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The Dangerous Steam Engine

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Risks in Technological Systems

Part of the book series: Springer Series in Reliability Engineering ((RELIABILITY))

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Abstract

In large parts of our modern world, electric power is produced by heating water to produce steam, which is then fed to a steam turbine driving a generator. Every such energy plant contains a pressure vessel – a boiler. Uncontrolled heating may raise the steam pressure to a level high enough to cause the boiler to burst, and this may result in great damage to people and plant. Such explosions were not uncommon in the early years of high-pressure steam technology.

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© 2010 Springer-Verlag London Limited

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Hult, J. (2010). The Dangerous Steam Engine. In: Grimvall, G., Holmgren, Å., Jacobsson, P., Thedéen, T. (eds) Risks in Technological Systems. Springer Series in Reliability Engineering. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84882-641-0_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84882-641-0_4

  • Publisher Name: Springer, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-84882-640-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-84882-641-0

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

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