Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-18
NAVY YARD APPLIANCE
Big Electric Power Plant in
Service Today.
EXTENSIVE SYSTEM
TAKE PLACE OF STEAM PLANT IN
USE SINCE 1904.
Has Capacity of $500 Horse Power
Dimensions of Building and
Its Purpose.

An interesting event In the history of the
Washington navy yard took place there
yesterday when six-year-old William Reed
pulled open the throttle In the new electric
power plant house in the northwest corner
OF the naval reservation This simple cere-
mony was informal. being witnessed by the
boys father. Mr.. w. q. Reed, electrical en-
gineer in charge of everything electrical In
the navy yard. and several navy officers
and mechanics.
In pulling open the big throttle Willie
Reed closed the electric circuit breakers
sending the current into the network OF
underground lines for the first time. This
act marked the disappearance of the steam
engine In Uncle Sans great gun-making
plant at the Washington navy yard as a
motive power for the machinery there.
1t was an event that has long been looked
forward to. as 1t also marks the general
Introduction In the several plants of cleo
trio power to succeed that of steam which
has been used since the yard was founded
In 1904.
Another event took place today which
gave added interest to that of yesterday
and was the subject of general comment
among the approximately 4.eO0 employees
OF the great naval establishment. This
morning ten of the big shops were put In
first time and received electric power In
lieu of steam. Chief Electrical Engineer
Reed informed Star reporter today that
now about one-third of the power of the
on next Sunday and Christmas day. also
the lighting circuit of the gun shop. On
New Year day 1t Is calculated that the
motive and lighting power OF the entire
electric plant viii be In full swing.
Capacity of the Plant.
The entire capacity OF the electric power
plant is given as 1900 horsepower, said
to be the largest in the government service
The boiler capacity In the nearby boiler
house is given as 4.5O0 horsepower. In the
electric power plant are four great dyna-
cal Cross-cnmpound Corliss engines. They
are directly connected with general cleo
trio generators of 2i0 volts each
Great local interest is felt In this big
wizard plant" as 1t has been termed. be-
cause 1t was designed and built by the cleo
trical engineer. w. G. Reed, of the Wash
ington navy yard. who also designed and
constructed the large switchboard.
The new electrical force was yesterday
put In the buffing room and four other of
the smaller shops, all of them being on one
circuit. Each of the larger shops. ten OF
which received electrical force today, has
an Independent circuit.
The interior of the electric power room.
occupying all the space in the new power
plant building, presents a most interesting
picture. with It's whizzing and whirring ma
chinery and the voices of the juice" as
the peculiar sounds produced by electric
mechanism are termed The dimensions of
in length and 46 feet from the grade of the
street level to the caves.
Includes All the Shops.
"Today's work and yesterdays" said Mr..
Reed to The Star reporter. mark the
IN nf he oil ,tr{o Srsx- fnr
shops In the navy yard, and the cutting out
OF the steam engines
Mr.. Reed added that the lower line of
breakers control the power while the upper
ones control the electric lighting through
out the yard. The big switchboard In it
arc of blue Vermont marble polished on
both sides and surrounded by substantial
grill work of iron bars like a prison cage
so that visitors can see but not touch,
which would perhaps mean electrocution.
In the rear of the switchboard are the lead
encased cables which carry the circuits
to the several shops. A novel
feature of the switchboard is that there are
no fuses or switches on the feeder panels
Each of the circuits is controlled and pro-
tected by two single-pole circuit breakers
These breakers were designed and built es-
pecially for this switchboard.
Measuring the Current.
The entire current is measured by a Watt
meter of 10000 amperes capacity. Engineer
Reed said no volts are required for light
ing purposes, and to get this balancing
sets are employed to feed the neutral.
The auxiliary boiler plant. which has Just
gone into service has fifteen boilers Of 300
horse power each. All of these are ready
for use, but II has not yet been deemed
necessary to employ them all.
The engines which are directly connecteo
with the generators of $40 volts capacity
each, form another useful and interesting
object lesson. The steam delivered at the
throttle is at the rate OF $50 pounds. 125 de-
grees superheated.
A novel feature of the engines are the
Buckley injectors. The steam ascends
through large pipe and into the con-
denser, which creates vacuum OF twenty
condenser has no moving parts. which
makes the process extremely simple and
not liable to get out Of order. 1t makes
the condensins engine run better ana is
equivalent to relieving the back part OF
the piston Of thirteen pounds per square
inch of back pressure.
The runpfpe is of thirteen-inch size, cast
ron, and connects with a pit in which the
,unpipe extends out into the Potomac river
1t depth OF twelve feet below the wharf
evel, which Is said to be below the lowest
:ide that has occurred in thirty years BY
In arrangement provided by Engineer Reed
he condensers are supplied with water alb
;olutely without suction The pit Is thirty
zen feet deep. The motors are of the YER
icai type, directly connected with the pump
shafts. separate atmospheric valve Is
with each condenser. which al
ows the engine to exhaust automatically.
fabricated by Gravity System.
All the bearings OF the engines are aubrt-
lated by gravity system, the main bear
ngs having an automatoc and independent
bling system. BY this process the oil is !
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