Chimney

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For other uses, see Chimney (disambiguation).
"Smokestack" redirects here. For the 1963 avant-garde jazz album, see Smokestack
(album).
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is article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be ch
allenged and removed. (March 2013)
The world's tallest chimney, of GRES-2 in Ekibastuz, Kazakhstan (419.7 metres).
A chimney remaining after the destruction of a 19th-century two-story house (Mou
nt Solon, Virginia).
A chimney is a structure which provides ventilation for hot flue gases or smoke
from a boiler, stove, furnace or fireplace to the outside atmosphere. Chimneys a
re typically vertical, or as near as possible to vertical, to ensure that the ga
ses flow smoothly, drawing air into the combustion in what is known as the stack
, or chimney, effect. The space inside a chimney is called a flue. Chimneys may
be found in buildings, steam locomotives and ships. In the United States, the te
rm smokestack (colloquially, stack) is also used when referring to locomotive ch
imneys or ship chimneys, and the term funnel can also be used.[1][2]
The height of a chimney influences its ability to transfer flue gases to the ext
ernal environment via stack effect. Additionally, the dispersion of pollutants a
t higher altitudes can reduce their impact on the immediate surroundings. In the
case of chemically aggressive output, a sufficiently tall chimney can allow for
partial or complete self-neutralization of airborne chemicals before they reach
ground level. The dispersion of pollutants over a greater area can reduce their
concentrations and facilitate compliance with regulatory limits.
Contents [hide]
1 History
2 Construction
3 Residential flue liners
4 Chimney pots, caps and tops
5 Chimney draught or draft
6 Maintenance and problems
7 Dual-use chimneys
7.1 Cooling tower used as an industrial chimney
8 See also
9 References
10 External links
History[edit]
A smoke hood in the Netherlands. Image: Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherla
nds
Chimney pots in London, England, seen from the tower of Westminster Roman Cathol
ic cathedral
Seagull sits on top of a hot gas cooling chimney at The World of Glass St. Helen
s UK.
Romans used tubes inside the walls to draw smoke out of bakeries but chimneys on
ly appeared in large dwellings in northern Europe in the 12th century. The earli
est extant example of an English chimney is at the keep of Conisbrough Castle in
Yorkshire, which dates from 1185 AD.[3] They did not become common in houses un
til the 16th and 17th centuries.[4] Smoke hoods were an early method of collecti
ng the smoke into a chimney (see image). Another step in the development of chim
neys was the use of built in ovens which allowed the household to bake at home.
Industrial chimneys became common in the late 18th century.
Chimneys in ordinary dwellings were first built of wood and plaster or mud. Sinc
e then chimneys have traditionally been built of brick or stone, both in small a
nd large buildings. Early chimneys were of a simple brick construction. Later ch
imneys were constructed by placing the bricks around tile liners, a system inven
ted by Malik. To control downdrafts, venting caps (often called chimney pots) wi
th a variety of designs are sometimes placed on the top of chimneys.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, the methods used to extract lead from its ore pr
oduced large amounts of toxic fumes. In the north of England, long near-horizont
al chimneys were built, often more than 3 km (2 mi) long, which typically termin
ated in a short vertical chimney in a remote location where the fumes would caus
e less harm. Lead and silver deposits formed on the inside of these long chimney
s, and periodically workers would be sent along the chimneys to scrape off these
valuable deposits.[5]
Construction[edit]
A section of a large late Georgian four storey house, showing the advantage of u
sing a mechanical sweeper over climbing boys
As a result of the limited ability to handle transverse loads with brick, chimne
ys in houses were often built in a "stack", with a fireplace on each floor of th
e house sharing a single chimney, often with such a stack at the front and back
of the house. Today's central heating systems have made chimney placement less c
ritical, and the use of non-structural gas vent pipe allows a flue gas conduit t
o be installed around obstructions and through walls.
In fact, most modern high-efficiency heating appliances do not require a chimney
. Such appliances are generally installed near an external wall, and a noncombus
tible wall thimble allows a vent pipe run directly through the external wall.
