10 15 20 35 ge _may be still further improved 4s UnitTep STATES NIKOLA, TESLA, PATENT OFFICE. OF NEW YORK, N. Y. METHOD OF INSULATING ELECTRIG CONDUCTORS. SPECIFICATION forming part of Reismued Letters Patent No. 11,865 Original Ho, 065,806, dsted August 14, 1900. Applloatina fur relerse i}ed Beptemvee 21, 1900, To all wham it may concern: ‘Beitknown that I, NTKOLA TESLA, citizen of the United States, residiog in the borough of Manbattag, in the city, county, and State of New York, bave Invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of Inst ing Electric Conductors, of which the follow- ing is a specification, reference belng had to the | drawings. Tt has long been known that:many sab- atanees which are more or less conducting when in the fluid condition hecome insola- tare when solidified. Thus water, which is in amensure conducting, acquires insulating ‘properties when converted into ice, ‘The ex- isting information on thia subject, however, ‘has been heretofore of a general natare only. and chiefly derived from the original observa- tions of Faraday, who estimated thatthe sub- stances upon which he experimented, suc ‘a8 water and aqueous solutions, insulate an electrically-charged conductor about one hun- dred times better when rendered solid by freezing, and no attempt bas been made to improvethe quality of the insulation obtained. hy this means or to practically utilize it for such purposes asare contemplated {n my pres- ent invention. Ic the.conrse of my‘own in- Vextigations, more especially those of the elec- tric properties of ice, Thave discovered some novel and important facts, of which the more prominent are the following: first, thatunder certain conditions, when the leakage of the electric charge ordinarily taking place ¥a rig- orons!y prevented, ice proves iteelf to bes much better inaulator than has heretofore ap- peared; second, that its Insulating properties “by the addi- ‘ton of other bodies to the water; third, that the dielectric strength of ice or other frozen. nqueous substance increases with the reduo- tion. of temperature and corresponding {n- crease of hardness, and, fourth, that these bodies afford a util! more ‘effective insulation for conductors carrying intermittent or altor- nating currents, particularly of ‘bigh rates, ' surprixingly-thin Nayera ‘of ice being capable of withstandingelectromnotive forces of many hundreds and even thousandsof volts. These ‘and other observations have led me to the In- vention of a novel method of insulating con- ductors, rendered practicable by reason t- | maintatoing ‘ofthe | dated October 28, 1900, Seria! Wo. 90,722, above faite and advantageous in the utiliza. tion of energy for industrial and commercial purposes. ‘This method consists in insulating an elec- tric conduetor by freesing or solidifying and fn auch state the material sur Founding or contignous to the conductor, asing for the purpose 8 us cooling agent 60 Creuiating through ove or moresultablectian~ nels extending through or Iu proximity to the said materia). Td the practical carry! 1 may employ a hollow conduotor and past the cooling agent throngh the same, ‘thus freezing the water or other medium ‘iu con- ‘tact with or close to auch conductor, or Imay hase expressly for the elrealation of the ooo! ing agentan inde jent chasinel and freeze or solidify the it aubatande in which 55 agout of my method wh | any number of condactors may be embediled. ‘The condactors may be ‘bare or covered with some «material which is espable of keéping them insulated when {t {x frozen or solidified. 75 The frozen mass way be im direct touch with the sntrounding medium, or it may bein s de- gree ‘from contact with the same by z inelosure more or ees impor tof heat. ‘he cooling agent may be #1 KAS, 18 wae eta Sie oxygen, oxrbonlc acid, >- monia, illuminating-gas, orhydrogen. Itmay be foreed throngh the channel by re oF s used, being driven back and forth.or stendlly ciroulateg 1a cloned pats ‘underany suitable conditions a5 preest perature, and velocity. reas ‘To conduce to # better understanding of 9° the invention, reference is now made to the aying drawings; in which— Tigures 1, 8,8, 7, 8, and 9 illustrate in lon- gitadinal ‘section typical ways of carrying out fay invention; aad Figs. %, 4, * and 10, in 95 section, or partly so, constructive details to be bed. in Fig. T, C th a hollow condactor, sach-as acteel tube, latd ina body of ‘water and com- ‘aunicating with # reservoir r’, bat eleviric- 200 ally insalsted from the same atj. A or: ‘compressor p,of ‘any suitable construction, chnuecte 7 with another aimllar tank 1°; pro- vided. withaninlet-valvec! Theairorother2 11,866 which ia used as,the cooling agent entor- ing throngh the valyov* is drawn through the tank rand puwpp into the reservoir’, encap- ing thence through ‘the ‘conductor. O-wnder any desired pressnre which may be regulated hy a valve’. Both the reservoira r’ and 7° are kept at a low temperature hy suitable weans, as by coils or