The Washington times., 1924-03-27

SAID TO be In Wichita.
Company, located on the banks of
the Anacostia River near Bennings,
D. c. This plant has carried the
major portion Of the burden Of de-
mand for power in this region for
twenty years. Constructed on the
unit system, additions have been
made from time to time as necessity
required, meeting the gradually in.
lcreasing demands for electric power
until now 1t stands as a compact,
enormous plant.
It's capacity in rated loading is
in the neighborhood OF seventy
thousand kilOwatts. including unit
Of twenty-thousand kilowatts, the
installation of which is just being
completed.
The estimate of the company's
engineers is that the capacity pro-
vided will be sufficient to meet the
demand for electric power for some
Five years to come. The engineers,
however. do not make any state
nTent on the subject of the basic
] cost of producing the full measure
Of the rated capacity. In the mat
ter of economical operation for
such a huge output, those who
would seek to know what will
actually be the true basic costs
are left to their own resources to
determine the probable facts which
will follow In the particular in
stance of the Benning plant.
Site Badly Chosen.
In a general sense, where the
qualifying conditions, favorable to
| inrraQ in n al
industrial mandatory, responding
to the increasing demand for it's
product, are actually existent, the
larger quantity production should
result in a lower unit cost.
AS a probability, in the case Of
| the Benning central plant. this
seemingly logical result will not he
gained. On the other hand the unit
cost of production will be anywhere
from so to 100 per cent in excess of
the present unit cost. This strange
result Is to be brought about by
the fact that the qualifying condi.
tons. favorable to what ought to be
the logical outcome, will not, and,
in fact, do not exist
| The location of plant, with re-
spect to common facilities and the
natural elements for producing
power at the lowest costs, is no
mean factor in engineering eco
nomics. In the beginning of an
electric power enterprise, the loca-
ton of the generating station
ought to be a prime element of
serious study, providing. of course.
that the promoters of such a project
are really and heartily concerned in
the subject Of economy of produc.
| ton.
1t would seem that these RESPONSE
BILE for the original unit Of the pres
ent Benning plant were not con-
cerned over the question of econom.
ical plant location. AS a matter of
fact there were. and are still avail
| able dozens Of sites. in many ways
far superior to the one at Benning,
but all of which were passed up.
OF a certainty there was shown in
the beginning a decided lack of en-
| cheering talent in making the selec.
ton.
Waste Is Huge.
Geographically, the plant is 10.
Gated far out, at almost the very
extreme limit. from the center of
electrical power demand, making
transmission over a long distance
necessary, with consequent loss of
power. The means of delivery of
fuel from the railroad Is likewise
another condition of a negative
character to be charged to the
parties selecting the site. II be.
comes necessary, as it has been
the practice, to make a double
handling of coal in, carload lots.
and switching the cars over grade
| rrncCin0c h.
road yards.
The practice is costly one, and
in the years over which 1t has been
carried, represents in the total an
enormous sum of money. The
further arrangement of delivery
when the coal-laden cars have been
brought to the plant Is a primitive
one, requiring human labor 20 re-
move fuel from the cars to the
storage piles in the plant yard.
THESE two conditions cited are
in themselves factors of added ex.
pense that might be figured as be.
ing the limit of extravaganza pos.
sible for the plant to carry. There
is, however, another and one more
serious than these two together.
J from an engineering point of view.
which contributes to the costs of
power production at Bennings.
Water Supply Short.
In order to operate efficiently
and maintain a low cost in pro.
ducing electrical current from steam
sources, it is required that the
plant be located on stream. where
water may be had in abundance
for the purpose of condensing the
steam used in the turbine machin.
cry and create a high vacuum.
High vacuum is absolutely essen.
tial for economy of operation
Without it production costs would
mount skyward.
The Eastern Branch of the Pc.
tomac affords enough water for
the conditions at the Bennings
| plant, in only the winter and
spring months. With added de.
mand for power, the fuel require.
ments as well as the water for
condensing purposes are increased
and the cost of obtaining them
keeps step. The coal can be gotten
at increased cost, but the limits of
the available condensing water
have been reached. Hence 1t is
easily to be seen that the unit
L