New-York tribune., 1905-06-29
TrRRINEs ON LAND AND SEA.

Bv the news that the Brooklyn Rapid Transit
COMPANY has contracted for two or the pisseS'
s+eam turbines ever projected the public IS re-
minded of an important class Of service whlch
srch engines are performing. but about winch
LITTLE is heard Before Parsons built one Tor an
governmental torpedo boat he had run sHai
dvnamos with turbines for months IL hot ears
The achievements which have crea1eo the
oraa test uopular sensation, no doubt, nave oeeh
with destroyers and steamers designed 1or the
TRANSFORMATION of passengers, but py Iar the
largest aggregate of power developed oy 'his
tvne of engine to-day is found on land. More
or.e,. tha work which it has done in stationary
plants is almost exclusively that which WIN pe
performed for the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Com-
pany-the generation Of electricity.
merit of the steam turbine that has hitherto
attracted little attention was the suD]ect Oh
paper presented to the American Society OF Ne
chanical Engineers only few weeks ago p9
A 6 Mann of Schenectady. 1t is common
nractice when the amount OF power Wanteu ID
likely 10 vary widely from hour to hour, OF 1foii
dav to day. to divide the duty among seVerai
engines. instead of installing one that Is ca
pable of meeting the maximum demand. Inc
number of units called into service is governed
nv 4he demand Very often one is held IN re-
serve TO meet emergencies, such as are pre-
scented by an accident TO either valve or ny
wheel One engine is then "cut out ana an
other cut in, a supply Of steam for the IatteI
already being available. Now, Mr.. Mann de-
cIares that the time required to bring turbine
which is cold from disuSe up to speed on snort
notice is much shorter than is needed Tor the
same operation with a reciprocating engine. ne
described plant in which there are several
turbines each having a capacity OF about 2,Zou
horsepower record was kept showing how
ouickIy these could be set running at full speed.
In fortv-three instances the time ranged all the
way from two and One-half minutes to seventy
seconds Under similar conditions, MI. Mann
asserts, a cross-compound recprocaung engine
(of the same power would need from nVe to
twelve minutes, period averaging four or nVe
times as long When to this advantage are
added the others for which the turbine is al
ready noted-simp1icity of mechanism, freedom
from oil in the steam cylinder compactness and
economv in fuel consumption-it is easy to
vhv the new prime mover is developing such
nonnIaritv with electric light and traction com
panies.
How remarka BILE is the size of the engines for
which the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company
has closed contract will be appreciated better
after short comparison 1t is understood that
the New-York Central will begin its electric
service with turbines having capacity of 1900
horsepower This is about the same as the ca
Long Island City station of the Long Island
road The turbines built for Mr.. Yerkes's un-
dereround road in London were also rated at
$500 horsepower. One which the Brooklyn
Rapid Transit Company ordered year or two
400 was designed TO develop 5000 horsepower,
and here the present limit is reached. Those
which have Just been authorized are to have
nominal capacity Of 1O,50O horsepower and
will mark an advance of from % TO 80 per cent
Sc hot ara
intended to meet a demand of 80 per cent in
excess of their normal capacity. This is not an
exceptional usage however. The reciprocating
engines of the Metropolitan and Interborough
stations in this city are also meant TO take an
overload" of similar proportions. Even so, the
maximum call TO which they respond is not
more than 10000 or II 900 horsepower, while
the monsters which are to serve the Brooklyn
Rapid Transit Company are expected to develop
nearly 10000 in emergencies
In size the most powerful engines Of the re-
cinrocating type which are in service on land
either for pumping or generating electricity
are outclassed by the best ones devoted TO ma
rine use The same is true, apparently, of tur-
bines; and the lead already obtained will I'M
doubtedly be maintained indefinitely AS was
remarked a moment ago. the largest turbine
now employed In generating electricity has a
! capacity of 1850 or 5000 horsepower. The Brit
| ish cruiser Amethyst has a turbine which is
rated at $500 horsepower. The engines of the
new Allan Line steamers Victorian and Vir-
cinian develop close to, If not fully 1000 horse
power; and it is an interesting fact that the de-
stroyer Viper, which amazed the world five or
six years ago by flying through the water at a
speed of more than 81 knots an hour, almost
matched them In the capacity of her engines
though the displacement of the merchant steam
ers is twenty-five or thirty times great as
| that of fhe Viper The CaTmania of The
Cunard Line viii be duplicate of the Carona
in all but the kind of engine she has, and this
will be turbine of 10000 horsepower. When
she once enters upon her career of usefulness
as she viii probably do i'll August next, she