Electricity Direct from Colliery

Progress, Volume VIII, Issue 6, 1 February 1913, Page 323

Electricity Direct from Colliery

Our readers will no doubt remember that only a very little while ago one of the leading English professors stated that the time would soon arrive when, instead of excavating the coal and transporting it to the generating station, the generating station would he at the coal mine. Whether the American engineers have acted upon this statement or have thought the question out themselves we cannot say, but it is nevertheless a significant fact that a large company has been formed for this purpose. The plans of the Lehigh Navigation Electric Company, Philadelphia, Pa., include the erection of a generating station near the coal mines at Hauto, Pa., and embody one of the most important steps towards the economical use of coal without transportation, and the transmission of electrical energy on a large scale, so far undertaken in the United States. The site of the central generating station is about ten miles west of Mauch Chunk at the mouth of a railroad tunnel leading to the main body of anthracite coal owned by the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company. Prom this point the energy for heat, light, and power will be distributed by high-voltage transmission lines extending throughout Eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and covering a territory with a population of 2.500.000. ' J The company have a waste production of about 500,000 tons of coal a year consisting of coal dust and particles which will pass through O.lin. mesh screens, but in the present scheme this refuse, which is not marketable, will be consumed under the company’s boilers. The choice of Hauto as the site for the main generating plant was also influenced by the fact that an abundant water supply was available, as the plant to be employed ultimately will require about 300.000. gallons a day. To provide this amount the capacity of an existing reservoir is being increased by the construction of a higher dam to 1,000,000,000 gallons with an area of 400 acres. The maximum output contemplated will be 100,000 k.w., and it is estimated that 1,000,000 tons of coal a year will be required, a quantity which would require 20,000 of the largest cars to transport to market. It is proposed to supply energy to the slate and cement industries in Lehigh and Northampton counties, all of which are in a territory from 20 to 40 miles distant from the Hauto plant, and probably substations will be established at once in the heart of these two districts to step down and distribute the energy to users. There are about 20 large cement mills within a radius of 75 miles from the main station. The transmission lines will be erected along the Lehigh Navigation Canal, and also on the right of way of the Lehigh and New England Railroad, which the company control, and in this way but little will have to be acquired for the pole lines. ■f With the assistance of these companies a complete census of the motors used in the industries has been taken, and it has been found that within the district which will be reached by the first section of the Hauto plant power to the extent of over 100,000 h.p. is being employed. The Lehigh Navigation Electric

Company have prepared a schedule of rates running from eight mills up t 0222y 2 cents per k.w.-hour, according to the amount of power contracted for and the steady rate of consumption, and at these prices the company will deliver energy materially under the cost at which the industries are able to produce steam power. According to present plans the first installation at the Hauto plant will be in operation before the end of the year. The company have arranged for an initial expenditure of 3,000,000 dob, and an order has been placed for three 10,000-k.v.a., 11,000-volt, three phase, 25-cycle horizontal turbo-generating units, complete with 300-k.w. turbo-exciter sets and one 300-kw. motor-generator exciter set. The equipment of the plant will be increased gradually, the expectation being to supply energy to Allentown and Easton, Pa., to Trenton, N.J., and finally to Philadelphia, which is within 80 miles of the Hauto plant. We think that in parallel with the utilization of our water power for the production of electricity our engineers should turn their attention to the development of electric energy direct from the coal mine. There are two cases that at once suggest themselves, they are the Mokau and Waikato coal mines. In both instances there should be a big demand for current among the farmers, and the many towns scattered throughout these districts would be greatly benefited. We should like to see this question taken in hand at once, if only to prove that it would not be satisfactory.