The Parisian. (Paris, Tenn.) 1907-1962, 1921-03-18
FACTORY SOLVES
HARD PROBLEM
Huge New Power Plant or Dodge
Brothers Fine Example of
Engineering Skill.

The man who goes Sh1VerlnB 10 MS
cellar, morning after morning to .'lay
on a few shovels of coal and shake
the crate will look with envious eyes
on the immense new power plant now
being completed by Dodge Brothers,
Detroit car manufacturers. Tons and
tons of coal will be consumed there
beneath eight huge boilers, but not
one shovel will be in sight. 1t is to
be a "shovel-less'' plant from begin
ming to end. No coal will be shovel
ed in and no ashes will be shoveled
out. Everything is to be automatic.
A car dumps its fuel cargo into
| hopper and passes on. Soon another
car comes and receives a load of
ashes--and no human hand will have
touched the coal in the entire process
of transformation.
There are other remarkable featur-
es of this up-to-date plant which
make a strong appeal to anyone in
terested in seeing how manufacturers
today are solving problems which
would have been put aside as impos-
sible less than a generation ago.
|
an installed capacity of 10000 K w
and it requires approximately $4,000
gallons of water minute for each
5000 X w unit There is no natural
water supply within miles of the
| factory. To take water from the city
mains and then waste it after passing
once through the condenser, would
be out OF the question. Not only
would the cost be prohibitive-it
would be about 70 cents thousand
cubic feet or $3.50 an hour-but the
drain of the city's supply would be
far too heavy. In other instances
where similar problems presented
themselves, the solution has been
found in a cooling pond, a large res
ervoir where the water was stored
and used over and over again. In
this case, however, so large tract
was not available. Not only are
property prices extremely high, but
There was danger that the spray ris
ing would damage newly manufacture
cd cars and parts. So this plan was
also abandoned.
] From this problem of conglomer
alton of problems grew the plans fol
what has now become the largest
cooling tower in the world--a struc
ture 146 feet long, 80 feet wide and
104 feet high. 1t is capable of cool
ing $4,000 gallons of water a minute
from temperature of 105 to 85 de
lgrees when the outside temperatures
is ~ degrees and the relative humid
Il ty is 50 percent. With other atmos
pheric conditions, the water will BIZ
cooled to within rs degrees of tht
existing dew point with a minimum
temperature of As degrees. This tow
er effectively disposes of the problem
which confronted Dodge Bros con
, struction engineers. 1t makes posi-
BILE the repeated use of the same sup
ply of water, with loss of only
percent due to evaporation. The tow
er is of the most substantial type
capable of withstanding wind pres
sure of 80 miles an hour.
-Four immense smoke stacks eacl
! 270 feet high and IS feet in diane
ter. are being erected. Although, th'
: power house was not started unit
May IS, 1920, it is now PRACTICAL.
ready for operation. The first fir,
was started February l. Built will
cost of $3,500,000 the power plan
is without question one of the engin
eering triumphs of modern industry
With this plant in operation the fac
: tory is safeguarded against any flu
ture emergencies such as the break
down of the central power plant, OIL
which many of Detroit's largest in
dustries are dependent.
The new power house is only on
of number OF large expansion pro
jects now in progress at Dodge Broth
ers, the total cost of which will b
Approximately $s,000,00O.