ii-^^j^^tm^^i;^ 



CHECKING COSTLY 



CHIMNEY LOSSES 



Since the (jrrenhouse owner tnust poi/ niorf iitoncfi for thr thiiKjs lir 

 needs most, he can only keep down his costs ht/ usin;/ less. To do this he 

 mvst become acquainted tvith the possible ways of reducing waste, une of 

 the most important of which is pointed out in this article. 



By F. F. UEHLING, 

 Combustion Engineer. 



IIE subject of fiiol ot-oiioniy 

 is today of j^reattT intei-L'st 



to florists than ever be- 



fore. Tliere are two rea- 

 sons: First, fuel costs tude on three fa<-tors. These are, in or- 

 two or tliree times as (hT of iiii|Hirlaiice: First, excess air in 

 luucli as it did a few the iir<iducts of cdtiiliusi ion ; second, tein 

 years ago, an<i second, in ,„.rature of the |ir(idncts of coinliust ion ; 

 many instances durino- tlie tiiird, amount of unconsumed fuel' in 

 last few years it has been t|,,, ],,-o,lii<.ts of coml)ustion. 

 diilicnlt to get at any jirice. The first 



reason is one tliat will remain. Prices -^^^ Consumed. 



of fuel, no matter what kind, will uii 

 doubtedly stay liigh, com])ared with 



jiriccs before the war. Tlie second lliat from any otiier source. I-lvciy Uimi 



reason sliould, liowever, vanisli entirely of fuel riMiuires a definite ainountdf air 



when once laltor and transportation to burn it, the exact quant ity dciieuijing 



facilities are ])roj)erly controlled. liriiK-ijially ujiou the ratio of its carbon 



The high cost of fuid, therefon>, ]iro .and hydriigcn. When considering coal, 



\ ides the i)rinci]i:il incentive to s;ive it, for examjde, the jirincijial constituent is 



ami the greater the cost the greater will carbon, e\cry ]ionnd of which rei|uires 



The excess air in the lu'oiliicts ot' 

 combustion results in loss greater than 



b(> that incentive. The two ]irinci]j;ii 

 factors which enter into the cost of fuel 

 are labor and transportation. Its price 

 to the consumer will be goverMe<l b\- 

 these two charges, jilus whatexer .'iddi- 

 tional charge comitetition will peimit 

 the mining interests to add. 



Up the Stack. 



.No matter how fu(d is consumed and 

 MO matter what kind ot' futd is burned, 

 whether solid, jiowdered, lifpiid or g:ise- 

 ous, the l)iggest loss is idways due to 

 I he heat e n e r g y 



wasted ui> tiie cliini- 



ney. In tliis connec- 

 tion it might be wtdl 

 to (|Uote tlie fidlow- 

 ing conservative 

 statement from bulle- 

 tin Xo. L'd.'i, issued 

 b\- the bureau of 

 mines: 



' ' I II tli(> average 

 boiler pl:int, tliirty- 

 ti\e jier <-ent of tlie 

 heat in t h e c o a 1 

 burned 11 II d r r th(> 

 boilers is lost with 

 the stack gases. That 

 is. out of <'very I0(t 

 tons of coal burned 

 under the boilers, the 

 h <• a t of thirty-five 

 tons literally goes u]i 

 the stack. It is this 

 loss t h ;i t c ;i II )i e 

 i;re:itly reduced, and 

 every effort should 



be Ili.-ide to do so. ' ' 



The loss uo the 

 chimney, which is a I 

 \\ays the largest in- 

 di\ idiial loss in any 

 he.-iting ]d;int, de- 

 l>ends for its nuigni- 



t\\(d\'e |iouiids of ;iir to coiii]iletely con- 

 sume or oxidi/e it. .\ll air that is used 

 <'ibo\(' this aiiKiunt is known as excess 

 air. and when su]»plieil in greater (piaii- 

 tities than is uecessar\- to meet the 

 liarticular conditions of the fiiriiai-e in 

 which the find is burned ;iii unnecessary 

 burden is immr'diat(d\- ]ihiced on the 

 temperature jiossibilit ies id' the furnace 

 and the aiiKUint of find consiimeil to ac 

 com]disli a desired result increased in 

 proport ion. 



K\en in fairlx- goml pr;ictice about 



Waste Costs High When Boilers Burn Fifty Tons of Coal a Day 



twenty fi\e tons of air is used to burn 

 one ton of coal, and in the more poorly 

 ojierati'd )ilaiits this .■imouiit is often 

 doubled. Twent.V-li\e tons represent a 

 lot of ;iir. I'nder norin.al conditicuis, it 

 occu]iies .a space nearly l(),o(lii times 

 as i.'irge .'IS the coal \\lii(di it consumes. 

 It' this amount of air were i-ontaiiied in 

 a pijie with one sipiare focit <-ross sec- 

 tional area, it would lia\i' to be long 

 enough to exteiol nearly t'roiii New Vork 

 to Haltiniore. Stated in aiic^ther w.ay. if 

 the tbior of a room were covcieil with 

 ccial to a dejitli of one foot, the ceiling 

 would have to be three miles high in 

 order for the room to contain as much 

 air ;is is generally used' to lnirii that 

 ainiiunt of fuel. The tact that so niiKdi 

 air is consumed in luiriiiiig one ton of 

 co.'il is not realized by the tireiiian and 

 the important relation which ^tliis huge 

 iii.'iss be.'irs to fuel economy is generall\' 

 not gixeii sulhcient thought by his su 

 |ieriors. AitlioiiLih air costs nothing and 

 is a\;ril;ible in unlimited (pia nt it les. 

 when used to burn fuel in excess of' what 

 is rei|uiied. as is the case in the .-iNcrage 

 lie.-itiiig plant, it becomes one of the 

 most expensive r:i w materials. 



Determiniug Waste. 



All the ail- that is used in burning co.al. 



whether under steam Ixdlers or t'or any 



either process, .appe.'irs in the ]inHliictH 



of combustion. If 



three times as inllch 



:: ir is used as is iieces 

 s.-iry there will be just 

 about three times .•!■- 

 Ill 11 c h |iro(lucts ot' 

 colnbllst ion as iieces 

 sar.v. This g;is ;is it 

 Jiasses U]i the cliim 

 ney c o n t a i n s t lie 

 major ]iortioii of the- 

 heat that is uiiiieces 

 sarily wasted. i;\ cry 

 degree of tempera 

 tare to whiidi eaidi 

 pi'iind of this gas is 

 lle;iti'(| ;i b o v e t h e 

 t illipi'r.-lture ot' the 

 ;it mosphere iii e a ii s 

 about (M.'-"! heat units 

 t hat go to waste. The 

 exact amount id' heat 

 u;isted ill this wav 

 call be deti'miilieij by 

 the weieht ot' the 

 pl'oijiii-ts ot' coinbus 

 t ion |ier pound ot' t'llel 



burned, ami t he f eiii 

 perature at \slii(di 

 t hey lea \ e the fnrii.'ice 

 or eiiti'r the stack. 

 Thus, ill the a\er.'ige 

 pla lit . for e\erv ton of 



