Los Angeles herald., 1907-08-13
LEARNING WONDERFUL
THINGS ABOUT COAL
NEW FUEL EXPERIMENTS SHOW
RRIoUETTE's VALUE
Tests nay Entirely Solve Smoke Nui-
sance and Determine Best Fuel
for Navy and Conn.,
mercIal Use

m
months ago to Norfolk, Va, will begin
on August Is a series of experiments on
eastern and southern Goals that may be
of far-reaching Importance to the gov
eminent and to the people in general
For two years the plant was in opera
ton at st. Louis, Mo-, and so astonishing
were the results toward preventing the
waste of the fuel resources of the coun-
try that congress ordered the work con-
tinued at Norfolk.
Already the government experts con-
nected with the plant have indicated the
possibility of saving 10 per cent of the
country's coal bill each year-the sum
of $780, 200, 0OO-through increased efficiency
in burning coal. Now the fuels Of the
east and south are to be tested under the
steam boiler, in the gas producer and
gas engines and by briquetting, In the
hope that this saving may be further dem
onstrated.
Location of Plant
The plant is located not far from the
main entrance gate of the jamestown
exposition, and already has attracted
thousands of visitors, many of whom were
manufacturers interested in the economy
of fuel.
The law under which the fuel testing
plant is to be operated contemplates two
classes of work-increasng efficiency and
preventing WdSlc III llic ullllAdliOI VI IiiS
fuel resources of the country, and test
ing Goals that are used by the govern
ment.
Perhaps the most important tests will
be those comparing the amount of power
obtained from a certain amount of coal
under the steam boiler and in the gas
producer. The gas engine has demon
strated in former tests it's ability to do
from two to nearly three times as much
rlr with mound M cnal the steam
engine. Prof Robert H. Fernald of st.
Louis. Mo-, engineer in charge of the
gas producer tests, will continue the ex-
periments of the large 235 horsepower gas
engine which has been installed in the
plant.
This engine will be supplied with gas
made in two large producers and from the
same fuels that will be used under
boilers. In this way the comparative
utility of slack Goals. culm, Ignite and
even peat will be determined, for the
tests made will show just what all these
poorer fuels can do.
Increase Boiler Efficiency
Prof L. P Breckenridge, engineer in
charge of the steam engineering division
of the survey will endeavor to Increase
the efficiency of the steam boiler.
His division has now practically sue
ceeded in isolating the performance of
the boiler from that of the combined
performance of the boiler and furnace.
Further tests will be made with the
object of still further determining the
effciences of the furnace alone.
A series of important experiments with
fuel under boilers recently completed in
dictate that stationary boilers ought to do
ten to twenty times as much work per
unit of heating surface as they do now.
These tests are to be continued on three
In,
modern boilers which nave just peen IN
stalled at the plant
Two of these boilers are of the water
tube type, of 30 horsepower each, and
the third is ;250 horsepower and of the
marine type.
Forced, induced and natural draft will
be used on these boilers and the furnaces
will be of three distinct types, one
hand-fired with special fire brick COM
bustion chamber and automatic air adj
mission, the second a mechanical stoker
of the underfed type, and the third
mechanical stoker of the overfed type, so
that each fuel may be tested in every
mode of combustion in order to get the
highest efficiency possible out of them.
Smokeless Burning
There will also be a series of expert
ments tending to show just what is nee
essary to burn these Goals without smoke.
The results will be important not only to
the government. but to every city in
the country that is fighting the exas-
perating smoke evil.
A considerable portion of the fuel test
ing plant is to be given over to test
ing fuels for the navy, and the entire
briouettng plant will be at it's service.
Three briouetting machines are almost
ready for work.
One received recently from Germany
is for briquetting lignites of Texas and
the northwest
This machine is of great power and is
the only one of its kind in the United
States.
A second machine is of English make
and has been used for some time at the
plant in st. Louis.
The third is an American made ma
chine of which much is expected.
The experts hope to show that the
briquettes have more efficiency than
lump coal Fl the same mine and that
they are pract. ly smokeless, the latter
condition being as big factor to the
navy as the first.
Efficiency Outweighs Cost
The results already obtained from
briquettes prove that on boilers requir-
ing forced draft, like locomotive boilers,
the briquette so increases efficiency as
to more than equal the increased cost
of making
These briquettes are made by taking,
the waste or slack coal, culm, Ignite or
peat and mixing it with sufficient tar or
other binding material to hold the coal
together, the whole being pressed into
blocks by machinery.
Five small 10 horsepower gasoline en-
gines have been erected at the plant, and
on these engines important tests will be
made of the relative efficiency of gasoline
for producing power and light as com
pared with kerosene and other liquid
fuels.
1t is thought that the commercial value
of these fuels as producers of power may
be enhanced by these tests. But little is
known at present of the efficiency of
these fuels under proper conditions.
In addition to all these experiments
tests will be made to discover the exact
cause of the spontaneous combustion of
stored coal in order that loss from this
source may be prevented.
The tests are under the general direc-
ton of Joseph A. Holmes, chief of the
technologic branch of the geological sur
vey, and the plant is under the imme-
date supervision of H. M. Wilson, chief
engineer.