846

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

April 26, 1918.

comparatively small annual saving is not sufficient to
justify the expenditure of millions. It will not, there-
fore, be from the taking-over of the existing electric-
power stations throughout the kingdom that the saving
of 271 millions sterling on coal is to be obtained. If
the predicted saving of 55,000,000 tons of coal is to be
made, it will be by modernising, i.e., electrically equip-
ping the works, manufactories, collieries, etc., to receive
supplies from the proposed super-stations.

Power Companies’ Coal Clauses.

Within recent times, Mr. Hatton has received offers
from these power companies for electric supplies, the
coal clause in one case being 0'02d. per unit for each 6d.
per ton rise or fall in the price of coal and, in the other,
0'007d. per unit. The former figure represents 300
units per ton of coal consumed, or 7'46 lb. of coal per
kw. hour; the latter. 860 units per ton, or 2'60 lb. of coal
per kw. hour. The 7'46 lb. is getting dangerously near
the figure quoted in the report, viz.: “ Accordingly the
present consumption for the country as a whole is taken
at 5 lb. per h.p. hour, instead of the actual figure of
7 lb. per h.p. hour,” which figure, the authors of the
report would lead one to believe, is an unmitigated
example of extravagance in coal consumed by unecono-
mical plants.

Mr. Hatton asks how it is proposed to divide
or apportion these coal clauses or their monetary
equivalent between the producer and owners of
the waste heat and the producer and gene-
rators or distributors of electrical energy. If the
former are to have no share in the coal clause
effects, it might be unfair to them under certain cir-
cumstances. On the amount of power generated in the
north-east coast area from waste heat, the charges due
to rise and fall in the price of coal of 6d. per ton would
represent, in the case of the 0'007d. per unit, £3,442 per
annum, and in the case of the 0'02d. per unit, £9,840 per
annum for each 6d. rise or fall.

The report recommends that “ Commissioners should
be appointed ... to stop the extension or multiplica-
tion of uneconomical stations for public supply.” If,
says Mr. Hatton, we are compelled to stand still mean-
while, we must suffer serious industrial check, as other
nations with their manufactures will not stand still
merely to fit in with our theories. Why, in the inter-
vening years that must elapse ere these super-stations
are ready, the municipal authorities should be prevented
from extending their present plant to meet increased
demands is a matter requiring further' explanation.

Mr. Hatton estimates that 210 millions sterling would
be required for the super-power systems to enable th a
saving of 55 million tons of coal to be effected. This
sum does not include the capital required to reconstruct
and purchase the electric plant necessary to take the
supply of electricity. No engineer of experience would
even attempt to form an estimate without concrete
facts of the millions of additional capital necessary to
complete such a change-over. Standing charges on the
above capital, taking 6 per cent interest, plus 2 per cent,
for renewals and depreciation, would require £16,800,000
per annum, and the annual charges for administration,
wages, rents, rates, taxes, maintenance, stores, etc.,
might represent a sum of £11,200,000.

The coal required to produce the stupendous amount
of power mentioned in the report would be 15,400,000
tons per annum. The relative proportion of waste heat
expressed in tons of coal, would be six millions tons per
annum. Therefore, whilst the coal consumed is taken
account of in this estimate, no value of the equivalent
of waste heat is assessed. Clearly, if waste heat is not
available in the other areas under the control of the
National Electricity Supply, then, basing it on the
equivalent value of coal, it is worth £3,000,000 at
10s. per ton. The resulting surplus, if any, will leave
little, in proportion to the magnitude of the scheme, for
contingencies and other unforeseen charges.

Evolution v. Compulsion.

