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![]() The testing flume as seen from Race Street, circa 1895 | |
Established | 1870 |
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Research type | Industrial |
Field of research | Hydraulic engineering |
Director |
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Address | 102 Cabot Street |
Location | Holyoke, Massachusetts, U.S. 42°11′58″N 72°36′35″W / 42.199580°N 72.609826°W |
Campus | Holyoke Canal System |
Affiliations | Holyoke Water Power Company |
Map | |
The Holyoke Testing Flume was a hydraulic testing laboratory and apparatus operated by the Holyoke Water Power Company from 1870 to 1932, used to test water turbines, completing 3,176 tests of efficiency during its use.[3]: 100 It was described by Robert E. Horton in court testimony as the only facility of its kind in the 19th and early 20th century, which made it possible for the standardization of American turbine designs.[4] Indeed Clemens Herschel, who managed the facility in the 1880s and designed its second experimental setup later described it in Congressional testimony as the "first modern hydraulic laboratory" in the United States and the world. It was through Herschel's need to determine the water power consumption of different mills from this testing system that he would invent the Venturi meter, the first accurate means of measuring large-scale flows, which still retains widespread use in modern technology today.[5] https://uh.edu/engines/epi2041.htm
Venturi meter experiments http://storage.lib.uchicago.edu/pres/2015/pres2015-0705-03.pdf
Research programs
editIn a 1906 report the research mission for the facility was described as threefold:[6]
1. The testing of all wheels installed in conjunction with the water power at Holyoke, in order that their discharge capacity may be determined and used as a means of estimating the quantity of water taken by the several mills.
2. The testing of experimental wheels with a view to their improvement.
3. [The t]esting of standard patterns of American type turbines which are to be installed in new plants.
https://www.google.com/books/edition/THE_ENCYCLOPEDIA_AMERICANA/4hbhBsRAOAoC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22John+B.+McCormick%22+turbine&pg=PA28-IA3&printsec=frontcover
John B. McCormick: Pathfinder for a new age in water turbines
https://books.google.com/books?id=EAVCCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA2330&lpg=PA2330&dq=%22McCormick%22+%22Hercules+turbine%22&source=bl&ots=HMs93NAXAx&sig=ACfU3U2rV11i69VYfu94Sb_HD5kpckbmbA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjR2cuG5IjqAhUr06YKHcwfC7IQ6AEwEHoECAgQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22McCormick%22%20%22Hercules%20turbine%22&f=false
https://www.asme.org/about-asme/engineering-history/landmarks/129-holyoke-water-power-system
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Proceedings_of_the_American_Society_of_C/pbMSAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22John+B.+McCormick%22+turbine+%22mixed+flow%22&pg=RA2-PA781&printsec=frontcover https://archive.org/details/americanmixedflo00amer/page/1264/mode/2up?q=%22Hercules%22+%22McCormick%22+Holyoke https://www.google.com/books/edition/Transactions_of_the_American_Society_of/7HFDAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22John+B.+McCormick%22+turbine+%22mixed+flow%22&pg=PA1333&printsec=frontcover
History
editEmerson's predecessors
editThe origins of the Holyoke Water Power Company's testing flume and its subsequent success are inextricably linked with the industrial progress that preceded Holyoke in the history of Lowell, Massachusetts. In 1868, a testing flume was constructed by one Asa M. Swain to the specifications of noted-turbine engineer James B. Francis. Initially this flume was designed to test the designs of the Swain Turbine Company with James B. Emerson, a former ship captain and self-taught civil engineer, commissioned to construct a Prony brake dynamometer for it and oversee efficiency experiments. Following its initial success however, the flume was opened to the public with Emerson operating it as a personal endeavor, furnishing funds for the use of Lowell water in its experiments.[7]: 24 Among the first tests conducted thereafter were a series of competitive trials to find designs with the greatest efficiency, with the Swain and Leffel wheels attaining the best results. Though Emerson would later discount the figures these tests generated, upon hearing the initial success of the competition, he was contacted a Mr. Stewart Chase, agent for the Holyoke Water Power Company, who wrote:[8]
The testing of turbines is the only way to perfection, and that is a matter of great importance. Move your work to Holyoke and use all the water that is necessary for the purpose, and welcome, free of charge.
