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Title: |
1893 Article-Phœnix Iron Works Co., Tandem Compound Steam Engine |
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Source: |
Cassier's Magazine May 1893, pgs. 45-46 |
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Insert Date: |
11/12/2012 8:35:21 PM |
The Phœnix Iron Works Company, of Meadville, Pa., show one of their latest designs of tandem-compound, Dick and Church engines. Heretofore, in engines of this type, the rear cylinder, or the one farthest from the main shaft, has usually been attached to the forward cylinder, which, in turn, was suspended from the bed frame of the engine. In the engine shown, however, the low-pressure cylinder is carried on a separate bed frame, which forms the sub-base for the main engine. The cylinders thus being on separate bed frames, the overhanging of both cylinders from one bed frame is done away with. This construction is claimed to be not only more rigid, but to allow each cylinder to expand independently of the other, always preserving the alignment: it also renders either cylinder easy of access without disturbing the other. The hoods, which carry the overhanging cylinders are rigidly tied together by a rod which extends from one to the other, over the top of the high-pressure cylinder.
The valve gear is so constructed that the valves of both cylinders are controlled automatically by the one governor, a new and valuable feature in engines of this class, and which gives practically a regular receiver pressure and proper distribution of load and temperatures between the two cylinders at all points of cut-off. This peculiar feature is of special value in non-condensing engines working under variable loads. Great care has been taken in designing this engine to have ample wearing surfaces and large heavy wheels, to make the proportions such as to meet the requirements of extreme and variable loads, such as are met within electric railway service. These engines are also made in the double tandem compound and triple-expansion types. The exhibit of the Harrisburg Foundry & Machine Works, of Harrisburg, Pa., consists of two engines driving line shafting. One of these engines is the company's standard Ide pattern, automatic, tandem-compound, side-crank engine, with outboard bearing. The cylinders of this engine measure seventeen and twenty-eight inches in diameter, and have an eighteen-inch stroke. The engine is rated at 300 horse-power, when running non-condensing, and at a speed of 180 revolutions per minute. The fly-wheel pulley is 102 inches in diameter and has a thirty-one inch face. Both the high and low pressure valves are adjustable piston valves, designed by Mr. M. E. Hershey, the general manager of the company, and each is worked by a separate eccentric. The high-pressure valve is controlled by the fly-wheel governor, while the low pressure valve is made adjustable by hand to meet the varying conditions under which the engine might be called upon to work. |
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1893 Phœnix Iron Works Co., Tandem Compound Steam Engine
1893 Phœnix Iron Works Co., Tandem Compound Steam Engine (Side Elevation)
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