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Original Articles

Thermodynamics and Powerhouse Design, 1890–1960

Pages 209-239 | Published online: 31 Jan 2014

REFERENCES

  • M.C. Duffy, 'The Nature of Engineering', Polhem (Sweden), 1995/2, Argang 13, pp. 108–38; 'The Changing Nature of Engineering and Its Consequences', Proceedings of Scientific Seminar: Modern Problems of Aeronautical & Space Engineering (Egor'evsk, Moscow Region, Russia, 2001), pp. 41–62.
  • M.C. Duffy, 'Evolution of Engineering Design Technique', (6 parts), Engineering Designer (Jan.—Feb. 1979), pp. 19–22; (Mar.—Apr. 1979), pp. 19–22; (May—June 1979), pp. 21–26; (July—Aug. 1979), pp. 31–35; (Sept.—Oct. 1979), pp. 19–23; (Nov.—Dec. 1979), pp. 21–26. 'Analytical History and the Engineering Method', Polhem, 1995/4, Argang 13, pp. 326–52. M. Krantzberg & C. Pursell, Technology in Western Civilisation, 2 vols (Oxford, 1967). L. Mumford, Technics and Civilisation (Harcourt, N.Y., 1934).
  • F. Klemm, A History of Western Technology (George Allen & Unwin, London, 1959); O. Mayr, Philosophers and Machines (Science History Publications, N.Y., 1976).
  • Engineering as a fundamental science is found in the works of I. Aleksander, The Design of Intelligent Systems (Kogan Page, London, 1984); Impossible Minds: My Neurons, My Conscious-ness (Imperial College Press, 1996; repr. 1997). D.C. Dennett, 'The Practical Requirements for Making a Conscious Robot', Philosophical Transactions A, Royal Society of London, vol. 394 (1994), pp. 133–46. S. Hirose, Biologically Inspired Robots (Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, 1993). Nanotechnology, ed. Taniguchi Norio (Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, 1996).
  • M. Arnold, Culture and Anarchy (Cambridge, 1869; repr. 1971). Arnold used the term 'philistine' to describe the enemies of those seeking truth and enlightenment. He identifed the nineteenth-century railway builders as examples. J.H. Newman, Idea of a University (Rinehart and Winston Holt, London, 1852; repr. 1960). M.C. Duffy, 'Engineering & Philosophy in the Industrial Age', Proceedings (Egor'evsk, 2001), op. cit., ref. 1, pp. 120–40.
  • B. Russell, The Impact of Science on Society (George Allen & Unwin, London, 1950; repr. 1976), esp. pp. 90–96.
  • C. Barnett, Audit of War (Macmillan, 1986), accuses Britain of an anti-technology, anti-industry bias which hindered its military effort during the 1939–45. He traces it to nineteenth-century prejudices and educational attitudes, which he holds responsible for national decline in The Collapse of British Power (Eyre Methuen, London, 1972). M.J. Wiener, English Culture and the Decline of the Industrial Spirit (Cambridge, 1981).
  • D.S.L. Cardwell, From Watt to Clausius (Heinemann, London, 1971).
  • K. Warwick, An Introduction to Control Systems (World Scientific, 1996); March of the Machines: Why a New Race of Robots will Rule the World (Century, London, 1997).
  • M.C. Duffy, 'Evolution of Engineering Design Technique', op. cit. (1). F. Klemm, op. cit. (3). The development of the humanist culture is outlined by A. Bullock, The Humanist Tradition in the West (Thames & Hudson, 1985). See also A. Pacey, The Maze of Ingenuity: Ideas and Idealism in the Development of Technology (MIT Press, Cambridge, USA, 1976).
  • The rise of rational science and technology is described in M.C. Duffy, op. cit. (1), Dijksterhuis, Mechanization of the World Picture (Oxford, 1961); F. Klemm, op. cit. (3); A.R. Hall, The Scien-tific Revolution 1500–1800 (Longman, 1954); G. Galileo, Dialogues concerning Two New Sciences reprint of Galileo's sixteenth-century classic thesis (Dover, 1954).
  • History of hydraulic science is discussed in the context of evolution of mechanics by E. Mach, Science of Mechanics (1883; repr. 1912), Open Court English translation edition, 1893, 1942, 1960. Refers to D. Bernoulli Hydrodynamica (Strasburg, 1738).
  • C.P. Steinmetz, Transient Electrical Phenomena and Oscillations (McGraw Publ. Co., 1909); Theory and Calculation of Alternating Current Phenomena 5th edn (McGraw-Hill, N.Y., 1916). G. Kron, 'Generalised Theory of Electrical Machines', Transactions of American Institution of Electrical Engineers, vol. 49 (1930), pp. 666–83.