The scheme does not start and end with the erection
of the super-power stations and transmission systems.
Before a saving of 55 million tons of coal can be com-
menced, the reorganisation of the works mentioned will
have to take place, or it will have to be concurrent with
the construction of the super-power stations. The
power companies in the north-east coast area took
16 years to attain the position of supplying one-fifth of
the country’s present output. How many years, at the
same rate, must elapse before we reach the saving of
55 million tons of coal per annum ? Whereas, if we are
not prevented meanwhile from burning our 55 million
tons of coal, we shall at least manufacture and earn
something towards buying our daily bread, paying our
rates and taxes, and shall require no Government sub-
sidy at a time when the Government itself will require
heavy subsidy from the nation in the shape of taxation.
Moreover, we can invest our £210,000,000 in some other
industries to produce additional revenue.

Concurrent with the above, let evolution and a
national desire for economy bring about the saving of
55 million tons of coal. There are so many directions
in which wise technical control by the Government in
assisting in and illustrating the most economical use of
coal for the various processes for which coal is now used
that, without doubt, very great economies could be
effected at reasonable capital outlay, and, what is all-
important at present, by gradual capital outlay.

Appendix D says, “ It will be seen that in coal, coke
and shipbuilding, the north-east coast figures repre-
sent . . . one-fifth, one-third, and one-half of the nation’s
output.” Since engineering power is essential to these
industries, it can be taken for granted that the horse-
power required in the industries of the area is in excess
of the requirements of considerably larger areas without
industries of a similar nature. The population of the
district is one-twentieth of that of the kingdom. Taking
the actual saving of coal in the area, viz., 1,365,000 tons
per annum, and multiplying that figure by 20, a
resultant of 27,300,000 tons saving for the entire
kingdom is obtained, or just half the predicted saving.
To make that enormous saving, however, the coal output
for the whole kingdom would have to be multiplied by
four, the coke output by seven, the ironstone mined by

seven, the pig iron made by seven, and the merchant
shipping produced multiplied by ten. It would appear
utterly impossible in the lifetime of the present
generation, by any process of reasoning based on the
experience of the north-east coast power companies, to
arrive at a saving of 55 million tons of coal.

ELECTRICALPUMPING INSTALLATION
AT A DURHAM COLLIERY.

By Frederick C. Coleman.

The electrification of the new sinking of the Horden
Collieries Limited, of Darlington, at Blackball,
county Durham, situated about 10 miles north-east
of the Hartlepools, has recently been completed by
the provision of an interesting pumping plant in the
Low Main seam, consisting of three electrically driven
Sulzer high-lift centrifugal pumps, each capable of

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Fi:;. 1.—Pumping Set under Service Conditions.

delivering 90,000 galls, of water per hour, against
a manometric head of 1,020 ft. when running at
1,170 revolutions per minute. The general arrange-
ment of the underground pump house was given in
the Colliery Guardian, June 5, 1914, p. 1,241, showing
the pumps arranged in line, with the water pipes,
starters and switchboard on the opposite sides of the
house. The pumps are of the multi-stage type, and
five stages (204 ft. per stage) for each pump are
required to deal with the manometric head.

Each pump is coupled direct to a Westinghouse
motor, with a flexible coupling between the pump
and motor. The motor is of the slip-ring pattern,

Fig. 2. •—Details of

Pump Construction.





and is arranged for three-phase, 40 cycles, 2,700-2,800
the pumps arranged in line, with the water pipes,
volts. A flashlight photograph of the set under service
conditions is reproduced in fig. 1, whilst the construc-
tional details are well illustrated in the drawing, fig. 2.
Each pump has its own suction pipe, 12 in.
bore, and is fitted with a non-return valve and
strainer. In the event of the valve becoming choked
or damaged, the suction pipe is so arranged that
the lower part, with its valve and strainer, may
be easily lifted out of the sump for examination pur-
poses, whilst the strainer is also convenient of access
and can be cleared without removing the pipe. The
rising main is 14 in. bore, and is in duplicate for
the sake of safety. The discharge from each pump
is connected to both mains, and shut-off valves are
fitted between the pump and each main. A non-
return valve is fixed directly to the discharge branch
of each pump. The body is in the form of a plain
cylinder with a cover bolted to each end, all in cast
iron. The two bearings are fixed in outer ends of
these covers, and consist of cast iron sleeves, lined
with white metal. Ring lubrication is employed. To
preserve the oil in a cool state during long periods
of continuous running, provision is made for water-
cooling the bearings, and some of the waste water
from the balancing device is used for this purpose.

