>Does any one know what additives were used in boiler water in australian
>steam locomotives? Did any anti fouling agents contain tin?
>Thanks in advance for your help.
Highly unlikely. Tin (organic tin compounds actually) is really a
marine anti-fouling material designed to reduce the settling and
growth of marine organisms on hulls.
Boiler water additives was used where there was "hard" water-
essentially groundwater rather than rainwater- and which contained
high concentrations of calcium, magnesium and iron salts (mostly as
bicarbonates). The compounds added were designed to precipitae these
cations as insoluable compounds. A variety of materials could be
used, but essentially they alkalinised the solutions and precipitated
the salts as carbonates and other insoluable salts. One material used
was "Calgon" (yes, the same as in the detergent) which was partly a
precipitating and partly a sequestering agent and was some kind of
propietry phosphate compound, as I recall.
Geoff Lambert