The Knowledge Bank at The Ohio State University

Ohio State Engineer

Title: 1930 Marine Developments

Creators: Coleman, H. C.

Issue Date: May-1931

Publisher: Ohio State University, College of Engineering

Citation: Ohio State Engineer, vol. 14, no. 7 (May, 1931), 4-5, 16, 20-22.

URI: http://hdl.handle.net/1811/34799

Appears in Collections: Ohio State Engineer: Volume 14, no. 7 (May, 1931)

THE OHIO STATE ENGINEER

Shop View of 1500 Hp. Main Pump Motor Installed in Steamer"J. R. Sensibar"

1930 MARINE DEVELOPMENTSBy H. C. COLEMAN, '16

Manager, Marine Engr. Dept., Westinghouse Electric Co.

The year 1930 takes its place in marine historyof the United States with a record of activity,progress, and accomplishment in shipbuildingand marine engineering which has not been ap-proached since the busy days of the World War.This is due largely to the stimulation resultingfrom the Jones-White Merchant Marine act of1928, which has made available to American shipoperators not only large mail contracts but alsoloans at low interest rates for construction of newvessels.

In the design of these vessels electricity hastaken an outstanding place. Some will be elec-trically propelled. All will have electricallydriven auxiliaries.

THE "PRESIDENT HOOVER"

During 1930, the machinery for the new Dollarliner, "President Hoover," was completed andshipped. This included turbine electrical propul-sion machinery, and complete auxiliary equip-ment.

This fine new passenger and cargo vessel,which is being built at Newport News, is to bedriven by twin screws, each directly connectedto a 13,000 h. p., 4,000 volt, 3 phase, 44.3 cycle,133 r. p. m., synchronous motor. The motors willbe supplied with power from two 12,200 kw.2,660 r. p. m., turbine generator sets, the turbinesbeing designed for 275 lbs. throttle pressure, 200°F. superheat, and 281/V' vacuum. The main con-trol will utilize mechanically operated air-brakecontactors and will be arranged so that all op-erations, including turbine speed control and set-up connections for operating both motors fromeither generator alone, will be controlled fromthe station in front of the instrument panel.Power for excitation and auxiliaries will be "fur-nished by four 500 kw. 240 120 volt d-c, tur-bine generator sets, of new high efficiency lightweight design. All auxiliaries will be electricallydriven, except boiler feed pumps and main lubri-cating oil pumps.

The main turbines for this ship are providedwith the oil impeller governor which is suppliedwith oil by a centrifugal oil pump, which alsosupplies the lubricating system. This turbine is

Westinghouse-powered, high-speed Cargo Winches on "Morro Castle'

also fitted with a solid forged rotor, a construc-tion which has been applied on several hundredturbines in service ashore and which, becauseof its inherent sturdiness and stability of balance,deserves to be universally adopted for marineservice. This ship is equipped with propellertype blowers for main motor ventilation.

These vessels are the largest ever built in thiscountry with turbine electric propulsion, the totalpropulsion for each ship being 26,500 s.h.p.

NEW COAST GUARD VESSELS

During 1930 four new Coast Guard cuttersbuilt by the General Engineering & Dry DockCompany, Alameda, Calif., have been placed inservice. These vessels have turbine electric pro-pulsion plants and complete electric auxiliariessupplied with power from two alternating cur-rent auxiliary turbine generator sets. The pro-pulsion plant on each vessel includes a singlemain turbine generator unit and a 3,200 h.p.synchronous motor.

The main motors of these Coast Guard cut-ters are ventilated by means of propeller typeblowers, and another development in the field offluid flow has been applied in the furnishing ofLouvre vents of a design which materially in-creases the effectiveness of the ships' ventilationsystem.

These vessels are of the same size and designas the five previous ships of the "Chelan" class,three of which were completed in 1928, and twoin 1929. Thus the Coast Guard now has a fleetof nine turbine electrically propelled cutters. Thetenth and last cutter of this series is now beingbuilt at the Staten Island plant of the UnitedDry Docks Company, New York City. This shipis to have the same type of propelling and auxil-iary plant as the four completed this year. Thisis the largest fleet of duplicate turbine electricallyprope led vessels in the world.

GREAT LAKES TUG

An order has been placed recently for gearedturbine propelling machinery for a large tug forgeneral lakes service. An interesting feature of

MAY, 1931

T H E O H I O S T A T E E N G I N E E R

this vessel will be that the entire machinery in-stallation including all auxiliaries will be fur-nished and serviced by the turbine manufacturer.It is expected that performance of this apparatuswill give concrete evidence of the valus of unifiedresponsibility in the design of machinery forships.

