STANDARD LUBRICATING OIL SYSTEM FOR GEARED TURBINES. 271 



Mr. Ernest H. B. Anderson, Member: — The Shipping- Board officials had an excep- 

 tionally difficult task to fulfil, and it seems to me they deserve every credit for the manner 

 in which they tackled many problems which required the most careful consideration in con- 

 nection with fitting out and installing various types of turbine and gear equipments in the 

 freighters building at the new shipyards all over the U. S. A. 



None of the shipyard officials had any experience whatsoever with installing machin- 

 ery in vessels, yet they were called upon, to equip and fit out vessels with auxiliary machin- 

 ery, the successful operation of which was of vital importance to the main propelling ma- 

 chinery. By means of technical orders and diagrams, results were obtained which fully 

 justified such a system. 



On, Plate 108 is shown the revised method for mstalling the forced lubrication system 

 to the turbines and gears, and I think it is unfortunate that there is no cross-connection ar- 

 ranged so that the oil can be supplied direct to the bearings without passing through the 

 gravity tanks. In other words, it should be possible to supply oil to the bearings and gears 

 either from the gravity tanks or alternately from a direct-pressure system. 



Mr. Smith : — There is one point brought up in the discussion — that the gravity sys- 

 tem is inherently more reliable than the pressure system. I cannot quite agree to that 

 point. We turned out eighteen of our ships with pressure systems, and twelve with grav- 

 ity systems. The only ship we had any trouble with was one fitted with the gravity system 

 — every one of the pressure system ships has been satisfactory. Not long ago I was in- 

 formed that, on another ship, not made by our company, one of the oilers was sent up' to 

 shut a valve. He shut off the valve controlling the supply of oil to the turbines and burned 

 out the bearings. That was with a gravity system. Both of these accidents occurred with 

 gravity systems. The oil pressure can fail on the gravity system as well as it can fail on 

 the pressure system, the only difiference being that there may be twO' or three minutes of time 

 interval between the gravity and pressure systems. In both cases, I think some safety de- 

 vice must be provided to give the engineer warning to shut down the turbine, to prevent its 

 complete breakdown, since both systems may fail. 



I have had considerable experience with pressure oil systems during the last ten years, 

 and I think some of the statements were based on hearsay rather than direct observation. 

 It is my observation in every case that the pressure system has worked more satisfactorily 

 than, the gravity system on the ships we have turned out. The engineers invariably use the 

 pressure system by the by-passing of the gravity tank in preference to using the gravity sys- 

 tem, since the former is simpler and easier to operate. 



The President : — It is apparent that where there are many men there are many minds. 

 Does any other gentleman wish to contribute to this discussion? If not, I will call on the 

 authors to make such rejoinder as may be appropriate. 



Messrs. SchmEi^tzer and Fernald:— Mr. Smith's discussion consists of two parts, 

 one a description of the pressure system which his company was using before the Emer- 

 gency Fleet Corporation adopted the standard system for his ships, as well as all others be- 

 ing built for the account of the Fleet Corporation. The other constitutes criticism of the 

 standard system. 



In selecting the gravity system instead of the pressure system we were influenced by the 

 following facts : — 



