The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1896-11-26
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OIL AS FUEL.
A Probability That It win Soon Be Used
In the Navy.

The navy department has been en-
gagged in the past two years in making
~ Timents with a view TO discovering
= B econo nical and feasible plan for
TN 'uso of oil as fuel for vessels II be-
gins to look az If the problem were
eitctr already solved or were very near
solution. The problem is Of especial in
forest to the navy department just now,
because Of the need Of torpedo boats Of
a high speed. IL such speed can be
easily with the use Of oil as fuel rather
than coal, provided the transmission Of
energy can be secured simply and eco
nomically.
In an attock by torpedo boats upon q
squadron of war vessels two Of the most
important features are speed and secre.
Cy. Indeed, the two are almost synony-
nous, for the reason that il is always
advisable TO make an attack by torpedo
boats at night, and under such condi-
tious the moro swiftly torpedo boat
moves tho greater is its chances of get
ting near to u fleet before discovery
The unusual rapidity Of advance also
serves to disconccrt the gunncrs Of tho
fleet, and, by reducing the time by
which the torpedo boats may bo under
fire, renders tho attack moro likely to
+ successful
The advantages to be derived from
the use Of oil as fuel are many and
noteworthy. In the first place, the
weight of the fuel itself is an important
matter, as every pound counts upon tho
speed Of the little torpedo boat. 1t is
also true that in case of long voyage
the substitution of oil as fuel would
make decided difference in what il
| called the steaming radius-that is, the
/ length Of voyage boat may take, using
the fuel on board until its supply is ox-
hausted. It is calculated that a vessel
which may have stcaming radius Of
| 1000 miles with certain bulk Of coal
would have steaming radius Of 1000
miles with an equal bulk of petroleum.
There are also to be considered SOM
other important details. With the uso
of coal as fuel there exists the necessity
for the constant employment Of stokers
| on board of u war vessel in order that
coal may bo fed to the CRATES and ashes
may be removed from time to time. All
this, Of course, means so many men, and
| u large amount Of work constantly 90
ing on, even in little torpedo boat, so
long as that boat may be in use. With
the employment Of oil as fuel. however.
the stoker is practically abolished, IA
the fuel is fed automatically to tho
crate by spray and there are no ashes
to be- handled.
Briefly described. the apparatus used
by the naval experts in their recent
tests consisted OF an ordinary firebox
| over the CRATE bars, ON which were laid
| grooved bricks, the oil being propelled
| to these bricks by fan shaped spray. As
the air is constantly passing through tho
| grooves of the bricks and uniting with
| the burning oil on those bricks the lat
| ter become themselves heated To red
heat, and the amount Of heat directed
| upon the boiler becomes reasonably con.
stant and subject to easy regulation.
Compressed air is used for purposes of
draft and for spraying the oil.
According TO tho report Of the naval
experts to Secretary Herbert, pound
| Of oil was found to ovaporato from II
| To 20 pounds of water. This IL about
twice as good results as could be obtain
| ed from tho use Of coal. As regards
| speed, the experiment seems to show an
increase Of about per cent in the rate
Of speed, although the conditions wero
not most favorable to the use Of oil, the
boat having been built for coal burning
engines, Possibly with the construction
of boat especially built for the use Of
oil as fuel for the engines, u speed Of
about two knots per hour greater than
that possible in the ordinary torpedo
boat might BE- secured, Boston Advor.
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