At about 7 p.m., Batavia City Fire Department responded to a call of smoke coming from a train car at Mill and Evans streets.
It turns out, the white vapor is nothing more than steam.
Metal shavings in the train car from the scrap metal operation heat up, and then when rain falls on the hot metal, it generates steam.
A thermal imaging camera showed the internal temperature was 111 degrees.
Being that I'm a licensed,
Being that I'm a licensed, stationary engineer, I have to correct this report. The white vapor is just that, vapor, not steam. Clouds are not steam.
Steam is an odorless, colorless, tasteless gas. It takes 970.3 BTU's per pound of water to change state from water @ 212F to steam @ 212F @ atmospheric pressure (14.7 PSIA). Steam can be produced at much lower temperatures in pressures lower than atmospheric. Water will boil at room temperature in a vacuum.
Sorry, I just had to. Those definitions were repeatedly drilled into my head 27 years ago in my first steam course.
Thanks.
Thanks.