Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1913-11-06
ARE INCREASING
PLANT CAPACITY
Public Service Company Making
Vast Improvements.
DOUBLE PRESENT CAPACITY

Three Hundred Horsepower Each
and viii lnstaIl Steam Turbine OF
i Large Capaeity--New Condenser
and Cooling Tower will also Great
" Improve Capacity OF Plant.
People living in Mineral Point and
vicinity have a very vague idea of the
capacity and Siae ut the plant of the
Public Service Company, and also the
extensive improvements ana additions
that are now being made,
! The present capacity ot the plant is
about one thousand electrical horsepow
er, and when the new Nordberg Corliss
was Installed last year, it was thought
that there would be ample power, But
with the many different mining com
panies changing from the steam to
electric power, it was found necessary
! to agai,, double the capacity of the plant
Three new boilers are being Installed,
each boiler developing three hundred
horsepower, and fitted with automatic
feed the coal to the boilers, and rs they
can be regulated to degree Of certain
ty rs to the amount of coal needed for
each boiler, their usefulness is apparent
The present consumption of coal is
about twenty five tons per day; little
better than II ton per hour.
The installing of the new boilers will
give nine hundred additional horsepow.
er, making the total steam horsepower
of the plant twelve hundred
A new smokestack, one hundred and
fifty feet IN height will be erected to
care for the smoke of the new boilers
a new steam turbine, twenty six feet
long, six feet wide and eight feet high
will be installed. This immense piece
of machinery will develop about two
thousand electrical horsepower which
will more than double the present ca
machinery can be obtained when one
learns the weight of it, which is ap.
proximately eighty two thousan d
pounds, or forty one tons
A large basement. fourteen feet deep
has been excavated, over which the
turbine will be placed and in which the
large condenser will be installed. Plac-
ing this immense weight Of machinery
requires heavy. substantial foundation
and as the other machinery il in con
stant motion on both sides of thin ex
cavation. the greatest care must be
exercised to prevent any caving or
sinking of the foundations under the
heavy machinery now in operation.
Owing to the plant being In the val
ley. water has already been encounter
ed in the excavating.
Perhaps the most interesting addition
to the plant will be the large cooling
tower, which is now partly up, and the
work on the same is being rapidly nd
vanced. This tower will be seventy
feet in height when completed, and is
about twenty five feet square. Its
function will be to cool the water so
that it can be used again and again.
vicinity, necessitated the installation Of
this tower, and as it can cool about
! 5000 pounds of water per hour, ii
will be great factor in the successful
operation of the plant. The water IL
elevated up in this tower about forty
| five feet and il is then made to fall like
rain through sieve like arrangement.
In falling into the large cement reser-
voir at the bottom Of the tower, il Is
| cooled by the incoming air produced by
two twelve foot fans, which are con
tinually forcing the air upward through
the tower. This brings the tempera
ture Of the water down to about eighty
degrees and makes it again usable.
The fans revolve at ls0 revolutions per
minute.
This turbine will not only produce
ample electrical power. but valves are
so arranged that steam from the ex-
haust can be utilized for the heating
system. In operating these valves, Just
enough steam can be let into the mains
Ms is needed, and the balance Of the OK
haust goes back into the cooling tower
to be cooled and used again. The tur-
bine was shipped today Wednesday,
from the factory in Pittsburg, Pa. and
will require two flat cars TO transport it.
The tower system Of cooling Is an in
ventiOn Of "A German, now located in st.
Louis The towers are now in success
ful operation in many cities in this and
other countries and no doubt many
more will be installed as their great
economic value becomes more known.
The nearest cit" to Mineral Point
having a cooling tower in operation, is
West Pullman, H.. snburb Of
Chicago.
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