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38 Cut Costs-Conserve Fuel (Continued from Page 22) are sufficiently competent to continue to handle the Fleet corporation ves- sels, In order to get the best results from this competition, by directing the efforts of the personnel toward such channels as will produce the most economic results, it has been considered advisable that the engi- neers be given training in one of the most important phases affecting effi- cient operation, namely, boiler per- formance. To this end, a fuel oil school has been established through the courtesy of the United States navy at the Philadelphia navy yard, fuel oil testing plant, where a short, intensive course of instruction is given in the principles and practice MARINE REV TIE W class of vessels in our fleet bring out the difference in results obtained on vessels fitted with the identical equip- ment but manned by crews of varying grades of personal efficiency. This is one of the greatest values of the standards, as it so often shows plain- ly which are the better manned ves- sels. However, care must be taken in passing judgment on the personnel ef- ficiency based on this ratio alone, as foulness of bottom, weather condi- tions, inferior grade of fuel, hidden defects in equipment or some other factor beyond control of the operating personnel may cause a poor perform- ance. When such a performance is shown, careful analysis of voyage re- port must be made to determine just where the trouble lies. It has been our experience, in about 85 per cent of the cases that the trouble lies with a TABLE f TABULATION OF SEA PERFORMANCES 9600 D. W. T.—TURBINE DRIVEN—OIL BURNING—CARGO VESSELS. ——PERFORMANCE 1922—— —Fuel oil consumption— Lb ——PERFORMANCE 1924—— —Fuel oil consumption— SOE, Lbs. Obs. Tons per miles Tons per miles Name Obs. per 24 Obs. per Effi- Obs. per 24 Obs. per Effi- of vessel R.P.M. speed hours mile ton ciency R.P.M.speed hours mile ton ciency ist gga 86.8 10.22 32.41 296.1 7.56 82.6 85.0 10.86 24.99 215.1 10.42 117.0 oe Pees: 85.7 11.12 27.84 233.7 9.59 104.5 88.6 11.38 28.38 232.9 9.62 110.7 Rederal 2% boe. ee .sree 88.6 10.68 26.47 232.4 9.68 98.5 88.0 10.66 31.42 277.2 8.08 86.5 Homestead. «56.3 sii. was « 96.7710: 75.29.28 954.2. 8.81 92-3 86.5 9570.28.10: 2609.5: 8.32. 79.1 ei Davids ee ose a scat ee 83.5 9.76 29.56 282.7 7.92 77.6 89.0 10.08 29.04 267.8 8.37 90.5 Liberty PER GEA one 80.8 9.04 31.70 327.3 6.84 61.4 88.2 10.57 27.05 238.6 9.38 .96.0 McKeesport.....-.++-+> 87.4 10.71 27.64 240.9 9.30 98.1 91.1 10.42 24.01 214.8 10.42 126.4 "Phe isambS,:2s iis a uses 86 1 10.82:..28), 14 242-7 9222 92°0 87.8 10.51 29.30'260.0..8.62- 91.0 Vincente ca 8 seater ete ase 88.6 10.63 32.59 286.1 7.83 86.1 87.8 11.14 27.72 232.1 9.65 112.6 Youngstown.........-- 83.4 10.02 28.58 266.2 8.41 89.6 84.6 10.30 26.76 242.4 9.24 100.0 Waukegan. ... 0.0008. 0s SiS Br 22 726n7 8: ‘aa 7.36 88.5 91.6.11.54 27 ctr ia 10.15; 11971 Average all ships....... 85.9 10.18 29.19 268.0 8.39 88.3 88.0 10.65 27.62 242.5 9.26 102.6 S. Gi No. 19; Design No. 1037. Built by Federal Shipbuilding Corp. nnd of combustion and the methods of at tacking the problem of boiler effi- ciency in a logical and _ intelligent manner so as to obtain maximum re- sults. During the past two years over 600 American merchant marine engi- neer officers have attended this school. The benefits derived from this training have been so satisfac- tory that, in response to requests made by west coast operators, a sim- ilar school has recently been estab- - lished at Mare Island navy yard, where approximately 100 engineer of- ficers up to date have had this train- ing. Efficient Personnel Important The two factors which will affect the efficiency of operation are ma- terial and personnel, and, when once the ship has been built and is in service, the latter factor becomes by far the more important. Comparisons made on the basis of ratio of ac- tual fuel performance to those given by the standards for any particular the operating personnel, and _ our greatest efforts have been directed to- ward pointing out where waste ex- ists, which the operating personnel itself must correct. Some changes have been made in the material to facilitate better op- eration, such as substitution of nat- ural draft oil burner register in lieu of the combined coal and oil fronts with which so many of our vessels were fitted out during the period of war construction. The combined coal and oi] natural draft front can be made to function satisfactorily, but, with the air regulation by means of ash pit and fire doors, it is difficult tc maintain a high combustion effi- ciency under varying atmospheric con- ditions. To eliminate this difficulty, natural draft registers having a read- ily adjustable air admission, which permits close-regulation of air for combustion, have been installed. The combined coal and oil fronts operat- ing under forced draft, such as the Howden system, have not been January, 1926 changed, as we have not found suffi- cient improvement in economy to jus- tify it. The rigid connections between oil supply lines and burners have been replaced by flexible connections, so that regulation of burner setting can be effected to take care of variance in spray angle, caused by slight wear- ing of tips and atomizing chambers, and also by changes in draft condi- tions. A uniform type of burner ring installation has been adopted. It is V-shaped periphery type which gives a more intimate mixture of atomized fuel with the air, necessary for com- bustion, as the cone of atomized oil can easily be brought to an approxi- mate point of tangency with this burner ring opening, and the incom- ing air is directed at approximately right angles to the atomized oil. Determine Smoke and Viscosity Smoke detectors have been installed, which consist simply of a beam of light thrown across the last pass of the gases and reflected by mirrors similar to periscope installation, so as to be visible from the floor plates, the intensity of this light being such that, with a smoke-free breeching, the reflected light disk will be bright yellow, and with No. 1, Ringelmann smoke the light will be cut off en- tirely. Between these two extremes, wisps of smoke will cut across the path of the light beam, producing a pulsating effect on the light disk. This will indicate from 0.25 to 0.5 Ringelmann smoke. By checking the conditions noted with the flue gas analysis, it is determined at just what rate of pulsation the best combustion is produced. This simple apparatus we have found to be one of the most satisfactory guides for combustion control. Use of the viscosimeter for the predetermination of temperature re- quired for obtaining the viscosity at which the fuel oil can best be pumped and atomized resulted in the elimina- tion of the cut-and-try methods which the operating personnel would other- wise have to follow in determining these values. In the case of our coal burners, grates have been modified so that the full length of fire could be easily worked and thereby prevent the air holes in the rear end of the fuel bed so common on the former excessively long grate bars. This has resulted in an increased fuel per square foot of grate surface rate, but it has been found that so long as this rate is kept down to 80 pounds per square foot per hour, the draft condition