The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-01-04
POWER HOUSE

Situated on the westerly side of the plant on the spot that was once the shore of Pembroke lake, which has ben damned high and concen-
 trated into a much smaller space than once it occupied is the power house or heart of the great plant. | < The building is 93x161x50 feet, and is equipped to furnish a supply of electricity little short of the kiloWat total supplied by the United I1lurni- Eport. It is said by engineers to be the most compact and 4 o-date splant in the United States.
 In the general construction of the lbui1ding one side is employed in the generation of steam and in the hold ing immediate supply of coal. On the other side five directly driven tIIrs- bine generators of varying capacity are located on an upper floor instead of upon the ground as is usual, while in the basement, Gash-conVeyors ex- c.f ersz of novel construction. air-co9n- pression and distributing pip ing alternate with machines and heating apparatus.
 The power section developes 12,7505 kilowatts of electricity used in oper- ating the one thousand motors,
 which in turn drive the machinery by overhead be1ting, in the big units; supplies live steam at two pressures and exhaust from the turbines at 1 50 pounds for various operations in the factory; supplies 1,500 cubic feet of air9a minute for various purposes, at 100 pounds per square inch; makes ice water for the entire drinking sup ply; refrigerates ice throughout the factory restaurant and incidentally pumps water into the fire system at 60 to. 100 pounds pressure.
 Analysis of the various sections shows a small office, housing IS electrical experts who have charge or the 4,500 miles of wiring in the fac. tory, and care for approximately 21,-3 1000 electric lights, that illuminate the grounds, and buildings. Two 200 foot stacks the tallest in this city, 22 feet in diameter at the. base and about IA feet, at the top, the latter for the purpose of a better draft, carry away the little smoke arising from the eight "high-setting" Babcock and Wilcox, mechanically -stoked furnaces, each 500 horse power rating. which forms a part of the biggest isolated plant outside of the steel mills in this coun- try.
 The reason for the small volume of smoke is said to- be the high set ting of furnaces and the underfeed stokers. The mechanical stokers con- vey about 20 tons of coal an hour from the 800 ton storage bins above which in turn are fed from reserve supplies of approximately 10000 tons
  drawn by company locomotives.
 Before the steam reaches the gen. orators it is super-heated and is con veyed in especially constructed steam pipes nearly foot in diameter. In the generating room it enters five turbines-tWo of 4,000 K. w. capacity, two 2,o00 K. W. and one 750 K w, each making $500 revolutions per minute, and producing alternating current at 2,3OO volts, 3-phase, 6 ion cSfc es through various stages and the ex- haust is taken off at 15 pounds pres sures.
 Live steam at 100 pounds pressure to the square inch for transmission to the rim-fire plant of the U. M. c. Co. nearly three-quarters of mile dis 'tant, is conducted in pipes for oper- ating and heating purposes Live steam at 100 pounds pressure is used for operating the enormous battery of steam hammers in the forge shops; at lower pressure for boiling kettles throughout the great factory. It is said that through this system, thou sands of dollars in coal bills are year ly saved.
 As the steam and condensed hot wa ter is returned to the power plant it is conveyed to the surface of Penn broke lake and thero sprayed high in the air to be cooled eventually to return to the boilers through a series of filters, thus saving water purchase from the city lines for boiler feed.
 In the basement of the building the l exciters, which are essential in fur rishing current to the field of the l big turbine dynamos and upon the 1 operation of which the running of the entire plant depends, are very novel. | That they may not stop in case of loss of power, in one form or another, they | are both turbine and motor driven.