The Washington herald., 1914-01-25
UNIQUE POWER
PLANTPLANNED
Henry Ford to Spend Million
Dollars on Nearly Perpet-
ual Motion Scheme.
TO SAVE WASTE ENERGY
-Four Big Engines. Best Described as
Hybrid of Gas and Steam.
to Be Used.

Henry Ford's recentfy-announced plan
Of dividing S1o0o0.00o in profits annually
among his thousands of employees has
aroused widespread interest. Varying
opinions have been expressed as to the
wisdom or practicability Of this policy
which has been characterized in many
quarters as visionary. Ever since he
3cited about Detroit in his first primitive
experimental automobile, Mr.. Ford has
been q dreamer who makes his dreams
come true, and he is not likely to worry
very much over being called visionary al
this late day. Indeed, II Is exactly this
daring quality OF imagination which has
been responsible for his remarkable sue
cess
Almost at the same time that Mr.. Ford
announced his profit-sharing plan he
startled the engineering world in a man.
ner less spectacular, perhaps, but quite
as revolutionary from a scientific and
mechanical standpoint. He is preparing
10 spend q million dollars on what will
come as close to a perpetual motion
machine as the theoretical progress OF
modern. science permits.
Bie Contracts Awarded.
The perpetual motion inventor has
been q standing joke for generations,
but here comes Ford with practical
application of at least part of the will
o-the-wisp of mechanics, and, what is
more, he has placed 81, 900 900 worth of
contracts to embody his drama in the
brick and stone and iron and steel of
a gas engine-electric power plant that
will be absolutely unique.
The power, to be turned into electricity
and thus distributed through the great
automobile factory covering many acres,
will be produced by four big 5000 horse
power engines. which may be best de-
scribed as a hybrid Of gas and steam.
Some engineers when they first heard of
the plan called II mechanical night
mare" Each engine will have four cy-
finders in tandem on each side, one pair
of cylinders being operated by producer
gas and the other by steam The steam
will be generated from water heated in
the water jacket of the gas engine. fur
their heated by exhaust gases and by
waste heat from the producer gas plant.
The water or steam will be used as the
feed water for the boiler which supplies
the steam engine cylinders.
This description may sound a little
technical, but it will be exactly the same
in effect as IL one took hot water from
the radiator of a gasoline motor car
further heated it around the exhaust pipe
and with this water or steam operated
a steam engine to help out the gas engine
cylinders in driving the automobile. This
process carried to the limit practically
would be a perpetual motion machine, in.
asmuch as all energy wasted in heat and
friction would be utilized again and again
Any schoolboy who has struggled with
physics will have vague memories Of the
law of conservation of energy. No energy
is ever really lost and Fords plan in this
remarkable apparatus is to round up as
much as possible of the energy wasted
by the ordinary engine in the form OF
heat.
The four 5000 horsepower Hamilton
Gray gas engines of this novel design
will drive the same number Of $50 kilo-