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In the coastal areas of the Chesapeake Bay and inland water ways the cooking and selling of crabs is a business as  is a lot of other coastal areas. There is nothing like a good steaming hot Maryland Blue crab. The question is asked many times how to pipe steam boilers to do the steaming of these scrumptious crustaceans. There are many ways to pipe the boilers but here one of the best piping diagrams I have come across. It came from an old friend named Owen Hartlove of Baltimore.

We all know when it comes to using a steam boiler for anything other than steam heating the condensate gets put down the drain. That means we add a whole lot of fresh water so the life expectancy of the boiler is greatly reduced. I have a list below of what should be done from sizing to piping which has given us the longest life from a steam boiler than any other diagram I have seen. The original installation may be more expensive but they work better and last longer so it is worth it to do a better job upfront and save $$$ in the long run. This gives us the driest steam for better tasting crabs. Remember our installations affect the taste of the crab and success of our customer.

1. Figure 32,000 btu's or 133.3 sq. ft. per bushel of crabs

         If you have 5 - 2 bushel pots the boiler requirement is 320,000 btu's net output or 1333 sq ft of steam

2. Preheat feed water through domestic hot water coil or preferably from a water heater

     Adding hot water will get rid of oxygen and dissolved solids before entering the boiler.

      I would rather do this from a water heater than a domestic hot water coil in the boiler.

     As cold water would be drawn through the coil it would kill most of the steam in the

     boiler.

3. Install at least two boiler risers from the boiler. Make the header as high as possible or use a dropped header on boiler and system header.

4. Use as high a riser as possible off crab pots

4. Insulate all piping

5. Keep header velocity below 25 fps

6. Keep system piping velocity below 50 fps

7. Clean the boiler well by heating it up and skimming very well. 

8. Use a fast feeder for each boiler. Most electronic feeders feed too slowly. Consider an M&M 101 feeder.

9. Two boilers are more efficient than one as the steaming load changes constantly.

Caution; Conceptual drawing. Your piping may vary. Not all controls and feeders shown.

F&T Traps on boilers only required when you have more than one boiler.

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