The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1918-09-19
FUEL CONSUMERS
MUST SAVE GOAL
GOVERNMENT SEEKS TO AVOID
FUEL SHORTAGE.
TOO MUCH HEAT IS WASTED
Steam Plants Called Upon To Con.
serve-Must Economically Per
Cent of Heat Now Going Up the
Chimney Can Be Saved.

Washington, ID. c., Sept. 14.-With
the same degree of energy, enthusi-
asm and patriotism as manifested by
the women of the United States dur
ing the year in saving sufficient wheat
to feed all of the Allies, the owners
of steam plants and the firemen can
save in the next year forty-five mil
lion tons of coal, and thereby reduce
materially the threatened coal short
age, according TO the United States
Bureau of Mines, Department of the
Interior
In the average steam plant, for
every hundred tons Of coal burned,
only fifty-seven tons are actually
used in making steam. The Bureau
of Mines declares that il is entirely
feasible to increase the average eff
ficiency of these plants from 81 to CT
per cent, saving fifteen tons of coal
out of every 100 tons used. AS 300,-
600, 900 tons Of coal annually are
necessary to supply all the steam
plants in this country, the same work
could be done with 255,000,000 tons,
with a saving of about 45000.000
tons.
Heat Is Lost.
In the average boiler plant, accord
ing TO the statement Of the bureau, %
per cent of the heat of the coal burn.
ed is lost up the stack. That is, out
Of every 100 tons of coal burned, the
heat of thirty-liye tons literally goes
'up the stack. This loss, which the
bureau believes can be greatly re
dueed, is caused by the admission OF
too much or too little air to burn the
coal properly. 1t takes fourteen
pounds of air to burn one pound OF
coal and this can be gagged by the
use Of proper apparatus, which is ex
planned by the Bureau of Mines in 9
pamphlet tust issued for the benefit
of the firemen.
A Big Saving.
Using just plain, ordinary intelli
gence, we can save minimum OF
100000 tons in a year." said Var
Fl. Manning, director of the bureau
yesterday. The methods to be
used are easy and simple to under
stand. The saving can come through
the good will and steady honest eff
fort of the fireman and the engineer
and the encouragement and apprecia
ton of the owner or manager of the
plant. There, is no miraculous pow
der that, when dissolved in water
and sprinkled over coal, will make /,
give up more heat and produce more
steam. All powders sold un(er such
pretenses are frauds. Also there
are no patented devices that, wher
attached to the boiler, will automat
ically make large savings without the
effort of The fireman or the engineer
Many patented fuel-saving devices
have elements of merit, but they
must have careful, intelligent atten
ton to do good work.
Cheap Coal is Gone.
when plant uses $50 to 500
worth Of coal day, efforts to save
10 per cent of it will pay. The days
of low priced Goals are gone, proba
bly, never to return. But whether
or not it pays in dollars and cents
it is plainly up to the fireman to save
for what he wastes may be depriving
munitions plant or some other es
sentiai war industry of the coal need
ed to help win the war.
Owners of power plants, engineers
and firemen may obtain complete de
tails of how this fuel may be saved
! by applying to the Bureau of Mines