Future outlook on fuel utilization

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United Nations

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Considering that the present phase of civilization based on the

utilizàtionof stored. energy deposits is a passing one, .n uneasy confidence

of finding further ways, the most economical use must be made of fuels.

Fuel is used foii dostic and: technological purposes '(the latter

including power and transport). el economy 'st be weighed ëga1nst other

factors: capitalization of equipment, ease of handling and control,

cleanliness.

Domestic fuel utilization

* Heating. The trend is towards .coactness aiã.. ease of handling, automatic

control. Community heating schenes., Stress laid .on. eoke1ess fuels.

* Cooking,

With controllabiJ.1ty in the foreground. the battle, is between

gas and electricity, with some activity in light petroleum distillates.

Radiant heating is getting o'e attention.

* Lighting, Overwhelmingly electric, with new development o± gas-discharge

lamps. This comi6dity has ôàused secondary comfdrbs.to follow: ouiside

public utilities these will raise ontinued demand f or small individual

power units. " "

Technological

* Heat.

Streamlining and unitiing of technological rocesses for better thexal efficiency through recuperation'f 'waste heat.; combination with

power proce-sses. Need for close control of tôperature, sometimes

atmosphere. Importance of radiant heat transfer.

* Power.

GTeat variation of heat engines for various purposes. Stationary

plants: emphasis on fuel economy, cheap grades of coal: steam turbine

for big units Peak load plants: ga's turbine -or Diesel engine. Movable

installations: for ships liquid, fuel is indicated steam turbines for

big powers, Diesel engiies for smaller powers. Possible use of

low-grade fuels and. of interchangeable high-speed engines avoiding delay to

the ship for repairs. The gas turbine future- uncertazLu. For trains,

the Diesel engineis the general solution, electrification wherever

traffic is dense enough. Gas turbines for big units likely. Road

transport: Diesel engines where the intensity of usage is great,

gasoline where it is smaller. The eidof octane number increase

possibilities nearby; use of separate anti-detonants. The Diesel engine

greatly promoted by additive type lubr.cating oils. Air transport: gas

turbine, p"opeUer and jet as au'y:ivcr-. the future. 'Unorthodox idea's:

hot-air cycle engine, thermo-electric pile.

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P'age. 3

Future Outlook on Fuel UtiliatiQn

by

Professor J. J. Bioeze

-Deift Laboratory Royal Dutch/Shell Group, -Deift,

Holland

introduction

- "

We people of the twentieth century are living ine grandet and rost

precariously founded. civilized. society the, world. has

ever seen, the

apotheosis of the' Promethean era.

Fire is its lffe-breath,'nan-nade fire.

The invention of fire is truly the main source

of 1m.,iran civiJ.ization in its

tecimical 'sense, and who can doubt its equal

significanc,d 'the'spritual

deveipment'o

mankind.?

Fire La

thus,beconie one of the-most prominent

baic needs of

n, fi±st 'fofoo.

próparaticn and. for givin.warnh in the

inhospiteble climate with wl4ch

.ich of'the earth, is :endoed.j tien for

technological pirposes and. lately - what a, short stretch, of. tIme a

century

is. - f,or the

'conquering of lerrestrial sace.

Yet this very'prominenOe makes'us tp.ke notióe

and worry, since in a

tosp.ball game' thà. developmht of controlled.

ire. has enabIpd the world's

population to grow out of all proport±on

and, at the' same time its need.

o

fuel. to grow agaIn disproportionally with it.

The critical point in

this game" came when the ftiel

that nat'ure prorided from' its' contemporary

resources: '

wood, vegetable

r animal fats;, and. whic. b

their relative

rareness or by the manpower required. to procure

then limite. the pace o±

development, were ,supp1eented- at first, and. replaced

later

by those from

stored deposits, . accumulated. durmng eons

and. wh1cb we are now' using up

at' an airmin rate, viewed., in a historical ,ime sca1e.

