History and development of the central heating plant at the University of Maryland, College Park Maryland / Warren D. Anderson

HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT
OF THE
CENTRAL HEATING PLANT

AT THE

PHTVEESITY OF MARYLAND

COLLEGE PARE

MARYLAND

WARREN D. ANDERSON

PRESENTED
AS AN
INITIATION REQUIREMENT
FOR THE
BETA CHAPTER OF MARYLAND
OF
TAU BETA PI

HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE CENTRAL HEATING- PLANT

■AT THE
UNIVERSITY OF M&BYLAND

SUMMARY
The first central heating plant at
the University of Maryland was constructed
in 1895 by Admiral John D, Ford, This original
plant, with subsequent alterations, additions
and repairs, was in constant service until the
fall of 1931. In this year a modern, efficient,
and up to date central heating plant was put
into service, thus relegating the old plant to
the scrap heap. The new plant with a total
capacity of 800 B.H.P. now serves the entire
campus with steam heat.

1895

1935

_1_

THE HISTORY AMD DEVgLOFMEMT OF THE CENTRAL HEATING PLANT

AT THE

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND

INTRODUCTION
The first central heating plant at the Maryland Agricul-
tural College was constructed at a time when the school was strug-
gling for it's very existence.
Very little thought was given to
the keeping of permanent records
regarding campus developments,
improvements, and expenditures,
consequently, information dealing
with the origin and development
of the plant is very limited or
totaly lacking. Mast of the few
records that were made were lost
in the fire which subsequently
destroyed the administration
building, thus leaving little in
the way of actual facts on which
to base an early history of the
plant .

Fig. 1. Original Plant.
Constructed in
1895.

-2-

ORIGIN AND EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF THE FIRST PLANT

In 1695 the first central heating plant (Fig. 1.)
constructed in the rear of the engineering building by Admiral John
D. Ford, who later served under Admiral Dewey at Manila bay.
ThiB plant furnished steam to the engin-
eering building and thru a 3" low press-
ure line to one or two other nearby
buildings, thus making it a "central
heating plant" in the true sense of the
word. The original equipment probably
consisted of the two boilers A and B
(Fig. 6) and a few auxiliaries. These
boilers, which are still standing, were
made by the Crook Horner Co. of Baltimore
They were of the fire tube type and had
a capacity of about 100 B.H.P. at a
boiler pressure of 90 pounds.

In 1904, two Bullock, D.C.
generators and two Racine steam engines
(Fig. 3.) were installed in the plant. These generators were of 20
K.W. capacity, operated at a speed of 375 R.P.M. and furnished all
current used on the campus from 1904 to 1912. The Racine "Automatic
Engines" were direct connected to the generators and were double
acting machines developing about 30 H.P. with supply steam at 90
pounds gage.

-

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M

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Fig. 2. One of the Two
Original Crook
Horner Boilers.
(Fire Tube.}

-3-

The legislature of the state of Maryland granted "6000
dollars for repairs to boilers" to the Maryland Agricultural College
in 1906. Much of this sum probably was used for repairs on indi-
vidual boilers in certain of the other buildings , thus giving us
little knowledge of the amount spent on the central plant. In 1908

the construction of the infirmary,
gymnasium (Now old library} , and
chemistry building {Now home econ-
omics building) , put an additional
load on the plant which supplied
heat to these buildings through a
5" low pressure line. It is prob-
able that at this time a boiler
was installed in the position C
(Fig. 6) . This boiler was an Erie
City, fire tube job, developing 100
B.H.P. at 90 pounds gage. A legis-
lative grant of 16000 dollars was

Fig. 3. One of the Two Bull- giwn tQ ^ 8ehool ^ igiQ fm

ock Generator Sets. Each

of 20 K.W. Bating and
Operating at 375 R.P.M.
Installed in 1904.

"deficiency in the heating plant".

An additional 10,000 dollars was

requested but was disallowed by the Governor. No record was made
as to the nature of the "deficiency" although it was probably due

to the purchase and installation of additional auxiliary boiler

equipment.

-3-

The legislature of the state of Maryland granted "6000
dollars for repairs to boilers'* to the Maryland Agricultural College
in 1906. Much of this sum probably was used for repairs on indi-
vidual boilers in certain of the other buildings, thus giving us
little knowledge of the amount spent on the central plant. In 1908

the construction of the infirmary,
gymnasium (Now old library) , and
chemistry building (Now home econ-
omics building) , put an additional
load on the plant which supplied
heat to these buildings through a
3" low pressure line. It is prob-
able that at this time a boiler
was installed in the position G
(Fig* 6) • This boiler was an Erie
City, fire tube job, developing 100
B.H.P. at 90 pounds gage. A legis-
lative grant of 16000 dollars was
given to the school in 1910 for
"deficiency in the heating plant".
An additional 10,000 dollars was

requested but was disallowed by the Governor. n record was made
as to the nature of the "deficiency" although it was probably due

to the purchase and installation of additional auxiliary boiler

equipment.

