1058
INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
Vol. 18, No. 10
Hydroelectric Power in Industry The Role of Industry in the Distribution of Power’ By Leonard H. Davis VICE PRESIDENT,MICHIGAN NORTHERN POWER c o . ; CONSULTING ENGINEER, UNIONCARBIDE Co.,NBWYORK,N. Y.
Hydroelectric Power in Industry INCE the time when water power from primitive over-
S
ultimate installation capacity in water wheels would be about 71,500,000 horsepower, so that the developed water power in the United States, as of January 1, 1926, represents about 15.6 per cent, or between one-sixth and one-seventh of the total potential power available.
shot and undershot wheels was used to turn the gristmills of the early settlers, power from falling water has been a vital part in the industrial history of this country. Table I-Total Capacity of Water Wheels Installed Its more skilful and efficient application through turbine (Plants of 100 horsepower or more) wheels served in large measure to foster the successful growth PUBLICUTILITY MANUFACTURING of the cotton and woolen mill and the paper mill industries AND MUNICIPAL AND MISWLLANEOUS Total HorsePer cent HorsePer cent of and to extend its usefulness until, with the advent of the Year horsepower power of total power of total electric generator and motor and modern hydroelectric plants 1908 5,339,391O N o t stated N o t stated 1921 (latter part) 7,926,958 6,200,380 7 8 . 2 1,726,578 21.8 and distributing systems, it now represents, in all manu1924 early part) 9,086,958 7,348,197 8 0 . 9 1 738 761 19.1 1925 [March) 10,037,655 8,287,332 8 2 . 6 1:750:323 17.4 facturing industries, about one-eleventh of the installed I926 (January 1) 11,176,596 9,259,972 82.9 1,916,624 17.1 primary power capacity which is owned by the industrial a Plants of all sizes. establishments themselves (although a much higher proporIndustrial Load of the United States tionate power output therefrom), and approximately onethird of the total output in kilowatt hours of all the central The industrial load of the United States for all industries, electric light and power stations of the United States. except mines and quarries, as of January 1, 1924, from a The inception and progress of the electrochemical and compilation made by the Electrical World and published in electrometallurgical industries in this country apart from the its issue of January 2, 1926, and the industrial load for the electrolytic deposition of copper, were in great part con- three groupings of industries within which are comprised the temporaneous with the evolution and growth of hydro- electrochemical and electrometallurgical and the principal electric power. The commercial beginnings and early de- direct users of water power, such as pulp and paper and textile velopment of such great industries as the manufacture of manufactures, is given in the following table: chlorine and caustic soda, graphite, carborundum, calcium Table 11-Industrial Load except Mines a n d Quarries carbide, aluminum, metallic sodium, elemental phosphorus, Electric and ferro-alloys (except for two earlier plants in Virginia motors -PRIMARY HORSEPOWER b y Establishments Reporting: run b y Owned and West Virginia), took place under the stimulus of low-cost Steam energy and Electric generated hydroelectric power from Niagara Falls. internal motors in I n order to gain a proper perspective of the relation, not run by private combustion Water purchased plants only of the electrochemical and electrometallurgical indusYear-1924 Total engines turbines energy Horsepower tries in particular, but also of industry in general, to the All industries 33,143,753 17,981,340 1,803,317 13,359,096 8,888,569 available undeveloped and developed water-power resources Three aroupings: Chemicai and alof the United States, it will be well to review the statistics lied products 2,738,605 1,550,529 168,557 1,019,519 674,556 Paper and printavailable as to such resources, as to power used in industry, Ing 2,742,693 1,008,166 886,462 848,065 653,081 Textiles and their as to the proportions of such power developed by water power, k products 3,800,360 1,867,212 466,364 1,466,784 911,262 ~ or otherwise, and as to the relative amounts.produced by the Total-1924 9,281,658 4,425,907 1,521,383 3,334,368 2,238,899 industries themselves, or purchased from central stations. Per cent of total of
.
