The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1853-01-14
THE REPUBLIC.
abridged from the NeD York Times, January IL
Trial "Trip of the Caloric Ship Ericsson

| y -
guests The trip most satisfactory, and il
results conclusive. The success Of the new prin
ciple may be deemed certain, and there are n
/ doubts which eau now be suggested which ma
with the machinery in but imperfect order the shi
made ten knots an hour with ease. aaas u
| On the way down the bay we had the fortune /
tiexchange comp iiments with the COLLINS steamshi
Baltic, which reached port at noon, on her retur
trip from Liverpool. As the Two noble vessel
passed each other, they saiuted, and the welki
rang responsiveto the plash of the waves againf
the wheels as the explosion of the guns and tn
shouts and cheers of the passengers and guest
were waited from one to the other. The scene wa
striking. and the coincidence noteworthy an
remarkable. STEAM, in one of lite most noble per
soniications. politely dotted its hat to it's an
tagonist, and CALoRfc returned the complimen
with interest. The meeting of the craft was a
event to be remembered. The Ericsson sain
quietly down the Narrows, the Baltic whizzin,
with all the paraphernalia and hustle Of the steam
the other bearing marks of hard usage, and iph
| with the elements well-won, but still strong an,
lusty-made up an interesting tableau, which tn
eye could not choose to rest upon without somewha
Of prophetic vision. -
The company on board the Ericsson, availip,
| themselves of the invitation of Captain ERlcssol
| and Captain LowBER, spent an hour in examinin,
the machinery and appointments of the ship.
Curiosity satisfied, and the minutie of the en-
gines having been examined with satisfaction, tn
guests retired, by invitation, into the saloonyVher
Captain EaicssoN gave very lucid and succinc
explanation of the principles which he has applied
| aided by small model of the engines:
Captain ERIcssoN, in explaining the power O
| his engine, commenced with the furnaces at the
base of the lower pairs of cylinders, showing that
very email quantity of fuel is required, and that
the attendance of many hands is needless. To
| produce the power, he remarked. we first pump
| into the receivers, by hand, a volume of cold al
This air, injected by force pumps is made to pas;
down tube leading from the suppIy-cynder te
the working cylinder below, and enters the lower
chamber by forcing up the piston. The pistons ir
| the cylinders having corresponding action, th.
upward motion presses more air from the upper
cylinder into the lower, and the action continues
| until the required elevation of the pislons is OBJ
! tanned.
! The air passing through the fegenerasor of The
engine is rendered capable Of that degree Of e.pan
sion which is necessary to the operation of the
| machinery, and of which we shall come to speak
hereafter. The cylinders are peculiar in their
construction They consst of two pairs, and a re
placed, not side BY side, in the ordinary ma
rne Engine, bat longitudinally in the vessel, In
to each cylinder is fitted piston CORES spending
! exactly to its own diameter, but 20 arranged as
piston of the working cylinder The dimensions
of these cylinders, il should be mentioned, are
| as follows: the working cylinders, los inches
each in diameter; supply cylinders, l37 inches
diameter; length of stroke, six feet The air
psssng through the cylinder to produce the de-
sired effect upon the pistons, is compelled to
ceive its caloric in advance by the action of the
Regeneration. series of wire MEETINGS, placed
side by side to the thickness of twelve inches.
presents metallic surface of l5 900 square feet.
in which contained upward of 100 900 900
of rneshes-minute cells through which the air
ia forced, and in which it imbibes parts
with caloric to the amount of 450o The maxi
mum temperature which is requisite for doub-
ling the volume of atmospheric air is As0o, OF
which 300 afforded by the furnace, and the
| residue by the regeneration. 1t was ascertained by
careful experiment that air will acquire or evolve
heat very rapidly when placed in contact with q
| metallic surface. This action is instantaneous:
The minute subdivision of the cells attained by the
construction Of the regeneration of the caoric en-
CINE, produces the full effect of this simple law Of
nature. AS the volume of air taken in by the &C
ton of the cylinders sses through this contri.
