Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1894-10-06
HEAT AS A POWER.
A French Engineer Wants to Use Tha
Stnrc,i in the Center of tine Earth

French Engineer Wants to Use Tha.
st"'c'i in the Center of tine Earth.
Ar slide Dupignac was one of the
pr'zr pupils in 1882 when he was
graduated from L'Ecole polytechni-
lur, Paris, with distinguished honors.
rs evil engineer in the French gov
rrnmcnt service. he further Il ningu-
iShed himself in Algeria, where he had
charge of one of the field parties in
the reclamation of arid lands.
Through his efforts the government
was induced to spend considerable
sums II sinking artcsian wells in the
III Fcmorz district, barren. sunburnt
waste, which now blossoms like Il rose.
S!ncr the close of the Worlds Fair in
Oh h'cago Mr.. Dupignac has travelled
extensively in this country and Mex
co. ana he is now formulating his OBJ
Scrvat.ons in monograph to the
French Academy of Sciences at his
apartments on University place. He is
frequently tC be met at the Cafe Martin
and other resorts of Frenchmen of the
better class, and is an agreeable and
POI shed gentleman. Like most scion
iliic enthusiasts NJ. Dup.gnac has his
h"hbN. and it is of such Il novel and
startling nature and opens up such
'''7't' VI clutuNOE 10 Tie imagination
'hat is is worthy of notice. 1t IS the
Utilization of the internal heat for
economic and industrial purposes
The fact is indisputable," he said
recently. that the thermal ratio n
creises in constant and calculablc de-
gree with the penetration of the earth's
crust. What the causes of the inter-
nal heat may be, whether chemical or
physical. is not the question. Only
;his we know-that at Il certain depth
of penetration is found an invariable
temperature unaffected by surface
conditions. The deeper we go the
more intense is the heat, and the de-
gree of temperature may be dctermn-
cd to absolute eXactitude in advance.
1t is mere mathematical problem.
Some of the mining shafts. notably in
Nevada and in Hungary, have already
penetrated to depth at which the
heat is insupportable At a depth of
300 feet iii the ComStOck mine my
mack was scalded by the water which
drppcd on me. AT depth of 1000
metres (about 4,400 YARDS, which
might easily be reached by modern
engineering ingenuity, a thermal con-
diton would be encountered of great
intensity which would not vary cal
culably in thousand years-and
heat is the source of energy and of
lifc
with such a factor at our free dis
21Sal, the remainder of the problem is
Il mere detail. Water could be intro
'duced which would return to the sur
face in The form of superheated steam
potential in all those energies trans
nrtable into light and power. But af-
;"r all, the employment of steam is
but an awkward expedient. Heat
light. motion, electric'ty-these are all
controvertible terms, and by the law
of correlation of force are interchang-
able. | am free to admit that while
the truth of this theory is apparent to
all scient tic investigators, its practi-
cable application lacks yet some me-
chanical solution.
But. assumed such a source of
power unvarying, regular. absolutely.
without cost (after the initial eXpensc),
how would it simplify industrial eff
fort? There would be no cost except
n the wear and tear of machinery.
and the expense of fuel; light and
power would be reduced to almost
nothing. Human endeavor and COM
fort are constantly limited by the cost
OF power; the symbol used by engineers
ii. p (hOrSe power). is not only Il
measure of potentiality-it is in its re-
Strictions also a measure of happiness
Modern civilization has passed the
brutal stage of manual force-we
must harness nature and make her do
our work"
On his return to France NJ. Dupig-
nae intends to put his theory to Il prac-
teal test. He is actuated solely by de-
votion to science and desire to I'M
prove the condition of humanity, as
he is man of Independent means. He
VII have the enthusiastic cooperation
of Prof. Bcrthelot and other eminent
French scientists in his enterprise.