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Steamers of the same class as the West Haven had been showing. a lower fuel consumption, however, and for that reason it was decided to try reinstalling the waste heat superheaters. This was done, and the ves- sel equipped with her orig- inal superheater complement in April, 1925, resumed her regular sailing schedule. The voyages subsequent to the installation of super- heaters were entirely suc- cessful. No further difficul- ty was experienced with rings for pistons, and the fuel consumption was re- duced to a point where it compared favorably with any of the similar ships. The attention which she had attracted, due to study of difficult conditions had pro- vided the operators with fuel con- sumption figures of the utmost accu- racy. In addition to the proof, established by the foregoing experience, that su- perheat did not cause the repairs, it was desired to show by comparative figures precisely what the advantages produced through the use of super- heat amounted to. For this purpose a detailed study and comparison was made of the voyages on superheat as well as on saturated steam, in order to find two which could be directly compared. The two trips mentioned below are remarkably close so far as operating conditions are con- cerned; that is, the draft of the ship, propeller slip and average speed. Both voyages were via_ Baltimore, Norfolk, Rotterdam and Antwerp. The vessel was handled by the same operators; even the same chief engi- neer being continuously in charge. It is particularly important to note that the voyage on saturated steam chosen for comparison was_ that upon which the West HAVEN made SCOTCH MARINE BOILER WITH FOSTER WASTE HEAT SUPERHEATER AND AIR HEATER to 15 barrels. The saving per day in port was 4.6 barrels of oil, thus fully justifying the installation of superheaters on a basis of return from the money invested. Using a cost of $1.715 per barrel of oil, the actual mileage at sea of 45,457 miles for the year, and hours in port of 684, actual per trip given, the saving in fuel amounts to about $7600 per year. This allows ten days out of service for drydocking and painting. Thus the figures represent regular operating totals, they are not Performance of S. S. West Haven With and Without Superheat Fuel per 24 Average Average Average Lbs. fuel hours barrels Date 5/16/24 7/4/24 5/30/25 7/17/25 Without superheat With 56° F. superheat the best saturated steam record. Thus, there is no doubt that the comparison is conservative. The actual fuel oil saving in pounds per mile covered was 27 pounds, and the saving per day at sea amounted speed 10.34 10.57 slip draft per mile Atsea Inport 11.6 16’9’’ 290 218.5 41.9 9.5 16’7” 2638 198.4 37.3 the opinion or investigation of only one man, they are not peculiar to some special steamer and they are not abnormal. -They check up logical- ly with the operation of many sister ships from the same drawings, and MARINE REVIEW——Jun2, 1927 the same shipbuilder; they were pro- cured by a government bureau _ spe- cializing in this work and having more time for such study, more ships under observation and a larger com- petent personnel than has ever been engaged in a similar marine investi- gation. Two years of satisfactory operation have elapsed since the superheaters were reinstalled, and it is thus proper to state that superheat was in no way responsible for the piston ring trou- ble in the first place. This infor- mation is felt to be of a sufficient def- inite character to warrant careful study by students of marine engi- neering, especially those interested in reciprocating steam engines, be- cause there are relatively few demon- strations .as conclusive as this one, and ‘where the figures were obtained by such able and unbiased authority. The percentage of saving -due to the use of 56 degrees of superheat amounts to 9.38 per cent on the basis of fuel consumed per mile. This is in no way an abnormal or - unusual saving where operating conditions were not of the best when saturated (Continued on Page 50) 15