The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1893-05-28
OIL As FUEL roR SHIPS.
TIE Advsutsres and Drawbacks q. the Ner.
nnnuin Mnrinr nnA on war Veseeis.

csnt,e M.rses ssd on war Vessels.
wAsurNoroS. May 27.-Much interest at
ches to the arrival ut Philadelphia Of the
James Brand. which has been called the larg-
est steel tank steamship In the world. After
voyage across the Atlantic from Dartmouth.
during the first three days OF which she used
petroleum for generating steam In her boilers.
This Is said to be the first attomp pit Of the kind
in q transatlantic voyage. and TO have shown
conclusively It's feasibility. although an accl-
dent to the machinery caused a res )rt to coal
after the nrst three days.
The use Of oil as fuel has been familiar sew
eral years. for land rs well rs for sea locono-
tive engines. Both the Oroyn and the MollI-
endo. Arcauipa and Puno railroads OF Peru
several wears ago adorted reslduum or na'-~r
leum refuse. having a fire test OF about 300
degrees Fahrenheit. The accounts state that
In the preliminary experiments two locomo-
tiyes. ono using coal and the other using oil.
were run In competition on the Oroya Rail-
road for nve months. from April 30. 1890. to
the beginning OF September. pulling equal
trains alternately over the same ground. The
locomotives. which we're American. differed
only In their furnace arrangements. Tho
grades oftho Oroya road are unusually heavy.
In the oil-burning locomotive the steam
gauge recorded from 13J to l4O pounds. never
falling below 1875 and very rarely rising above
l40: AZ n rule the hand of the gauge stood In
movable Mt 40 pounds: the sa'ety valve was
set at ZAP pounds: on all the grades up to
per cent. no smoke whatever was discharged:
on tho 4 per cent. grades u light hazy smoke
was visible at times. The average consump-
tion OF fuel.o per train mile was 1876 pounds.
as compared with 1913 pounds Of coal por
train mile in the other locomotive.
The London md Pacific Company's steam.
ship Ewo was fitted up to use petroleum In
marine boilers. aud as tho result n speed OF
S1 knots on seven tons OF coal per day was In.
creased TO nine knots on less than four tons
Peru accordingly arranged to havo the Lon
don and Pacific Petroleum Company alter the
Runboat Santa Rosa for burning oil. and 1t was
said at that time that tho South American
Steamship COMPANY OF Valparaiso proposed to
use II on the Limafi.
Italy has made some experiments during
the last few years with liquid fuel. and the APP
p~lication OF Capt. Cunibertis system on the
Castelndard and Ancona Mt Srezia WAS consid.
cred successful enough to authorize ~instruo-
ton in its use on the latter vessel. Earlier
experlm ents with n mixed fuel Of coal and pc.
troleum increased the speed o. the war vessel
Messaggiero from fifteen knots to sevsnteen,
BY the groat heat thus generated; Some
experiments with a Shichau torpedo boat.
Capt. ". v. Carmichael. who made several
voyages on the Lwo, strongly thvOrs tho use
t q rs sssiIus o, e" sr astsT retro IS ans WRss sRs S SsH
atile or lighter oils are distilled. 1t is non;tn-
lammable until heated to 32o.: and as i does
has no smell. it neither deteriorates nor per.
c%eptibly evarorates hy being stored in tanks
meta! tanks or the inside skin Of the. vessel.
In a lecture on the subject, delivered before
michael noted that the fires arc completely
under control Of the engineer on watch. who
VIII Githe sSeI nein an dep nenaas"tte on on s sisf% r-m ne 9 thss
he can control this steam az well IN heavy q!
Tho IL nus use w 81 fesd water waite; % ths erI%sr 8usR Viii s saa
for days on m almost even, pressure OF steam
II4.s Ssys nsant Ua ins sp HsS! ir stssH Tais4A B !. e Z
1873 pounds for seven days, although it was
heavy sea; The use Of the stsam Jet and the
!FSs" en mHlse; doSo 10 s5o" h ss Dow i '0AA
The contraction and expansion Of the boilers ~ using
s st la' you u cn nsu dS SO as :. :sr = %'nI% q. You a. r Il hs: Thsss s 70
n mo ere y @SHF' nt 20 G never 'T nssd ' sssn yea ' son.ssS Sas III.
that tip,tfnl cause Of los. Of steam and eontrastion Of
s your eG ars. 70 G ressi n" ~Sa I'VE Was ' i".. mt IN ssss sp ~ :asSs
lsa. ' axsi lie ' Of . 0G Saiiss a..d i1 van liquid e, ' fS.l os %s.s
5t%s s arsa with SIs' wosa 3 ss.l .'o Iisu, q t 'S".'. L .Dpll.s
sHnn. ..ss%: d SS sG mo 1n n c, sss ,hi gro Q, IN n s ssisi, , Ssss
DO not need weeping often. a: With coal. for Instance.
once IN ak. month"; and EVEN then were not airsyys
,a.s III !: no in:. Of i ss,s; a. and sht 1s,n are . %s . SSn.a. .S;sS
items in the engineers department.
In the United states. as probably elsewhere.
eine.. and sometimes on quite a large seals.
ss at Pittsburgh. Its advantages In. saving
ton. and absence OF smoke, are obviously
great on land. although perhaps not as Inn
consider the problem Of safety as, solved. tho
question would become chiefly that o., cost
Certain az ' pstr sIIs%s0 res Il 1su wh. ashtfSs s t. sSn: u u
production and TRANSFORMATION are small. oil
SIT sRIp 30 en ssn n rnSo Siss IGr 'G nsvai Vsss sns
harbor torpedo boats. make the Increased cost
assured. 4 fixed weight OF oil will gensrats
nearly twice as much steam as the same
tho weight u, incl need DO carried; ana this
speed, Or. again. il, the SANS weight Of oil is
carried as Of coal, the ship can Keep at sea
ton in the number OF nrsmen. and in the ex-
pense Of wages. food. clothing. and quarters.
sumption. like. torpedo boats. oil Is not now
regularly used. there must be grave doubts
as g to its prscttsability; and this is esnecially
high importance to conceal the operations Of
tcrpedo craft md ether vessels, In looking.
upon would be lost by substituting oil, Again.
relied upon in nil foreign nnrts. the process
would be much more rapid than coaling.
Finally. thu, problem, OF danger IRON hostile
shells Is still too serious. 1t was found in GER
tain French experiments. expressly under
taken to test tho use OF petroleum In torpedo
tected by a steel plate. were ignited by con.
cnssion. from projectlles nrei against tho
plRte. And yet. even letting oil take its place
with explosives. and not cnnsiierinG the facts
regarding residuum. II might. apparently be
stored under the water line. like the powder
However. the question OF employing oil fol
merchant ships does not nsoa to take the
battle factor into consideration.