| In the last few years, Mr. Jos
Koopmans of the Netherlands, has been doing
research on the physics of steam locomotive
exhausts systems with the goal of developing a
more-complete understanding of their operation.
To test his ideas about exhaust system
performance, RTM 56 was used for exhaust tests in
December of 1999. Including water and coal it
weighs 22 tons. In the picture the electronic
interface case between the computer and the
sensors is clearly visibly, as is a cable from
the smokebox temperature sensor and the flexible
copper tube for the smokebox vacuum. The photo
below shows the blast pipe with the 4-fold
orifice crown with 40 mm inserts in place. The
tests confirmed Mr. Koopmans' theories about the
function of multiple-nozzle exhaust systems,
which are covered in detail in his paper
"Unified Exhaust Theory for Steam
Locomotives", which is available on this
site on the Exhaust
Systems page.
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