# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Power Transmission/Hydraulic

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II.—Hydraulic
The first proposal for a general transmission of hydraulic power was made by Bramah in 1802. In 1846 Lord Armstrong’s hydraulic crane was erected at Newcastle, and was worked from the town water mains, but the pressure in such mains was too low and uncertain to secure satisfactory results. The invention of the accumulator in 1850 enabled much higher pressures to be used; since then 700 ℔ per square inch has been adopted in most private hydraulic power transmission plants. An attempt to give a public supply of hydraulic power was made in 1859, when a company was formed for laying mains in London along the river Thames between the Tower and Blackfriars, the engineer being Sir George-Bruce; but though an act of parliament was obtained, the works were not carried out. The first public hydraulic supply station was established at Hull in 1877. In 1883 the General Hydraulic Power Works, Messrs Ellington and Woodall being the engineers, were started in London, and they now form the largest system of hydraulic power transmission in existence. Works of a similar character have since been established in several other towns. The general features of hydraulic power transmissions are: (1) a central station where the hydraulic pressure is created, usually by means of steam pumping engines; (2) a system of distribution mains; (3) machines for utilizing the pressure. In cases of public supplies there is the further important matter of registration.
When dealing with any practical problem of hydraulic power transmission it is of the first importance to determine the maximum demand for power, its duration and frequency. If the duration of the maximum demand is limited and the frequency restricted—for instance, when aCentral Station. swing bridge has to be opened and closed only a few times in the course of a day—a small pumping plant and a large accumulator will be desirable. If the maximum demand is more or less continuous, as when hydraulic pressure is used for working a pump in a mine or a hydraulic engine in a workshop, the central station pumping engine must be capable of supplying the maximum demand without the aid of an accumulator, which may or may not, according to circumstances, be provided to serve as a regulator.
Fig. 1.
A hydraulic accumulator (fig. 1) ordinarily consists of a hydraulic cylinder and ram, the ram being loaded with sufficient weight to give the pressure required in the hydraulic mains. If a pressure of 700 ℔ per square inch is wanted, the weight of the ram and its load, neglecting friction, must be 700 ℔ for each square inch of its area, and if the cylinder is full, i.e. the ram elevated to its full extent, the accumulator is a reservoir of power, exactly as if it were a tank at the same cubical extent placed at an elevation of about 1600 ft. above the mains and connected with them. The function of accumulators in hydraulic power distribution is frequently misunderstood, and it has been urged that as in practice the size of the reservoirs of power that can be obtained by their use is small, they are of little value. An accumulator having a ram 20 in. diameter by 20 ft. stroke loaded to 700 ℔ is ​a fairly large one, but it contains only 439,740 foot-pounds of available energy. If the accumulator ram descended in one minute the horse power developed during that time would be 13·3, and until again pumped up its function would cease. Is so small a reservoir worth much? The correct answer to this question depends upon the surrounding circumstances. In the case of any general system of hydraulic power transmission it is certain that there will be very large and frequent variations in the combined demand for power, the periods of approximate maximum rarely exceeding in the aggregate 2 or 3 hours a day (see fig. 2). Where the area of supply is very extensive there are further subsidiary variations in small sections of the area. The main features of the combined load curves are fairly constant, but the local peaks are very erratic. Such conditions are favourable to the extensive use of accumulators.
Fig. 2.
When comparing the economy of hydraulic machinery which works intermittently, such as cranes and hoists, with other systems the effect of the hydraulic accumulator in reducing the maximum horse power required is often neglected. In consequence the comparison is vitiated, because the minimum cost of running a central station depends to a great extent upon the maximum demand, even though the maximum may be required only during a few minutes of the day. In the hydraulic system accumulators at the central stations perform the two distinct functions of reducing the maximum load on the pumps which supply the demand, and regulating automatically the speed of the pumps as the demand varies from minute to minute. In any large system where a number of pumping units are required they also allow a sufficient interval of time to start any additional units. Accumulators connected to the mains at a considerable distance from the central station reduce the variations of pressure, and the size of mains required for a given supply of power, and therefore have a most important influence on the economy of distribution. The mechanical efficiency of hydraulic accumulators is very high, being from 95% to 98%, and they are practically indestructible.
