The Development of the La Mont Boiler in Great Britain

The La Mont system of controlled forced-circulation was promoted in America in 1926, and developed in Europe by German interests from 1929. This development commenced with water walls added to existing natural-circulation boilers and proceeded to complete steam generators employing the La Mont principle. British engineers became interested, and in 1936 the La Mont boiler was introduced for manufacture in this country. Several visits of investigation were made to the Continent, which indicated that whilst much valuable experience was already available from the 150 or so installations then existing, a considerable amount of work would be required to adapt the La Mont boiler to British requirements. It was also realized that experience with larger units at higher pressures show the necessity for modifications in detailed design. The paper describes several difficulties encountered in the development of this type of boiler and how they have been overcome.