[Trade Journal]
Publication: Journal of the Franklin Institute
Philadelphia, PA, United States
vol. 148, no. 3, p. 161-181, col. 1
ELECTRICAL SECTION.
Special Meeting, June 10, 1899.
WATER-POWER ELECTRICAL PLANTS IN THE
UNITED STATES.
BY B. C. WASHINGTON, JR.
In presenting to you to-night a paper on "Water-Power Electric Plants in the United States," it is my purpose to show you the great importance of the development of this great branch of our natural resources, and to describe and illustrate a few of the more important plants, and give you the benefit of some statistics gathered by personal correspondence with those directly in charge of over 300 plants. The illustrations cover almost the entire field, and show the perfection attained by the unparalleled genius of American minds in the production of suitable machinery to meet all the different requirements imposed, no matter what are the conditions.
For many centuries man has patiently and earnestly sought to control the vast powers of nature, so that the shall do his bidding. Human genius has triumphed, and now on the eve of the twentieth century an enlightened world gazes in wonder and admiration while Americans harness the power of their greatest rivers, convert this power into electricity and transmit it with commercial success to distant mining or manufacturing centers. The application of water as a power for driving mechanical devices is supposed to have been attempted in Rome, about the time of Augustus, 63 B.C. to A.D. 14. During the succeeding centuries various machines have been originated for the utilization of water-power, and recent years have witnessed a most rapid and wonderful progress in their development. The old power-wasting water-wheels of various types have been superseded by turbines for ordinary heads of water, and wheels of the Pelton and Impulse types for extraordinary heads.
The first transmission of electrical power for industrial purposes was accomplished in 1878, at Sermaize, a short distance from Paris, France. The dynamos in this instance were driven by steam engines. Shortly after this demonstration of the practicability of the transmission of electricity, followed the application of water-wheels for driving dynamos.
In the United States there are now nearly 500 electric plants operated by water-power, or water-power and steam combined. Notwithstanding this, there are many hundreds of fine water-powers totally undeveloped, or only partially developed, which would yield handsome returns on the cost of improving them and utilizing their power for the gene-ration of electricity. Some are more favorably situated than others, but nearly all of them of any commercial im-portance can be developed.
The immense advantages of electrical development are its cheapness, the flexibility and divisibility of the power, and the ease with which it can be transmitted from the point of generation to the point of utilization.
As a power producer the stream must be reasonably steady in the quantity of its discharge. This can be readily determined by pursuing the accurate methods employed instream measurements by the government hydrographers.
Having ascertained the fall, and the quantity of discharge, the amount of power that is available is readily determined. The next problem is the disposition to be made of the power when it is developed. This is often known in advance, but in some cases the power owners are confronted with many difficulties. The location of the power may not be suitable for a manufacturing site, and should it be desirable to transmit the power to manufacturing centers, existing power and light companies may own franchises which give them exclusive control of the territory. It is not always an easy matter to induce manufacturers owning expensive steam plants to discard them and substitute electricity, although they know it to be cheaper, more reliable, cleaner and generally safer than steam.
The problem of water-power development is, as a matter of course, one of dollars and cents, and the main question is, will the income be sufficient to pay a reasonable per cent. on the investment, over and above general and operating expenses, taxes, maintenance and repairs and depreciation? This question is referred properly to the engineers in charge of the prospective development. The development naturally divides itself between the expert in hydraulics and the expert in electricity. To these experts it remains to solve all the varied and sometimes exceedingly difficult problems that are presented. The machinery for these plants must be constructed to suit the conditions imposed, and the conditions .are the unknown quantities which enter the equations and are only solved by experienced engineers. The up-to-date manufacturers of water-wheels and electrical apparatus employ the best of engineering talent, and this talent is at the disposal of those contemplating the construction of water-power electric plants. Upon the engineers devolve the selection of the site for the dam and power-house, and the preparation of plans and specifications for their building and equipment. The kind of dam and its location depend largely on the character of the stream, the shape and geological structure of its sides and bottom, and also the topographic features above and below the prospective site. Of course, dams are constructed to withstand extraordinary freshets and injury from ice and floating débris of all kinds, and of a height that will not cause disastrous results to surrounding property from overflow or backwater. Proper protection is afforded canals, waterways and penstocks leading to the power-house, and ample provision made to keep sand and other detritus from entering the water-wheels. Local conditions are also important factors in the selection of the site for the power-house. When practicable, it is located as near as possible to the source of power, so that the expense for canals, flumes and penstocks will be reduced to a minimum.