,

It is clear that this .cannot go' on' forever .nd

that other bases, for

human civilization must be found., of which we know wind and water power

already frQm experience, and. nulea.r fission energy as a

zearby pmohability.

'Yet ii a

omévhat uiieasy àonfid,ence that man will find.. ways of safeguarding

his ovth future theie is every reaspm. tQ consiei carefully

L:bw we stand

on this vital issue and what the prospects for the near future - a generation

or so-are.

.

-Others will give that part o

the prospects' that shows the estimate&

magnitude of the stored. energy

deposits;' re' shall deal ncw with the part

that indicates what man hQpes' or .ecpects, to do with

these.

in doing so,

the historical sequence may best be followed'

domestic uses, technological

urpos

,"-incluing power production,. ti-ansportation.

<However, attention

must be gien to. dome asects in common to all these

fields of application:

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the importanc 6the fuel cost factor wIth regard. to other cost factors

of the procee, whether this;be the nnningofa hotseholdor of a ship,

the ueàti'oh 1ither. the procesé requl contInupus operat.ion or includee

important eribd. f idiing or low heat or power requirements; the questions

of cleanliness and. ease of operation; and. last but by ±10 means least;

whether or not close control Is required.,.. The balance of all these factors

di'ffes from country to country, as, for instance, the cost of various

fuels per heat unit may differ and. is differently related. to the cost of

labour It also differs between spacious rural conditions where, for

iistance,

nioke Is nt troublsom,

conestd. city cànd±tIons, and. so

on. Furthermore, and. but partly as a consequence of the foregoing, the

difference in advancement of techniques is stageringly grat. We shall

look mor'e àrticularly at. the ad.vaiced. tages of Westerf nd.striá.

d.evéIopnient for-lead..

Domestic fuel utilization Heat in

With the trend. in housing pointing evermore to compactness and.

sIplicity, both on account of the hOue building Industri being unable.

to produce ixexpensively and. of the doestic help prob1m, indications are

for heating systeme reqLdring at most only. a small fuel storag&, and. itt1e

care.

In clôselr built-up areas, coiunity, block or aartment houee schemes

for general heat provision will develop more and. more, based. on efficient and. usually automatic boilers, utilizing, wherever possible, waste heat

from power plants. In theT cäedf existing property in such reas, electric

or gas heating may best answer the purpose. Tins would. leave, however, the

majority of homes to be provided, for by automatic or semi-automatic plant

employing. Emokeless fuel: ant racité, 'coke, oil, gas. There Is a strong

tendency to prefer the easiest type of fuel requiring the che.pest appliance

a light d.istfllte oil or gas Very satisfactory solutiáns aire been

worked. out also fr hea.vie oils and o' coal, to be applied. ihere fuel.

cost is being considered. more carefully or. the'demand. for the, best -qualities

outrunsthe supply. .

In soft-coal countries with mild. t6 temperate clmates, the open'

soft coal fire still holds its own, notwithstanding danung evid.ence of its

inefficiency and. its contribution to smog and. corrosion. The cleaner

aspect of a hard-coal cci.ntry is alway's being remarked. upon The trend. is

toward. seegating adtivated. coke axid. gas, and making use of the valuab]e

by-products - -

-/Low-temperaturé

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Low-temperature radiant heat is being appreciated aq m'ore cofortable and more economical in fuel, although reqüiring more capital outlay t1an

its counterpart, hot air heating. ,Th ].attér allowe of a direct combination

with that recent addition to domestic improvement: air conditioning

Cooking "

The battle is mostly between ga (coal, natural and. bottled) and.

electricity, with controllability, if possible' by. thermostat and clock,

as the ain weapon. Great' pro'ess has also been made in' the control of

solid fuel furnaces and in their efficiency, yhich has long been of a very

low order, owing to a combination of idl1ñg losses 'and bad. heat recovery

when on load. Combinations with heating plant are among the o'st advanced

domestic 'constructions. ' '

In oil appliances, where very light d.istiflates, re used., there is a steady development, also with a' view to, obtaining closer control and

avoiding sooting through improved burning conditions. Alo in this case

the tendenôy is not to consider for the ftture applianc'es with thei' own

individual fuel containers,, causing a daily e±ill nuiance, but to aim

at a centralized stoi'age tside the,.:hou'se and. to lay 'out fuel ilnes to

serve the'necessary points.' ' . ' '

Radiant heating of the cooking vessels is being given increased.

attention by all designers, whether interested in electricity, gas br il.

