Litchfield enquirer., 1867-08-08
PETROLEUM AS FUEL.

The experiments which for several months have been ill progress in Boston, looking to the successful application of petroleum as fuel for steamships, have been watched with much interest, and their results have been very important These results, as claimed by the inventor of the system un- der trial, are saving of four or five to one in the space required for the storage of fuel, and of at least fve-sixths of the labor re- quired for feeding and tending the fires, to say nothing of the actual cost, which de- bends upon the relative prices of coal and oil. Application was made to the Secretary of the Navy in November last, for oppor- tunity to test the practicability of petrole- um as fuel upon Government vessel. The Department had already, in 1862, appoint ed committee of Naval Engineers to ex- pertinent upon this subject, and upon this application Board of three Chief Engi- neers was ordered to examine the proposed experiments, the gun-boat Palos being se- lected for the trial. Previous to entering upon the petroleum trial, her engines were tested with coal, thirty-six revolutions per minute, with thirty pounds of steam be- ing obtained. In the first petroleum test, thlrty-four revolutions were obtained with the same head of steam, and in the second
 
 thirty pounds. A comparison of the weight of the oil and the coal showed that one pound of oil had done the work of eight pounds of coal, and the general com parison of weight has shown one barrel of petroleum to be equal to one ton of coal.
 Crude oils are used, of a gravity ranging from 31 to AZ degrees. The oil is first con- veyed directly to cast-iron retort, and va porlZed by means of @ slight fire under meath. Due proportions of steam and common air are Incorporated with the va DOT, and the gases thus evolved constitute the fuel. This burns with an intense heat, and tho combustion is so perfect that no smoke is visible:at the outlet of the smoke stack. PThe-fire IS under perfect control, and there being no ashes, clinker, nor re- fuse coal to clog the fires, they may be run an indefinite time without stoppage for cleaning. The burning of coal upon the Palos required the services of twenty-one fremen and coal-passers; with the petrole- um only three men were needed. This same principle may be applied to locomo- tives as well as steamers, and, indeed, upon the Franklin and Warren Railroad, in West srn Pennsylvania, petroleum burning ap- paratus has been successfully employed. The petroleum regions are making still fur s~~SA eoS VI oAAo OAA " oAAS ANSSo sary apparatus to the fires of the engine houses at the wells. thus saving a very large outlay for wood or coal During the height of the speculative fever. when dozens of wells were being sunk upon each acre on the tavorite localities, all the coal for the englnes was transported for miles over 1,rlghtful reals with great wear and tear of norses ana wagons, and at corresponding cost 10 the Well-owner Nearly all this great expense might have been saved had tne use of petroleum for fuel been practi- Gally understood. The experiments at Boston are to be continued, and petroleum tested upon sea voyage. The importance of the subject should ensure for it a rigid and persistent investigation. Should tbe result of the experiments continue to be satisfactory, the carrying capacity of our steamships will be largely increased while their pay-rolls may be greatly diminished. coaling stations may be discontinued and ayessel may leave New York with enough fuel on board to propel her around the world.-N F. Tribune