Australian Pressure Equipment Knowledge

Looking, feeding, map reading, supplying drinks etc etc and I still don’t know how she got us out of the bog at Emu Creek. I can’t remember her growling at any time on any trip except when I was illegal with a campervan in heavy tooting traffic in Paris and the night at Sliding Rock Creek - a unique time. 

She was a terrific mum, companion and lover.

 2 I miss her much and think of her every day. Barb did about 90% bringing up you boys. I still wear sweaters and most clothes she made or bought for me. I still have the tool pouches and possibly her special sugar and powder bags she made in the 1960s for our 1st camping trips. Plastic ones were not available or common. Barb made the tent for our SR trip.

3 Your views on her would be great - you 3 boys weren’t always angels; but she loved you very much

4 Maybe there should be a clear warning of not doing the crossing  unless….

5 Warren, you have done very well to tell a great story which led to our next adventure across deserts to Mt Isa in 1975. There is enough to make an adventure short film as you desired. I enjoy ABC’s   Landline and  Roads Less Travelled. They promote that part of the country and to me are far more interesting than USA films filled with, and promoting,  mass shootings, murders and car crashes. They would also help us city people appreciate the skills of AU aborigines in living in those places. Maybe you ultimately could send a copy and the idea to the ABC.  Thousands of others would have similar or better adventure stories to make a series if successful. They could have a series with others videos used.

6 I don’t think Greg and I would have tackled the same crossing in the smaller i20 in 2020. SAA 11/4/2024

 

 

1  Scope   This brief note about 3 boilers was stimulated by a great recovery 2600 km outback trip with Greg, my eldest son, in October 2020 to Ivanhoe, Menindee, Broken Hill, Mutawintji, White Cliffs and Wilcannia in western NSW.

   It was great to get into the dust and recall visits with Barb and the boys in about 1972 when we crossed the Darling River by car over the Menindee road/rail bridge just wide enough for a train.

The first 2 boilers were visited with Barb in January about 1983 when returning via Broken Hill by car from a SA Committee ME/1 Boiler meeting in Melbourne. We diverted to investigate the failure of the Wilcannia Hospital boiler and see the new solar boiler and power station at White Cliffs. We stayed at the White Cliffs pub. Birdsville was a little later.

.1 In about June 1982, the Department (DIR) heard of the boiler failure at the Wilcannia Hospital which had been built in about 1879 .

.2 The boiler was a small to medium under-fired multitubular horizontal type using drift wood from the Darling river. It had tube failures due to lack of water when the town diesel powered electricity supply gave excess voltage which blew out lights, alarms and pump. Thus no-one was alerted to protect the boiler. The boiler attendant was 90 km away fixing the nurse’s quarters at White Cliffs and a gardener fed wood into the boiler. Fortunately there were no injuries. (Note: The boiler was thus “un-attended” - later recognised if it had self-checking controls for which the Australian Standard is currently being improved)

.3 The over-voltage evidently occurred a few times due to speed governor problems with the town diesel engines. The hospital superintendent said the hospital was one of the biggest hospital user of fluorescent light tubes in NSW. He added the tubes still came from South Australia like all supplies had originally came in the late 1880’s from there by river steam boat, except later by sea and Sydney.

.4. Wilcannia was a stop-over for Bourke & Wills, proclaimed a town in 1864, had shipping wharves, once were the third largest port in AU, and could get to 50C. It was still very remote in 1983 when its time zone was Adelaide’s, TV came from Queensland, diesel was its power base and the Darling a source of water. The power house was one of only two privately controlled public generating stations in NSW.

.5 Being remote, nearly 1000 km by road from Sydney, the town was illegal as the boiler attendant and engine driver were not certificated and the boiler did not comply with regulations.

.6 As no DIR inspector had been to Wilcannia and no-one was hurt, I advised the Superintendent the boiler attendant needed a certificate, we would send literature for him to study, and an inspector would visit the hospital and power station to certificate both operators, check the boiler and make the town reasonably legal. This was done in one visit in the next 12 months by a top ex marine engineer- inspector. Now in 2020 the town is linked to the grid. I have not heard of any more failures or if the boiler is still used.

