COAL V.GAS AND THE DYING STEAM ENGINE.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLVI, Issue 78710, 11 January 1904, Page 2

COAL V.GAS AND THE DYING STEAM ENGINE.

(From Fdi.play.i A rathor propbe<ic,*but al the same time prnctical and coaymon-sense article, entitled "The Coming Century of Ghs and of the Explosion Motor, and the Dying Steam- Kng'nt 1 ," has recently appeared in the Weter Zdiung. The article is worthy of no'ice, at d the substance o) ir. is contained in the following lines. The writer starts by declaring that if it ia taken for grunted that pic coal remains aod will remain in the coming century ihe source of power and heat,, it is just as certain th*r. coal-gas will play a muoli greaier part than is dreamed of by 'most people, for the following reasons. Whe>< coal in burmd in-n stove only about 3 or

4 per cent, of the faent it eontfiris is utilised. The best steam engine pn'y uti'ises 12 por cent. If the coal is burm-d under the sseam boiler, nil its most valu able cons'i uentß are consumed with hi.c., its t>i rogenous ingredients, from which aoilme oyes are mede, are anmh)-' lattd, inasmuch as they do hoc assist the. coLubu3tton but rather hinder it. Whatever improvements may be via.de, therefore, in the stoking of sre»m boilers, the} will do very little to remedy this inooniplete utilisation of coal. On the other hacd, much better rt suits will be obtnined if the coal is disintegrated by ,somt ! cheuiieul or other process' before io is; burned, and then, while abstaining from burning the separate- resulting products , under the boiler, only to introduce the gas itito the cylinder to be exploded there, ! and u:ing the coke, tar, and bmmonia foi j other purpose?. With the gas-motor the i coal-gas is burned direct, uifida the ♦cylinder. The steam boiler is dispensed I wi h, and the percentage ot uiiiisntiori is ' no longer 12, but between 2t> and 55 per cent. That is why the steam-engine for small and medium sized machines is fast dying out. It. ts only in. the case of steamship 3 tha> th<* t-xplosion or gas motor has not yet b^ availed of in this way, bfcause io 's not.'sunable, nnd a gas factory cannot bt installed on board a vessel. Ne\erthf<less the gas. motor will eventually take the place of ti>e Bteam-engioe, bo-h for inland and ocean navigation, seeing that the method of burning coal on boa. dsi earners is being constantly improved. If a Vessel could ojrry her^fuel in a concentrated form, she might then, perhaps,' ship enough at one time to make a circuit ol the globe at full speed. At present, it often happens that a large-si^ed swift steamer, ,in order to prtserve ' rs mueb, Rpace as possible for cargo, will s artwiih ooly sufficient fu^l to take her half-waj on her voyage of three or four thousand miles, and consequently baa to stop to coal again midway. Another thing to be taken into considerAtion, is thui wi h a gas-moior there • would be not only an enormous saving of weight by dispensing with the boilf rs, but bnlv a fifth, or perhaps a tenth, of ibu weight of fuel would be required. But many years will pnss before the gaß-inotor arrives at' this ppiiii of perfr ctiDn. In the first place, the heating- medium has to be discovered, for g<ts cannot be carded on shipboard. Certainly petroleum is only concentrated gas, snd with certain modifications, it will suit admirably, for the iao.ive ppwer of pessels ; bpt should it be generally usid such enormous quantities would be required that tJie oil wells bow existing, and/ptobably as many others as might be ( opened up later on, would be quite inadequaso. We are therefore again ; driven back upon coal— coaUgas factories will have to be set up at a'continuallyinoreasing rate. It is in the gas factories that the sep irate ingredients of coal are most • oomplbtely disintegrated. Gas,, coke, tar, ammonia* .etc , are each of more value or are more useful than the coal itself. There are already places where! notwithstanding an excellent supply of eleofricity, the population consumes as much as 110 oubic m-tres of gas per htad per aunurn; There ar.»v indeed, cities where already more than 60 per cent, of the fainMies oook by means of gas alone, and" this principally among the working population, because it is both cheaper and mere convenient. We are thus entering upon a oentury of gasworks and gas-motors. (Eltctricuy dues not come in question, being only a secondary product.) \Ve are ne^nng the time when we shall be able to disponae altogether uijth the' i^ireot use of coal for | cooking, healing, and motive purposes. ■ The coal will all' be disintegrated at the i gasworks, an 3 thb will also be a eimple solution of the vexed emoke qussiion. Nothing will be burned but coke or gas, and neither of these produces suioke or combustion. Very few people have peroeived at the light time the great future in store for. gasworks ; the universal cry Was " Eleciricity swump everything !11! 11 and gas-leaking went down in public estimtitton. The majority, however, are returning to their old love ; it is true' that there Are still some good prospects for elect riitiy, but electricity will promote gas-mijjltiug rather than extinguish it, A^ l«a(%this ia what the Weser Ztitungßa3B.

"He gets his moneys worth." That is what the name McCormick means every time you see a binder, mower or reaper wbikihg on,' q. fatm.— Atfy^,