James Slough Zerbe

“ The great problem, in the minds of engineers, from the time the steam engine became a factor, was to find some means whereby that energy might be utilized, instead of getting it by way of burning a fuel.
One of the first methods proposed was to use a lens or a series of mirrors, by means of which the rays might be focused on some object, or materials, and thus produce the heat necessary for expansion, without the use of fuel.
Wonderful results have been produced by this method; but here, again, man meets with a great obstacle. The heat of the sun does not reach us uniformly in its intensity ”

“ It is one of the remarkable things in the history and development of mechanism, that in this day of perfected steam engines, the inventors of our time should go back and utilize the principles employed in the first recorded steam engine, namely, the turbine. Instead of pressure exerting a force against a piston, as in the reciprocating engine, the steam acted by impacting against a moving surface, and by obtaining more or less reaction from air-resistance against a freely discharging steam jet or jets. ”

“ The steam engine, like everything else which man has devised, was a growth, and, singular as it may seem, the boiler, that vital part of the organism, was, really, the last to receive due consideration and improvement. ”

“ The energy of a nation may be expressed by its horse power. It is not numbers, or intellect, or character, or beliefs that indicate the progress of a people in a material sense.
It is curious how closely related enginery is with the advancement of a people. Nothing can be more striking to illustrate this than railroads as a feature of development in any country.
Power in Transportation.—Without the construction and maintenance of mechanical power, railroads would be impossible. To be able to quickly and cheaply move from place to place, is the most important factor in human life. ”

“ The first feature of value, therefore, is to understand that pressure can be converted into velocity, and that to get a great impact force, the steam must be made to strike the hardest and most effective blow. ”

“ The quality of mixture that an engine will take depends on its speed. The suction of the pistons depends on the speed of the engine.
If, at ordinary speed the carbureter gives a proper mixture, the throats and passages through the pipes and manifold, as well as the valve which discharges the gasoline, may be in a prime condition to do good work; but when the pistons work at double speed the inrush of air may not carry with it the proper amount of fuel; or, under those conditions, the air may receive too great an amount of gasoline, proportionally. ”

“ A ton of coal, when burned, produces a certain amount of heat, which, if allowed to escape, will not turn a wheel. But if confined, it expands the air, or it may convert water into steam which will turn ponderous machinery. Niagara Falls has sent its great volume into the chasm for untold centuries, but it has never been utilized until within the last twenty years. The energy has been there, nevertheless ”

“ Carbon or hydrogen, as a fuel, are inert without oxygen, so that in considering the evolution of a force which is dependent on heat, we should know something of its nature, thereby enabling us to utilize it to the best advantage. ”

“ The difference between Potential and Kinetic Energy is therefore that Potential Energy represents the capacity to do work, while Kinetic Energy is the actual performance of work.
Friction.—In every form of energy there is always something to detract from it or take away a portion of its full force, called friction. When a shaft turns, it rubs against the bearings, and more or less power is absorbed.
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When a wheel travels over the ground friction is ever present. The dislodging of the stone required ten pounds of energy, but a thousand pounds was developed by the fall. ”

“ Matter may be changed in form, or in the direction of its motion, by the change of kinetic into potential energy, or vice versa, but the sum total of the energy in the world is unalterable or constant.
The tremendous power developed by the stone when it plunged through space and struck the rocks below, developed a heat at its impact. Thus the moving force which was a motion in one direction was converted into another form of energy, [10] heat. The expansion of the material exposed to the heat also represented energy. ”

“ Voltage.—This plays an important part in ignition. Voltage is that quality which gives pressure or intensity to a current. It is the driving force, just as a head of water gives pressure to a stream of water.
High and Low Voltage.—A high tension current,—that [105] is, one having a high voltage, will leap across a gap, whereas a low voltage must have an easy path. When the ends of a wire in a circuit are separated, air acts as a perfect insulator between them, and the slightest separation will prevent a low current from jumping across. ”

“ THE STEAM GENERATOR
The most widely known and utilized source of power is the steam engine. Before its discovery wind and water were the only available means, except the muscular power of man, horses and other animals, which was used with the crudest sort of contrivances.
In primitive days men did not value their time, so they laboriously performed the work which machinery now does for us. ”

“ All liquids do not evaporate at the same temperature as water. Some require a great deal more than 212 degrees; others, like, for instance, dioxide-of-carbon, will evaporate at 110 degrees, or about one half the heat necessary to turn water into steam.
On the other hand, all gases act alike so far as their heat absorption is concerned, so that by using a material with a low evaporative unit, less [195] fuel will be required to get the same expansion, which means the same power. ”

“ Engine Accessories.—While the steam engine is merely a device for utilizing the expansive force of steam, and thus push a cylinder back and forth, its successful operation, from the standpoint of economy, depends on a number of things, which are rarely ever heard of except by users and engineers. ”

“ We have learned to set up one force in nature against the other. The running stream; the moving winds; the tides; the expansive force of all materials under heat, are brought into play to counteract the great prevailing agency which seeks to hold everything down to mother earth.
Utilizing Forces.—The Bible says: Blessed is he who maketh two blades of grass grow where one grew before. To do that means the utilization of forces. Improved machinery is enabling man to make many blades grow where one grew before. ”

