Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

0 THE SOUTHERN WORLD, AUGUST 1, 1882. JP* W at [h Mtop- The Economy or the Windmill as a Prime Mover. BY ALFRED B. WOLFE, M. E., MEW YORE CITY. American Miller, Chicago. In the course of professional work I have repeatedly had occasion to investigate the question of the impulse of wind upon wind mills, and to observe the economical per formance of the latter, From time to time I have published various results of these investigations, but have not given a record of the actual economy of the windmill, the subject proper of this note. I propose to di rect attention to the demonstration of the fact that whatever improvement in efflci- ciency be possible in tbs future, windmills, as at present constructed, are the most eco nomical prime-movers for those uses for which they are specifically designed. In this demonstration conclusions will be based only on observed facts or actual run ning results. I am enabled to do this inas much as some five years ago one of the most prominent windmill manufacturers came to me with a few scattered data of actual per formances of his mills, which, however, were sufficient by means of deductions and analogy from theoretical principles, to war rant the preparation of the following table: An foot wheel, with a velocity of wind at 15 to 20 miles per hour, will have from 70 to 75 revolutions, and raise per minute 0.162 gallons of water to an elevation of 25 feet, and 3,010gallons 50 feet, giving an equiva lent actual useful horse power developed of .04, and the average number of hours per day during which that result can be ob tained will be 8 to 10 hours. A10 foot wheel, with the wind at a veloc ity of 15 to 20 miles per hour, will have from 60 to 05 revolutions and raise per min ute 19,170 gallons of water to an elevation of 25 feet, or 0,503 gallons 50 feet, or 0,638 gallons 75 feet or 4,750 gallons 100 feet. A 12 foot wheel, with the same velocity of wind and 55 to 00 revolutions, will raise every minute 33,941 gallons 25 feet, 17,052 gallons 50 feet, 11,851 gallons 75 feet. 8,485 gallons 100 feet or5,G80 gallons 150 feet. A 14 foot wheel, with the same velocity, will have 60 to 55 revolutions and raise per minute 45,139 gallons to an elevation of 25 feet, 22,669 gallons 60 feet, 15,304 gal.ons75 feet, 11,240 gallons 100 feet, 7,807 gallons 150 feet or 4,098 gallons 200 feet. A 16 foot wheel, with same velocity and 45 to 60 revolutions, will raise per minute, 04,600 gallons to an elevation of 25 feet, 31,- 054 gallons 50 feet, 19,542 gallons 75 feet, 10,- 160 gallons 100 feet, 9,771 gallons 150 feet or 8,075 gallons200 feet. An 18 foot wheel, same velocity and 40 to 45 revolutions will raise per minute, 97,682 to an elevation of 25 feet, 52,105 gallons 50 feet, 32,513 gallons 76 feet, 23,421 gallons 100 feet, 17,485 gallons 150 feet or 12,211 gallons 200 feet. A 20 foot wheel, same velocity, and 35 to 40 revolutions will raise per minute, 124,950 gallons to an elevation of 25 feet, 03,750 gal lons 50 feet, 40,800 gallons 75 feet, 31,248 gal lons 100 feet, 10,284 gallons 150 feet, or 15,- 938 gallons 200 feet. A 25 foot wheel same velocity and 30 to 35 revolutions, will raise per minute, 212,381 gallons to an elevation of 25 feet, 100,904 gallons 50 feet, 71,608 gallons 75 feet? 49,725 gallons 100 feet, 37,343 gallons 150 feet, or 20,747 gallons 200 feet. Since the preparation of this table, over a thousand windmills have been sold on its guarantee, and in all cases the actual results obtained, both in this country and else where, did not vary sufficiently from those above presented to cause any complaint whatever; a proof that the results, as tabu lated, are very close, or certainly not too high. If it be claimed that the horse-power developed appears small, from the stand point of a (false) prevalent popular opinion it should be observed in response that the actual results noted in the table are in close agreement with those obtained by theoreti cal analysis of the impulse of wind upon windmill blades. It will, therefore, be just to base the economy of the windmill as prime-mover on the performance recorded in this table, and the expense of obtaining the power will be presented further on. Conceding for a moment its economy, the possible employment of the windmill as prime-mover is dependent as well on other considerations. The objection urged against the use of the windmills Is the uncertainty of the motive fluid—wind; but we will see that this objection serves not to prevent, but only