Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1907-09-14
ELIMINATING SMOKE.
Engineers Scheme to Burn Soft
Coal With Perfect Combustion.
LARGE SAVER OF MONEY.

Breckenridge Declares-Smoke Nui-
sanee Solved at Big Heating Plant of
Illinois University.
! The smoke nuisance, with its loss of
millions of dollars annually to the big
and little cities of the United States,
with its injury to public health, to
vegetation and civic beauty, is an en-
tirely unnecessary evil and should not
be tolerated for single day, according
to L. F. Breckenridge, director of the
engineering experiment station of the
University of Illinois and engineer in
charge of the steam engineering divi-
sion of the United States geological So
ciety, says the Washington Post.
Professor Breckenridge, who is one
of the most widely known mechanical
engineers of the United States is now
In Washington comforting with the ex-
perts of the geological survey on the
problem of fuel testing. He has not
only solved the smoke nuisance at the
big heating plant of the University of
Illinois, but at one boiler he has made
it practically impossible to make"
smoke
For two years the heating plant of
the university, with a horsepower of
1900, has been operated without smoke
and at an actual saving of $4,000 a
year over carelessly operated CONNER
cial plants. This ideal condition can
be duplicated in any plant in the
United States, according to Professor
Breckenridge
In our experiments on one of the
boilers at the university heating plant"
said Professor Breckenridge, 1--WE
changed the conditions of operation
and did all sorts of things that might
occur in an ordinary plant, and l
should say that for a whole week we
never made any great amount of
smoke and that day after day we alb
solutely did not make any smoke at
all. We tried our best to make smoke,
but couldn't
I'm our heating plant we burn $4,000
tons of coal every year, and we have
been so successful in abating the smoke
that we are now using as cheap an
Illinois coal as we can find. With this
proper burning of coal we have obtain
cd an efficiency of 60 per cent, which
is from 10 to 10 per cent more than
many commercial plants can show.
Smoke is the signal of imperfect COM
bustion, so that smoke abatement
means increase of efficiency In this
increased efficiency we have a saving
Of $4,000 a year, and with our ability
to burn the cheaper and therefore DOOR
er Goals we have an additional econo-
my of $4,000, making a total of $4,000
for the year.
illinois manufacturers visit our
plant frequently, and in many in
stances they have carried away with
them the lessons it teaches. The Edi-
son plant in Chicago, with 100000
horsepower is practically smokeless
and is an excellent object lesson to the
owners of other large concerns.
Burning coal smokelessly Is not a
question of patented furnaces or boil
ers-in fact very little depends upon
the type of boiler. The essential thing
Is to have the boiler so placed that the
flame from the coal does not touch it.
The fame striking the boiler prevents
proper and complete combustion and
results in the making of smoke. Light
a candle and it will burn without
smoke. Place a saucer in the flame
and there will be plenty of smoke So
I ir wifi no
Keep the flame from touching the boil
err and you have smokeless conditions.
"Of course different kinds of coal
give different lengths of flame, depend
ing upon the amount of volatile matter
in the coal. This means that the dis
lance between the boiler and the CRATE
must vary to suit the coal used. But
in spite of the varying length of fame
from these Goals l am of the opinion
that six different types of furnace will
be sufficient to burn without smoke
any coal in the United States.
I'VE are able to tell the amount of
volatile matter in coal by chemical
analysis, which means that if man
ufacturer learns the chemical analysis
of his coal he will know the length of
flame and can adjust his furnace ac-
cordingly. Hundreds of chemical anaIy-
ses Of coal have been made by the
technologic branch of the geologic
survey and we intend to keep this
work going until we know every coal
in the United States. After that there
will be little excuse for making smoke.
"Smokeless conditions cannot come,
however, so long as there is hand fir
ing. Mechanical stokers must do the
work if there is to be perfect combus-
ton, and the coal should be of nearly
uniform size. Run of mine will not
burn without smoke as n rule"