A boiler is a closed vessel in which water or other fluid is heated. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including boiler-based power generation, cooking, and sanitation.

The pressure vessel in a boiler is usually made of steel (or alloy steel), or historically of wrought iron. Stainless steel is virtually prohibited (by the ASME Boiler Code) for use in wetted parts of modern boilers, but is used often in superheater sections that will not be exposed to liquid boiler water. In live steam models, copper or brass is often used because it is more easily fabricated in smaller size boilers. Historically, copper was often used for fireboxes (particularly for steam locomotives), because of its better formability and higher thermal conductivity; however, in more recent times, the high price of copper often makes this an uneconomic choice and cheaper substitutes (such as steel) are used instead.

For much of the Victorian "age of steam", the only material used for boilermaking was the highest grade of wrought iron, with assembly by rivetting. This iron was often obtained from specialist ironworks, such as at Cleator Moor (UK), noted for the high quality of their rolled plate and its suitability for high-reliability use in critical applications, such as high-pressure boilers. In the 20th century, design practice instead moved towards the use of steel, which is stronger and cheaper, with welded construction, which is quicker and requires less labour.

Richard (Richie) Hawtin (born June 4, 1970, Banbury, Oxfordshire) is an English-Canadian electronic musician and DJ who was an influential part of Detroit techno's second wave of artists in the early 1990s and a leading exponent of Minimal techno since the mid 1990s. He is best known for his abstract, minimal works under the alias Plastikman, a pseudonym he still uses today.

Hawtin is known for DJing minimal techno sets making use of laptop computers and digital mixing equipment. In May 1990, Hawtin and fellow second-waver John Acquaviva founded the Plus 8 record label, which they named after their turntable's pitch adjust function. In 1998, Hawtin launched Minus records.

Hawtin was born in Banbury, Oxfordshire, England, but moved when he was aged nine to LaSalle, Ontario, a suburb of Windsor, Ontario, and just across the river from Detroit, the birthplace of techno. His father worked as a robotics technician at General Motors, and was a fan of electronic music, introducing his son to Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream at an early age. He has one brother, Matthew, who is a visual artist and ambient music DJ. Hawtin attended Sandwich Secondary High School in LaSalle. He began to DJ in clubs in Detroit at 17, and his early style was a mix of house music and techno.

Carl Cox (born 29 July 1962, Barbados) is a British techno and house music DJ and producer.

Cox grew up in Oldham, Lancashire, before attending Glastonbury High Boys secondary modern school on Glastonbury Road in Morden.^{[citation needed]} Cox began his career as a hardcore and rave DJ in the mid 1980s. One of the first gigs he played was in legendary promoters John Binton and Terry Onion's Squeeze my buttered Onions! club in Hackney, London Unconfirmed reports suggest he was coerced into swallowing an onion on stage, one of Terry's famous requests he gave to his acts. He was named the "Three Deck Wizard" after playing on three turntables simultaneously at the Second Summer of Love in 1988.^{[citation needed]} He has performed at clubs such as The Eclipse, Edge, Shelly's, Sterns Nightclub, Heaven, Sir Henry's in Cork, Ireland and Angels and The Haçienda, as well as raves for Fantazia, Dreamscape, and Amnesia House. He now spearheads two record labels, Intec Records and 23rd Century Records. He also has his own stage every year at Ultra Music Festival called Carl Cox and Friends.

Andrew Weatherall (born 6 April 1963, Windsor, England) is a DJ, producer, and remixer.

Andrew, Terry Farley, Cymon Eckel and Steve Mayes started Boy's Own initially as a fanzine commenting on fashion, records, football, and other issues. Andrew was also a freelance music journalist (using both his own name and the pseudonym "Audrey Witherspoon").

Andrew's DJ career really started to take off when he met Danny Rampling at skater Bobby's party that he played at in Chapel Market, Islington, and Danny invited him to play at his club night Shoom. Terry and Andrew became regular Shoom DJ's, playing the upstairs room there, and also at Paul Oakenfold's Future / Spectrum nights and Nicky Holloway's Trip. They also did their own parties and started a record label under the name of Boys Own Recordings. Along with Pete Heller (who was also a Shoom DJ), engineer Hugo Nicholson and singer Anna Haigh, they released two singles as Bocca Juniors on the label, "Raise (53 Steps to Heaven)" and "Substance".

Ivan Smagghe is a French DJ and producer. He was originally known as Ivan Rough Trade, after his job in the Rough Trade record store in Paris. His musical style has been described as electrohouse and "minimal electro.". Smagghe's Death Disco compilation was a key release in the electroclash genre. He formed Black Strobe in 1997 with Arnaud Rebotini, but left in 2006. Black Strobe describe their dark electronic sound as "frozen balearic gay biker house". Ivan is also a member of the Volga Select project, with Marc Collin.

As Ivan Rough Trade:

French Fried Funk (Slip 'n' Slide Records, 1997) Techhouse: As Ivan Smagghe:

How To Kill The DJ (Part One) (Tigersushi Records, 2003)
Bugged Out! Presents Suck My Deck (React, 2004)
Death Disco (Eskimo, 2004)
Fabric 23 (Fabric London, 2005)
Kill The DJ Introducing The Dysfunctional Family - A Mixed Up Compilation By Chloé Et Ivan Smagghe (Kill The DJ Records, 2006)
Cocoricò 03 (Mantra Vibes, 2008)