When designing central stations the aim should be to employ pumping engines of such capacity that they can be worked as nearly as possible continuously at about their maximum output; the same consideration should, in the main, determine the size of the pumping units in a station where more than a single unit is employed. With a. number of units, each can be worked, when in use, at or near the most economical speed. Moreover, reserve plant is necessary if the supply of power is to be constant, and where the units are many the actual reserve required is less than where the units are few.
An effect of the multiplication of power units is to increase the capital outlay; indeed, it may be stated quite generally that economy in working and maintenance cannot be obtained without a larger capital outlay than would be required for a simpler and less economical plant. A high degree of economy estimated on financial data—the ultimate base on which these practical questions rest—can only be obtained in large installations where the averaging effect of the combination of a large number of comparatively small intermittent demands for power is greatest. The term load factor, since it was first coined by Colonel R. E. Crompton in 1891, has come into common use as an expression of the relation between the average and the maximum output from any central source of supply. No argument is required to show that a given central station plant working continuously at its maximum speed day and night all the year round, say for 8760 hours in a year, should produce the power more cheaply per unit, not only as to the actual running cost, but also as to the capital or interest charges, than the same plant running on the average at the same speed for, say, one-third the time, or 2920 hours. In this case the load-factor 2920/8760=·333, or 33·370%. The saving on the whole expenditure per unit is not in direct proportion to an increase in the load-factor, and its effect on the various items of expenditure is extremely variable. The influence is greatest on the capital charges, and it has no influence at all, or may even have a detrimental effect, on some items; for instance, the cost of repairs per unit of output may be increased by a high load-factor. Its effect on the coal consumption depends very much on the kind and capacity of the boilers in use; on whether the engines are condensing or non-condensing; on the hours of work of the engine staff, &c. The economic value of the load-factor is of great importance in every installation, but its influence on the cost of supply varies at each central station, and must be separately determined. There is a load-factor peculiar to each use for which the power is supplied, and the whole load-factor can only be improved by the combination of different classes of demands, which differ in regard to the time of day or season at which they attain their maximum. It is in this respect that the great economy of a public distribution of power is most apparent, though there is also, of course, a direct economy due simply to the presumably large size of the central stations of a public supply. Demands for power of every kind have unfortunately a tendency to arise at the same time, so that in the absence of storage of power there seems no prospect of the load-factors for general supply of power in towns exceeding, in the most favourable conditions, 40%. The load-factor of most public hydraulic power supplies is considerably under 30%. It is questionable, however, whether a very high load-factor conduces to economy of working expenses as a whole in any general supply of energy. The more continuous the supply during the twenty-four hours of the day the greater is the difficulty of executing repairs, and the greater the amount of the reserve plant required.
In all central station work where fluctuating loads have to be dealt with it is most important that there should be ample boiler power. In a comprehensive system of power supply demand arises in a very sudden and erratic manner, and to meet this by forcing the boilers involves greater waste of coal than keeping steam up in sufficient reserve boilers. For this purpose boilers with large water capacity, such as the Lancashire, are preferable to the tubular type, if sufficient space is available; Superheated steam and also thermal storage are advantageous. Feed water heaters or economizers should always be used, all steam and feed pipes should be carefully protected from radiation, and the pipe flanges should be covered; in short, to secure good results in coal consumption every care must be taken to minimise the stand-by losses which are such serious items in central station economy when the load-factor is low. Though hydraulic power has the peculiar advantage, as regards coal consumption, that it is the speed of the engines which varies with an intermittent demand, nevertheless at the London stations it has been found that during a year's working only from 60 to 75% of the coal efficiency of trial runs of the engines can be obtained—i.e. at least 25% of the coal is wasted through the stand-by losses and through the pumping engines having to run at less than full power. ​To determine the scale on which a central station plant should be designed is frequently a difficult matter. The rate of growth of the expected demand for the power is an important factor, but it has been clearly established that the reduction of working expenses resulting from the increase of size of an undertaking proceeds in a diminishing ratio. Increase in output is in fact sometimes accompanied by more than a proportionate increase of expenses. During recent years there have been causes at work which have raised considerably the price of labour, fuel, other items of expense, and the law of the "diminishing ratio" has been masked
On the diagram (fig. 3) of the costs of the London undertaking and the amount of power supplied, have been plotted points marking the total expenses of each year in relation to the output of power. These points for the years 1884-1899, and for output of from 50 to 700 million gallons followed approximately a straight line. Since 1899, however, though the output has increased from 708 millions to 1040 million gallons, the costs per unit of output have been always considerably above the preceding periods. The details of the London supply given in table 1 partly explain this by the relatively high price of fuel, but an equally important factor has been the rise in the local rates, which in the period 1899-11909 have risen from 2d. up to 3d. per 1000 gallons. If the cost of fuel, rates and wages had remained constant the plotting of expenses in relation to output would have been approximately along the extension of the line AB. This line cuts the vertical axis at A above the origin O, and the line OA indicates the minimum amount of the expenses, and by implication the initial size of the first central station erected in London. The curve in this diagram gives the cost per 1000 gallons.
