Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 89.djvu/391

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

Po]>iil(ir Sricnce Motilhl//

��377

��In the arrompanyini; illustration is shown the pulverized fuel-burninir eciuip- ment as applied to a locomotive. The ♦^uel container, which is a part of the ordinary locomotive tender, receives the coal-dust or puKerized coal through two openings i.i the top. As dryness of the tuel is a prime requisite these openings are kept iightl\- closed. In starting the fire the fireman turns on the steam- blowcr in the smoke-box, after which he

��his place in the cab near the engineer. When the powdered coal and air are mixed in the right proportions, the mixture bursts into a clear, intense Hame in the fire-box, with no visible smoke at the stack. It takes less than an hour to get up two hundred pounds of steam, and when the engine is standing the fire may be put out entirely and then reignitcd within an hour from the heat of the brick arches in the fire-box.

��STEAM BLOWER

���In Starting th; Fire the Fireman Turns on the Steam-Blower in the Smoke-Box. The Air- Blower Motor and the Fuel-Conveyor Motor Are Then Started and Fuel and Air Enter the Combustion Furnace Which Is an Ordinary Locomotive Fire-Box with a Fire-Brick Floor

��places a piece of lighted oil-waste in the furnace. Immediately following this he starts the air-blower motor and the fuel-con \e\-or motor. The screw-con- \x'yoT forces the fuel into the fuel feeder, where it meets the air driven by the blower. The fuel and air are then dri\-en through a commingler, and this mixture then enters the combustion furnace, which is the ordinary locomoti\e fire-box fitted with a fire-brick floor in place of grate bars, where the lighted oil-waste ignites it. The fire-box is provided with brick arches and air inlets. There is a slag pan instead of the usual ash i^an.

The regulating mechanism controlling air and fuel is within reach of the fireman, so he need never have occasion to leave

��T'

��The Wastage of Flying Machines

In the Great War HU'. English aeronautic periodicals |)ul)lish fairly complete lists of casualties sustained by the flying squad- rons of the Allies as well as by those of the Ciermans. In a single month on the western front, the British brought down sixteen German aeroplanes, the French thirty.. The British losses, on the other hand, were ten, and the French twenty -eight. If machines are shot down with such ease on both sides, the wastage of aeroplanes in this war must be enormous. No wonder that thou- sands of men are employed in the aeroplane factories of all the warring countries to make up the losses.

�� �