Water-Power Resources of the United States The potential water-power resources of the United States, as computed by the U. S. Geological Survey and published in 1924, were given as 34,818,000 horsepower available 90 per cent of the time and 55,030,000 horsepower available 50 per cent of the time. The amount of developed water-power in the United States, with the relative amounts developed by public utility and manufacturing plants, has been compiled and published from time to time by the U. S. Geological Survey and is listed in a memorandum to the press released by the Department of the Interior on July 22, 1926, to which the columns indicating percentages have been added (Table I). I n Table I the amounts of installed power capacity represent, in general, according to figures of the U. S. Geological Survey, about 130 per cent of the potential power available 50 per ‘cent of the time a t the fully developed sites, and therefore it may be said that, on such basis, the total probable 1 Presented at the conference on “The Role of Chemistry in the World’s Future Affairs” a t the sixth session of the Institute of Politics, Williamstown, Mass., August 3, 1926.
all industries
28.3
24.6
84.3
24.9
25.1
Of the total power used by all industries, as of January 1, 1924, amounting to a total primary horsepower of 33,143,753, 19,7.84,657horsepower was owned by the establishments reporting and 13,359,096horsepower in electric motors was run by purchased energy. I n other words, the power requirement of manufacturing industry, as of January 1, 1924, was supplied by its own power plants, steam, internal combustion, and water power to the extent of about 60 per cent. The other 40 per cent was purchased. The installed power of central stations, as estimated by the Electrical World, as of January 1, 1926, was about 26,800,000 horsepower and as of January 1, 1924, was about 21,570,000 kilovolt-amperes which, for purposes of comparison, may be taken as about the same number of horsepower. According to the same authority, nearly half the 1924 output of central stations was sold to manufacturing industries. Taking into consideration the power requirements of industry supplied by itself, it is apparent that industrial establishments form the backbone of the demand for power, and probably consume more than 70 per cent of the combined output of manufac-
October, 1926
INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
turing power plants and central stations, except mines and quarries and electric railways, and probably about 60 per cent of the combined output of all stationary power plants of the country. Industry’s Apparent Failure to Maintain Its Position in Water-Power Development Owned
It will be seen from Table I that most of the increase in developed water power since 1921 has been made by public utilities and municipal plants, with the result that there has been a progressive diminution of the percentage of the total water power developed by manufacturing plants and a corresponding progressive increase by public utilities. Some of the reasons for the failure of industry to maintain its relative position in the development of water power for its own use, as appears by statistics, are as follows: (1) The great development of long-distance transmission of electrical power. (2) The purchase by industry of a greater proportion of its power requirements from central stations through the displacement of small and inefficient plants. (3) A greater over-development of water power sites by utilities as compared with those of the principal manufacturing establishments using their own water power. (4) The fact that public utilities can outbid manufacturing companies for water power since public utilities operate on what amounts to a cost plus basis-that is, their rates are determined by their total operating expenses plus a certain definite return on the total invested capital-while manufacturing companies must operate on a competitive basis on the price of their products. (5) The fact, due in part to the last reason, that much of the expansion in those industries employing their own power, such as the pulp and paper industry and the electrochemical and electrometallurgical industries, which might normally have been expected to take place in this country has, through more favorable opportunities for the acquisition and development, or lease, of hydroelectric power, and, with respect to the manufacture of wood pulp and newsprint paper, also on account of more favorable conditions as to wood supply, been undertaken in recent years more and more in Canada and Norway through foreign affiliated companies of American corporations. I n short, the pressure of the growing scarcity of low-cost water-power sites and the rising prices for industrial power in large manufacturing centers are forcing some of our basic industries to seek their further expansion outside our borders. I n fact, a t the present time newsprint manufacture in Canada is practically equal to that of the entire United States and furnishes a striking example of the transfer of the natural increase of plant facilities for manufacture to a location increasingly better suited from the standpoint of raw materials and power supplies. Use of Power by Electrochemical a n d Electrometallurgical Industries The amount of power required by the three principal groups of industry which were among the pioneers in the development and use of water power and of hydroelectric power -namely, textiles, pulp and paper, and chemical and allied products-together account for 28.3 per cent of the total primary horsepower used by all industries of the United States, and further account for nearly 85 per cent of all of the water power owned and directly used by all industries of the United States and for nearly 25 per cent of the electric motor capacity run by purchased energy in all industrial establishments. Those branches of the three lines of industry just mentioned which represent the electrochemical and electrometallurgical industries a t the present time have installed power capacity or consume power to the amount of approximately 570,000 horsepower in the electrothermal and electrolytic chemical fields and about 680,000 horsepower in the electrometallurgical field, the greater portion of which consists of hydroelectric power.
