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Gowanus Power Station
| Firmenname | Gowanus Power Station |
| Ortssitz | Brooklyn (New York) |
| Straße | 3rd Avenue |
| Art des Unternehmens | Bahnelektrizitätswerk |
| Anmerkungen | Auch bezeichnet als Brooklyn Rapid Transit Power Station [http://www.epa.gov/region2/superfund/npl/gowanus/pdf/tour_gowanuscanal.pdf]. Hatte ein Hafenbecken am Govanus-Kanal für die Kohlenanlieferung. Das ungenutzte Gebäude steht um 2012 noch. Im alten Werk waren 11 verschiedene Maschinen (Baujahre bis 1898), Gesamtleistung: 4.400 kW. |
| Quellenangaben | [Schimpff: Straßenbahnen in den Verein. Staaten von Amerika (1903) 134] [Murray: Electric power plants (1910) 113] |
| Produkt |
ab |
Bem. |
bis |
Bem. |
Kommentar |
| Bahnstrom |
1896 |
Beginn im alten Werk |
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| ZEIT | 1898 |
| THEMA | Beschreibung des alten Werks |
| TEXT | Owing to the abnormal increment which, every year, is made in the demands of the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company upon its power supply, a large increase in its generating facilities had become imperative. The system had been operated entirely by direct current, boosters being used where long distances necessitated, but the development of territory greatly removed from the power stations, as well as a desire for greater flexibility in providing for future growth in unexpected localities, led to the decision that the most satisfactory way to increase the power capacity was to adopt a system of high-tension distribution with rotary converter substations. This radical departure from the older method made possible the building of a large single station, most advantageously located for its supply of coal and water, yet able to distribute its current without excessive loss to any part of the system, and by placing the high-tension feeders underground, obviated the further stringing of heavy overhead cables. Plans for this work were made, and in the following pages a description is given of one of the principal features of the development. The old power station, at Third Avenue and First Street, had a total capacity of 4400 kW, distributed among several different types of machinery. With the exception of two generators of 800 kW each, which were installed in 1898, and are direct connected to cross-compound condensing engines, of 1000 HP each, the generators in this station are of the belt-driven type. Four tandem compound engines of 750 HP each drive a 400-kw. generator. Three Corliss tandem-compound engines of 550 HP each, drive three 400-kW generators. A Corliss tandem-compound engine of 375 HP was installed in 1896 to drive a 230 kW booster, and a vertical compound automatic engine of 250 HP was installed in 1898 to drive a booster of 200 kW. All the engines in this station are connected to jet condensers.
The boiler plant consists of twenty Babcock & Wilcox water-tube boilers of 250 HP each, all equipped with automatic stokers. |
| QUELLE | Murray: Electric power plants (1910) 113] |
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| ZEIT | 1903 |
| THEMA | Allgemeines zum neuen Werk |
| TEXT | The site at Third Avenue and First Street was selected on account of its superior advantage as a distributing center and in addition the best facilities exist for obtaining coal, which can be received directly from the canal boats in the Gowanus Canal. The plot of ground is sufficiently large to provide for all future growth, and at the same time there is an abundance of room for the storage of coal. The building is placed adjacent to the old station and is divided into two portions, as shown in the accompanying elevation. The southern portion is used for the engine and dynamo room, and the northern portion, which is considerably higher, contains two stories of boilers, with coal storage above. The building is built entirely on piles surmounted by a concrete bed about 6 ft. in thickness. It is of red brick with bluestone trimmings. The Third Avenue front of the structure is 183 ft. 3 in. in length. The depth of the part containing the engines and dynamos is 186 ft. 9 in., and that which is occupied by the boilers is 20 ft. shorter. The boilers are arranged in banks of two, on each side of the building in two stories, six boilers being placed in each tier. There are no economizers in the station, but space is left for equipping the plant with them if desired in the future. The feed water is supplied by direct acting pumps and heated by closed feed-water heaters.
The boilers are equipped with dumping grates for hand firing. There is also installed a forced-draft system in order that the steam plant may be operated at its maximum capacity during rush hours. The coal and ash handling system is most complete. The coal conveying apparatus is capable of moving 125 tons of coal per hour, and provision has been made in the designs for duplicating this capacity if desirable. All coal is weighed before going to the coal pockets. The ashes are removed from the station by cars operated by an electric locomotive.
The first installation of exciters consists of two units. One of these machines is engine driven, the other motor driven. In addition, space has been left for a storage battery to furnish exciting current in the future if deemed desirable.
