Coal-fired ships reappear

Journal Article · Thu Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1983 · Compressed Air; (United States)

OSTI ID:5339410

A situation now exists where, in many countries, coal prices are almost half those of oil, and indications point toward this trend continuing. It is not surprising, therefore, that many shipowners are planning and building the next generation of steamships with coal-fired propulsion units. Six new coal-fired ships, the first for over 25 years, are now being built in Italy, Japan, and Spain. In the forefront in technology and systems for handling coal and ash is the British company Macawber Engineering. It has developed on-board systems responding to the problems created by coal handling on a modern steamship, problems that formed a major reason for the universal changeover to oil firing in the 1950s and 1960s. The traditional method of handling coal uses mechanical systems such as belt and draglink conveyors, and bucket elevators. These methods have disadvantages that make their use on ships far from satisfactory. Pneumatic conveying systems, due to their totally enclosed construction and relative simplicity, overcome these problems. The type of pneumatic system chosen, however, has to accommodate several other constraints imposed by on-board handling of coal. (SC)

• OSTI ID: 5339410
• Journal Information: Compressed Air; (United States), Journal Name: Compressed Air; (United States) Vol. 88:9; ISSN COAIB
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
013000* -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Transport
Handling
& Storage
BOILERS
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
COAL
CONVEYORS
ENERGY SOURCES
EQUIPMENT
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
HAULAGE EQUIPMENT
MATERIALS
MATERIALS HANDLING EQUIPMENT
PIPELINES
PNEUMATIC TRANSPORT
SHIPS
SIZE
SPECIFICATIONS
STEAM GENERATORS
TRANSPORT
VAPOR GENERATORS