William Le Roy Emmet

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William Le Roy Emmet (born July 10, 1859 in New Rochelle , New York , † September 26, 1941 ) was an American electrical engineer who developed large converters .

Life

William Le Roy Emmet was born into a large family, his mother Julia Pierson Emmet painted, among the sisters were the painters Rosina Emmet Sherwood (1854–1948), Lydia Field Emmet (1866–1952) and Jane de Glehn (1873–1961) . After graduating from the US Naval Academy in 1881, he served in the Navy on the USS Essex until 1883 . He then worked for the United States Illuminating Company until he switched to the Sprague Electric Railway and Motor Company in 1888, for which he installed electric trams in various cities. In 1891 he went to the Edison General Electric Company, where he was a district engineer for Chicago, and after the merger with GE in 1894 moved to the Lighting Department in Schenectady , NY. His (rotating) AC / DC converters were used in aluminum works and trams. He was the lead in the construction of the second largest power plant in Niagara Falls.

After the Spanish-American War, he helped construct steam turbines to replace steam engines.

He developed electric drives for ships such as the USS Jupiter , the later first aircraft carrier in the USA, California , USS Lexington and USS Saratoga with 32,000 to 180,000 hp.

Around 1912 he began developing the mercury vapor turbine (mercury steam turbine).

Awards and memberships

Works

  • The Autobiography of an Engineer ; 1931

literature

  • Willis R. Whitney : William LeRoy Emmet, 1859-1941 . Ed .: National Academy of Sciences (=  Biographical Memoirs . Volume 22 ). Washington, DC 1942, p. 233-250 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Member History: William LeRoy Emmet. American Philosophical Society, accessed July 30, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Emmet, William Le Roy
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American electrical engineer
DATE OF BIRTH July 10, 1859
PLACE OF BIRTH New Rochelle
DATE OF DEATH September 26, 1941