Solid Oil as a Marine Fuel.

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 25, Issue 40, 26 May 1914, Page 7

Solid Oil as a Marine Fuel.

The question of a solid fuel for ocean liners in the shape of solidified petroleum Is being taken up of late In Europe, and the outlook for this kind of fuel seems promising. \ Tests have been .made in many countries with spray fuel burners, but when it came to actually applying these on shipboard an obstacle arose, as the new method would lead to a radical transformation of the existing apparatus.

Not only are special oil burners needed for the furnaces, as well as regulating appliances, but the devices for loading the liquid combustible on board would need to be changed. Besides, great storage tanks are needed for the liquid, and the action of the latter upon the walls of the tanks would be strongly felt when the vessel is rolling at sea.

It was decided quite recently at an important meeting of shipowners at London to go into the production of solidified petroleum briquettes on a large scale. These are obtained without any great chemical manipulation. The crude oil is boiled and to it is added a certain amount of stearic acid with an alcoholic solution of caustic soda. Upon cooling, there is obtained a transparent mass somewhat resembling glycerine soap, and it has sufficient cohesion to allow of making it into square-shaped briquettes. These are easy to handle, as they are not brittle nor do they cause dust. Such blocks ■ have a slow and very regular combustion owing to the uniformity of structure. The weather does not seem to affect them, and they always remain clear. Even boiling water is said to have no effect on the briquettes. The heat production from them is such that a ton of solidified petroleum serves instead of 2i tons of coal. The , great saving of space on ship-

hoard is evident, and another point is the great all-round economy realised for producing an equal amount of steam.

Some British naval engineers studied the question, says "The Scientific Americn," and concluded that for a single trip of a Ounard liner from England to New* York and return the lowest figure for the saving would be £12,000. They also reported the following points in favour of the new fuel : No appreciable modification of the furnaces or bunkers is needed ; the briquettes burn very well in open furnaces ; they have a very high calorific power ; no inflammable gas is given off under the action of heat in the furnace ; they burn slowly without running of liquid, nor is there any crackling or explosion. No ash is left. Their regular shape facilitates storage, and there is no space lost The briquettes harden with time and reach a great crushing resistance. The range of the vessel will he much increased, which is a capital point for war vessels.

From another point of view, it is held that the navigation companies will be more inclined to increase the speed of the ocean liners, since they are able to obtain high steam pressure at a much less cost foi fuel than before. On the whole the new method appears to be £ promising one, and a great success is predicted for the solidified petroleum owing to its low price, and its adoption may prove to be rapid in the near future, for liquid petroleum would only be able to replace coal in a gradual way, owing to the great cost of changing over furnaces and bunkers.