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High speed turbine generators meet modern requirements
Aug.3 1937.1
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that by the use of electrical discharges in processing of natural gas into a variety of products the volume of gas valued at $200,000,000 annually, going to waste in Texas, would be saved and converted into wealth many times that amount. Doctor Schoch pictured the possibility of processing plants being established at individual wells in the Panhandle and other parts of the state. R. H. 0. World’s Fair Test Building Resembles Joseph’s Coat.-(Engineering News Record, Vol. I 18, No. 25.) Blocked and patched with multihued designs, a unique test building stands conspicuously on the vast expanse of land on the reclaimed Flushing Meadows that will be the site of the 1939 New York World’s Fair. This unique building, whose walls can be made to twist, heave, buckle, sag or otherwise contort at the will of the testing engineer, is a practical laboratory where the merits of various heights of wall coating and different stucco treatments are tried out. Inside the 40 X 60 ft. structure is a complete testing laboratory for further analysis of materials proposed for interiors and exteriors of the 3oo proposed buildings. Ground consolidation, wind pressure, fire resistance, stucco layering, weather tightness, stud spacing, paint acceptance, insulation, light refraction, illumination possibilities, ceiling heights, flexibility of material, and economies consistent with temporary building, are a few of the factors governing research as carried on within and without the test building. The building code of the Fair Corporation is, in part, responsible for institution of the test building, since it provides that all walls in all exposition buildings must have at least 1/2 hr. fire resistance. R. H. 0. High Speed Turbine Generators Meet Modern Requirements. -During the past period of depressed national and world conditions when the need for new equipment of this type for central stations was practically at a standstill, an analysis and study were made in preparation for supplying equipment for modernized stations so as to be able to meet the demand when it arose. The result of this work is reviewed by C. M. LAFFOON, Generator Engineer of the Westinghouse Electric & Mfg. Co., in The Electric Journal, Vol. 34, No. 6. It developed that in 1936 there was an immediate need for generator ratings up to 60,000 kva. at 80 to 90 per cent. power factor range. New materials and different design proportions dictated a unit to operate at 3,600 r.p.m., which at this size was beyond any actual experience heretofore encountered. The successful construction of 3,600 r.p.m. generators at these ratings was made
266
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[J. F. I.
possible by three major accomplishments. They are: (I) The development by the principal steel forging companies of alloy steel forgings with a material improvement in physical characteristics and ductility properties; (2) improvements in both stator and rotor ventilation and a better coordination of design proportions and utilization of materials that increased the output per unit of active materials ; (3) the use of hydrogen as the cooling medium to increase the output per unit of materials still further, and to improve the generator efficiency. R. H. 0. Electrogalvanized Wire Gives Corrosion Defiance.-W. C. FRANK AND W. E. MILLER. (Electrical World, Vol. 107, No. 25.) The Bethlehem Steel Co. after eight years of electrochemical and electrometallurgical research has perfected a process from which there is obtained a coated steel wire having physical properties entirely different from any of the zinc coatings so far produced by either the hot-dip galvanizing process or the conventional zinc electroplating process. In the new process the zinc is applied to the surface of the wire by electrodeposition from a bath of purified zinc sulphate solution circulated through electrolytic cells. There is no metallic zinc in the system except that which is deposited out of the solution as virgin metal, spectroscopically pure, creating a tough, Current densities are much higher ductile and tenacious coating. than in previous electroplated galvanizing. While zinc itself is corrodible through atmospheric attack, the purity of this new zinc coating is such that the progress of corrosion is checked after the formation of a very thin film of carbonate or oxide. R. H. 0. Small-Scale Placer Mines as a Source of Gold, Employment and Livelihood in Ig35.-According to a report of a study by members of the Bureau of Mines submitted to the Works Progress Administration, more than 28,000 individuals were engaged in placering at some time during the year 1935, demonstrating that gold diggings The number was twice the are sizable consumers of human effort. labor force required to mine the nation’s iron ore in the same year, and this count includes only those miners who made at least one An unknown number of others worked but sale to a bullion buyer. found no gold. For those miners who were recorded as selling some gold, the average number of days worked was 45, the average daily gross income was $1.60, and the average gross earnings for the year were $72. This report shows conclusively the futility of following the suggestion, frequently made in recent years, that large numbers
CURREKT TOPICS.
