, 1886-03-11
USES For COMPRESSED AIR.


- .F0'aa - 49,
Erpert-washington AqueducL
What are some OF the uses OF com
pressed air as a motorTT asked a re-
porter Of a leading dealer in rock-drills
and compressed air machinery recently.
1T is especially well adapted was
the reply -for rock-drills, pumps, hoist
ing engines, and other machines used in
mines, shafts, tunnels, and underground
work in general, where the direct use
Of steam would be very announcement,
and in most cases entirely impractical
BILE. The fact is that the compressed air
is a motor for all the essential purposes
OF steam. without the loss Of power due
to condemnation and without the heat
and many other Inconvenience attend
ing the use Of steam as n motive power.
especially in confined places and at a dis
lance from the ource of supply. II is,
therefore, applicable to all engines that
can be operated by the expansive power
OF steam, either at high or low pressures,
and one Of it's principal advantages over
steam is that it can be stored and trans
mitted through pipe to any distance
without material loss of pressure or
diminution OF volume, the only requis-
ties being pipe and ample area, with
tight joints and laid with the least pos
sible number Of sharp turns. In min
ing work particularly it has the addi-
tional advantage that, upon exhausting
from the drills or other machines used,
it furnishes TO the workmen q constant
and abundant supply Of pure, fresh, and
cool air, thus in many cases obviating
the necessity Of providing other and ex-
pensive means OF ventilation
rs it applied to other kinds of work
successfully
"Quite 80. For instance, in sinking
bridge ~caissons; driving tunnels through
soft material by the pneumatic process;
for r~efrigerating and ventilating pur-
poses; transmitting messages, packages
and passenger cars in pneumatic tubes;
~vulcanizing wood; in the manufacture of
rubber goods and ni~tro-glycerine explo-
sives; for ~elevating liquids, purifying
water for city and town use, driving
street cars, mine locomotives, and for
supplying a very convenient and per-
fectly safe motor for running elevators
and factory and shop machinery. The
feasibility Of compressing air either by
steam or water power. at any conven-
lent point for economical production and
then conveying it by iron pipes along
the streets EXACTLY as gas or water is
carried), TO be tapped and used wherever
required, furnishing power for use in
towns and cities, has already been prac-
tically demonstrated, and IL is only a
question Of time when this plan will be
extensively adopted, owing 10 il .uon-
omy and safety. By this system power
may be transmitted TO "A great distancea at
n comparative small expense.
AT the tunnel being driven for the
Washington, ID. c., a%queduct, the com
pressor plant is located at a central
point for economical operation, and the
air distributed over a distance of five
miles over ground, through ten, twelve
and six-inch pipe, TO the four shafts
where it is received by four inch pipe
and supplied TO the drills, hosting en-
gines, and pumps. When the tunnel is
completed the air will have been con-
veyed through ten miles of pipe. This il
the longest distance air has been con
Quoted, and the loss by friction and mdi
alton does not exceed 2 per cent. II can
just as readily be conducted a much
longer distance without n higher per.
centage of loss.-New York Mail and Elk
press.