Abstract
THE history of ship propulsion records many revolutions in types of machinery and their application, and in the plan proposed by Mr. H. R. Ricardo in his Thomas Lowe Gray lecture to the Institution of Mechanical Engineers delivered on December 1, marine engineers will see yet another great change. Though he could not make out a case for a Diesel engine of any sort in really large or very fast vessels, Mr. Ricardo urged that for ships up to 6,000 horse-power, the power plants might well consist of a very large number of light high-speed Diesel engines, driving electric generators supplying the current necessary for the propulsion motors and for auxiliary purposes. One of the outstanding features in engineering practice of recent times is the marked success of the high-speed Diesel engine for road transport. During the last two years, some 20,000 engines aggregating more than 2,000,000 horse-power have been put into service on the roads of Europe. These engines range up to 150 horsepower, and 70-80 such engines could easily be installed in groups and tiers for a vessel of 6,000 horse-power. The fuel supply, the circulating water and lubricating oil could be supplied from a central station and engines could be started and stopped from a central control. Mr. Ricardo sees no difficulty in the maintenance of such a plant, for the units could be easily disconnected and hoisted out and the engines overhauled regularly at a shore depot. To overcome the noise difficulty, each unit would be enclosed in a double-walled wooden sound-proof box. “Thus enclosed, the generating sets will sound like bees on a summer's afternoon, and the solitary engine room clerk will be able to smoke his pipe of peace.” Fanciful as the scheme appears to be, it is by no means an impossible one and it would be of interest to see it put to the test.
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High-Speed Diesel Engines for Marine Service. Nature 132, 886–887 (1933). https://doi.org/10.1038/132886c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/132886c0