The plan of the power-house depends largely upon the style of water-wheel used and the method adopted for delivering the water to the wheels and carrying away the discharge water, the connections between the water-wheels and generators, and whether the plant has additional or reserve steam power. The building and foundations for wheels and generators must meet every requirement of strength and solidity. The entire construction must also be fire-proof. No power-house is complete without a travelling crane.
Recent construction shows a very commendable desire on the part of engineers to standardize the building plans and machinery as far as practicable. The location of switchboards, transformers and outgoing wires are matters of detail for the engineers to decide. Currents of high voltage require extraordinary care in the placing and insulation of transmission wires, and the best methods in use will be shown later.
There are at present two styles of water-wheels in general use in the United States for dynamo driving, viz.: tur-bines and impulse wheels. As a rule, the use of turbines of the vertical and the horizontal style is confined to powers of ordinary head, where the water is plentiful. The impulse wheels are a necessity under opposite conditions. There are, perhaps, some exceptions to this statement, but I do not think them sufficiently numerous nor important to be cited at this time.
Both styles of water-wheels require the use of water-wheel governors, and this is especially true of plants where there is a variable load on the generators.
There are many different devices on the market for governing water-wheels. Reports from the plants show that the field is almost entirely covered by three governors, viz.: the Replogle, the Lombard and the Geissler. They give remarkably close government under all working conditions, and guard against excessive speed or racing in case of the whole load going suddenly off, as in the case of circuits opening. Only last year you had an able paper read to you on the government of water-wheels, so that there remains little for me to say in connection with this subject, except that Mr. Replogle has perfected and brought out a new governor. It is well known that the voltage drops at the receiving station as the load increases on the line of long-distance transmission plants. This latest governor of Replogle's can be so adjusted as to automatically increase the speed of water-wheels as the load increases, thereby holding the voltage constant at the distant end of the line. In making this advantage possible, he has not destroyed the principle that holds all the gates at several wheels to the same opening, where a number of units are running in parallel.
The kind of generators used, of course, depends largely on the length of the transmission line and the work re-quired. For all long-distance transmission, alternating current generators are used. The voltage of the current generated is raised by transformers and carried at high voltage to the receiving station, and there stepped down by lowering transformers and utilized for light and power purposes. The pole lines follow roads when practicable, and when run across country the timber is cleared from both sides of the line, so that uprooted trees and limbs broken by storms will fall clear of the line. The poles and cross-arms are of selected timber. The poles are firmly planted and securely braced at curves. Special high voltage insulators are used. The transmission wires are bare copper, the high voltage permitting the economical use of light wires. The wires are spiralled, to prevent induction if telegraph or telephone wires are strung on the same poles.
With this brief general outline of some of the features kindred to water-power transmission plants, I will briefly describe some of the large transmission plants in successful operation in the United States, and attempt, figuratively speaking, to take you through them by means of illustrating the machinery they have in use at the same time it is described. You will kindly bear in mind that some of the ground has been covered by descriptive articles published in technical papers. Nevertheless, it is necessary to make use of some of this material in order to bring out all of the different types of machinery used, the various methods employed in connecting water-wheels and dynamos, and the applications of the power for various mechanical purposes.
THE FOLSOM-SACRAMENTO ELECTRIC TRANSMISSION PLANT.
For data relative to the Folsom-Sacramento electric-power transmission I am largely indebted to Mr. George P. Low and the Sacramento Electric, Gas and Railway Company.
The water-power of the American River is utilized for driving the generators. The various forks of this river rise in the Sierra Nevada Mountains near Lake Tahoe. The water supply of the river presents some peculiar features not found elsewhere, in that the flow of water is de-rived from new sources at all seasons of the year. In the late spring and summer months the melting snows in the mountains "bridge" over the "dry season," and in the fall, just as this source of supply is on the wane, the rainy season sets in. The foundation of the dam was begun in 1886 by the Natoma Water and Mining Company, and on this foundation, in 1888, the transmission company began the work of completing the dam. The river is confined for many miles by high granite bluffs, and where the dam is erected they form a natural point for the building of such a structure.
