CNR 6167 Water Treatment Instructions Circa 1962

joe6167 · **Posted:** Sat Jan 15, 2011 12:27 am

A friend recently sent me a copy of a telegram from 1962 outlining instructions on a new water treatment procedure to be followed when CNR 6167 was to be stored for periods longer then one week.

http://www.trainweb.org/j.dimech/6167/bc1962.html

Quote:

Toronto, Ontario, Sept.14, 1962.
File 6610

Locomotive No. 6167

Mr. R. M. Veenis - Toronto

The recent inspection of the boiler internals of Eng. 6167, made in accordance with our request of the B.T.C. for an extension of time, disclosed an active pitting condition on the tubes and firebox surfaces. This pitting condition is also present in the superheater as evidenced by the necessity to change out three units that were pitted through and found leaking under hydrostatic test.

Inasmuch as it is the desire to keep this locomotive in service to the limit of available time extensions it will be necessary to make an effort to arrest this pitting condition. To effect this we propose that the boiler be put under wet storage when out of service for periods longer than one week, using catalyzed sodium sulphite and caustic soda as for chemical treatment. The application of chemical may be accomplished as follows:

1. When going into storage and before the fire is drawn:
with the tender tank about 1/4 full of water (3,000 gals.), and with about two inches of water in the boiler glass, add 30 lbs. of caustic soda and 16 lbs. of sodium sulphite to the tender tank (make a slurry of the chemicals, taking the necessary precautions for handling). Using the locomotive feed pump, fill the boiler to top of the gauge glass. Then draw the fire.

2. After the fire has been drawn:
Using the injector, fill boiler until the injector breaks, then let boiler stand until the remaining steam pressure dies.

3. With no steam pressure on the boiler:
apply the locomotive brake using shop air, couple water hose to front boiler cooling valve; with engine relief valves and cylinder cooks open, open the throttle partly and turn on water, - let water run until a good flow is seen at the cylinder cocks. Turn water off and close the throttle.

It is important that the boiler be kept full to the cooling valve when charged with chemical in this manner and this can be controlled by leaving the water hose coupled and making a daily check by turning the water on until it flows out of the back cooling valve.

The treatment concentration must also be checked periodically (once weekly) to ensure that the alkalinity of the solution is maintained at 400 PPM and the residual sulphite content at a minimum of 100 PPM. This control will be arranged for with our boiler inspectors.

When the boiler is steamed up for return to service after being stored in this manner, the rate of blow-down should be high initially and when the engine has been spotted at a location favourable to blowing down, several glasses of water should be blown out. This of course refers to main blow-down valve operation.

Caustic soda is, we believe, a stock item in the Stores Dept. All that is necessary is to ensure a sufficient quantity on-hand, say 200 lbs.

Would suggest that a supply of 200 lbs. sodium sulphite be kept on hand and this can be requisitioned as follows:

200 lbs. Alchem Formula 19 catalyzed
sodium sulphite, pulverized

as supplied by Alchem Ltd., Burlington, Ont.

Sgd. W.D. Piggott
Gen. Supt. Equipment
W.J.T.

patentable · **Posted:** Sat Jan 15, 2011 1:04 am

Alchem, the named chemical supplier, was an affiliate of Nalco Chemical Company - now Nalco Company of Naperville, Il. Nalco was once National Aluminate - and got its start in Chicago providing chemicals to the RR for softening locomotive boiler feedwater. I suspect Alchem is now known as Nalco Canada.

National Aluminate sold moly sticks for the lubrication of rail, had a railroad right of way weed control business with its own cars. Nalco probably still sells diesel loco radiator additives and fuel treatment chemicals.

Haven't worked there in 12 years but still remember a little bit of the history.

Nalco is very much still in the water treatment business.
Bob

joe6167 · **Posted:** Sat Jan 15, 2011 1:08 am

On the subject of NALCo, 6167 is equipped with NALCo Continous Blowdown Equipment.

DBH · **Posted:** Mon Jan 17, 2011 6:11 pm

We had a Nalco Rep come to the boiler room I used to work in & he told us he was going to save us X$$$ on our boiler , chill water & tower treatment. Funny that was about $500.00 more than Garrett - Calahan was charging us. Guess they were gonna pay us $500.00 to us to use their services They are a big fan of automatic feeders & stuff that just never worked for us. Our steam load could vary from day to day & that type of treatment just never worked for us.
DBH

Andrew Adams · **Joined:** Tue Feb 02, 2010 2:59 pm **Posts:** 18

Interesting!

