The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1921-03-10
FACTORY SOLVES ,
HARD PROBLEM
Huge Power Plant Built
by Dodge Illustrates En-
cheering Skill.
LARGE COOLING TOWER

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 be-
ing completed by Dodge Brothers, De-
troit motor car manufacturers. Tons
and tons 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 beginning to
end. No coal will be shoveled in and
no ashes will be shoveled out. Every
thing is to be automatic. A car dumps
its fuel cargo into a hopper and passes
on. Soon another car comes and re-
ceives load of ashes-and no human
hand will have touched the coal in the
entire process of transform alton.
There are other equally remarkable
features of this up-to-date plant which
make 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 generation ago.
Is Immense Plant.
The power plant is designed for an
installed capacity Of 10000 X. w. and
it requires approximately $4,000 gall
Ions of water a minute for each 10000
K. 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 a-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 prob
lens presented themselves. the solu-
ton has been foundsin a cooling pond
q large reservoir where the water was
stored and used over and over again.
In this case, however, so large tract
was not available. Not only are prop
erty prices high, but there was danger
that the spray rising from such a
pond would damage newly manufacture
ed cars and parts. So this plan also
was abandoned.
ran COOtIng Tower.
From this problem or conglomera-
ton of problems grew the plans for
what has now become the largest cool
ing tower in the worlda structure
LAG feet long, 80 feet wide and 1o4
feet high. 1t is capable of cooling 49,
600 gallons of water minute from a
temperature of los to IS degrees when
the outside temperature is 72 degrees
and the relative humidity is SO per
cent. With other atmospheric condi-
tions, the water will be cooled to with
in rs degrees of the existing dew point
with minimum temperature of as de-
grees. This tower effectively disposes
of the problem which confronted Dodge
Brothers construction engineers. 1t
makes possible the repeated use of the
same supply of water, with loss of
only per cent due to evaporation
The tower is of the most substantial
type, capable Of withstanding wind
pressure of 80 miles an hour.
Four Large Smoke Stacks.
Four immense smoke stacks each 80
feet high and 13 feet in diameter, are
being erected. They will be among the
largest in the country. Although the
power house was not started until
May IS, 1920, it is now practically
ready for operation. The first fire was
started February /. Many of the fac
tory executives were present to observe
the ceremonies. Built at cost OF
$3,500,000, the power plant is without
question one of the engineering tri-
umphs of modern industry. It is sig
nifcant, in this connection, to observe
that the entire plant was built by
/ Dodge Brothers construction depart
ment. With this plant in operation
the factory is safeguarded against any
future emergencies such as the break
down of the central power plant, on
which many Of Detroit's largest in
dustries are dependent
The new power house is only one Of
number of large expansion projects
now in progress at Dodge Brothers, the
total cost Of which will be approxim-
ately ss,oO0o00