The dam contains 30,000 cubic yards of masonry and the headworks about 15,000 cubic yards. The storage capacity of the dam is about 13,000,000 cubic yards of water. The shutter is a trussed timber platform, which rests in a masonry recess running longitudinally along the top of the center of the dam. When lowered, it is secure from damage by floating débris. The shutter is operated by five hydraulic rams.
The sand gates, each covering an opening 5 by 6 feet through the wing dam, are located at the end of the dam to prevent sand or gravel from passing into the canal and causing injury to the water-wheels. The bottom of each gate is 8 feet below the bottom of the canal, and a short distance further down the stream a wall 8 feet high is built directly across the canal. The inlets to three of the gates are tunnel-like openings covering the width of the canal. As the openings are 8 feet below the bottom level of the canal, the water has sufficient flow to remove and discharge heavy substances into the river below. The dam and head-works are built of granite taken from the cliffs on each side of the river. The west bank of the canal is built of granite part of the distance and of earth the remaining distance. The headgates are operated by hydraulic rams.
Two thousand feet down the canal a drop of 7.33 feet occurs. At this point is located the State power-house. This building extends across the canal. The building is 160 feet long, 60 feet wide and 60 feet high, and is built of heavy granite masonry. Six special 87-inch Leffel turbine water-wheels with vertical shafts, geared to bevel pinions to a horizontal shaft overhead, deliver power for electrical and other purposes. About 800 horse-power is now utilized. Without waste the water flows on in a canal built by the Folsom Water-Power Company. At the terminal of the canal is a forebay 150 feet long, 100 feet wide and 12 to15 feet deep, constructed with ample provision for cleaning out silt and preventing it from reaching the turbines. The hydraulic machinery was all made and furnished by The S. Morgan Smith Company, of York, Pa., and consists of four pairs of 30-inch McCormick horizontal turbines of 1,260 horse-power each. The wheels run under a head of 55 feet at 300 revolutions per minute, and are directly connected by couplings to the armature shafts of the generators. The inlet pipes are 8 feet in diameter, and made of 5/8-inch steel. Double draft tubes are provided for each set of wheels. Between the four large wheels is the special wheel for driving the exciters. The wheels are made of phosphor-bronze, and each pair is furnished with steel fly-wheels 10 feet in diameter, weighing 10,000 pounds. To each of these four double turbines is directly coupled a 750 kilowatt 3-phase generator built by the General Electric Company. These were the largest constructed up to that time (1888). They are 8 feet 8 1/2 inches high, cover a floor area of 11 feet by 8 feet 8 inches, and weigh nearly 29 tons each. The generators have twenty-four poles, and deliver 3-phase current at 60 cycles per second at 800 volts. There are two four-pole 500 volt exciters, of 30 kilowatts capacity each, either of which can be used to excite all four generators. The generators are carefully insulated from, and securely bolted to, solid masonry.
The current is led through a simple switching board to the bank of step-up transformers on the upper floor of the building. These transformers are of the air-blast type, manufactured by the General Electric Company, and have a capacity of 250 kilowatts each.
The switching board is of Tennessee marble. The two outside panels control the four generators. The center panel contains the synchronizing indicator lamps, the exciter instruments, and main line switches. The generator panels are provided with voltmeters, current indicators and pressure regulators.
Both the primary and secondary coils of all the step-up transformers are worked in parallel taking current at 800 volts from the generators and delivering it to the lines at a potential of 11,000 volts. Each generator is provided with a separate and distinct circuit from the power-house to Sacramento, and can be worked singly or in parallel. Sturtevant blowers, both at Folsom and Sacramento, each operated by a 2 kilowatt induction motor, furnish air for cooling the transformers when the load is sufficient to cause their heating.
A double-pole line, 22.75 miles long, follows the country road and Sacramento Valley Railroad. The poles are of cedar, 40 feet long, 12 inches at the top, and 16 at the butt, and are set 6 feet in the ground, 52 to the mile. The cross-arms are braced with angle irons, and are 4 inches x 4 inches in cross-section and 7 feet long. The transmission circuits are supported on double-petticoat porcelain insulators tested to withstand a potential of 25,000 volts. The pole lines each support six No. 1 B. & S. bare copper wires, which effect the transmission at an estimated loss of 10 per cent. at full load. A telephone line is carried on one set of poles. The line is transposed every five poles.