The interior of the engine room is furnished with a series of galleries to provide accommodation for the switchboard apparatus and feeders. These galleries are constructed largely of wrought iron, and are reached by an elevator and iron staircases. The room is lighted in a most efficient manner by large windows on the side opposite the boiler room and on the ends, as well as by a glazed monitor in the center of the roof. A 50-ton travelling crane spans the width of the room, furnishing every facility for the erection of the engines and generators and their repairs. The entire roof over the operating and boiler rooms is filled in between the T-irons with 3 by 12 by 24-in. hard-burned terracotta roofing tile laid in Portland cement; covered with a slag and cement roofing. |
| QUELLE | Murray: Electric power plants (1910) 113] |
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| ZEIT | 1903 |
| THEMA | Kohle- und Aschetransport |
| TEXT | Coal for the station is hoisted from the barges at the dock by a 1 1/2 -ton clam shell bucket, operated by hoisting engines in a coal hoisting tower erected near the edge of the canal. The coal from the bucket falls into a receiving hopper, slides down the chute to a belt conveyor, which carries it down to the weighing hoppers in the weigh house. From here it is either carried to the coal storage piles located at the side of the station, or it passes from the receiving hopper into the coal weighing scales and thence to a bucket conveyor.
For soft coal a crusher is provided through which the coal must pass on its way to the bucket conveyor. When hard coal is being received, however, it passes from the receiving hopper directly to the scales and then to a loader, a grating being provided for this purpose in the bottom of the chute leading from the hoppers to the crusher. From the weighing hoppers the coal passes through the loader to either of two bucket conveyors which carry it up to the monitor above the bunkers, where it is dumped. The coal tower, which is of the two man type, contains the bucket engines and trolley engines.
The bucket engines are double 12 by 16-in. direct connected to double drums with clutches. The trolley engines are double 6 by 8-in. direct connected to single drums, with friction brakes. Each coal conveyor consists of an endless chain of buckets suitably connected by links and mounted on wheels. The conveyors carry the coal from the loaders through a tunnel underground up through the boiler house end to the monitor above the boiler house and thence along the monitor, discharging their contents into the bunkers at which the trips are attached.
The ashes from the hoppers, under the grates of both tiers of boilers, pass down through cast iron downtakes to ash cars in the basement. The cars are then pushed along the tracks to the receiving hopper of the skip hoist in the ash handling vault. This ash handling vault is located just outside the building wall. From the vault the ashes are carried by the skip hoist and dumped into the ash pocket, which is located on the dock. From the ash pocket the ashes pass by gravity through chutes to the ash scows which are moored at the bulkhead, or the ashes can be delivered from the bottom of the pocket directly into the company's cars.
The ash pocket is of steel and concrete and is located on the dock near the bulkhead. There are telescopic chutes on the canal side for discharging the ashes into the scows and fixed chutes on the underside of the pocket for discharging into the cars. |
| QUELLE | Murray: Electric power plants (1910) 118] |
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| ZEIT | 1903 |
| THEMA | Kesselanlage |
| TEXT | The steam generating plant for this station is composed of 32 water tube boilers whose weight is carried directly by the steel frame of the building.
The boilers are of the three-drum, Babcock & Wilcox type, containing 6386 sq.ft. of heating surface made up of 4-in. tubes 18 ft. long in banks of 21 sections, 14 tubes high. Each boiler has 115 sq. ft of grate surface.
Each boiler at its normal capacity will evaporate 22.000 lb. of water from and at 212 °F (100 °C) per hour., equivalent to a rating of 650 HP, with an economical overload capacity of 50 per cent. The boilers are in two tiers, 16 to a tier, eight boilers on each side of a longitudinal firing aisle.
Each section of boilers is fitted with steel plate flue and uptake. The first tier flues are of rectangular section with archtop 11ft. 9 1/2 in. by 9 ft. 1/2 in., made of 1/4-in, plate with angle stiffeners, each flue serving four boilers and leading to the uptakes, which are 12 ft. 6 in. by 9 ft., built of 1/4-in. plate. The uptakes are equipped with heavy ribbed cast iron dampers and damper mechanism. The second tier boilers discharge their products of combustion through flues of rectangular section, 8 ft. 6 in. by 7 ft. to the steel stacks. The stacks, two in number, are located midway of each row of boilers. Thus each stack serves 16 boilers, eight on each floor.
The stacks are supported and braced by the steel framing of the boiler house. The height of stacks above the steel foundations is 132 ft. The total height above first floor is 200 ft. Each stack is made up of three rings 44 ft. long, consisting of 5/8, 1/2 and 58-in. steel plate respectively. Five annular rings support the brick lining and stiffen the stack. Each stack is lined with 8 in. of red brick, backed by 1 in. of Portland cement.
THE FORCED-DRAFT SYSTEM.
