The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-05-10
RUBBISH POWER PLANT TEST.
ENGINEERS LOOK INTO MAJOR
NOODBURY'S NEW SCHEME.
Too bulky for Fuel Their First susses.
tiOn, but He Promptly Gets Around
That by Securing Il Press and VIII
Try to Sell the Refuse In Brick Form.

TOO bulky for Fuel Their First SueSes
ton, but He Promptly Gets Arount
That by Securing II Press and VII
Try to Sell the Refuse In Brick Form
Stfeet Cleaning Commissioner Wood
bury's experimental plant for burning W
the city's rubbish and al the same time get
ting power out OF it was inspected yester-
day by engineers representing number
Of companies which USE large duantitfe,
Of fuel.
Major Woodbury. talked to the engineers
showed them over the plant, kept his eyes
and ears open for opinions and when the
plant shut down at o'clock and the visit
Ing engineers had left, he said;
this much has been demonstrated to
the visitors think: I have the heat and
the motive power. Now, what will the
6ty do to carry out the plant"
ECommissioner Woodbury. would not tell
What the engineers had told him about his
peAnt but from the engineers themselves
II was learned that they look upon the Com
rnissioner's plan as practicable. They be-
teTe that it may prove not only money
s9ver but a money maker for the CITY.
Some of the men who inspected the plant
yesterday were: Chief Engineer Reed Of
the Metropolitan Street Railway Company;
Mr.. Pendelton, chief engineer of the New
York Steam Heating Company; George H.
Pegram. chief engineer of the Manhattan
Railway Company. and the chief engineer
OF the Edison Electric Light Company.
Probably the most useful suggestion
Major Woodbury. got came from MIR. Pegranl
AZ. Of the engineers dwell on a, the fac,
chat no company in this city had plant
oYapaee large enough to handle It, They
pointed out that several Of the companies
had raised boilers one over the other to
save space.
! Mr., Pegram solved that problem in a
few words In effect, this was his advice
to Commissioner Woodbury.:
: q Compress your rubbish into small bricks
Or blocks. That can be done by hydraulic
pressure
%s adopted the susssston
about noon when Mr.. Pegran, made the
slgGestion--he had arranged for COM
pressing the rubbish into bricks. The
Commissioners secured hydraulic press
With q force Of 1000 pounds; He expects
to Water Commissioner Monroe, some
Of the rubbish-fuel bricks to be tried at
water pumping stations:
Commissioner Woodbury's makeshift
plant is in the dismantled schoolhouse at
varick and North Moore streets. In the
oity's other rubbish burning plant it costs
10 cents cubic yard to dispose Of the
waste material. Under the new scheme
Major Woodbury. hopes to sell the COM
pressed bricks at four or five cents a piece
IN the city and three or four cents a piece
outside Of the city. Every year the city
collects about $1,000 cubic yards OF this
rubbish and the Commissioner says this
figure can be raised to million cubic yards.
After examining the plant and wat ching
the. tests yesterday. one of the engineers
said to the Commissioner:
THAT rubbish makes first-rate fuel.
u is better than the fuel which is being
used In about 100 electric lighting plants
throughout the country. About so per cent.
Of the plants are paying dividends and the
others are not. The trouble is. however,
that no big city plant could handle the
When the question of the size of the
blocks came up. this engineer said they
should be about "a big as having stone
You've seen the size of the blocks of wood
used on railroad engine?" he added
sYes," said the Commissioner. I've
fred an engine myself
Commissioner Woodbury. made this gem
srA statement as to the result of the after.
Moons tests:
at has been shown that 90 cubic yards
Of this material, weighing 3.is7 pounds,
produced 1874 horse power"
The experiments were managed bv MIR |
stearns. chief engineer of the Street Clean
Ing Department and directed by H. Der.
professor Of steam engineering |
y the Troy Polytechnic Institute and n 5. |
Hill. chief engineer of the Department
81 Water Supply Gas and Electricity. 1t
was demonstrated that Gre pound Of the |
rubbish evaporates one pound OF water,
whereas. one pound Of coal evaporates ..
seven pounds of water