The distributing station is an imposing and substantial two-story fire-proof brick building, and, in addition to the offices of the company, it contains on the ground floor the motor and generator room, in which are located three 3-phasesynchronous motors, the electric railway generators, and arc-lighting dynamos. The transmission circuits are led direct from the pole lines to the step-down transformer chamber, in which are located the various transformer equipments.
Three large 250 kilowatt synchronous motors are supplied with energy from 125 kilowatt transformers, which deliver current at 500 volts. The other transformers step-down to125 volts, the current being distributed over the city on a four-wire system, consisting of three wires for the 3-phase current and a fourth or neutral wire.
The incandescent lighting service is rendered by extensions made between either of the three wires and the neutral, proper care being taken to keep the circuits balanced within reasonable limits. The power service is rendered directly from the 3-phase wiring. Large motors are operated from 500 volt 3-phase wiring; the 125 and 250 volt 4-wire system is used for small motor work and incandescent lighting.
It is hardly necessary to give a recapitulation of the electrical equipment of this very extensive plant, and lack of time has prevented my giving you a more complete description of some of the electrical machinery. The plant was started on July 14, 1895, and has been in successful operation day and night ever since, with the exception of some weeks, when low water caused a partial shut-down. The useful work performed by this plant can be summed up as follows: It has furnished current for 525 arc lamps, 22,000 incandescent lamps, 1,400 horse-power of motors, and 35 motor cars operating 24'5 miles of single-track and 17 miles of double-track electric railway.
NEWCASTLE -SACRAMENTO TRANSMISSION PLANT.
The Newcastle-Sacramento Transmission Plant is an interesting plant, illustrative of the utilization of a high head of water. This plant is on the Sierra Nevada divide, north-west of Sacramento. At various points on the canal system of the South Yuba Water Company are "drops" or sudden falls. The most important "drop" is one of 464 feet, of which 400 feet is utilized for driving the power plant of the Central California Electric Company.
The water is carried from a reservoir to the power-house, a distance of 6,400 feet, in a 24-inch pipe of riveted sheet steel. The pipe is buried two feet under ground. At the power-house the pipe forks, in a heavy cast-iron Y, into two 15-inch pipes of No. 6 steel, running to the Y s on the Pelton water-wheels. These wheels are of the double pattern, two 48-inch wheels being direct-connected to each of the two 400 kilowatt generators. No automatic water-wheel governors are used, the regulation being effected manually by the switchboard attendant. Not very close attention is required, as the plant runs under a load so evenly laid on or taken off that every change can be anticipated, and even a waste of water avoided. The Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company supplied the entire electrical equipment of this plant, consisting of two alternating current 2-phase generators, two exciters, generator switch-board, step-up transformers, 2-phase 500 volts to 3-phase 15,000 volts, 28 miles 3-phase 15,000 volts transmission line, 15,000 volts receiving switchboard, reducing transformers, 3-phase 15,000 volts to 2-phase 2,000 volts, distribution switchboard, 2,000 volt circuits, and transformers for motors and lights.
The two 400 kilowatt generators are of the inwardly projecting field and revolving armature type, and run at a speed of 400 revolutions per minute. They generate 2-phase alternating current of 7,200 alternations per minute at 500 volts. The machines are excited by two 15 kilowatt 125 volt exciters, driven by separate Pelton water-wheels. Each generator is connected directly through the switches on the switchboard and fuses to the primary of the step-up transformers, which are connected to transform from 2-phase to 3-phase, and deliver current at 15,000 volts to the transmission line. Four step-up transformers, each of 150 kilowatts, are connected on the Scott system in two pairs of two transformers each for the 2-phase to 3-phase transformation. The pole line is substantial and well constructed. The three wires for the main circuit are No. 4 B. & S. bare copper. The insulators are of the Locke pattern, triple petticoated and made to carry a current of very high potential without cracking or puncturing. They are secured to the cross-arms by steel pins, thus providing a solid support for the wires. Each end of the transmission line is protected by Wurts non-arcing metal lightning arresters. At the sub-station there are three pairs of 75 kilowatt step-down transformers, which receive 3-phase current and deliver 2-phase current at 2,000 volts to the bus-bars of the distributing switchboard. The circuits are supplied with standard transformers for reducing the current from 2,000 volts to 100 or 200 volts as maybe required.
