The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1901-11-29
CITY HEATED BY HEAT FROM
ELECTRIC LIGHT AND WATER
PLANT.

L
ELECTRIC LIGHT AND WATER
PLANT.
Correspondence of The Mime
apolis journal.
Owatonna Mimi Nov. 22.-The
Owatonna Electric Light and Heat
ing company has just completed
lying about two miles of mains to
add to the heating plant installedlast
year. Through these mains hot
water is pumped from central sta
ton to heat public buildings stores
and private residences in different
parts of the city,. The success of
this system of heating here has been
SO marked that it is regarded as a
public utility scarcely less desirable
than the telephone or electric light.
The plant is the first of the kind
to be installed in. the state and from
thu many inquiries, received both by
the city authorities and by the offic-
ials of the Electric light and Heating
company it is evident that the
Owatonna heating pla MT has awaken
ed the iveliest interest and that it is
regarded in many cities in Mime
sofa as an experiment upon whose
success or failure will depend very
general adoption of this method of
heating cities app1oxjmating Cwa
tonna in population
The central station of the Owa-
tonna heating plant was primarily
the electric light station. It might
possibly as we'll have been the pump
ing station of the city waterworks
or any other plant in which system
hoilers of large capacity are used.
Here however it was the Electric
Light company which decided to
add to IT'S income and the profits of
it business by using it's waste steam
to heat the water which was after
ward to heat the buildings Of it's
customer.
If the electric light plant we're one
which worked night and day the
steam used to heat the~water would
be entirely by~product which un-
les utilized in this way would have
gone to waste. AS thing are it is
very largely SO. The water is heat
ed when the engines are working by
the exhaust and by the same steam
used to give them power. The waste
steam after leaving the engine is
condensed the oil it forces through
the pipes separated from it, and it is
also used to augment the supply of
hot water.
There are indeed several ways in
which the water may be kept at a
high temperature. The first and
most obvious. is to force it through
the heater attached to the boiler on
it's return from making the circuit
of the town. The second is to use
the water from 10000 gallon expan-
sion tank which has BEEN built at the
plant and which is kept near the
boiling point by the exhaust steam;
and the third is by connecting di
rectly with the boiler on the same
principles in the individual plant.
This last method of heating however
can be adopted only when the boil
ers are not in use for aking steam.
The other two methods have the ad-
| vantage of costing practically
nothing - the heat used would
otherwise b wasted.
The hot N.lter is forced through
the mains laid in the streets and
thence through service pipes to
radiators in dwellings stores and
Offices by powerful double action
pumps Two of these each of fifteen
horse power capacity are in us here.
These of course can be operated only
live steam. The temperature of the
water as it enters these pumps varies
from 212 to $50 degrees Fahrenheit,
according to the temperature outside
and the pressure used in forcing
the water through the pipes varied
in the same way, the circulation be-
ing more rapid as the temperature
falls. For instance, when the tenn
perature outside is 40 degrees above
zero sufficient heat is furnished
| water at 40 degrees under ten
pound pressure; when the tempera-
ture drop to 20 dergess below zero
the water must be heated to 200 de-
grees and forced through the pipes