THE NEW. DESTRUCTOR.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 2631, 5 August 1908, Page 4

THE NEW. DESTRUCTOR.

OFFICIAL OPENING. ■ ' THE CITY ENGINEER'S REPORT. Tho now dostruotor was officially opened yesterday aftornoon. Tho Mayor of Wellington (the Honl T. W. Hislop) porformed tho coromony with' t a gold and,,silver key,, the' work, pf Mr. 11,I 1 , Grady, jeweller." The delegates to the Municipal Conference wero pre- ■ sent by invitation, proceeding to the scene by special cars. The Hon. G. Fowlds, Minister for Public Health, was also present. . The visitors made a tliorough investigation of the structure, aftor which they. returned to'the Town Hall; and partook, of refresh-, ments t provided' by the. contractors,' Messrs.' -Heonan and Fronde. The Engineer, Mr; T. C. Urmistoir the; chair; ' / SOME SPEECHES." . - Tho loyal ;toast being honoured, tho Chairman proposed tho health of r the Mayor ..and, City Council. In reply, •"tho Mayor paid a tribute to'the . contractors, to-whom the Council would be plcasecMo give the highest'recommendations.. ■ Ho said , that the contract amount .was. £12,632 LOsi, and extras came to £484 95,. Building had cost £1145 125.; chimney-,' £1300; work'done by direct employment and' . smaller contracts, £6969. Added to this was £1560 for . a clinker crushing, plant which was. imported,- the full total 'for the work, being £24.093 10s. 3d. . ■ In reply to tho toast of-the "Contractors," Mr. Chant" said_ that the destructor was one of the-largest'in the. world) •and it was.-so' constructed that-any .part .could ho quickly rcplaccd. 1 They were greatly-aided by tho • .specifications'- of the' City- : Engiiieer, 'Mr. W.< H. Morton, to whom they: Were greatly indebted. - / . , ■»? ■:/' . ' ■ ■•'■'. - .Mr. C. H. J. Anderson,. Assistant-En-gineer, also, replied. :, Mr.- ; <J.j.-:EU Palmer, Tpwn,Clerk, replied-to. the of "The Officers of the City Couii- . cil." ' ' "" • - • I - THE TEST.-- ; «; •• In his reply, the City Engineer, Mr. W.. H. Morton, gaVo. the following report on tho destructor "I have to report that.a trial of .the new destructor, erected 'by' Messrs. .Hc'enan and , : Froude, of Manchester,'" was carried out on : Friday and' Saturday last, July 31 and Aug'nst 1..;. ' ■ - • x "It'was ;orjginallyiintehded that' tho -test' should .bp'for. twenty-four.hours, but it was considered more satisfactory 'to weigh .'out. ai.'. given quantity.-.of; refuse, and to carry on .the test until.-tho whole ofi such, refuse ba'd'heenA destroyed, caro being . taken; that the -quan-., tity of refuse'available was sufficient for at,, least twenty-four hours. .For tjie test, only one complete unit was in operation, all .connections to other, uiiits being sealed down. Each,,unit consists.-,of'threo fire, -'grates, combustion chamber,' boiler, : air regenerator, and fail for forced draught.. ' _ " The steam.generated during the tost was; . used foi 1 /driving two compound' engines with air compressors operating the Shone ejector system,'-which js. used for. lifting-the sewagefrom , the lower. portions of.the .city.,. .. Con-' ; sequent upon repairs to the condensor pump these engines, were run nqii-condeiisiiig duriiig. the trial. The re'niaihderVof t]ie; machinery'in operation during the test and driven with steam from the destructor consisted of one 12 ; 'Kilowatt elMtric' generator, one feed .pump; and one highspeed vertical engine driving a" .centrifugal fan for the foi'ced draught. , "The following were tho guarantees given by the makers i—That there shall be no nuisance created; by the 'burning of the refuse,', either • . . from noxious"fumes, smoke,'or dust .'and the, chimney shall be practically smokeless ; that • - the furnac'es 'slVaH'; be capable-of efE6iently. : destroying reducing: to a thoroughly hard and vitreous clinker from 50 ( to. 601b.'. -of . ordinary' unscreened ' house,- .: market,. and;, ;.trade ; refuse v per ..sqiia'ro "... foot grate area.' per hour ,(120' to" 140 - tons per day" of twenty-four hours); that the - temperature of the .gases, at., the combustion 1 . - chamber shall ba from; 1800'fo ,2400 degrees Far. average, minimum under .normal working conditions, not less than 1600 degrees Far.; . that, frequent > analyses-; of tho . flues ■. gases sliaU' sIiQW . completo 'combustibri ' witli' a high percentage'-of Co 2;' that tho'com--1 bined normal evaporative ." capacity of tho boilers shall be - abmitj 16001b.,-. Of. water, per . hour,' from' and' at<;2l2<.:clegrees ? - Far.; that from 1 to lilb. of water, from and at 212 degrees shall be evaporated per lb. of refuse ■ de'sitroye'd ; ':th'at thecombined' residue of clinker and ashes shall ,be from 25. to : , 30 per i cent; of the refuse destroyed (by weight); that the steam'required for operating tho feed pumpsjand forced.draught plant . shall not exceed 10 per cent, of the total steam generated; that tho.actual-labour-cost. . of burning'the refuse (that is charging and clinkerin'g) shall be eighteen pence per ton,, say Is. 6d.-, per ton. . ~,, -. .■ - ; "Comparing the results actually obtained in the-test',,with .it. will.be, ' found that with the exception of,those tests ' yet to be carried out every guarantee givon has been ; fully "complied. with, the results , throughout- being^' very"satisfactory. During; the whole test.no nuisance;of.,any kind.was . detected,-either from: noxious fumes, smoke,' or dust, nothing but a'white vapour could ' bo noticed, issuing from the* chimney. The clinker.," produced was v of- a'- hard,vitreous, nature, and likely to be ma.do considerable v , use ofin connection-with the street" and' ■' ■; general works ,of the city. '-Tho,. tiist has' ■. been an 'exhaustive one, carefully carried out and supervised, and. so far as it lias gone, may be-considered very'' satisfactory. The cost of labour in charging and clinkering : came to Is. 4.8 d. per ton. The residuum . obtained was 1 : tons-'3 quarters; ' ash —16cwt. or 28J per cent. v of., the refuse ' destroj-od. There 'are r 'yet -remaining two tests to bo made,, namely, the percentage of total steam used by the''auxiliary engines . in connection with- the forced draught and boiler iVod, also tho analysis l of the gases in, the combustion chamber.. There':,is iiitlo ■- > doubt; however, but thai'both test's vrill be . found .satisfactory' ; ■. ... ' .. : Ke'sponding to the toast of the Minister . for Public' Health,' tho; Hon. G. Fowlds that the inauguration., of the. now ,destruc-' • ■ tor ivqs a movement towards' improving "tlie . health'of the community. -

A reporter, was .-informed that the. calorific value of ■ fclio refuse was equal to nearly oiie.quarfcer that obtained from ordinary. coal. •