Pearl Street Station
| Pearl Street Station | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 |
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| location | |||
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| Coordinates | 40 ° 42 ′ 28 " N , 74 ° 0 ′ 17" W | ||
| country |
 United States
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| Data | |||
| Type | Steam power plant | ||
| Primary energy | Fossil energy | ||
| fuel | coal | ||
| owner | Edison Electric Illuminating Company of New York | ||
| Start of operations | 1882 | ||
| Shutdown | 1895 | ||
| turbine | 6 piston steam engines | ||
| boiler | 4 steam boilers | ||
The Pearl Street Station ( German power plant Pearl Street ) was one of the first power plants in the world and was named after Pearl Street in the New York borough of Manhattan , where it was located. It was built under Thomas Alva Edison and was in operation from 1882 to 1895.
history
On December 17, 1880, Edison founded the Edison Electric Illuminating Company of New York (a direct predecessor of today's Consolidated Edison ). In May 1881 Edison bought the 255 and 257 Pearl Street buildings which were intended for the power plant. In July 1881, the power plant generated electricity for the first time in test operation. The installation of all six generators was completed in August 1882. The power plant finally went into operation on the afternoon of September 4, 1882.
Between September 1882 and January 1890 there was only a three-hour malfunction in the power plant, thus setting a standard for security of supply . A fire destroyed large parts of the power station on January 2, 1890. All but one generator were destroyed. The power supply could be restored after eleven days. After the fire, the power station was rebuilt, but shut down and demolished in 1895.
technology
The power station consisted of four coal -fired steam boilers , the steam of which drove six piston steam engines made by Armington & Sims . Each steam engine in turn drove an electric direct current generator (then known as a "dynamo"), which with an output of around 90 to 100 kilowatts was sufficient to run around 1,100 to 1,200 light bulbs for electricity customers. Due to the heavy weight of the generators of 27 tons each, they were also known as " Jumbo " - after the popular circus elephant Jumbo (* approx. 1860, † 1885). The conversion of coal into electrical energy took place with an efficiency of 2.5%, whereby part of the heat produced was given off in the form of steam to local industrial companies and used to heat apartments in the vicinity.
The power network, which is about 800 m long and operated as a three-wire direct current network, was operated with two times 110 volts, the approx. 100 V was ideal for operating Edison's carbon filament lamps . The DC voltage between the two outer conductors was 220 volts and was intended to drive motors. Since the consumers were supplied directly with low voltage, the maximum distance to the power plant was limited to about half a mile (about 0.8 km). The electrical lines were installed under the road surface as Kruesi pipes , an earlier construction of underground cables . A total of around 24 km to 30 km of Kruesi pipes were laid.
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Carl Sulzberger: Thomas Edison's 1882 Pearl Street Generating Station , last accessed on August 9, 2014.
- ↑ a b Consolidated Edison: a brief history of con edison • electricity , last accessed on August 9, 2014.
- ↑ a b c d e Consolidated Edison: On it 125 years • Pearl Street • Birthplace of the electric age , last accessed on August 9, 2014.
- ^ A b c New York Independent System Operator (NYISO): Bulk Electricity Grid Beginnings , last accessed August 9, 2014.
- ^ Smithsonian Institution: Post World War II "Golden Years" , Powering a Generation of Change , last accessed August 11, 2014.
- ↑ John Kruesi Biography . IEEE Global History Network , accessed August 11, 2014 .