Document Ra3ZQnRBgVVKMM5wZjqmenra

Four years of operating experience at one of America's widely known distilleries (above) has resulted in the design and con* struction refinements that make Centrafire the OBtttmnding spread* er-type stoker. Every point of Centrafire's superiority is proved: high thermal efficiency; maximum fuel combustion; continuous, even coal feed and distribution; economical firing of any grade coal; ash dts* charged without reducing capacity. Centrafire is so effective it burns even the lovtf grade of coal . . . economically! Wet ordryed is fed and distributed evenly and continuoadj . . . regardless of site consist. A key feature of Centrafire's cxccptiooil tfc ciency Is the hydraulic drive that automation maintains preset, fuel-air ratios. What's more,a is discharged without reducing capacity--tiw the coal feed is not interrupted and fire is mua tained--while ash is discharged at the sides# the furnace. . Centrafire will carry light loads or full for extended periods ... or will respond to ^ creased demand from light load to full 1" without sacrificing efficiency. Get all the fa*1? your nearest Wcstinghouse office. Ask for booUj* B-3890. Westinghouse Electric Corporation Box 868, Pittsburgh 30,.Pennsylvania. : Prom those dawn times when our hairy ancestors squatted about a flame before a cave, fire haa been in intimate associate. It gave cosy warmth and kept back the creeping dark. It smelted ores, made metal *Ueeble for forging. In later days it generated steam sod pushed mightily on engine pistons. b No wonder the ancients viewed fire as one of the dements/' along with the other cornerstones of their tid --earth, air and water. No wonder fire has been ^ >till is worshipped by savage peoples. No wonder tacts of that age*old feeling appear in our sentimental ^Preciation of a glowing hearth. Down through the centuries, as fire came ever to a greater part In man's life and work, the nature *bumlng" remained secret. Not until the classical **Per*ments of Lavoisier, Priestley and other 18th**tury scientists swept aside the mystical ideas of fiddle Ages did the process stand revealed as a rt^0n with oxygen from the air. rm that time on we have gained steadily in our knowledge of burning. Learned that it is more com plex chemically than we first thought. Learned that good combustion is mainly a mechanical problem. Learned many practical things about fuels and effi cient firing. Learned above ell how little we know. Today the reaction by which fuel and oxygen com bine and give off heat is still the most Important single process in our universe. Heat it the power engi neer's stock in trade and combustion a process he lives with daily. As fuels become ever more expensive to obtain, ond as energy demands skyrocket, nothing is more necessary than on understanding of the manner in which fuels bum end how to put them to work with peak effectiveness. To aid that understanding is the aim of this special section. Powbjj's 70th. In 48 practical pages, it tells how fuels burn, gives facta about commercial fuels, describes firing equipment, shows how to select fuels wisely for new plants and old, and outlines short-cut methods for checking efficiency. DECEMBER 1948 P W SWAIN, EDITOR