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Editorial Should; Improve Engineering : Practice NGINEERING practice as applied to opera- tion, has not received the same serious at- tention in the machinery plants on board ship as in industrial plants ashore. An executive responsible for the efficient operation of a steam plant ashore would not for a single moment con- sider detailing the supervision of such a plant to a man merely because he had learned by years of experience how to fire a boiler and to keep water in it. To begin with, one must admit that the condi- tions surrounding the operation of a large, prop- erly conducted steam plant ashore where the su- _ pervising engineer is in daily contact with his plant, are quite different from those surrounding the operation of a fleet of steamships with one or two in port and the remaining units anywhere on the high seas far removed from the eye of the super- vising engineer. Because the problem is more difficult, however, does not excuse neglect properly to apply, as far as possible, the same sort of good engineering practice as is done ashore. Though the units of a steamship supervising engineer’s steam plant are not under his immediate eye and may be widely separated all over the seven seas, he has one advantage over a man in a similar po- sition ashore. Each chief engineer of a ship is, or can be and should be in a true sense, the deputy with full qualifications for carrying on his job with similar engineering sense to that of his chief. On account of the greater responsibility, the qualifica- tions necessary, and the correspondingly greater compensation, the operating or chief engineer of a ship is generally a more capable man than the op- erating engineer of a ee onary steam plant of the same size. The difficulties then which face the thoroughly versed engineer in applying correct principles to efficient operation of his individual steam plant units, the ships under his charge, aside from that ° one greatest difficulty of all, the lack of conviction on the part of the owner that such application will save costs and from which-most of the others nat- urally spring, is the nature of the business asso- ciated with his steam plants. Their reason for existence is to provide power so that the ships in which they are installed may move expeditiously about their business of loading, carrying and dis- charging cargoes. To stop a ship to determine her steaming effi- ciency when she is about ready to proceed, would be just as ridiculous as to stop an athlete to ex- amine the condition of his heart when the crack of the pistol is heard which is to send him on his 471 race with his competitors. But not to look into the efficiency of the power plant at all at any time is just as reckless management as it would be not to examine an athlete’s heart at all before he enters a long and gruelling contest. For a busy ship which must be on the move to make money, what then would be a suitable time to carefully determine her.operating efficiency?. It must be clearly understood that no suitable time is ever found nor will it be found until the owners realize that at proper intervals it is quite as im- portant to make such an examination (perhaps not . oftener than once every year or two) as it is to take the time necessary to drydock the ship or to hold her up for essential repairs. A complete evaporative test of 24 hours duration, conducted once a year or once in two years with full and accurate records made and tabulated, would most certainly indicate ways of improving the efficiency and would be extremely valuable in giv- ing exact knowledge of steaming efficiency or cost of operation and whether changes to improve con- ditions should be made or the ship withdrawn in favor of a more efficient unit. Such a test would also set a standard by which the performance of the operating engineers could be intelligently and accurately judged. By such a test, out of each pound of fuel used the amount of heat absorbed by the boilers, also the amounts of heat lost, by imperfect combustion, in chimney gases, and from other causes, would be determined. The ratio, therefore, between the heat per unit of fuel burned, absorbed by the boiler and the total heat per unit of fuel would give the boiler and furnace efficieney in per cent. The amount of steam consumed by the main engine or engines and all of the auxil- iaries could also be measured, thus determining the efficiency of these units based on power furnished. In addition, though somewhat apart from the present discussion, a careful investigation should be made once for all of the resistance of the hull of the ship in relation to the displacement and designed speed, and find out if the propeller or propellers are of the best shape, dimensions, and are suitable for the hull, to give maximum results with a minimum of power. The immediately foregoing has to do with the proper design of the ship and with careful owners is presumably well taken care of in the designs leading up to the construction of the ship. In acquiring an existing ship, however, it would be worth while for the prospective owners to in- vestigate these matters carefully through properly qualified representatives. Such information with particulars of the machinery and power plant, defi- nitely set the limit of ultimate efficiency possible.