MISSISSIPPI RIVER BOATS

The turbine electric system of propulsion hasbeen applied now on our inland waterways. Thepioneer installation of this form of drive on ariver towboat has now been made, and two boatsso equipped are in service on the MississippiRiver. These towboats are the "Indiana" and"Louisiana," owned by the Mississippi ValleyBarge Line Company in freight service betweenNew Orleans and Cincinnati. Each towboat isequipped with 2,000 s.h.p. twin screw, turbineelectric drive, utilizing a single main turbinedriving a double unit direct-current generatorand exciter. Coupled to each propeller is a doubleunit, 1,000 h.p. 185 r.p.m. motor. Complete pilothouse control is provided with individual controlof the screws. In addition, it is fitted with theusual engine room control station. The combina-tion of the high-speed turbine as prime moverwith direct-current electrical equipment, providesan economical propelling plant as well as onewhich gives the necessary flexibility and ease andsimplicity of control so desirable in a boat which-must be maneuvered almost constantly as is trueof towboats handling large numbers of bargeson the rivers. These two boats are also com-pletely fitted with electric auxiliaries which aresupplied with power, when the boat is under wray,from the exciter driven by the main turbine. Themain turbine is equipped with the ejector lubri-cating system. The condenser is of welded con-struction, and the circulating pump is of thepropeller type with reversible motor drive toprovide for cleaning the suction screws.

Tenth Coast Guard Cutter to have WestinRhouse Turbine Electric Drive

MAY, 1931

NEW DREDGE " J . R. SENSIBAR"A very interesting and new type of ship was

completed in November on the Great Lakes. Thisis the self-propelled, self-loading sand and graveldredge and cargo carrier "J. R. Sensibar." Thisvessel was formerly a Great Lakes bulk cargocarrier of the usual type and about 600 ft. inlength. Under the direction of C. R. Fisher, con-sulting engineer for tha Construction MaterialsCorporat on, Chicago, owners, the vessel was con-verted by the American Shipbuilding Companyto electric drive with complete electrification ofthe cargo handling equipment. The propulsionplant consists of a single main turbine generatorunit and a 3,000 h.p., 100 r.p.m., wound rotor in-duction motor and control station. This equip-ment was built originally for use on ShippingBoard vessels of the class to which belong the"Archer," "Invincible," etc. The equipment,which was never installed on those ships, waskept in storage until its purchase for use on thisvessel.

All of the remainder of the electrical equipmenton this ship is new and was designed for theparticular applications involved. The most im-portant item probably is that comprising them a n pumping equipment used for dredging sandand gravel. This consists of two 30" centrifugalpumps of 30,000 gallons per minute capacity.Each of these pumps is driven by a double unit,1,500 h.p., 2,200 volt, 415 r.p.m. induction motor.These motors are to be supplied with power fromthe propulsion generator. In addition to the largepump units, there are 16 motors and controlsvarying from 250 h.p. to 20 h.p. in size. Thesemotors are utilized for driving the jet pumps,various engine room auxiliaries, and the con-veyor systems. Transformers are provided forsupplying low voltage power for lighting. Aseparate auxiliary turbine generator set with a750 kv-a generator and a 75 kw., 125 volt direct-current generator may be used to supply auxil-iary power. The dredge is so laid out that it maybe unloaded by using the main pumps to pump outthe hold, or the dry method may be used, in whichcase the material is fed through hoppers in thebottom of the hold to the conveyor. The materialis carried on this conveyor to the forward endof the vessel, where it is discharged to an inclinedconveyor which carries it to a long boom onwhich is mounted another conveyor to move thematerial to the dock. With this arrangement, apile as high as 68 feet can be discharged on thedock. Because of the modern equipment and thesize of this vessel, it will be able to handle a verylarge amount of sand and gravel. It is so de-signed that it may be used to carry other bulkmaterials if desired, such as limestone, coal, etc.

"SUSAN V. LUCKENBACH" INSTALLATION

An exhaust turbine of approximately 1,000s.h.p. capacity permanently geared to the pro-peller shaft has been installed and placed in sat-isfactory operation on the steamship "Susan V.Luckenbach." In the case of a turbine so con-nected, it is obvious that provision must be madefor astern operation. This has been accomplishedby means of an ingenious application of the hy-draulic relay in connection with an oil impellergovernor on the turbine.

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16 T H E O H I O S T A T E E N G I N E E R

1930 MARINE DEVELOPMENTS(Continued from Page 5)

At the outset of this development it was recog-nized that the reduction gear would be requiredto absorb some torsional effects due to the varia-tion in torque during each revolution of the re-ciprocating engine, but upon actual trial of thevessel after installation it was found that thevariations in torque were of much greater magni-tude than had been originally estimated, investi-gation showing that this was the result of theredistribution of work among the cylinders ofthe engine consequent upon a change in the backpressure on the low pressure cylinder. Thisphase of the problem was solved by the provisionof torsional flexibility in the low speed gear.