Whether it is more economical to have several smaller stations in any particular system of power transmission, or a single centre of supply, is mainly governed by the cost of the mains and the facilities for laying them in the area served. No general rule can, however, be formulated, for it is a question of balance of advantages, and the
Fig. 3.
solution must be obtained by consideration of the special circumstances of each case. It has been found desirable as the demand for the power and the area within which it is supplied has enlarged, not only to increase the number of central stations but also their capacity. The first pumping station erected was installed with 4 pumping engines of 200 h.p. each. The pumping capacity of this station has been increased to 7 units. The station at Rotherhithe completed in 1904 has 8 units together 160O h.p., and the plant at the new station at Grosvenor Road has 8 units equalling 2400 h.p. The pumping stations are situated about 3 m. apart and concurrently; with the increase in their size it has been found desirable to introduce a system of feeder mains (see below).
There are in all five central stations at work in connexion with the public supply of hydraulic power in London, having an aggregate of 7000 i.h.p. All the stations and mains are connected together and worked as one system. There are 14 accumulators with a total capacity of 4000 gallons, most of them having rams 20 in. diameter by 23 ft. stroke. The pumping engines are able together to deliver 11,000 gallons per minute. Details of the London supply are given in fig. 3 and in table 1.
Table I.
Year. Gallons Pumped. Annual Load-Factors. Maximum 24 hours Load-factors. Cost of Fuel per 1000 gallons. Price of Fuel per ton in Bunkers. Number of Machines at work. Miles of Mains.
d. s. d.
1889 163,883,000 0.328 0.524 3.11 10 9 1022 38
1894 400,516,000 0.338 0.553 1.96 10 0 2204 73
1898 620,662,000 0.340 0.483 1.98 11 3 3515 109
1903 888,925,000 0.361 0.491 2.7 14 3¾ 5337 146
1909 1,027,147,000 0.354 0.495 2.78 15 1 6504 168
The load-factors are calculated on the actual recorded maximum output, and not on the estimated capacity of the plant running or installed. The daily periods of maximum output are shown in fig. 2. The table shows that the load-factors have not been much affected either by the increase of the area of supply or by the increased consumption of power. The coal used has been principally Durham small. The capital cost of the London undertaking has been about £950,000. In the central station at Wapping, erected in 1891, there are six sets of triple-expansion, surface-condensing vertical pumping engines of 200 i.h.p. each; six boilers with a working pressure of 150 lb per square inch, and two accumulators with rams 20 in. diameter by 23 ft. stroke loaded up to 800 lb per square inch. The engines run at a maximum piston speed of 250 ft. per minute, and the pumps are single-acting, driven directly from the piston rods. The supply given from this station in 1909 was approximately 6,800,000 gallons per week, and the cost for fuel, wages, superintendence, lighting, repairs and sundry station expenses 4.28d. per 1000 gallons, the value of the coal used being 14s. I1-3d. per ton in bunkers. The capital cost of the station, including the land, was £70,000. The load-factor at this station for 1909 was .49, and the supply was maintained for 168 hours per week. The conditions are exceptionally favourable, and the figures represent the best result that has hitherto been obtained in hydraulic power central station work, having regard to the high price of fuel.
The installation in Hull differs little from the numerous private plants at work on the docks and railways of the United Kingdom. The value of the experiment was chiefly commercial, and the large public hydraulic power works established since are to be directly attributed to the Hull undertaking. In Birmingham gas engines are employed to drive the pumps. In Liverpool there are two central stations. The working pressure is 850 lb per square inch. There are 27 m. of mains, and about 1100 machines at work. In Manchester and Glasgow the pressure adopted is 1100 lb per square inch. In Manchester this pressure was selected principally in view of the large number of hydraulic packing presses used in the city, and the result has been altogether satisfactory. The works were established by the corporation in 1894, the central station being designed for 1200 i.h.p. Another station has since been built of equal capacity, and nearly 5 million gallons per week are being supplied to work about 2100 machines. Twenty-three miles of mains are laid.
