COMPRESSED AIR PLANT AT NORWICH, CONN.
At the recent annual convention of the New England Waterworks association J. Herbert Shedd, of Providence, R. I., read a paper upon the compressed air plant at Norwich, Conn. In this he gave a brief resume of the history of the use of compressed air, stating that the first successful use of compressed air was in the Mount Cenis tunnel, where the air was compressed to five atmospheres. In France some 25,000-horsepower is in use daily for all sorts of purposes. The air is cooled as it is compressed and heated before being used in engines. Most of the engines are of small size—many less than one-horsepower. Air is compressed by passing it into great depths of water. This is the process used at Norwich. the air being intrained with a volume of water passing below ground to 215 feet below the surface of the river. The water compresses the air, which is freed in a special chamber, and rises to the surface in a special sixteen-inch main at a pressure of ninety pounds to the square inch. It is piped to Norwich and used like steam. About 1500-horsepowcr is generated and forty users in Norwich.
At the recent annual convention of the New England Waterworks association J. Herbert Shedd, of Providence, R. I., read a paper upon the compressed air plant at Norwich, Conn. In this he gave a brief resume of the history of the use of compressed air, stating that the first successful use of compressed air was in the Mount Cenis tunnel, where the air was compressed to five atmospheres. In France some 25,000-horsepower is in use daily for all sorts of purposes. The air is cooled as it is compressed and heated before being used in engines. Most of the engines are of small size—many less than one-horsepower. Air is compressed by passing it into great depths of water. This is the process used at Norwich. the air being intrained with a volume of water passing below ground to 215 feet below the surface of the river. The water compresses the air, which is freed in a special chamber, and rises to the surface in a special sixteen-inch main at a pressure of ninety pounds to the square inch. It is piped to Norwich and used like steam. About 1500-horsepowcr is generated and forty users in Norwich.
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