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 Nature Produces Compressed Air History At Ragged Chute, 16 km southeast of Cobalt on the Montreal River, stands the world's only water-powered compressed air plant. Built in 1910, at the peak of the Cobalt silver boom, Ragged Chute Compressed Air Plant transmits air-power to the local mining industry. Compressed air, rather than electricity, is the main power source used by heavy mining equipment such as drilling machines, grinders and hoists. Today, though, most mines purchase electricity to run their own air compressors.  The late Charles H. Taylor invented the hydraulic air compressor while living in Montreal. One spring he observed the movement of the Ottawa River and, as water flowed over a dam and under the ice, noticed that peculiar domes rose from the surface of the ice. When they were pierced, compressed air escaped.To Taylor's creative mind, the explanation was simple - when a mixture of air and water is compressed, the air separates and rises. The air compresses, and not the water, because the molecules in a liquid are already very close together and, therefore, are almost impossible to compress. Using this principle, Taylor determined that an efficient method to harness hydraulic air-compression would be to drop the air-water mixture through a shaft to an underground chamber. He designed the chamber in such a way as to allow the water to flow through, and at the same time cause the air to compress. In the course of his experiments, Taylor discovered that the air pressure and horsepower created could be increased or decreased by altering the length and diameter of the intake shaft, and by changing the volume of water entering the works. Since it was built in 1910, Ragged Chute has practically run itself. While under construction, in the early years of this century, a community of workers did live on the site. |