Hydrautomat

There is Installed in an office In Washington, U.S.A., a working model of what is described as one of the world’s greatest engineering devices. It Is called the hydrautomat and is literally a water-self-worker, which makes it possible for flowing water to raise itself from one level to another. Many engineers assort that the invention “will solve the great problems of providing a continuous water supply for arid areas, and Sir Oliver Lodge says of the hydrautomat: “I can only express my admiration of the simplicity and beauty of the invention, and my wonder that humanity has had to wait so long for the construction of an arrangement which must prove of the greatest service.”

The inventor is Mr. Thomas Gaskell Allen, a well-known London hydraulic engineer. The invention attracted tho attention of the United States Government Department of Weights and Measures, and it was at the request of that department that Mr. Allon set up the working model in Washington. The model is only three feet in diameter and eight feet in height, but it is capable, on actual working experiment, of raising more than 70,000 gallons of water daily. Mr. Francis Arnold Collins describes the working of the model in the “St. Nicholas” magazine (an American publication) for June. He states that by means of the hydrautomat water is raised automatically to any desired level, silently and efficiently. A stream whose head or flow is so sluggish that it cannot be used in any other way can thus be utilised. The contrivance is self-contained, and, once set up beside a stream or within reach of running water, will operate without attention. It is really an engine in which the force of the running water and the pressure of the air work alternately to develop power without the assistance of human hands.

The stream from which the power is derived empties into an open intake tank located 7.5 feet above the lowest level of the device. Thus there is an available fall of 7.5 feet from the upper level of the stream, which may be termed the head race, to the lower level, or tail race. Half-way between the upper and lower levels is an air-tight operating chamber, supplied with an intake pipe from the head race, and a discharge pipe to the tail race. Above the upper water level is the alternating series of closed and open tanks. These tanks are interconnected by pipes. In addition, the closed tanks are coupled to the operating chamber by an air pipe.

Operation of the “water stairway” is confined to two strokes — a pressure stroke followed by a suction stroke. The pressure is created by the water column flowing from tho open supply basin just below the level of the head race into the air-tight operating chamber.

The effect of this water flow is to compress the air in the operating chamber and to force it upward through the air pipe into the two closed and water filled tanks. Immediately the water in these tanks, lifted there by the preceding stroke, is forced upward into the two open tanks above them.

Thus, at the end of the pressure stroke, the operating chamber and the two open tanks are full of water, while the two closed tanks are full of air. In the suction stroke the contents of the operating chamber, are discharged downward into the tall race, or discharge pipe, through a syphon, and at the same time the inlet from the head race into the operating chamber is automatically closed. This is accomplished by a valve actuated by the rush of water out of the discharge pipe. In the operating chamber is thus produced a vacuum that also extends to the two closed tanks, by virtue of the connecting pipe.

The result of this vacuum is that it sucks up the water “one flight” from the corresponding open tank below. Thus, at the end of the suction stroke, the open tanks are empty of water and tho closed tanks are full. The valve in the head race inlet then opens automatically, pressure water is admitted into the operating chamber, a new pressure stroke starts, and the cycle is repeated.

During his recent visit to America Mr. Allen explained to Mr. Collins the great service the hydrautomat promises to perform the world over. “The hydrautomat,” he said, “simply harnesses a great force of nature which we have allowed in the past to go to waste. Men have been watching the movements of water on the earth for untold centuries, and accepting this great waste as a matter of course. The water is raised by the power of the sun and deposited in the form of snow or rain over the earth, and gradually flows back to the sea. The power which thus goes to waste is enormous.

“The ancients studied this problem and speculated upon it a great deal. Archimedes hit upon a highly ingenious device for raising water above its own level, and his method is still employed, but he did not solve the problem. It is obvious, of course, that this enormous store of energy has lain idle all these centuries. Take a familiar example it is estimated that in so small a stream as the River Thames some 700,000 gallons of water pass a given point every day, even in the dry season, all going to waste. A series  of hydrautomats tapping this source could pump water to any part of London. Every city which lies beside a flowing river neglects a similar opportunity.

“Throughout the world today there are millions of acres of land which only need water to become highly productive. Millions of people could find beautiful and prosperous homes on what is now waste land if only the water supply can be solved. In most instances these arid regions, even the great deserts, could be transformed if water in the general vicinity could be raised only a few feet.

“The hydrautomat must not be confused with the turbine. It merely raises water to a higher level, while the turbine catches -falling water, so to speak, and transforms its energy into electricity. The hydrautomat, however, can first raise water which, when released, will pass through turbines and develop power and electricity, which can be carried for long distances. Many engineers are confident that the hydrautomat can be used to utilise the power of the tides, thus tapping practically a limitless source of energy.