Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1912-02-25
ECONOMICAL OIL
BURNING engines
USE OF CRUDE PETROLEUM is
RAPIDLY GROWING IN THE
UNITED STATES.
more delicate TO HANDLE
Permits of Increased Mileage per L0-
c0motivc--No Loss of Time in
Cleaning Hrc Box.

The use of fuel oil for locomotives
was confined until recently TO the
lines in or near the oil producing
fields, but on the Pacific coast 1t has
extended to other and remote regions
where coal is expensive. In 1910 over
fifty million barrels Of California oil
were used for fuel purposes, oil prac-
tlcally displacing coal as railway,
steamship and manufacturing fuel on
the Pacific coast In the same year
the consumption Of fuel oil by locomo-
tlves in the United States was nearly
"a million barrels. This Is equivalent
In heat value to six million tons Of
coal. or about 4 per cent Of the total
coal consumed i'm this country. The
rate of combustion on large simple
locomotives in 6 gallons of oil per-
minute, and on Mallet compounds 10
gallons per minute. The latter rate is
equal to 1913 barrels per hour which,
at go cents per barrel, represents an
expenditure of $S.5S per engine hour
for fuel. When oil is transported a
considerable distance the cost Is 81
per barrel, and the expense for fuel
per hour is proportionately larger
While oil is regarded as cheap fuel
this is largely due TO the fact that
It Is used in regions where coal Is
unusually expensive and much of the
economy attending its use on locomo-
tives Is due to matters apart from the
evaporation of water. There Is less
weight for a given heat value, one
pound of oil being equal to l 1-2
pounds Of coal, and the cost of hand
ling oil from cars to engines is de-
creased; there is no loss by deprecia-
ton in this handling or in storage,
as there Is with coal
Oil fuel permits of increased mileage
per engine, as there Is no olss of time
in cleaning fires, and the oil capacity
of the tender may be 1 1-2 times that
for coal: as the work of the fireman
is lighter longer runs are easily possi-
BILE All these advantages attending
the employment Of oil fuel have so ia
vored its use on locomotives that COM
paratively little attention has been
given to its economical use in evapo-
rating water Whiel tests usually
snow more imam ! l-A lliltS lHe tNip-
Grafton per pound Of oil compared with
the same amount Of coal, ii Is certain
that this advantage Is not fully real
ized in regular locomotive perform
ance This is due to several reasons,
principally to lack of care on the part
of the engineer and fireman, and to
the lnefficiency of the oil burner In
firing coal the physical limitations of
the fireman so control steam produc-
ton that the cutoff and throttle are
regulated to this rate. With oil fuel
it Is easily possible to make up time
by forcing the boiler so that longer
cutoff can be used and the steam
consumption Is not then economical.
This method Of operation results also
in an excessive and wasteful use of
oil.
The instructions to enginemen in
handling oil burning locomotives say
that the firing of oil differs very ma
terally from the firing of coal and
requires more care to make the COM
bustlon of fuel economical. The fire
man and engineman should work in
harmony, and when here is a change
in the throttle or reverse lever the
fireman should regulate the oil sup
ply to suit the new conditions. In