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PNEUMATIC OPTIONS RESEARCH LIBRARY
2008 CATALOG
Compressed Air Textbooks
Contents
(Click an item to go to
it.)
Compressed Air Haulage, 1st edition, by the H. K. Porter Company,
Builders of Light Locomotives, Steam & Compressed Air. This
trade catalog from the early years of the 20th century is extremely rare
and was very hard to find. Many thanks to the librarian who
stepped forward with a photocopy for us to distribute--probably the only
copy we will ever see. This is the only air car catalog that has
ever been published. Porter's air locomotives were used mainly in
coal mines in the Eastern U.S. Technical details and information
on the advantages of compressed air. Also: I've added a
handwritten essay from a rare books library entitled "A Comparison of
Compressed Air and Electricity as Motive Powers for Mine Haulage," by W.
F. Roberts, 1902. This is a real collector's
item.
Item
#52-05
Compressed Air Haulage, 2nd edition, by the H. K. Porter Company,
Builders of Light Locomotives, Steam & Compressed Air. This
edition covers the two-stage engines based on the patents of Charles W.
Hodges, which increased their range by absorbing ambient heat from the
air surrounding the engine--that's free fuel. This
trade catalog from the early years of the 20th century is extremely rare
and was very hard to find. Many thanks to the great humanitarian
who slaved over a hot scanner to make this full-color facsimile edition
available to the world. This is the only air car catalog that has
ever been published. Porter's air locomotives were used mainly in
coal mines in the Eastern U.S. but this design was taken to Europe
where thousands of air powered locomotives were being used until World
War II apparently destroyed most of them. Technical details and information
on the advantages of compressed air. This is a real collector's
item. A few pages are missing. Because it's in color please
allow a long time for the download.
Item
#53-07
Street Railway Motors, by General Herman Haupt,
C.E. We are proud to present this rare book to the public for the
first time since it was published in 1893. Haupt was the General
in charge of the railroads for the Union army during the civil war, and
he was the first full-time air car advocate. He was instrumental
in all the air trolley projects that were tested on the streets of New
York City. This book compares the relative advantages of air cars
to steam, electric, and others. Little-known properties of
compressed air are exposed for consideration like they haven't been done
before or since.
Item
#51-05
Compressed Air, by Theodore Simons.
From the introduction: “The author’s chief aim was to provide the
student, who is interested in...compressors and air engines, with a
background of understanding that will enable him...to make independent
research into the seemingly unlimited possibilities of compressed
air. The territory still unexplored is vast and full of promises
to the intrepid explorer...the author has endeavored to bring the work
well within the comprehension of the average technical student...”
This book provides detailed mathematical proof that all
compression work is lost as heat.
Item
#21-95
 Compressed
Air, by
Gardner Denver Hiscox. The biggest compressed air textbook ever,
written from the viewpoint of an air engine man and thermodynamicist.
Item #22-95
 A
Practical Treatise on Compressed Air and Pneumatic Machinery,
by Edward A. Rix and
A. E. Chodzko. Rix obtained many patents on compressed air equipment
and founded a company that still makes high-tech pneumatic machinery.
He has been known to add the title “He of the Compressed Wind” to his
signature, and designed pneumatic locomotives that were once used at the
Empire Gold Mine in Grass Valley, California. The sections on air
engines and the theory of compression, expansion and internal (intrinsic)
energy are detailed and understandable. Charts not found in other
books give data for air consumption, power output, and temperature changes
of single- and two-stage air engines with various cut-off ratios.
Item #26-95
Compressed Air Plant,
by Robert Peele.
Peele was a mining engineer, and it was in coal mining that the compressed
air locomotive excelled commercially till World War II. This was the
last textbook ever published that mentioned compressed air locomotives and
offered instruction in the design of efficient air engines. This
book came out during the compound air engine boom when it looked like
compressed air could turn into a gentle giant and quietly provide us all
with a cheap, clean form of energy storage for moving vehicles.
Item #23-95
 Compressed
Air Practice,
by Frank Richards.
I have a copy of this book that the author had autographed and presented
to W. R. Grace, a big industrialist of the olden days, whose company was
featured in John Travolta’s movie A Civil Action. The book
cost me a lot, and I didn’t even know who Grace was at the time, but it
was the only copy I could find. A few weeks after I bought it, I
found the same book in a store for $10. I bought it too.
Item #33-98
Air Compression and Transmission,
by H. J. Thorkelson.
Contains a description of rotary lobe (Roots) blowers, which are rotary
piston compressors as called for in the Leibow patent. Roots blowers
have no rubbing parts, so they’re the most efficient way to positively
displace air with a solid wall of force; though they can’t produce more
than 10-15 psi, they move very large quantities of air in a completely
different way than other devices that move a lot of air fast, and at a
lower energy cost than conventional piston compressors.
Item #24-95
Compressed Air,
by Elmo G. Harris.
From the introduction: “It is the author’s opinion that prerequisite to a
successful study of compressed air is a thorough training in mathematics,
including calculus, and the mathematical sciences, such as physics,
mechanics, hydraulics and thermodynamics. Therefore no attempt has been
made to adapt this volume to the use of the self-made mechanic... Many
phases of the subject are elusive and difficult to see clearly even by the
thoroughly trained; and serious blunders are liable to occur when an
installation is designed by one not well versed in the technicalities of
the subject...the author has prepared this volume for college-bred men,
believing that such only, and only the best of such, should be entrusted
with the designing of compressed-air installations...”
Item #25-95
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