368 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1913. 



THE RJUKANFOS INSTALLATION. 



The Rjukan installation is situated in Vestfjorddalen, East Tele- 

 marken. The saltpeter factories are situated at Saaheim and the 

 hydroelectric poM^er plant on the Maane River, half a kilometer 

 away. The power installation utilizes part of the well-known 

 " Rjukanfos," and has a working head of some 274 meters and a dis- 

 charge of water of 47 cubic meters per second. The total electrical 

 energy in the power station is about 140,000 horsepower, divided into 

 10 units, each of 14,450 horsepower. Each unit is, however, capable 

 of producing 16,500 horsepower, and they are thus the largest hydro- 

 electric units which have yet been constinicted. The generators give 

 a pressure of 10,000 volts, and the total energy is transferred to the 

 nitrate of lime factory through a transmission line, for the most part 

 made of bare aluminium conductors. 



In the factory some of the furnaces are of the Schonherr construc- 

 tion (of the Badische Anilin und Soda Fabrik), each of 1,000 kilo- 

 watts. They are 23 feet long and require 40,000 cubic feet of air per 

 hour. The other furnaces are of Birkeland-Eyde's construction, each 

 of 3,000 kilowatts. (See pi. 2.) 



The gases from the various furnaces have a temperature of about 

 800° C. when leaving, and they are led through brick-lined iron 

 pipes to the coolers, which are mounted in a separate house. From 

 there the gas goes to the absorption towers. These towers are ar- 

 ranged on the same system as at Notodden, namely, acid absorption 

 for the greater part of the gases and alkali ones for the rest. 



The annual production will amount to 70,000 tons of nitrate of 

 lime and 8,000 tons of nitrite. It will be exported in wooden kegs, 

 exactly as at Notodden. 



Regarding the question of the type of furnace, Mr. Eyde wrote on 

 February 10 last, saying : 



The results now at hand from the trial management are not sufficient to 

 entitle us to judge which of the two systems — the Badische or the Birkeland- 

 Eyde system — is the more profitable one. For the present it may be declared 

 that the proceeds by both systems very likely will turn out to be approximately 

 the same. As you will note, however, from the above-mentioned figures, the 

 Birkeland-Eyde furnaces may be constructed for a considerably greater energy 

 than the other type. 



A second power plant is now under construction at Rjukan, intended for the 

 installation of some 120,000 horsepower, which will likewise be used for the 

 manufacture of nitrate of lime. 



Our company is further constructing a third power installation, Vamma, on 

 the Glommen River, by which will be produced 70,000 horsepower, of which 

 50,000 horsepower will be utilized for tlie manufacture of nitrate of lime. In- 

 cluding the factory at Notodden, we will thus in a short time utilize in all 

 370,000 horsepower for the manufacture of nitrate of lime. 