In the sub-station are two 50 horse-power induction motors, direct-coupled to 60 light direct-current series machines for supplying arc lights. The motors are supplied by two 75 kilowatt transformers, which deliver 2-phase current at 2,000 volts.
ELECTRO-METALLURGICAL PLANT AT MERCUR, UTAH.
The next feature to be shown will be the application of electricity for operating the machinery of the largest cyanide mill in the world, the Golden Gate, at Mercur, Utah. The current is generated at Telluride, by water-power, and transmitted a distance of 35 miles at a potential of 40,000 volts. The transmission line, which runs through a very rough and unsettled mountainous country, is of very substantial construction, and the insulators were especially designed for safely carrying current at a very high potential. These are the triple-petticoated glass insulators known as the "Provo," and are made by the Hemingray Glass Company, of Covington, Ky. They were tested under a potential of 50,000 volts, saltwater test, before being shipped from the factory, and not one has ever failed to do its duty. Some have been shot to pieces, but no harm other than the burning off of a few cross-arms has ever resulted, and they give entire satisfaction.
Omitting the description of the power plant at Telluride, I will start with the electrical apparatus in and about the mill. All of the electrical apparatus is of Westinghouse manufacture, and the success that has attended the use of this machinery is noteworthy. The loss of electrical energy in transmission is extremely low, being about 5 per cent.
The current is converted in the transformer house from 40,000 volts, 3-phase, to 220 volts, 2-phase. Current is delivered at the mine at $60.00 per horse-power per year, with a minimum consumption of 300 horse-power stipulated. In the high-tension room are the Wurts lightning arresters ,the choke coils and the high-tension lines. Special care is taken in insulating.
The ore is hoisted by a 150 horse-power motor, Type C, direct-connected to hoist. The crushers weigh 20 tons each, and have a combined capacity of 1,500 tons daily. They are operated by two 50 horse-power Westinghouse motors, Type C. Another of these 50 horse-power motors operates the roaster and ore converter. A 20 horse-power Westing-house Type C motor at the same mill drives a centrifugal pump. The plant is operated entirely by 2-phase induction motors, aggregating 700 horse-power, all of Westing-house Type C.
While illustrating the applications of electricity to mining, I will call attention to the General Electric Company's mining drills and mining locomotives. One of these, of which I show a view, weighs about 6 tons, and has a draw-bar pull of 1,500 pounds on the level at 6 miles per hour. I show you also the electric hoist in the Free Silver Mine, at Aspen, Col. This is said to be the largest electrical hoist in the world. The electrical equipment consists of one General Electric Company's 100 kilowatt multipolar motor, with a speed of 550 revolutions per minute, and a smaller motor of similar type of 60 kilowatts and a speed of 475 revolutions per minute. The smaller motor can be thrown in gear with the main hoist-motor when the load is unusually heavy.
MECHANICSVILLE-SCHENECTADY POWER PLANT.
The Mechanicsville-Schenectady Power-Transmission Plant has been described with considerable detail in the leading electrical journals, and is, no doubt, by reason of its importance, quite familiar to all present. This plant is only 17 miles distant from the city of Schenectady, where are located the largest electrical works in the world, covering about 130 acres of ground. To this city the water-power of the Hudson River is transmitted electrically, and utilized by the General Electric Company in the manufacture of electrical machinery.
The site for the dam and the power-house, where the banks and bottom of the river are of rock, seems to have been designed by nature to meet the requirements of the most exacting engineer. The water-power is sufficient to produce from 8,000 to 10,000 horse-power for the greater part of the year. Bluff Island divides the Hudson into two channels. The power-house starts from the west bank and extends out into the river about 215 feet, and is connected with Bluff Island by a concrete dam. On the eastern side of the island is the main dam, which is built entirely of concrete. The up-stream face of the dam is vertical, the down-stream face is curved, and the horizontal apron, 14 feet wide, throws the water off horizontally, and prevents scouring of the toe of the dam.
The abutments are anchored to the rock sides of the riverbank and the island. The spillway between the abutments is 800 feet long. In the western abutment are 12 arched waste-gates, each 4 feet wide and 6 feet high. A floating wooden boom anchored to a line of stone cribs above the dam prevents floating rubbish or ice from choking the waste-gates.
