COAL-GAS PROGRESS.
Page 19
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Gas Firing of Steam Wagon Boilers.
The extreme wastefulness in. the present systems of extracting the hat, from coal.i-s well understood and recogsraised, but serious efforts to alter it have never been attempted.' But the Machinery of "control" has now been established, and the community has learned to suffer control—not gladly, perhaps but with a spirit of willingness to do what is considered advantageous to the nation. So we may reaSonably anticipate the introduction of measures which will prevent the burning of raw deal in open grates and furnaces when other less wasteful alternatives can be found.
It is claimed for coal-gas thb.t it offers material economic advantages, whilst a plentiful supply of coke results from the retorting of coal. With these two alternatives admittedly available, -we think that owners of 'steam-driven wagons would be wise if they cast their thoughts towards them in anticipation Of the restriction on the use of caw coal which so many students of the fuel problem contemplated as being reasonably likely to be introduced.
With regard to efficiency a ton of coal will produce 11,000 cubic ft. of gas, so that a pound weight of coal is good for 5 cubic ft. of gas. But gas is about 25 per cent. inferior to coal in its evaporative effect.
If we take it that a steam wagon. uses 200 lb. weight of coal on, we will say, half a day's work we should want in order to get ;11e-s, me evaporative effect about 1250 cut,. 'is: of gas. The weight of the storage for this quantity of fuel would be about 6 cwt. as against which, however, the weight of the ash pan could be saved.
Certain economies of carried weight could be effected. For instance, the preliminary heating of the boiler in the shed would not need to be effected in the case of gas by means of the compressed gas in the cylinders, gas for the purpose
bells; taken from the mains. During loading and unloading operations the gas would be turned down; thus effecting a material fuel Saving ilvhiblis is not possible with solid fuels. There would be no clinker to worry about and handle. The storage of the fuel Would 'ho' disPonsed with, as transport by Pipe line from the as works to the cylinders °lithe wagon is, one may say, already generally accomplished. No heat is wasted in the flue gases. 'all the heat being taken out of tile gas nefore it has passed Out of the" furne. The 'discharge-is clean without simg-e, which is a great advantage in present circumstances, when smokeless steam coal is hard to obtain. :
Gas Almost an Ideal Fuel.
In fact,. gas is looked upon as being almost an ideal fuel, being simple to instal, to provide for and to control, and certain authorities consider that when boilers have been made to suit the particular needs of gas firing, it should show a higher efficiency than coal -firing. By using softened water and cleaned gas the, boiler would be able to work in its most effi.Ment state.
A certain amount of experimenti»g will be necessary, but it could all. be carried out on stationary plant's, and if the results were found to be sufficiently favourable, there is no doubt that licences for 'the construetion of Metal cylinders and other fittings could be obtained through the Gas Traction Committee under Section 17 of their interim report.
It most be'remembered that if ga:s is used for the firing of steam Wagon boilers it will be used under pressure, and experience shows that Join 8.1b. to 12 lb. on the sq. in. is the best pressure to induce the necessary air on the Bunsen principle for supporting combustion. -Such pressure carries the gas flame along the tubes and aids distribution so as to prevent local overheating.
Another point in connection with the possible use of coal-gas by steam wagons occurs to us. It would vastly encourage the installation of gas supply facilities, the erection of compressing plants, etc., which means material adVantage to other users of gas for traction purposes.
Gas Saes Over. £8000 a Year In his . presidential address to the Wavailey Association of Gas Managers, Mr. John Richmondgave a few stallstins of the practical running eosts of the Edinburgh' buses run by the Scottish Motor Traction Co., one 'of the largest users of gas for traction purposes in the British Isles. Mr. Richmond said that while the cost of running on gas was about double the cost of running on petrol in pre-war times there' was a considerable saving compared with petrol at present prices. Of course comparison must be made between the one fuel and the other on the basis of present costs, as if petrol is dear, as compared with prewar times, so is the cost of gas, and of gas container material and labour, whilst the provision of adequate protectionfor the gas containers is difficult awl costly.
As we work it out, the Scottish Motor Traction Co. is effecting a very substan
tial saving by using gas fuel. Taking very conservative figures, let us say that the company has 36 buses equipped for gas and that each bus runs only 72,..miles a. daT, for six days a week, and for 50 weeks in the year. Let us take the present. contract price of petrol 'at 3s. per gallon, and say that the buses each coves six miles on a gallon. We get a fuel cost on petrol of 6d, per mile, whilst the statement is made that the total cost for gas fuel, including, the wages of the attendant at the filling' istation., in 3id. per rni,ke... On these figures we get a saving of E4 10,s. per bus per week, or £225 per busper year, or a; total saving on 36 buses, of E8100 per annum. 'And we believe that this figure is 'well inside the mark. If it is not, we should like to be corrected, because. accurate figures are not easy to obtain.
We have had so many requests for the address of the Gas -Traction Committee that we again give it here. .Communica-. tions should be addressed to Mr. E. S. Shrapriell-Smith, C.B.E. (who IS acting as secretary, 12, Berkeley Street, London, W. .
The' meetings of the Gas Traction Committee are taking place regularly. and good work is" being done. . Certain very important applications have beer made, and are being. made, under the recom.mendations in the interim report of the committee published in April dealing with semi-rigid and metal containers.