NEW FUEL SUCCESS

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 328, 15 September 1932, Page 3

NEW FUEL SUCCESS

GREAT POSSIBILITIES BRIGHT HOPES FOR COAL INDUSTRY REYIYAL. BOOM TO SHIPPING TRADE. "Every expectation has been realised!" Such is the thrilling and eonfident report received from the engineers of the Cunarder Scythia concerning the tests applied to the new fuel during the vessel's voyage to New York. The fuel is a combination of oil and pulverised coal. Its successful use now reported is the eulmination of experiments spread over many years. The importance of the results for the British coal iridustry cannot be exaggerated. We have a new national asset to which our coal mines will make a vital contribution. A message of hope for Britain's coalmining, shiphuilding, iron and steel- and engineering industries,

the importance of which can hardly be over-estimated, lies in four words cabled from New York to the Cunard Company in Liverpool. The words "Scythia — all expectations realised" told the officials of the company that "Coloidal," their new oil-and-pulverised-coal fuel which the liner Scythia was trying out on her voyage to New York, had proved a compelte success. It was reported later that its steam-raising quality. was slightly higher than that of oil alone, while it did not in any way foul the boiler burners. Already the Admiralty, which now burns 5,000,000 tons of oil fuel a year, and the Mines Department are anxious to test "Coloidal," and if first successful results are maintained the Cunard Company will hand over ' the secret 'formula of the mixture to the Government and tlie nation. I "Prosperity Again." "The . discovery opens up limitless ; possibilities," a shipping authority j said. "The solution of the problem of stopping the powdered coal from , sinlcing to the bottom of the storage t tanks means that prosperity is again i

in sight for us all." At present the Cunard Company, who have not a single coal-fired vessel in their fleet, burn .about a million tons of oil a year. If the new fuel, which is composed of oil and pulverised coal in the proportion of six to four, is substituted, it will mean the consumption of at least 400,000 tons of coal per annum. If the fuel is adopted throughout the Britsh mercantile marine and the Royal Navy it will mean an added annual consumption running into millions of tons. It would save the Navy alone twothirds of its fuel bill. Huge plants for pulverising will also be required, which will provide enormous opportuiiities for the, iron, steel, and engineering trades. Such activity would eventually be reflected in the shiphuilding yards, now mainly lying idle! Further experiments are being conducted, and it is possible that by using different qualities of oil and coal a proportion of coal even greater than 40- per cent. may be introdueed into the fuel, the use of which does not involve any alteration in the engines, boilers, or burners of oilfired vessels. Work of Three Experts. The experts responsible tor the new fuel are Mr. R. A. Adam, assistant superintendent engineer of the Cunard Company, Mr. F. C. Holmes, chief chemist, and Mr. A. W. Perrins, a combustion engineer. Recently a powerful deputation from the South Wales coal industry waited on the Admiralty to ask if the Navy might not, in part at least, return to coal fuel. They could he given no hope,. But if "Coloidal" does all it promises, the South Wales pits may once again provide coal for the Navy's "Col- 1 oidal." One important, if indirect, outcome of the discovery is that the Cunard Company may, in the near future, he ahle to complete its mamoth liner, whose building was suspended during the financial crisis, and start work on her sister ship of 60,000 tons. Precise details of the, cost of "Coloidal" fuel cannot yet he given. The following figures, based on today's prices of coal and oil supplied to ship, will, however, serve to show that "Coloidal" will prove cheaper than ordinax'y coal: — One hundred tons of fuel oil today costs hetween £325 and £375. Sixty tons of oil and 40 tons of coal for making "Coloidal" fuel would cost hetween £220 and £260. To these figures for the "Coloidal" fuel must be added the cost of pulverising the coal, but even assuming the ridiculously high figure of 10s per ton the cost of the new fuel would still be from £50 to £70 per 100 tons le,ss than that of ordinary oil.