On a pitched roof where a chimney penetrates a roof, flashing is used to seal th
e joints. The down-slope piece is called an apron, the sides receive step flashi
ng and a cricket is used to divert water around the upper side of the chimney un
derneath the flashing.[6]
Carved brick chimneys characteristic of late Gothic Tudor buildings, at Thornbur
y Castle, 1514
Industrial chimneys are commonly referred to as flue gas stacks and are generall
y external structures, as opposed to those built into the wall of a building. Th
ey are generally located adjacent to a steam-generating boiler or industrial fur
nace and the gases are carried to them with ductwork. Today the use of reinforce
d concrete has almost entirely replaced brick as a structural component in the c
onstruction of industrial chimneys. Refractory bricks are often used as a lining
, particularly if the type of fuel being burned generates flue gases containing
acids. Modern industrial chimneys sometimes consist of a concrete windshield wit
h a number of flues on the inside.
The 300 metre chimney at Sasol Three consists of a 26 metre diameter windshield
with four 4.6 metre diameter concrete flues which are lined with refractory bric
ks built on rings of corbels spaced at 10 metre intervals. The reinforced concre
te can be cast by conventional formwork or sliding formwork. The height is to en
sure the pollutants are dispersed over a wider area to meet legal or other safet
y requirements.
Residential flue liners[edit]
A chimney with two clay-tile flue liners
A flue liner is a secondary barrier in a chimney that protects the masonry from
the acidic products of combustion, helps prevent flue gas from entering the hous
e, and reduces the size of an over-sized flue. Newly built chimneys have been re
quired by building codes to have a flue liner in many locations since the 1950s.
Chimneys built without a liner can usually have a liner added, but the type of
liner needs to match the type of appliance it is servicing. Flue liners may be c
lay tile, metal, concrete tiles, or poured in place concrete.
Clay tile flue liners are very common in the United States. However, this is the
only liner which does not meet Underwriters Laboratories 1777 approval and freq
uently have problems such as cracked tiles and improper installation.[7] Clay ti
les are usually about 3 feet (0.91 m) long, various sizes and shapes, and are in
stalled in new construction as the chimney is built. A refractory cement is used
between each tile.
Metal liners may be stainless steel, aluminum, or galvanized iron and may be fle
xible or rigid pipes. Stainless steel is made in several types and thicknesses.
Type 304 is used with firewood, wood pellet fuel, and non-condensing oil applian
ces, types 316 and 321 with coal, and type A1 29-4C is used with non-condensing
gas appliances. Stainless steel liners must have a cap and be insulated if they
service solid fuel appliances, but following the manufacturer's instructions car
efully.[7] Aluminum and galvanized steel chimneys are known as class A and class
B chimneys. Class A are either an insulated, double wall stainless steel pipe o
r triple wall, air-insulated pipe often known by its genericized trade name Meta
lbestos. Class B are uninsulated double wall pipes often called B-vent, and are
only used to vent non-condensing gas appliances. These may have an aluminum insi
de layer and galvanized steel outside layer.Condensing boilers do not need a chi
mney.
Concrete flue liners are like clay liners but are made of a refractory cement an
d are more durable than the clay liners.
Poured in place concrete liners are made by pouring special concrete into the ex
isting chimney with a form. These liners are highly durable, work with any heati
ng appliance, and can reinforce a weak chimney, but they are irreversible.
Chimney pots, caps and tops[edit]
Rows of chimney pots in an English town, 1974.
A chimney pot is placed on top of the chimney to expand the length of the chimne
y inexpensively, and to improve the chimney's draft. A chimney with more than on
e pot on it indicates that there is more than one fireplace on different floors
sharing the chimney.
A chimney cowl is placed on top of the chimney to prevent birds and squirrels fr
om nesting in the chimney. They often feature a rain guard to prevent rain or sn
ow from going down the chimney. A metal wire mesh is often used as a spark arres
tor to minimize burning debris from rising out of the chimney and making it onto
the roof. Although the masonry inside the chimney can absorb a large amount of
moisture which later evaporates, rainwater can collect at the base of the chimne
y. Sometimes weep holes are placed at the bottom of the chimney to drain out col
lected water.