Lighting

Real 'improvement's in this field, to wit,"gas d.isharge lighting

auented' by the 'conversion of uitra-vi1et rays into

light

rays by

fluorescence', do not change the already overpowering superiority of electricty

for light production So strong 'is this superiority th.t 'together with

other atradtive possibilities: radio, refrigerator; oil firing,.water

-pumping, it hae created, a trong demand for electrification and where 'his'

cannot 'be performed. economically by means of public utilities, small

au-tomatic gasoline or oil, engines step in. It is :f or this market that the

revival of the hot-air cycle -and. of other long-known hut discarded proceèses

may'b of extreme Interest'.

TechnolbgcaJ. uses of ftel

Heat

Most technological processes req,uire heat in some form reduction of

ores, melting of metals, 'distilling, baking, drying the differences are in

the relatie importance of' fuel cost, in te teperature and. In the d,èee

of control required. Sometimes efficiency is still very law owing to' bad.

,proóess layout,, sonie'imes req.uiring severaL rQheats, to'bad heater design

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c.using undue direct losses, and to Intermittent operatin. Great progress

is' 'due to streamlined operations such s now lead tothe production of sheet

steel from the steel-furnace without rehat. This line of, development en.s

in. a concen-Lraton of all phases of operation. thin one plant, from ore

reduction to finish ro1iing and will be followed more and more as thermal

economy of tecIuxologicai procsses.e-t's iore at.tntion. n even wider notion

of, themal economy is also being more widely understood; it significance is

to evaluate heat by the temperature at hich it is required and to provide

low-tenperature (low-rade) he&t'only as a waste product of the high-grade

heat provided by combustion. (always well, over 1,000 degrees a) after making

use of the valuable high-temperature lévels, far instance for power'

production or high-tempel-ature furnaceoperation.

It leads to'morehih1y

organized, complex., technological units combining greater fiel economy

possibilities with grat1y increased capitalization and decrásed flexibility, hence dmanding more knowledge and foresight, as well as the promise of

stable conditions

Typical of the trend. is the requirement of'S close: con-rO1 both of

temperatuxe and., in some metallurgical cases, of atmosphere; which requireent 'has favoured gas and even electricity - the only case worbh mentioning where

heat may be' produced witho.t 'even n1tiéi èombustion if the 'powr is derived \

from water. This heat y he obtained. in ny ways;. fr the 'arc,- the

induction or the ed.dy current and by radiation. Great strides have, however,

been mide in obtaining closer coi rol o gas, oil and.'(powdered) coal

combustion, which latter, by proylding strongly radiant flames, furnish

their heat in a very concentrated way most suitable for' high-temperature

rocesses. An. interesting feature is here that cheap, rezid.ual and cra*ed

oil fuels, owing to their lowe'.hy'drogen content, are more farourable

than lighter oils with a view to obtaining radiant flames Of course, over

some l.CO degrees 'C oneis pracically limited tq electric heat; this

limit may be raised. as inexpensive oçrgen becomes available In specific

instances, of course, the use of or-ace'tylene and oxy-propane is well

Imon.

'

Power ' ' . '

In the world, at present a wide variety of heat engines is available, based, on coal and'on petroleun derIvativs, and. fitted to suIt'many'.

requ.rernents. Decisive fcto±s In the eolution of types are require'ents

of weight, cost, 'reliability and es 'of control or maintenance, besides pure fuel economy, which latter only in a few cases dominates the scene, The most striking fe.ture of'power technóiogyiaIthe ntua1 adaptation

- .' '

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betwe'en heat engine concept and design on-the one band and fuel

characteristics on the other, groping for optimal results out of,the

manifold contributing and. often conflicting factors.