In Antwerp a regular system of high-pressure hydraulic power transmission was established in 1894 specially to provide electric light for the city. The scheme was due to von Ryssleburgh, an electrical engineer of Ghent, who came to the conclusion that the most economical way of installing the electric light was to have a central hydraulic station, and from it transmit the power through pipes to various sub-stations in the town, where it could be converted by means of turbines and dynamos into electric energy. The coal cost of the electricity supplied—0.88d. per kw. hour-compares favourably with most central electric supply stations, although the efficiency of the turbines and dynamos used for the conversion does not exceed 40%. Von Ryssleburgh argued that hydraulic pumping engines would be more economical than steam-engines and dynamos, and that the loss in transmission from the central station to the consumer would be less with hydraulic converters than if the current were distributed directly. The loss in conversion, however, proved to be twice as great as had been anticipated, owing largely to defective apparatus and to under-estimation of the expense 0% maintaining the converting stations; and the net result was commercially unsatisfactory. At Buenos Aires hydraulic mains are laid in the streets solely for drainage purposes. Each of the sumps, which are provided at intervals, contains two hydraulic pumps which automatically pump the sewage from a small section of the town into an outfall sewer at a higher level. The districts where this system is at work lie below the general drainage level of Buenos Aires. The average efficiency (pump h.p. to i.h.p.) is 41%, which is high, having regard to the low heads against which the pumps work. In this application all the conditions are favourable to hydraulic power transmission. The work is intermittent, there is direct action of the hydraulic pressure in the machines, and the load at each stroke of the pumps is constant. The same system has been adopted for the drainage of Woking and district, and a somewhat similar installation is in use at Margate.
Hydraulic power is supplied from the hydraulic mains on a sliding scale according to the quantity consumed. The minimum charge in London except for very large quantities is 1s. 6d. per 1000 gallons. In 1000 gallons at 750 lb per square inch there is an energy of 10,000x173033,000x60 = 8.74 h.p. hours, thus 1s. 6d. per 1000 gallons 2d. per h.p. hour nearly. This amount is made up approximately of 9d. per 1000 gallons for the cost of generation, distribution and general expenses including rates and 9d. for capital charges. The average rate charged to consumers in 1908 was about 2s. 4d. per 1000 gallons. Even under the most favourable circumstances it does not appear probable that hydraulic power at 750 lb per square inch can be supplied from central stations in towns on a commercial basis over any considerable areas at less than 1s. per 1000 gallons. Allowing ​75% as the efficiency of the motor through which the power is utilized, this rate would give 1·83d. per brake or effective h.p. hour. This cost seems high, and it is difficult to believe that it is the best hydraulic power transmission can accomplish having regard to the well-established fact that the mechanical efficiency of a steam pumping engine is greater than any other application of a steam-engine, and that the power can be conveyed through mains without any material loss for considerable distances. Still, no other system of power transmission except gas seems to be better off, and there is no method of transmission by which energy could, at the present time, be supplied retail in towns with commercial success at such an average rate when steam is employed as the prime mover.
Fig. 4.
The average rate charged for hydraulic power in London and elsewhere is much the same as the average rate charged for the supply of electrical energy to the ordinary consumer. Gas is undoubtedly cheaper, but in a large number of cases is mechanically inconvenient in its application. Hydraulic pressure, electrical energy and compressed air (with reheating) can all be transmitted throughout towns with approximately the same losses and at the same cost, because the power is obtained in each system from coal, boilers, and steam-engines, and the actual loss in transmission can be kept down to a small percentage. The use of any particular system of power does not, however, primarily depend upon the cost of running the central station and distributing the power, but mainly upon the mechanical convenience of the system for the purpose to which it is applied. One form of energy is, in practice, found most useful for one purpose, another form for another and no one can command the whole field.
Fig. 5.
