Bailey Boiler Meter - 1914
notes: label: Description
content: Ervin G. Bailey of Boston invented the type of meter shown here for the purpose of allowing hand-fired boilers to be efficiently and properly fired. His design allowed the simultaneous recording of airflow and steam flow in the boiler as a function of time. The efficient and economical operation of a boiler requires that a particular relationship be maintained between the amount of air being supplied for combustion and the amount of steam being produced. The meter shown, Serial Number 75, was one of the first that Bailey produced commercially.
label: Description
content: The meter has a 12 inch chart face which is driven by clockwork. Three pens record data as the chart revolves. The red pen indicates steam flow while the inner blue pen indicates airflow. When the two are close together the boiler is operating at its highest efficiency regardless of the rate of steam generation. The outer blue pen indicates resistance to the flow of combustion air through the fuel bed and can indicate problems with the depth of the fuel on the fire grate and other issues. If the boiler operator keeps that pen within the shaded area on the outer edge of the chart, conditions are satisfactory.
label: Description
content: Bailey's design for the boiler meter consists of a complex system of bells suspended over a liquid. The steam and combustion air enter under these bells and cause them to rise and fall as the pressures change. An interconnected system of rods and levers operate the recording pens. His United Stated Patent Number 1,257,965 of March 5, 1918 for a "Relation-Indicator" provides a detailed description of the design. Diagrams showing the complete design of the patent can be found in the patent document online at the United States Patent and Trademark Office website, www.uspto.gov.
label: Description
content: Bailey formed the Bailey Meter Company in 1916. The company was quite successful, becoming Bailey Controls and then Elsag Bailey Process Automation until in 1998 it was merged into ABB.
topic: label: Subject
content: Steam Engines
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Mechanical and Civil Engineering
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content: Engineering, Building, and Architecture
label: Exhibition
content: Power Machinery
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Bailey Meter Company, Cleveland, Ohio
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MC.322410
label: catalog number
content: 322410
label: accession number
content: 247993
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Meter, Boiler