  • Cardwell, op. cit. (8). S Carnot: Reflections on the Motive Power of Fire, ed. E Mendoza (Dover, N.Y., 1960). English translation of Carnot's treatise of 1824 with papers by Clapeyron (1834) and Clausius (1850).
  • R Routledge, Discoveries and Inventions of the Nineteenth Century, 12th edn (George Routledge, London, 1898), p. 697.
  • B. Bowers, A History of Electric Light and Power (Peter Peregrinus/IEE, London, 1982). The early tramways are described in D Kinnear Clark, Tramways: Their Construction and Working (1894; repr. Adam Gordon, 1992).
  • O.T. Crosby & L. Bell, The Electric Railway in Theory and Practice, (W.J. Johnson, N.Y.; Electri-cian, London, 1892). F.H. Whipple, The Electric Railway (Detroit, 1889; repr. Orange Empire Railway Museum, CA, USA, 1980).
  • M.C. Duffy, 'Power Supply to DC Electric Railways 1890-1920', Trans. Newcomen Soc., vol. 68 (1996–97), pp. 191–216. Anon, Cassiers Magazine: Electric Railway Number', vol. XVI, no. 4 (August 1889), pp. 257–540; repr. as Tramways and Electric Railways in the Nineteenth Century (Adam Gordon, 1992).
  • P. Dunsheath, A History of Electrical Engineering (Faber & Faber, London, 1962). R.A.S. Hennessey, The Electric Revolution (Oriel Press, Newcastle, 1972).
  • A.P. Trotter, 'Overhead Transmission Lines', Proc. Inst. Civil Eng., vol. 169 (1906–07), pp. 183–267. General Electric Company (USA), Electrification by General Electric, selection of GE bulletins, 1923–29, dealing with railway electrification and power generation, reprinted as Bulletin 116 (CERA, Chicago, 1976). Westinghouse Electric, Westinghouse Electric Railway Transportation, selection of Westinghouse special publications 1915–39, repr. as Bulletin 118 (CERA, Chicago, 1979).
  • S.P. Thompson, Polyphase Electric Currents (London, 1900). J.F.C. Snell, 'Distribution of Electrical Energy', Proc. Inst. Civil Eng. (London), vol. 159 (1904–05), pp. 143–254. G. Kron, Tensor Analysis of Networks (Wiley, N.Y., 1939).
  • J. Perry, The Steam Engine and Gas and Oil Engines (Macmillan, London, 1899, 1902, 1920), pp. 249–50 of 1920 edn.
  • E.D. Adams, Niagara Power: History of the Niagara Falls Power Company 1886–1918, 2 vols (Privately published for power company, Niagara Falls, 1927). L.B. Stillwell, 'The Electrical Transmission of Power from Niagara Falls', AIEE (23 Aug. 1901), pp. 444–527.
  • L Cummins, Diesel's Engine Vol. 1 "From Conception to 1918" (Carnot Press, Wilsonville, Oregon, USA, 1993). Thorough history of invention, development and application of Diesel engine.
  • F.A. Talbot, Electrical Wonders of World, 3 vols (Waverley, n.d. but c. 1920). Popular work made up from manufacturers' information releases, maps and photographs providing thorough record of electrification of industry. General evolution of electrical equipment described in R. Kennedy, The Book of Electrical Installations, 3 vols (Caxton, London, 1915).
  • W.M. Middleton, When the Steam Railroads Electrified (Kalmbach, 1979). General Electric and Westinghouse reports and bulletins, op. cit. (20).
  • P.A. Alger, The Nature of Induction Machines (Gordon & Breach, N.Y. and London, 1965). G. Kron, op. cit. (13,21), Diakoptics: Piecewise Solution of Large-Scale Systems (Macdonald, London, 1963). Geometrised analysis of components and networks.
  • T. Grime, 'Possibilities of Increased Efficiency in Railway Locomotives', Trans. N.E. Coast Inst. Eng. & Shipbuilders, vol. )0CXIV (1922–23), pp. 592–665.
  • R. Kennedy, The Book of Modern Engines and Power Generators, 6 vols (Caxton, n.d. but c. 1905), reviews contemporary prime movers including main types of steam engine.
  • L. Pearce, 'A Review of Forty Years Development in Mechanical Engineering Plant for Power Stations', Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng., vol. 142 (1939), pp. 305–63. H. Quigley, Electrical Power and National Progress (George Allen & Unwin, London, 1925). Quigley discusses effects of load factor.
