ARTIFICIAL POWER.
The steam-turbine is the most clearly visible of the revolutionary
agencies in motors using the artificial sources of power. In the first
attempts to introduce the principle the false analogy of the
water-turbine gave rise to much waste of inventive energy and of
money; but the more recent and more distinctly successful types of
machine have been constructed with a clear understanding that the
windmill is the true precursor of the steam-turbine. It is clearly
perceived that, although it may be convenient and even essential to
reduce the arms to pigmy dimensions and to enclose them in a tube,
still the general principle of the machine must resemble that of a
number of wind motors all running on the same shaft.
It has been proved, moreover, that this multiplicity of minute wheels
and arms has a very distinct advantage in that it renders possible the
utilisation of the expansive power of steam. The first impact is small
in area but intense in force, while those arms which receive the
expanded steam further on are larger in size as suited to making the
best use of a weaker force distributed over a greater amount of space.
The enormous speed at which steam under heavy pressure rushes out of
an orifice was not duly appreciated by the first experimenters in this
direction. To obtain the best results in utilising the power from
escaping steam there must be a certain definite proportion between the
speed of the vapour and that of the vane or arm against which it
strikes. In other words, the latter must not "smash" the jet, but must
run along with it. In the case of the windmill the ratio has been
stated approximately by the generalisation that the velocity of the
tips of the sails is about two and a half times that of the wind. This
refers to the old style of windmill as used for grinding corn.
The steam turbine must, therefore, be essentially a motor of very
great initial speed; and the efforts of recent inventors have been
wisely directed in the first instance to the object of applying it to
those purposes for which machinery could be coupled up to the motor
with little, if any, necessity for slowing down the motion through
such appliances as belting, toothed wheels, or other forms of
intermediate gearing. The dynamo for electric lighting naturally first
suggested itself; but even in this application it was found necessary
to adopt a rate of speed considerably lower than that which the steam
imparts to the turbine; and, unfortunately, it is exactly in the
arrangement of the gear for the first slowing-down that the main
difficulty comes in.
Nearly parallel is the case of the cream separator, to which the
steam-turbine principle has been applied with a certain degree of
success. By means of fine flexible steel shafts running in bearings
swathed in oil it has been found possible to utilise the comparatively
feeble force of a small steam jet operating at immense speed to
produce one of much slower rate but enormously greater strength. Some
success has been achieved also in using the principle not only for
cream separators, which require a comparatively high velocity, but for
other purposes connected with the rural and manufacturing industries.
An immense forward stride, however, was made when the idea was first
conceived of a steam-turbine and a water-turbine being fixed on the
same shaft and the latter being used for the propulsion of a vessel at
sea. In this case it is obvious that, by a suitable adjustment of the
pitch of screw adopted in both cases, a nice mathematical agreement
between the vapour power and the liquid application of that power can
be ensured.
All previous records of speed have been eclipsed by the turbine-driven
steamers engined on this principle. Through the abolition of the
principal causes of excessive vibration--which renders dangerous the
enlargement of marine reciprocating engines beyond a certain size--the
final limit of possible speed has been indefinitely extended. The
comfort of the passenger, equally with the safety of the hull, demands
the diminution of the vibration nuisance in modern steamships, and
whether the first attempts to cater for the need by turbine-engines be
fully successful or not, there is no doubt whatever that the fast mail
packets of the future will be driven by steam-engines constructed on a
system in which the turbine principle will form an important part.
Further applications will soon follow. It is clear that if the
steam-turbine can be advantageously used for the driving of a vessel
through the water, then, conversely, it can be similarly applied to
the creation of a current of water or of any other suitable liquid.
This liquid-current, again, is applicable to the driving of machinery
at any rate that may be desired. In this view the slowing-down
process, which involves elaborate and delicate machinery when
accomplished in the purely mechanical method, can be much more
economically effected through the friction of fluid particles.
One method of achieving this object is an arrangement in which the
escaping steam drives a turbine-shaft running through a long tube and
passing into the water in a circular tank, in which, again, the shaft
carries a spiral or turbine screw for propelling the water. The
arrangement, it will be seen, is strictly analogous to that of the
steam-turbine as used in marine propulsion, the shaft passing through
the side of the tank just as it does through the stern of the vessel.
