Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1917-11-18

be reduced by careful and systematic
nrimg. and by constructing the boiler
furnace and using the air supply i'm Il
way suited to the fuel to be burned.
| Many of the boiler furnaces to be
found in this section are not designed
| for bituminous Goals. In some cases
the boilers are purchased from one or
another manufacturer located i'm an
anthracite district. In other cases the
boiler manufactures does not study the
| fuel and combustion problems OF his
customer but In sending out erection
plans sends standard plan or a COW
OF the plan of another which may be
| right or may be wrong II is only fair
| to say that in the majority or cn.o. q,
| is not the boiler manufacturer wbo 4.
| responsible for faulty furnace dn.irn
Thc purchaser pays for a boiler .,nd
| takes II Tor granted that the manufac
| turer viii throw I'm Il correct dr,,,,;,
of the furnace and set,inrs m. us
sun, unless the purchaser has snc,.;0od
! thc type aud size OF furnace mr. %,
ieaSt the class OF fuel lie expccis IN
use oiten is that he will find himscIr
SaddIed with Il furnace i'll suit.,I -, ~,
burning of bituminous cooI. I, ~ ,'c
results are waStcful use of rnai ~,
smoke. iuei' ana
sMoNELESS CHIMNEY IS yor
SIGN or ECONOMY
"heh using bituminous coal.
n.HS CHIMNEY is not a sign OF fuct
,,,, put a sign of loss for when
'o"is are burned to the best
guy ,"''ee there Is always more or Inv.
smoke This smoke cnn h ''H'
or can he made less apparent nv ar,
non win excess air This means ioSs
Oh neat Even so. some of our No.
."..urers willingly suffer this loss
,heir t',n" run the risk of subjectins
'heir heishbors to Inconvenience
Your correspondent. NJ u w
,'oi'S Shoke-consuming devices, ne
'c'nS inexpensive and desirable foo,
sure that If this were the case mann
,'c'urerS would be glad to put them in.
o' smoke ~ otten as much Il nuisance
!" 'hef' as IL is to others MANY So
called Smoke-consuming dcyicn. b,,.,
oceh invented. refer now TO the mo-
''"i'ic'ti type and also to those in which
steam is used in one way or another
me hrSt OF these with which was
well acquainted came out in 1890 II
helped matters, but il did not consume
smoke Nor did it reduce opcratinr
costs very similar device has rc
.cht'E heen tried out in a number of
richmond factories. with like results
Huihoers OF others have been tried out
but the good results, If anv. have bc.n
quite limited. Smoke consumers arc
improperly so called. for smoke is no,
easily consumed once il is formed I,
ii'E ne reduced. more or less, accord
ing to conditions. by suitable furn,c.
ueSiGn and by suitable method of
hiring and of using air. These factors
are interdependent. Good furnace de-
sign alone is not sufficient and tho
advantage Of careful firing is reduced
by. ana Il proper use of air is i,npos-
sihi" with. wrong furnace design. Each
OF the three factors is affected by the
class and quality of the fuel used and
we may say at this time obtainable
ALTERATIONS MADE
ONLY AT GREAT COST
Existing furnace Arrangement can.
not i'm the majority Of cases be changed
except at great cost: for instance that
OF raising boilers perhaps. possibly
roofs. and Of rearranging steam piping
improvements in the use Of air can
generally he made at less expense: but
so TAR as a reduction of smoke is con-
ccrned. Improvement in the use of air
involves. in many cases. some rear
rangcinent Of the furnace. Pressing on
TO the third factor: Methods Of firing
may L." divided into two classes, and
each class into subclasSes. We need
not go into the latter. The two classes
are hand firing and machine firing
Both may be well or badly done. Good
hand hrinE is AS good AS any machine
firing. Poor machine firing is less de-
sirable than poor hand firing. Into
hand firing the human element enters
largely; into machine firing there en-
tcrs the question of maintenance under
severe conditions and to a less extent
the human element again. Each method
has it's place. The selection Of the one
or the other is a question of operating
conditions.
1t L. "a popular idea that smoking
and waste of fuel can easily be cor
rectcd 10y machine firing. that is, by
using mechanical StokerS This is true
is some cases. but not in all. Free
dom from smoke or saving Of fuc! 4
does not always follow the use OF
Stokcrs, nor is the presence of smoke
or a waste fuel II necessary conSc-
aucncc Of hand firing. and il is not
always possible TO use Stokcr These
machines require head room and space
som. more tina others. Both can he
provided in new plants. but in many
existing plants only at considerable /
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