.7 Before leaving for Sydney in our un-air conditioned car, I swam in the Darling River (lightly flowing, warm and brown) with a few Aboriginal nippers on a 40C day. It was great.

Barb and I were getting dehydrated and needed a swim at Wellington to cool down after more than 600 km into the sun and before continuing to Sydney nearly 400 km away.

.1 The 2020 brochure on White Cliffs reports:

“ Welcome to one of Australia‘s significant industrial heritage sites.

In 2006 the site was recognized by Engineers Australia Heritage Committee as being the world‘s first commercial solar power station”.

Photographs showed a number of dishes about 4m in diameter with the PV surface in place of the earlier mirrors. This eliminated steam and its hazards and full time operator.

.2 The brochure also reports White Cliffs was the first commercial opal field accidentally discovered by drovers in 1880. It is located 240 km NE of Broken Hill and over 1000km by road from Sydney. Outside the temperature ranges from 0 to 50C, so many live underground.

.3 In 1983 the purpose of the visit after Wilcannia was primarily of tech interest, if it was safe and complied with regulations, and how might it affect AU PE boiler Standards in future.

Unfortunately there was a fog from the drying out of ground around the town because of recent rare rains, and so no inspection in operation. The operator was enthusiastic and like many outback people who have a lot of sense especially with their equipment. He had been well trained. The rear of the dishes were colored yellow to blend into the environment, but because of the recent rain they looked like big daisies on rare green background. AU colours.

The dishes focused solar heat onto a small “boiler” of stainless steel which could reach 500C. Small bore SS piping supplied the steam to a 3 cylinder car engine converted for steam to produce 370 KVA It had some back-up batteries. The quality of the installation and whole setup was excellent. Some funding had come from the government to ensure success.

.4. The concept and system design was by a Professor at the ANU and an excellent idea for a small very remote outback town. It saved the town expensive diesel and had worked satisfactorily. Also because it was considered safe, of limited size and also a research setup in a special location, I as Chief Inspector gave verbal approval of the boiler and its operator. I was poor on paperwork and I don’t think the boiler was ever registered. You must remember the new idea, remote location and resourceful people have an affect on you.

There must have been very many lessons learnt from this boiler which impacted on the 2020 solar power stations - ideal for AU with lots of sun and open land. Solar boilers were then recognized in Australian Standards. 

4 BirdsvIlle Hydro-Power Station. (Added 30/4/2020).  This outback power station 1000 km NNW of White Cliffs contrasts with the above two thermal boilers.

I was intrigued to see in a Commonwealth Year Book a hydro-power station in the middle of AU. So on the way to work at Mt Isa for 2 days in 1975, Barb, my youngest two boys and I drove about 2500 km to Isa across a couple of deserts via Innaminka and BirdsvIlle.

The hydro station was there alright, housed in a small tin shed about 3 x 3m. It used vertically UP hot bore water to drive a small water turbine and an electric generator of about 8 kW - significant for a small town then of about 30 people, one pub, a police house, a trading post and a simple petrol station. See Story Trip to Mt Isa.

5 After Thoughts Later technology and human developments replaced all 3 boilers and-power sources.

Great places to trial new ideas with immediate local benefit and data for bigger plant for more people. 

Such trips help to develop love of AU and its People especially those outback who live in conditions much different from the city and who need to be very adaptable. We saw Bourke with water up and no rain. AU is a marvelous country and shows how good the Abos are to live in it- not like the poms or eskimos. This comment related to news from Alex today that Bourke is flooding again from Queensland water and the Darling is starting to fill the Menindee Lakes for the first time in 5 years. in 2020 Greg and I saw empty lakes. 

Traveling outback and seeing how fantastic and tough AU nature is, and the really difficult conditions that people have lived and survived in for thousands of years, each time increases my greatest respect for all of them. Also Bourke & Wills etc and other explorers did it tough learning. SAA 6/