.fuLY 24, 1914. THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN. "99 _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ As will be seen from the table, the average consump- tion of the reciprocating engines in the central station is even more unfavourable than with the turbines. The principal cause of the high steam consumption is the leakage from the piston valves and the stuffing boxes. The same fault has been noted with the winding engines, and these losses apply to the whole working of ................ the machinery. Even with low coal prices, the result- ing losses are so great that upkeep of the engines in good order must always pay for itself. ____________________________ In contradistinction from all the other results, the' measurements of steam consumed by the compressors showed a most satisfactory figure. There was a con- sumption of 17-6 lb. per horse-power hour when working in conjunction with the condensing plant, and 25-3 lb. when not connected. That means 0’035 and 0’052 lb respectively for each cu. ft. of free air ultimately com- pressed to 90 lb. per sq. in. It was necessary to calcu- late these values from the volume of free air instead of from the compressed air. But, even considering this, and calculating with a 5 to 10 per cent, lower efficiency, the results remain very favourable. The thermal efficiency of the compressor plant—that is, the propor- tion of the useful work accomplished to the heat units of steam—was (at the boiler) 10*5 when working con- densing, and 7-3 per cent, when exhausting to the atmosphere. At the beginning of the tests, the turbines and reciprocating engines of the central station, the com- pressor, and the winding engines, were connected with the condensing plant. But as it was only possible to obtain a vacuum which varied between 78 and 82 per cent., the winding engine of the Benjamin Pit, which consumed the largest quantity of steam of the three ______ winding engines, was, in the middle of November, made non-condensing. The idea of increasing the vacuum in this way was nevertheless a delusive one. After 2| months, therefore, as the situation was very unsatis- factory, owing to the large consumption of the turbines and the hard firing of the boilers, the condensers were overhauled and repaired. The result was that the vacuum increased to 89 and 93 per cent. A higher vacuum than this could not be expected with the tem- perature of the cooling at 20 degs. to 30 degs. Cent. At the same time, the other winding engines were made non-condensing, because they still diminished the vacuum of the turbines by 4 to 6 per cent., and these turbines appeared to have reached the maximum of their mechanical efficiency. The losses of heat in the piping were determined (with the assistance of values given by Eberle) by measuring the surfaces, and also by experiment. It was ascer- tained that the total losses of all piping—excluding those conveying steam for heating purposes—were 75,400,000 British thermal units per day in summer, and 83,300,000 British thermal units per day in winter—equal to 1-9 and 2-1 per cent, respectively of the quantity of calorific power supplied to the boilers. Steam Distribution of the Lancashire Boilers. During the summer, when very little steam was needed for heating the buildings, steam was chiefly con- sumed by the winding engines, and losses due to leak- ages and condensation. In addition to this were : (1) the consumption of the baths; (2) the pumps; (3) the impregnation plant; (4) the boiler feed pump; and (5) the exhaust losses. The steam consumption of the winding engines was determined at first through the Hallwachs gauge. But these measurements were not accurate, as it was only possible to determine the consumption of the average working, but not of each separate wind, because the estimation of the consumption while adjusting the cage to the various deck levels and losses during stoppages would have been too complicated. The steam con- sumption ascertained in this way was, for the shafts, as follows :— Shaft. Pounds of steam per horse power-hour. Mauve ................. 134’8 7 . , . Benjamin.................. 66'6 I whe“ W0Skln" Gruschka............... 45'3 5 exhausting. Benjamin............... 59’5 } when working’ G-ruschka............... 