When water is employed as the fluid in hydraulic transmission the effects of frost must usually be provided against. In London and other towns, the water, before being pumped into the mains, is passed through the surface condensers of the engines, so as to raise its temperature. The mains are laid 3 ft. below the surface of the ground. Exposed Precautions against Frost. pipes and cylinders are clothed, and means provided for draining them when out of use. When these simple precautions are adopted damage from frost is very rare. In special cases oil having a low freezing point is used, and in small plants good results have been obtained by mixing glycerin and methylated spirit with the water. A few gas jets judiciously distributed are of value where there is a difficulty in properly protecting the machinery by clothing.
From the central station the hydraulic power must be transmitted through a system of mains to the various points at which it is to be used. In laying out a network of mains it is first necessary to determine what velocity of flow can be allowed. Owing to the weight of water, the medium usually employed for hydraulic transmission, a low velocity is necessary in order to avoid shocks. The loss of pressure due to the velocity is
Fig. 6.-Half section and elevation at AB. Detail of 10″ steel pipe.
independent of the actual pressure employed, and at moderate velocities of 3 to 4 ft. per second the loss per 1000 yds. is almost a negligible quantity at a pressure of 700 lb per square inch. For practical purposes Box's formula is sufficiently accurate—
Loss of head=gallons × length in yards/(diameter of pipes in inches × 3)$^5$. There is a further loss due to obstruction caused by valves and bends, but it has been found in London that a pressure of 750 ℔ at the central accumulators is sufficient to ensure a pressure of 700 ℔ throughout the system.
Fig. 6.—Half back elevation, half front elevation. Detail of 10″ steel pipe.
The greatest distance the power is conveyed from the central stations in London is about 4 m. The higher the initial velocity the more variable the pressure; and in order to avoid this variation in any large system of mains it is usual to place additional accumulators at a ​distance from the central station. They act in the same way as air-vessels. The mains should be laid in circuit, and valves placed at intervals, so that any section can be isolated for repairs or for making Connexions without affecting the supply at other points. The main valves adopted in London are shown in fig. 4. Valves are also fixed to control all branch pipes, while relief valves, washouts and air valves are fixed as required.
The largest pipes used in London are 10 in. internal diameter, and the smallest laid in the streets are 2 in. The pipes from 8 in. and below are usually made in cast iron, flanged and provided with spigots and faucets. The joint (fig. 5) is made with a gutta-percha ring, though sometimes asbestos and leather packing rings are used. Cast iron pipes or hydraulic power transmission have been standardized by the Engineering Standards Committee. Fig. 6 shows the 10 in. steel main as used in London. The main was laid in 1903 from the Rotherhithe Pumping Station of the London Hydraulic Power Company through the Tower Subway, and is used as a feeder main for supply to the City. It is the first instance of the use of feeder mains in hydraulic transmission. The velocity of flow is 6 ft. per second, and is automatically disconnected from the general system should the pressure in this main fall below that of accumulator pressure. Other mains, similarly controlled, are now in use. Ellington’s system of hydraulic feeder mains has been developed by the laying of a 6-in. steel main from the Falcon Wharf Station at Blackfriars to the Strand, over Waterloo Bridge.
Fig. 7.
The Falcon Wharf Pumping Station at Blackfriars was the original central station in London, and the accumulators there are loaded to 750 ℔ per square inch. The other pumping stations are situated about 3 m. from Falcon Wharf and about the same distance from each other. The accumulator pressure at the outlying stations is during the busy time of the day maintained at about 800 ℔ per square inch. Consequently the smaller variations in demand for power throughout the system caused very intermittent running) of the plant at Falcon Wharf, and the load-factor there is very low. The pumping plant has now been considerably increased, and part of the plant is constructed to pump into the feeder main at pressures of 890, 900, or 1000 ℔ per square inch according to the demand existing from hour to hour in the Strand district. By this means the output from Falcon Wharf has been doubled with a much improved load-factor. The accumulator in this system is of special construction (fig. 7). The pressure 750 ℔ per square inch is maintained in the cylinder A from the ordinary hydraulic supply main. The working ram B forms the cylinder for the fixed hollow ram C which is connected to the 6 in. bore feeder main D. The balancing rams E, E attached to the fixed head F serve the purpose of adjusting the pressure in the feeder main from 800 to 1000 ℔ per square inch according to the quantity of pressure water require to be transmitted through it. The higher pressure is required when the velocity in this main is 10 ft. per second. There is an automatic control valve at the junction of the feeder main with the service mains in the Strand, adjusted so that the same effect is produced as if a pumping station were in operation at that point of equal capacity to the maximum flow through the 6 in. main. The length of the feeder main in this case is 2000 yds., and at 10 ft. per second there is a loss of pressure of 240 ℔ per square inch, but the effect on the coal consumption is almost negligible, as the maximum flow is seldom needed. The engines are specially constructed to take the pressure overload. The feeder main is made of steel. The economical limit of the use of feeder mains is reached when the additional running expenses involved equal the annual value of the saving effected in the capital expenditure.