vance. ii takes up continual additions of heat
| increasing in temperature it approaches the
| furnace, and when it Ia admitted TO act upon the
cylinder it is with such expansive force that the
| piston is driven up with great power, carrying
with it the corresponding piston of the upper
| cylinder-while the air, having performed III
duty, now turns into the regeneration, is deprvee
of its heat about 3Oo and is elected into tn,
air nearly cold as when it entered; the loss o
heat being but 30o out of 4S0o previously absorbed
1t will thus be observed that the loss of power ii
| very small, compared with that of the steam
engine, where the escape and waste of material il
very great. The cylinders being connected by a
walking beam, the centre-ehaft of the steam
engine is done away with, and the action of the
| engine is reciprocatng. As one pair of pstons
ascends, the other in consequence descends, and
ton is gi ven to the machinery operated by the
cylinders, producing steady revolution of the
padde-shatt.
The explanations of Captain ERIcssoN was fire.
quently interrupted by queries, few of which we
notes
Question What are the relative degrees of heal
| in the upper and lower surfaces of the regene-
| rator3
das Mo fycf lana fx,,r Sc, hot
the temperature decreases the distance from the
| furnace is increased
Q-What is the superficial area of the regene
| rator?
A-Six feet by four, or twenty-four square feet
Q.-What is the amount of resistance to the ali
as it passes through the regenerator?
| A.-Only half of the space occupied by th,
regeneration is pierced for the meshes. The resist
| ance will be about one-haif of ounce to th'
! square inch. E ~
| Q.-What is the diameter of the wire!
| 3A.-About one sixteenth of an inch.
Q.-Whatis the number of meshes to the squar'
inch? s5y M :.
| A.-About five or six,
| Q.-What quantity Of air 10 taken in by thu
| cylinders when in full operation?
A.-W hen the ship is under full Roadway, the
| engine making thirteen strokes per minute, the
cylinders take in seventy five tons OF air per hour
Captain ERIcssoN, resuming. As to the oplec.
! tions which have been raised to the apphcatoh Oh
| this principle of heated air, must make some
4 PXDanatlou. 1t mas DeeH oLtCtCus o., s1'Ns
i packing will burn cut. Now, the piston is mol
low chamber, six feet deep, h'ied with plaster OF
+ Paris and charcoal, non conducting medium
| which prevents it from becoming so heated tc
endanaer any thing. The lower side of this piston
exposed to ali heat of the furnaces, while It'll
/ INNER surface is almost cold. The reason why il
is SO cool ia because of the n-conducting quality
of the packing. So far, therefore, from the pack
ing being liable to burn out, it is not hot; you
| may put the hand upon any part of the cylincer.
4 Q.-Wnat ia the method of oiling the machinery:
! aA.-The fabrication of the pistons is easily eff
| fected by the peculiar conformation Of the cylin
ders. The cylinder is not hot enough to prevent
free to any part of the piston, and the ma
chine might grease itself; but it SO happens thai
| the engineer has nothing TO do. The engineer, in
4 short, Is nothing but the "greaser." The pistons
do not chafc, and hence there is little no fric
ton. Ii the ship careens, and it lie necessary tx
lubricate the pistons more one side, the engi
| neer meets the want and applies the remedy
where it s needed. The temperature of the fire
room, also, gentlemen will have noticed, con
/ tinued the captain, is very low. The men are nov
/ firing in their pea-jackets. s{t
i Q.-Wha is the amount of cold air drawn intt
/ the cylinders in given time?
1 a An average of 60 to 10 tons per hour
8 Q.-What is the amount of power obtained il
this vessel, and at what rate do you estimate tn,
powers of the caloric engine? stggBs5 IS ssss8l
A.--Iwelve pounds to the square inch is the
4 highest degree of pressure which we deem it ad
vsable to employ, and even less than this is sui
j fcent Tor ordinary purposes. AS the pistcns ar'
4 ~ GOO square inches in area pressure Of tel