  • The invention of the mercury arc rectifier and its use in power supply is described by M.C. Duffy, 'The Mercury-Arc Rectifier and Supply to Electric Railways', Engineering Science & Education Journal, vol. 4, no. 4 (Aug. 1995), pp. 183–92. A review of rotary converters and rectifiers is given by F.W. Carter, Railway Electric Traction (Arnold, London, 1922) pp. 246–77.
  • Quigley, op. cit. (30), refers to American leadership throughout his work. The new boilers which were required during the post-1920 development were developed in Central Europe or the United States as evident in D.W. Rudorff, Steam Generators (Charles Griffin & Co., Ltd., 1938).
  • The very first power plant is described in Clark, op. cit. (16); Bell, op. cit. (17) and Whipple, op. cit. (17); Cassiers Magazine (18).
  • H.F. Parshall & H.M. Hobart, Electric Generators (John Wiley, N.Y., 1900); Electric Railway Engineering (Constable, London, 1907); M. Walker, Specification and Design of Dynamo-Electric Machinery (Library Press, London, 1918).
  • R.H. Parsons, The Early Days of the Power Station Industry (Cambridge Univ. Press (for Babcock & Wilcox), 1939).
  • S. Carnot, Reflexions on the Motive Power of Fire, English translation of 1824 French original included in Mendoza (ed.), op. cit. (14).
  • W.J.M. Rankine, A Manual of the Steam Engine and other Prime Movers. (Griffin, Bohn & Co., London 1861); Miscellaneous Scientific Papers, ed. W.J. Millar (Charles Griffin & Co., London, 1881), esp. pp. 288–306,439-53. 0. Reynolds, Transmission of Energy (Cantor Lectures, 1883), Papers on Mechanical and Physical Subjects, vol. 2,1881–1900 (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1901), pp. 106–31. Lord Kelvin, 'On the Origin and Transformation of Motive Power', Proc. Royal Inst. II (1854–58), pp. 199–204, read 29 Feb. 1856 repr. in Popular Lectures and Addresses, vol. 2, (Macmillan, 1894), pp. 418–32.
  • The Industrial resources of the Three Northern Rivers, The Tyne, Wear and Tees, ed. Lord Armstrong with Bell, Taylor and Richardson (Longman, London & Reid, Newcastle, 1864), esp. pp. xv-xlii.
  • W.S. Jevons, The Coal Question: An Inquiry concerning the Progress of the Nation and the probable Exhaustion of our Coal Mines (Kelley, N.Y., 1965) reprint of 1906 3rd edn of 1865 survey.
  • Cardwell, op. cit. (8). M.C. Duffy, 'Mechanics, Thermodynamics and Locomotive Design: The Machine-Ensemble and the Development of Industrial Thermodynamics', History & Technology, vol.1, no. 1(1983), pp. 45–78.
  • Perry, op. cit. (22).
  • Parsons, op. cit. (35), Chapter 2, 'The Grosvenor Gallery and Deptford Stations', pp. 21–41. W.L. Randell, S.Z. de Ferranti (Longmans Green, London, 1943).
  • W. Adams and W.F. Pettigrew, 'Trials of an Express Locomotive', Proc. Inst. Civil Eng. (London), vol. CXXV (1896), pp. 282–95.
  • Grime, op. cit. (28).
  • H.R. Sankey, 'The Thermal Efficiency of Steam Engines', Proc. Inst. Civil Eng. (London), vol. CXXV (1896), pp. 182–242; Ibid., vol. CXXXIV (1898), pp. 278–312. These two papers contain all the concepts considered necessary today for analysing industrial heat engines.
  • The application of thermodynamical analysis to industrial problems is demonstrated in standard texts like 0. Lyle, The Efficient Use of Steam (HMSO, London, 1947); D.A. Wrangham, The Theory and Practice of Heat Engines (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1948). A review of the thermal efficiency of all types of heat engine prime mover is by K. Baumann, 'Heat Engines', Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng. (London), vol.160 (1949), pp. 61–88.
  • A brief account of availability analysis is by E.A. Bruges, Available Energy and the Second Law Analysis (Butterworth, 1959). The use of 'availability' is generally dated from the publication of M.M.W. Zemansky, Thermodynamics (McGraw-Hill, N.Y., 1937).
  • J. Swinburne, 'Some Limits in Heavy Electrical Engineering', Electrician, vol. L (Oct. 1902-April 1903), pp. 274–76, 315-17,344-46,394-97. Letters on entropy, and Kelvin's Mutivity, pp. 316, 344. Contributions by O.J. Lodge, pp. 560–63; by H. Poincare, pp. 688–89.
