A NEW BENZOLE ROADSIDE SUPPLY STATION.
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A Description of the Bywater Installation near Maidstone.
TEE LATEST development in road side fuel-supplying stations is to be found on the London to Maidstone main road about four miles from the latter town. It is most conveniently situated in what might be called a road island, and consists of a 6,000 gallon tank and roadside draw-off standard on the wellknown Bywater hydraulic liquid-fuel storage system. The installation is of particular inteiest, as it is under the auspices of the Royal Automobile Club, and it is of consideiable importance, as it is one of the first—if not the -first-devoted entirely to the storage and delivery of benzole. It has been fitted to the order of Phillips and Co., and a few hundred feet away is a rail-siding on the main line, from which the henzolo tank wagone can supply the storage tank: Here, alao, barrels will be filled for sending away by rail.
The system utilized by Bywater and Suns, of Craven House, Kingsway, London, W.C., presents many advantages, and a brief description of it will not be out of place. The principle of the system is based on the use of water power,. and the method adopted is to displace the liquid in storage by water when delivering the fuel. When the fuel is exhausted the tank is entirely filled with water, and when refilling the tank with fuel the latter displaces a like quantity of water, which is registered through a meter, and thus keeps a record of the amount of fuel run into the tank. No pumps whatever are required for filling or emptying the tank, the necessary pressure for ejecting the fuel being provided by a head of water.
The water is controlled by a three-way valve. Whilst the tank is being filled with spirit, the water is displaced and is forced out of the bottom of the tank through the measuring meter to a drain. The height raf the water in the pipe leading to the drain is such that it is quite impossible for the .spirit to leave by the same passage.
In order to provide the necessary water pressure, a pipe from the main_ leads into a cistern provided with a ball cock and situated at such a height that no water can be forced out of the fuel delivery valve.
When it is desired to draw off the spirit, the waste pipe is shut off from the bottom of the tank and the latter is placed in communication with the water supply from the cistern. Any fuel then drawn off is automatically replaced by an equivalent volumeof water. The fuel also posses through a meter, and if there is more than one draw-off valve a meter can be provided at each point.
The draw-off valve is situated at the end of the flexible hose which conveys the spirit to the tank of the vehicle to be filled; or to any other point where it is required, and at this end is provided what is known as a nozzle valve. This has a trigger which opens a small poppet valve releasing just the quantity of fuel required. If the supply nozzle is dropped by accident, the valve automatically closes and there is no danger of leakage.
A great advantage is that there is practically no limit to the distance fram the tank at which the draw-off valves C20 may he situated ; in fact, in some aerodromes the draw-off points are threequarters of a mile from the storage tanks.
The provision of a water metea as well as a fuel meter permits a double cheek on the amount of f uel supplied or re, ceived, and practice has shown that the system is quite satisfactory.
When spirit is in contact with air there is always a certain amount of vapour present, and with the ordinary tank system, even, when all the fuel has been withdrawn, a considerable amount of vapour is necessarily left in the tank. This vapour will not rise by itself more than 10 ft., but when the tank is yea filled it is naturally forced out of the vent Dine, and thus occasions a certain amount of loss, Which, according to Professor Spooner, is as much as .6 of 1. per cent, that is to say, 6 gallons of fuel may he lost every time a 1,000 gallon tank is refilled. With the Bywater system, the fuel is never in contact with the air until it is actually delivered. It runs straight into a tank which is already filled with water, and merely takes the place of this water. Any .fuel extracted is immediately replaced by a further supply. of water drawn from the cistern, so that the water and fuel togetherexactly fill the tank at all times.
Practically the only cost with the hydraulic system is that of the water, which may be taken at from 6d. to 9d. per 1,000 gallons. Another advantage is that it is quite impossible to draw water with the fuel, and the tank cannot be exploded by fire, lightning or electricity.
The roadside draw-off standard, which is illustrated on this page, open and shut, is compact, of neat appearance, and has the advantage that, when the door is closed, it locks the flexible hose.
With reference to the loss of petrol and other liquid fuels under evaporation, it is interestiing to refer to the report of an investigation carried out by the U.S.A. Bureau of Mines, Department of Interior. The report deals with the evaporation of petrol from crude oils, which evaporation will naturally be considerablymore in the case of pure petrol. It states that the largest single losses to which oil is subjected after being extracted from the ground are due to evaporation. The few days during which the crude oil is stored before being taken by the pipe lines cause an aggregate loss per year, due to evaporation, estimated at 122,000,009 gallons of petrol, and this in the mid-continental field alone. Such a vast figure shows the importance which should be attached to the prevention of each evaporation, and this can only be achieved by storing the fuel away from air.