El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-01-05
THE PASSING OF STEAM
FOR POWER.
WASTE OF ENERGY is ENORMOUS

medium by which heat is turned into
work.
Gas Engine Makes InrOads.
Steam has seemed most safely in
trenched as a motive power in what are
known as the heavy industries, such as
steel and iron fOundries. The metal
industries alone have consumed 80 per-
cent of all the steam power used in
manufacturing. But even here the gas
engine is making inroads on its steam
competitor.
A recent order placed by the United
States Steel corporation is only one of
hundreds that are contained in the cur
rent news of the engineering world. 1t
calls for "a gas engines with frames
Weighing lis tons each, all of the twin
tandem. double acting type Half OF
these are for blower service and half
for power The blowing engines will
weigh 1000. 600 pounds and the others
only slightly less. 4 flyWheel weighs
100000 pounds. each crank has five
foot stroke. and each crank shaft
weighs 100000 pounds.
Power for Flying Machines.
1t is said that if census of flying
machines were taken today it would be
found that there are fully 1000 of them
in Europe and America which actually
fly The United States has more than
200 of these.
1t had been thought. prior to the
demonstrations of the Wrights, that the
success OF aerial navigation depended
upon the construction of engines which
could register almost as many horse
power as they weighed pounds Some
had been built which could develop
horsepower for less than two pounds
Of weight But the Wright experiments
showed that while minimum weight was
a very desirable attribute of an air
ship engine. IT need not be obtained at
the sacrifice OF efficiency
Waste of Power
The enormous waste of power in the
United States through the average
steam plant is illustrated by H. St
Clair PutGam in an article on the con
servation Of power. He says that there
is 10000. 900 horsepower being lost by
failure 10 harness the water courses
OF the country. and that II would re-
70 duplicate this power-practically
Onehalf more coal than the annual pro-
duction Of the country
He states further that If the most per-
feet steam electric plants known were
used it would still require 225, zoo, 200
tons of coal year to duplicate the
power the raindrOps possess as they
hurry on to the sea through the ~iyer
beds.
It Will be seen from this that he re-
CARDS the best steam electric plant
three times as effieiaTt as
the average steam plant with recipro-
eating engines. He figures that This
power would suffice to move every
railroad train and street car. and t,lrn
every wheel of industry in the United
States if ii were utilized throuyl hydro
electric plants
Water Power Practicable.
The practcalibity of this is shown
at Niagara Falls and elsewhere. In
some places one may look from the car
window and see the water in the set of |
turning the big wheels Of a hydro !
electric plant. which means that il is /
pulling the train up the mountain with |
the force of its downward rush
But even the new powers that are |
being used are wasteful only in a less I
degree than steam through the recipro- |
eating engine While it requires 1920 !
heat units in the firebOx to give 100 !,
At the shaft with the reciprocating en- |
CINE the producer gas engine gets its !
100 effective units from 525 in the fire !
1ox. The saving as compared with the
steam engine amounts 10 more than
half. yet even at this only 10 percent 4
o1 the inherent power in the coal is /
made to do effective work at the shaft. |
Gas for Motive Purposes.
1t has been shown that gas for mo- /
i've purposes may be transmitted for
considerable distances just as we'll as
slectrlclty- This is leading many en-
sineers to consider the feasibility of
coating central gas power stations at
he coal mines. thus saving almost the
whole cost of transportation of fuel for
The sawmih is located contiguous to
ne forest and the packing house STAYS
eaSonably close 20 the stock raising /
section. because the finished product is !
much cheaper to transport than the
aw material. In the case of the cen /
raj gas power station the gas would
'e transported in pipe lines and would !
epresent the finished product.
A wave engine was tested recently
m the California coast and il deveI-
ped Is horsepower As il is estimat-
that the average wave breaks upon
he beach with a force of Il tons TO
he square yard. it will be seen that
way is found 10 harness the waves
over may soon become still more in
expensive.
Tomorrow-Turbulent Central Amer
a.