1059
It is obvious, therefore, that the field of manufacture represented by the electrochemical and electrometallurgical industries is one of great importance in the consideration of the employment of hydroelectric power in industry. These industries operate in many cases at load factors very close to 100 per cent, and thus power developed for their use is produced with the minimum of equipment and capital expenditure. Moreover, these industries are among the basic industries which serve as a foundation for others. I n fact, the steel industry of today is practically dependent upon the ferro-alloy industry, and there is no known method by which these ferro-alloy products, in sufficient quantity or degree of purity, can be manufactured other than in the electric furnace, and their economical production depends in great measure upon cheap electric power. It is important for the industrial balance of the country that these products of the electric furnace and the electrolytic cell, which enter vitally into both the arts of peace and the instruments of war, should not be forced, by rising prices of power, or through lack of power, to leave the country. It would create a grave situation, in the c m tingency of war, if the United States were dependent in any undue proportion upon foreign sources for the supply of these essential commodities. This is a situation that is rapidly developing, due in part to the great stress which is being made on the advantages of the development of electricity for widespread distribution for public utility purposes and the tendency to carry low-cost hydroelectric power from the point of generation to places so distant that the cost of delivered power nearly, if not quite, equals that of steam power.
Role of Industry in the Distribution of Power Not only the electrochemical and electrometallurgical industries, but some of the other large power-consuming industries, notably those previously mentioned, the pulp and paper and the textile industries, perform a notable service in the dissemination or distribution of power over great distances and vast areas, through the medium of manufactured products, with a degree of efficiency and economy that is far beyond the realization of any system of electric power transmission and distribution. To the end that a better understanding may be had of the role of industry in the distribution of power, it will be well to consider that form of power distribution which is accomplished by means of the shipment of commodities, both those which may be said to contain potential power-such as coal, oil, and gas-and those which may be said to contain large amounts of utilized power per unit of product-that is, those commodities which require comparatively large amounts of power for their manufacture. Forms of Power and of Its Transmission
We may conceive of power as in three principal forms:
(1) potential power, which exists in coal, oil, gas, or other fuels and in water capable of power development; (2) as actual power, mechanical, electrical, or other; (3) as utilized power, which has been industrially transformed into commercial products. Similarly, we may look upon power as capable of being transmitted in any one of these forms. Whenever coal, oil, gas, or other fuel is shipped or otherwise transported for power use, whether steam, mechanical, or electric, the potential power contained therein is transmitted from the point of origin to the point of use. The transmission of actual power is, obviously, accomplished by mechanical direct connection, by gears, belting, or rope drives, and by that method that is so largely engaging attention at the present time-namely, electric transmission of power. The third form of transmission may be said to be that which results when the power has been transformed in the processes
1060
INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