  • H.R. Sankey, The Energy Chart (Albert Frost & Sons, Rugby, 1905).
  • H. Dirks, Perpetuum Mobile (Spon, 1861). History of designs for perpetual motion machines from thirteenth to the nineteenth century.
  • An example of heat engine analysis based on the pressure-volume diagram is C.T. Porter, Richard's Steam Engine Indicator (Longman, Green, Reader and Dyer, London, 1874).
  • A. Richardson, Evolution of the Parsons Steam Turbine (Engineering London, 1911);.W.J. Goudie Steam Turbine (Longmans, Green & Co., 1917, 1922); R.H. Parsons, The Development of the Parsons Steam Turbine (Constable, London, 1936). These works cover the history, theory, practice and performance of the steam turbine.
  • S. Carnot, op. cit. (14), p. 6. A general history of steam plant related to heat engine theory and improved performance is provided by H.W. Dickinson, A Short History of the Steam Engine (Cambridge Univ. Press (for Babcock & Wilcox), 1938). See Pearce, op. cit. (30).
  • L.T.C. Rolt and J.S. Allen, The Steam Engine of Thomas Newcomen (Moorland Publishing Co., Buxton/Science History Publications USA, 1977).
  • H.W. Dickinson, James Watt (Cambridge Univ. Press (for Babcock & Wilcox), 1938), op. cit. (54). H.W. Dickinson & A. Titley, Richard Trevithick (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1934).
  • H.L. Guy and E.V. Winstanley, 'Some factors in the Design of Surface Condensing Plant', Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng., vol. CXXVI (1934), pp. 227–323. H.F. Parshall and H.M. Hobart, Electric Railway Engineering (Constable, London, 1907) contains discussion of role of condensers in early steam plant and their effect on overall efficiency, pp. 101–39.
  • G. Bauer, 'Recent Developments of the Exhaust Steam Turbine', Trans. Inst. Eng. & Shipbuilders Scot., vol. LXXI (1927–28), pp. 255–328; H.W. Dickinson, op. cit. (53) quotes C.D. Gibb, 'Post War Land Turbine Development', Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng. (1931), pp. 413 et seq. See also note 52.
  • Fuel strategy discussed in Britain's Fuel Problems, ed. S.H. North (HMSO, 1927). Collection of papers originally published in Fuel Economist. A.P. Snell, 'Present and Future Development of the Electricity Supply', President's Address, Engineering Section, Annual Report BAAS ( Oxford, 1926). Lord Hinton of Bankside, Heavy Current Electricity Supply in the United Kingdom (Pergamon, 1979). Anon, Electricity Supply in Great Britain: A Chronology (The Electricity Council, 1977).
  • J.G. Weir, 'Some Limiting Conditions of External-Combustion Engine Efficiency', Trans. Inst. Eng. & Shipbuilders Scot., vol. LXVII (1923–24), pp. 317–58. K Baumann, 'Some Considerations Affecting the Future Development of the Steam Cycle', Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng., vol. 11 (1930), pp. 1305–96.
  • H.L. Guy, 'Economic Value of Increased Steam Pressure', Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng., vol. I (Jan-May 1927), pp. 99–213; A.L. Mellandy and W. Kerr, 'Use and Economy of High Pressure Steam Plants', Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng., vol. I (Jan—May 1927), pp. 53–98; J. Mollison, 'Historical References to the Progress in the Use of High Pressure Steam', Trans. Inst. Eng. & Shipbuilders Scot., vol. XX (1926), pp. 783–803.
  • S. Carnot, op. cit. (14), p. 50. Dickinson, op. cit. (53) includes an admirable chapter 'Philosophy of the Steam Engine', pp. 173–82.
  • S. Carnot, ibid.
  • F. Munzinger, 'Modern Forms of Water Tube Boilers for Land and Marine Use', Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng., vol. 134 (1936), pp. 5–87.
  • Dickinson, op. cit. (53), ch. IX, 'Land Boilers 1851 to 1900', pp. 159–72. J.J. Russell, 'Benson's High Pressure Boiler', Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng. (1861), p. 30; (1859), p. 264.
  • D. Lardner, The Steam Engine Familiarly Explained and Illustrated, 5th edn (John Taylor, London, 1836), pp. 242–76 describes water tube boilers for steam carriages built by Gurney and Hancock able to work at 200 lbs per sq. in.
  • Typical boilers in use in power houses and industry before 1920 are described throughout R. Kennedy, op. cit. (29), vol. 4. Low pressure Babcock and Wilcox boilers (150 lbs sq. in.) were installed in power stations in the first decade of the twentieth century and survived into the late 1930s (See below: Friswell, op. cit. (71)). In textile mills and winding engine houses, where the original engine was not changed, boilers installed between 1890 and 1920 survived until closure of the plant in the 1960s or 1970s. A few survive in preserved condition.