34’9 ) condensing. To check the Hallwachs measurements with the feed water consumption, it was necessary to separate the steam requirements of the winding engines during the winding from the other quantities of steam. Such a separation was possible on the Sundays when there was no winding, though the engines were kept permanently under steam. From the quantity of water consumed it was possible to deduce the actual losses during the stoppage of the engines. If to this value an amount corresponding to the increased working on a working day be added, and the whole quantity be deducted from the working day consumption, that consumption of the winding engine is arrived at which may be called “ net winding steam,” which is used only for working in the cylinders, and does not include losses due to stoppages. The gross winding steam is, therefore, as the sum of the net steam used on the run, plus stoppage losses. Consumption of Steam on Sundays. June 9th June 16 th June 23rd June 30th Average ... Tons per day. 139 150 163 137 147’5 Note.—These values showed an increase until June 23. In the following week the large branch pipe from the Mauve Pit conducting heating steam had to be repaired, owing to leakage. In this way the smaller consumption of steam on the last Sunday is explained. The average consumption of net winding steam for all three shafts was found to be 87-5 lb. per shaft horse- power hour of saturated steam. The comparison of the Hallwachs measurements with the feed water consump- tion showed comparatively the same results. There are in addition to the piping to the winding engines still four more steam pipe lines. Through closing the latter the stoppage losses of the winding engines alone were obtained, including the losses from the piping inside the boiler plant, with 69-2 tons saturated steam per day. On tabulating the distribution of steam of the Lanca- shire boiler plant during the time of observation, the following data are arrived at :— Tons. Per cent. Consumption of feed water pump ______ 1,320 ... 1’0 Exhaust losses _____________________ 3,140 ... 2’5 Stoppage losses of winding engine, includ- ing the losses on piping inside the boiler plant _____________________ 23,600 ... 18’6 Net winding steam _________________ 45,040 ... 35’4 Losses in the small steam heating piping 7,280 ... 5’7 Losses in the large steam heating piping 13,300 ... 10’5 Consumption of duplex pumps _________ 530 ... 0'4 Consumption of impregnation plant_____ 3,010 ... 2’4 Consumption of baths ... _____________ 5,750 ... 4’5 Heating steam _____________________ 24,130 ... 19’0 Total consumed boiler feed water ... 127,100 ... 100’0 The losses due to leakage and condensation amounted every day to 131-6 tons. The steam consumption with some of the small units was very wasteful. The consumption of heating steam during the time under observation was great, compared with the quan- tity of useful heat supplied, very few drains for water were fixed, and the steam leaked through the heating apparatus and escaped into the open air. Although a comparatively simple matter, the fixing of some water pockets and careful attention to these and to the already existing traps would effect large economies. (To be continued.) TRADE UNIONS IN 1912. Effect of the Coal Strike. The report of the Chief Registrar of Friendly Societies for 1912 (Part C—Trade Unions) states that the most important feature of that year was the serious depletion of trade union funds—a decrease of nearly three-quarters of a million sterling, 11 per cent, of the funds at the beginning of the year, or over. 10s. per member. This was due almost entirely to the coal strike, which cost the miners’ unions considerably over a million pounds. The upions in the Con- veyance group paid out J-125,000 in unemployment benefit, or more than 10 times as much as in the previous year; the expenditure in the Engineering group shows an increase of over 1240,000, and several of the smaller groups suffered in proportion. At December 31, 1912, there were upon the register 683 unions, of which 644 made returns. Their membership was over millions, and their funds 5J millions. Their income reached nearly 123,900,000, and they expended £600,000 in unemployment benefit, nearly £1,700,000 in dispute pay, £500,000 in sickness and accident benefit, £140,000 in funeral benefit, and a further £500,000 in benefits of a miscellaneous character. The following particulars relate to unions in the Mining group :—Number of unions making returns, 54; total membership, 628,228; increase in total membership, per cent., 0’98; total income, £712,877; proportion of income, per cent., received from (1) members, 90'7 ; (2) other trade unions, 1’8; (3) other sources, 7’5; average contributions per week received from each member, 1912, 4’8d.; ditto, 1911, 4’9d.; expenditure, £1,752,133 (£824,074 in 1911); amount paid per member in benefits—(1) unemployment, 2s. 5d. (2s. 3d.); (2) dispute, £2 2s. 6d. (10s. lOd.); (3) sickness, 3s. 3d. (3s. 5d.); (4) funeral, 7d. (8d.); (5) other benefits, 