Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1908-08-13
HARNEssED AIR
TO WORK MINES.
Compressor utili1cs Power Generate d
$50 Feet beneath Surface,


In a mountain side in northern Mich,
gan. says the Technical World there /:
a hole that strikes down into the
ground some so feet. for the purpose oI
entrapping river and compelling it tc
do strange new thing.
In an underground chamber at .hC
bottom OF this hole. the plunging waite,
| once caught is held up and robbed OF
| very precious possession which IL 1.
tricked into bringing down with it, and
which. oddly enough, becomes more
precious the farther down from the
surface II Is carried. For the treasure is
air. which becomes compressed air as
the river carries 1t down into the under
ground chamber, and when 1t Is released
In the rocky cavern, cut In the solid
hcart of the mountain for its purpose
1t is under such n pressure that IL is
ready and eager to act, and SO Is valu-
able indeed for power in the neighbour
ing mines.
The jump which the river makes is
not at all spectacular, because 1t is all
hidden inside OF great steel tubes, five
feet in diameter and, to be exact. 343
feet long. 1t does not make flying
as quietly as any other unsuspicious,
untrappcd thing might approach a pit
fall. But once launched on it's down.
ward course it becomes subterranean
cataract of more than twice Niagara i
height. 1t Is no wonder that the air,
caught in millions of minute bubbles
from the lips of special fecd-pipes which
touch the flowing stream at the top of
its leap. is helpless to escape till the
bottom of the plunge is reached. and it
finds itself imprisoned in the dark with
escape blocked every where by the in
vincible water, and its freedom only
purchased in exchange for the energy
its fall has developed.
1t is wonderful air compressor that
the inventor, II. c. Taylor, has produced
and applied to the needs of the Victoria
mine at Victoria, Mich, where the air
enslaved by its means runs every ma
chine In the whole great plant. The
underground prison for the air is Isl
feet Long 26 feet high and IS feet broad.
The intakes, OF which there are three,
for this hole in the earth Is a three
harrelled hole are each 8 #. in diameter,
At the top Of each are a number OF
tubes which bring the air in touch
with the streams of water as they COM
mence their descent The rushing water
sucks the air through these tubes. breaks
it up into bubbles and sweeps 1t down t.
the chamber below Here, as the intake
pipes have their lower ends submerged
the air Is carried below the surface OF
to come to the surface within the cav
eIn lot hre n xr-l,i oh, tI,..
leaves the cavern are submerged, SO that
the air cannot escape except through
valves in control of the mine engineer
at his central station.
The tailrace. through which the
greater part of the water is carried
away, leads to the surface of the
ground at a point lower than the river
so that the water naturally finds its
way out of the prison by that exit
Four pipes with mouths under the sur
face of the water in the cavern lead e
the surface. Three of them. small pipes
of inches diameter lead each up to :,
bell, or section of larger tube, telcscoped
over the head OF an intake. When pres
sure In the air chamber reaches a SUE
iicient degree. the air, pressing down
on the surface of the confined water
forces the latter up through these
small pipes and under the bells raising
the latter and so shutting off the flow
from the river. The fourth pipe which
leads ouN Of the cavern Is a safety
blowof pipe through which the water
Is forced in exactly the same manner
but only to relieve a pressure which
cannot be taken care of In other ways.
1t is the escape OF the water from the
safety blow-off pipe that causes a spec
tacular exhibition. The water comes
out at high pressure and shoots to a
height Of : feet. In the sunlight this
great stream of water, u inches In di.
ameter. makes fine sight and its
spray is brilliant with rainbows. In tbs
winter the spray freezes and. falling
down in the form of slect. causes a
small galzier to form near the mouth
OF the pipe. This little iceberg some,
times grows as high as the stream
throws Its spray.
The outlet OF the tail-race is 27l fea
above the normal level of the water in
the air chamber. The pressure of the
air in the chamber Is due to the back
pressure In the tail-race. while the dis
lance from the normal water level in
the air chamber to the top of the in
takes, 343 feet. gives a working head of
70 feet. Each of the three intake pipes
will develop 1.7Oo-horsepower. so that
when all three are in use a total in ex-
cess OF 5,oOo-horsepower. is available. So
far, one intake pipe has supplied all the
power necessary to run the mine plant
With this single intake pipe delivering
1890 cubic feet of air per minute under
a pressure Of 12 pounds per square inch,
an efficiency of SO per cent. Is obtained.
These figures loom big beside the ell
cheney of turbine air compressor,
which loscs 30 per cent. by the time the
water is transformed into actual air
pressure.
The pipe which leads from the air
chamber at Victoria to the mine is q
inches in diameter. Smaller pipes carry
the air from this main to the various
points at which It is actually used.
The supply Of air Is incxhaustible, for
once plant OF this type is In operation
It runs as long as the water supply
holds, and with little or no expense.
There is nothing to wear out and no
extra attention is needed. as the COM
pressor takes care OF itself at all points.
1t gives great satisfaction to its owners