tubes’? ¢’ aud # B, through which any kind of refrigerating Said 20° may be clreulated, some provision being pref- erably made for adjusting the flow of the name, as by valves.o’.:. Tho gas continuonsly ing through the tube or conductor C be- Toevery cold will freeze and maintainin this 15 state the water in contact with or adjacent to the eonduotor and. ao-insulate it, Flanged bushings¢ #, of non-conducting materialmay ‘be ‘used to prevent. the leakage of the current which would otherwise occur, owing to the so‘formation of a superfidial film of molsture over the ice: projecting out of the water. .. The tube being kept insulated by this means inay eno inthe. mariner of an oral nary tel ner cable by con! a5 ingeither or both'of: the: ‘forminals &° Bina ”” eirouitAncluding the earth. =, It;tany cases. ir-Will, be, of advantage to “cover, the hollow couductor with athickilayer of) noms cheap material, as felt, this-beiig in- 6: dioated: by O* in Fig.-2. . ‘Buch’ a covering, palietinble by water, would be ordinarily of tle of-tio nse; but’ wheit embedded in the fee It ip proves. the inaulatixig qualities of the ‘annie. Jn this instance it farthermore serves "to greatly'redaoe the quantity of ice required, ‘Tite rate.of melting, “trom the outside, thas diminishing the e = penditure of energy necessary for the mai terianoe of it workfag conditions. As regards this energy and other:particulars of ‘inaportanee they will: vary.according to the ‘apeoial demands in each ease: ‘:., Generally considered, the cooling agent will Lave to carry away beat ata rate eu: o keep the conductor at the desired tempera jure and to maintain'a layer of the required ‘Shickbess of the substance surrounding {tin _-_/ & frozen state, compensating continually for ~. the heat owing in throngh the layer aud wall §¢.of the conductor and ‘that. generated by mo- =-; “Ghanical and electrical friction. - To meet these conditions, its cooling capacity, which . ,. da depenident on’ the. temperatare, density, ‘velocity, and specific heat, will be calculated $8 by the holp of data and formule. fawiliar to ‘guytneers: Alr will bé, as #:role, suitable. ‘for: the ase contemplated; but in exceptional instances nome other Bas, as: hydrogen, may Aue ‘Yesorted to, which will permit a macl 66. ‘grBator rate of cooling and a lower tempera- bake. td be reached. ~ Obviously whichever :_trbllow eonductor’or channel be thoroughly ._ “ideled''and separated from-all whieh by con- ‘6s densation ‘and deposition-or otherwise might _‘cause'an obstruction to its passage. For ‘thene' purposes ‘apparatus may be employed. “: then be employed as and the inflax of heat | tai ficient | this kind is {lustrated {n Fig. 3, in ‘ebicl c to the onteide through the tube wand satab- lishes which ia well known and which it is unneo: to show in detail. Instead ‘of being wasted at the distant sta- 7< tion the eooling agent may be turned tosome profitable use.” Evidently In the industrial ‘and commereial exploitation of my invention any kind of cooling agent capable of meeting ‘the reqiiirements may be conveyed from one ‘to another station and there utilized for re- frigeration, power, heating, lighting, sanita- tion, chemical processes, or avy other put- ‘pore to which it may-lend itself, and thus the revenue of the plant may be incrensed. . As to the temperature. of the conductor, it will be determined by the nature of its use and considerations of economy. Forinstance, if itbe employed for the transmission of tele- [wate messages, when the loss in electrical friction may be of no consequence, a very low temperature way not be required; but if it be osed for transmitting large amounts of electrical etiergy, wher the frictional waste - may be a serious drawhack, ir will be desir- able to keep it axtremely cold. The attal; ment of this object will be facilitated by any provision for reducing aa much as possible the flowing in of the heat from thesurround ing medium. Cléarly the lower the tempera- 95 tare of the conductor the smaller will be the ‘oes in electrical frietion; but, on the other hand, the colder the eondnetor the greater will be the infiax of ‘heat from the outside and the cost of cooling agent. From auch and simflar considerations the temperature securing ‘the highest coonomy will be ascer- nr : : Most frequently in the distribation of elec- tricity for industrial purposes, as in my sys- tem of power transmission by alternate cur-. renta, more than one conductor will be re- aired, and in such eases it may be conven- ont tovtrealate the cooling agent in a closed path formed by A plan of conductors and O represeat two hollow oonduetors em- bedded in # frozen mass undergroand and communicatii ively; with the reser- ‘yoirs B’ and B’, which are connected by a ciprocating or ther snltable palnp P. Cool- ing coils or tubes TY I’ and T* T?, vega: lating-valves o'-v" are émployed, which are- |: aint to and serve the same purpose a those shown in Fig. 1.