9d. (Is. 5d.); amount of management and other expenses, £163,253; proportion of expenses to total income, per cent., 22’9; amount of expenses per member, 5s. 3d.; funds, December 31, 1912, £821,483; decrease during 1912, £1,033,748; ditto, per cent., 55’7; funds per member, December 31, 1912, £1 6s. 2d. ; ditto, December 31, 1911, £2 19s. 8d. The enginemen are largely connected with mines, and similar returns may be given in the case of this group, viz. :—Number of unions making returns, 38; total membership, 41,880; decrease in membership, per cent., 12’34; total income, £44,662; total expenditure, 1912, £75,541; ditto, 1911, £44,689; amount paid per member in benefits—(1) unemployment, 7s. 3d. (Is. 9d.); (2) disputes, 16s. (6s. 5d.); (3) sickness, 2s. Id. (2s. Id.); (4) funeral, 9d. (lOd.); (5) other benefits, Is. 7d. (Is.); amount of management and other expenses, £15,673; proportion of expenses to total income, per cent., 35’09; amount of expenses per member, 7s. 6d.; funds, December 31, 1912, £72,953; decrease during year, £37,301; ditto, per cent., 33’8; funds per member, December 31, 1912, £1 14s. lOd.; ditto, December 31, 1911, £2 6s. 2d. The follow- ing are particulars relating to the more important unions in the Mining group :— Income. Expenditure. Union. Number of members. Funds at beginning of year From members. Other sources. Unem- ployment. Dispute. Sick and accident benefit Funeral benefit. Other benefits. Payments to federations, ■ grants to other societies, &c. Manage- ment and other expenses. Funds at end of year. Yorkshire Miners £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ : £ £ £ 99,632 373,090 111,072 7,645 4,825 275,272 6,813 2,927 38,613 163,357 Durham Miners 136,966 463,239 205,849 10,748 39,763 349,451 98,669 7,391 202 3,694 21,472(a) 977 159, ’94 South Staffs, and E. Worcester Miners 1,550 6,195 1,670 4,198 140 174 216 2,160 Durham Cokemen 3,870 8,044 3,164 24 576 7,544 — 1 127 1,520 1.465 Northumberland Miners 39,357 81,887 20,010 2,650 1,642 70,650 — 1,022 430 2,502 9,733(5) 18,568 Cumberland Miners (-•) 7,500 3,331 7,655 1,723 1,958 5,455 — — — 300 3,730 1,266 Durham Deputy Overmen 1,905 7,494 3,176 114 219 5,656 1,844 274 ! 20 1.212 1,559 Notts Miners 33,001 207,869 32,681 5,090 2,295 103,260 — — 5,519 1,402 4,291(d) 128,873 Warwickshire Miners 11,000 20,637 8,236 388 2,966 16,230 — — 818 3,187 6,060 Pelsall Miners 3,288 13,504 3,691 269 18 8,677 13 374 382 422 1,005 6,573 Leicestershire Mim rs 6,408 18,253 6,413 134 991 18,650 — — 506 239 976 3,438 South Derbyshire Miners 3,931 12,697 4,043 173 371 9,162 — 295 85 141 965 5,894 Bristol Miners 1,871 1,108 1,944 431 — 2,016 — 65 109 134 756 403 Cannock Chase Miners 7,000 15,943 4,705 153 148 17,209 568 365 306 555 1,343 307 North Staffordshire Miners 12,487 36,284 12,735 587 1,799 22,226 — — 541 908 6,103 18,029 Northumberland Deputies 1,380 4,006 1,257 48 — 3,386 35 363 — 36 689 802 Derbyshire Miners 42.130 345,530 42,567 10,618 14,639 128,369 — — 4,169 1,596 5,920 244,022 North Wales Miners 13,069 8,429 11,366 201 456 12,430 32 — 417 2.715 3,946 South Wales Miners 114.208 123,091 84,716 12,167 — 145,857 (e) — — 8,390 4.502 38,372 22,853 Lancashire and Cheshire Miners 59,828 70,526 36,025 10,893 — 88,613 — — 1,830 2 721 7,455 16,825 Shropshire Miners 2,000 267 3,403 80 797 2,918 273 126 77 229 480' l,180(/) North Warwickshire Miners (g) 1,345 — 900 3 .s — — — — — 381 519 Durham Enginemen 3,282 21,502 4.108 651 6,056 28 495 135 411 103 1,145 17,888 National Federation Colliery Enginemen (7i) 9,359 34 — 289 — — — — — 18 243 62 Winding and General Enginemen 1,152 9,025 2,157 290 1,108 — 456 176 578 31 437 8,686 West Yorkshire Enginemen 837 4,335 1,348 136 582 — 340 96 103 25 300 4,373 Durham Mechanics 5,517 18,640 5,182 291 1,280 12,727 — — 1,427 175 1,178 7,326 Northumberland Mechanics 1,431 4,273 ’,286 67 36 2,344 17 72 144 115 429 2,469 Derbv and Notts Enginemen 1,623 3.590 1,074 54 1.051 — 50 17 45 533 3,022 Northumberland Enginemen 1,218 3,817 1,218 59 1,040 — 197 388 6i 362 2,443 Lancs., Cheshire & N. Wales Enginemen (7D 2,349 1,178 — 1,528 191 1,195 — — — 26 499 795 Monmouthshire and S. Wales Enginemen ... 5.436 5,128 3,629 i. 212 — 6.967 — — — 42 1,527 433 Nat onal Federation Colliery Mechanics (fo) 6,808 215 — | 82 — — — — — — 66 231 Enginekeepers of Scotland 3,065 3,494 3,011 ! 94 1,159 9 890 160 114 69 1,129 3,069 (a) Including loss on sale of Consols, £3,869 (6) Including depreciation, £995. (c) Figures subject to revision. (d) Including £600 loss on North Wales Quarries. (e) Return incomplete ; payments of certain branches not included. (/) Deficit. (g) Established in 1912. (/i) General federations.