The Works Of Messrs. Schneider And Co.

MESSES. SCHNEIDER AND CO.’S WORKS. 112 The following are the diameters of the various cylinders: 111. ft. in. Diameter of admission steam cylinder ... 1.850 7 05 ,, expansion ,, 2.600 8 6Ä ,, shaft pumps ... .380 1 3 ,, forcing pumps .500 1 7| Steam is supplied by the boilers at a pressure of 4.500 kilogrammes (64 Ib. per square inch). The installation is completed by a steam winch, which is used for inspecting the shaft and pumps, and keeping them in perfect working order. Lifting and Forcing Pumps.—The construction of lifting and forcing pumps for various industrial uses, such as those for graving docks, for town water works, for sewage works, &c., forms one of the specialities in which Messrs. Schneider and Co. have been highly successful. Among other installations they have executed the water works plant for Paris, Lyons, Nimes, Avignon, Cairo, and Assiout (Egypt). The Lyons installation comprises five lifting and forcing pumps ; it was built a few years ago for the Compagnie Générale des Eaux. Eacli pump is worked direct by a horizontal, single-cylinder, condensing engin e, with steam distribution on the Corliss system. The pump consista of a double-acting plunger, which works in two barreis that cominunicate one with the other through tho suction box and the air vessels. The pumps are fitted with brass valve seats ; the valves are of metal, of small dimensions, very light, and on the Corliss type. Directly above the forcing valves are placed air vessels of large capacity; the vessels communicate with each other at the top through a pipe, so that for each stroke of the pump the total quantity of air stored in the vessels may be taken advantage of. Owing to the large sections of the suction and forcing valves, and the convenient position of the air vessels, tbese pumps work most smoothly at the comparatively high speed of from 40 to 50 revolutions per minute. Factory Engines.—Messrs. Schneider and Co. have supplied a large number of engines for driving machine tools, to the gun factories of Tulle, St. Etienne, and Ghatellerault. (See Fig. 319, Plate LXIX.). All these engines are of the horizontal condensing type, with one steam cylinder, the distribution being on the Corliss system, and varying from 150 to 600 horse-power. Two 600 horse-power engines at the Ghatellerault factory may be inentioned as a type. These are coupled to a single crankshaft, which carries in its centre a flywheel 8 metres (26 ft. 3 in.) in diameter, 2 metres (6 ft. 6]^- in.) wide at the rim, and weighing 52 tons. The flywheel carries two independent leather belts, which work various groups of dynamos and transmissions. Each engine is provided with a condenser, placed below the floor level, and the vertical single-acting air pumps are worked by countercranks fitted to the main crankpins. Feed and drain pumps are connectée! to the air pumps. The steam cylinders are .850 metre (33J in.) in diameter, the stroke being 1.600 metre (63 in.). The initial steam pressure on the pistons varies between 5.5 to s 6 kilogrammes (78.227 Ib. to 85.338 Ib. per square inch). The engines run at 60 revolutions per minute, and steam is supplied to those at Châtellerault by a range of eight boilei's, each having two internai furnaces and a heating surface of 132 square metres (Fig. 320, Plate LXX.). Compressée! Air Plant.—The history of tlie trans- mission of power by compresse«! air in Paris dates back as far as 1881, and commenced by the completion of a scheine for distributing uniform time by pneumatic impulsej throughout the city. A concession was granted to Mr. Victor Popp, and a large degree of success attended the scheine. The subscribers became numerous, and the small works which had been established in the neighbour- ! hood of Belleville had to be enlarged, and the system of mains extended. The delivery of compresse«! air to motors of small power developed into a large trade, and I there were many installations of compressed air engines up to 150 horse-power, used for electric lighting, re- | frigerating, &c. The system was found especially promising in its application to small motors for driving sewing and I other machines, crowded with the operatives, into a small j space, as the exhaust air from the motors supplied an efficient means of ventilation. In 1891 the works at Belleville were quite insufficient to supply the demand, and the construction of a large central station on the i left bank of the Seine, opposite Vincennes, and near the terminal station of the Orleans Railway, was decided on. The works were laid out to have a capacity of 24,000 horse-power, and of these 8,000 horse-power, divided into four units of 2,000 horse-power each, were erected. This, with four batteries of boilers, constituted the installation, which was placed in the hands of Messrs. | Schneider and Co. by the Compagnie Parisienne de l’Air Comprimé. We shall limit our description to the engines, which constitute the most interesting- feature of the installation, and which are illustrated by Figs. 321 to 330, Plates LXX1. to LXXIV. The engines are vertical, direct-acting, working three | cranks ; the compressing cylinders are placed directly above the steam cylinders. The latter are arrangée! for triple-expansion working, while the air compressor, for which the Compagnie Parisienne selected the Riedler system, is compound with three cylinders. The boilers (see Fig. 322, Plate LXXII., are registered for a pressure of 12 kilogrammes (170.7 Ib. per square inch), the steam being admitted to the high-pressure cylinders at 10 kilogrammes (142.2 Ib. per square inch). The compressors are calculated for delivering air at a J pressure of 8 kilogrammes (113.8 Ib. per square inch) to the receivers. Fig. 323, Plate LXXIII., gives a good idea of the arrangement of tlie compressed air main. The engines I run normally at 60 revolutions per minute, but they are able, exceptionally, to run at 72 revolutions. The steam distribution mechanism of the small cylinders is on the Corliss system. In the intermediate and low-