“ Neither coal nor petroleum will burn in its native state, without the addition of oxygen. This is absolutely necessary to support combustion. Burning is caused by the chemical union of oxygen with such substances as will burn.
This burning process may be slow, and extend over a period of years, or it may be instantaneous, in which latter case the expansion of the heated gases is so great as to cause an explosion. When a sufficient amount of oxygen has been mixed with a fuel to permit it to burn, a high temperature is necessary to cause the immediate burning of the entire mass. ”

“ First, there must be uniformity in the character of the power produced; and, second, it must be available everywhere.
Water is the cheapest prime power, but its use is limited to streams or moving bodies of water. If derived from the air currents no dependence can be placed on the regularity of the energy.
Heat is the only universal power on the globe. The sun is the great source of energy. Each year it expends in heat a sufficient force to consume over sixty lumps of coal, each equal to the weight of the earth. ”

“ Fourth, radiation, the dissipation of heat, and condensation, are always at work, and thus detract from the efficiency of the engine.
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The gasoline motor, the next prime motor of importance, is still less efficient in point of fuel economy, since less than one-third of the fuel is actually represented in the mechanism which it turns.
The production of energy, in both cases, involves the construction of a multiplicity of devices and accessories, many of them difficult to make and hard to understand.
To produce power for commercial purposes, at least two things are absolutely essential. ”

“ If, within a minute, he succeeded in raising it one foot for six times, this would be six times 550, equal to 3,300 foot pounds, or just one-tenth of one horse power for one minute; so time is just as important as the amount lifted at each effort.
Gravitation.—Now, let us examine power from another standpoint. Every attempt which man makes to produce motion is an effort to overcome some resistance. In many cases this is "weight or gravity." While humanity unceasingly antagonizes [18] the force of gravity it is constantly utilizing the laws of gravitation. ”

“ As the boiler is depended upon to produce the steam pressure, and since the pressure depends on the rapid and economical evaporation of water, the importance of the subject will be understood in treating of the steam engine.
Water as an Absorbent of Heat.—Water has the capacity to absorb a greater amount of heat [23] than any other substance. A pewter pot, which melts at 500 degrees, will resist 2000 degrees of heat if it is filled with water, since the latter absorbs the heat so rapidly that the temperature of the metal is kept near the boiling point of water, which is 212 degrees. ”

“ While few mechanics have the opportunity to actually build an automobile, it is the knowledge which he must acquire about every particular device used, that enables him to repair and put such machines in order. ”

“ When a piston moves along and steam is being exhausted from the cylinder, it must act against a pressure of 143/4 pounds on every square inch of its surface.
The problem now is to get rid of that back pressure, and the old type engines give a hint how it may be done. Why not condense the steam discharged from the engine cylinder? In doing so a vacuum is produced on the exhaust side of the piston, at the same time a pressure is exerted on its other side.
The Condenser.—Thus the condenser is brought into existence, as an aid. By jacketing condensation is prevented; it is fought as an enemy. ”

“ When powder explodes and absolutely changes the form of the substance, its volume of expansion, if it should be retained within a vessel, would perform a certain amount of work, and the energy is thus transferred from one form to another without ceasing. ”

“ When a jet of steam strikes a surface it is diverted or it glances in a direction opposite the angle at which it strikes the object. In directing a jet against the blades of a turbine it is impossible to make it strike squarely against the surface.
Let us assume that a wheel A, Fig. 20, has a set of blades B, and a steam jet is directed against it by the pipe C. It will be seen that after the first impact the steam is forced across the blades, and no further force is transferred to them. ”

“ The ability of people to interchange commodities, and to associate with others who are not in their own intimate community, are the greatest civilizing agencies in the world.
Power vs. Education and the Arts.—Education, the cultivation of the fine arts, and the desire for luxuries, without the capacity for quickly interchanging commodities and to intermingle with [203] each other, are ineffectual to advance the interests of any nation, or to maintain its prosperity. ”

“ Nearly all liquids will vaporize if permitted to [64] come into contact with air. The greater the surface exposed to air the more rapidly will it turn into a vapor.
By forcibly ejecting the liquid from a pipe or spraying device, and mingling air with it, evaporation is facilitated, and at the same time the proper admixture of air is provided to make a combustible substance the moment sufficient heat is brought into contact with it.
This is what actually takes place in a gasoline engine, and all the mechanism is built with this end in view. ”

“ A pinion C on a shaft D is so journaled that during one half of the rotation of the wheel A, it engages with the rim teeth, and during the other half with the hub teeth. As the hub B and gear C are the same diameter, one half turn of the pinion C will give a half turn to the wheel A.
As the rim teeth of the wheel A are three times the diameter of the pinion C, the latter must turn once and a half around to make a half revolution of the wheel A.
Scroll Gearing.—This is a type of gearing [190] whereby at the close of each revolution the speed may be greater or less than at the beginning. ”