Continually changing

tecbniques and prospects on both sides make it often hard. for engine

designers, as well as fuel tecbnologists, to see clearly ahead, and the

result is, of necessity, a progress involving, baiting and sumbling, with

often mistakes and. regrets.

But such is all the progress of mankind, and

thi

field, where progress is not made by a few chosen oñebut'y the

multitude, each seekin

for the best solution to his own problern, in his

light'and within 14s mexis, should. make no exception.

In' order to attempt., a projection of te lines of development it is,

perhaps, profi'able to make a general distinction according to. main

applications

Thus, following

.

gnera1 scäle of spec±ic engine weights,

stationarr, mari.ne, ..rail, portable, road and. air units wilX be found.'

A

further roi)gh cross-distinction. according t intensity of usage, providing

a certain indication, of the' balance between capital cost and direct cost

of operation, will then allow a more precise charting of the roads to be

followed.

The erenie1s of the chart thus obtained give at the same time

the extreme-of adaptation of power plant 'to fuel one way, and of fuel to

power plan't the,' other. .

..

.

In the big stationary plant built for tnass production of electrical

power, the usual layout Is

'he solid fuel-fired boiler with stea

turbine

plaxit in big untte.

T14s is partly so because the turbine is the only

type of heat nine . suitable to really big power's, and. because the' general

chéapn,ess of solid fuels prescribes their use, which, so far, has only

ben possibl'e with. ecbernal combustion.

The necessity, again,. to obtain

hIgh eff.iciency'has primarily resulted n high temperatures and. pressures.,

Boiling liquids of which, of course, water i,

the most dbvious but

thermo-dynamically not the most advantageous, give very high rates of heat

transfer, which enables the designer t

build his heater the bo 1er

-'withá relatively small heating area, whilst adjusting thefl design of its

combistioñ chamber, to the cheapest possible fuels, suôhae very len coal

or, high-ash biown coal.

t is, therefore, probable tbat this line ci'

develpment will be pursued further, to the exclusion of other possibilitis,

such as th,e internal or external combustion air cycle turbine.

Everjthing

possible will, of course, be done to make use of heat at lower temperature

levels or incrasing the economy, the waste heat being

finally exploited

for technological or space-heating purposes wherever possible.

The emergency or peak-load plant is an entirely different proposition.

These plants

ay be extremely valuable for maintaining or extending

the

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capacity of a power system by being able to replace or cçmplemext this

system for short periods. Eere, the;balance between capital investment

and erating cost points towards simpler, less expensive machinery, winch

may be. less economical in,,fuel, either quantitatively or qualitatively,

Silestéam turbines with

compacb,

quick-acting boilers, and. also ol

engines have been used., the latter particulárl'y on account of their

iediate rsonse.

Now, the 1n6ernl combustion turbine also presents

itself for these purpoes, possesain in 'simple. fort a moderate efficiency,

on,a reasonable range of oil fuels,' together Tith attractive features of

compactness and ease o± operation.

-For a'l1m5vable inst.lations lquid. fuels have, o course, much to

recoiend them, and although .steashis and. locomotives developed, before

oil fuel ws available, the influence 6±' the attractive features: high

speci'±'ic energy content, easy bunkering, good control, has been to drive

Inrôad into -this field of coal utilization, aided also by the development

of spcific oil-burning maChinery, such as, oil engines..

For ships', the easy disosl of. unker space foi" llquid fuel an& the

saving of space, weight an. .manower .have decided. entirely in favour of

oil fuel. The.battle is between the steam turbine and the Diesel- engine.

,The steam plant- is predominant in big powers and is also favoured where

personnel of the special type necessay to coax big Diesel enGines along

is not avai.able, and. w'here heavy 'boiler fuel is really cheap

The oil engine has proved to. be equally reliable in many cases and.