° Other fentnres of ‘similarity, ‘thongh ‘unnecessary, are. illusy., trated to facilitate an understanding of the ‘plan. A three-way. valve V? is provided, which when placed with its lever:1 ‘as Indi- . cated allows the cooling agent: to enter through the tubes u’ w* and pamp P, thi filling the reservoira 2’ R? and hollow oon: | ductors O' O*; but when turned ninety de- grees the valve-shute aff the comyaunteation 13¢ ii & connection berweon the reservuir R* * and pomp. P through the tubes u* and u, thus itting the cooling agent to be alreniated in the closed path C’ C* R! ri.4? BR’ by the11,968 . a action of the pump. Another valve V’, of suitable construction, may be used for regu- Inting the fiow of the cooling agent. The conductors C’ G are insnlated from the res- . 5 ervoirs B’ Rt and from ench other at the jolnts J’ J* J*, and they are farthermore pro- tected ‘nt the places where they. enter Aud leave the ground by flanged buahings I’ 1’ P, of.fnsalating material, which extend into x0 the frozen mass in order to ‘prevent the enr- rentfrom leaking, asaboveexplained. Bind- ing-poste B’ B’ and B* B*are provided for con- necting the conductors to the cirouit at exch station. To laying the condactors, as C’ C*, what- ever be their number,n trench will gener- ally he dug aod « trough, round or square, as T, of smaller dimensionsthan the trench, placed in the same, the intervening space 20 being. Brake ‘with some materia? (designated by MM M) niore or less {mpervions to heat, as sawdust, ashes, orthélike. Next thecon- ductora will be put in-position and tempo- rarily supported in any convénient manuer, 2g and, finally, the trough will be filled with “ator or other substance W, which will be gradnally frozen by circulating the cooling agent fn the closed path, a& beforedeweribed. faually the trench will not be-level, bat will go follow the undalations of the ground, and thie will make 1t necessary to subdivide the trough in sections or to-effeot the freezing of thé substance filling it snocessively,in parts. ‘This being done’ and the condaciors thus 35 insalated and. fixed, a layer of the sime or aimilar material M'M M will be placed. on the top and the whole covered with earth or. pavement. ‘The trough may be of metal, as . sheet-iron, and in eases-where the ground 40 ja used as the retura-circait it may serve a8 8 main, or {¢ may bo of uny kind of ma- terial more or lors tusulating. Figs: 4 and 5 {iluatrate in cross-section twa such under- , ground troughs ‘IY aud ?’, of sheet metal, 45 With their sdiathermanousinclosures, (desig- Ss nated M’ and M", respectively.) ‘each trough | containing asingle central hollow conductor, as CO". In the firstease the jnsulation W" ig anpposed to’be ice obtained by freezing water preferably freed of alr-in order to ex- clude the formation of dangerons bubbles or vsrities, while in the second ‘case the frozen roass ‘W’ is some aqueous or other substance or mixture highly insolating wheri'in this condition. 7 Itshould be stated that in many instances it may be practicable to dispense with & trough by resorting to simple expedients in the placing and insulating of the couductors. In fact, for some purposes it may hesuffcient to simply cover the latter with # moist mass, ‘as cement or other plastic material, which so Jong, asit is képt ata very low temperature aa ‘frozen hard wilt afford adequate insula- 55 65 ton. ‘Another typloal way of oarrying out my in- vention, to which references has already been illustrated in Fig. 7, showing « trough made, is shown. in Fig. 6, which re) ts the cross-section of ugh, the same.in |. other respects as those before shown, but 70 containing instead of a hollow conductorany kind of pe or condalt L. Thecooling agent may be ‘driven.in any convenient manner through the pipe for-the purpose of frees- fog the water. or other substance filling the 75 trough, thus ingolating and fixing a number of conductorsodc, Sacha plan aiay be par- ticularly suitable in olties for insulating and: fixing telegraph and telephone wires or the like. In stich cases an exdendingly-low tem. 80 perature of the cooling ayent may uot bere- quired, and the insulation will-be obtained at the expense of little power. The conduit L may, however, be used simultaneously for. ‘conveying and distributing any Kind of gase- 85 : Gus cooling agent for which there isademand - through the distelct. Obviously twosuch con" duite may be provided and used in « simflar in ‘the 90 manner.as the conductors O' O. . It will often be desirable to place gaine trough a great number of wires or von- ductors serving for a variety of: purposes. Inench acase a plan may be adopted which fe Jar-to that in Fig. 6 with the conductors It ‘orose-nection. The cooling agent may be in this instance circulated, as in Fig. 8 or oth- erwisa, through the fwobollow oonductars OF and C*, which if foand:advantageous may be covered with a layer of cheap material mm, auch as wil] improve their insulation, bat not prevent the freezing or solidification of the Surroundingenbstance