LIGHTING POWERHOUSE

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 278, 20 August 1919, Page 9

LIGHTING POWERHOUSE

CONDITION OF THE PLANT

REPORT BY ACTING-MANAGER

An interesting report dealing with tho condition of tho plant at tho city electric lighting ■ station was submitted to the City Council last night by tho actinggeneral mannger, Mr. G. Lauchlan. The report was as follows!-* "We have two 1500 k.w, Parsons tlirbino sets, one4"Jurtis turbine'(6o9 k.w.), throe Brawtitt Linle.v (300 k.w.) reciprueating sets. Tho Parsons sets are in daily use, and hare carried all the load during tho present season. The Curtis sut is kept as a standby, and is run once a week. "Wo have four boilers in the* new boilerhouso, which are just sufficient to supply steam for tho Parsons sets. In trio old boilerhouso there are four small boilers which approximately have: a capacity equal to one of our big boilers. These boilers are for 1101b. pressure, whereas ICOlb., is required for the efficient working' of the Parsons sets, covsequentiy we havo 110 reserve for the ParBuns set 6 when yvurking at full load. The boilers in tho old boilerhouso aro sufficient to supply steam for either the Curtis turbine or two of the reciprocating sets. 1 From the above it will be seen that to enable us to run all our engines it would be' necessary to have another boiler, of 10M) horse-power capacity. The Browett Linley sets are most inefficient, and as individual units aro practically useless, the only manner in which they could be made serviceable would be by paralleling them with the Parsons sets. The need for this v;as realised some time ago. and experiments were carried out in 1016 which proved that this could be done, and the necessary switch gear.was ordered. This lias come to hand, and is now being erected. "The Curtis, turbine set lias _ never given us satisfactory results. This has been to a great extent dye to the electrical control gear, and some considerable time apo the general manager took up the question of having the electrical control substituted by the more, recent practice of hydraulic control; unfortunately, as the.makers would not give a guarantee, nothing was done. During my recent visit to Christchurch I had the pleasure of seeing tho Curti3 turbines in the. tramway powerhouse at work. These have the hydraulic control fitted, and worked beautifully. . I am of opinion that-this matter should be again taken up with tho makers, and if satisfactory arrangements can be mode the hydraulic contrdl gear should be fitted. I consider it will be necessnTy to bring the Curtis set into daily use next winter. • A new boiler was' in August, 1918, and I am informed it is ' now on the water, and .will be erected in time-for next, season's load. Briefly put, when the new boiler is erected and the old plant brought into operation wo shall have capacity sufficient to meet tho demand for the next two years. This, of course, is not allowing for any standby plant,'which is considered necessary for. a., lighting etation. ' The general practice-is to .havo- a standby 'plant equivalent to ■ the largest unit in tho station. In; our case that would bo 1500 k.w.

"During the. war period there has been an. abnormal demand for connections due to.the increased cost of gas, and tlie general recognition of the value of eleobicity for lighting purposes. On March 31, 1914, we had 0057 connections, and on March 31, 1919, we had 18,520, an increase of 82 per cent. For tho year 1917' we put on 1821 connections; this constituted a' record for tho department; and this large increaso has been carried without any addition to tho station plant. In dealing with applications for new connections,' tho practice has been to grant tho supply to all new premises which were' vithiii reasonable reach of_ our supply •main's. Unfortunately, owing-. '-to the lack of materials it-was impossible to ■grant all ' the'" applications" from . people who were desirous of replacing the go a with electric, light. The principal materials of which" we hove been short have been hard-drawn vulcanised cable, insulators, poles, end transformers. Contracts placed for transformers in 1914 and foj' cables in 1915 are still uncompleted. An order has been placed for poles from Australia, but owing to shipping troubles it appears to bo impossible to get delivery. At tlie present moment we are calling for tenders for transformers and .meters,' and there is' a shipment of cable .for- the department on the Ayrshire, which is due early next month, and as 6oon as this and other materials on order come to hand we shall be in a position to deal with" all applications for lighting connections. Tn conclusion I would draw vour attention to the fact •that during the. past three years tho necessity for economy in coal consumption made it essential that we should run the station in the. most efficient manner, and with this in view the old boilers were not kept under steam. The saving (hereby being 70 tons of coal per month.'