Pumps Used Underground and on the Surface since the Meiji Era (1868-1912)
1964 - 1967
Meiji yori Konai Kogai no Pompu
[Pumps Used Underground and on the Surface since the Meiji Era (1868-1912)]
38.3 x 54.5 cm Painting in Watercolors and Ink
Text at the Right End
Large-scale coal mines with private power generators started using electric pumps at the end of the Meiji era. Other coal mines started using them underground around 1918 or 1919. Even before then, some coal mines had electric pumps, but they also installed steam pumps beside them in case of power failures, which happened frequently.
Figures on the Right Side
(Steam Pumps)
1. (Top) Special Pump: Their slide valves did not work well and they sometimes failed.
2. (Left) Vertical Steam Engine: S Pit had one to supply water for the boiler on the surface. This was a plunger-type with a flywheel, and was also called donki (donkey engine). A horizontal-type design of this pump was also available.
3. (Bottom) Worthington Sinking Pump: This type of pump switches its slide valves automatically, and was the most powerful. It was not only driven by steam, but also by compressed air. It had double rods, and some were used at the main slopes in coal pits run by Nittetsu.
4. (Middle) The four valves in the four chambers used for Evans and Special pumps with water suction cylinders up to about 10 inches in diameter were almost the same. But Evans Pumps with water suction cylinders 12 inches or more in diameter were equipped with rubber valves. Valves in their casings were greatly improved and leather packing was also used for their roller valves.
Figures on the Left Side
(Electric Pumps)
1. (Top) This type of pump was used at main slopes in coal mines in the first half of the Taisho era (1912-1922). Though their toothed wheels created a racket while moving, they did not raise the pumping efficiency, and disappeared from coalmines after the middle of the Taisho era. This pump was called a torakku (truck pump) or surisudo (three-throw pump). It was a plunger-type pump with a three-throw crank shaft.
2. (Middle) Layton Pump for Slopes: Small-scale coal mines still use these pumps. They were equipped with double rods and introduced to coal mines in the beginning of the Showa era (1926-1989).
3. (Bottom) Turbine Pump: There are many kinds of these pumps, but they are all moved by electric motors. The efficiency of turbines depends on the number of turbine runners. Ones used at coal pits run by Nittetsu had an ammeter as well as a flow meter and a pressure gauge, but not all small coal mines had pumps with such devices.
Large-scale coal mines do not use electric pumps at dip roads. They moved Worthington Sinking Pumps as well as jack hammers and auger drills with compressed air.
Translation Assisted by Mr. Nathan Johndro
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