The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1897-07-22
Electricity From Dust.

| u ohCe LONDON genius mas got the Des
OF New York enterprise, for it has solvet
| 'ne problem of how best TO dispose of III;
city refuse. and uses II to produce electr,
city. The plan has been given a fair tria,
ana prove perfect success. The expert
ment Is the first attempt on a great scale
10 make the disposal Of dust and refuse a
source OF profit TO the local authority in
| stead of loss.
| The works stand on a common site in tbs
center Of the borough with the public
baths and wash houses, while on an ad.
Jacent site provision is made by the Lon.
don county council far a recreation ground
anc technical institute and museum which
viii absorb the municipal technical schools
| or the Shoreditch vestry. Soreditch con-
tains within its boundaries the center OF
the woodwork and furniture industry o!
London 1t has a very large number OF
public houses, small shops and factories
, which remain open late and offer a large
field for the sale of electric light and pawer
The vestry decided that the supply should
be in the hands of public body. In this
| resolve they were supported by the rate
| pawers and the handsome range of works,
| with the publicb aths and wash houses and
| library adjoining, was the result of this
public spirit. Careful calculations prove
that the new scheme Will result in a profit
to the parish of $3.50 year. The old sys-
tenn necessitated the paying of 20 cents a
| ton TO dispose of the refuse. The cost of
| the works has been about $500 but the
| result threatens to revolutionize the sale OF
electricity by greatly reducing the cast.
| The adoption of nickel-in-the-slotm meters,
| with free fittings supplied to the consumers,
| will bring the light and power within the
reach OF artisans and small users of motive
| power.
| The system adopted may be briefly de-
scribed as that of burning the dust and
| refuse OF the city in specially constructed
''destructors" and utilizing the resulting
heat to generate steam for driving the elec-
| trio light plant. The "destructor'' house
| is eighty feet square and contains five cells,
each having twenty-five square feet CRATE
area. and six water tube boilers, each with
LOO square feet of heatingg surface. The
boilers In the thermal storage sevvel, which
is thirty-five feet long and eight feet in
diameter, are designed to work at a pres
sure of 200 pounds per square inch and are
supplied with duplicate fittings throughout
to guard against break down. There are
three motor driven fans. calculated to de-
liver each 5000 cubic feet of air per minute
with a maximum ashpit pressure of three
inches water. The chimney If $50 feet
high and seven feet interlan diameter at
the top, jacketed with fire brick through
out and surrounded at the base with a GEN.
trifugal dust separating chamber.
The thermal storage adopted is novel ex-
pedient, and one that prevents the heat de-
veloped during the daytime from being
wasted. OF course the burning of the dust
must go on continuously, and as only
small amount of steam is required by day,
lot of heat would be lost if some method
were not adopted to preserve it. During
n o%-ffv -,o raI ~, h. @1fr-
is passed into a thermal storage cylinder,
where 1t is mixed with small quantity of
cold water from the feed pumps, the pro-
portions being such that when the evening
approached the cylinder is full of water al
the temperature and pressure of the steam
required by the engines. The cylinder IL
then shut off from the feed pumps and con-
nected with the boilers which in their
turn are connected direct to the engines;
hence. when the boilers require feed water.
they are supplied with it from the cylin-
der at such a temperature that the fuel
which is then being burned has merely to
furnish 10 the water in the boilers the heat
sufficient to overcome the latest heat OF
evaporation at the required pressure.
The result of this arrangement is that the
boilers are able to evaporate about one
third more steam than they would be were
they connected directly with the water
mains, and moreover gases can be sent
away from the boilers at such low tempera-
ture that they would be useless for the pur-
pose OF even an economiZer. The import
ance of the thermal storage cylinder is fur
Their enhanced by the fact that it acts as a
water purifier. The electrical generating
portion of the undertaking is fitted with the
very latest developments of science, both
for lighting and for motor purposes.
This unique municipal enterprise has ex-
cited the utmost interest in scientific and
municipal circles, as 1t is the first of Its
kind in the world, and promises TO revolu-
t!onize the public supply of electricity. At
the preliminary test $50 pounds pressure OF
steam was raised in the boilers from dust
along without the use of any coal, and the
results are already exceeding the most san
CINE estimates.