Spanish Conquistador style wind directional cowl found on many homes along the w
indy Oregon coast.
A chimney cowl or wind directional cap is a helmet shaped chimney cap that rotat
es to align with the wind and prevent a backdraft of smoke and wind back down th
e chimney.
An H-style cap (cowl) is a chimney top constructed from chimney pipes shaped lik
e the letter H. It is an age old method to regulate draft in situations where pr
evailing winds or turbulences cause down draft and backpuffing. Although the H c
ap has a distinctive advantage over most other downdraft caps, it fell out of fa
vor because of its bulky design. It is found mostly in marine use but has been r
egaining popularity due to its energy saving functionality. The H-cap stabilizes
the draft rather than increasing it. Other down draft caps are based on the Ven
turi effect, solving downdraft problems by increasing the up draft constantly re
sulting in much higher fuel consumption.
A chimney damper is a metal plate that can be positioned to close off the chimne
y when not in use and prevent outside air from entering the interior space, and
can be opened to permit hot gases to exhaust when a fire is burning. A top dampe
r or cap damper is a metal spring door placed at the top of the chimney with a l
ong metal chain that allows one to open and close the damper from the fireplace.
A throat damper is a metal plate at the base of the chimney, just above the fir
ebox, that can be opened and closed by a lever, gear, or chain to seal off the f
ireplace from the chimney. The advantage of a top damper is the tight weather-pr
oof seal that it provides when closed, which prevents cold outside air from flow
ing down the chimney and into the living space a feature that can rarely be matc
hed by the metal-on-metal seal afforded by a throat damper. Additionally, becaus
e the throat damper is subjected to intense heat from the fire directly below, i
t is common for the metal to become warped over time, thus further degrading the
ability of the throat damper to seal. However, the advantage of a throat damper
is that it seals off the living space from the air mass in the chimney, which,
especially for chimneys positioned on an outside of wall of the home, is general
ly very cold. It is possible in practice to use both a top damper and a throat d
amper to obtain the benefits of both. The two top damper designs currently on th
e market are the Lyemance (pivoting door) and the Lock Top (translating door).
In the late Middle Ages in Western Europe the design of crow-stepped gables aros
e to allow maintenance access to the chimney top, especially for tall structures
such as castles and great manor houses.
Chimney draught or draft[edit]
The stack effect in chimneys: the gauges represent absolute air pressure and the
airflow is indicated with light grey arrows. The gauge dials move clockwise wit
h increasing pressure.
(See the Flue gas stack article for more details)
When coal, oil, natural gas, wood or any other fuel is combusted in a stove, ove
n, fireplace, hot water boiler or industrial furnace, the hot combustion product
gases that are formed are called flue gases. Those gases are generally exhauste
d to the ambient outside air through chimneys or industrial flue gas stacks (som
etimes referred to as smokestacks).
The combustion flue gases inside the chimneys or stacks are much hotter than the
ambient outside air and therefore less dense than the ambient air. That causes
the bottom of the vertical column of hot flue gas to have a lower pressure than
the pressure at the bottom of a corresponding column of outside air. That higher
pressure outside the chimney is the driving force that moves the required combu
stion air into the combustion zone and also moves the flue gas up and out of the
chimney. That movement or flow of combustion air and flue gas is called "natura
l draught/draft", "natural ventilation", "chimney effect", or "stack effect". Th
e taller the stack, the more draught or draft is created. There can be cases of
diminishing returns: if a stack is overly tall in relation to the heat being sen
t out of the stack, the flue gases may cool before reaching the top of the chimn
ey. This condition can result in poor drafting, and in the case of wood burning
appliances, the cooling of the gases before emission can cause creosote to conde
nse near the top of the chimney. The creosote can restrict the exit of flue gase
s and may pose a fire hazard.
Designing chimneys and stacks to provide the correct amount of natural draught o
r draft involves a number of design factors, many of which require iterative tri
al-and-error methods.
