Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1917-03-16
HARVESTING A VOLCANO
volcanic Steam Generates Elec-
trfcity for Light and Power
in Tuscany


Larderello, Italy, has an electric GEN.
trail station which Ia one of the most
extraordinary installations in the
world. THREE big turbo-generators
supply the townspeople with electricity
for illnmira ting purposes at night.
During the day the power is used to
operate big munition factories. And
not a pound of coal is consumed to
supply the turbines with steam, for
the steam is piped 10 the turbines from
IA smoking volcano and the whirring
dynamos change the waste energy of
nature into electricity ready to furnish
light, heat and power TO the towns and
villages of Tuscany. Two of t%he'gener-
sting units have been operated with
the volcanic heat for nearly a year with
complete satisfaction, and electric en-
ergy for manufacturing and domestic
pui poses has practically displaced coal
which is both scarce and expensive.
Prince Ginori- Cont was the one to
whom is due the credit of hitching up
volcanic heat to perform the work of
the neighhorhood. He experimental
with the powerful jets of steam forced
up through the cracks in the ground
and in 1903 tried to apply the waste
energy to a steam motor. Afterwards
a strong jet was used 10 run a small
electric lighting set and enough cleo
trlcity was generated to light the bor-
ak workings. The scheme was i'm prov
ed upon later when holes were bored
into the ground and pipes driven down
to Tap the source of the steam some 300
or 500 feet below the surface. With
bore holes varying FROM a foot to twen-
ty inches in size, steam under a pres
sure of from two to five atmospheres
and with a temperature of $50 to 100
degrees Centigrade enough power was
obtained to operate an ordinary steam
engine of 40 horsepower in 1906. The
mechanical operation of the engine
was a success, and it ran for several
years with volcanic steam at practic-
ally no expense. The only disadvant-
age lay in the rapidity with which the
natural salts and gases, mixed with
the steam, rusted away the working
parts of the engine.
Not to be discouraged by this diff
ficulty Prince Ginori-C Cont remove
this undesirable feature by piping the
super-heated steam to a boiler and u.s.
ing it to heat the boiler and generate
Q team which did not contain the in
furious salts and gases. Using the vol
canic steam instead of fuel beneath an
ordinary tubular boiler, he secured
steam under a pressure of two atmos-
pheres which he applied to a team
turbine connected to an electric gen.
orator aud distributed the power to the
city and outlying villages. So success
full was the scheme that an extensive
plant was planned and three turbo-
electric generating units, each with a
ca opacity of 1000 kilowstts we're INSTALL
ed. A Specially constructed group of
boilers with aluminium f1ues to prevent
the corrosive effects of the natural
steam was erected in connection with
them, and in January 1916 the first
unit was started. Since that time all
three units have been put in operation
and have given entire satisfaction thus
proving the success of the scheme and
Opening uD q new field for the usa of
natural made to furnish heat,
light and power.
This method of using the internal
heat of the earth to generate electricity
may be increased to many hundreds of
thousands of horsepower, and the cur
rent already generated lights the cities
of Leghorn, Florence, and many of the
smaller towns of Tuscany.