The foundations of the power-house are carried down to bed rock, and the house is carried on steel box web girders resting upon steel I-beam columns. These columns are imbedded in concrete walls carrying arches spanning the tailraces and forming the floor of the generator room and the wheel flumes. Division walls form a separate and distinct tail race 22 feet wide for each set of turbines, from which the water can be shut off at will. A thick head-wall divides the house into two parts. The up-stream part contains wheel chambers for seven 1,000 horse-power wheels and two exciter wheels. The down-stream part contains the water-wheel governors and the generators and switchboard. The power-house is 257 feet long; the wheel room is 32 feet wide, and the dynamo room is 34 feet wide. A 20-ton crane runs the length of the dynamo room.
Each main turbine consists of two pairs of 42-inch horizontal Victor turbines, built by the Stillwell-Bierce & Smith-Vaile Company, of Dayton, O. Each set of four wheels is rated at 1,000 horse-power under an 18-foot head. The turbines for each exciter consist of three 18-inch Victor cylinder gate wheels (arranged as a pair with a central discharge and one single wheel), developing a total of 300 horse-power at 259 revolutions per minute. The speed of each set of main wheels is regulated by a Geissler electro-mechanical governor placed on a platform over the turbine shaft and between the head-wall and the dynamo. These governors can move the gates through their full travel in six seconds. Snow governors control the exciter wheel gates.
The generators are 3-phase, forty pole, 750 kilowatt General Electric machines, having internal revolving fields and stationary armatures, wound to deliver 36 ampères of current at a periodicity of thirty-eight cycles and at a potential of 12,000 volts to the transmission lines when running at 114 revolutions per minute. The armature frame is 15 feet 4 inches in diameter and 36 inches wide. The field ring revolves on a shaft 15 inches in diameter, rigidly coupled to the turbine shaft. On each side of the stairway leading to the switchboard gallery are located the exciters. The switchboard consists of nine panels. Five are used for the generators, two for the feeders, one is the total output panel, and the ninth is fitted for the control of the exciters. The details of the switchboard equipment are interesting, but it will take up too much time to enumerate them. In a small house near the first pole are placed double-pole 2,000 volt, short-gap lightning arresters, connected six in series to give the necessary number of spark gaps, which are each 1/32 inch long. The line consists of three No. 000 B. & S. bare cop-per wires. The circuits are carried on poles 30 to 60 feet long, 8 inches in diameter at the top. Triple-petticoated insulators are used.
All of the machinery of the General Electric Company in their Schenectady plant is driven by electric motors, so that the change from steam-power on the ground to water-power, developed and transmitted 17 miles, will not necessitate many changes. The steam plant will be retained as are serve in case the water-power should fail.
The General Electric Company furnished all of the electrical equipment. The Stillwell-Bierce & Smith-Vaile Company, of Dayton, O., were entrusted with the entire development, taking the river in its natural condition and building the plant, turning it over to the operating company in thorough running order, having used throughout hydraulic equipments of their own manufacture.
COUPLING WATER-WHEELS AND GENERATORS — MISCELLANEOUS APPLICATIONS OF ELECTRICITY FOR POWER PURPOSES.
I invite your attention to some views illustrating the methods employed for coupling water-wheels and generators, and also the very wide range in the application of electricity for power purposes.
Of interest are the two 450 kilowatt 3 -phase General Electric generators of the Portland General Electric Company, at Portland, Ore. They are driven by vertical turbines made by the Stillwell-Bierce & Smith-Vaile Company. The weight of the vertical shaft, with the armature, is about 33,500 pounds, and to carry this a system of extra bearings is introduced, one of the ring-thrust type, and the other a hydraulic oil bearing, both supplementing the ring bearings on the armature shaft. They are enclosed in cases filled with oil, delivered by hydraulic pressure, and are surrounded by water jackets. The generator shaft is 29 feet long and 8 3/8 inches in diameter. Direct current exciters are used for the 3-phase generators. The direct current for the railway service is obtained by means of rotary converters. Each converter delivers 500 horse-power to the bus-bars of the continuous current switchboard.