W. The tubular cou- ductors 0’ GC preferably of tron, may then nerve to convey -heavy currents for suppiring light and power,while the small ones ¢’ oc, embedded: n the ice or frozen mass, may be used.for any otherpurposes. i ‘While my tuveotion, contemplates, chiefly, the fngulation of conductors employed in the transmission of electrical.energy to 9 dis- tanoes, it may be, obviously, otherwise use- fully applied. - In some instances, for exam- ple, It may be desirable to insulate and sup- port @ conductor in places as is ordinarily 115 done by means of glass or poroslaln insala- tors. This may be effected in many ways by conveying a cooling agent either through the conduotar or rhrongh au independent chan- nel and freesing or solidifying any kind of substance, thus enabling it to serve the pur- pose. Such an artificial inealatiag-support is illassrated in Fig. 8, in which a represents ‘a vessel filled with water-or other substance 40, frozen by the agent circulating through the hollow contiuetor C", which is thas inau- lated and supported. ‘To improve the insu: lation on the top, where it ix most lixble to give way, a layer of some substance’, soll, may be used, and the condnetor may be oov- ered near the support with insulation 47, az shown, the same extendiog into the oil, for reasons well underatood. ‘Anather typical application of my inven-1 45 3: 4 4 4 tion is shown in Fig. 9, in which P’ and S' represent, respectively, the primary and sec- ondary conductors, bare or insulated, ofa transformer, which are wound.on a core N ‘and immersed in water or other substance W, contained in a jai II, and, as before stated,- preferably. froed of air by boiling or other- wise. ‘The cooling agent is circulated in any convenient manner, as through the hollow primary I’, fur the purpose oi freezing: the Substance W. Flanged bushings dand oil- cupsee, extending into the frozen maes, illus- trate suitable means for insulating the ends of: the two conductors and preventing the Jonkaye of the currents. A transformor as described is eapecially fitted for use with cur- rents of high frequency when.a low tempera- tare-of the conductors is particularly desir- able, and ice affords an exceptionally-effect- ive insulation. twill be understood that my invention may be applied in many other ways, that the spé- cial means here described will be grostly va- ried according to the necessities, and that in each case many expedients will be adopted which are woll knows to engineers and elec: tridians and on ‘which it is unnecessary to ° s 0 5 se dwell. However, it’ may be usefal to state that in.some, instances a special provision will have'to bé made for effecting « uniform cooling of the substance surrounding the con- Auetor throughont its longth. Assuming in Fig. 1 the cooling agent to escape at the dis- tant ond freely into the atmosphgre or Into a reservoir maintained at low pressure, itwillin passing through the hollow conductor Cmove witha velocity steadily increasing toward the end, expanding isotbermally, ornearly so, and ‘hence it willoausean approxitmately-uniform formation of ice along the conductor. In the plan fllustrated in Fig. 3 a similar result will be in a measure attained, owing to the com- pousating effect of the hollow conductor C’ and C, which may’ be still further enhanced by reversing periodically the direction of the flow in any convenient manner; bat in many cases special arrangements will have to be employed to render the cooling more or less uniform. ‘For instance, referring to Figs. 4, 5, and 6, instead of a single channel twocon centric channels L’ and L? may be provided and the cooling agent pasred throngh onaand returned through the other, as indicated, dia- grammatically, in Fig. 10.’ In this and any similararrangement when the flow takes place . in opposite directions the object aimed at will 6 6: & ‘be more completely attained by reducing the temperate of the circulating cooling agent at the distant station, which may be done by simply expanding it into a large reservoir, as B® or cooling it by meansof a tube or coil ‘T? or otherwise. Evidently in the case illus- trated the concentric tubes may. be used as. independent conductors if insulated from each other and from the ground by the frozen or solidified substance. . Generally in the transmission of electrical 11,865 energy in large amounts, when the quantity of heat to be carried off may be considerable, refrigerating apparatns thoroughly protected ‘against the luflow of heat from tho outside, as usual; will be employed st both the sta~ tions and when the distance between them is very grent also at intermediate points, the machinery being advantageously operated by the currents transmitted or cooling agent conveyed. . In.such cuses a fairly-uniform. freezing of the insulating. substance will be attained without, difficulty by the compen- gating effect of the oppositely - circulating cooling agents. In large plants of this kind ‘whon the saving of