The riddle left by history

In the history of domestic electrical engineering, the year 1893 was marked by two unrelated events. At this time, one of the world's first Electrotechnical Institute in St. Petersburg was founded and the power station at the Novorossiysk elevator was put into operation. It so happened that a year later the head of the department of electrical engineering of this institute M.A.Shatelen completely accidentally ended up in Novorossiysk and visited the elevator. He left here, shocked by what he saw. What struck the metropolitan professor?

It was difficult to surprise the most important specialist in electrical engineering in Russia. He himself was a physicist with an electrical specialization in 1888-1889, he improved his knowledge in France (the birthplace of Coulomb and Ampere) and, having a degree, went from working to chef in the company of Edison, the creator of the world's first district power station.

A little later in the journal "Electricity" No. 19-20 for 1895. his article appeared, where one could read the following: “Stations like Novorossiysk are of great importance in the spread of the use of electricity. When engineers and technicians see such stations, they can make sure that the use of electricity in power transmission is a very simple matter and they can defeat their prejudice against it. ”

The professor had too little time to get acquainted with the station and he himself could not prepare a full-fledged article, and this ended with the words: “It would be nice if the station organizer published the details of its construction and operation.” What reasons prevented the appearance of such an article in the journal at that time is unknown. But she still appeared, though in 1953.

The modern reader will probably be completely perplexed about the prejudices regarding electricity in those not so distant times. But that is exactly so. The average person did not always even want the introduction of electric light, considering it too bright and unhealthy. Among the specialists introducing this lighting, there was an irreconcilable confrontation on the power supply system of installations - direct or alternating current. This enmity has crossed all borders of industry competition, which is known to be the engine of progress.

It was easier to receive alternating current, cheaper to transmit over long distances, it was easily transformed under any voltage. But AC motors had to be untwisted before work, and the speed of their rotors could not be adjusted. So, they were not suitable for use, for example, in a tram.

The direct current was good for everyone, but it did not transform and therefore was not suitable for transferring energy to distances of more than one kilometer due to large losses. Consequently, not even in a very large city it was necessary to build several power plants.

In those years, the development of capitalism went so fast that competitors, in order to receive orders for electrification, struck the enemy, as they say, below the belt. Stars of the first magnitude took part in the struggle. So Edison, a supporter of direct current, at one of the electrical exhibitions said that he did not want to see AC motors, but also to hear about them. He compared the laying of high-voltage cables underground with the laying of dynamite under the streets of cities.

His supporters made the main bet in the struggle for electrical safety. It must be said that in a biological sense, alternating current is much more dangerous than direct current. On the streets of US cities, shows were held where hundreds of dogs, pigs and even horses were killed in public, of course, from alternating current. The height of cynicism was the decision of the US Congress to introduce electrocution for criminals. By the way, existing to this day.

Supporters of alternating current could show only cheaper energy and enthusiasm in eliminating the shortcomings indicated by competitors. And the main drawback in their system was electric motors. The solution to this issue was proposed by our compatriot M.O.Dolivo-Dobrovolsky. He proposed a three-phase system of electric currents and the most reliable electric motor for it. The speed of its rotation was not regulated, but there were no electrical contacts in it and its maintenance was reduced only to the lubrication of the bearings.

However, the simplicity of the design did not mean an easy understanding of the concept of a rotating magnetic field arising in such an engine. A new stage has begun in the development of the science of electricity, when it was impossible to explain the effect of electric currents, like water in water pipes. Here it was a question of oscillatory processes, of amplitudes and phases of oscillations, which can only be understood by a trained person.

In 1891 Dolivo-Dobrovolsky successfully demonstrated his system at an exhibition in Frakfurt am Main. In 1893 In Novorossiysk, a three-phase power station with a capacity of more than 1000 kW was already operating at the elevator. Who was the man who neglected Edison’s opinion and predicted the development of world electrical engineering for at least a century in advance?

