qHe "SHELL" LINER 'HALIOTIS."
On the invitation of Messrs. M. Samuel and Company, the managers of the Shell Transport and T'rading Company (Limited), number of engineering experts and others interested in the use of liquid fuel for land or marine boilers, assembled yesterday on board the steamship Haliotis, at Gravesend, for a trip under liquid fuel consumption." The vessel lad been brought to the 'Thames from the builders' yard, ut Neweastle, on oil fuel, and yesterday's run was arranged for the purpose of demonstrating to those commercially interested in the question the practicability and advaptuge of this method of generating steam for marine machinery. Among those on board were Sir John Durston, K.C.B., Engineer-in-Chief_of the Navy, and Mr. A. R. Grant, R.N. (representing the dmiraltg)" Sir Marcus Samuel and. Mr, Samuel Samuel, directors of the Shell" Tine, Mr. Fortescue Flannery, M.P., Mr.' G. W. Manuel, and Mr. R. Leslie (of the P- and 0.'Company), Major Swan and Mr. Gulston (representing Arms-strong, Whitworth and Ca., the builders of the Haliotis), Mr. Wallis and Mr. Dad-geon (representing the Wallsend Slipway and Engineering Company, who have supplied and fitted the whole of the machinery and oil burning installation), Mr. George Jones, and Mr. W. C. Borrowman (of the Central Marine Engine Works, West Hartlepool), Mr. James Graham, Mr. R. Jardine, Mr. J. V. Dunlop Best, Captain Cownden, Mr. J. Henderson,' Me. J. Stevenson, Mr. J. Arnhold, Mr. F. Lane, Mr. E. T. Delmege, and representatives of the following companies:—The Anslo-'Australasian Steam Navigation Company, the Glen Line, the China Mutual Steam Navigation Company, the Allan Line, the Nippon Yusen Kaisha, the Oriental Stea ship Company of Japan, the Messageries Maritimes, the North-German Lloyd, the Hamburg-American Line, Messrs. Ruys and Ca., Rotterdam, Messrs. Delaunay Belleville and Ca., St. Denys, Me-srs. Galbraith, Pembroke and Ca., and others.
Phe Haliotis is the second of two vessels built on the trunk deck system by Messrs. Armstrong, Whitworth & Ca., to the order of Messrs. Samuel & Ca. Her dimensions are:—Length, 248 feet 6 inches; breadth, 40 feet; and depth, 17 feet 8 inches; and she has been specially designed for the oil-carrying trade from Borneo. Theengines are of the compound surface-condensing type, taking steam from two boilers working at. 100 Ib, pressure, the diameters of the cylinders being 30 inches and 63 inches, with a stroke of 39 inches. Both engines and boilers have been designed and constructed under the supervision of Messrs. Flannery, Ba: gallayand Johnson, of London and Liverpool, and the pumping area ments for dealing with the oil cargo, like those on all vessels of this line, are' very But the special feature of the that her furnaces are fitted for fuel; at the same time they are the ordinary way if required, it being possible to make the necessary alterations for a change of fuel in a few hours. As a matter of fact the with coal. ployed for burning the oil is to pulverise it before combustion, and suitable arrangements have been' provided in the furnace to prevent nny local injury to the boiler lates, The oil is carried in the cofferdam, nukers, or double bottom, from which it is pumped into a service tank over the boilers. From this service tank it gravitates down to the burners at the front of the furnaces, where, by the aid of steam jets, it is pulverized or broken into spray. who combustion of the oil is effected without any layer of coal or other substance, such as is occasionally used with liquid fuel, and the furnaces are fitted with brickwork, which, besides assisting complete combustion, serves to retain x certain amount of next in the furnaces when the burners are shut off. The burner used is circular in form, and the steam and oil meeting at the outlet, the latter is so effectively sprayed or distributed that the resulting flames completely fill the furnace. The bunkers are specially stayed, und have been tested for oil tightness, but at the same time are suitable for coal if required, the compartments intended to contain liquid fuel being separated from the stokehold by a ich may be filled with water-ballast Trials of the Hatliotis and of her sister ship, the Triouia, were made recently, when a speed was obtained of over 10$ knots an hour. The ordinary north country coal consumed on that trial was carefully weighed, and it was found that for each indicated horse-power 2.27 Ib. were used per hour. Tue run of the Haliotis from the mouth of the Tyne to Gravesend with liquid fuel was made in less than 36 hours, the indicated horse-power having been about 920, and the oil consumn-
Jenkins (of the "Shire" Line), Colonel ed as fuel 1.67 1b. per indicated horseer per hour. The results of the installation ssu far are regarded as highly satisfactory. An important feature of the steam. generating arrangements Huliotis is the ease and speed wi the fittings for burning coal cat moved and replaced by the oil-burning apparatus, and vice versd, the whole operation, in fact, having been carried out between 7 a.m. on Monday and 11 a.m. on Tuesday last week. Many important advantages are claimed for liquid fuel, one of the first advanced being the ease with which it is supplied to a steamer at her port of call. It is stated that from the moment the fuel is put on beard there is no trouble whatever, the furnaces being supplied automatically with sufficient to keep them going during a whole voyage without once opening the furnace doors. It is also pointed out that an enormous economy can be effected in space, inasmuch as the ballast tanks can be utilised for the stowage of the oil, and the space which would otherwise be taken for the bunkers be available for general cargo. It is pointed out further that the consumption of liquid tael, as shown by the trials, is very much less' than that of coal, but Messrs. Samuel state that in the Eastern trade, where steamers have to rely upon Japanese and Indian or other native cusls, the consumption is one ton of oil for about 2 tons of coal. Another advantage claimed for oil fuel is that in heavy weather it will maintain a very steady head of steam, which, it is asserted, cannot be kept with coal, and that in close weather, as the oil does not require n draught, the boilers can maintain the regular head of steam as in fine weather, On the important question of labour, we understand that when oil is, used an enormous saving is effected, especially on steamers of high speed and Inrgo consumption, inasmuch as only two men at the outside are necessary for the stokehold, as compared with perhaps 30 stokers who would otherwise have to be employed. With regard to the very material xain in deadweight carrying capacity, which is yet another great advantage of liqitid, Messrs, Samuel cite as an example the case of steamer, with a consumption of only 20 tons of coal per day. 'The run from 'Aden to Cotombo would require a stock of tut least 250 tons of coal on board, but many merchant steamers do not call at all coaling ports, a common practice is to cent at the Suez Canal direct for Singapore, or for 23 days' steaming. A steamer, therefore, has to take minimum of 500 tons of coal, It is stated that with liquid fuel the same steamer would have an ample supply with 300 tons, and she would therefore be able to carry at, least 200 tons more cargo than under existing circumstances. In steamers with larger consumption the saving, of course, would be more material. We understand that Messrs. M. Samuel and Ca. are about to adapt all the steamers of their fleet for burning liquid fuel, and in the course of yesterday's trip down the river the details and working of the system were fully explained to the visitors. Speaking at lunch, Sir Marcus Samuel said that the IZaliotis was not the pioneer among sea-gviny vessels in using liquid fuel, because her sister ship, Trigonia, which was similarly equipped, had already proceeded on hee first voyage. But these two vessels were, he believed, destined to work a change in the mode of propelling steamers such as had rarely been witnessed in the history of the world; and it was a matter of the greatest satiste''ion to his colleagues and himself that they had been associated in such movement, fraught as it was with the greatest importance and interest to all communities (hear, hear). Because, after all, the question of locomotion "od the facilities for communication and carrying produce between one country and another was one that concerned all nations, therefore the introduction of a new method
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