The impellers and guide wheels are manufactured
of specially tough and hard bronze. The shaft is
of mild steel, and where it comes into contact with
the water is protected by bushes of the same material
as the impellers. The overflow pieces, leading the
water from one stage to another, are of cast iron.

To maintain the impellers in their correct positions,
and to meet the hydraulic thrust set up when the
pump is working, there is one of Sulzer’s patent
balancing devices which automatically adjusts itself
to the variations in the thrust. This device consists
of two discs, one fixed to the outer cover and the
other to the shaft. The space between these two
discs is in communication with the final pressure
water, a small proportion of which passes out con-
tinuously at the circumference of the discs into a
compartment from which a waste pipe with open ends
is led. This device is so proportioned that, in normal
running conditions, the faces of the two discs are
about l-32nd in. clear of each other at the circum-
ference. When in this position a mark is inserted
on the shaft in such a place, that without disturbing
any part, it may be seen at a glance whether the
rotating part of the pump is in the correct position.
A steel ring is let in and securely fixed to the face
of each disc at the outer cir-

cumference. These rings

may be conveniently renewed
and the replacement of the
whole disc is thereby
obviated. The suction branch
forms part of the inner cover,
and the discharge branch is
cast with the pump body. A
useful feature of this design
is that the outer cover may
be removed and all the
internal parts of the pump
may be taken out for examin-
ation and without disturbing
the joints of the suction or
discharge piping, whilst an
added advantage is that the
number of joints is reduced
to a minimum. Tests have
proved the pump efficiency
to be 78 per cent., the cor-
responding shaft-horse-power
being 594. The motor is
capable of giving 660 horse-
power continuously, which
provides a satisfactory mar-

gin to meet fluctuations in
the service.

When this pumping scheme
was originally under
consideration it is understood that, owing to their
higher efficiency, it was contemplated to use ram pumps
for ordinary working, with a centrifugal pump as
standby. It was, however, subsequently found that,
although the efficiency of the best type of duplex
ram pump combination was approximately 80 per
cent., and would produce a saving in the current
bill of about £400 per annum, the capital cost of
the former was nearly two and a half times that
of the latter, making the total costs per annum,
with capital charges included, slightly less with the
centrifugal combination. This estimate did not take
into account the cost of the larger pump room

required for the ram pump scheme, and the extra
cost of running and upkeep which would have been
incurred in the case of the latter, though if the cost
of electrical energy had been much greater than it
is at Blackball, then the extra outlay on ram pumps
would doubtless have been justified.

The late Mr. Walter Mayhew, J.P., ex-Mayor of
Wigan, and a director of the Garswood Coal and Iron
Company Limited, left £28,765.

Coal Conciliation Board.—The last meeting of the Coal
Conciliation Board for England and North Wales under
the existing agreement was held at the Savoy Hotel,
London, yesterday (Thursday). Mr. F. J. Jones, Yorkshire,
president, was in the chair, with Mr. Stephen Walsh,
M.P., in the vice-chair, and there was a full attendance,
including the joint secretary, Sir Thomas Ratcliffe-Ellis,
and Mr. Thos. Ashton. The chairman moved a vote of
sympathy with Mr. Stephen Walsh and Mr. Charles
Bunfield (Nottingham), who have each lost a son in the
recent fighting on the Western Front. The motion was
passed in silence. Mr. Walsh informed the coalowners
that the Miners’ Section of the Board was engaged in
formulating their proposals for the reconstitution of the
Board under a new agreement for a further period of
years. The men’s representatives were dissatisfied with
the present method of ascertaining selling prices of coal
at the collieries within the area of the board, and a
condition of any new agreement must be a revised method
of ascertaining selling prices which would be satisfactory
to the men. The three months notice to terminate the
board will be given by Mr. Thos. Ashton, the workmen’s
secretary, on Tuesday next.