POWER PLANTS.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 15229, 29 May 1920, Page 3

POWER PLANTS.

DEVELOPMENTS IN AMERICA.

WATER, COAL, AND OIL

Some very interesting observations regarding electric-power plants m America are contained m a report which the Wellington City Engineer (Mr W. H. Morton) has prepared for tho City Council since his return to New Zealand. He indicates that where a stand-by plant has been provided m places served with hydro-electric power, oil has completely displaced coal as a fuel. Practically the whole of the cities on tho Pacific slopes of America have supplies of hydro-electric power, he states. The water supply of Los Angeles is being obtained from the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, and a large number of hydro-electric power-stations have been established along the route of the maim The scheme as adopted contemplates the ultimate development of 165,000 horse-power, and by providing.additional transmission circuits to the Owen Vajlcy m a plan conforming to reliable economic development this can be increased to yield 200,000 horse-power m all. SIMPLICITY OF OIL FUEL.

At most of the cities on the Pacific Slope, however, auxiliary steam plants were provided, and all of them were using oil as fuel. There is a very large auxiliary plant at San Francisco owned by the Pacific Gas and Electric Company. It is provided with steam for fuel oil, which was also used for supplying gas for the town. A similar station at Seattle, though much smaller, is also very interesting. In both stations the usual amount of labor and general cleanliness of the boiler-rooms were very noticeable as compared with the station m which conl is burnt m New Zealand. 'The simplicity of the working of such stations is remarkable" says Mr. Morton. "In San Francisco I found that there were three or four largo private electrical undertakings which combined and helped each other during peak loads. This was possible m view of the fact that all were not supplying tramway concerns, which 1 were partly municipally and partly privately owned

LABOR SAVING

"One could not help. noticing the small amount of labor . used at these large steam-generating stations as compared with the comparatively, small stations m this city.. The large size of the generators were 1 particularly noticeable. At the Pacific Gas and Electric Supply Company there was only one/generating set having a capacity of less than 15,000 kilowatts. This was a Curfcis's turbine, with a capacity of 12,000 kilowatts. All the boilers were water-tube boilers, partly . Babcock and Willcocks and partly Sterling type. The maximum load at this particular Btation has been 42,000 kilowatts, and tho station load at the time of the visit was over 30,000 kilowatts."

THE DAY OF BIG PLANTS. Regarding the observations m England, Mr. Morton sums these up as follows : . . "As regards power-houses for the supply of electric power and for tramways it was speedily ascertained that, for tho greatest economy, small generating sets wero not advisable. These should bo of much larger capacity than we have previously considered to be necessnry m Wellington, m order to. obtain greater economy m the use of fuel, and m various other obvious ways. As m America great attention is paid to' tho necessity of obtaining tho most plentiful supply of suitable) water for condensing purposes. This is more especially essential m connection with steam turbines, and generally i 8 of greater vnlue than cheapness of fuel transport. Both, however, aro essential factors for consideration when deciding upon the most suitable site for power stations."