THE CALORIC SHIP

Otago Witness, Issue 82, 11 December 1852, Page 4

THE CALORIC SHIP

The application of a new power which is to sujmrsede steam, bids fair to be successful. The following accouut of the " Caloric Ship*' is most interesting :

The Boston (United States) Evening Trattscrijrt gives the following account of this enterpiise, in its journal of the sth May, after a personal visit to the works in this city, where the machinery for the new Caloric Ship is being built, and where also a sixtyhorse power trial engine is in operation on this new principle for the production of motive power :—: —

" The idea of substituting a new and superior motive power for steam will no doubt strike many minds as extravagant, if not chimerical. We have been so accustomed to regard steam power as the neplus ultra of attainment in subjecting the modified forces of nature to the service of man, that a discovery which promises to supersede this agency will have to contend with the most formidable preconceptions, as well as with gigantic interests. Nevertheless it may now be predicted with confidence that we are on the eve of another great revolution, produced by the application of an agent more economical and incalculably safer than steam. A few years hence we shall hear of the ' wonders of caloric,' instead of the ' wonders of steam.' To the question, ' How did you cross the Atlantic?' the reply will be, 'By caloric, of course !' On Saturday I \ isited the manufactory, and had the privilege of inspecting Ericsson's caloric engine of sixty-horse power, while it was in operation. It consists of two pairs of cylinders, the working pistons cf which are 72 inches in diameter. Its great peculiaiities consists in its very large cylinders and pistons, working with very low pressure, and in the absence of boilers or heaters, there being no other fires employed than those in small grates under the bottoms of the working cylinders. During the eight months that this test-engine has been in operation, not a cent has been expended for repairs or accidents. It is a beautiful and imposing object, and conveys the idea of power and symmetry much more impressively than the largest steam-engine that I have cv er seen. The leading principle of the caloric engine consists in producing motive power by the employment of the expansive force of atmospheric air instead of that of steam ; the force being produced by compression of the air, in one part of the machine, and by its dilation by the application of heat in another part. This dilation, however, is not effected by continuous application of combustibles, but by a peculiar process of transfer, by which the caloric is made to operate over and over again, viz., the heat of the air escaping from the working cylinder at each successive stroke of the engine, is transferred to the cold, compressed air, entering the same ; so that, in fact, a continued application of fuel is only necessary in order to make good the losses of heat occasioned by the unavoidable radiation of the heated parts of the machine. The obvious advantages of this great improvement are the great saving of fuel and of labour in the management of the engine, and its jwfect safety. A ship carrying the amount of coal that the Atlantic steamers now take for a single trip could cross and recross the Atlantic twice without taking in coal ; and the voyage to China or California would be easily accomplished by a caloric ship without the necessity of stopping at any port to take in fuel. Anthracite coal being far the best fuel for this new engine, we shall no longer have to purchase bituminous coal in England for return trips. On the contrary, England will find it advantageous to come to us for our anthracite. A slow radiating fire without flame is what is required, and this is best supplied by our anthracite. There being no smoke, a short pipe to carry x off the carbonic oxide gas and other products of combustion is all that is needed. But the great advantage of this important improvement, and that which, in the absence of other advantages, would commend it to adoption, is the entire safety of the engine, an explosion being impossible. In steam engines, if the water get? low, or if there is an excess of pressure, or any defect in the materials of which the boiler is composed, or an over-heating of the furnace tops, occasioned by incrustation formed by salt, in marine boilers, &c, an explosion is inevitable. But in the caloric engine the only result from neglect will be the stoppage of the engine. The present test engine shows that there must be a neglect to put in fuel for the space of three hours before the speed is even slackened. Thus you have nothing to fear from a sleepy engineer or an ambitious captain ; and all the while not one quarter the amount of attendance., and labour required to keep a steam-engine in motion will be needed. When we consider the amount of human mutilation, suffering, and loss which will be prevented for a ,

century to come, when this invention shall have

passed into general use, surely every philanthropist will hid God speed to this new motive engine. A caloric ship of 2,200 tons, to be called the Ericsson, is now in process of construction, and is in such a state of forwardness that she will be in frames by the end of next week. She is a very beautiful model, and is the admiration of all shipbuilders for her remarkable strength, being admitted to have the strongest bottom of any ship built in New York. The machinery is more than half completed. I saw three out of the four working cylinders, the paddle wheels, all the valves and valve chests, the main links and connecting rods, the bed plates, the main pillar blocks, and various other parts of the engine — all of them massive forms of metal, cast with the utmost precision and smoothness, and the castings pronounced by competent jndges to be superior to the best in the British steamers. The cylinders are 168 inches in diameter : 72 inches larger than those in the Collins steamers. The Ericsson will be ready for sea by October next, and her owners intend to take passengers at a reduced price, in consequence of the reduced expenses under the new principle. The ship belongs to Mr. John B. Hitching, and a few other wealthy men. The Ericsson will be commanded by Captain Lowber."