PULVERISED FUEL

Hokitika Guardian, 22 May 1930, Page 7

PULVERISED FUEL

USE IN CARGO' STEAMERS,

AN INTERESTING INNOVATION.

An interesting arrival at Lyttelton on Monday from London, via Suva, was the New Zealand Shipping 'Company’s big cargo steamer Hororata, which, since her last visit to New Zealand, lias had her stokehold, with the exception of one reserve boiler, entirely converted to the use of pul-

verised coal. From tlio information which could he gathered on the vessel’s arrival it is clear that the new system 1 is too much in the experimental stage' 1 at present to judge of its success or not. The Hororata certainly lost time on the voyage out; she was originally due at Lyttelton on May 12th, but heavy weather in the Atlantic caused most of tho delay, and a slight mechanical trouble' with the , pulverisers lost the ship another day and a half. However, the big factor in determining the justification or otherwise of the pulverising system is "the running' cost, an.d naturally , this can only be ascertained when the Hororata reaches Home at the conclusion of the voyage. :*

. Accompanying the Hororata on the I'oyage is Air D. Dunn, representing Messrs R. H. Green and Silley Weir, London, the manufacturers of the plant, and an assistant, who have supervised the running of the pulverising mills. To a representative of the “Press” Mr-.Dullil said the I-lororata was the first ship to.lbC 1 installed by his company, although there Fel'e Several systems being tried out by other companies at the present time. One of the advantages of the system was that it used 10 per cent less coal than hand-firing. The slight breakdown on the voyage was duo to the coal being of a,very inferior quality, being hard and slaty. The

trouble was remedied and adjustments effected so that it was unlikely to recur. Minor alterations and improvements woidd probably he made as a result of the experience of the present voyage. His company had been working on the system for two and a half years. On the two previous voyages, when the Hororata was running with half of her boilers converted to pulverised fuel, he had accompanied the ship as far as Panama, but on this occasion his company were desirous of obtaining full data for the whole of the voyage. He expected that Westport coal would be taken in for the first part of the Homeward voyage. Both Captain Alatthews and the chief engineer, Mr AY. McEwan, declined to make any comment on the use of the new fuel. From other sources it was learned that the system was not looked upon until favour by those whose work it is to keep the decks 1 and fittings clean. In calm weather, especially if rain is falling, the fino ash from the powdered fuel is distributed all over the ship.

A STORMY PASSAGE

The Hororata sailed from London on March 24th. Very stormy weather was experienced for two weeks in the Atlantic. The Panama Canal was reached on April 14th. The weather in the Pacific was fine and Suva ivas reached on May 10th. After discharging general cargo tho lloro r rata left Suva on Tuesday last and had a fine-weather run to Lyttelton, where she dropped anchor in the stream at 2 o’clock yesterday morning, having picked up a- day on the run from Suva. The Hororata. .made the voyage out from. London rvith five of her six boilers fired automatically with pulverised coal. The Board of Trade required that the sixth boiler, kept as a reserve, should he hand-fired so that in the event of a breakdoAvn in tho neAV system steam could still 'be raised . for steerage way, pumping, and lighting. The Hororata is of 11,200 tons gross, and her engines are of nearly 6000 horso-power. On the previous two voyages to New Zealand the vessel had three of her boilers fired, with pulverised coal, the other three being hand-fired. Two more boilers have now been converted to the new system and it is expected that the Hororata will now do Avith fire boilers Avhat Avas previously done Avith

THE PULA'ERISING PLANT.

The system of pulverised-coal firing installed in the XI or or at a is • the Howden-Buoll Company's, who are the patentees. Coal is crushed and then delivered by conveyers and chutes into - pulverising mills in the stoke-hold. The-mills, of which there are five, convert th£ coal into a fine powder Wllioh is blowri by air pressure into the fireboxes, in much the same manner as till fuel. The 37 How-dan-Buell Company estimate that the owners of the Hororata will save £fin(X) a year Oil firing costs. The stokehold crew has been reduced 'by twelve. Among tlie satisfactoiy resalts claimed is that a constant head of steam can be maintained, whereas .v’ith hand-firing with the cleaning of the fires every watch, thst is, every four hours, fluctuations in the s|eam pressure necessarily occur. Improved combustion has led to a further economy in fuel. The design of 'the nilverising mills has been improved so that the horse-power required to drive each mill is now only ■ between nine and ten. The manufacturers of the plant do not claim that it is likely to compete with oil fuel plants in passenger steamers, but they expect LU to justify itself- in cargo vessels, particularly as it has been shown capable of burning almost any kind of coal. Bunker coal is taken in in the usual way and no special precautions such as are used with oil fuel are necessary. The capital cost of converting hand-firei steamers into pul-verised-fuol burners is considerable, hut, it is claimed, is off-set by the resultant economy of working over a period of years. In the case of new ships, the cost of installing the pulverising plant is said to he less than that of an oil-burning plant.

BENEFIT TO GOAL INDUSTRY

Should the new system of coal combustion prove so successful as to warrant its general adoption by cargo and tramp steamers its beneficial effect on the coal industry in general, and on the British coal industry in particular would be almost incalculable. It was soon after the war that oil fuel began, to come into favour, and in recent years its displacement of coal, both in new ships and in the conversion of those formerly using coal, has been extensive. It is not likely that coal, even in pulverised form, will ever displace oil fuel in modern passenger liners: But as regards cargo vessels the saving of 15 to 20 per cent in running cost, which it is hoped to attain with the new system, may he the means of stemming the present partiality of owners for oil-fired ships and motor-ships, with the result that the coal industry may once again look to the mercantile marine as an increasing consumer, instead of, as it is at the presen day, a rapidly diminishing one.