As a "first guess" approximation, the following equation can be used to estimate
the natural draught/draft flow rate by assuming that the molecular mass (i.e.,
molecular weight) of the flue gas and the external air are equal and that the fr
ictional pressure and heat losses are negligible:
Q = C\; A\; \sqrt {2\;g\;H\;\frac{T_i - T_e}{T_e}}
where:
Q = chimney draught/draft flow rate, m/s
A = cross-sectional area of chimney, m (assuming it has a constant cross-se
ction)
C = discharge coefficient (usually taken to be from 0.65 to 0.70)
g = gravitational acceleration, 9.807 m/s
H = height of chimney, m
Ti = average temperature inside the chimney, K
Te = external air temperature, K.
Combining two flows into chimney: At+Af<A, where At=7.1 inch2 is the minimum req
uired flow area from water heater tank and Af=19.6 inch2 is the minimum flow are
a from a furnace of a central heating system.
Maintenance and problems[edit]
Chimneys on the Parliamentary Library in Wellington, New Zealand.
A characteristic problem of chimneys is they develop deposits of creosote on the
walls of the structure when used with wood as a fuel. Deposits of this substanc
e can interfere with the airflow and more importantly, they are combustible and
can cause dangerous chimney fires if the deposits ignite in the chimney.
Heaters that burn natural gas drastically reduce the amount of creosote buildup
due to natural gas burning much cleaner and more efficiently than traditional so
lid fuels. While in most cases there is no need to clean a gas chimney on an ann
ual basis that does not mean that other parts of the chimney cannot fall into di
srepair. Disconnected or loose chimney fittings caused by corrosion over time ca
n pose serious dangers for residents due to leakage of carbon monoxide into the
home.[8] Thus, it is recommendedand in some countries even mandatorythat chimneys
be inspected annually and cleaned on a regular basis to prevent these problems.
The workers who perform this task are called chimney sweeps. This work used to b
e done largely by child labour, and as such features in Victorian literature. In
the Middle Ages in some parts of Europe, a crow-stepped gable design was develo
ped, partly to provide access to chimneys without use of ladders.
Iconic non-operational chimney of the Chernobyl reactor #4, preserved as part of
the Chernobyl sarcophagus.
Masonry (brick) chimneys have also proven to be particularly prone to crumbling
during an earthquake. Government housing authorities in cities prone to earthqua
kes such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego now recommend building new
homes with stud-framed chimneys around a metal flue. Bracing or strapping old m
asonry chimneys has not proven to be very effective in preventing damage or inju
ry from earthquakes. It is now possible to buy "faux-brick" facades to cover the
se modern chimney structures.
Liners have been standard in new construction for years, but are now lacking in
many old structures whose masonry has not been restored and updated. Liners help
keep flue gases where they belong. They isolate combustible building materials
from high heat, and they prevent creosote and other by-products of combustion fr
om seeping through porous brick and mortar.[9]
Other potential problems include:
"spalling" brick, in which moisture seeps into the brick and then freezes, crack
ing and flaking the brick and loosening mortar seals.
shifting foundations, which may degrade integrity of chimney masonry
nesting or infestation by unwanted animals such as squirrels, racoons, or chimne
y swifts
chimney leaks
drafting issues, which may allow smoke inside building[10]
issues with fireplace or heating appliance may cause unwanted degradation or haz
ards to chimney
Modernist chimneys on the Casa Mil (Barcelona, Spain), by Antonio Gaud.
Dual-use chimneys[edit]
Some very high chimneys are used for carrying antennas of mobile phone services
and low power FM/TV-transmitters. Special attention must be paid to possible cor
rosion problems if these antennas are near the exhaust of the chimney.
In some cases the chimneys of power stations are used also as pylons. However th
is type of construction, which is used at several power stations in the former S
oviet Union, is not very common, because of corrosion problems of conductor cabl
es.
The Dum Det a Mldee v Modranech in Prague, Czech Republic is equipped with an obser
vation deck.
The chimney of Pei Tou Incinerator carries a revolving restaurant.
Cooling tower used as an industrial chimney[edit]
At some power stations, which are equipped with plants for the removal of sulfur
dioxide and nitrogen oxides, it is possible to use the cooling tower as a chimn
ey. Such cooling towers can be seen in Germany at the Power Station Staudinger G
rosskrotzenburg and at the Power Station Rostock. At power stations that are not
equipped for removing sulfur dioxide, such usage of cooling towers could result
in serious corrosion problems.
