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POWER FOR FLAXMILLS.

* VALUE PROVED BY TESTS.

■ At the meeting oi the Horowhenua Power Board on Monday, the Engineer (Mr T. over ton) submitted the. following report ol a series of tests made with a view to securing miormation in respect to the suitability ol electric power for operating nax-militug machinery.—“As authorised at lasi meeting, Mr A. A. Brown. Mr A. Sei’lert and myself proceeded to Wairoa where a series of tests were undertaken at the fiaxmill in order to secure information on the following points:— (a) The effect of placing balance wheels on an intermediate shaft on the stripper driVe.. (b) Placing a balance wheel on the stripper drupi.i (c) The general use of electricity in flaxmiiis.

Referring' toi (a) .two 7 c>vt, balance wheels were’placed on an intermediate shaft, which, according to the test sheets shows, no appreciable difference in power consumed, but a very noticeable difference in fluctuation of current. This amounts to 'as much as 30 amperes and the. conclusion, we derived from this test is that we are firmly of opinion that a distinct advantage may he. effected by using balance wheels, thus ensuring an even drive, and causing less wear and tear on the light moving parts of the electric motor.

■ Regarding (b) an experiment was made with a balance wheel weighing lOOlbs directly keyed oil the stripper drum. Power consumption again remained practically the same and cur* rent fluctuations were not so well kept down. This, however, may be due. to insufficient weight beirig applied to the fly-whe.el. With respect to Clause (c), namely the general use of electricity for flaxmilling: in the first place, we are confident that considerable, savings as well as more congenial working conditions could be made to flaxmillers in our district .by changing over to the use of electricity. Besides this, greater production of. fibre, may be looked for from the. same labour as flow used.

One iest showed feeding at the rate of 34J cwt. per hour and no apparent detrimental effect was noticed on either plant or fibre.. Another very important factor in the use of electricity is the quick and accurate mear surements of , ele'ctricity consumed which makes it very easy to ascertain arty defects in, ,or any uneconomical machinery used to any pai l of a mill; such tests may be carried put in a lew minutes.

Attached herewith is the. results of tests taken in driving the different machines, same being only taken over a lew minutes’ duration, and may be looked 'on as being fairly conservative. These show, that about 240 units of electricity wiil dress one ton of nore. At the Board’s present schedule ol charges this would represent an expenditure of approximately 22/6 per ion, of dressed flax.” Speaking, to the report Mr A. ROss said the result to his mind was more in mvour of the Board than of the rtaxmiller. It would keep the load uniform but it had not shown the reduction in cost that the millers had imped for, At the same time the report was valuable / as giving deiinite iniuimation as to -the cost ox electricity iroin the millers’ point in view, u liung tnpt otherwise Riey would nave way neen ableto guess, at. ivir A. Seiiert explained that some or-me results given in tne table at--1 iturned to the report-were rather teen-, i meal and might require explanation, and this the engineer would be. win-, ling to give. Tne great value of the report was that they could now tell a rtaxmiller just how much it would cane to-runfa snipper, a/, pump, etc., .and how much itquid take to run D ne mill idle its lull capacity. Moreover, it had proved definitely mat at tne prices it was proposed tocnarge, it would be cheaper to operate a null by electricity than by any oiner means. At Miranui they hau a suction gas pianv-a thoroughly efficient and up-to-date one —but it would pay him to let these engines remain idle. When he was going up to Wairoa die had thought that possibly the result would justify the. millers asking lor a reduction in the price of power, but, he was now convinced that, at the price asked the proposition was a goo-u one. A point the Board had to consider was. whether they would -make some, concession to flaxmillers to geithem to, put in electric motors. They might give substantial concessions lor two years to* all who joined up within that period, after which time the concession would be withdrawn. Speaking as a member of the Board, he con•sidered the. rate asked was all right, but there would be ai certain amount of difficulty in getting .men who had satisfactory plants to change over unless it was made worth their while. Before he sat down he wished to thank Mr A.. Ross and the- Wairoa Flaxmilling Company, who. had given every assistance and help in the tests carried out, which were very thorough. Members could rely on the tact that it would pay millers to use power at the price quoted. Mr A. A. Brown said that Mr beifert had covered the. ground pretty thoroughly and 'he could only endorse : what he had said. He was quite convinced of the value of electricity and would use it to run his mill as soon as he could get it. Mr W. E. Barber expressed the opinion that the Board was very fortunate in getting the opinions of men who were experts, in flax milling. He considered that the idea of concessions mentioned by Mr Seifert was a good one. The report was adopted, the chairman stating that the question of concessions would be considered.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/SNEWS19230717.2.16

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Shannon News, 17 July 1923, Page 3

Word count
Tapeke kupu
948

POWER FOR FLAXMILLS. Shannon News, 17 July 1923, Page 3

POWER FOR FLAXMILLS. Shannon News, 17 July 1923, Page 3

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