Surcharge

“ If the accumulation were sufficient to make the field near the cathode so strong that the positive ions could produce fresh ions either by collision with the cathode or with the gas, the discharge would pass though the gas; if not, there will be no continuous discharge. As the amount of the accumulation depends on the number of corpuscles present in the gas, we can understand how it is that after a spark has passed, leaving for a time a supply of corpuscles behind it, it is easier to get a discharge to pass through the gas than it was before. ”

“ When an electrical discharge passes from one body to another, the electricity in all the bodies in the neighborhood is affected. Henry magnetized a needle in a long conductor, by the discharge from a cloud, more than a mile from the conductor. If a discharge passes down a rod, attached to a powder house, may it not cause a spark to pass from one receptacle for powder to another, and thus inflame the whole? ”

“ The path of the spark, or of the discharge, depends on the degree of tension acquired by the particles in the line of discharge, circumstances, which in every common case are very evident and by the theory easy to understand, rendering it higher in them than in their neighbours, and, by exalting them first to the requisite condition, causing them to determine the course of the discharge. ”

“ Not a very big plug—just big enough to fill the pipe. It is surprising how large a reservoir of water can be held back by how small a plug. Out came the plug; down came the water freely; by and by back came prosperity again.
Why is there such a lack of power in our lives? The reservoir up yonder is full to overflowing, with clear, sweet, life-giving water. And here all around us the earth is so dry, so thirsty, cracked open—huge cracks like dumb mouths asking mutely for what we should give. And the connecting pipes between the reservoir above and the parched plain below are there. ”

“ The direct system, commonly called the Holly Plan, does away with reservoir and stand pipe, and delivers the water directly into the mains under a pressure usually fifty pounds per square inch for domestic use, which is increased to one hundred pounds when fires occur. In the Holly Plan, a reserve power is used for fire purposes, besides mechanical device for regulating and controlling the variable pressure.
In either the stand pipe or direct system, a reserve power should be provided equal to the largest daily consumption. ”

“ The elementary import of the right to reservoir, as applied, not only to molten metal, but other fluids, is the storing of the fluid for use as required, and this implies the drawing off as desired, the replenishing at will, and the keeping of such residuum or reserve supply as may be deemed best. It may not be doubted that to say that one who stores fluid for use is obliged, whenever he draws any off, to draw all off before replenishing, is to say that such party has not the right to reservoir. ”

“ CHARGE (through the Fr. from the Late Lat. carricare, to load in a carrus or wagon; cf. “cargo”) , a load; from this, its primary meaning, also seen in the word “charger,” a large dish, come the uses of the word for the powder and shot to load a firearm, the accumulation of electricity in a battery, the necessary quantity of dynamite or other explosive in blasting, and a device borne on an escutcheon in heraldry. “Charge” can thus mean a burden, and so a care or duty laid upon one, as in “to be in charge” of another. ”

“ Our knowledge seems rather to point to the substances upon which the charges are collected. The self-repellent nature of electricity compels it to manifest itself at the more prominent parts of the surface, the level being forsaken for the point. The tension of the charge, or its tendency to fly off, is proportionately increased. And if at a given moment the tension attains a certain intensity, the discharge follows, emanating from the surface which offers the greatest facilities for escape. ”

“ To sum up these considerations respecting the character and condition of the brush, I may state that it is a spark to air; a diffusion of electric force to matter, not by conduction, but disruptive discharge, a dilute spark which, passing to very badly conducting matter, frequently discharges but a small portion of the power stored up in the conductor; for as the air charged reacts on the conductor, whilst the conductor, by loss of electricity, sinks in its force (1435.) ”

“ Thus, it is apparent, from the admitted facts, that the oil and gas are commingled and contained in a natural reservoir which lies beneath an extensive area of country, and that as thus situated the gas and oil are capable of flowing from place to place, and are hence susceptible of being drawn off by wells from any point, provided they penetrate into the reservoir. It is also undoubted that such wells, when bored from many points in the superincumbent surface of the earth, are apt to reach the reservoir beneath. ”

“ Perhaps the most important question relating to the use of water-power in electrical supply is what percentage of the yearly output of energy can be derived from water where this power is sufficient to carry the entire load during a part of the year. With storage area for all surplus water in any season, the amount of work that could be done by a stream might be calculated directly from the records of its annual discharge of water. ”

“ Appellant here, by means of what are called generators, converts the mechanical energy of falling water into electrical energy. Thus, by the application of human skill, a distinct product is brought into being and transmitted to the places of use. The result is not merely transmission; nor is it transmission of the mechanical energy of falling water to the places of consumption; but it is, first, conversion of that form of energy into something else, and, second, the transmission of that something else to the consumers. ”

“ Such a well, after standing a while would again yield oil on pumping, then perhaps water only, or water and oil, until it had had another rest. If the supply of gas is kept up by an open crevice, the well may continue to flow for some time. The pressure of neighboring water may also cause the oil to flow from a well. Generally the pumping-wells are pretty constant, although when a number of wells are bored near together they interfere with each other, and sometimes water poured down one well will appear in another, and this method has been pursued to bring rival well-owners to terms. ”

“ The average rate charged for hydraulic power in London and elsewhere is much the same as the average rate charged for the supply of electrical energy to the ordinary consumer. Gas is undoubtedly cheaper, but in a large number of cases is mechanically inconvenient in its application. ”

“ The fact that the conductivity of the gas is removed by filtering shows that it is due to something mixed with the gas which is removed from it by filtration, and since the conductivity is also removed by an electric field, the cause of the conductivity must be charged with electricity so as to be driven to the sides of the tube by the electric force. ”