M.A.Shatelen writes in his article: “The builder of the elevator engineer Alexander Nikolaevich Shensnovich decided to apply the electrical energy distribution.” And further: "The entire station and machines were built under the supervision of A.N.Shensnovich, who is currently at the head of the case." A memorial plaque hangs on the former building of the power plant, which expresses gratitude to the descendants of this man, a railway engineer. It would seem that everything is clear. Russian railway engineers at the turn of the twentieth century built the world's largest trans-Siberian railway, hundreds of bridges and tunnels, thousands of various structures, they could do much. But they could not choose a power system for electric motors. Do not rebuke them, but they did not possess such knowledge.

In no case do we want to reduce the merits of A.N. Shensnovich in the development of a three-phase current. But still he was not the first. Low-power generators and motors of three-phase current immediately after the electrical exhibition in 1891. immediately began to produce in Switzerland, using their mountain streams for energy purposes. They made their own company Brown-Boveri. But their power with a dozen horsepower can not be called power plants.

Another thing is when the most talented electrical engineer N. Tesla calls for the use of two-phase systems in the world's largest hydropower plant under construction at Niagara Falls, which will hardly find application

Alexander Nikolaevich, using the Brown-Boveri blueprints, arranges the production of electric machines on the spot, since their simple arrangement allows this. With this, he kills two birds with one stone at once - speeds up the process and immediately prepares the future maintenance staff of electricians. Therefore, a turnkey power plant was built in just two years. It was a kind of feat, and A.N.Shensnovich quite rightly takes an honorable place in our history.

But the question remains open, who prompted him the best solution to the problem. Who went against the opinions of the great inventors N. Tesla and T. Edison and won? Could this person be our compatriot?

Yes he could! And this is not surprising. It is known that P.N.Yablochkov was the first to find widespread use of alternating current. M.O.Dolivo-Dobrovolsky invented a three-phase motor, which still works today. There were also other inventors working for the defense of Russia. First of all, the names of P.L. Schilling, the inventor of the telegraph, and academician B.S.

It is known that Russia lost the Crimean War, but thanks to the minefields in the Baltic, hostilities took place only on the Black Sea, and on land, in Sevastopol, we won the mine war from England and France. All this is due to the fact that the Navy had a Mine officer class, where naval officers comprehended the latest achievements in electrical science. The level of teachers can be characterized by at least two names: academician B.S. Yakoby, inventor of electroforming, and professor A.S. Popov, inventor of radio.

Among the teachers of the Mine officer class is his former student, 1st-grade graduate Eduard Nikolaevich Shensnovich. That is, the brother of the organizer of the Novorossiysk Power Plant. Subsequently, Vice Admiral, the head of the training and mine detachment of the Baltic Fleet. It is known that he, as the best specialist, was sent to the Paris Exhibition at one time to get acquainted with the latest achievements in the field of electrical engineering, and later to England and again to France.

He who was in the know about all the new products of electrical engineering, deeply understood all the possibilities of current systems, their advantages and disadvantages, and most likely could advise his brother to make the right choice. Although, ironically, he himself had to deal with direct current until the end of his life. He is considered one of the first organizers of the submarine fleet in Russia. And submarines work, as you know, on batteries. Until the end of his life, he was a member of the Admiralty Council and the Head of the training and mine detachment of the Baltic Fleet.

In the Novorossiysk Historical Museum there are materials on the power plant and even a photograph of A.N. None of this is about his brother, although the naval activities of Eduard Nikolaevich are well covered in the press on the history of the fleet in Russia. He is a hero of the Russo-Japanese War, and recently a book of his memoirs about those events (1999) was published.

It somehow happened that almost nothing is known about these people, who made a decisive contribution to the history of the development of our port city. There are not even graves, but which flowers could be laid. Alexander Nikolaevich in 1917 left for Vladivostok to receive new steam locomotives. On this traces of his life are lost. Eduard Nikolaevich died in 1910 and was buried in the Vyborg Cemetery of St. Petersburg. The cemetery has not been preserved.