Note that they start with only 3000 gallons in the tender. I think they'd be hard pressed to use half of that filling the boiler from the bottom of the glass. So a fair portion of the chemicals are wasted, but it does get the chemicals in without special apparatus. Also, commercial NaOH solutions start precipitating at temperatures only slightly below room temp. A bit of a problem in the Canadian climate, eh?

Note also that once the gage pressure is zero, they open the throttle and flood the superheaters. I'm not sure this is a net positive. The sulfite and alkalinity should stop corrosion, but what about the added alkali salt deposits in the superheaters when they fire up? What about the effect of the alkali on the lubricant in the valves and cylinders (admittedly only transient)?

Note finally that the no pressure fill is through the "front cooling valve" and periodic checks of water level use the "rear cooling valve". I presume this has to do with a boiler cooling system for quick washouts. It would be good to know where these valves attached and the cool-down/washout procedure CN used.

Andrew Adams

joe6167 · **Posted:** Thu Jan 20, 2011 2:11 am

Andrew,

The "Front cooling valve" is incorperated into the check valve, which on this engine is located near the front tube sheet. The "rear cooling valve" is located in front of the safety valves, in the middle of the boiler, but in reality it just ahead of the rear tube sheet, as the engine is equipped with a combustion chamber.

060 Hogger · **Posted:** Thu Jan 20, 2011 2:44 pm

The use of Catalyzed Sodium Sulfite and Caustic Soda are no longer appropriate.
We simply know better nowdays;

Caustic Embrittlement is a very likely result of using Sodium Hydroxide.
The preservation / operating group is rare who would choose to be handling these dangerous chemicals. Likewise, who has the trained staff to be performing the chemical analyses necessary for proper application? Are we sure the concentrations at the throttle valve are the same as in the firebox legs ? What do we do if they are not? A little difference in chemical solution strength causes a concentration cell, A.K.A galvanic corrosion battery. It is easy to do more harm than good.

It has been documented that Sulfite causes Pitting if it is not flawlessly executed, the very thing it is intended to prevent. The use of sodium sulfite is futile, from the standpoint that the water supply to a locomotive is not deaerated. The dissolved air and it's 21% oxygen will come out of solution and migrate to high spots. Sulfur compounds cause boiler scale to become tenacious. The dihydrate form (CaSO4·2H2O) of calcium sulfate is gypsum, the binder in concrete. Sulfite and it's decomposition product, sulfate, are highly conductive. This promotes Galvanic Corrosion and contributes greatly to Foaming and Carryover, by dramatically increasing Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) . If you want to be true to early methodology, regardless of potentially unfavorable results, you may have it.

My choice, from a working background in marine, industrial and utilities, is nitrogen blanketing ( inerting ). It is applied and initiated as a hot boiler is cooling down, prior to going below 220 F and 2 PSIG. The solubility of dissolved oxygen here is in the single digit Parts Per Billion range. The boiler intakes nitrogen rather than air, as it cools. This prevents oxygen uptake, does not degrade boiler water quality or contribute toward foaming, carryover or depletion of beneficial chemistry. The boiler is laid-up at normal water level and is ready for steaming with a minimum of work.

What does nitrogen blanketing require ?
1. A 220 CF industrial grade Nitrogen cylinder.
2. A primary regulator capable of reducing 2,400 psi down to 25 psi
3. A secondary regulator, propane grill regulators work well, capable of reducing
25 psi down to 11 inches water column ( a little less than 1/2 psi ).
4. A 1/2" or smaller manual isolation valve at a high spot above the water level of
the boiler.
5. A lift or ball check in series with the manual isolation valve.
6. A quick connection to a downward sloping toward the boiler 5' length of SS tubing.
7. Tubing or hose connection from the second regulator to item # 6.

The nitrogen should remain valved-in until the boiler is 120 F or below.
In the interest of economy, the nitrogen should be valved-off, but purged weekly for 15 to 30 minutes.

joe6167 · **Posted:** Thu Jan 20, 2011 5:42 pm

Water treatment has certainly advanced quite a bit since 1962.

060 Hogger · **Posted:** Fri Jan 21, 2011 9:55 pm

To plagarize a well-known statement, " We have moved backward into railroad history more than some have moved forward. " is generally excellent except in the area of preservation and safety of steam locomotives and their boilers. Here, we need all the modern technology and water treatment we can get.