-scores, where better fuels are availabJe at little ectracost andon long

runs where 'its low consumption rate -coUnts. It is 'becoming appreciated

that, given 'suitable design and à.uxi.l'.±a'y equipment, the oil engine may also use low-grade fuels, and. future developrnent will Oertainly be directed

in many cases towards this end. . Conversely,, for lighter duties where

the

power demand is teorarily great,- the' recent progress in Diesel engine

lubricating bile has made high-speed ói ôngines attractive. These can

solvej q,uestion.of vital interest 'to shipowners, namely that of replacenent

instead. of repair in situ. - ' ' ' '

It is as yet too eai'ly, topredict any big future fo' the internal

-combustiOn turbine, . apa't from lightweight military plant; one of the 'eat

difficulties In as 'tu me developnent is the bigness of the ob'jec't,, when it is buIlt for economy, ma]ing it cumbersome for expeiirnentation,

'For trains, the days of the stea locomotive are numbered,. Intense

traffic is being band..led by means of electrIficat'ion4 for individual

traction, either-by locomotive or by rail-car unit-, the oil egine ishe

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solution at present.aimed. at. -by. every railroad .ii the world.. It

however, that, theinternal, cbnibiistion tubine- may. become very attactiie

becauee of its conipactnessin big powers The task to make this type of

engine burn powdered. coal, undertaken

in

the United. States, would. appear to

be a tremendou one and. against the general tiend. foi transport engines.

So probably Oil will be the principle fuel.

Inroad. transpor-6,.as well as in portable power units, th internal

combustioit p-iston engine. reiis supreme, in the shape

of

the ineenive

gasoline engine, :whee i±ensity of usage i relatiely âmaU, and. of the,

more éensive but also more efficient. Diesel engine, where it ,s geatr It is, of cotrse., toowell-knom to stress, it tat the attractiveness df

the gasoiine-dri.ven-rod. yhio.le has, stimuIted. the oij,. iiiduàtry -to it

present height; bb outsIde the frd.ustries concerned,

it'

Is not. lways

realized. to what extent mutual adaptation of engine and. fuel nas been d.civen,

ith thebiggest efforts.dobtlesly On the side of the fuel technologist,'

which is as it should be. The cracking proces ha servedto bring more..

material within

.the'

vOlatility range that the .gasQline engine can. cofiume,.

at the same time heipng along. with other chemical conversion processes ,tp

'adapt.. the. Iidrocarbons to. the combustion dcess desired, which is'. cu'ious one nasch as good. burning is required but, ,or the othe' hand., a-certain

resistace against premature reactions

betweeli

fuel and,

en,whiOhwOuId

lead. to untirnely explOsions known as d.tonation or biockinSo _{There are}

signs' that he oil industry, in a feling that it has .reached. at 1eas

f or thepresent the liiit of its possibilities and. fearing.a reduction ii

yield. per barei of .'crude that would. çffset gains -in perfoiance

or èdonom,

will1

not. contxibute to the edme. extent to frthe' adaptation and. that. .other:

possibilitlea nst be investigated first,- One .of these.,sed' On the fdct

that detcnating con:ditions are. only met with during a small fraction of the

totaltime f,opetibn, is the introduction of a special &nti-detonait

luid d.urng.t,ha- fractioli. Such a. fluid may be bsed. o petroleum or on

water-methanol, with tetra-ethyl-lead. added, and. the principle may eccme

- very important In this, field.. .

-, . .

., ..

The progress made, possible in high-speed. Diesel engines t1otigh i:1ove

lubriitsromotes wider applicationi of.thls.typeof e±'ieine and. further.

development characteried. -by the pass-word.s . supercharging and.. two-stroke

-cycle, The requiremeñts inthe way offue.lcharacteristib,s are mich less

sharply defined than those for gasoline engines, and., it is of interest to

note, tend. to become less so as dime,rsions and-loads increase. ,Thre i

- great competition for. the type. of. ftel req.uired.- here by the very big . -

-domestic heating business, resulting in a tendency towards decreaâ'd. overall

- .

/q.uaiity.

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