WILLIAM
LEROY EMMET
1859-1941
William LeRoy Emmet, consulting engineer of the General Electric Company, devoted years to the study of electric ship propulsion and was recognized as a pioneer in this line of work. As early as 1909 he pointed out that electric ship propulsion was feasible, economical,ュ and practical. He also gained fame with his development of the steam turbine and the Emmet mercury vapor process of power generation. A total of 122 patents were issued to him.
Mr. Emmet was born
at Pelham,
Mr. Emmet continued his assocaition with
electrical work in 1887 when he entered the employ of the Sprague
Electric
Railway and Motor Company. He later went with the Buffalo Railway
Company as
electrical engineer, and soon afterwards accepted a position with the
Edison
General Electric Company in the Chicago District. He came to
In 1901 he took up the study of the Curtis steam turbine. He began experimenting upon arrangements different from those which Mr. Curtis had tried and, in a very short time, developed a large and successful industry which far outstripped all other turbine activities in the electrical field.
The next large
campaign to which Mr. Emmet devoted his energies was the developュment
of
electrical propulsion in ships. Through his efforts the electric drive
for
large warships was adopted by the Navy, the first of these being
installed in
the "
it was in the midst of his ship
activities that Mr. Emmet began work on the developュment of a process
embodying
the vaporizing of mercury instead of water in turbines for the
generation of
power. The vaporized mercury, after driving one turbine, is condensed,
and in
cooling it water is converted into steam to drive a second turbine from
the one
firebox. First plants of this type were installed at
Prior to his achievements in the steam turbine field~ he attained prominence through his work in developing the general use of alternating current, and a number of inventions which since have come into universal use stand to his credit. Among his more important electrical inventions are the oil switch and varnished cambric cable. He also invented several types of transformers, several different forms of insulation for alternators, and many devices that are employed in connection with the Curtis steam turbine. His most brilliant accomplishments, however, were more in the nature of an institutor of new methods and ideas than as an inventor, and a great deal of his most useful work could not be patented nor even classified as invention. His qualifications, specially fitted him for finding new scope for the talent and facilities of the Company's organization.
Mr. Emmet was
the author of The Autobiography of an Engineer. Alternating Current
Wiring
and Distribution, and of numerous important papers presented
before the
American Institute of Electrical Engineers and other engineering
societies. He
was a member of the American Philosophical Society, American Institute
of
Electrical Engineers, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Society
of
Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, and of the wartime Naval
Consulting
Board of the United States. He received the honorary degree of D.Sc.
from
William Emmet died September 26, 1941, at the age of eighty-two.