Amarillo daily news. [volume] (Amarillo, Tex.) 19??-current, 1921-03-13
FACTORY SOLVES.
HARD PROBLEM
HUGE POWER PLANT BUILT ~
DODGE BROTHERS N FINE IN.
AMPLE or ENGINEERING

Theman who goes shlyerlng 10 his
cellar morning after morning 20 LAY
on a few shovels Of coal and shake the
graie." will look with enylous eyes ON
the immense new power plant now be-
Ing completed by Dodge Brothers. De
troit motor car manufacturers. Tons
and tons Of coal will be consumed there
beneath eight huge boilers. but not one
shovel will bo In sight. II In TO be a
s..S. .less' ,.laEs ggUm beginning 10
end. No coal will be Rhoyeled In and
no ashes will be shoveled out. Every
thing In 10 be automatic. A car dumps
Its fuel cargo into. "a hopper and passes
on. Soon another car comes and re-
celvea n load 81 ashes-and no human
hand will have touched the coal In the
entire process Of Transformation.
There are other equally remarkable
features Of this upto.date plant which
makes n strong appeal TO anyone inter
ested In seeing how manufacturers to-
day ARE solving problems which would
have been put aside as impossible less
than a generation ago.
The power plant In designed for an
Installed capacity of 10000 XIV. and II
requires Appropriated $1,000 gallons OF
water n minute for each 10000 X W.
unit There In no natural water supply
within miles Of the factory. To take
water from the city mains and then
waste II after passing once through the
condenser. would be out Of The question.
Not only would the cost be prohibitive
lit would be about 20 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 n cooling
pond. large reservoir where the water
was stored and used over and over
again. In this case. however. - large
a tract was not available. Not only are
property prices extremely high. but
there was danger that the spray risoing
from such pond would damage newly
manufactured cars and parts. So this
plan also was abandoned
From this problem or conglomeration
q problems grew the plans for what
has now become the largest cooling
tower In the world-a structure LAG feet
long. ~ feet wide and 100 feet high.
| II In capable ~ cooling $4,000 gallons OF
water a minute frum a temperature n
! los TO Sc degrees when the outside tenn
perature In 72 degrees and the relative
humidity In 90 per cent. with other
atmospheric conditions. the water will
be cooled 90 within 20 degrees Of the
existing dew point with n minimum
temperature 81 i5 degrees. This tower
effectively disposes ~ the problem
which confronted Dodge Brothers con
struction engineers. II makes possible
the repeated use 81 the same supply II
water. with n loss Of per cent. due a.
evaporation. Tho tower In Of tho most
substantial type. capable Of withstand
ing n wind pressure Of 90 miles an
hour.
-Four immense smoke stacks each &c
feet high and 10 feet In diameter. are
being erected. They will be among
the largest In the country. Although
the power house was not started until
May 10, 1890. Il In now practically ready
for operation. The first fire was start
cd February I. Many 81 the factory
executives were present 10 observe the
ceremonies. Built at cost Of s3.boO.OOO,
the power plant IL wlthonut question