  • D.W. Rudorff, Steam Generators (Charles Griffin & Co. Ltd, 1938) reviews the main types of new steam generator: Benson, Schmidt—Hartmann, Loeffler, Sulzer Monotube, La Mont, Ramzin, Loeffler, Vorkauf, Velox, etc. but not the Emmet mercury—steam boiler.
  • M.C. Duffy, 'The Schmidt High Pressure Locomotive and Its Influence on American and European Locomotive Design', Trans. Newcomen Soc., vol. 63 (1991–92), pp. 103–32.
  • Rudorff, op. cit. (67). W.N.C. Clinch, 'Some Operating Experiences with High Pressure Steam Power Plant', Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng., vol. 161 (1949), pp. 129–56 reviews performance of Loeffler boilers at Brimsdown power station. See below Friswell op. cit. (71).
  • H.N. Gresley, 'High Pressure Steam Locomotives', Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng., vol. 121 (1931), pp. 101–206. M.C. Duffy, 'Mechanics, Thermodynamics and Locomotive Design: The High Pressure Steam Locomotive', History & Technology, vol. 3 (1987), pp. 155–92.
  • N.C. Friswell, Northmet (Friswell, Horsham, 2000). History of Northmet group of companies generating, distributing and supplying electric power in North London. Installation of Loeffler boilers at Brimsdown, pp. 2, 55-59,62-65. The Loeffler boilers survived until 1974.
  • Clinch, op. cit. (69).
  • Dickinson, op. cit. (53), pp. 240–41. Ref (fn) to description of ICI Northwich La Mont boiler in The Engineer (25 March 1938).
  • The Benson critical pressure boiler is described by Rudorff, op. cit. (67), Wrangham, op. cit. (46), p. 710 (fn) quotes the following paper in connection with problems the critical pressure boiler was intended to solve: R.F. Davies, 'The Physical Aspect of Steam Generation at High Pressure and the Problem of Steam Contamination', Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng., vol. CXLIV (1940), p. 198 et seq.
  • D. Browlie, 'Double Cycle Power Generation', Engineering & Boiler House Review, vol. XLIX (1936), pp. 561–65.
  • W.S. Findlay, 'Some Suggestions for Diphenyl Heat Engine Cycles', Power Engineering, Vol. XXIX (1934), pp. 89–91.
  • W.S. Findlay, `Diphenyl Heat Engines', ibid., pp. 344–48, 434-37,450-52,456.
  • Wrangham, op. cit. (46), p. 489.
  • E.F.C. Somerscales, 'The Vertical Curtis Steam Turbine', Trans. Newcomen Soc., vol. 63 (1991–92), pp. 1–52, refers to Emmet's work on the vertical steam turbine which he advocated strongly; W.L.R. Emmet, 'The Curtis Steam Turbine', Electrical World and Engineer, vol. 41 (1903), pp. 609–12; 'The Steam Turbine in Modern Engineering', Trans. Soc. American Eng., vol. 25 (1904), pp. 1041–55; Autobiography of an Engineer (ASME, New York, 1940); W.R. Whitney, 'Biographical Memoir of William Le Roy Emmet 1859-1941', National Academy of Sciences: Biographical Memoirs, vol. 22 (1943), pp. 23–50; Anon, 'Dr W.L.R. Emmet' (Obituary) Engineering, vol. 152 (1941), pp. 414–15.
  • Anon, 'Description of 20,000 kW Mercury Turbine and Boiler', Engineering (5 April 1935).
  • R.W. Haywood, 'A Generalised Analysis of the Regenerative Steam Cycle for a Finite Number of Heaters', Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng., vol. 161 (1949), pp. 157–64.
  • A.G. Christie, 'Mechanical Plant for Steam Power Stations in the United States', Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng., vol. 157 (1947), pp. 226–32. A. Meyer, 'Mechanical Plant for Power Stations on the Continent of Europe', ibid, pp. 220–26.
  • Dickinson, op. cit. (53), p. 170 records that E. Field and M. Merryweather took out a patent in 1862, No. 2956 for this device for quick-steaming boilers for portable fire-engine pumps.
  • G.H. Martin, 'The Prospects of the Steam Cycle in the Central Power Station, Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng., vol. 158 (1948), pp. 52–65. J. Wright, 'Some Aspects of Generating Station Development', Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng., vol. 157 (1947), pp. 207–20.

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