A NEW MOTIAE POWER FOR VESSELS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2240, 4 February 1897, Page 23

A NEW MOTIAE POWER FOR VESSELS.

, j (New York .Tribune, Ist November.) i ; The Secor direot propulsion system boa^ designed to revolutionise motive power in ' vessels, is rapidly approaching completion ati the Secor works, in Forty-third street, South [ Brooklyn. The hull has been entirely plate 1 : over. A second and smaller boat is also beu g • fitted up as a "tender," the motive power being similar. The larger boat is to be tr.ed j by a board of line and staff offioerß of tha j United States navy as soon as she is com- ; pleted. Provision was made for this board in 1 t the last Navy Bill, and it will take into con" . sideration the relative merits of the system as compared with steam — the relative merits as regards displacement, waste of fuel, liability to accidents, and speed endurance. The board will also examine into tha practicability of the system, especially with regard to toroedo boats and coast defenoe vessels. It : is worthy of notice that Eugineer A. A. Wilson, ' formerly of the Quintard Iron Works, where ■ the Maine and other war vessels* were built, has | undertaken the supervision of the construction ! of the Seoor boat, flaoh part if the mechanism > is made with the utmost care, and the slightest 1 flaw in the casting leads to its rejection. John j A. Secor, the inventor, if taking no risks that . he can avoid in building this boat. This i| nob ; to be wondered at, when it is considered that ; 300,000d0l has been spent in developing and . perfecting the direot propulsion system.- , In the marine steam engine there are a thouI sand and one leaks of power in one shape ot j another, which Mr Secor aim*, to avoid by j direotly converting heat into power. Originality he need the intervention of steam, bnt he has I now abandoned the steam boiler. Mr Bdison i has been working for years on a system by whloh I- heat is converted into electricity and then into { power as applied to vessels. This comes behind ! the Secor system as far as directness is oon- • cerned. The great object of the plan is the j economising of spaoe. Au enormous propor- > tion of every vessel it taken up by tha boilers, ( furnaces, and coal bunkers. ( In naval vessels their fighting capacity is ; limited by the endurance of tljie magazine. With ' the modern rapid-fire guns this a serious question, as the supply of ammunition is limited, and would soon be exhausted. After tho recent manoeuvres of the North Atlantic squadron an ; investigation was made on this subjeot, and it j was found that on the New York the Bin rifle : ammunition would last only 7 boon and 2 ! minutes ; the 4io guns, 2 hours and 16 minute* ; 1 tbe six-pounder rapid fire gam, 3 hoars and 20 ' minute* ; and the one-pounders, 9 hours and 18 j minutes. The Gin rifles of the Newark would be i idle in 9 hours and 52 minutes, while the ! Raleigh could only use her Bin rifles for 4 ! hours and 24- minutes. Among the battleships ; tho Indiana's 13in rifles oould only tire 5 hours sad 53 minutes, while her Bia battery could oon- , tinue in action 11 hours and 40 minutes, bat the 6in battery would have given out in 3 hours and 53 nihmtes. The 20-gun battery of six-pounders , would go out of aotion in 1 hour and 58 minutes, while the six one-pounders could fire for 4 hours and 37 minutes. The Cincinnati's' one (Ua rifle could only be f«d for 3 hours and 41 , minutec, her 10'5in rapid lire guvs for 1 hour 1 and 50 minutes, the *ix-puundtr 'battery of eight guns for 2 hours and 18 minutes, and the two one-pounders for 6' hours and 40 minutes. The Columbia's record is better, her 8-inch battery's supply lasting for 7 hours and 23 minutes, the 6 inch for 9 hours and 33 minutes, the 4-inch for 7 hoars and 43 minnte&, the six-pounders for 3 hours and 20 minutes, ar.d the one-pounders for 3 hoars and 54 minutes. , ' After the fires were drawn on one of the i monitors some time ago it took a week to cool down the enormous mass of heated metal that formed the boilers and furnaces so that they could be entered for repairs. Not only thit, but tbe condition* of the fire and engine rooms ' load to dreadful waste of life. The average fire, room temperature of an ccean steamer is I anywhere from HOdeg to 120deg. „ '' | These are some of the evils that the Secor system is intended to eliminate. The boiler, furnaces, and coal bunker spaoe will be available for other purposes. The inaovation is a startling ' one, and there is nothing to wonder at in the taot that rteamship engineers look upon it coldly. If adopted it makes all their knowledge useless, and it would entirely revolutionise existing conditions. The basis j of it is the use of petroleum for fuel ; acid a creator of power. Mr Wilson said yesterday that some years ago he conducted tests on locomotives for the Alexandria and Riohj mond Railroad Company, to find oat the relative values of petroleum and coal. The result , showed that 1 gallon cf oil was equal to 16jlb > of coal. Similar experiments on the FennsylI vania railroad showed a similar result. It is , contended that the increased space allowed by the Seoor system would quadruple the fighting . endurance powers of a naval vessel, and corre- [ spondihgly increase tbe carrying oapaoity of a ', merchant vessel. The system is based on the I great explosive power to be generated from oil ' and air or steam generated by an eleotric spark. ■ \ This is applied directly to an engine and produces power, but this power is not applied to the propulsion except indirectly. In the stern of the vessel are two cylinders, placed olose I together, one on each side of the rudder 1 frame. The diameter is gauged by the size, draught, power, and speed of the ship. The ' outer end is closed by a valve ; inboard there is J a piston. A quantity of atomised oil is injeoled I into theae cylinders, tbe pistons compress it, I and an electric spark explodes it just as the j outboard valve opens, projecting the whole fores ! of the explosion against the water at the stern. It is another form of the well-known principle ot action and reaction differently applied. Two steel oanal boats for the Erie, Canal, propelled by this system, have been ordered already. The space to be occupied by tbe Seoor system must be less, under the contracts.

than that formerly occupied by the mule stable on board, Mr Secor does cob claim to secure cent, per cent, results, but he does claim to obtain a result of 60 per cent, of the power generated under bis .«\st-pm. The explosions, or impulses, ag they are called, hive been obtained as high as 6CO a minute, but these do Hot give the best resnlta, about 160 to the minute beiug all that will be used in the new boat. After the trial here before the Naval Board of Inquiry the bo*t will be taken to Washington for inspection by the members of Congress and the Senate. Should' the system not be adopted by this Government, an offer will be made to the English Government, - naval officers of which have already examined the system. The vessel now nearly completed has the following dimensions: — Length over all, 75ft ; water line, 65ft ; beam, lift ; draught (loaded), 3£'t. She is built entirely of steel, frames included. The straight stem is planed out on each side so as to allow the bow plates to fit in flash. The hull is fitted with four steel bulkheads, dividing it 'into five compartments. With 160 impulses & ruiuube from each cylinder the speed expected in 16 miles an hour, while the launch is being built for a speed of eight miles, the navy launches making six miles.