One essential point, however, is that the line of the shaft must not
pass through the centre of the circular tank, but must form the chord
of an arc, so that when the water is driven against the side by the
revolution of the screw it acts like a tangential jet. Practically the
water is thus kept in motion just as it would be if a hose with a
strong jet of water were inserted and caused to play at an obtuse
angle against the inner side.
Motion having been imparted to the fluid in the tank, a simple device
such as a paddle-wheel immersed at its lower end, may be adopted for
taking up the power and passing it on to the machinery required to be
actuated. By setting both the shaft carrying the vanes for the
steam-turbine and the screw for the propulsion of the water at a
downward inclination it becomes practicable to drive the fluid without
requiring any hole in the tank; and in this case the latter may be
shaped in annular form and pivoted so that it becomes a horizontal
fly-wheel. Obstructing projections on the inside periphery of the
annular tank assist the water to carry the latter along with it in its
circular motion.
For small steam motors, particularly for agricultural and domestic
purposes, the turbine principle is destined to render services of the
utmost importance. The prospect of its extremely economical
construction depends largely upon the fact that, with the exception of
two or three very small bearings carrying narrow shafts, it contains
no parts demanding the same fine finish as does the cylinder of a
reciprocating engine. It solves in a very simple manner the much-vexed
problem of the rotary engine, upon which so much ingenuity has been
fruitlessly exercised. The steam-turbine also has shown that, for
taking advantage of the generation and the expansive power of steam,
there is no absolute necessity for including a steam-tight chamber
with moving parts in the machine.
For very small motors suitable for working fans and working other
household appliances, the use of a jet of steam, applied directly to
drive a small annular fly-wheel filled with mercury--without the
intervention of any turbine--will no doubt prove handy. But in the
economy of the future such appliances will take the place of
electrical machinery only in exceptional situations.
One promising use of the turbine or steam-jet--used to propel a
fly-wheel filled with liquid as described--has for its object the
supply of the electric light in country houses. In this case the
fly-wheel is fitted, on its lower side, to act as the armature of a
dynamo, and the magnets are placed horizontally around it.
The full effective power from a jet of steam is not communicated to a
dynamo for electric lighting or other purposes unless there be a
definite ratio between the speeds of the turbine and of the armature
respectively. This may be conveniently provided for, with more
precision and in a less elaborate way than that which has just been
described, if the steam jet be made to drive a vertically pendant
turbine, the lower extremity of which, carrying very small horizontal
paddles, must be inserted into the centre of a circular tank.
The principle upon which the reduction of speed necessary for the
dynamo is then effected depends upon the fact that in a whirlpool the
liquid near the centre runs nearly as fast as that on the outer
periphery, and therefore--the circles being so very much smaller--the
number of revolutions effected in a given time is much greater. Thus a
steam jet turning a pendant turbine--dipping into the middle of the
whirlpool and carrying paddles--at an enormously high speed may be
made to impart motion to the water in a circular tank (or, if desired,
to the tank itself) at a very much slower rate; the amount of the
reduction, of course, depending mainly on the ratio between the
diameter of the tank and the length of the small paddles at the centre
setting the liquid in motion.
For special purposes it is best to substitute a spherical for an
ordinary circular tank and the size may be greatly diminished by using
mercury instead of water. The sphere is complete, excepting for a
small aperture at the top for the admission of the steel shaft of the
steam-driven turbine. No matter how high may be the speed, the liquid
cannot be thrown out from a spherical revolving receptacle constructed
in this way. Moreover, the mercury acts not only as a transmitter of
the power from the turbine to the purpose for which it is wanted, but
also as a governor. Whenever the speed becomes so great as to throw
the liquid entirely into the sides of the sphere--so that the shaft
and paddles are running free of contact with it in the middle--the
machine slows down, and it cannot again attain full speed until the
same conditions recur.
The rate of speed which may be worked up to as a maximum is determined
by the position of the paddle-wheel, which is adjustable and floats
upon the liquid although controlled in its circular motion by the
shaft which passes through a square aperture in it and also a sleeve
extending upward from it. The duty of the latter is to economise steam
by cutting off the jet as soon as, by its rapidity of motion, the
paddle-wheel has thrown the mercury to the sides to such an extent as
to sink to a certain level in the centre.
Cheap motors coupled with cheap dynamos will, in the twentieth
century, go far towards lightening the labours of millions whose toil
is at present far too much of a mere mechanical nature. The dynamo
itself, however, requires to be greatly reduced in first cost.