Fig. 3. One of the Two Bull-
ock Generator Sets. Each
of 20 K.W. Bating and
Operating at 375 R.P.M.
Installed in 1904.

-4-

LATSR DEVELOPMENTS AM) ALTERATIONS
The construction of CalTert Hall in 1914 necessitated the
laying of a line (Jig. 4) from the engineering building to the dormi-
tory. ThiB line was laid in a ditch about four feet deep by four feet
wide. In addition to the 6" high pressure steam main and Zjf return,
(Fig. 5) the water mains were also included in the same ditch.
Detail sketches of this line, fig. 5, show the type of equipment that
was installed during this period.
Silvester Hall, upon it's complet-
ion in 1921 took steam from this
same line thus putting an addition-
al load on the plant and making
further plant alterations necessary.
The most important change made in
1922 was the installation of one
150 H.P., Erie City fire tube boiler,
operating at 90 pounds gage, shown
in Fig. 6 as boiler "D2 At this time
the coal bunker was placed outside the plant so as to give more floor
apace in the boiler room. The Cameron and Worthington boiler feed
pumps (Fig. 7} were moved to the locations E and F, {Fig. 6). The feed
HpO heater C and the vacuum pump H were moved to the locations shown.

The completion of the present dining hall made necessary the
installation, in 1924, of a 6" high pressure line to supplement the
3" low pressure line which had been used for the temporary dining
hall. At this time the 6" high pressure line to the new chemistry
building was installed. These added loads required the installation

Fig. 7. Cameron and Worth-
ington Boiler Feed Pumps.
Working Pressure 90 lb»

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Fig. 6.

-5-

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of an additional boiler. One 150 B.H.P. Erie City fire tube boiler,
(Fig. 8) was placed as shown (C in Fig. 6) thus using the old found-
ations of the 100 H.P. Erie City boiler which was removed end scrapped.

Further building developments on the campus made necessary
the installation of 6" high pressure lines paralelliag the old 3"
low pressure lines so that by 1927 nearly all of the old lines had

been supplemented by new 6" lines.

Ho major alterations or
additions were made to the old
plant after the boiler install-
ation of 1924. The maximum capac-
ity of the plant before it was
abandoned in 1931 was between 400
and 500 B.H.P., probably closer
to the lower figure as the equip-
ment was in rather a poor state
of repair. Since neither the coal
nor the water was measured or
weighed there are no figures
available which would give an
indication of boiler or plant

Fig. 8, Erie City 150 H.P.

Fire Tube Boiler, Installed efficiency,
in 1934. *

ORIGIN OF THE PRESENT PLANT
The intensive building program which was started by the
University about 19S7 was the primary reason for building a new
central heating plant. The advantages of a central plant system as
to economy, safety, cleanliness, etc. were additional factors in

deciding on this type of heating equipment. Some of the other

plans proposed were, a gas producing plant with gas piping to

the various points on the campus, and a steam plant with oil burning

equipment instesd of coal burning furnaces. A conventional steam

heating plant using coal as a fuel was finely decided to be the most

satisfactory.

In 19S9 the state legislature of Maryland granted the
University 200,000 dollars for the new proposed central heating plant.
H. Bgli, of Baltimore was retained as the
consulting engineer for the project. He
drew up the plans and specifications and
supervised the building of the plant.
Work was started on the plant in 1939.
In 1931 an additional legislative grant of
12, 650 dollars was received for completion
of the plant, and the plant (Pig. 9) was
put into service in the fall of 1931.

PIAMT EQUIPMENT
The boilers are of Babcock Wilcox
make, and each of the two boilers installed
is built to develop 410 B.H.P. at a pressure
of 160 pounds gage. In this installation the

pressure is kept around 100 pounds gage. Each boiler has a heating
surface of 4114 square feet, and a radiation surface of 57,500

square feet.

Forced draft is furnished to the boilers by two complete

turbine drivem blowers , made by the Buffalo Forge Co. The air ducts

Fig. 9. The Present
Plant. Completed
in 1931,

-7-

from each blower comunlcate with only one firebox, tbus making it
possible to control the draft to each furnace within narrow limits.

