(a) General requirements.

(1) Steam vessels, and motor vessels fitted with steam driven electrical generators shall have at least two separate means of supplying feed water for the boilers. All feed pumps shall be fitted with the necessary connections for this purpose. The arrangement of feed pumps shall be in accordance with paragraph (d) or (e) of this section.

(2) Feed pump supply to power boilers may utilize the group feed system or the unit feed system.

(3) Feed discharge piping from the pump up to, but not including the required stop and stop-check valves, shall be designed for either the feed pump relief valve setting or the shutoff head of the pump if a relief valve is not fitted. (Refer to §56.07-10(b) for specific requirements.) Feed piping from the boiler, to and including the required stop and stop-check valves (see paragraph (b) of this section), shall have a design pressure which exceeds the maximum allowable working pressure of the boiler by either 25 percent or 225 pounds per square inch whichever is less. The value of allowable stress for design purposes shall be selected as described in §56.07-10(e) at a temperature not below that for saturated steam at the maximum allowable working pressure of the boiler.

(4) Feed pumps for water tube boilers shall have fresh water connections only. Care shall be taken to prevent the accidental contamination of feed water from salt water or oil systems.

(b) Feed valves.

(1) Stop and stop-check valves must be fitted in the main feed line and must be attached as closely as possible to drum inlets or to the economizer inlet on boilers fitted with integral economizers.

(2) Where the installation will not permit the feed stop valve to be attached directly to the drum inlet nozzle on boilers not fitted with economizers, a distance piece may be installed between the stop valve and the inlet nozzle.

(3) Feed stop or stop-check valves may be located near the operating platform on boilers fitted with economizers provided the piping between the valves and the economizer, exclusive of the feed valves and the economizer inlet nozzles, is installed with a minimum of intervening flanged connections.

(4) Auxiliary feed lines shall be fitted with stop valves and stop-check valves. Boilers not having auxiliary feed water nozzles, or where independent auxiliary feed lines are not installed, shall have the auxiliary feed line to the drum or economizer connected to the main feed line as close as possible to the main feed stop valves; and the valves in the auxiliary feed line shall be fitted as close as possible to the junction point.

(5) Boilers fitted with economizers shall have a check valve fitted in the economizer discharge and located as close as possible to the drum fed inlet nozzle. When economizer bypasses are fitted, a stop-check valve shall be installed in lieu of the aforementioned check valve.

(6) A sentinel valve is not required for vessels constructed after September 30, 1997, and for other vessels to which it has been shown to the satisfaction of the cognizant Officer in Charge, Marine Inspection or the Coast Guard Marine Safety Center, that a sentinel valve is not necessary for the safe operation of the particular boiler.

(c) Feed water regulators, heaters, and grease extractors.

(1) Where feed water regulators, tubular feed water heaters, and grease extractors are installed, an alternate means of operation with these devices bypassed shall be provided.

(2) Feed water regulators designed with a built-in bypass for emergency use need not be fitted with an external bypass when installed in a feed system provided with an auxiliary feed line. All feed water regulators installed in a unit feed system shall be fitted with an external bypass. Feed water regulators bypasses shall be so arranged that the regular feed valves are in operation while the bypass is in use.

(3) A feed water regulator may be interposed between the stop and stop-check valves in the feed lines.

(d) Group feed system. Group feed systems shall be provided with pumps and piping as follows:

(1) Oceangoing and Great Lakes steam vessels, having a feed pump attached to the main propelling unit, shall be provided with at least one independently driven feed pump. Each of these pumps shall be used exclusively for feed purposes and shall be capable of supplying the operating boilers at their normal capacity. In addition, a second independently driven pump, capable of supplying such boilers at 75 percent of their normal capacity, shall be provided for emergency use. This second pump may be used for other purposes.

(2) If two independently driven pumps are provided, each capable of supplying the boilers at their normal required operating capacity, and neither of which is used for other purposes, the third or emergency feed pump is not required. Where more than two independently driven feed pumps are provided, their aggregate capacity shall not be less than 200 percent of that demanded by the boilers at their required normal operating capacity.

(3) River or harbor steam vessels shall have at least two means for feeding the boilers; one of which shall be an independently driven pump, the other may be an attached pump, an additional independently driven pump, or an injector.

(e) Unit feed system. Unit feed systems shall be provided with pumps and piping as follows:

(1) The unit feed system may be used on vessels having two or more boilers. When the unit feed system is employed each boiler shall have its own independently driven main feed pump capable of supplying the boiler at its normal operating capacity. In addition these shall be an auxiliary independently driven feed pump of the same capacity which can be operated in place of and in conjunction with the main feed pump. In vessels with three or more boilers, not more than two boilers may be served by any one auxiliary pump. The auxiliary pump may be so interconnected that any pump can feed any boiler.

(2) In the unit feed system, a separate feed line shall be provided for each boiler from its pumps. A separate auxiliary feed line is not required. The discharge from each pump and the feed supply to each boiler shall be automatically controlled by the level of the water in that boiler. In addition to the automatic control, manual control shall be provided.

(f) Feedwater. The feedwater shall be introduced into a boiler as required by §52.01-105(b) of this subchapter.

[CGFR 68-82, 33 FR 18843, Dec. 18, 1968, as amended by CGD 95-028, 62 FR 51201, Sept. 30, 1997; USCG-2002-13058, 67 FR 61278, Sept. 30, 2002; USCG-2003-16630, 73 FR 65178, Oct. 31, 2008]