "three-drum" design is the arrangement of a steam drum above two water drums, in a triangular layout. Water tubes fill in the two sides of this triangle between the drums, and the furnace is in the centre. The whole assembly is then enclosed in a casing, leading to the exhaust flue.
  Firing can be by either coal or oil. Many coal-fired boilers used multiple firedoors and teams of stokers, often from both ends.
context_section_description: The Mumford boiler was a variety built by the boilermakers Mumford of Colchester, intended for use in smaller boats. The tube banks separated into two groups, with the short tubes slightly curved away from each other. Entry into the lower water drum was perpendicular, requiring an almost rectangular drum with the tubes entering on separate faces. The mechanical weakness of such a shape was acceptable in this small size, but limited the boiler's potential. The casing was small and only enclosed part of the upper steam drum, leading directly to a funnel. A single inverted tee-shaped downcomer linked the drums at the rear of the boiler.
caption: Mumford boiler
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