Fusible plug

A fusible plug is a threaded metal cylinder usually of bronze, brass or gunmetal, with a tapered hole drilled completely through its length. This hole is sealed with a metal of low melting point that flows away if a pre-determined, high temperature is reached. The initial use of the fusible plug was as a safety precaution against low water levels in steam engine boilers, but later applications extended its use to other closed vessels, such as air conditioning systems and tanks for transporting corrosive or liquefied petroleum gasses.

A fusible plug operates as a safety valve when dangerous temperatures, rather than dangerous pressures, are reached in a closed vessel. In steam engines the fusible plug is screwed into the crown sheet (the top plate) of the firebox, typically extending about an inch (25mm) into the water space above. Its purpose is to act as a last-resort safety device in the event of the water level falling dangerously low: when the top of the plug is out of the water it overheats, the low-melting-point core melts away and the resulting noisy release of steam into the firebox serves to warn the operators of the danger before the top of the firebox itself runs completely dry, which could result in catastrophic failure of the boiler. The temperature of the flue gases in a steam engine firebox can reach 1000 °F (550 °C), at which temperature copper, from which historically most fireboxes were made, softens to a state which can no longer sustain the boiler pressure and a severe explosion will result if water is not put into the boiler quickly and the fire removed or extinguished. The hole through the plug is too small to have any great effect in reducing the steam pressure and the small amount of water, if any, that passes through it is not expected to have any great impact in quenching the fire.

The device was invented in 1803 by Richard Trevithick, the proponent of high-pressure (as opposed to atmospheric) steam engines, in consequence of an explosion in one of his new boilers. His detractors were eager to denounce the whole concept of high-pressure steam, but Trevithick proved that the accident happened because his fireman had neglected to keep the boiler full of water. He publicised his invention widely, without patent, to counter these criticisms.

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