In public supplies the power used is in all cases registered by meters, and since 1887 automatic instruments have been used at the central stations to record the amount supplied at each instant during the day and night. The ratio between the power registered at the consumers’ machines and the power sent into the mains is the commercial efficiency of the whole Registration. system. The loss may be due to leakage from the mains or to defects in the meters; or if, as is often the case, the exhaust from the machines is registered, to waste on the consumers’ premises. The automatic recorders give the maximum and minimum supplies during 24 hours every day, the maximum record showing the power required for a given number and capacity of machines, and the minimum giving an indication of the leakage. It has been found practicable to obtain an efficiency of 95% in most public power transmission plants over a series of years, but great care is required to produce so good a result. In some years 98% has been registered. Until 1888 no meters were available for registering a pressure of 700 ℔ per square inch, and all that could be done was to register the water after it had passed through the machines and lost its pressure. This method is still largely adopted; but now high-pressure meters give excellent results, exhaust registration is being superseded to a considerable extent by the more satisfactory arrangement of registering the power on its entry into the consumers’ premises. In Manchester Kent’s high-pressure meters are now used exclusively. Venturi meters have also been used with success for registering automatically the velocity of flow, and, by integration, the quantity in hydraulic power mains, and form a most useful check on the automatic recorders. The water after the pressure has been eliminated by passage through the machines, may run to a drain or be led back to the central station in return mains; the method adopted is a question of relative cost and convenience.
We proceed to the machines actuated by hydraulic power, and by a comparison of the useful work done by them with the work done by the engines and boilers at the central station the mechanical efficiency of the system as a whole can be gauged. At the central station and in the distribution there is no great difficulty in determining the efficiency within narrow limits;Machinery. it should be 80% at the point of entry to the machine in which the pressure is used.
Where feeder mains are in use the efficiency of the system is necessarily reduced, owing to the higher velocities allowable in the feeder mains. Mechanical efficiency is then sacrificed for the sake of economy. The mechanical efficiency of the machines is a very uncertain quantity; the character of the machines and the nature of the conditions are so variable that a really accurate general statement is impossible. In most cases the losses in the machine are practically constant for a given size and speed of working; consequently the efficiency of a given machine may vary within very wide limits according to the work it has to do. For instance, a hydraulic pump of a given capacity, delivering the water to an elevation of 100 ft., will have an efficiency of 80%; but if the elevation of discharge is reduced to 15 ft., even though the hydraulic pressure rams may be proportioned to the reduced head, the efficiency falls below 50%. The ultimate efficiency of the system, or pump h.p/i.h.p. in the one case is 64%, and in the other under 40%. In crane or lift work the efficiency varies with the size of the apparatus, with the load and with the speed. Efficiency in this sense is a most uncertain guide. Some of the most useful and successful applications of hydraulic power—as, for instance, hydraulic capstans for hauling wagons in railway goods yards-have a very low efficiency expressed on the ratio of work done to power expended. Hydraulic cranes for coal or grain hoisting have a high efficiency when well designed, but it is now very usual to employ grabs to save the labour of filling the buckets, and their use lowers the efficiency, expressed in tons of coal or grain raised, by 33% or even 50%. When hydraulic machines are fully loaded, 50% to 60% of the indicated power of the central station engine is often utilized in useful work done with a radius of 2 or 3 m. from the station. In very favourable circumstances the efficiency may rise to over 70% and in a great many cases in practice it no doubt falls below 25%. If, however, energy in any form can be obtained ready for use at a moderate rate, the actual efficiency of the machines (i.e. the ratio of the useful work done to the energy absorbed in the process) is not of very great importance where the use is intermittent.