Coal is delivered to the plant in trucks, dumped over
a grating {2^"X4") into the bucket of the skip hoist. The skip
hoist (Fig 11) then elevates the bucket
automatically by means of a Cutler-
Hammer magnetic switch board and
dumps the coal into the coal bunker,
(Fig. 12.) The coal feeds by gravity
from the bunker down into the weigh
larry. Here the coal is weighed end
then dumped into the stoker hoppers.
The Taylor stokers are multiple
retort, underfeed machines driven by
individual Troy stoker engines, type
VTO, size 4t" X 5" f (Fig. 13.). Both
the stokers and blowers are controlled
by a Mason regulator. This type of regulator is actuated by variations
in boiler pressure of only a few pounds, thus giving us very close
control. Also, the Mason regulator, (Fig. 14) makes it possible to
run the plant with a smaller crew and conequent saving in maintenance.

Since the condensate from the radiators of the system is
not returned to the boiler, fresh water from the mains is constantly
entering the plant, thus requiring the use of a preheater to warm
the feed water. From the preheater the water goes thru the flow
meter which is of the Cochrane V notch type. This meter has a record-
ing dial which shows the water consumption curve drawn n a "tin* 6

Fig, 10. Whiton Turbines
and Buffalo Forge Co.
Blowers .

scale. The water which has been heated from about 40 to 110 degrees F.

-8-

f

Fig. 11. Beaumont Skip
Hoist, Cutler-Hamner
Control .

Fig. 12. Coal Banker
Capacity - 100 T.

Fig, 14. Mason Press-
ure Regulator.

Fig. 13, Troy Stoker Engine.
Type VTO, Size, 4£" X 5".

-9-

now goes to the feed water heater where it is heated to about 180

degrees F. Leaving the heater the water

enters the toiler feed pump (Fig* 15) and

is discharged at a pressure of about 140

pounds gage. The discharge side of the

feed pump is tapped and connected to a Copes

automatic pressure control which varies the

speed of the pump to suit the load.

Figure 16 shows the instrument panel
for the draft gauges and CO meter. The
draft gauges give the amount of vacuum,
about .2" above the grate and the pressure,
about 3" water, below the grate. The CO
meter, made by the Brown Instrument Co. of
Philadelphia, shows the percentage of C0 g in the flue gas at all times
and records same on a time chart.

The ash handling equipment consists of the shaker mechan-
ism shown in Fig* 17 and the ash car, ash track, and ash tunnel.
The picture of the shaker mechanism was taken from the ash pit looking
upwards. Figure 18 shows the ash track and tunnel.

Fig. 15. Boiler Feed
Pump.

PLANT EFFICIENCY
There is no meter or gage in the plant to measure the total
amount of steam generated over a giwen period, the only steam meter
in the plant being used solely for measuring the amount of steam
which is sold to the dairy. However the data obtained by measuring
the amount of water used and the amount of coal burned enables us
to obtain a rough idea of the plant efficiency. The following data

-10-

..Jl. ,.

Fig. 16. Brown C0„ Meter,
and Draft Gages.

Fig. 18. Ash Tunnel.

Fig. 17. Grate Shaker As Viewed From Ash Pit.

-11-

obtained from the Office of the Superintendent of Grounds gives the
monthly average of pounds of water used per pound of coal from
July 1932 to June 1933,

Month.

lb. water/lb. coal.

July

11.5

August

IS. 9

Sept.

12.0

Oct.

10.2

Not.

9.9

Dec.

10,0

Jan.

9.6

Feb.

9.7

Mar.

10.0

April

10,4

May

11.2

June

12.1

1 1

A brief Inspection of the above data aparently shows a
higher water rate of evaporation during the summer months when the
plant is operating at only a fraction of full capacity, than during
the winter months when the plant is operating at nearly full capacity.
However, during the summer months one of the other of the two boilers
is Idle nearly all the time. During this idle period large quantities
of warm water are used to flush and clean the boiler, thus giving
an erroneous evaporation rate. The true evaporation rate is probab-
ly that given for the mid winter months such as November, December
or January, This would give us a water rate of evaporation of
about 9.8 pounds of steam per pound of coal, which is considered
very good for this size and type of plant.

-12-

(

View of Roof Trass Construction
as Seen From Position on
Feed Water Heater Platform.

Interior View of
Fire Box.

-13-

BTHT.TOGRAHg

Personal interviews with the following;
Officers of adminiatrat ion at the University of Maryland ,
T. H. Taliaferro H. L. Crisp

Maude F. McKenney

Officers of instruction at the University of h&ryland,
J. N. G. Neshit
Harry Gwinner
Others,

Miss Johnson, Office of Supt. of Buildings.
Mr Keeney, Chief Engineer of Central Heating Plant.
H. B. Hoshall, Mechanical Engineering Dept.
George W. Fogg, Librarian.

Search of Files of Blueprints in General Service Office .
Search of Early Files in Financial Secretary's Office.