DIESEL ELECTRIC YACHTThe first steel powrer yacht to be equipped with

the Diesel electric system of propulsion is nowbeing built at the yards of the Bath Iron Works,Bath, Maine, to the order of George M. Pynchon,New York, and will be 143 ft. long, with beamof 25 ft., and full speed of approximately 14knots. It will be propelled by two 330 h.p., direct-current motors on twin screws supplied withpower from two 400 h.p. Diesel engine generatorsets.

HIGH SPEED WINCH INSTALLATIONSThe high-speed cargo winch motor and control

combination which was developed during the lat-ter part of 1928 and 1929 in connection with theShipping Board Diesel program has found usefulapplication on a number of vessels. The mostimportant ships which have been so equipped, orfor which such equipment is now being built, in-clude the Alaska Steamship Company vessel"Aleutian," formerly the "Mexico," which hassix 40 h.p., high-speed winches; the motorship"City of New York," which has twelve 25 h.p.and two 35 h.p. winches; a new motorship beingfitted out by the Ford Motor Company, whichhas eight 25 h.p. winches; and the two new cabinliners being constructed for the United StatesLines, each of which is to have tweity-two 35-h.p.,high-speed winches.

(Continued on Page 20)

MAY, 1931

20 T H E O H I O S T A T E E N G I N E E R

1930 MARINE DEVELOPMENTS(Continued from Page 16)

CONDENSERSEuropean shipbuilders have for a number of

years widely employed underneath condensers intheir ship installations. This location was chosenfor the condensers in the U. S. Collier "Neptune,"the pioneer large-ship geared turbine installation,and the last is the development of a design, madepracticable by wTelding, in which the condenserserves as the foundation for the turbine, result-ing in an important saving in weight and simpli-fication of the space disposition in the ship.

In addition, the first systematic theoreticalanalysis of the fluid-flow problem of scoop injec-tion has shown that properly designed scoops mayadvantageously be applied to practically all classesof passenger vessels. In such installations themain circulating pump would be eliminated andthe stand-by circulator would be a propeller pumplocated in the intake elbow and hence requiringno additional floor space.

From the standpoint of the watch engineer,whose opinion of his machinery installation isnot infrequently translated in terms of dollars ofmaintenance spent or saved, it is ofttimes thesmall thing that means most. Such matters asgland leakage and a hot vapor-filled engine room,or the type of maneuvering gear furnished, aresometimes of great importance.

For vessels which normally steam at full powerover long sea voyages, the combined water-and-steam sealing gland with automatic change-overvalve is still the best device available. However,for those applications where carbon ring, or othersteam-sealed packing is most suitable, it is im-portant to provide adequate means for removingand condensing the vapor which inevitably leaksout of the glands.

This is commonly done by means of exhausterfans and vapor condensers, which take care of thevapor adequately but in a rather complicated andinefficient manner. Much simpler and less expen-sive means are now available in the form of ahydraulic ejector system employing condensateat boiler feed pressure and delivering to the airejector after condenser. The amount of waterrequired is relatively small, and no motors or fansare needed, with the result that much space issaved and the vapor removal is more economicallyaccomplished.

Various combinations of valves for maneuver-ing, with or without interlocking devices, havebeen in use on turbine propelled vessels for years,but the introduction of the oil impeller governingsystem has made possible a great improvementin this type of valve, in that it is now possible tocombine the functions of governor valve andmaneuvering valve in one mechanism which notonly permits rapid and practically effortlesshandling of the largest units but also allows the

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MAY, 1931

THE OHIO STATE ENGINEER

Summoning a Ghost to your biddingThe chemist Van Helmont in 1609 discoveredan invisible substance, an emanation from coal,that he named "geist," meaning ghost,shortened in English to gas.

Only now do its miraculous possibilities beginto beglimpsed. Only now can modern industry,like a latter-day Aladdin rubbing his lamp tosummon a vaporous genii, turn a valve andorder this Ghost to any one of a hundred tasks.

From the beginning, the problem was one ofpiping. When Crane Co., a half century ago,

set itself to develop and produce the rightmaterials for every gas and oil purpose, it beganan incalculably valuable contribution to thesolution of problems that had held back the gasindustry since the Chinese used hollow bamboo.

So in the development of the natural and manu-factured gas industry, as in practically everyother industry, the Crane line of valves, fittings,fabricated piping, and specialities have playedan important part. No matter what branch ofindustry you enter, you will find Cranematerials playing a similarly important part.

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MAY, 1931

22 THE OHIO STATE ENGINEER

1930 MARINE DEVELOPMENTS(Continued from Page 20)

operator to set the engine revolutions by meansof the governor control. When so set it is notnecessary to stand by the throttle even in theroughest weather, for the established turbinespeed cannot be exceeded even should propelleror shaft breakage remove the load entirely.

These developments represent a real and im-portant contribution toward the maintenance ofthat supremacy in shipbuilding which began inthe days of the wooden clipper ship and which haspersisted in the face of indifference and discour-agement while awaiting the renaissance of theAmerican Merchant Marine.

MAY, 1931