Hydraulic pressure is more particularly advantageous in cases where the in compressibility of the fluid employed can be utilized, as in hydraulic lifts, cranes and presses. Hydraulic machines for these purposes have the peculiar and distinct advantage of direct action of the pressure on the moving rams, resulting in simplicity of construction, slow and steady movement of the working parts, absence of mechanical brakes and greatest safety in action. When the valve regulating the admission of the pressure to the hydraulic cylinder is closed, the water is shut in, and, as it is ​incompressible, the machine is locked. Thus all hydraulic machines; possess an inherent brake; indeed, many of them are used solely as brakes.
Hydraulic power transmission does not possess the flexibility of electricity, its useful applications being comparatively limited, but the simplicity, efficiency, durability and reliability of typical hydraulic apparatus is such that it must continue to occupy an important position in industrial development.
Sometimes a much higher pressure than 700 ℔ or 1000 ℔ per square inch is desirable, more particularly for heavy presses and for machine tools such as are used for riveting, for punching, shearing, &c. The development of these applications has been largely due to the very complete machinery invented and perfected by R. H. Tweddell. One of the principal installations of this kind was erected in 1876 at Toulon dockyard, where the machines are all connected with a system of mains of 21/2-in. bore and about 1700 yds. long, laid throughout the yard, and kept charged at a pressure of 1500 ℔ per square inch by engines of 100 h.p. with two large accumulators. Marc Berrier-Fontaine, the superintending engineer of the dockyard, stated that the economy of the system over the separately-driven geared machines formerly used is very great. But while pressures so high as 3 tons per square inch (as in the 12,000-ton Armstrong-Whitworth press) have been used for forging and other presses, it is not desirable, in the distribution of hydraulic power for general purposes, that 1000 ℔ per square inch should be much exceeded; otherwise the rams, which form the principal feature in nearly all hydraulic machines, if proportioned to the work required, will often become inconveniently small, and other mechanical difficulties will arise. The cost of the machinery also tends to become greater. In particular cases the working pressure can be increased to any desired extent by means of an intensifier (fig. 8).
Fig. 8.
An important application of hydraulic power transmission is for ship work, the system being largely adopted both in H.M. navy and for merchant vessels. Hydraulic coal-discharging machinery was fitted by Armstrong as early as 1854 on board a small steamer, and in 1868 some hopper barges on the Tyne were supplied with hydraulic cranes. A. Betts Brown of Edinburgh applied hydraulic power to ship work in 1873, and in the same year the first use of this power for gunnery work was effected by G. M. Rendel on H.M.S. “Thunderer.” The pressure usually employed in H.M. navy is 1000 ℔ per square inch. Accumulators are not used and the engines have to be fully equal to supply directly the whole demand. The distance through which the power has to be transmitted is, of course, very short, and the high velocity of 20 ft. per second is allowed in the main pipes. The maximum engine-power required under these conditions on the larger ships is very considerable. A recent development of hydraulic power on board ship is the Stone-Lloyd system of closing bulkhead doors. In hydraulic transmission of power it is usually the pressure which is employed, but there are one or two important cases in which the velocity of flow due to the pressure is utilized in the machine. Reference has already been made to the use of turbines working at 750 ℔ per square inch at Antwerp. The Pelton wheel has also been found to be adapted for use with such high pressures. Another useful application of the velocity due to the head in hydraulic transmission is in an adaptation of the well-known jet pump to fire hydrants. The value of the system of hydraulic transmission for the extinction of fire can hardly be overestimated where, as in London and most large towns, the ordinary pressure in the water mains is insufficient for the purpose.
Authorities.—Armstrong, Proc. Inst. C.E. (1850 and 1877), Proc. Inst. Mech. E. (1858 and 1868); Blaine, Hydraulic Machinery (1897); Davey, Pumping Machinery (1905); Dunkerley, Hydraulics (1907); Ellington, Proc. Inst. C.E. (1888 and 1893), Proc. Inst. Mech. E. (1882 and 1895), Proc. Liverpool Eng. Sic. (1880 and 1885); Greathead, Proc. Inst. Mech. E. (1879); Marks, “Hydraulic Power,” Engineering (1905); Parsons, “Sanitary Works, Buenos Aires,” Proc. Inst. C.E. (1896); Robinson, Hydraulic Power and Hydraulic Machinery (1887); Tweddell, Proc. Inst. C.E. (1883 and 1894), Proc. Inst. Mech. E. (1872 and 1874); Unwin, Transmission of Power (1894), Treatise on Hydraulics (1907). (E. B. E.)