The Meeker herald., 1896-11-14
OIL AS FUEL.
A Probability That 1t VIII Soon ns
Used In the Navy.

A Probability That 1t viii Soon lie
Used In the Navy.
The navy department has been en-
gagged in the past two years in making
experiments with view to discovering
some economical and feasible plan for
the use of oil as fuel for vessels. 1t
begins to look as If the problem were
already solved, or were very near solu-
ton. The problem is OF especial inter-
est to the navy department just now,
because of the need of torpedo boats of
high speed. II such a speed can be
reached at all. 1t can be reached more
easily with the use of oil as fuel rather
than coal, provided the transmission of
energy can be secured simply and econ
omically. In an attack by torpedo
boats upon a squadron Of war vessels,
Two OF the most important features are
speed and secrecy. Indeed, the two are
almost synonymous. for the reason that
1t ia always advisable to make an at
tack by torpedo boats at night; and un-
der such conditions the more swiftly
torpedo boat moves. the greater are
It's chances Of getting near to feet
before discovery. The unusual rapidity
OF advance also serves to disconcert the
guAners Of the fleet. and. by reducing
the time by which the torpedo boats
may be under fire. renders the attack
more likely to be successful. The ad-
yantages 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 the speed of the lit
tie torpedo boat. 1t is also true that in
case of long voyage, the substitution
OF oil as fuel would make decided diff
ference In what is called the steaming
radius. That is. the length of voyage
boat may take, using the fuel on
board until its supply is exhausted. 1t
Is calculated that a vessel which may
nave a steaming 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 some other impor-
tant details. With the use of coal as
fuel, there exists the necessity for the
constant employment of stokers on
board of war vessel. in order that
coal may be fed to the CRATES and
ashes may be removed from time to
time. All this. of course. means so
many men, and large amount of work
constantly going on, even in q little
torpedo boat so long as that boat may
be in use. With the employment of oil
as fuel. however. the stoker is practi-
cally abolished. as the fuel is fed auto
matically to the 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. in which were laid
grooved bricks, the oil teing propelled
to these bricks by fan-shaped spray.
AS the air is constantly passing
through the grooves of the bricks, and
uniting with the burning oil on those
bricks. the latter become themselves
hcatrd to a RED heat, and the amount
OF heat directed upon the boiler be-
comes reasonably constant and subject
to easy regulation. Compressed air is
used for purposes of draught and for
spraying the oil.
According to the report Of the naval
experts to Secretary Herbert, one pound
OF oil was found to evaporate from sew
enteen to twenty pounds of water. This
is about twice as good results as could
be obtained from the use Of coal. AS
regards speed, the experiment seems to
show an increase Of about 5 per cent
in the rate Of speed. although the con-
ditions were not the most favorable to
the use Of oil. the boat having been
built for coal-burning engines. Posi-
bly, with the construction of boat
especially built for the use of oil as
fuel for the engines. a speed of about
two knots per hour greater than that
possible In the ordinary torpedo boat
might be secured.-Boston Advertiser.