SAVING WASTED FUEL

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25226, 3 July 1947, Page 2

SAVING WASTED FUEL

EFFORTS BY RESEARCH DEPARTMENT

GOAL 50,000 TONS A YEAR

In an effort to reduce fuel wastage in boiler plants throughout New Zealand by 50.000 tons a year, the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research has established an organisation for the dissemination of technical information on all aspects of steam generation and utilisation. This organisation is under the control of the department’s fuel technologist (Dr. V. Armstrong), who said in an interview that more than 150,000 tons of a total consumption of 1,200,000 tons of coal used in slew Zealand industries were wasted every year. The department is following a scheme adopted by the British Ministry of Fuel and Power during the war years, when huge savings of coal were made in Britain. Bulletins are sent out periodically to all those industries which have boiler plants, and practical demonstrations are given in various centres by a ftiel efficiency team. By the use of various recording instruments, it was possible \to demonstrate how economics in fuel consumption could be made, said Dr. Armstrong. It had been found generally that most plants operated with an efficiency of only 50 per cent., which was exceedingly low. The main losses encountered in the boiler-house were those caused by the use of either too much or too little air in burning fuel —whether coal or oil. Each pound of coal or oil required a definite amount of air to burn it efficiently. If too little was supplied, then the coal was incompletely burned, and black smoke was produced. On the other hand, if too much air was supplied stack losses became very high. Instances had been found where these losses represented 25 per cent, of the heat contained in the fuel. A clear chimney top was invariably the sign of too much air and indicated high stack losses. The department has prepared a poster which is being distributed to all boiler plants in New Zealand. This indicates the conditions to be attained in the correct burning of fuel.