electrical energy in the transmixsion is the most important consider- ation or when the chief object is to reduce tlie cost of the mains by the employment.of cheap metal, as iron or otherwise, every ef- fort will be tade to maintain the conductors jo 5 at the lowest possible temperature, and well- - known refrigerating processes, as those based on the regenerative principle, may be resorted to, and in this and any other case the hollow conduetors or channelsinstead of merely serv- ing the purpose of conveying thecooling agent. may themselves form active parts of the re- frigerating apparatus. From the above description it will be readily séen that my invention forms # fandamen- -tal departure in the principle from the eatab- lished methods of insulating conductors em- ployed ‘in the industrial and commercial ap- plication of electricity. It aims, broadly, at obtaining’ insulation by the continuous nditure of a moderate amount of energy instead of securing it only by virtue of anin- herent physical property of the material used ‘as heretofore. More espectutly, its object is 1 provide, when and wherever required, 1 sulation of high quality, of any desired thick- ness, and exceptionally cheap, and to enuble the tranamission of electrical energy under conditions of economy heretofore unattain- able and at distances until now impracticable by dispensing with the necessity of using contly conductors and insulators, ‘What I claim as iny invention is— 1. The method of insulating electric con- uctora herein described which consists in im- parting insulating properties to material sur- rounding or contignons to theaaid condactor by the continued action thereon of # gaseous: cooling agent, us set forth. 2, The method of insulating electric con- actors herein described which consists in re- ducing to and maintainin ‘ lidified condition the material surrounding or oe eens to the said conductor by the-ac- tion thereon of a gaseous coolingagent main- tained in circulation through one or more channels ad set forth, 3. The method of insulating electric oon- ductors ‘herein described which consists in surrounding or supporting the conductor by material which acquires insulating properties when in a frozen or solidified state, and main- 95 rot a5" a 20 3° “tai 11,868 % ing ‘the material in auch a.state by the circulation through one or more channels ex- tending through itof a gaseous cooling agent, as set forth. 7 ‘4. Themethod of insulating anclectriccon- ductor which consists in surrounding or sup- porting said conductor by a materiai.which Aoquires insolating properties when frozen or solidified, and maintaining the material in such state by passing a gaseous cooling agent continuously through.» chanuel in said con- Auetor, as set forth. 5. The method of insulating electric oon- ductors, which consists in surrounding or 6up- porting the said conductors by & ‘material Which acquires insnlating properties when in ‘a frozen or solidified state, and maintaining the material in such state by the continued application theretoof agaseouscooling agent, aw'sot forth. ; 6. The ‘method of: insulating condactors herein set forth which consists in eurroand- ing oF supporting the conductors by 8 mate- -rial which acquires ingulating properties when ina frozen or solidified state, and main- taining the material in euch state ealation of @ gaseous cooling x cirentt of pipes or tubes extending through the said material as set forth. . 7. The method of insulating electric ebn- nctors which consists in laying or support- ing the conductors in.a trough or condait fll. by the eir- nt through | ing the trough with a material which acquires insulating properties when frozen or solidi- fied, and then causing a gasoous cooling agent 35 to clrenlate through oue or more.channels ex- tending through the material in the trough 80 an ‘to freeze or solidity the material, a8 seh, forth. 8. ‘The method ‘of insulati electric con- ductors which consists in embedding thesame ini w moistor plastic componnd which acquires inenlating properties when in. frozen or 80- Hdlfied state, and maintaining the compound in such state by circulating 4 gaseous cooling agent through one or more channels extend- ing through the compound, as eet forth. §, The method of insulating electric con- uctors which cousists in laying or support- ing the conductors ina trough oreondait, fill- so ing the trongh with a fuatorial which, acqpires intulating properties when frozen or solidi- fled, protecting the trough from thesurround- ing medium in which it is laid by an adia- thermanoue-inclosure, and then freezing or 55 solidifying the material surrounding the con- ductors and maintaining the came in such state by cireulating » gaseous cooling agent. through one or more obannels. extending through the same, as seb forth. NIKOLA TESLA. Witnesses: Drury W, Coorer, Joun C. KERR. 4‘No. 11,865. Reissued Oct. 23, 1900. W. TESLA. WETHOD OF INSULATING ELECTRIC CONDUCTORS. (CApplinntion fled Sept. 51, 19001