First tier boilers: There are two independent air ducts running lengthwise from east to west along the ceiling of the boiler room basement, each duct feeding eight boilers. They are supplied at each end and in the center with blowers direct connected to railway motors and vertical engines respectively. The cross section of the duct is 3 ft. 9 in. by 5 ft. 9 in., giving a gross area of 21.5 sq. ft. in length of about 147 ft. 9 in. The area of the air opening to each hopper is 9.5 sq. ft. Second tier boilers: There are four independent air ducts running lengthwise of the building from east to west along the ceiling of the first-floor boiler room, each duct feeding four boilers and supplied at each end with blowers direct connected to railway motors. The blowers and motors are hung from the second floor. The duct areas and the areas for the hopper openings are the same as for the first tier boilers at the fans. At the ends of the ducts the areas decrease to about 5 sq. ft. in length of 64 ft. |
| QUELLE | Murray: Electric power plants (1910) 121] |
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| ZEIT | 1903 |
| THEMA | Maschinenanlage |
| TEXT | The power installation comprises eight 4000-HP engines direct connected to both direct and alternating current generators. They are arranged in four pairs. The engines are vertical cross compound condensing engines, having cylinders 42 and 86 in. in diameter and a common stroke of 60 in. The cylinder ratio is therefore about 1 to 4,2. The two main cranks are set 90 degrees apart, and two other cranks are part of the transmission gear; one a drag crank, which connects the generator, and the other a small crank driving the shaft on which are the high-pressure eccentrics. The main frames are A-shaped. The placing of the valves in the heads allows of a compact and accessible valve mechanism, and the short lengths of ports reduces the clearance to a very small amount. A reheater, with about 1800 sq. ft. of heating surface, is provided.
The valve gear is of the double-eccentric Corliss type, with the dash-pots mounted on brackets on the engine cylinder. Both cast iron pistons are of the solid box pattern type. The main engine shaft is only 13 ft. 3% in. long, 28 in. in diameter at the main bearings, and the bored-out hole is 11 in. in diameter. The flywheel and generator shaft is 19 ft. i^ in. over all, is 36 in. in diameter in the hubs of the flywheel and generator, 32 and 30 in. at the crank and outboard bearings respectively, and the bored-out hole varies from 20 to 10 in. in diameter. An extension of the high pressure crank pin drives the high pressure solid eccentric shaft at the left, while connection between the engine shaft and the generator shaft is by means of a drag crank. The thrust of the low pressure crank pin against the drag crank is almost wholly in a tangential direction to its regular path of motion, and the cap has only to hold the bearing box in place, although it greatly strengthens the crank disk itself. The flywheel is 28 ft. outside diameter and is of the built-up type. Steam is delivered from a common main to each engine as shown, and the exhaust passes to a primary heater and to the barometric condensers mounted near the back wall. Forcd and automatic lubrications are both used.
GENERATORS.
The alternating current machines are 40-pole, three-phase, 25 cycle units, of the revolving field type, and wound to generate 6600 volts when running at 75 rev. per min. They have a capacity of 2700 kW with a non-inductive load at any voltage from 6000 to 6600, and they will generate this power continuously for 24 hr. without a temperature rise of more than 30 deg. cent, above the temperature of the surrounding atmosphere.
The direct connected generators are 24-pole, 575-volt, 2700-kW generators of the railway type, rated at 4700 amp. and 575 volts at 75 rev. per min.
These two generators are so designed as to regulate the voltage on approximately equal increments from an electromotive force of 525 volts at no load to 575 or 585 volts at full load, or 550 volts at no load to 575 or 590 volts. The generators are controlled and the load distributed by a switchboard of size and type necessary for an electric railroad power station of this type. |
| QUELLE | Murray: Electric power plants (1910) 122] |
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| ZEIT | 1903 |
| THEMA | Rohrleitungen, Speisewasser, Kondensation |
| TEXT | Over each boiler connecting the three drums is a cross-over pipe, equipped with automatic stop and check valves. Frorn each cross-over, a lo-in. bent pipe, for expansion, connects the boiler tothe stop valve header. The stop valve headers, 16 in number, are cross-connected in groups of two. The headers are castings of special design, 17 1/2 in. internal diameter with a 14-in. flanged outlet, and two 10-in. inlets for the boiler connections.
The operating room header is a 14-in. pipe line, running along the division wall, to which are attached the various drops to the engine separators. Four 14-in. cross valves connect the engines Nos. 2, 4, 6 and 8. Four 14-in. drops run underneath the engine room floor to the header running longitudinally of and about midway across the basement and passing over and perpendicular to the four 14-in. steam supplies to engines Nos. i, 3, 5 and 7, between which supplies it forms a cross connection through a 14-in. cross connection valve.
An atmospheric exhaust system for taking care of the engines and the heaters and the various auxiliary apparatus has been installed. The lines from the heaters to risers are of 30-in. cast iron pipe. The risers are spiral riveted, galvanized iron 24 in. in diameter, 1/8 in. thick.
THE FEED WATER SYSTEM.