restrict the use of the windmill as prime-mover. Of course, it must be acknowl edged that there are minutes and hours of total calm, and this restricts the employ ment of the windmill for such purposes, where either the nature of the work done by the windmill allows of its being suspend ed during a calm, as work on a farm, for in stance, or where the work can be stored, as in pumping water for a variety of purposes, or in compressing air, or, as was lately pro posed by 8fr William Thomson, for storing electricity by means of dynamo machines and electrical accumulators. There is an other restriction which goes into practical effect, namely, that the large size of a wind mill for a given power makes it practically desirable only to be used for small power, but actually it is only designed for the use of small powers, usually between 1-25 and 4-horse-power, and for such powers it will be shown in this note that it is the most economical and serviceable prime-mover for the purposes for which it is designed. The difficulty urged by Sir William Thom son to its adoption, in its present state of de velopment, for storing electrical accumula tors, is the first cost of the windmill, but this was doubtless an oversight, for the in terest on the capital expended, and not cap ital itself, becomes one of the iterasoof cur rent expense in judging of the economy of prime-movers, and, as will become evident from the contents of this note, the question of expense of producing power will not prove an objection, but, on the contrary, the best reason for tbe introduction of wind mills to charge electrical accumulators. It must be specially mentioned that ex perience has shown that the wind blows fast enough to run tbe windmill up to the regu lating speed in the above table on an average of eight to ten hours per day of twenty-four hours, and our estimate of work done and expense of power will be based on ah actual running of only eight hours per day. The current expense of any prime-mover, or the cost of obtaining the horse-power de veloped per unit of time, which alone should form the basis of a comparison of the econ omy of different prime-movers, consists principally in interest, repairs, and deprecia tion of plant, cost of fuel, oil, and attend ance. In windmills the cost of fuel is zero, wind being a free gift of nature. The attend ance required for the self-regulating wind mill, designated in the above table, amounts to only Ailing the oil-cups three or four times a month, the work of a few minutes, which any one can attend to. If any account is to be taken of this service, an allowance of fifteen cents a month would really be quite extravagant. In the following table such allowance has been made. Experience has shown that the repairs and depreciation items, jointly, are amply covered by 5 per cent, of the first cost per annum. Interest is calculated at 5 per cent, per annum. The oil used is a very suall quantity—a few gal lons per year—and is allowed forin the table according to the size of mill. All the items of expense, including both the interest and repairs, are reduced to the hour by dividing the costs per annum by 305x8=2,920, the interest, etc., for the twenty-four hours be ing charged on tbe eight hours of actual work. An 8X foot wheel, raising 370 gallons per hour, to an elevation of 25 feet, averaging 8 hours per day, will develop a horse power equivalent to .04. The expense for interest on first cost will be 8.25, for repairs 0.25, for attendance 00, for oil 04, making the expense 16 cents per horse power per hour. A 10 foot wheel, elevating 1,151 gallons per hour, to the same height, will develop a horse power equivalent to .12 The expense will be 70 cents, or 5.8 per horse power per hour. A 12 foot wheel, elevating to 25 feet, 2,030 gallons per hour, will develop a horse power equivalent to .21. The expense will be 82 cents or 3.9 per horse power. A 14 foot wheel, elevating 2,708 gallons will have a horse power equal to .28. The expense will be 1.03 or 5.8 per horse power. A 16 foot wheel, elevating 3,876 gallons per hour, will have a horse power of .41. The expense will be 2.43 or 5.9 per horse power. A 18-foot wheel elevating 5,861 gallons per hour, will have a horse-power equivalent to .61. The expense will be 2.83 or 4.0 per horse-power. A 20-foot wheel elevating 7,947 gallons will have a horse-power equal to .79. The expense will be 3.55 or 4.5 per horse-power. A 25-foot wheel elevating 12,743 gallons, will have a horse-power equal to 1.31. The expense will be 4.20 or 3.2 