Scientific American Supplement, No. 455, September 20, 1884 | Page 9

is capable of adjustment. With such narrow orifices it is clear
that any small solid particles which may find their way into the spray
injector along with the petroleum will foul the nozzle and check the fire.
Hence in many of the steamboats on the Caspian Sea, although a single
spray injector suffices for one furnace, two are used, in order that when
one gets fouled the other may still work; but, of course, the fouled
orifices require incessant cleaning out.
Locomotives.--In arranging a locomotive for burning petroleum,
several details are required to be added in order to render the
application convenient. In the first place, for getting up steam to begin
with, a gas pipe of 1 inch internal diameter is fixed along the outside of
the boiler, and at about the middle of its length it is fitted with a
three-way cock having a screw nipple and cap. The front end of the
longitudinal pipe is connected to the blower in the chimney, and the
back end is attached to the spray injector. Then by connecting to the
nipple a pipe from a shunting locomotive under steam, the spray jet is
immediately started by the borrowed steam, by which at the same time
a draught is also maintained in the chimney. In a fully equipped engine
shed the borrowed steam would be obtained from a fixed boiler
conveniently placed and specially arranged for the purpose of raising
steam. In practice steam can be raised from cold water to 3 atm.
pressure--45 lb. per square inch--in twenty minutes. The use of
auxiliary steam is then dispensed with, and the spray jet is worked by
steam from its own boiler; a pressure of 8 atm.--120 lb.--is thus
obtained in fifty to fifty-five minutes from the time the spray jet was first
started. In daily practice, when it is only necessary to raise steam in
boilers already full of hot water, the full pressure of 7 to 8 atm. is
obtained in from twenty to twenty-five minutes. While experimenting
with liquid fuel for locomotives, a separate tank was placed on the
tender for carrying the petroleum, having a capacity of about 3 tons.
But to have a separate tank on the tender, even though fixed in place,
would be a source of danger from the possibility of its moving forward
in case of collision. It was therefore decided, as soon as petroleum
firing was permanently introduced, to place the tank for fuel in the

tender between the two side compartments of the water tank, utilizing
the original coal space. For a six-wheeled locomotive the capacity of
the tank is 3-1/2 tons of oil--a quantity sufficient for 250 miles, with a
train of 480 tons gross exclusive of engine and tender. In charging the
tender tank with petroleum, it is of great importance to have strainers
of wire cloth in the manhole of two different meshes, the outer one
having openings, say, of 1/4 in., the inner, say 1/8 in.; these strainers
are occasionally taken out and cleaned. If care be taken to prevent any
solid particles from entering with the petroleum, no fouling of the spray
injector is likely to occur; and even if an obstruction should arise, the
obstacle being of small size can easily be blown through by screwing
back the steam cone in the spray injector far enough to let the solid
particles pass and be blown out into the fire-box by the steam. This
expedient is easily resorted to even when running; and no more
inconvenience arises than an extra puff of dense smoke for a moment,
in consequence of the sudden admission of too much fuel. Besides the
two strainers in the manhole of the petroleum tank on the tender, there
should be another strainer at the outlet valve inside the tank, having a
mesh of 1/3 in. holes.
Driving locomotives.--In lighting up, certain precise rules have to be
followed, in order to prevent explosion of any gas that may have
accumulated in the fire box. Such explosions do often take place
through negligence; but they amount simply to a puff of gas, driving
smoke out through the ash-pan dampers, without any disagreeably loud
report. This is all prevented by adhering to the following simple rules:
First clear the spray nozzle of water by letting a small quantity of
steam blow through, with the ash-pan doors open; at the same time
start the blower in the chimney for a few seconds, and the gas, if any,
will be immediately drawn up the chimney. Next place on the bottom of
the combustion chamber a piece of cotton waste, or a handful of
shavings saturated with petroleum and burning with a flame. Then by
opening first the steam valve of the spray injector, and next the
petroleum valve gently,