The Texas Miner, Volume 1, Number 9, March 17, 1894 Page: 1
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TEXAS MINER SUPPLEMENT.
THE TEXAS MINER.
Thurber, Texas, Saturday, March 17, 181*4.
FROM THE PEOPLE.
Under this head communications are solicited.
some figures fired at "novice."
Thurber, Tex., March 15, 1894.
To the Miner:
In your issue ot March 3 I read ''Novice's letter, in which
he estimates the horse power of the machinery in use in the
world and the amount of coal that would be required for its con-
sumption if all the heat power were utilized in doing actual work,
and the amount of men required to produce it at the rate of
three tons a day per man, and I feel constrained to differer with
him on some of the conclusions he reaches. First, I will take
into consideration two of the greatest industrial coal consum-
ers in the world—first, the locomotive boiler; second, the ma-
rine boiler. Now, in order to reach something near the amount
of coal consumed by the railroads ot the world 1 will make a
trial trip of 720 miles with fifteen cars of thirty-tons' capacity,
laden with coal, and engine with 16x30 cylinders and 24-stroke
and 5-feet drives. Now, I will consider the conditions under
which I am running this engine, as I want to obtain good aver-
age results. Suppose I am running this engine at a ratio ot
1 1-2, and carrying 140 pounds pressure from the gauge. I
will allow the energy saved going down grade will equal the ex-
tra energy given out in going up grade, less the amount ot ener-
gy given out by the momentum of the train alter it has been
put in motion. It will be seen from this that the amount of heat
energy required to make this trip will be the amount required to
overcome the friction of the train on a level track. Now, 1 as-
sume the friction of the train to be 16 in 2000, or the co-efficient
of friction equal .008, we will have 15 cars ot 30 tons capacity
each; 15x30 equal 450 tons of coal, and the cars weigh 25,100,
25.100x15, divided by 2000 equal 188.25 tons, and allow 100
tons for engine, tender and caboose, then 450x188.25x100 equals
738.25 tons total weight to be drawn; 738.25x200equals i,475>*
500 pounds. As the co-efficient of friction is .008, then 1,476,-
500 x.008 equals 11,612 pounds of energy required to pull this
train on a level track. This will require nearly our full initial
pressure, as a little consideration will show. We are running at
a ratio of one and one-half; and carrying 140 pounds pressure;
then 140X.86 exuals 120 pounds mean effective pressure the en-
tire stroke; then as the cylinder is 16 inches in diameter,
16x16x7854x2 equals 402 square inches total piston area the
120x402 equals 48,240 pounds the steam pressure is capable of
exerting; then as the stroke is 2 feet, 2 feet diameter of the path
of the wrist pin and diameter of driver, equals 5 feet; then
48,240x2 divided by 5 equal 19 290, then deducting 33 per
cent for friction of the engine (i9,29ox.33) equal 6368, then
19 290 minus 6368 equal 12,928 pounds, the amount of ener-
gy the engine is capable of exerting at the rate of expansion we
have taken; then as it takes 11612 pounds of energy to draw
the load, 11 612 div by 12 928 equals 8982, or 89.82 per ct. of our
mean effective pressure will be required to draw the load; then
120x8982 equals 107.78,pounds mean effective'pressure will be
requiied on the piston the entire stroke, as we are to run 720
miles. 720x5280 equals 3,801 600 feet; as the diameters of the
drivers are 5 feet, 5x3.1416 equals 15.7 feet circumference of
driver 3,801,600 divided by 15.7 equals 242,140 revolutions of
the drivers; then as we have 8 feet of piston travel for every rev-
olution of the driver, 242,140x8 equals 1,937,120 feet ot piston
travel; then as we have 402 square inches ot piston area and
107.78 pounds mean effective pressure, 1,937,120x402x107.78
equals 83,929,598,240 toot pounds of work the engine perform-
ed. Now, as all of this work was done by heat energy generated
by the combustion of coal or other combustible matter, we have
come to where we want to know how heat is computed and
what a heat unit is. A heat unit, or British thermeal unit of
heat, is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature ot
one pound of distilled water at its maximum density, or at a
temperature of 39.2 degrees Fahrenheit, one Fahrenheit degree
in temperature. It has been found by careful experiments
that if the power developed by the descent of a one-pound
weight through a distance of 778 feet be expended in agitating
one pound of water at its maximum density, it will raise the
temperature one Fahrenheit degree, or, in other words, one
British thermeal unit of heat will be generated in the water, and
it is deducted from this, that whenever heat is converted into
mechanical work, or mechanical work into heat, it is always in the
fixed and definite proportion of one unit of heat to every 778
foot pounds. It has been found by careful experiments with dif-
ferent kinds of coal that coal of average combustion will gener-
ate 14,133 units of heat. Now, for converting our work into
heat, and heat into coal, as we had 83,929,598,240 foot pounds
of work, 83,929,598,240 div by 778 equals 107,878,661 units ot
heat, 107 878,661 div. by 14,133 equals 7633 pounds of coal it
would require to make that trip, if it all were utilized in doing
actual work. Now, we will consider only 5 trains a day over that
road, 7633x5 equals 38,165pounds of coal for every 720 miles of
railroad in active operation per day, and from statistics taken
in 1888 it was found that there were 200,000 miles of railroad
in active operation on the globe. As we have no knowledge of
the increase of mileage since that time, we will only count that
in operation; then 200,000x38,165 div. by 720 div. by 2000
equals 5300 tons of coal for railroad consumption alone, if every
unit of its heat is utilized in doing actual work. Now, we will
consider the massive coal consumption. It was found from ex-
periments made at a recent date that it required 40 tons of coal
per day to run an ordinary steamer of 36-foot beam 10 knots
per hour, and as 15 knots is about the average speed of steam-
ships, 40x15 div. by 10 equals 60 tons per day for every ship
afloat, some of the large ones consume nearly 500 tons per day.
It was found from statistics taken in 1886 that there were 3346
war vessels and 3390 merchant vessels afloat, owned by the dif-
ferent nations of the world, making a total of 6736 ships; then
6736x60 equals 404 160 tons per day for moving service. Now,
counting "Novice's1' 90 percent, loss, 404 160X.90 equals 363,-
744 (404 160—363,744 equals 4°>4i6) 40,4x6x5300 equals
45.716 tons of coal will be utilized in doing the actual work of
those two great industries alone, not counting what is consumed
by the thousands of river steamars plying up an down the
streams of the world, nor the thousands of stationary plants
throughout the country. Then we find the amount of men re-
quired to mine this coal, at the rate of three tons per day per
man to be 45,716 div. by 3 equals 15,235 men to produce the
coal for those two industries alone.
Now, to show we have not exagerated in our calculation, we
find from statistics that there were used in Great Britain and tour
states of the Union in the year of 1892, 287,281,885 tons of
coal in the following proportion, Pennsylvania coal statistics for
1892: Anthracite mines, 45.738 373 tons; bituminous mines,
46,576,576 tons (see Colliery Engineer for January, 194, page
*59-) j .
The report of the commissioners of labor and inspectors ot
mines of the state of Tennessee for the year of 1892 shows an
output of 2,332,677 tons (see Colliery Engineer for July, 1893,
page 274). Statistics, of Kentucky mines for 1892 show an out-
put of 2,899 818 tons (see Colliery Engineer for August, 1892,
page 24) Coal mined in the first and second districts of West
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McAdams, Walter B. The Texas Miner, Volume 1, Number 9, March 17, 1894, newspaper, January 27, 1894; Thurber, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth200456/m1/9/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Tarleton State University.