Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1886-12-30
CRUDE NATURAL OIL.
Successful Result of an Experiment in its Use
as Fuel-Steam Generated by it for Factory
Cincinnati Commercial Gazette.

ClnclDnau commercial Gazette.
A young man wearing a sooty com plex-
ion, pair of smoked blue overalIs, and
an oily jumper stood before the glowing
orifces of furnace in the engine room
of the Cincinnati Spring works, on the
West side, yesterday afternoon.
The interior of the tire-box below the
huge tubular boiler was almost incandes-
cent, so intense was the heat. Through
one of the fire doors, which the young
fellow thew open for a reporters inspec-
ton, could be seen the interior of the fur
mace. The flames within were of a light
blue sulphurous hue, that would have
served very well for the bigh lights of
painting Of sheol from a strictly ortho-
dox point Of view.
The governor on the engine was tend
ing strictly to business and revolving at
an alarming rate of speed. The pale
face of the steam-gauge registered a
! pressure of nearly one hundred pounds.
All these concomitants of heat,
steam and power were visible, despite the
fact that there wasn't chunk of coal in
the engine room large enough for a
watch-chaCm. The heat was too sheolic
and the power too apparent to suggest
| that there was other than material means
used to produce them.
On side track beside the mandatory
stood a lying oil-tank on wheels-the en-
blem of Doodle as exempIifed by the
Standard Oil company. A long pipe was
attached TO the orifce on the top of the
oil-tank and its end was lost to sight in
the bowels of the noisy factory. A report
er traced the pipe from the oil-car into
the factory, and ascertained that by the
means of a syphon pump tbs oil was
| transported from the car and deposited
| in a huge tank that stood on stills near
the entrance to the engine room. A pipe
was attached to the tank and after run
ming into the engine room disappeared
| near the furnace.
The reporter asked the sooty engineer
one or two leading questions. They de-
YeIoped the fact that oil was used in
generating all the steam required for the
| factory. A cross examination of the
engineer as he stood before the glowing
furnace adduced the further information
that the all was the crude product of
young, but very vigorous, rival of Penn
| sylyania in the product of Of natural gas
and oil.
This is" said the engineer, as he clos
ed the furnace doors, San experiment."
It is the first time that crude natural oil
has ever been used in this city for the
purpose of generating power. The oil
| is brought in tank-cars from one of tbs
Lima wells, and is stored in the reservoir
tank within there. It is pumped into
the tank by means Of a steam syphOn.
From the reservoir tank it is
led up to the furnace doors here,
as you see, through this pipe. The
oil pipe is run into the furnace.
and the end of the pipe is jackete6 by an
alright tube. Between the oil pipe and
the outer tube a spray of steam is run in.
The orifce of the oil pipe is within the
steam tube, and when the valve is turned
on the steam injects the oil into the fur
mace, generating at the same time a very
large amount of gas. This combined oil
and gas is the only fuel used in the fur
mace. How long does it take to generate
a sufficient amount of steam for our use
Why, about half an hour. And the
amount of engine power developed?
WE'LL the engine is 80 horse power one,
and sufficient steam is generated within
the half hour to start it going. It is, too,
very great saving in labor. 1t does
away with the shoveling of coal from the
bins into the furnace, and gives one more
time to attend to the engine. When more
steam is required, instead of throwing in
q great quantity Of dirty coal, all have
to do IS to turn this little valve on the oil
pipe and increase the quantity of crude
ell injected into the furnace. Then, too,
one is enabled to better regulate the
amount of fuel, for while you couldn't de-
termine Just how much coal would be re
CURED to produce certain quantity of
steam, by this method the effect is instan-
10, Ill
Of fuel. In addition, the spray Of oil
can be thrown into the furnace constant
ly, and an equitable amount of power be-
maintained. With coal this couldn't be
done SO well, for the fuel would have to be
supplied at intervals"
'And it is economical?"
Indirectly, yes; directly, no. There is
a very great saving in the use of crude
oil in our pudding furnaces. The saving
is fully Is per cent. In the engine room
the direct economy is net SO great. OF
course it does away with the labor of
shoyeling coal into the engine furnaces,
and space formerly required for coal can
be utilized in other ways, but the saving
in other respects is not SO great. We
have a horsepower engine, and
formerly used about fifty bushels of coal
per day at cost of say cents a bushel,
or 80 for fuel daily. We use now, in lieu
of the fifty bushels of coal at So, about
five barrels of crude oil at rs cents per
barrel. The oil costs about SO cents a
barrel at the well, but the transportation
to Cincinnati brings the cost up to about
IS cents a barrel, as I've said. But if you
take the labor connected with thu use of
coal into consideration, there is a saving.
Then, too, the use OF crude oil is much
bstter-it is more easily handled and
regulated, and is much the more cleanIv.
Taking all things into considerations -
said the young fellow, as he prepared to
close up for the day, ''this experiment
with crude oil as a fuel has been very
great success"
Mr.. Alfred Hess, the president of the
company, confirmed the enginesr's state
ment to the unequivacai success of the
experiment. The use of the crude oil in
the furnaces produces no smoke whatever,
and one glancing at the chimney of the
works would think it was Sunday, for
there wasn't enough smoke coming from
it to offend the most fastidiOuS and Mains