The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-10-22
A 40-KN0T LINER PLANNED.
mir. PARSONS READY TO BUILD ONE
WIN TURBINE ENGINES.
Possibilities OF Marine EnElnes OF the Type
of the Turbines Described In IA Paper
Read by tho Inventor Before the British
Aasociation-sayinEin Weight and NJ cam.

Read by tho Inventor beIorS the bfhlsh
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Weight and Steam.
Ever since tho remarkable speed performance
Of Charles Parsonss 100 foot boat Turbinia drew
attention to tho possibilities Of tho steam turbine
as more efficient marine engine than the accepted
type people interested in such subjects have
been expecting development Of the newer sys.
tom which would mako it applicable to vessels
Of lArger size. According TO paper read recently
by Mr.. Parsons before the British Association,
this stage is now at hand. plans for vessels Of
large size have boen drawn aud the development
Of the thirty or thirty Ave knot boat only awaits
the appearance Of some brave investor who is
willing to put the money into the experiment
When Mr. Parsons began his experiments with
The Turbinia in the latter part Of 1896, he had
already demonstrated that the steam turbine Of
his invention was a successful and economical
machine for using steam for power production
undcr other circumstances, and many Of his tur
bincs already in use for driving electric
dynamos and other purposes where a high speed
could properly he used When, however he cn
deavored to the turbine revolving about . $50
times minute " turn "a screw propeller. he dis
covered that the ordinary form Of screw would
not answer his purpose, and that he actually
lost driving power as he increased the number Of
revolutions above a few hundred minute This
led him into long series Of very pretty expert
ments. during which he discovered that the din
guilty came from what he styled Canitat0n. or
the forming Of a vacuum about the blades Of the
screw owing to the inability Of the water To
Gov in as fast the screw drove 1t out.
The remedy for this he found. to very
small screws and he got the requisite driving sur
face by multiplying their number For this pur-
pose no replaced the single screw and shaft with
which he began his experiments the Turbiuia
by three shafts and no mounted three screws
each Of these shafts Each screw was IL inches in
diameter. The Of three shafts also enabled
Mr.. Parsons TO divide his turbines into high pres
sure, medium and low pressure sections each
driving one shaft and in this way he secured in
simple and efficient manner IA degree OF expansion
Tor tho steam not easily obtained in any other
way and exceeding by many times the expansion
obtained in any form Of compound piston engine
Steam was supplied by a water tube boiler, work
Ing at pressure u 225 pounds to the square inch
having CRATE Of ~ square feet and 100
square feet Of heating surface Thus equipped,
The Turbnia was able To make speed OF 3i'2
knots an hour. and extensive experiments con
Quoted by Prof Ewing, + Il s, demonstrated
that the estimated horse power was produced by
the turbine engines with n consumption ut steam
somewhat less than that Of the regular torpedo
boat engines and that this consumption was
decreased as the boat made speeds above -
knots.
This demonstration Of the ability Of the steam
turbine to produce power and speed in a boat was
chiefly of value because Of the prCuliartics OF the
Turbine engine itself which if applied successfully
10 general passenger boat service, promised
suits which were impossible with the regular re
ciprocatng engine The first Of these advan-
taEcS lies in the great power production for Il
given weight of engine. The Turbinia weighed
complete a., tons, and Of this only tons IL
hundrcdweight was taken up by the main engines
AG ,ra toll "a.
weight Of engine required to produce u horse.
power only about 90 pounds. against - or
30 pounds in the ordinary type Of torpedo boat
engine. Ii was manifest that this great saving
in the weight of machinery could be used in boat
10 increase tho boiler power and fuel capacty, and
thus To gain speed The other distinct advan-
tage Of the steam turbine lies in the fact that il is
an ideal rotary engine, and produces vibrations
neither in itself nor in the vessel In fact those
who took part with Mr.. Parsons in studying the
Turbinia declared that. except for her steam
pump, which Of the ordinary type it was
impossible for person on deck to tell by feeling
whether her engines were in motion or not
nee the building Of the Tnrbinla, MIR Par
sons has formed the Parsons Marine Steam 1ur
binc Company. erected works and undertaken
contracts for buinng tw" torpedo boat destroy
SSIs of high sp, d In opening his paper Mr.
When undertaking to real this paper some
months ago. he sGid 1t was hoped that the trials
lifted with turbine machinery Of exceptional
power, would have been completed; this however,
has not been possible the time occupied by con
structiOn having considerably rxcrrIrd antic
patton, and II is only within the last few weeks
that the preliminary trials usual With this class
trials have yet proceeded they show very salts
factory performance and an excellent result
Of vibrations at all speeds Unfortunately, after
the short preliminary trials referred to, The vessel
dense fog and 50 seriously damaged that She
has been in dock for the last month her bow hay
ing to be entirely rebuilt She is now however
ready for further trials when the machinery will
he put 60 tn" full designed power. and it is antic
knots will be reached IN ''r the normal Condi
tionS Of forcing usual in sue y'S'rls
Water meters he said nave been fitted to
the vessel % measure tn steam consumption
and it was believed that greater degree Of econ
omy would he shown than in the Turbnin, where
IA q pounds OF steam WAS used hour for ca ch
Indicated horse power at 30 knots
For fast passenger vessels" he continued,
"ani especially Tor cross channel service the tur
bne system Of propulsion offers great and impor
tant advantages over the ordinary screw or paddle
engines In the first place the steam consump
ton Is no more perhaps somewhat less than
In the bcst ordinary triple compound engines
lers is under one half that Of ordinary screw On
gincS shaiting and pruprcrS, and under one
third that Of ordinary paddle engines of tho same
power. Besides this the huh itself may he Of
lighter structure than is admissible with ordinary
engines owing to the absence oi rarking stresses
from the machinery.
with turbine engines no lubricant whatever
Enters the steam part 50 that the builcrs become
much less charged with oil than is the case with
ordinary engines and express water tube boilers
may be maintained IN satisfactory working con
dition for long periods and, further il is under.
stood that the Board Of Trade viii be prepared to
modify their system Of periodic inspection
rs To permit such boilers being used for regular
cross Channel service"
After speaking Of the benefit which would come
to passengers from the absence uf vibrations and
the advantage Of having ths screws more deeply
immersed. which prevents their racing. Mr. Par
sons exhibited models 2f proposed cross Channel
vessel Of 900 tons displacement and 30 knots
speed, and Of nm ocean liner 900 fcct long and
al $4,000 unnS displacement, with IS 900 horse
power and 26 knots speed Designs he said
have also been prepared for a vessel Of lS 600
tons displacement with ~, 900 horse power and
speed of 30 knots an hour In these designs
Mr. Parsons indicates that he could use four shafts
two on each SIDE ul the stern u the ship and each
shaft would carry two screws The screws would
he arranged So that the four ON each side of the
ship would lie AT equal and regular distances
in a fore and aft direction
Calculations have been made to show the great
difference in weight between the power producing
machinery Of a ship with turbine engines and
water tube boilers and one with ordinary engines
and Scotch boilers The ocean steamship OF rs 900
horse, power and 26 knots speed the design OF