err, hello. I am new on the block. I've been reading about steam plant for three odd years now. Whilst many of my questions are answered, I have a few bugging me:

Has anyone attempted to transfer heat from the burner flame to the boiler waterpipes using a heatpipe ?

It strikes me that with such an arrangement you could pack small bore waterpipes together very closely (say, between two headers - and perhaps force the circulation lamont style) and enclose in a flask - the condenser part of the heatpipe. Shifting problems to another part of the system?? not quite: the heatpipe, if you get your sums right, operates at a low pressure, and so muchless critical WRT flame exposure at the evaporator part. The benefit: compact boiler - much stronger WRT burst pressure - no chance of damage to waterpipes owing to flame impingement - no soot build-up on pipe walls - possibility of building remote and severable systems.

I'm wondering whether there may be several other advantages too (I'll go into those another time.

But I'm thinking about building a prototype / demonstrator.

In all my reading I have never heard anything like this.

Mabe I should have joined Halfbakery.com instead.

OK, I look forward to your opinion

thanks for now

Johnny F
UK

Couple of problems. You need a heat pipe that operates at high temperature which means exotic fillings or water at a high pressure, actually boiler operating pressure. The transfer rate on a heat pipe is fast but the quantity transfered isn't as exciting, in fact you'd need more area than the heating surface of the boiler you are connected to due to losses.
Sorry to rain on your parade but unfortunately in the steam game grinding things twice doesn't make them lumpier.
Cheers
Mark Stacey