The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-10-25
AN INTRICATE PROBLEM
Could be Used to Advantage
 on Smaller Vessels.
Question Considered from 1rscha1 ioal, Commercial and Structural i View Points-Extensivs
 Experiments Made.

| port to the Secretary of the Navy ok Engineer in Chief George Melville. is Of
 unusual interest this year. principally
 for the reason that the proposed use q petroleum as substitute for coal on ship
 board is treated at length and in such
 details as thoroughly to meet the innu-' merable demands that have come to th4 Navy Department for the special infor~
 nation collected by the Engineerin0 Board For months this board has been
 working with big 2.oo0 horsepowek ] boiler on the water front in this city, | testing a multitude of oil burning devices and the greatest manufacturing concsrn9 | in the United States and even abroad
 have been seeking to learn the result of | the boards work The following extrAc4
 from the report Is made public:
 An Intricate Problem.
 ''The more this question is investigste4 | the more intricate seems the problem of successfully installing an oil fuel appIi~ ance on board battle ship. It ought to be successfully used on the torpedo' boats as well as upon auxiliary naval
 vessels that steam between regular ports. For the army transport service 1t might prove very desirable. since supply Of l oil could be maintained at the several coaling ports. In regard to the instaila- | ton on the large powered battleships and armored cruisers there are three distlnct l features which must be considered, vix.s | The mechanical commercial and stfuc- tural. Regarded from two of these view- | points it seems as If 1t would be some | time before 'coaling ships ceases to be an evolution upon the war vessels. While both the naval and mercantile vessels traverse the ocean, there Is wide diff ference in their construction as well aa in the nature of the duty performed and this must be taken into account in do.
 signing the motive plant.
 The first line of inquiry by the board
 was the, engineering or fnechannica1 kea-
 ture involving the possibility of success
 fully burning oil for steam purposes and
 1t is said that this problem is nearing
 solution.
 | It has been found necessary to atomize
 the oil Qt cannot be completely gasstfied)
 instead of using it without pressure. The air blast should be heated by some sin1-
 pie device. If this is done properly tha experiments have shown that 1t will be
 possible to force the combustion of oil
 to the same extent as coal. something
 not done before but very essential for
 naval uses.
 The Commercial Aspects.
 Treating of the commercial aspects oa
 the question the report makes the foI-
 lowing importan. statement. It may b9 regarded as a certainty that except where
 unusual conditions prevail, the cost of oil for marine purposes will generally ] be greater than that of coal The cost may be less for vessels departing from the gulf and California seaports. but tf1e
 rule will not hold elsewhere. While the | question of cost should be of secondarX
 importance in military matters. 1t must
 be taken into consideration. It is the exs pense of transportation that win always prevent the oil from being cheap cons bvctible. While 1t may be put on the tank steamer very cheaply at ports like Point | Sabine, its commercial value will be determined by the cost of delivery at commercial and maritime centers. This feature of the problem is beyond the abii- ity of the navy to control but 1t must be
 regarded as an important phase of the subject"
 It Is then shown that 1t would be mors | expensive and difficult to store oil than
 coal. and that the fumes. are dangerous
 in places like the small bunkers and | double bottom spaces aboard ship. where. being heavy. they cannot be easily blown | away. But in spite of these and other ! objections. the board says:
 The bureau has no hesitation. how~
 ever. in declaring that in view of the re-
 suits already secured by the liquid fuel
 board that ar installation should be eff fected without delay on at least a third
 of the torpedo boats and destroyers. The junior officers of the service are much in- | terested in the matter. and if several | boats are equipped entirely with oil fuel | appliances, spirited and keen, but friendly rivalry will be created which will result in a material increase in the efficiency of the torpedo boat hotilla. Such
 an installation would also permit a com- petition to be established between the i boats using coal and those using oil and
 this would be another incentive to cause systematic and careful study of the sub- | ject upon the part of all connected with the torpedo fleet" Encouraging Oil Men. By way of encouraging the advocates of oil further the report points out that
 the structural disadvantages that may prove so serious in the case of the navy | would not be encountered in shore plants | which also could easily maintain reserve supplies of the liquid fuel. Finally sum- ming up the results Of the important shore experiments made in Washington,
 the report concludes the treatment of this subject as follows:
 A. That oil can be burned in very uniform manner. B. That the evaporative efficiency of nearly every kind of oil per pound of combustible is probably the
 same; while the crude oil may be rich in | hydrocarbons, 1t also contains sulphur,
 so that after refining. the distilled oil | has probably the same calorific value as
 the crude product c. That more marine
 steam generator can be forced to even as
 high a degree with oil as with coal l D. That up to the present time no m
 effects have been shown upon the boiler.
 E. That the firemen are disposed to favor oil and, therefore. no impediment will be metN in this respect. F. That the air
 reouisite for combustion should be heated.
 if possible, before entering the furnace Such action undoubtedly assists the gaa- sification of the oG product"