The daily news., 1900-03-17
LARGEST i'm THE WORLD.
The Pumps Connected With the New
Orleans Drainage System.

The Pumps Connected With the New
Orleans Drainage System.
A young man with neatly creased
trousers and a pearl pin stuck tn his
cravat walked over TO the gray marble
switchboard in pumping station No. 4
and pulled up small lever. 4 dozen
feet away was a steel turret rising
waist high from the floor, and 4 faint
humming sound became audible from
its interior. 1t was about as much
EOise as is made by an ordinary sew
ing machine aud was the only surface
indication that the largest centrifugal
pump in the world had commenced
business under the turret top. With
out any fuss or vibration il was suck
ing water from the old Orleans canal
at the rate Of 30 cubic feet a second.
hOistinC il j. feet into the air and dis
charging Il over the weir at the other
end Of the building TO find its way to
the lake n few miles beyond.
To the average man the term 1850
cubic feet a second" Is as meaning
less as 50 much Sanskrit, but an ex-
ceIlent idea Of the magnitude of the
performance Is obtained when one
knows that 80 cubic feet is equivalent
to 1000 gallons, and 1900 gallons rep
resents the capacity OF a good sized
house cisiern. In other words, the
big pump draws in. lifts and throws
out the contents OF a large ciStern at
every beat Of ones watch. In a min
ute IL has disposed Of 10000 gallons,
quite a good deal Of water.
There are three such pumps in sta
zion No. =, and it is estimated that
two Of them, working at capacity, will
be able TO take care of any rainfall
in this city. They are much the lar
CeSt single pumps in the world, the
nearest approach 10 them being those
at the irrigation works on the bank Of
the Nile. which are considerably
smaller. The installation OF the vast
machines was completed a week ago
last Sunday. and this week they are
doing their first practical work.
The pumps proper are vast coils OF
tube II something very little might
-
would not be inapt to say that they re-
semble the shell Of a snail. Each Of
them came in two sections. half Of the
coil being all that a freight car could
carry. The shell. put together. weighs
> tons and measures p feet from side
10 side. The internal diameter is nine
feet. and inside the tube is n series of
great revolving runners. the effect Of
which is 10 draw the water at one end
and discharge IL az the other. The
shaft on which the runners revolve
weighs more than 1G tons.
These enormous coils are placed in
circular pits j. feet below the surface
which operates each Of them comes
from an immense motor fastened to
the upper end Of the running shaft and
covered by the steel turrets already re-
fcrrcd To. The motors receive their
electricity direct from the general 5
power house in the shape OF a 5000
volt current coming in over a trio Of
thick cables and in this connection is
an interesting and curious detail easily
within the grasp Of the average lay
man The motors are Of what IS
known as the revolving field" type
that is 10 say. the field, or great wheel
on which the magnets are secured,
turns around. while the armatures re- .
main stationary. When a pump is
started, the full alternating current Of
.. 600 volts is not at once turned on. but
n 10 volt direct current is first used 10
the field or. in homely terms, f.
to warm it up" This sets up a revO-
luton. and when sufficient speed is at d
tanned the full current is applied.
The 12J volts direct are produced by
passing the 5000 volts alternating
through small device known as a
transformer" which effects 4 COM
plctc change in the character and pow
cr Of the mysterious fluid. The weaker
and modified current is also used to
operate 4 number Of small auxiliary
motors and 10 feed the arc and incan-
descent lamps by which the station is
IiChted.-New Orleans TimeS-DemO-
crat.