Particularly it is necessary that the expense involved in drawing the
wire, insulating it, and winding machines with it, should be
diminished. This will no doubt be partly accomplished by the
electrolytic producers of copper when once they get properly started
on methods of depositing thin strips or wires of tough copper on to
sheets of insulating material for wrapping round the magnets and other
effective parts intended for dynamos. There is no fundamental reason
which forbids that when electro deposition is resorted to for the
recovery of a metal from its ore it should be straightway converted to
the shape and to the purpose for which it is ultimately intended. This
consideration has presented itself to the minds of some of the
manufacturers of aluminium, who make many articles intended for
household use electrolytically; and it must affect many other trades
which are concerned in the output and in the working-up of metals
readily susceptible of deposition--more particularly such as copper.
The familiar aneroid barometer furnishes a hint for another convenient
form of small steam-engine. In seeking to cheapen machinery of this
class it is of the utmost importance that the necessity for boring out
cylinders and for planing and other expensive work should be avoided.
In the aneroid barometer a shallow circular box is fitted with a
cover, which is corrugated in concentric circles, and the pressure of
the superincumbent air is caused to depress the centre of this cover
through the device of partially exhausting the box of air and thus
diminishing the internal resistance. To the slightly moving middle
part of the cover is affixed a lever which actuates, after some
intermediate action, the hand which moves on the dial to indicate, by
its record of variations in the weight of the atmosphere, what the
prospect of the weather may be.
In the aneroid form of the steam-engine the cylinder is immensely
widened and flattened, and the broad circular lid, with its spiral
corrugations, takes the place of the piston. The rod, which acts
virtually as a piston-rod, is hollow, and it works into a bearing
which permits the steam to escape when the extreme point of the stroke
has been reached into a separate condensing chamber kept cool with
water. The boiler itself, with corrugated top, may take the place of
the cylinder.
In some respects this little machine represents a retrograde movement,
even from Watt's original engine with its separate condenser; but its
extreme economy of first cost recommends it to poor producers. In the
near future no country homestead will be without its power
installation of one kind or another, and there is room for many types
of cheap motors.
A motor like the steam-turbine is evidently the forerunner of other
engines designed to utilise the force of an emission jet of vapour or
gas. There are very many processes in which gases generated by
chemical combinations are permitted to escape without performing any
services, not even that of giving up the energy which they may be made
to store up when held in compression in a closed vessel.
The reciprocating forms found suitable for steam and gas engines are
hardly adaptable for experiments in the direction of economising this
source of power, one fatal objection in the majority of cases being
the corrosive effects of the gases generated upon the insides of
cylinders and other working parts. As soon as the force of the
emission jet can be applied as a factor in giving motive power, the
fact that no close-fitting parts are required for the places upon
which the line of force impinges will alter the conditions of the
whole problem. In the centrifugal sand pump, as now largely used for
raising silt from rivers and harbours, the serious corrosive action of
the jet of sand and water upon the inside of the pump has been
successfully overcome by facing the metal with indiarubber; but
nothing of the kind could have been done if the working of the
apparatus had depended on the motion of close-fitting parts, as in the
ordinary suction or lift pump.
As an instance of the class of work for which gaseous jets, for
driving turbines or similar forms of motor, may perform useful
services the case of farm-made superphosphate of lime may be cited. By
subjecting bones to the action of sulphuric acid the farmer may
manufacture his own phosphatic manures for the enrichment of his land.
But the carbonic dioxide and other gases generated as the result of
the operation are wasted. Therefore it at present pays better to carry
the bones to the sulphuric acid than to reverse the procedure by
conveying the acid to the farm, where the bones are a by-product.
So bulky are the latter, however, that serious waste of labour is
involved in transporting them for long distances. Calculations made
out by the experts of various state agricultural stations show that,
as a general rule, it is now cheaper for the farmer to buy his
superphosphates ready made than to make them on his farm. The
difference in some cases, however, is not great; and only a
comparative trifle would be needed in order to turn the balance. This
may probably be found in the economic value of the service rendered by
a turbine-engine or other device for utilising the expansive power of
the gases which are driven from the constituents of the bones by the
action of the sulphuric acid.
For pumping water and other ordinary farm operations the chemical
gas-engine will prove very handy; and the great point in its favour
will be that instead of useless cinders the refuse from it will
consist of the most valuable compost with which the farmer can dress
the soil. Enamelled iron will be employed for the troughs in which the
bones and acid will be mixed, and a cover similar to that placed over
a "Papin's digester" will be clamped to the rim all round, the gases
being liberated only in the form of a jet used for driving machinery.