Initially pur
Emerson common link
https://archive.org/details/continuingrevolu00weib?q=%22holyoke+testing%22
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Milling/fF8-AQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22John+McCormick%22+Turbine&pg=PA10&printsec=frontcover https://archive.org/details/congressionalse49offigoog/page/n86/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/waterpowerengine00meaduoft/page/340/mode/2up https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_W._Mead https://www.google.com/books/edition/Scientific_American/AXgPAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=&pg=RA6-PP6 https://books.google.com/books?id=17sPAAAAIAAJ&pg=RA3-PA24&lpg=RA3-PA24&dq=holyoke+testing+flume+address&source=bl&ots=fJJr7dgxfO&sig=ACfU3U02D1mch195w_uLtPqRSVw_wXO7ng&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiB-8manInqAhW0wcQBHTjDBlkQ6AEwA3oECAcQAQ#v=onepage&q=holyoke%20testing%20flume%20address&f=false https://www.jstor.org/stable/3103112?seq=1 https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=umn.319510008694387&view=1up&seq=239 https://valleyadvocate.com/2009/06/04/water-power-to-the-people-of-holyoke/ https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Engineering_Record_Building_Record_a/S-M1AQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22holyoke+testing+flume%22&pg=PA321&printsec=frontcover https://www.google.com/books/edition/Transactions_of_the_International_Engine/WcZBAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22holyoke+testing+flume%22&pg=PA476&printsec=frontcover
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Modern_Machinery/hJ_mAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=&pg=PA520
https://books.google.com/books?id=WfFHAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA381
Hecules in UK https://books.google.com/books?id=Q-5-AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA231
competition, obsolescence https://www.google.com/books/edition/Engineering_News_record/Ir8cAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Holyoke+turbine+flume&pg=RA2-PA512&printsec=frontcover
https://archive.org/details/journalofbostons19141bost/page/n17
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Waterpower_in_Lowell/FBFViPDH0lQC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=the+flume+in+Holyoke&pg=PA131&printsec=frontcover https://www.google.com/books/edition/Technology_in_America/Dod0DwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=the+flume+in+Holyoke&pg=PA99&printsec=frontcover
man and water meaning of first mixed flow https://archive.org/details/manwaterhistory00smit/page/180/mode/2up?q=%22holyoke+test+flume%22
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89081530974&view=1up&seq=178
Scotland Engineers
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3027353&view=1up&seq=84
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3027354&view=1up&seq=171
France Engineers https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5476977d/f431.image.r=%22Holyoke%20Testing%22?rk=64378;0 https://books.google.com/books?id=a0HoAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA294 https://books.google.com/books?id=T8cJAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA49 https://books.google.com/books?id=UJjmAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA54 https://www.shf-lhb.org/articles/lhb/pdf/1913/09/lhb1913061.pdf (p 290) https://books.google.com/books?id=pbP8c6rrc84C&pg=PA111 https://books.google.com/books?id=G-hEAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA71 https://books.google.com/books?id=pO3NAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA295 https://www.shf-lhb.org/articles/lhb/pdf/1904/01/lhb1904003.pdf
deux noms en français - "station d'essais de Holyoke" "huche d'essais de Holyoke" also "d'Holyoke" common
Italy Engineers https://books.google.com/books?id=tB9e0rpdUmwC&pg=PA261
Germany Engineers https://www.google.com/books/edition/Zeitschrift_des_Vereines_Deutscher_Ingen/0As-AQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22die+turbine%22+Holyoke&pg=PA845&printsec=frontcover https://www.google.com/books/edition/Die_Francis_Turbinen_und_die_Entwicklung/xfNEAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22turbinen%22%20Holyoke&pg=PA294&printsec=frontcover&bsq= https://www.google.com/books/edition/Zeitschrift_des_Vereines_Deutscher_Ingen/R8RLAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22turbinen%22+Holyoke&pg=PA149&printsec=frontcover https://www.google.com/books/edition/Die_Turbinen_Versuchsstationen_und_die_W/fmGCBwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22turbinen%22+Holyoke&pg=PA11&printsec=frontcover https://www.google.com/books/edition/Fortschritte_der_Elektrotechnik/tlk3AQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=&pg=PA656&printsec=frontcover
"turbinen prufungsanstalt in Holyoke" "Versuchsstation in Holyoke" "Prüfstation in Holyoke"
note controversy between American and European tests https://archive.org/details/gri_33125015157650/page/n565/mode/2up?q=%22holyoke+testing+flume%22
Models tested
editLegacy
editIn recent years Holyoke Gas & Electric has sought to capitalize on this testing legacy. In 2018 it was announced that local Framingham based turbine designer PDI, Inc., had received a grant to manufacture a new turbine wheel type with the city's Cofab Engineering firm, testing said prototype in one of the Canal locks as part of HG&E's Clean Energy Test Bed Initiative.[9]
https://archive.org/details/originsofturboje0000cons?q=%22Holyoke+Testing+Flume%22 Although the flume itself and its mechanical components were defunct by 1932, since [] the Holyoke Gas & Electric Company has maintained the original building which housed the laboratory as an electrical substation, serving the city's ratepayers with hydropower and other renewable-sourced electricity.[10] Francis turbine improv'ts https://archive.org/details/nutsboltsofpasth00hawk/page/198/mode/2up?q=%22holyoke+testing+flume%22
Successors
editDespite eventual obsolescence of this type of flume, others continued https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alden_Research_Laboratory built on concept, still active, continued innovation. note the Venturi meter same Alden? https://books.google.com/books?id=L8JHAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA754
https://books.google.com/books?id=wbEA6jZQEWQC&pg=PA5656
use in SCOTUS https://www.google.com/books/edition/Reports_of_cases_decided_in_the_Supreme/9EwyAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq="flume+at+Holyoke"+turbines&pg=PA211&printsec=frontcover
Did James B. Francis, who did work on the Lowell system, develop his weir formula at Holyoke? https://www.usbr.gov/tsc/techreferences/hydraulics_lab/pubs/EM/EM20.pdf
Still used after argument was made that it was outmoded https://www.google.com/books/edition/Engineering_News_record/zzUxAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Francis+formula%22+weir+Holyoke&pg=PA466&printsec=frontcover
HWPCo among first in MA to collect stream flow data
https://cdn.ioos.noaa.gov/attachments/2018/09/History-of-WRB-USGS-compressed.pdf
See also
editNotes
editReferences
edit- ^ Hydraulic Power Company of Niagara Falls v. Pettebone - Cataract Paper Company. Supreme Court of the State of New York. 1915. p. 125.
