| Fig. 73.—Scale 1⁄120. |
| Fig. 74.—Scale 1⁄500. |
§ 60. Professor Fleeming Jenkin’s Constant Flow Valve.—In the modules thus far described constant discharge is obtained by varying the area of the orifice through which the water flows. Professor F. Jenkin has contrived a valve in which a constant pressure head is obtained, so that the orifice need not be varied (Roy. Scot. Society of Arts, 1876). Fig. 75 shows a valve of this kind suitable for a 6-in. water main. The water arriving by the main C passes through an equilibrium valve D into the chamber A, and thence through a sluice O, which can be set for any required area of opening, into the discharging main B. The object of the arrangement is to secure a constant difference of pressure between the chambers A and B, so that a constant discharge flows through the stop valve O. The equilibrium valve D is rigidly connected with a plunger P loosely fitted in a diaphragm, separating A from a chamber B2 connected by a pipe B1 with the discharging main B. Any increase of the difference of pressure in A and B will drive the plunger up and close the equilibrium valve, and conversely a decrease of the difference of pressure will cause the descent of the plunger and open the equilibrium valve wider. Thus a constant difference of pressure is obtained in the chambers A and B. Let ω be the area of the plunger in square feet, p the difference of pressure in the chambers A and B in pounds per square foot, w the weight of the plunger and valve. Then if at any moment pω exceeds w the plunger will rise, and if it is less than w the plunger will descend. Apart from friction, and assuming the valve D to be strictly an equilibrium valve, since ω and w are constant, p must be constant also, and equal to w/ω. By making w small and ω large, the difference of pressure required to ensure the working of the apparatus may be made very small. Valves working with a difference of pressure of 1⁄2 in. of water have been constructed.
| Fig. 75.—Scale 1⁄24. |
VI. STEADY FLOW OF COMPRESSIBLE FLUIDS.
| Fig. 76. |
§ 61. External Work during the Expansion of Air.—If air expands without doing any external work, its temperature remains constant. This result was first experimentally demonstrated by J. P. Joule. It leads to the conclusion that, however air changes its state, the internal work done is proportional to the change of temperature. When, in expanding, air does work against an external resistance, either heat must be supplied or the temperature falls.
To fix the conditions, suppose 1 ℔ of air confined behind a piston of 1 sq. ft. area (fig. 76). Let the initial pressure be p1 and the volume of the air v1, and suppose this to expand to the pressure p2 and volume v2. If p and v are the corresponding pressure and volume at any intermediate point in the expansion, the work done on the piston during the expansion from v to v + dv is pdv, and the whole work during the expansion from v1 to v2, represented by the area abcd, is
∫v2v1 p dv.
Amongst possible cases two may be selected.