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Condenser Tube Corrosion Is Largely Overcome HE recent awarding by the United States navy of the contract for 200,000 pounds of nickel-copper con- denser tubes for six new destroyers which the navy is to build, and 130,000 pounds for the new cruiser 39, calls attention to the progress which these tubes have made in the past decade. Conditions of service of naval vessels are more exacting than those to be found in other vessels. Ten years is short time in the his- tory of steam engineering, yet the last decade has witnessed considerable ad- vances in steam generating plants. Re- search and extensive practical tests have definitely proved the superiority of copper-nickel alloys over the alter- native materials available, resulting in their widespread adoption by many of the navies and mercantile marines of the world. Although marine condensers now ac- count for by far the largest number of copper-nickel tubes, the first 200 com- mercially made tubes of 80/20 copper- nickel composition were supplied in 1922 to a land power station—the North Tees Power Station of the New- castle-upon-Tyne Electric Supply Co. Ltd., England. Copper-Nickel Condenser Tube Copper-nickel condenser tubes were used about the same time, in small quantities, in marine condensing plants, but they had not been em- ployed for a complete installation until experiments were carried out in the Canadian Pacific steamships MELITA and MINNEDOSA, these vessels being the first to be equipped with copper-nickel tubes throughout the condensers. The brass tubes previously fitted in the con- densers of these two vessels had an average life of one year, but the cop- per-nickel tubes installed in 1926 are still in the ships and are giving Satis- factory service. As a result of the success of these initial installations, the Canadian Pa- cific Steamships Ltd. has extended the use of copper-nickel tubes until prac- tically the whole fleet is now fitted with them. The latest Canadian Pa- cific ship to be so equipped is the EMPRESS OF BRITAIN, the largest liner completed in Britain since the war. Following the lead of the Canadian Pacific, many other operating com- panies on both sides of the Atlantic have taken advantage of the long life and reliability offered by copper-nickel condenser tubes, and a large and grow- ing number of vessels of many nations are now equipped with;them. Among recently commissioned liners, the MANHATTAN and ‘WASHINGTON of the United States lines are notable. These ships each carry 100,000 pounds of copper-nickel tubes. The new French ‘steamships CHAM- PLAIN and L’ATLANTIQUE and the new superliners REx and CONTE DI SAVOTA all are equipped throughout with cop- per-nickel tubes. The CONTE DI SAVOIA, which is one of the largest ships to be launched in the post-war period, has just estab- lished a new record for the Genoa to New York run. She has a speed of more than 27 knots. A total weight of nearly 200,000 pounds of copper-nickel tubes was re- quired for the condensers of the REx, while practically the same quantity has been fitted in the CONTE DI SAVoTA. In both of these ships, as well as in the EMPRESS OF BRITAIN, the conden- ser tube ferrules are also of copper- nickel alloy. Largest Urn Installed HE largest urn ever made at the Mansfield, O., plant of the Westing- house Electric & Mfg. Co. was recently bought by the United States coast guard training station, New London, Conn. Large enough to hide an ordinary girl, this urn will make 20 gallons of coffee at one time. In addition this urn has an extra capacity of more than 40 gallons of hot water, which can be readily used to. make tea, hot chocolate, or bouillon. An exclusive feature of this urn is that the hot coffee is repoured auto- matically and visibly through a glass tube, thus utilizing all of the strength from the coffee grounds, with the re- sult that the beverage can be brewed more economically. This urn is from two to’three times as large as the size adapted for aver- age hotel, ship and rcstaurant service. Coffee Urn of 20 Gallons Capacity MARINE REVIEw—July, 1933 The First Steam Turbine, Exhibited at Fair A: THE Century of Progress ex- position in Chicago there is an exhibit showing the development of prime movers, consisting largely of models of early and recent engines and turbines. One of the machines is a De Laval geared steam turbine driving a direct current generator which was actually used to supply current at the Columbian World’s fair at Chicago in 1893, and is believed to have been the first steam turbine gen- erator unit placed in commercial serv- ice in the United States. The turbine, which is of the single stage, impulse type, ran at 24,000 revolutions per minute and drove the 110-volt direct current generator at 2400 revolutions per minute by means of a De Laval double helical speed re- ducing gear, developing 6.6 kilowatts. Steam was expanded from 125 pounds gage pressure to atmospheric pressure through diverging or flaring nozzles, which had been invented by De Laval in 1888, and which are now employed by practically all turbine builders. That the theory of such nozzles was far from obvious, however, is shown by the fact that when De Laval applied for a United States pat- ent in 1889 he was met with the ob- jection from the patent office that the idea was not workable, and it was only after the machine at Chicago had been exhibited in actual operation that the patent was allowed. Wide-range Oil Burner HE BABCOCK & WILCOX CO. i ea, the development of an oil burner that can be easily and quick- ly adjusted to operate efficiently over a wide range of capacities and that has operated very satisfactorily in service. The barrel assembly of the burner, which is known as the wide-range me- chanical atomizing oil burner, is used in the company’s standard mechanical- atomizing oil burner register. The fuel oil is delivered to the burner tip through two passages, an outer annular passage carrying the pri- mary oil stream and the center oi! barrel carrying the secondary oil. Both primary and secondary oil meet at one nozzle and a sprayer plate at the bur- ner tip. Changes in capacity with a given nozzle and sprayer plate are secured by operating at low capacities with pri- mary oil alone, and at higher capacities with primary and secondary oil togeth- er. A capacity variation of four to one with any one combination of a sprayer plate and its nozzle may be secured. It has been found by tests that atomi- zation is excellent throughout the en- tire range, and the oil flow from the burner nozzle is in the form a prac- tically perfect cone. 29