At the St. Anthony Falls water-power plant, several 700 kilowatt 3-phase generators furnish the current for operating nearly 240 miles of street railway in the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. The apparatus seen belted to generator No. 8 is a Lombard water-wheel governor. The Lombard governors are used with the other turbines which drive the generators.
The power plant of the Pioneer Electric Power Company, of Ogden, Utah, is also worth noticing. The water-wheels are of the impulse type, and are directly connected to the generators. Under an effective head of 416 feet the wheels have a capacity of 1,200 horse-power each at 300 revolutions per minute.
A 1/4-inch steel pipe 24 inches in diameter conveys water under a head of 1,411 feet (having a pressure of 600 pounds to the square inch) to the 60-inch Pelton water-wheels, which drive the generators of a light and power plant. Three 3-phase 350 kilowatt G. E. generators are driven by the large Peltons, and three small Peltons operate the ex-citers . The current is generated at 700 volts, and nine 125 kilowatt transformers raise the voltage to 11,500 volts, at which voltage it is delivered to the transmission line.
At the Electric Light Company, Columbus, O., Leffel Cascade 18-inch water-wheels of the impulse type are direct-connected to the generators. The six generators of the Boise Electric Light Plant are driven by a 26-inch double-discharge Leffel turbine, with six clutch pulleys. Any one generator, or combination of them, can be run at pleasure. The generators of the Skowhegan Electric Company, Skowhegan, Me., are driven by two 56-inch Leffel vertical turbines, which operate under 13 feet of head. The power station of the Electric Light and Power Company, at Raritan, N. J., operated under a head of 13 feet, is driven.by 40-inch wheels of the same make.
A point which I wish to illustrate is that the use of vertical turbines and heavy gearing is necessary when the fall is not great and waste of water is not permissible. Thus, I show you an installation in which the turbines are belted to pulleys on the main-line shaft extending the whole length of the wheel-room and continuing through the partition walls into and along one side of the generator-room of the power-house of the Ponemah Mills, Taftville, Conn. This power-house is located at Baltic, 4 miles distant from Taftville. The pulleys are put into, or out of, action by clutches mounted with pulleys on quills, so that any one, or all, of the wheels can be applied to driving the shafts.
The belted generators are G. E. 250 kilowatt 3 -phase generators, which deliver current to the line at 2,500 volts. At Taftville the 3-phase circuits are led into the basement of the mill, where they drive two 3-phase synchronous self-starting motors. These motors furnish power for driving the 1,700 looms, the lighting plant and three 80 horse-power G. E. railway generators. This was the first important application of electrical power transmission to textile manufacture.
In the Carolinas and Georgia are many valuable water-powers, and capital has been steadily invested in these powers during the last five or six years, and several notable electrical developments have been made.
I have some interesting views which show only a very small portion of the largest and greatest water-power development on earth. You know, of course, that I refer to the enduring monument to engineering skill and genius built at Niagara Falls by the noted engineer, Dr. Coleman Sellers. No hydraulic and electric plant was ever built where such tremendous engineering difficulties were encountered at every stage of its progress, and yet, thanks to the genius and perseverance of the engineers employed in the different branches of the development, every difficulty was promptly met and perfectly solved. This plant has been very ably written up and profusely illustrated in the edition of Cassiers Magazine for July, 1895, and was made the subject of two numbers of The Electrical World in January, 1899.
The speaker here showed a number of views illustrating the exterior and interior of the Niagara power plant.
The Pelzer Manufacturing Company, at Pelzer, S. C., one of the largest manufacturers of cotton goods in the South, has a well-equipped electric-power plant. The transmission plant consists of three pairs of 60-inch turbines, made by the Stillwell-Bierce & Smith-Vaile Company, direct-connected to three 750 kilowatt 3-phase G. E. generators, wound for 3,300 volts. The power is carried three miles to the mills. The motors consist of one 400 horse-power synchronous motor, wound for high potential, fifteen 110 horse power, four 75 horse-power, two 50 horse-power, one 20 horse-power, and four 5 horse-power, a total of 2,530 horse-power. Most of these motors are of the inverted type, and are suspended from the ceiling, and receive current at low potential from step-down transformers, located in the sub-station at the mills. The mills are lighted by 1,200 incandescent lamps, from the same power. The electrical equipment through-out the entire plant was furnished by the General Electric Company.
