in China Addressing a meeting of the Engineering Society of China, at the Royal "Asiatic Society's Hall, on Tuesday on the. subject of standardization and the urgent need of its application to the electric power supply industry in China, Mr. E. A. Mills, assoc., M. INST. C.B., A.M.LEB., A.M.I. MECH, E., said that the industry in this country being in its very early infancy compared with that of most countries presents a unique opportunity for taking advantage of the pioneer work done in-other countries to ensure its development on sound economical lines. Without exception the difficulties to be.met are probably greater in China than in any other country in the world. Her environment has handicapped her development. Having these disadvantages, -and not being primarily an engineering nation, practically all her machinery and electrical apparatus. is imported, consequently uniformity is not the natural tendency, and until standardization is universally adopted by all the manufacturing nations of the world it is essential that those engineers who are responsible for the expansion of the industry m China should guide its progress that the maximum efficiency will always result, and to obtain this it is necessary to take a long view and keep in mind the magnitude to which it may ultimately reach.
1t has been proved both there tically and practically that no advantage is to be obtained by generating either a single or two phase supply in preference to a three phase supply. li for any purpose one of the two first named methods of supply are required these can be readily obtained by transformation from a three phase circuit. There is little excuse for more than one frequency and its value should be either 50 or 60 cycles. Another feature which should be considered is that the cost of apparatus is greatly affected by the multiplicity of parts. This is true not only in first cost but in maintenance cost. Unfortunately, those nations who supply China with electrical machinery have not all adopted the same frequency and the manufacturers will, when possible, recommend the frequency best suited to their own products. As development takes place in China' this duplication will provide an inefficient individualistic state of the electric supply industry and render if a persistent obstacle to a comprehensive handling of the power supply problem and make it impossible to obtain just the advantages which are peculiar to the generation and distribution of electrical energy in regard to the economy of
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.