The evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1914-1922, 1915-04-22

Electricity Il a. old as the world
but ~ has been In general use only
a matter OF 20 years. And Il h. onb
within the mast 10 or 15 years that
|eleetr'city has been pat 10 work for
mankind whcreyc5 a wheel Ii 10 be
turned or llshs b wanted.
Edison's FIRST electric Eenerators of
the early SOS we're very small and
crude machines a. compared with the
monsters Of today. They prodnccd
only about zoe horse power OF cleo
trscai energy and q single lurbo- gem
orator OF today viii produce 10000
horse power OF energy. These early
generators. which represent the nrtt
stage OF design. are driven by means
Of belts from a r~cciprocatlng engine.
These machines. az that time consld-
cred very large. are now nj small
that even n efficient they couid not
be economically operated. The seq
ond stage In the Development Of gcn-
'eratinE apparatus eliminated the belt
drives and had the generator built
directly On the engine shaft. Th!a
gave q much more compac machine.
could easily be built In much larger
sizes. was easier 20 operate ana more
ethcienl The third STAGE was the
substitution u a turbine direct con-
neeted 10 the generator In place Of
the rectprocatinE engine. This made
a much small machine, more easily
operated ana more efficient The
fourth stage. or present-day appa-
retus, 10 a much Improved turbine
and generator which would take adj
vantage OF the higher steam pres
snres and s%uperheat. and high vaHu-
ums that can be commercially OBJ
taihsi at this time. The original
machines mentioned above wousd re-
quire about as pounds OF steam per
kilowatt-hou ~ operate the station,
whceras, with turbines OF the latest
type a station can be operated on
nom IL TO i6 pounds OF steam per
kilowott hour.
Electricity for commercial pur-
poses II generated in two general
kinds, direct current and alternating
current. With the direct current, the
current OF the electricity is always
flowing IN the same direction. with
h alternating current the direction
II alternated. first going one way and
then the other. In the usual lighting
service these aitcrnat 1ns take place
1900 times per minute.
The fundamental principle ~ the
generation OF electricity Is the same
In either alternating or direct cur
rent II we take a close circuit Of
any conducting material. such as
copper wire. aud pass one side OF this
circuit through 0 magnetic Held. hat
H. the xOn OF influence Of a magnet.
as the wire enters the magnetic field
there Is a current OF electricity sent
up in one direction. As Il leaves the
magnetic field the current Of cleo
tricity is sent up In the opposite di-
rection. This gives the alternating
current. To ge; direct current II is
necessary to put mechanical features
In b circuit, which will for each al
formation reverse The now Of the cur
rent, which In turn produces a flow
In one direction beyond this mechan-
ical apparatus.
In the first stageA OF the develop
ment Of the generation Of electricity.
practically all current was generated
as direct current. This was due 20
the fact that the early experiments
In electricity were made with battery
currents, which were direct current.
and h characteristics and behavior
were very much better understood
than that Of tho alternating current.
Alternatirg current has many advan-
tagcs over direct current for COM
merclal purposes. the most important
~ which " the fact that the voltage.
or h pressure, of the electricity may
he very easily changed. whereas this
Is not practical with direct current.
Electricity. like any other commod-
ity' can be readily transported. but as
with any other commodity. the
smaller the quantity 20 be transport
ed. the less the cost Of transporta-
tion. Therefore. ~ we can take a
small quantity OF electricity at high
voltage II ran be transported lover
copper wircs) much cheaper than
the same amount Of energy repre-
scented by electricity at low voltage
and large quantity. There are also
other mechanical and electrical de-
tails In the transmission Of electric
ny which arc very advantageous 10
the use Of alternating current.
As the principles OF alternating
current were better understood and
machines were developed which could
handle IL, practically all commercial
49," NN'N hA'ttAAAN kAhAA"f'
from dee To a-c, and today all large
generating stations are generating al
%tcrnating current yen though a
large proportion OF their output is IL
nally used az direct current. This is
the case for example with street rail-.
ways, which are nearly all operated
with direct current, but the main
power station develops alternating
current which In turn II Transmitted
TO suitable locations along The line Of
the railway where Il In transformed
into direct current for the operation
OF The ears themselves.
In the modern power house coal o.
brought to the plant either by raj
or boat. from which source Il h
handled by automatic machinery and
deposited In % large bunker above
the boilers. from which II flows by
gravity 10 the stoker hoppers. Thu
stOker mechanically feeds the Goa
Co the fires 8nd then deposits the
ashes In % suitable bin from which
the are taken 10y cars or other con.
Veyors TO The ash dump. During the
entire progress OF the coal from tbs
cars or boats until the ashes arr
placed on the dump the material Il
~ ..HH- . " ~