A SMOKELESS CITY.

Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 185, 4 August 1923, Page 11

A SMOKELESS CITY.

SCIENTIFIC PROBLEMS. a l The prevention of the smoke nuisance j I in London and other b;g cities is at preI sent occupying the closest attention of engineers and council authorities, and the recent official inquiry into the mat- ( ter haa made it quite clear that tlie polI lution of the atmosphere by smoke can •be obviated, and that there are means j available whereby a smokeless city can ■be attained, states a writer in the Lon- t |don "Daily Mai!." When the amount of smoke is reduced there will be far less fog during the , winter months. Fog originates in small particles of dust which pervada the air. | When the air is still and its temperature falls below a certain point the watery vapour in it condenses and takes the form of minute water globule*, which :in the aggregate become what is known as fog. Each globule of London fog is ' not mere'y a microscopic sphere of water. J but is aiso bui'.t round a particle of I carbon which is frequently accompanied jby a quantity of sulphurous acid fro:n ' , I the combustion of coal. j | I English people have hitherto shown a I preference for open fireplaces. Closed j stoves and hot air and water systems j all transfer their heat to the surround- ( i insr air almost entirely by the urcess lof convection, a? opposed to radiation, Iby which most of the heat seat out from jan open cool fire reaches the parts of a room which are adjacent to it. The I I combustion of conl in an open crate. I moreover, is a most wasteful method of j 1 utilising t"e heat elements in the fuel, j wbilr the T>rore=s resiiHs in a maximum j jamounr of smoke —and fog. One mieht , I snv that the average amount of soMrt i carbon °ent into tl*e »<r as smoke in the ■rase of otipti rinwtio fires is from 3 to io tvv eeTit of t>e f'lrt consumed, j>3 . > 'njrvnst onH- pbout 0.75 nor cent in wll--1 :rfin:tn'cte r l cir°fnTly firel ooi"er ' ifiiniap* , '. which jroc= to show thnt as a 'jfosr and smnkp Tirndiioer the boiVr frr- [ ns" - ! , i- mtieh the domestic fire. ' no notion h;-9 be?n taken to j 1 "nforo tT>o pf-rjlco'ees method nraonT | * * r '<* "iib'ie are t'rin? rf | j fw» nM fopd'tirtiq -itid are nnxioiis to, j J «ct rid of fisliionert eookmwran<rr. j ATI-at is wnnted is a smokeless fuel j - wp kirtfllc and bi'"i in an op»n srafo, | ?r,(\ p n gsnp»>r= bi» W" , ! advised 1o I develop investigations in this direction.