The electric plant of the Columbia Mills Company, of Columbia, S. C., also deserves notice. Two pairs of 48-inch horizontal turbines, made by the Stillwell-Bierce & Smith-Vaile Company, operated under 26 feet head of water, develop 2,000 horse-power. One 24-inch wheel under the same head develops 190 horse-power, making a total of 2,190 horse-power. This power drives two 500 kilowatt 3-phase generators, direct-connected to the turbines, running at a speed of 108 revolutions per minute. The power is transmitted a distance of 1/8 mile to the mills, and there drives 1,775 horse-power of inverted motors, and these motors operate all of the machinery of the cotton mills.
These two plants illustrate better than words the advantages derived from the electrical development of water-powers, especially when the powers are utilized for manufacturing raw materials raised at the very doors of the mills. In the cases of these mills in particular, a large saving is made in the cost of power, and the use of individual ceiling motors dispenses with many feet of power-wasting shafting, and also saves a large amount of valuable floor space. The absence of many yards of belting gives better light to the employees in the building, and lessens their chances of being accidentally injured. Another point to be scored is the cheapness of living and the low cost of labor in the locality of these mills.
That this locality is a splendid field for the investor is shown in the interest taken by the Government in having all the water-powers in this section accurately measured. A very complete report has been published on "The Progress of Stream Measurements" by the U. S. Geological Survey. This publication very materially strengthens the views I advanced a few years ago: that this section offers splendid opportunities for a water-power development company. Such a company could buy the best powers and develop them at leisure. The cost of such developments would be exceedingly reasonable, since timber for buildings and pole lines and stone for dams are to be found wherever there are powers. There are many other features worthy of consideration, such as the building of factories for manufacturing many articles that are now brought to this section from a distance. Land about the factories would also be available for town sites, so that the original outlay would be gotten back in a few years.
There is little question but that powers not immediately developed would increase in value more rapidly than interest would accrue if the capital were invested at the present low rates of interest that are being paid on large sums of money.
A few statistics relative to water-power electric plants maybe of general interest, and, since they were obtained after the expenditure of considerable time and labor, I will try and present them in such shape as not to weary you.
In the first place, the method employed for securing accurate and reliable data was by personal correspondence with the electricians in charge of the plants, a list of the plants operated by water-power having been furnished me by the different manufacturers whose machinery was used in the plants.
There are nearly 500 water-power electric plants in the United States, representing an investment of over $60,000,000. The total horse-power represented by water-wheels is over 200,000. The power is furnished for lighting 28,000 arc lights, 845,000 incandescent lights and for operating about 60,000 horse-power of motors. There are over 610 miles of electric street railway operated by water-power electrically transmitted.
The geographical location of the plants shows that the water-powers have been electrically developed in proportion to the powers available. New England has no coalfields, but it seems that Providence has supplied this portion of the country with numerous large water-powers. Of the 312 plants from which I have received reliable data, 115 are located in the States of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts and New York. Michigan has twenty-six, California, twenty-five, and Colorado, eleven. The other plants are distributed among the other States. It seems to be fairly well established that it pays to develop water-powers from 50 horse-power and upward, and that additional steam-power is necessary when the water-power is not sufficient to do all the work, and is not reliable at all seasons of the year. It is a well-settled fact that at the present time power can be profitably transmitted up to 80 miles, and utilized for any purpose for which steam-power has been applied. In mining localities it has made possible the profitable reduction of low-grade ores that could never have been mined had steam been the only power available, owing to the enormous cost of coal and the difficulty of transporting it from the nearest point on railroads to the mines. In short, we find that our inventors have produced water-wheels, dynamos, motors and transformers of the highest efficiency, that governors regulate the water-wheels with the greatest precision, that insulators are made to safely carry currents of enormously high potentials, and that perfect protection is afforded the electrical apparatus from electrical disturbances caused by lightning.
Not until all electric light and power stations are equipped with total-output watt meters, and accurate books are kept, showing the exact amount of fuel used and all of the expenses of operating the plants, will satisfactory data be available for comparing the cost of producing current by the two methods-water and steam. When sufficient progress has been made in adopting uniform methods of keeping station accounts, and accurate and reliable data can be secured, it is my purpose to obtain and publish comparative statements showing the cost of producing current by the two methods.
[The subject of the paper was profusely illustrated with the aid of stereopticon views.]