“ The flues are formed by gathering or arching the bricks over, so as to leave a space between each of a brick’s breadth; and as the whole of the coal, if this fuel be employed, must, on account of the construction of the pile, be put in at once, the charge of the bricks is not, and never can be, burnt properly throughout; and the interference of the legislature, with regard to the measurement of the clamp, is a sufficient inducement for the manufacturer to allow no more space for coal than he can possibly spare. ”

“ If discharges having large quantity are passed through oil, it is rapidly decomposed or charred, and ceases to retain the special insulating and self-restoring character which is necessary in the medium in which an oscillating spark is formed. ”

“ In charging and discharging, oxygen is driven from one metal to the other and back again through the action of a potash solution, and without corrosion or waste. Renewal of the water supply is all that is needed to keep the cells in good condition, and a process of recharging has been improved, so that less time is consumed than for the recharging of other batteries. ”

“ As the carrier of these charges is metallic, that is to say, offers no resistance to the free displacement or flow of electricity, there is nothing to hinder the movement, and consequently the charge will all accumulate on the outside surface. ”

“ The governor is not only intended to maintain a uniform water pressure in the mains, but to prevent the pump from racing whenever a greater quantity of water is demanded than the pump is capable of delivering, as in the case of bursted mains or hose, or any other contingency whereby the pressure upon the discharge pipe is suddenly relieved. ”

“ If there be metals in it, however, and they happen to be in such situations as will enable them to facilitate the progress of the electrical discharge, so far as they go, then the discharge will fall on them in preference to bodies offering more resistance, but not otherwise. ”

“ It consisted, you will notice, of two conductors, the water and his hand, with an insulator, the glass, in between.
To understand or rather to give ourselves a useful working explanation of how such an apparatus comes to be charged we must first imagine that everything contains a certain normal amount of electricity which we can by certain means add to or take away from at will. When we add some to anything we say we have given it a positive charge: when we subtract some we say that we have imparted a negative charge. ”

“ However, when less is found in the delivery ajutages and more in the receiving ajutages, it is obvious that there is not error, but fraud.
Let us remember that every stream of water, whenever it comes from a higher point and flows into a reservoir after a short run, not only comes up to its measure, but actually yields a surplus; but whenever it comes from a lower point, that is, under less pressure, and is conducted a longer distance, it shrinks in volume, owing to the resistance of its conduit ”

“ An act to punish corporations, companies, firms, associations and persons and each of them engaged in business of transporting by pipe-lines or lines or storing petroleum in tank or tanks, under certain restrictions and penalties from charging in excess of certain fixed rates for receiving, transporting, storing, and delivering petroleum, and to regulate deductions for losses caused to petroleum in pipe-lines and storage tanks by lightning, fire, storm, or other unavoidable causes. ”

“ Every house supply should therefore be fitted with a gas governor, to keep the pressure constant. A governor frequently used, the Stott, is shown in section in Fig. 199. Gas enters from the main on the right, and passes into a circular elbow, D, which has top and bottom apertures closed by the valves V V. Attached to the valve shaft is a large inverted [Pg 404] cup of metal, the tip of which is immersed in mercury. The pressure at which the governor is to act is determined by the weights W, with which the valve spindle is loaded at the top. ”

“ If, downstream of the discharge site, there is any place where affluents come in and bring varying volumes of water, or where gates or sluices are manipulated, and if the influence of this extends up to the discharge site, the water-level there no longer depends only on the discharge, and a discharge table must be one with several columns whose headings indicate various conditions at the place where the disturbances occur. ”

“ Every one is familiar with the discharge of an ordinary coil; it need not be reproduced here. But, by way of contrast, here is a form of discharge of a coil, the primary current of which is vibrating several hundred thousand times per second. The discharge of an ordinary coil appears as a simple line or band of light. The discharge of this coil appears in the form of powerful brushes and luminous streams issuing from all points of the two straight wires attached to the terminals of the secondary. (Fig. 130.) ”

“ The gas moves through petitioner's system at well pressure. Shortly after the sales in question are completed, the gas is directed through the compressor stations of the purchasing companies and is there subjected to increased pressure in order that it may be moved to markets as far distant as Illinois. The entire movement of the gas from the wells to the purchasing companies through the compressor pumps and across the state lines is a continuous process without interruption for storage, processing or for any other purpose. ”

“ THE ACCUMULATOR If we had two large water tanks, one of which could be emptied only by allowing the bottom to fall completely out, and the other by means of a narrow pipe, it is easy to see which would be the more useful to us as a source of water supply. ”

“ In making the discharge of an electrical battery, or of a single jar, the electrician must be careful not to place the discharging-rod upon the thinnest part of the glass, as that may cause the bursting of the jar. ”

“ The discharge is, of course, increased, and it becomes dependent at all times on the working head. Another difficulty is that any rise or fall in the water-level of the distributary (and such rises and falls may occur owing to silting or scour, however carefully the discharge may be regulated) alters the discharge somewhat, though not to the same degree as in an ordinary outlet with a working head of, say, ·5 foot. In short, Kennedy’s gauge outlet, or “semi-module” as it is sometimes called, can modify but not do away with the variations of the discharges of outlets. ”

“ And the discharge may be explained in nearly the same manner; for when a conductor is brought nearer and nearer to an electrized body, the opposite electricity is more and more accumulated by attraction on the side next to the electrized body; its tension becomes greater by the increase of its quantity and the diminution of the distance, and at last it is too strong to be contained, and leaps out in the form of a spark. ”