[Mr. Franchot to Albert F. Sickman:] Q. Are you the chief hydraulic engineer in charge of the Holyoke Water Power Company's work at Holyoke, Mass.?
Mr. Marshall: I object to that conclusion. Counsel is trying to put in his mount a certain loud sounding title which he does not possess...
[Mr. Franchot] Q. The question is, what are you?
[Sickman] A. Hydraulic Engineer in charge of the Holyoke Water Power Company's hydraulic work. - ^ Herschel, Clemens (1916). "Twenty Years' Run-Off, at Holyoke, Mass., of the Connecticut River". Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers: 28.
While Hydraulic Engineer of the Holyoke Water Power Company, 1879–1889, the writer instituted a system of keeping a daily record of the discharge of the Connecticut River at Holyoke, which was continued after his departure, by his old-time assistant and successor, A. F. Sickman...
- "Club and Personal Affairs at Holyoke". Springfield Republican. September 20, 1925. p. 5.
Mr. and Mrs. A. F. Sickman of Lincoln street are home from Montreal where they attended the convention of the New England Water Works association which was held in that city
- "Collection of Ferns is Given to Museum". Springfield Republican. Springfield, Mass. December 5, 1927. p. 9.
Mr. Sickman was a great nature lover...during the last days of his life he paid particular attention to the collection of wild ferns.
- "Club and Personal Affairs at Holyoke". Springfield Republican. September 20, 1925. p. 5.
- ^ Barrett, Robert E. The History of the Holyoke Water Power Company; A Subsidiary of Northeast Utilities, 1859-1967 (PDF). Holyoke, Mass. – via Holyoke Gas & Electric.
- ^ https://www.google.com/books/edition/New_York_Court_of_Appeals_Records_and_Br/rJenRyCYxl0C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22E.+Horton%22+Holyoke&pg=PA619&printsec=frontcover
- ^ https://books.google.com/books?id=3gPcq-OZ2xsC&pg=RA1-PA59&lpg=RA1-PA59&dq=%22Holyoke+testing+flume%22+closed&source=bl&ots=LrI-2tGJQF&sig=ACfU3U0EGJRbOFd1IGdigJ_wodo3taN2RQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj9hdHEr4nqAhUHnxQKHQ3RD4wQ6AEwBXoECAcQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22Holyoke%20testing%20flume%22%20closed&f=false
- ^ https://archive.org/details/congressionalse49offigoog/page/n86/mode/2up
- ^ Horton, Robert E. (1906). Turbine Water-Wheel Tests and Power Tables. Washington, D.C.: United States Geological Survey (USGS); Government Printing Office.
- ^ Mead, Daniel Webster (1908). Water Power Engineering: The Theory, Investigation, and Development of Water Powers. New York: McGraw Publishing Co. pp. 361–370.
- ^ "Massachusetts Awards PDI Grant to Test, Prototype and Deploy New Blade Design in Holyoke". PDI. September 26, 2018.
HG&E, a municipal utility in Holyoke, Massachusetts, will work with Alden Labs in Holden, Massachusetts to conduct a velocity analysis of the Holyoke canal system and Hadley Falls Station tail race. This data will be used to develop a hydro system model that allows for analyses relative to projected hydrokinetic turbine performance. This model is an additional step in HG&E's ongoing initiative to establish the Holyoke Canal System as a test bed for hydrokinetic demonstrations, with the long-term goal being commercial hydrokinetic development in existing hydroelectric station tailraces.
- ^ Lotspeich, Charlie (June 4, 2009). "Water Power to the People of Holyoke". The Advocate. Northampton, Mass.: H.S. Gere & Sons, Inc.
External links
edit- #129 Holyoke Water Power System, Engineering History Landmarks, American Society of Mechanical Engineers
- No. 1041: James B. Emerson, Engines of Our Ingenuity, University of Houston's College of Engineering