Highland Park Power Plant
“This machine, 82 feet long, 46 feet wide, and weighing 750 tons, is one of nine that powered the Ford Motor Company's Highland Park plant while Model Ts were being manufactured there. Together, the nine machines generated 53,000 horsepower. Each had a gas engine and a steam engine mounted on either side of a 4,000-kW DC generator. The gas engines being more efficient than the steam-driven units but less regular in speed, provided economy and power; the steam engines provided regulation and reliability. At the time the units were installed at Highland Park around 1915, they created quite a stir in engineering circles. They were generally regarded as highly innovative and economical means of supplying industrial power."
Bryan, Ford R., and Sarah Evans. Henry's Attic: Some Fascinating Gifts to Henry Ford and His Museum. Dearborn, MI: Ford, 1995. Print.
Bryan, Ford R., and Sarah Evans. Henry's Attic: Some Fascinating Gifts to Henry Ford and His Museum. Dearborn, MI: Ford, 1995. Print.
A generator is a machine that converts one form of energy into another. In this case, mechanical energy that is produced by the steam and gas engines into electrical energy to power the Ford assembly plant.
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