per horse-power per hour. The number of gallons pumped by the 30- foot and 35-foot mills and larger sizes and the economy of the same are not given in the above table, for the number of larger mills in operation is not sufficient to insure the authenticity of the results thus far ob talned. The performance of the 30-foot mill as far as observed, seems to gravitate to a pumping capacity equivalent to 2.4 horse power, and an expense of 2.5 cents per horse power per hour. When the flgures in the table are con trasted with the cost of pumping the same amount of water by other prime movers, where in addition to expense of interest, re pairs, depreciation and oil, there are tbe greater expenses of fuel and attendance and often extra insurance on property owing to the use of steam, the economy of the wind mill must be evident to all. To recapitulate: The flgures given in the body of this note are tbe results of actual experience with hundreds of wind-mills, and as such, it was believed, would not be without interest. They prove conclusively that at the present time windmills are the most economical prime movers for tbe powers and purposes outlined in this note, and for which they are usually designed. Hannracturlng. Denver Journal of Commerce. The following flgures show the number of manufacturing establisments in these cities, the number of men employed, the amount of capital invested, and the value of the annual product in the shape of manufac tured goods: Baltimore.. Boston Brooklyn... Cincinnati Cleveland Denver.,.„...._.... Detroit Jersey City Louisville ... Milwaukee Newark New Orleans New York Philadelphia Pittsburg. Providence San Francisco. 8t. Louis Washtngtlon..... C O K .15,3)1 66,831 45.231 in,838 77.001 52,184 22,499 4.310 15.002 10,088 10,509 10.020 29.232 9,439 217,977 17.1,802 30,405 21,338 26,082 39,724 7,116 135,760,106 42,750,134 50.021,109 24,188,502 61,177,335 43,278,732 18,134,789 4,845,000 14,202.159 1I.329.915 19,583,013 13,811,405 23,919,115 8,401.190 164,917,856 170,495,191 50,970,902 23,573.932 29,417,248 45,385.085 5,381,220 121,100,137 169.757,590 40,003,205 341,185,007 in, mi, nr, 47,352.208 9,81)1,000 28,213,580 59,581,141 32,381,022 33,955,130 00.234,525 18,341,000 448,209,248 . 301,591 725 1071 30,465 60,976,902 74.211,889 1,186 21,330 23,573.932 39,590,0,53 2,860 26,062 29,417,248 71,613.385 2,886 39,724 45,385,085 104,383,587 ■" 11.641,185 In the number of establishments, New York has 11,102 and Philadelphia has 8307. The amount paid in wages during the census year was: New York $93,370,000; Philadel phia $60,000,000. The value of the material used in the industries was: New York $275,000,000; Philadelphia $187,000,000. The largest single item . of manufacture in New York is that of men’s clothing, the product of which for 1880 is valued at $60,- 708.000. Meat packing is the second largest industry in New York City, its product for 1880 being $24,297,000. Printing and pub lishing shows a product of $21,696,000. The cigar product is $13,347,000; that of refined lard is $14,758,000, and sugars and molasses, refined $11,330,000. In Philadelphia the largest single product in manufacturing value is sugar and molasses, refined, $42,942, 920. The third manufacturing city is Chi cago, paying $33,000,000 in one year in wages. The leading manufacturing industry is meat packing, whose product in the census year was $85,000,000. Brooklyn is the fourth city paying $27,000,000 as a year’s wages. The leading article is sugar and molasses, re fined, the product of which in 1880 was $50,- 711.000. Boston ranks fifth on tbe basis of the value of the manufactured product; men’s clothing and sugar and molasses, re fined being each $16,000,000. The sixth city is St. Louis, with $13,759,000 of flouring and grist-mill products. Cincinnati is the seventh manufacturingcity. Baltimore conies eighth, and Pittsburg ninth in rank. From the statistics just furnished by the Census Bureau, on the manufacturing in the United States, we find that a few cities which in 1870, were not known in the man ufacturing world, are rapidly coming into prominence. Among these cities we find that Denver is mentioned; and although the amount of the annual product falls short by many millions in comparison with the pro duct of the large Eastern cities, at the same time it shows a healthy increase. The Silk Association of America has pub lished, through Mr. W. C. Wyckoflf, its re port for the last fiscal year. Tbe imports of silk manufacture in New York alotie have reached the unprecedented amount