The city water connections, 4 in. in diameter, feed a 10-in. suction line from the storage tanks. These tanks are located outside of the building and near the Third Avenue front of the property. This lo-in. line is laid in a boxing of 2-in. plank and deep enough underground to avoid frost.
The two 4-in. city connections supply the two storage tanks through two 4-in. ball float cocks. The 10-in. suction from the ank divides inside the building and runs as a 10-in. line on each side to the four feed pumps, with a lo-in. valved connection to each line from its nearest storage tank. The lines terminate west of the western pair of feed pumps, with blank flanges and lo-in. cross connections between the two lines. The 6-in. valved pump discharges connect with two 8-in. cold water mains. These mains are cross connected through the operating room basement to the manifolds of the primary feed water heaters. The manifolds are 6-in. in size and by-passed. From these manifolds the feed water from the primary heaters is taken by two 8-in. cross connections back to the boiler house basement to two 8-in. hot water mains, one on each side of the secondary heaters and connected thereto. The discharges from the secondary heaters are led into 8-in. risers connected to 8-in. feed mains directly under each boiler room floor. From these mains 8-in. risers and mains feed the 3 in. cross pipe connections to each boiler. The primary heaters are vertical, even flow, water tube heaters, with 800 sq. ft. of heating surface made up of 198 1/2-in. corrugated copper tubes 9 ft. long. The exhaust inlet and outlet are each 30 in. in diameter. The feed water supply line is 5 in. The secondary heaters, four in number, are of the cylindrical water tube type. They contain 264 1/2-in. seamless corrugated copper tubes 12 ft. long, making a heating surface of 1350 sq. ft. These heaters are rated at 4000 hp.
CONDENSING SYSTEM.
Each engine is equipped with an independent jet condenser, engine-driven circulating pumps and dry vacuum pump. The circulating water, taken from a point below the power house on Gowanus canal, is converted by the suction intake tunnel to the circulating pumps. The suction on the circulating pumps is 16 in. in diameter. The tail water is discharged through the discharge tunnels on the north side of the station to the lateral canal. The dry vacuum connections to the condensers are 4 in., the discharge from the pumps to the free exhaust risers are 6 in. The hot well tanks made of 1/2-in. sheet steel are 6 ft. in diameter by 7 ft. 9 in. in height. |
| QUELLE | Murray: Electric power plants (1910) 126] |
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| ZEIT | 1903 |
| THEMA | Elektrische Schaltanlagen |
| TEXT | The switchboards and switchboard apparatus are located on the two floors and three mezzanines of the electrical galleries located at the eastern end of the power station. On the first floor of the electrical galleries are installed four 150-kW, 125-volt exciters, one booster, the 600 volt direct current switchboard and the exciter board. One exciter is driven by a vertical engine and each of the other three exciters is driven by an induction motor. Two of the motors are of 200 HP, 6300 volts, 25-cycle, three-phase, 485 rev. per min. each, and are fed by one 6600-volt feeder. The third motor is of 200 hp, 400 volts, 25 cycle, three-phase, 490 rev. per min., fed by a 6600-volt feeder, stepping down through a three-phase transformer to 400 volts. The storage battery is located in a small building erected outside of the power house. The 6600-volt generator leads run from the alternating current generators in a cable duct run build underneath the main floor and turn up in recesses in a wall built behind the direct current board, up to the front part of the first mezzanine where the main generator oil switches are located. From the main generator switches the cables run straight up to the second mezzanine, where they are split, making connections to generator selector oil switches connecting each generator to a main and an auxiliary bus, each being cut in two parts and tied through oil circuit breakers, located on the fourth mezzanine. The alternating current buses are located on the rear (eastern) part of the third mezzanine or called also second floor. Behind each set of buses are mounted disconnecting knife switches.
From the alternating current buses leads run down to the rear of the second mezzanine, where the alternating current feeder oil circuit breakers are located in two rows, each row being divided again in two parts. In the rear of the feeder oil circuit breakers are mounted selector knife switches, six knife switches to one feeder oil circuit breaker, connecting each feeder circuit breaker to either bus. The selector knife switches are provided with a mechanical device which prevents the feeder switch from being connected at the same time to both buses.
From the feeder oil circuit breakers on the second mezzanine the leads run straight down to feeder oil circuit breakers on the first mezzanine, in series with the feeder oil circuit breakers on the second mezzanine.
In the rear of the feeder oil circuit breakers on the first mezzanine the feeder end bells are located, from which the high tension feeders are run in recesses in the building wall, down to the basement, and out of the station through the vitrified tile duct run.
All the oil circuit breakers are mounted in brick and alberene stone compartments, in which also the current and potential transformers are accommodated.
The high-tension generator and feeder control board is located on the third mezzanine or second floor. |
| QUELLE | Murray: Electric power plants (1910) 137] |
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