The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1899-03-28
Al Expert Writes On Use o.
Compressed Air
ADAPTED TO SURFACE TRANSIT
It's Numerous and Varied Advan'
ses=Prosress Made Win.
In PastFew Years.

During the last Two oT three years,
the mechanical world has been much
disturbed Boy the great advances made
in motive power machines hy The use
OF high pressure compressed air. W"
are all more or less familiar with what
is termed water" and It's uses in gen
pral For s'cam-pOwcr purposes. ~ Isl
led into a boiler and there, boy m" adj
dition Of heat. changed from a liquid
duid into a gaseous one; from a prac-
ideally non-COmprossiblo substance in
% an elastic one, called steam In
this las, form, by reason Of the heat II
contains and the property Of expansi-
hiity common to all gases, 1t Is used
20 drive the engines rhat run our mills,
our factories. our continent-spaaning
trains and the greyhounds of the
ocean.
Air h. also a gaseous fluid. II can
be heated. Directly or indirectly by
heat, II can be raised 10 any desired
pressure. Thus II can be used N a
manner similar 10 that Of steam TO
drive machinery. Air, under high pres
sure. Is far less dangerous in case OF
bursting OF the containing vessel than
As steam. Il will escape from the rent
IA the vessel with kissing sound, but
no pieces OF the vessel are projected
as would be the case in a steam boiler
explosion. where the sudden reduction
Of pressure causes the water TO flash
instantly into steam, Increasing the
FUlume more than one hundredfold.
The sCIldnR effect of steam in the
large majority OF cases, causes greater
injury than the direct effect OF the
explosion.
Compressed air mas been used for
more than century to run machin-
cry. II Is used universally in mines for
bhe running Of pumping engines,
hoists. rock drills, and underground
locomotives. Here 1t has one great ad-
vantage over its two rivals, steam and
Electricity, that t., besides operating
more economically, the air eXhausting
IN the mine forms a most complete
system OF ventilation. For the run
ming OF large engines, such as pumps
and mill engines, II Is more economical
paratus. One OF the most notable long
distance demonstrations Of air is that
at the Chaplin Mines, Iron Mountain,
Mich. Here the water power afforded
by the Quinessec Falls is made TO
develop two thousand horse power in
compressed air. The air Is led through
three and one-half miles of twenty
four inch pipe To the neighborhoOd Of
the mines. Here smaller pipes are used
10 conduct it to the various mine
shafts and the various machine shops
belonging to the Company. The long
est lead is about four miles. where 1t
is used to drive large Fraser Il
Chalmers pumping engine, capacity
100 gallons per minute approximate
ly three million gallons per twenty
four hours to a head of 1850 feet. An
efficiency Of more than 50 per cent is
obtained at this mine with well de-
signed engines, without any form of re-
heating device. This Is all the more
remarkable when 1t is taken into con-
sldcratiOn that the air pressure at the
air power plant Is but siXty-twO
pounds, the air plant having been in
stalled more than eighteen years ago.
Were such plant installed today, a
pressure of not less than two thousand
pounds per square inch would be used
Yith large gain in efficiency.
The question Is often asked: Why,
then. If compressed air hus been so
successful. has electricity obtained
such foothold?" This can be very
readily understood If one is familiar
with capital. The large amount Of
money expended on the chimorical
keely motor Is matter OF current his
tory. When electricity first came into
prominence 1t was looked upon as al
most supernatural agent. 1t was
predicted that there was nothing that
could not be accomplished by its use.
The "leCtrO-thcrapeutic crank called II
Fluid Of Life" "Nital Force" and
claimed II was the long sought for
Cure-all. Large fortunes were made
and lost on various electrical devices,
both good and bad. 1t being something
new, it became fad 1t has, however,
reached limit similar TO that OF
steam. New discoveries in electricity
are now few and far between. The
etiiciencies at first claimed by its Use
have failed 10 be verified and the
world once more is looking for some
Jhlng better. Economy in operation,
smaller cost Of the coal pile, Is now
The cry of the progressive business
man. To obtain the same Is the aim of
The inventor and the eXperlmenter
Once more their attention is directed
70 gases, Probably the greatest field
~ present for the inventor Is that Of
Auto Mobile machines. Here the stor-
age battery has 10 compete with the
more perfect forms of gas engine and
compressed air motor. II Is a IeCog-
NEED fact that the system OF indie
pendent motors Is the one that event
AaAy will be adopted. One great roa-
son Tor this Is that the machine will
ne ir'e ~ losses due TO transmi sson
ana can be operated as long as its
charge lasts, The loses due TO trans
mission are far greater in electric
ghan IN compressed air lines, There
IS one important difference between
electricity and compressed air. In the
transmission OF given power by cleo.