of manufacture into useful commodities and those commodities shipped from places of manufacture to points of consumption. I n such manner power is transported or transmitted just as certainly as if it had been sent over a n electric transmission line to the point of consumption and there manufactured into the same product. Transmission of Potential Power I n the cases of both potential power and what may be called finished power, the transport of power is effected with little or no loss, is more far-reaching and more widespread, and is, in a great many instances, of which some will be mentioned, accomplished more cheaply and with much greater benefit to the consuming public, than if transmitted by any other means. Take, for example, bituminous coal for steam-power generation. The average freight rate for hauls of 100 miles and upwards in the United States is from 3/4 to 1 cent per ton mile, which for a yield of 1500 kilowatt hours per gross ton, or 1 kilowatt hour from 1.5 pounds of coal, such as is obtained in a number of up-to-date steam electric power stations, corresponds to l/2 to "3 mill per 100 miles per kilowatt hour. Since the average coal haul is over 250 miles, the equivalent cost of transporting power by coal shipment by rail is generally from 11/4 mills to 12/3 mills per kilowatt hour for such average haul of 250 miles. A specific instance may be mentioned of the rate on coal from Fairmont, W. Va., to New York, a distance of about 500 miles, where the freight rate of $3.34 per gross ton corresponds to 6.68 mills per ton mile and where, therefore, the equivalent cost of transporting potential power a t 1500 kilowatt hours per ton is less than 2'/4 mills per kilowatt hour. With the increase in fuel economy in large steampower stations, which is being progressively accomplished, a fuel economy of 1 kilowatt hour per pound of coal having already been achieved, the equivalent transport rate for the potential power in coal will be correspondingly reduced. Take, for another example, crude or fuel oil likewise for steam-power generation. The cost of transporting Mexican crude or fuel oil from Tampico to Atlantic ports in the vicinity of New York, a distance of about 2335 statute miles, is equivalent, on the average present-day fuel efficiency of 200 kilowatt hours per barrel in oil-burning steam stations, to about 1.6 mills per kilowatt hour. Electric Transmission of Power The cost of transmission or distribution of power by electric transmission lines varies greatly with the amount of power, the load factor, the power factor, the distance to which it is transmitted, and the extent of the distributive area, and such transmission is necessarily accompanied by a certain percentage of line loss which is often serious. It is estimated by the Electrical World that in 1924, of the total output of 71,200,000,000 kilowatt hours of electrical energy generated in the United States, 11,500,000,000 kilowatt hours were lost in transmission, representing over 16 per cent of the entire amount generated. The economical limit of electric-power transmission, with the present voltage limits, may be said, in general, to be not over 250 miles. The cost of such transmission, per kilowatt hour, delivered, even for trunk lines of such great capacity as 400,000 horsepower in two circuits of 200,000 horsepower each, a t a load factor of 50 per cent, which is fairly representative of public utility generating stations, was recently estimated by the Northeast Super Power Committee a t approximately 1.25 mills for 50 miles, 1.5 mills for 100 miles, 2.2 mills for 200 miles, 2.7 mills for 250 miles, and 3.2 mills for 300 miles, exclusive of any further cost of distribution after delivery from the 220,000-volt high-tension lines.
Vol. 18, No. 10
For smaller capacities the transmission cost per kilowatt hour would be greater and the final cost must include, in addition, a substantial cost for distribution net work. It is clear, therefore, that the transportation industry, both railroads and steamship lines, is performing, in effective manner, the task of transporting, for hauls exceeding 100 miles and in some cases materially less than 100 miles, power in its potential form as fuel a t a much less cost than is possible by means of electric transmission and that such transport of potential power is effected without loss and with the widest radius of distribution, Transmission of Power through Manufactured Commodities Considering now the third method of power transmission, that through the medium of manufactured commodities, it is possible to compute the equivalent cost per kilowatt hour, taking into account the amount of power in terms of kilowatt hours required in the manufacture of the commodity in question and applying against such number of kilowatt hours a part or all of the freight cost of transporting the given