The Taylor compressor

[Kaleva]

Only 5 of these were ever built and arguably the largest was constructed at Victoria Mi where it still sits close to 400 feet below the surface of the ground.

An ingenious design, a compressor that has no moving parts, the Taylor compressor supplied compressed air to power the local mines operation and even the mine's short line railroad. It was in operation for 15 years till the mine closed down in 1921 but was used again in the early 1930's to supply compressed air in the construction of a conventional dam on the river.

Would such a device, built in a suitable location, be a viable and eco-friendly way to produce compressed air to drive turbines that produce electricity?

[mopinko]

1. dunno why not.

thanks. never heard of it, but so smart.

like mr rogers always said- ya learn something old every day.

[Kaleva]

2. Illustrated description of the Taylor Hydraulic Air Compressor published 1897

https://archive.org/details/IllustratedDescriptionOfTheTaylorHydraulicAirCompressorAndTransmission

[phantom power]

3. pretty neat, but I bet its efficiency is super low

compressing air with bubbles carried along by a flume of water can't be generating much compression per unit energy

[Kaleva]

4. According to this source, his later design had efficiencies of 82%

"The efficiency of the plant at Magog though relatively high was improved on by a better proportioning of the parts and the later plants had efficiencies of 82%, an improvement of 20% over the Magog plant."

http://charleshtaylor.blogspot.com/2009/02/hydraulic-air-compressor-brief-history.html

[Kaleva]

5. A link and illustration for another of Taylor's designs

This system was in operation from 1910 to 1980

http://www.cobalt.ca/ragged-chutes

[caraher]

6. Cool device

It seems like it would be comparable in environmental impact to a hydroelectric plant. I don't think it poses any particular advantages, though, as hydro plants are going to be in the 80-95% efficiency range in producing electricity, which is a more useful form of energy than compressed air - and converting compressed air to electricity would entail further losses.