POWDERED COAL FUEL

Manawatu Times, Volume LIII, Issue 6735, 11 October 1928, Page 8

POWDERED COAL FUEL

UTILISATION ON SHIPS. SUCCESSFUL INOVATION. SYSTEM “COME TO STAY.” LONDON. Nautical engineers and shipping experts inspected, a few days ago, the pulverised fuel system on board the Blue Star liner Stuartstar, 3.0,646 tons, which has returned from a 13,000-milo journey. The Stuartfetar is the first British vessel in which this system has been fully tested, and the experts expressed themselves as satisfied with the apparent advantages of the new plant. / The chief engineer-surveyor of the Blue Star Line stated that, at the instigation of Sir E. Vestey, joint head of the line, the system would ultimately be used in the passenger vessels on the South American service in the same class as the Stuartstar. The sav-, ing in cost of fuel is said to bo considerable, and the Stuartstar on arrival in port was specklessly clean, in spite of the fact that the coal had been powdered on board. The coal powder is pulverised until it passes through a mesh which has 90,000 holes to the square inch. Mr. Cook, chief engineer of the ship, explaining the method said; “The coal powder is delivered from the end of the hopper or feeder, into the electri-cally-driven pulveriser, by an endless band. After grinding, a'powerful fan sprays it at great speed into the furnace. Such foreign matter as tramp iron in the coal supplies cannot hurt the pulveriser.” Fourteen tons of coal is the average consumption of a single boiler fitted with the apparatus. A hand-fired furnace, consumes 16 tons a day. The type of coal used costs 9s. a ton. “We did not have a single hitch, in spite of the fact that the installation was installed in only 10 days,” said Mr. Cook. 4 4 Pulverised fuel has come to stay.” ' Tho chief engineer .of the Board of Trade, who inspected the ship for that department, said: “I think that pulverised fuel will prove a serious competitor to oil fuel.