A WELCOME STAND-BY

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 219, 10 June 1921, Page 8

A WELCOME STAND-BY

NEW 1000 H.P. BOILER AT HARRIS STREET STATION Since last Friday tho new 1000 h.p. Babcock and Wilcox threc-drum watertube boiler has been in commission, and is doing good work. A modern boiler of such capacity is no toy. It is as big as a two-story house, with the chaingrate furnaces on the ground floor and the three great drums showing half their bulk as tho roof of tho structure. Otherwise the outward and visible aspect of tho structure is a square of solid brick work. With such a new boiler available, the anxiety as to power at peakload times in these dark mid-winter days is to a great extent removed. It will be remembered that a good deal of trouble was experienced with tho chaingrate furnaces in the Mercer iStrcet boiler-house, through having to use unsuitable coal, which clogged tho bars. Were anything of the kind to occur now tho position would not be serious, ns the new boiler could take the load whilst one of the others is being overhauled. The new boiler is additionally efficient by reason of its super-heating adjunct, which creates a higher vacuum and gives excellent, results. This is the second boiler of the kind to be installed within tho past year. Tho other is at tho tramways power-houso. As the boilers in each of tho city power-houses are co-ordinated, it has in the past been difficult to correctly estimate the efficiency of each. Tho steam gauge might register a certain number of pounds pressure, but it was not known whether that was a true indication of that boiler’s work, or whether it was its work plus some assistance from other hard-working boilers. With the new Babcock and Wilcox boilers what is known as flow meters have been sent out, which by means of a tell-tale clock face (which also acts as a chart) on which an automatic pen forms a graph, that indicates, records, and integrates the steam pressure of that one particular boiler, whilst alongside is what is known as a "303 indicator,” which, by analysing the waste gases ns they exude from the furnace flues, indicate whether or not good combustion is taking place. ‘ .Assuming that each of the boilers in the tramways power-house bad a flow-meter, it would be obvious at once which were workers and which shirkers, for a boiler when dirty will shirk its work, and it is not until ■ something'goes wrong that it is, as a rule, found out. There is now established in the Mercer Street station an 18-inch pump capable of pumping 5000 gallons, of sea-water (for condensation) per minute. This pump is worked by'a motor that is fed with current from the tramways ipower-house. The tramways station, too, is now able to take on the supply of current for tho street lighting, which was hitherto the lighting station’s job. Th ? s does not moan that it docs so nt all times. When there is a heavy call for tramway power, it is merely a matter of bringing another dynamo and transformer (at Mercer Street) into piny, and by manipulating a switch, the street lighting, which has been fed with direct current can bo just ns effectively supplied with alternating. This is tho dawn of co-ordination between the two power-bousee that should make for higher efficiency in the future.