commodity from point of production to point of consumption. I n such computation the most conservative assumption is to allocate the entire freight charge to the power which has been absorbed in the production of the given commodity, the physical product itself bearing no part of the freight rate. On this basis a study of the equivalent cost of transmitting the utilized power in various articles of commerce, particularly those of electrochemical and electrometallurgical industries and of certain textiles and of the main products of the pulp and paper industry, all three of these industries being most important consumers of power, brings out the fact that such cost of transporting power from the point of manufacture of the product to the point of its consumption, both for distances ranging from a comparatively short radius from the point of manufacture to points not only country-wide but even to foreign markets, is accomplished a t surprisingly low figures. I n each case the total cost of freight transport of the product is figured as applied to the amount of power consumed in the manufacture of the product itself. Obviously, this form of power transport is accomplished with no loss, with a radius of distribution limited only by railway or waterway facilities, and therefore with the widest kind of available distribution and with a flexibility in quantity corresponding to carload lots, which means the equivalent of comparatively small amounts of power, and with a flexibility in continuity or periods of delivery which would make comparable costs of delivery of electric power by transmission lines utterly prohibitive. A number of instances of the results of such study, with the equivalent cost per kilowatt hour for power so transported, are presented in Table I11 as typical of this phase of power distribution by means of the products of industry, and the illustrations could be greatly amplified. Obviously, the greater the amount of po.wer consumed and the lower the freight rate per unit of product the lower will be the cost per equivalent kilowatt hour. All distances, unless otherwise stated, are those of the usual rail or water courses. It is thus seen that hydroelectric power from Niagara Falls is transported, by means of some electrochemical and electrometallurgical products, to distances of over 1000 miles, and even to San Francisco, for practically the same cost as that of primary electric transmission for 100 miles, and that hydroelectric power from Norway, through the medium of ferromanganese, is transmitted one-third of the distance around the world at as low a cost as that of primary electric transmission for only 100 miles.
INDUSTRIAIJ A N D ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
October, 1926
C o s t of T r a n s m i t t i n g Power in M a n u f a c t u r e d Products Shipped Distance Mills Statute miles per kw.-hr. From TO Niagara Falls, Buffalo, N. Y. 22 0.14 hT.Y. Geneva, N. Y. 117 0.19 Pittsburgh, Pa. 294 0.31 (195 air line) Albany, X. Y. 306 0.71 h-ew York, 418 0.32 N. Y. (315 air line) Chicago, Ill. 547 0.42 St. Louis, Mo. 741 0.54 St. Paul. Minn. 945 0.7 Denver,'Colo 1565 1.6 San Francisco, 2819 1.7 Calif. (2208 air line)
Table 111-Equivalent
.
,
Material Aluminum
Ferrosilicon
Ferromanganese
Calcium carbide
Fertilizer"
Carborundum
Chlorine
Caustic soda
Niagara Falls, Pittsburgh, Pa. 294 pu-. Y. Chicago, Ill. 547 Birmingham, 949 Ala. Denver, Colo. 1565 San Francisco, Calif. 2819 h-orway
Niagara Falls, N. Y .
0.62 0.98
1.4 2.9
2.3
Baltimore. M d and New ' York, N. Y.4300-4400 New Orleans, 6100 La. San Francisco, Calif. (via Panama Canal) 9900 Pittsburgh, Pa. 4500 Pittsburgh, Pa. 294 NewYork, 418 N . Y. (315 air line) Chicago, Ill. 547 St. Louis, Mo. 741 Birmingham, Ala. 949 New Orleans, La. 1282
1.1 1.5
3.7 1.8
2.2 2.4
3.1 5.7
4.5
0.57
Muscle Shoals, Bessemer, Ala. 149 Ala. Jackson, Miss. 365 Macon, Ga. 393 Alexandria, La. 510 Columbus, 0. 541 Columbia, s. c . 558 Saginaw, i66 Mich. Worcester, Mass. 1211 Niagara Falls, New York, N. Y. N. Y. Chicago, Ill. St. Louis, Mo. Denver, Colo.
1.0
0.5
0.79 0.83
1.09
1.29 1.47
2.58 0.69 0.7 0.95
418 547 741 1565
3.6
h-iagara Falls, New York, N. Y . x. Y. 418 Chicago, Ill. 549 S t . Louis, M o . 741
3.7 4.9
Iiiagara Falls, New York, N. Y. N. Y. 418 Chicago, Ill. 549 St. Louis, Mo. 741
2.5 2.6 3.3
6.1
2.5
Groundwood pulp
Norway
New York, N. Y .
