We have, by Sir William Armstrong's
system, coupled with his accumulator, the means of transmitting
hydraulically the power of a central motor to any place requiring it,
and by the means of the principal accumulator, or if need be by that
aided by local accumulators, a comparatively small engine is enabled
to meet very heavy demands made upon it for a short time. I think I am
right in saying that, at the ordinary pressure which Sir William
Armstrong uses in practice, viz., 700 lb. to the square inch, one foot
a second of motion along an inch pipe would deliver at the rate to
produce one-horse power. Therefore, a ten-inch pipe, with the water
traveling at no greater pace than three feet in a second, would
deliver 300 horse-power. This 300 horse-power would no doubt be
somewhat reduced by the loss in the hydraulic engine, which would
utilize the water. But the total energy received would be equivalent
to producing 300 horse-power. Such a transmission would be effected
with an exceedingly small loss infliction in transit. I believe I am
right in saying that a 10 inch pipe a mile long would not involve much
more than about 14 or 15 lb. differential pressure to propel the
water through it at the rate of three feet in a second. If that be so,
then, with 700 lb. to the inch, the loss under such circumstances
would be only two per cent.
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