Most people, and not a few electricians, will think that very long and noisy sparks are indicative of great energy, which is far from being the case. An impressive display of this kind, at several million volts, can be readily obtained with any wide leather or fabric belt in dry weather. The only requirement is that the outward surfaces of the highly charged capacity elements be arranged along an ideal boundary everywhere of small curvature. But the electrical energy is trifling and this applies to all electrostatic generators which have been proposed, irrespective of size.

One does not need be an expert to understand that a device of this kind is not a producer of electricity, like a dynamo, but merely a receiver or collector with amplifying qualities. All its energy is derived from electricity which is generated through friction or supplied by the sprayer and pumped into the terminals by the belts. If the columns were as tall as the Empire State Building and the spheres 500 feet in diameter the monstrous machine could not have any more energy than is supplied to it by the electrified belts and no matter how much improved, this type is fatally doomed to small output and low efficiency on account of the existing limitations and the wastefulness of the process of conveying the charges from their sources to the terminals.

As the writers of articles regarding the “Colossus” confine themselves to extolling its size, voltage and possibilities, but give little hint regarding its mode of operation and power performance, I shall endeavor to advance the needed knowledge. With this object let it be assumed that the spheres are placed at a distance of 55 feet from center to center and that the potential difference between them is 10,000,000 volts. Ordinarily, the electric capacity of such a sphere is equal to its radius, namely 225 centimeters, but as before explained, 16 percent should be added to this, making 261 centimeters equivalent to 0.00029 microfarad. Consequently, when the regime is established, each sphere being at a potential of 5,000,000 volts, the electricity stored on each will be 0.00145 coulomb. If this quantity were supplied every second, the current would be 0.00145 ampere. An incandescent lamp of 25 watts requires a current 150 times more intense.

Looking up through one of the insulating columns of the Van de Graaff generator, showing the endless paper belt

In estimating the amount of electricity furnished to each terminal per second, only the sprayer need be considered as it supplies much more than could be generated by friction of the belts. The device used has not been clearly described but it is sufficient for the purpose of this dissertation to know that it operates at 20,000 volts and energizes, through rows of points, the two belts which are said to be four feet, or 120 centimeters, wide. Assuming that they are run at a speed of 100 feet or 3000 centimeters per second, the area covered in this time interval would be 120 x 3000 = 360,000 square centimeters. If it were possible to charge the belts uniformly to a surface density anything like that existing on an electrified particle, the output of the machine would be very great. But this can never be realized. The following approximate estimate will show what may be reasonably expected.

The discharge of electricity from points has been extensively investigated and from the data available and my own observations I find that the current through each point at 20,000 volts will be about 0.0001655 ampere. No advantage would be gained by a very close spacing of the points on account of their mutual reaction but I shall make allowance for as great a number as seems practicable, say, 200, in which case the integral current would be 200 x 0.0001655 = 0.0331 ampere.

Now, electricity is transferred from the points to the belt by minute bodily carriers - the molecules of the air. When such an electrified particle comes in contact with a large conducting body it gives up almost all of its charge to the same, but to an insulator, as the belt, it can impart only a very small portion owing to the strong repulsion between the charge deposited and that remaining on the particle. From theoretical considerations it appears that the part usefully applicable will, in all probability, not exceed 1/150 of the whole charge on any particle thrown against the belt. The current from the sprayer is 0.0331 ampere, that is to say, it conveys a total charge of 0.0331 coulomb per second and of this the belt will carry off only 0.00022 coulomb equivalent to a current of 0.00022 ampere. This means that 99.33 percent of the energy supplied by the sprayer is lost, and illustrates the appalling inefficiency of this method of electrification.

As will be seen, the device delivers to each belt energy at the insignificant rate of 4.4 watts and is, therefore, virtually of no effect on the power output of the machine except that it imposes a limit to the same. This is important to remember in view of the general impression created by the earlier reports that all the energy is drawn from the sprayer. Since the quantity of electricity stored on the spheres remains constant it is evident that the overflow current between them under normal working conditions must be 0.00022 ampere so that at the potential difference of 10,000,000 volts the machine should develop 2200 watts.

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TCBA News Volume 5 - Issue 2 - Page 14