Liquid Fuel for Steamships.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2950, 23 November 1900, Page 3

Liquid Fuel for Steamships.

There recently arrived in the Thames, says the “Daily Chronicle,” the first cargo of Borneo oil for London, tvhich has been delivered to the Gas Light and Coke Company and the Brighton Gas Company, to be used for enriching ordinary gas. * As it has been secured 25 per cent, cheaper than supplies from Russia and America, it is expected that its consumption for gas-making purposes will increase considerably in this country. This is the first instance of a steamship having covered over 9000 miles by the consumption of oil alone. A ton of oil is equal to the consumption of two tons of coal. Where eighteen stokers were required formerly, only six were needed on this trip, and the engineers report that the absence of coaldust and smoke kept t]je machinery and ship clean the whole time. 'The 'vessel in question belongs to the “ Shell ” Transport and Trading Company, which has been developing the Borneo oil trade, and they hope to demonstrate to this country that, as a result of the unlimited supplies they can place on the market, the price of coals will be materially reduced in time. They have 37 steamers engaged in the trade, the majority of which have been fitted out to consume oil. They have fitted out the Gorman battleship Furst Bismarck with oil appliances for operations on the China station. The Hamburg American line has just accepted a contract for ten years for the supply of oil to all its ships engaged in the eastern trade.

Another article iu the same journal describes the use of oil as fuel on steamboats on the river Volga. Near Saratcf, the writer says, we made fast to a huge oil barge, and I think this was the most interesting incident on the Volga. No fuel but oil is used upon the river or near it, and the consumption is increasing s« fast that, although the supply js steadily increasing also, the price is steadily rising. It is not, of course, petroleum or kerosene, as we know it, but the heavy residue after these light oils are refined. The residue, for its fuel value, is worth more than the illuminating oils, and indeed I , was told that the wlmlf* industry practically exists to prod ice ibis residue. As scon as .ve made fast, a long wooden sluice w r as run aboard, one end of which was under the canvas pipe leading from a huge tank on the deck of the barge, and the other end over the opening of our own oil cisterns amidships. The word was given, and instantly a thick, dark green, almost inodorous stream rushed doyu the slgice. In less than an hour ere had taken on board some forty tons, enough for four days and nights of consecutive steaming. When we cast off again I went down to the stokehold to see wdiat became of the oil. There were four large cylindrical boilers, each with apparently an ordinary firebox, but without any grate Lav?. In each furnacq dgor was an opening a few inches wide, and two pipes, about in diameter, descended from the roof, and coalescing in a joint with two taps, like that which unites the oxygen and hydrogen cylinders of a magic la-ntgrp, prqjqctp.ct a little way into the firebox. The principle is precisely that of the familiar o/oniser or scent-spray, the oil coming into contact with a jet of steam, an 1 being driven into the furnace in the shape of (he blast of petroleum vapour, wdiich burns fiercely with a deafening roar. The heat is intense, the inside of the furnace being red-hot all rsund, but it astonishing to see a perfectly empty firebox, with all the boiler-tubes in full sight, and not a cinder nor a trace of smoke. The stoke-hole is as clean as any other part of the vessel, and two stoker:-! stand quietly, each before a pair of l A offcr?, with a, little wooden m;i%t w his hand. This is to lap the steam and oil cocks, as they are too hot to touch. A few taps, and one of the boiler fives is extinguished. A few more taps, and a torch thrust for a second through (ho opening, and it is alight again. Half a. dozen taps and one furnace is blazing shrdlucmfwyp slirldub furnace is burning wdth a blaze and a- heat and a roar positively alarming. The contrast between this simplicity and cleanlines and the banging, tbo dud, the sweat, and the cinder-shifting of an ordinary stokehold Is extraordinary. When I went on deck there was not even a suggestion of smoke from the one bread, low, funnel, j and the captain told me (hat he could get up steam from cold water in a little over 1 .half at\ how.