265
that by the use of electrical discharges in processing of natural gas into a variety of products the volume of gas valued at $200,000,000 annually, going to waste in Texas, would be saved and converted into wealth many times that amount. Doctor Schoch pictured the possibility of processing plants being established at individual wells in the Panhandle and other parts of the state. R. H. 0. World’s Fair Test Building Resembles Joseph’s Coat.-(Engineering News Record, Vol. I 18, No. 25.) Blocked and patched with multihued designs, a unique test building stands conspicuously on the vast expanse of land on the reclaimed Flushing Meadows that will be the site of the 1939 New York World’s Fair. This unique building, whose walls can be made to twist, heave, buckle, sag or otherwise contort at the will of the testing engineer, is a practical laboratory where the merits of various heights of wall coating and different stucco treatments are tried out. Inside the 40 X 60 ft. structure is a complete testing laboratory for further analysis of materials proposed for interiors and exteriors of the 3oo proposed buildings. Ground consolidation, wind pressure, fire resistance, stucco layering, weather tightness, stud spacing, paint acceptance, insulation, light refraction, illumination possibilities, ceiling heights, flexibility of material, and economies consistent with temporary building, are a few of the factors governing research as carried on within and without the test building. The building code of the Fair Corporation is, in part, responsible for institution of the test building, since it provides that all walls in all exposition buildings must have at least 1/2 hr. fire resistance. R. H. 0. High Speed Turbine Generators Meet Modern Requirements. -During the past period of depressed national and world conditions when the need for new equipment of this type for central stations was practically at a standstill, an analysis and study were made in preparation for supplying equipment for modernized stations so as to be able to meet the demand when it arose. The result of this work is reviewed by C. M. LAFFOON, Generator Engineer of the Westinghouse Electric & Mfg. Co., in The Electric Journal, Vol. 34, No. 6. It developed that in 1936 there was an immediate need for generator ratings up to 60,000 kva. at 80 to 90 per cent. power factor range. New materials and different design proportions dictated a unit to operate at 3,600 r.p.m., which at this size was beyond any actual experience heretofore encountered. The successful construction of 3,600 r.p.m. generators at these ratings was made
266
CURRENT TOPICS.
[J. F. I.
possible by three major accomplishments. They are: (I) The development by the principal steel forging companies of alloy steel forgings with a material improvement in physical characteristics and ductility properties; (2) improvements in both stator and rotor ventilation and a better coordination of design proportions and utilization of materials that increased the output per unit of active materials ; (3) the use of hydrogen as the cooling medium to increase the output per unit of materials still further, and to improve the generator efficiency. R. H. 0. Electrogalvanized Wire Gives Corrosion Defiance.-W. C. FRANK AND W. E. MILLER. (Electrical World, Vol. 107, No. 25.) The Bethlehem Steel Co. after eight years of electrochemical and electrometallurgical research has perfected a process from which there is obtained a coated steel wire having physical properties entirely different from any of the zinc coatings so far produced by either the hot-dip galvanizing process or the conventional zinc electroplating process. In the new process the zinc is applied to the surface of the wire by electrodeposition from a bath of purified zinc sulphate solution circulated through electrolytic cells. There is no metallic zinc in the system except that which is deposited out of the solution as virgin metal, spectroscopically pure, creating a tough, Current densities are much higher ductile and tenacious coating. than in previous electroplated galvanizing. While zinc itself is corrodible through atmospheric attack, the purity of this new zinc coating is such that the progress of corrosion is checked after the formation of a very thin film of carbonate or oxide. R. H. 0. Small-Scale Placer Mines as a Source of Gold, Employment and Livelihood in Ig35.-According to a report of a study by members of the Bureau of Mines submitted to the Works Progress Administration, more than 28,000 individuals were engaged in placering at some time during the year 1935, demonstrating that gold diggings The number was twice the are sizable consumers of human effort. labor force required to mine the nation’s iron ore in the same year, and this count includes only those miners who made at least one An unknown number of others worked but sale to a bullion buyer. found no gold. For those miners who were recorded as selling some gold, the average number of days worked was 45, the average daily gross income was $1.60, and the average gross earnings for the year were $72. This report shows conclusively the futility of following the suggestion, frequently made in recent years, that large numbers