STEAM AT SEA

Evening Star, Issue 20194, 6 June 1929, Page 2

STEAM AT SEA

STILL PREDOMINANT That out of the dozen papers pre- ' seated at the spring meetings or the i Institution of Naval Architects five—-or | seven if two on warships be included — £ were concerned with the-generation or V nsc of steam at sea, may be regarded - as indicating, that in the opinion of a | di|tu3guished body of xharine engineers arid naval architects steam is not obso- *! IctApbr •veh obsolescent, for their pur- ■ . pose, says * The Times.’ , Mr John Johnh son, the author of one of the papers, 5 indeed declared . that ■ “all -circumstances considered, high: pressure steam propulsion may, be expected to occupy : a predominant position. By employ,ing steam generated in water-tube boilers at high pressure and temperatures .Jhe-.has effected remarkable reductions in the fuel consumptions of tho Gana- . .diaß -..Pacific Railway steamers under his charge, and he expects do still 'r ■' -more-in a new liner under construction. ■/“iFre-claimß other inherent merits for steam propulsion, such as low first cost. ; ’ ■ minimum weight of machinery and bun"S kers, and low maintenance charges. <' Reference was also made to powdered “ coal, ithe advantages of which,;theor6tlrally are beyond dispute. To all in- ’" tcnU' and purposcs> ib is a liquid fuel,

which can bo handled and burned like oil, and it has the same attractions of lightening tho labours of the men in the stokehold, and, of avoiding the necessity for periodically cleaning the fires, which leads to waste of fuel and irregularity of steaming. Mr Johnson lias visions of the time when shipowners will be able to secure these advantages in the same ship with both coal and oil as they choose, the naval architect contriving the tanks and the engineer tho stokehold in such a way that either pulverised coal or oil can be carried and burned in the furnaces at .will. Success in overcoming the undoubted difficulties would enable steamers to take in either coal or oil, whichever was cheaper at the ports at which they, had to bunker, and on a wider view they would not be put out or action if in any way they were deprived of supplies of oil—in contrast with the motor ship, which without oil is a useless mass of steel.