The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-04-08
Frederick Haskin's Letter
Burning Water AS Fuel.
tsbecaai ccrrespondenee Of The ArTus

tically every kind OF oil has been
tried out, and 1t has been found that
the very lowest grades will work all
ri~bt If they are heated so that
they will run freely. In using the
t-e-,Iest graues OF oil, steam pipes
are run through the tanks TO heat
the oil in cold weather. In really
warm weather this expedient doubt
less will be unnecessary.
One great advantage claimed for
the new system over coal firing ia
the saving in labor. Mrs. Shaw saws
it has been demonstrated that 10
operate a plant requiring a dozen
men when coal is burned, with her
system installed. only four men
would be needed. There is a big
saving, too, in the cost of the two
fuels. as the cheapest grades Of oil
can be burned, without having the
oil put through any refining pro-
cess at all.
By combining the water with oil
1t is claimed that tests have shown
a saving of, roughly, so per cent
over the ordinary burning Of fuel
oil. This is because a hotter fire is
secured from the use Of consider
ably less oil
No Waste or Ash.
Another advantage in the use Of
oil instead of coal in any kind Of
power or heating plant is the alb
sence of any ash. To engineers this
means two-fold saving-first, no
labor is necessary in feeding the
fuel to the boilers nor in removing
the ashes; second, the whole weight
of the fuel used is burned up and
all of 1t produces heat which is
transformed into power.
Most of the system is simplicity
itself, and is easily comprehended
by a casual inspection. The pipes
leading from the water supply and
the oil supply open into an ordinary
funnel The feed of oil and water
into this funnel can be watched and
easily regulated. Leading from the
bottom of the funnel is a single
pipe which connects with the
burner.
The burner itself is simple It
has somewhat the shape of a silk
hat, but with considerably more
Ldpt1- Ii tic OlLld4A pOH CT pa III
being operated at the Washington
barracks, this top hat affair has a
diameter at the bottom of u or Is
inches and at the top is about 6 to
8 inches vide. 1t is about a foot
high.
Around the bottom this contriv-
ance is punched full of holes to ad-
nit air. No artificial blast of air
is required, once the burner is
going and heated up a bit. The heat
seems to separate the water into
its constituent gases, and these
with the oil produce an intensely
hot fame.
To start the burner, a bit Of cot
ton waste soaked in oil is laid in
this burner and lighted. In very
short time the burner is operating
automatically.
Mrs. Shaw does not believe her
invention can be adapted for use
in the ordinary house until It has
been somewhat perfected. AS it is
now, it requires skilled attention
and could not be left to heat 3
house with entire safety. For an
other reason, the fire insurance
people are not familiar with the in
vention yet, and probably would
put high rates on dwellings using
this type of heating plant Per
lection of methods of easy control
will in time lead to use Of the in
vention in private houses, Mrs.
Shaw thinks.
For the present, the woman in
ventor plans for the use Of her
heating arrangement in plGz-s
using from so barrels of oil a day
upward. Such plants naturally
would require the attention Of
SHIFTS of men. and Mrs. Shaw pre-
fers that. Like a true patriot, Mrs.
Shaw has given her government the
first opportunity to take advantage
of her revolutionary development,
and there is every reason to believe
that the government is not going
to let the thing slip through its
fingers.