Document 44gywvB4RZZOXZoBamVJ2GQKR

oo STEAMoff operating experience with ' . ,u/iiM EOITOA FtltUARY 195 3 CJTAIUSHfO 18*2 E&tHi------ ------- --------------------- f. & #> f. $} As Battle of the Experts st'; oooool STORY STARTS with Power's publication, last March, of certain radically new thermodynamic theo. v'ries advanced by Neil Bailey, Professor of Mechanical ^.-`Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, N. Y. Bailey challenged accepted theories on both theoretepical and experimental grounds. He said that their logic is An Important element (n succenfol^ high-pressure operation it the BAW' Cyclone Steam Separator, devek oped by BAW Research. This slmpl*;] highly efficient device is typical ofj; the manner in which BAW's progres sive research pushes the science of sleom generation to ever higher.'' levels of economy. j sn(^ they do not *6re* w*th experiment. w-'V/'As was to be expected, the Power article excited wide Y'j^interest among power engineers, but especially among `^tho profcssional experts in thermodynamics--those in in-^'dustry and those in educational institutions. %-Since Professor Bailey's paper was admittedly over t* the heads of most practical power engineers, they stood by f;':*.to watch the show with little comment. On the other hand, Ai;v;tho professional thermodynamieists, almost to a man, were disagreement with Professor Bailey. For those seeking the high steam-cycle.efficiencies obtainable with steam pressures over 2000 psi, BAW offers unparalleled design and operating experience i . . drawing upon o back ground extending over tne last 14 years with units co-serve oyer 10,000,000 kilowatts of generating capacity. The outstanding performance records of the 14 BAW- in stallations already operating in this range have given strong impetus to the present trend toward use of pressures over 2000 psi . . . have resulted hi orders for more than 60 addi tional BAW units with design pressures up to 2700 psi. B&W'i many years of experience in designing and building boilers for economical, high-pressure steam generation, as exemplified in the list on the opposite page, are at your service. To air the conflicting views, a well-attended forum was ^,v-hetd at RPi in April Professor Bailey again presented his theories, which were, in the main, opposed by tho discusstel';?. To sum up without any technicalities, it can be said jv^that this meeting at Troy started and ended in almost comv^-plete disagreement between Professor Bailey on the one ar,d the body.of the profession on the other. jj--,--:`By publishing several discussion letters In August, ?*E,t provided a continuing forum for the debate. Yet, still, there was almost complete disagreement. sF`* Finally came the climax--a paper and discussion at the annual meeting4 of the ASME on December 3. Several hundred highly interested observers and participants crowded the room. The bottle of the thermo experts started at 9 am and terminated (perhaps chiefly from exhaustion and hunger) at 2 pm. Once again it was Professor Bailey against the field. Bailey restated his views and virtually every discusser disagreed. So there the battle rcsta today. The editors of Power, end presumably most power engineers, must leeve the final verdict to history. It is unfortunate that some feelings have been bsdly bruised in this "operation thermo," yet there is a bright side. The events cited show that it is still possible, at least in America, for a professional man of standing to get a full hearing for radically new concepts. In this case Pro fessor Bailey had three platforms. This, too, is significant. Some have suggested that the first announcement of new theories fthould never be made except through the professional society of the specialty under discussion. Rigid application of any such policy would, we feel, be most unfortunate--a dangerous step away from freedom of expression in this country. If the time ever comes when scientific expression must proceed through a single chan nel, those who control that channel will have the power of death over new ideas. That must never happen here. POWER - FEBRUARY m- gfc., ABS UT-----