The San Francisco call., 1903-12-18
MfsHnrieS as Fuel.
BY MALCOLM MCDOWELL.
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Some Of the old boys who saw en-
gineering service when they were dig
ging the Suez canal are wondering
II the fremen on the Panama cut viii
use embalmed fuel. They remember
that in Egypt when they were scoop
ing out the sand 10 make an island Of
Africa coal was a scarce commodity
at times, and the steam raisers had 10
fail back upon whatever was burn
able. Some of the irreVerant ones
discovered that the mummies Of cats
and other animals which We're held
sacred by the ancient Egyptians made
a pretty hot fire. That started the
Joke which had more truth than hu-
NOR in it. Here, Bill" yelled the En-
glish engineer TO his fireman, chuck
in & king; those plebeians won't get
up enough steam 10 take you to the
top OF the grade" The contractors
who supplied fuel to the railroad were
none too particular and when cat
mummies were not handy they didn't
scruple TO break UP human mummies.
Word has come TO the engineers
and dremen who are part Of the out
fits Of American contractors who
probably viii be put 10 work digging
the Panama canal that the ancient
bitants of the isthmus used TO
make mummies Of their dead, and
some Of them declare they viii locate
a few dried up MOntezumas and feed
them into the firebox.
But the chances are that most Of
the steam used on the isthmus cut viii
be raised by liquid fuel-crude oil
from the Beaumont field Of Texas.
American contractors have a habit Of
anticipating things, and some Of them
who have already decided that they
viii "be III" on the great work have
outlined a pipe line scheme which
cOntemplates tank steamers to carry
the oil, pumping plant, storage tanks
and a pipe line extending the entire
length Of the works
on for fuel has been pushing its way
forward IN spite Of all opposition.
Ocean greyhounds are using it: il is
sprayed into the fire boxes Of locomO-
tives, and its use for steam purposes
is rapidly extending. It is figured out
that there is as much fuel value in two
tons of crude oil as in three tons of
coal at 50 50 a ton. and that weight for
weight forty cubic feet Of oil is equiva-
lent 10 seventy feet Of coal This last
comparison gives oil an enormous ad-
vantage in the matter Of storage
aboard steamships and on locomotives.
Thus a steamship which carries in her
bunkers $500 tons of coal would only
carry. 5000 tons of oil, and the oil could
be stored I'm the double bottom Of the
ship. giving all the coal bunker space
70 the cargo.
Crude oil is burned under boilers in
several ways. The ordinary method is
the injection method, the oil being
sprayed into the combustion chamber
by a jet Of steam or compressed air. If
steam is used, air. to aid combustion,
is introduced at the same time. In an
Other. process the liquid fuel percolates
upward through a porous bed, accom-
panied by heated air, and sometimes by
steam. Recently an oil burning device
has been used which spurts the oil un-
der a high pressure into the furnace,
and stiu another vaporizes the OIL by
means Of a small retort which is heated
IN the furnace.
All sorts Of eXtraVagant claims are
made by the fuel oil men as to the val
ue Of liquid fuel. They have claimed
that one pound Of crude oil viii evap-
orate forty-six pounds Of water. But
cate that under ordinary everyday
working conditions fuel oil viii evap-
crate from fifteen to sixteen pounds Of
water to a pound Of oil Under like
conditions a pound Of anthracite evap-
orates 81 pounds Of water and pound
Of soft coal 1914 pounds.
The evaporated duty and calorific
value Of fuels are not always true
guides TO the man who uses steam.
The list OF fuels for industrial pur-
poses is a long one, and includes hard
and soft coal, charcoal, wood, coke,
natural gas, fuel gas, crude petroleum,
the residuum from petroleum distilla-
ton. asphaltum, coal tar, resin, bri-
ouettes-compress Jumps of pow
dered coal mixed with some binding
compound-corncObs, twisted hay,
pine cones. sawdust and refuse in
woodworking plants, fish. garbage,
greasy refuse from packing houses
and rendering plants, peat, cotton
waste and, in the Bessemer converter,
just plain air.
Switzerland has come forward with
an idea which is American, because it
was originated by DR.. f. J. Constans
Of New York, at present professor Of
chemistry in the Federal Polytechni-
Guns at Zurich. He proposes to re-
form the whole coal trade Of SYitzer-
land by selling coal according to its
heat-producing value instead of by
dead weight. The Swiss Government
has authorized the institution of a fed
eral testing station for fuel. for Switz-
erland, producing no coal and having
no navigable rivers to the seacoast,
must import all her coal by rail So
Switzerland is going TO test all kinds
Of fuels and TO enlighten the Swiss
public through periodical publications
on the subject.