Hello! I have this object that was retrieved from a steamship in the South China Sea, probably from the late-1800s. I have been trying to search online and in books, and even had it identified with AI, to no avail. Would any of you happen to know what this is?

The threaded hole does not open to the chamber; it continues into the pipe inside.

Thanks a lot!

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My guess is that it's some form of primitive steam jet vacuum ejector, used to raise a vacuum to increase the plant efficiency. The threaded pipe going into the chamber would be the working nozzle if my assumptions are correct!

A little piccy to envision the process.

 

Interesting hypothesis. Thanks, @taffe65 ! What I can't picture, though, if it is indeed a steam jet ejector, is that there are no other inlets/outlets apart from the threaded opening of the pipe and the two openings of the chamber on the other side (the discharge side?). Furthermore, the internal pipe goes almost the entire length of the chamber and opens very near to the two openings. If I'm picturing it correctly, I think the steam would just go directly to the discharge, and there would not be enough vacuum.

 

wonderful, and very logical, your orals have done you well, FIRST CLASS. Looking at the overall diemensuions I would the vessels was a steam engine with an exaust buawak turbine> going by the age/date and size if the pipework. Regards Very Entriguing Thank you.

 

Thanks @captainconfusion ! Sorry, I'm not really well-versed in steam engine machinery, apart from the very general ones. If you would please, could you elaborate on how you arrive at that hypothesis? How does the dimensions, age, and pipework lead to that? Or if you could direct me to a reference that I could read, that would be great as well. Many thanks!

 

you have me? who are you what have you trained as and studied. The first simple thing of an air ejector is in a evapourrator maybe manufacted by J Wiers Of glasgow and how the evapourated steam is engulfed in a jet stream to form a vacuum.
You maybe have to research the many manufactures of water evapators and distillers in the marine trade of which Weirs is only one of them. Good reading studying Regards

 

Looks like a steam ejector usually fitted to the top of a tanker’s pump room for removing gas from the lower parts of the pump room in way of the duplex pumps. There were usually 2 to each pump room but were seldom used possibly because of the high water consumption.

 

Hi, I am a retired marine engineer and sailed with steam ships up to 37000 HP.
The function of an ejector is not to create vacuum! Vacuum is created by condensating steam in the condenser. The function af the ejector is to discharge oxygen/gas from the condenser.

 

You are çorrect in what you say,however the ejector does generate the initial vacuum and also maintains it.

 

Every ejector I have ever come across has had at least three ports (inlet, outlet and suction) whereas the item pictured only has two ports- the threaded pipe and the flanged siamese. The OP specifically states no other openings. I don’t believe this is an ejector, therefore.