See also[edit]
Cowl (chimney) - Includes image of referenced H-style cap/cowl.
Chimenea
List of tallest chimneys in the world
Silos & Smokestacks National Heritage Area
Solar chimney
References[edit]
Jump up ^ C.F. Saunders (1923), The Southern Sierras of California
Jump up ^ Jules Verne (1872), Around the World in Eighty Days
Jump up ^ James Burke, Connections (Little, Brown and Co.) 1978/1995, ISBN 0-316
-11672-6, p. 159
Jump up ^ Sparrow, Walter Shaw. The English house: how to judge its periods and
styles. London: Eveleigh Nash, 1908. 85-86.
Jump up ^ "Lead Mining". The Northern Echo. Newsquest Media Group. Retrieved 4/1
0/2012. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
Jump up ^ Roofing, flashing & waterproofing. Newtown, CT: Taunton Press, 2005. 4
3-50.
^ Jump up to: a b Bliss, Stephen, ed.. Troubleshooting guide to residential cons
truction: the diagnosis and prevention of common building problems. Richmond, VT
: Builderburg Group, 1997. 197. Print.
Jump up ^ Chimney Problems and Warnings Signs
Jump up ^ Bringing an old chimney up to par
Jump up ^ "Chimney Airflow Problems".
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chimneys.
Look up chimney in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
How to calculate a chimney system
CICIND - International Committee on Industrial Chimneys
Chimney Safety Institute of America
Power Station Konakovskaya GRES, at which chimneys serve as electricity pylons
Article about chimney breast removal
Chimney Maintenance Information
European Chimney Association ECA; to find further information on chimneys
National Association of Chimney Engineers; UK trade association for the chimney
engineering industry
[hide] v t e
Supertall self-supporting chimneys (+300 meters in height)
Armstrong Power Plant Berezovskaya GRES Bishkek TEC Boxberg Power Station Buschh
aus Power Station Chvaletice Power Station Clifty Creek Power Plant Conemaugh Ge
nerating Station Cumberland Power Plant Duvha Power Station Ekibastuz GRES-1 End
esa Termic GRES-2 Power Station Hal B. Wansley Power Plant Harllee Branch Power
Plant Harrison Power Station Scrubber Harrison Power Station Hayden Smelter HKW
Chemnitz-Nord Homer City Generating Station Inco Superstack Independence Power P
lant Jnschwalde Power Station Jaworzno Power Station Thermal power station Kakanj
Kennecott Smokestack Kingston Fossil Plant Kirishi Power Station Kostromskaya P
ower Station Kozienice Power Station Kyger Creek Power Plant Lippendorf Power St
ation (chimney dismantled) Maritsa Iztok-3 Marl-Chemiepark Power Station (disman
tled) Mitchell Power Plant Moldavskaya GRES-5 Mountaineer Power Plant Novaky Pow
er Plant Orot Rabin Permskaya GRES Phoenix Copper Smelter Pirdop copper smelter
and refinery Plant Bowen Coal Pleasants Power Station Plomin Power Station Prove
nce Power Station Prunrov Power Station Reftinskaya GRES Robert W Scherer Power P
lant Rockport Power Plant Ryazan Power Station Rybnik Power Station Scholven Pow
er Station Scholven Power Station Secunda CTL STEAG Power Plant Herne STEAG Powe
r Plant Walsum Syrdarya Power Plant Teruel Power Plant Kharkiv TEC-5 Thierbach P
ower Station (dismantled) Tobolsk TEC Trepa Lead Smelter Trbovlje Chimney Troitsk
aya TEC (planned) Tuimice Power Station Ugljevik Power Plant Vojany Power Station
(height reduced) Volzhskaya TEC-2 Vuhlehirska TES Kaweczyn Heat Plant Westerhol
t Power Station (demolished) W. H. Sammis Power Plant White Bluff Power Plant Wi
dows Creek Power Plant Zaporiska DRES Zuevska TES
Categories: Architectural elementsIndustrial processesIndustrial furnacesSmokeCh
imneys
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