of $36,- 432,706, against $30,601,851 for the year ended June 30,1881. The raw silk imports in New York and San Francisco have reached the encouraging amount of 21,682 bales, worth $13,177,898, against 20,198 bales, worth $10,- 885,167, imported last year. The raw silk came chiefly from Japan, and after that in a declining seals from Shanghai, Europe, and Hong Kong. It will be observed that the amount of imjiorted raw silk illustrates the rise of an interresting and important indus try. Many a piece of silk worn in this country has been manufactured at home, though the wearer may think It a Lyons fabric. Mr. Wyckoff’s tables do not show the consumption of silk and silk goods in this country, nor the state of the silk trade; but it is safe to say that, in the consump tion and manufacture of silk our position is relatively and absolutely a strong one. Cot Nalls. The following statistics concerning the manufacture of cut nails in the United States is taken from the report of the Amer ican Iron and Steel Association : States. 100 lb. ke(*. Pennsylvania 1,914,700 West Virginia 1,241,102 Ohio 860,665 Massachusetts 525,089 Illinois 352,643 Indiana 320,496 New Jersey .’ 248,521 Virginia 127,566 Tennessee 94,495 Kentucky 69,000 Nebraska 31,067 New York 2,256 Total 5,794,206 Our production of cut nails in 1881, given above, was much the largest in our history.—Our next largest production was in 1880, when we produced 5,370,512 kegs. It is a noticeable fact that the production of cut nails in this country has notin recent years advanced with the rapidity which has characterized other branches of our iron and steel industries. In 1873 our production was 4,024,704 kegs, and in 1874 it was 4,912,- 180 kegs. From 1874 to 1879 the annual productious fluctuated beteen 4,000,000 and 5,000,000 kegs in the latter year amounting to 5,011,121 kegs. Worm and Hot Springs. The springs called thermal springs are found in all latitudes, at various elevations above the sea, and in most of the geological formations. The word thermal does not, however, denote a spring of any particular degree of temperature, and is far from signi fying that the springs to which it is applied are equally warm; for any spring is thermal, the water of which is warmer than the mean annual temperature of the place where it occurs. In the equatorial regions, where the mean annual temperature is about 80°, a thermal spring should have a temperature of about 85°, while in the northern parts of the earth, as, for example, Yakutsk, in Si beria, where the year’s temperature does not exceed 13°, it need be only a little above that. The waters of thermal springs main tain an equable temperature, and must, therefore come out of depths in the earth at which tbe variations in the temperature of the air exert no influence. According to Bossingault, this depth in the tropics is only a little more than one or two feet, but be tween 48° and 52° of north latitude it is between sixty-six and ninety-three feet be low the surface. Besides the springs that are called thermal, many springs are found the temperature of which exceeds'the high est mean temperature of the year, and are called warm springs. Examples are the spring at Carlsbad, 167°; that of Wiesbaden, 158°; those of Baden-Baden, 154° to 1U°, etc. The depth from which these waters come may be approximately caculated by the rule that the temperature increases one degree for every ninety feet below the sur face. Hence the water of the bubbling spring at Carlsbad is supposed to come from a depth of seven thousand three hundred feet. A third class of springs, the boiling springs, geysers, or hot springs, whose tem perature is near the boiling-point of water, are peculiar in respect to the places where they appear. They are found only in vol canic regions; are numerous in Iceland, where there are more than a hundred of them; on the North Island of New Zealand, where they are most abundant in the neigh borhood of the Roto Mahana, or Hot Lake; and near the Yellowstone Lake, the Fire- hole and the Madison Rivers, in the region of the Wind River Mountains, in the United States, where some eight hundred of them are grouped within a certain well-defined area.—Dr. Otto Wallerhofer, on “ The Meehan- iet of Intermittent Springe," in the Popular Science Monthly. In the Central Hall of the Museum of Egytian Antiquities at Boolak, ranged side by side, shoulder to shoulder, lies a solemn company of kings, princes, 'queens, and priests of royal blood, who died between three and tour thousand yean ago.