For very small motors, applicable specially to domestic purposes such
as ventilation, there is one source of power which, in all places
within the reticulation areas of waterworks, may be had practically
for nothing. Probably when the owners of water-supply works realise
that they have command of something which is of commercial value,
although hitherto unnoticed, they will arrange to sell not only the
water which they supply, but also the power which can be generated by
its escape when utilised and by the variations in the pressure from
hour to hour and even from minute to minute.
The latter, for such purposes as ventilation, for instance, will no
doubt come to the front sooner than the intermittent power now wasted
by the outflowing of water--a power which is comparatively too small
an item in most cases to compensate for the outlay and trouble of
arranging for the storage of energy. But in the case of the variation
in the pressure, without any escape of water at all, no such
disability appears. Experiments conducted in several of the larger
cities of England with various types of water meters--which are really
motors on a small scale--have proved the practicability of obtaining a
source of constant power from what may be termed the ebb and the flow
of pressure within the pipes of a water supply system.
At every hour of the day there is a marked variation in the quantity
of water that is being drawn away by consumers, and consequently a
rise and fall in the degree of pressure recorded by the meter. In an
apparatus for converting the power derivable from this source to
useful purposes something on a very small scale analogous to that
which has already been described in connection with utilising the
rise and fall of a wave will be found serviceable. A small spur-wheel
is gripped on two sides by two metal laths, with edges serrated like
those of saws, and held against the wheel by gentle pressure. Every
movement of the two saws--whether backwards or forwards--is then
responded to by a continuous circular motion of the wheel, with the
sole exception of those movements which may be too small in extent to
include even as much as a single tooth of the wheel. On this account
it is important that the teeth should be made as numerous as possible
consistently with the amount of pressure which they may have to bear.
Resort may be had to the principle of the aneroid barometer in order
to secure from the water within the pipe-system the energy by which
these saw-like bands are driven up and down with reciprocal motion. A
very shallow circular tank in the shape of a watch is in communication
with the water in the pipes, and its top or covering is composed of a
concentrically-corrugated sheet of finely tempered steel. At the
centre of this is fixed the guide which pushes and pulls the saw-like
laths. Every rise and fall in the pressure of the water now effects a
movement of the spur-wheel, and the latter may conveniently be
connected with the strong spring of a clockwork attachment, so that
the water pressure is really used for winding up a clockwork
ventilating-fan.
In the making of cheap steam and gas engines, as well as in machine
work generally, rapid progress will be made when the possibilities of
producing hard and smooth wearing surfaces without the need for
cutting and filing rough-cast metal have been fully investigated. Many
parts of machinery will be electro-deposited--like the small articles
already mentioned--in aluminium or hard copper at the metallurgical
works where ore is being treated for the recovery of metal, or even at
the mines themselves.
Side by side with this movement there will be one for developing the
system of stamping mild steel and then tempering it. At the same time
also the behaviour of various metals and alloys, not only in the cold
state but also at the critical point between melting and
solidification, will be much more carefully studied so as to take
advantage of every means whereby accurately shaped articles may be
made and finished in the casting. It has been found, for example, that
certain kinds of type metal, if placed under very heavy pressure at
the moment when passing from the liquid to the solid condition, not
only take the exact form of the mould in which they are placed, but
become extremely hard by comparison with the same alloy if permitted
to solidify without pressure.
The example of the cheap watch industry may be cited to convey an idea
of the immensely important revolution which will take place in the
production of both small and large prime-motors when all the
possibilities of electrotyping, casting, and stamping the various
wearing parts true to shape and size have been fully exploited. An
accurate timekeeper is now practically within the reach of all; and in
the twentieth century no one who requires a small prime motor to do
the rough work about home or farm will be compelled to do without it
by reason of poverty--unless, perhaps, he is absolutely destitute and
a fit subject for public charity.
Many domestic industries which were crushed out of existence during
the early part of the nineteenth century will therefore be
resuscitated. The dear steam-engine created the factory system and
brought the operatives to live close together in long rows of
unsightly dwellings, but the cheap engine, in conjunction with the
motor driven by transmitted electricity, will give to the working
people comparative freedom again to live where they please, and to
enjoy the legitimate pleasures both of town and of country.