North Tees A was one of the most advanced power stations in the world when it came into use in 1924. It required reheat on account of the steam pressure being so high. The station was kept in use until 1959. Another important feature was that the electricity it generated was at a frequency of 40 Hz (forty cycles per second). This was the frequency throughout the North East, with the main power stations being on the Tyne and River Tees. The North East was the first place in the country which had a proper network.
The large building on the left of the cross section is the boiler house in which the steam is being generated in Babcock and Wilcox tubular boilers. The firing of the coal appears to be done using chain grate stokers. These look a bit like a moving belt made of sections of cast iron, in which the coal is dumped at the front end. As the coal is carried along the belt it soon catches fire. By the end of the belt, the coal has finished burning and all that is left is ash, which falls down into a water filled pit. The station ran until 1959, although by then it was just kept on standby.
Does anyone know when Teesside switched over to the now standard 50Hz?
Photograph and image courtesy of Fred Starr.
Hi Fred,
The conversion to 50 cycles/sec came in in 1934 to suite the completion of the new National grid. However, ‘A’ Station was linked to I.C.I’s power Station and they supported each other in times of need (peak load etc). It was thus necessary for ‘A’ Station to maintain a 40 cycle/sec facility, which comprised a set of mechanical converters. Because of the interlinking with the grid via the sub station which remains on Haverton Hill Road, the inverters had to remain in operation throughout the life of ‘A’ and ‘B’ Stations. They were something to see, full of sparks whirring round. Out of interest the ‘A’ station operated at 450psi X 700F. Although it used reheat it was not superheated steam. Also Graces Guide to British Industrial Heritage, on the web, has some good photographs of the interior of ‘A’ Station.
Nice to be able to give back a little info for all that you have afforded to us in recent years,
Take care,
Derek
Thanks Derek for the valuable 40Hz info.
Would I be right in thinking that the 40 Hz supply was turned into dc current (via a mercury arc rectifier?) , and then used to drive a dc motor? This could have accounted for the sparks. In turn it would have driven a 50Hz alternator. Or was a quite different method used?
In Dorman Long’s power station, one turbine/alternator set was an American import that ran at 60Hz. The supply went into an ac motor (I think), which then drove a 50 Hz alternator.
The motor/generator combination was used in aircraft at one time and were called rotary converters. The motor was powered from the aircraft battery supply at 28V and the generator could be DC at various voltages or some were AC again at various voltage/frequency combinations. I can’t remember the exact details as it is 50 years since I worked for the Air Ministry. They were eventually replaced by solid-state devices known as static converters.
The shunting loco in the photograph looks as though it is battery electric as I can’t see any overhead wires.
Now you have me Fred! That was in my youth and I and my memory ain’t any more. Mercury arc rectifier does ring a bell (pun). I recall being told that it produced a near square, not sine, wave form. When I was at the place in the early 60’s, ‘A’ Station had been gutted and only a large empty tin building was left.
The loco is definitely battery powered but seems to be of the same sort of design that were used on the Shildon to Newport overhead direct current electricity scheme. Battery powered locos would have been ideal for the North Tees A site, since the difference between day to night electricity consumption was very high at that time, so charging the locos would have increased the night time demand.
I wonder if Derek Wade’s point about the square wave form from mercury arc rectifiers might explain the sparking which he saw on the dc motor. But I sympathise with Derek. The half remembered technology I saw in my youth, and only now recognise how ground breaking it was when it was introduced!
About 1933, according to:
http://www.bpears.org.uk/Misc/Eighty_Years/#t14