OIL FUEL IN THE MILL

Evening Post, Volume CII, Issue 32, 6 August 1921, Page 15

OIL FUEL IN THE MILL

RECENT LANCASHIRE EXPERIMENTS. '

Experiments in the use of oil as an alternative to coal for power in Lancashire mills are being watched by a group of mill engineers. /The broad conclusion at which they have arrived froni fifteen experiments, undertaken principally . jri' the Bolton and Oldham areas, is that, though none could be regarded as an unqualified success, there is sufficient in the general outcome to warrant an application of engineering minds to tho problem of adaptation in view of possibilities in new mills, and wherever boilers have to be replaced. At present there is practically no difference in the cost of the raw material,,- especially when the disposal of refuse—often a matter of great difficulty —is taken into consideration. The chief criticism met with was the difficulty of getting up sufficient power. It might be overcome by improvements in spraying apparatus, from which the best results have so far undoubtedly come. Spraying not only added to the length of the lame, but reduced the likelihood of the deterioration of inner surfaces which many boiler specialists fear from the adoption of oil under conditions dositfnod coal. The hope of the future lies in 'the invention of a system which, whilst it derives every advantage from the natural facility of oil "stoking." also extracts tho maximum of beat, and obviates drawbacks which are at present admitted. It is urged that improvements already effected in the present experiments—many baaed on the crudest rnejhods—give reason for tho belief that, oil may become a practicable competitor with coal as a mill fuel.