4400
1
"3.1
1 (500-ton lots,
I
Newsprint paper
Rumford, Me. Boston, Mass. New York, N. Y. Shawinigan New York, Falls, Que. N. Y. Pittsburgh Pa. Sault Ste. Ma- Chicago, I;]. rie, Out. St. Louis, Mo. Kansas City, .. Mo.
Cotton piece goods Various south- Purchasing ern points centers
-
dry)
106 1
through the medium of manufactured products means that power from the given centers of production where now used in the manufacture of those Droducts may be considered as having been transmitted witliout loss to such distant points as are given, for the equivalent cost in terms of kilowatt hours shown, and the product itself manufactured a t the point of consumption with the amount of power needed for such manufacture. Conclusion
If we thus look with a broad view upon the question of long-distance power transmission and distribution and include in it, as we should, the transport of what may be called potential power and power utilized in manufactured products, as well as power electrically transmitted. then the transmission of power in its potential form and in its utilized form is accomplished, by the rail and water carriage of fuels and by the freight distribution of many of the manufactured products of the electrochemical and electrometallurgical and textile and wood pulp and paper industries with no loss of power and with a range of distance, of widespread area, of flexibility both in quantity and in frequency of delivery, and with an economy far greater than that of any system of electrical distribution known. The fact should be recognized, in considering projected plans of huge super-power systems and interconnected longdistance transmission lines, that there is the less spectacular but nevertheless more far-reaching and more economical means of power transmission through some of the most important products of industry. Moreoyer, careful thought should be given to the problem, particularly in the industries indicated, of keeping the industry as near as may be practicable to the source of power, rather than to over-expand electric transmission and distribution systems by unnecessarily or unwisely carrying power to the industry. Industries of the character to Tvhich attention has been drawn require power at the lowest practicable cost, and that means, wherever economically feasible, the utilization of power as close as possible to its point of production, unburdened with the expense of transmission lines and the loss of power in them. Such utilization of power not only will save capital expenditure in the cost of such lines and in the expense of distributing power consumed. but will also make available t o the consumer power at the lowest possible cost and thus contribute to a lower cost of living. Xot only the electrochemical and electrometallurgical industries. but the industries dependent upon them need more centers, like Xagara Falls, where hydroelectric power may be cheaply produced and utilized and where the advantages of that cheap power will not be dissipated in the additional cost of tranrmitting the power t o points so distant that the ultimate delivered cost approximates that of steam power.
193
3.2
425
4.0
451 800 498 782
5.2 4.7.
4.0
Calendar of Meetings
949
5.
American Electrochemical Society-Fall Meeting, Washington, D. C.. October 7 to 9. ., 1926. . ~ . American- Gas Association-8th Annual Convention and Exhibition, Atlantic City, N. J., October 11 to 15, 1926. Willard Association of Official Agricultural Chemists-New Hotel, Washington, D. C., October 18 to 21, 1926. Association of Feed Control Officials of the United StatesNew TVillard Hotel, Washington, D. C., October 21 and 22, 1926, American Institute of Chemical Engineers--Winter Meeting, Birmingham, Ala., and Atlanta, Ga., December 6 to 10, 1926. American Chemical Society-73rd Meeting, Richmond, Va., April 12 to 16, 1927. Second National Symposium on Organic Chemistry-Columbus, Ohio, December 29 t o 31, 1927.
300 1500
4.9
3.3 4.5
Urea made by Lidholm cyanamide process, containing 42 per cent of nitrogen.
Of course, the smaller the amount of power consumed per unit of product, the higher will be the cost per equivalent kilowatt hour contained; and for those products in which power is not an important factor the cost of transporting the contained power, computed in this manner, n,ill not show favorable results. I n other words, this conception of the distribution of power
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