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Practical Ideas for the Engineer Results of Tests on Efficiency of Superheated Steam—How Chief Officer Can Cut Expenses UEL eco- nomy, in- creased -ca- pacity, greater op- erating efficiency and freedom from maintenance trou- bles —advantages claimed for the firetube s-uper- heater—have been carefully checked by the operation of high degree superheat on the sea-going tugs, WYoMING, PERTH AmpBoy and LE- HIGH, formerly owned by the Le- high Valley railroad and now owned and operated by the Bee Line Transporta- tion Co. The Wvyominc, a vessel of 398 gross tons, 152 feet long, 27. feet 3. inches beam, and 16 feet draft, with a tow- ing capacity of 5000 tons, was the first American boat op- erating in Ameri- can waters to be equipped with fire tube superheaters. The WyoMING was superheated in June, 1915, by the Super- heater Co. which was then the Locomo- tive | Superheater Co. In November, 1916, after a series of operating tests on tthe WyoMING had shown a_ coal saving of 15.6 per and an_ in- crease in capacity of from 865 indi- cated horsepower on saturated steam, to 908 indicated horse- power on superheat- ed steam, a second tug, the PertH AM- equipped with the same type of superheaters. even cent, BOY, was Similar and TUG WYOMING ON WHICH SUPERHEATED STEAM TESTS HAVE BEEN MADE more careful tests PERTH Amboy, and the pared with saturated were run on _ the results steam operation under identical conditions. Superheated, com- the PertH AMBoy developed 887 in- dicated horsepow- er against 775. in- dicated horsepow- er on saturated steam. A fuel sav- ing of 15 per cent was shown. The LeHicH, the third of the fleet, was equipped with the- same kind of fire tube superheaters in March, 1917. The LEuHIGH, after superheating, de- veloped 803 indi- cated horsepower againsst 633 indi- cated horsepower on saturated steam. On the LrEHIGH, the fuel saving proved to be 17 per cent. A recent report by the Superheater Co. Comparative Performances, Saturated and Superheated Steam, of Lehigh Valley Railroad Tugs in Towing Service. Lehigh - ~~Perth Amboy— Sat. SH. steam steam Duration of test 46.92 hr. 85.50 hr. Number of barges 4 Total tonnage of tow 5149 Boiler press. (lb. sq. in.) (av.)...- 173 Mes EP PR: cyl Cb. sq. in). . 95.2 M.cE. Pac Pe cyl. cGbs sq.sin) 37.6 Mo bP LP, eyl:) Cb, sq. in!) 12.59 Ref. M. E. P 38.6 Vacuum (inches) (av.)......+.-+- ‘ 23.4 Reo. oe : 92.3 feeds Otel ee 803 Max. I. H. P. (no tow).. Riedie See I. P. rec. press. (Ib. sq. in.) (av.) 58.4 L. P. rec. press. (lb. sq. in.) (av.) 6.85 St. tem. at throttle (av.).......... 575 EF, St. tem. at throttle (max.)........ 625 F. Draft (stack base) (in.) (av.)...... SoAe Temp. flue gas (stack base) (av.).. 385 F. Temp. feed water (av.)......++-++- 230 F. Temp. hotwell (av.)....-..+++++.- 112 FE. Temp. L. P. rec. (av.)... sees eee 233 F. Fuel Anthracite coal Fuel B. T. U. per lb 12758 11166 Fuel per hr. lb 1450 1520 Fuel per hr. per sq. ft. grate 16.15 16.85 Fuel per I. H. P. hr 2.29 1.90 Fuel economy per cent aes 17% Indicated thrust 17650 21300 Hull dimensions 136x26x13-4 Hull gross tons f AAO. v: Engine—type Triple expansion Engine diam.-cyls. .....++-+++e+0e 16y%5"x2574"x43 14” Engine stroke 30 Boiler—type S. E. Scotch One 180 Ib. sq. in. Four 90 sq. ft. 3066 sq. ft. Boiler draft Natural Propeller, number blades . Propeller diameter Propeller pitch *Light vessel, no tow. Sat. S(SEKG steam steam 54 hr. 3 3502 187. 82.. 39%." AS 42. 24. 94, 887 65.7 15.4 590 F. 608 F. POA MS 362 F. 224 F. 119 F. Ae 244 F. Anthracite coal 12483 12423 2024 1968 18.6 18.1 2.61 yee 15% 20272 22900 140x29x16-5 452 Triple expansion 171%4"x25"x43"” 30” S. E. Scotch One 190 lb. sq. in. Four 108.5 sq. ft. 3228 sq. ft. Natural Four 10’ (Md 13536 2.218 —W yoming— Sat. Sok: steam steam 138.53 hr. 3 3 Beer 3251 75" vis 19 98 27 OR RSIS Sees ion 1064" 12 oy S357 soe 26* 25* 17 11 865* 908* 570 F. 590 F. 444 F, 207 F. 120 F. 377 F. 377 F. Anthracite coal 1205 13.9 1556 % 140x27x16 398 Triple expansion 17”x25"x43” 30” S. E. Scotch One 180 lb. sq. in. Four 86.6 sq. ft. 2926 sq. ft. Natural Four 10°30” 137 6” 1428 16.5 points out that any doubts as to the practicability of the fire tube superheat- ers, for use on this type of vessel are removed by the per- formance and main- tenance records of these — superheater- equipped tugs. Over considerable periods of continuous oper- ation, six years in the case of the Wy- OMING, five years on the PErtH Am- Boy, and about four years on the Ler- HIGH, maintenance costs on the su- perheater equipment of these vessels have been _ prac- tically nil. No trou- ble has been ex- perienced, it is said, through the use of cylinder lubrication. The PrertH AMBOY has run two - and one-half years on one set of rings in the high-pressure cylinder, with 180 degrees of super- heat. All three ships