Alfred William Bennis: Difference between revisions
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Alfred William Bennis (c1870-1948) | |||
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'''1948 Obituary <ref>[[The Engineer 1948 Jan-Jun: Index]]</ref> | '''1948 Obituary <ref>[[The Engineer 1948 Jan-Jun: Index]]</ref> | ||
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'''1949 Obituary <ref> [[1949 Institution of Mechanical Engineers: Obituaries]] </ref> | '''1949 Obituary <ref> [[1949 Institution of Mechanical Engineers: Obituaries]] </ref> | ||
"ALFRED WILLIAM BENNIS, whose death at the age of seventy eight occurred on 4th May 1948, was the chairman of [[Bennis Combustion|Messrs. Bennis Combustion, Ltd.]], of Little Hulton, near Bolton, and had been identified with that firm for the whole of his long professional career, including his apprenticeship, which he began to serve in 1886. He will be remembered for the prominent part he played in the development of the sprinkler stoker with the com pressed-air furnace, and later the coking stoker and the air draught stoker. He was chiefly responsible for the perfecting of the design of the Bennis Quadrum Boiler, and he had many inventions and numerous patents to his credit, and was the author of a paper on "Automatic Stokers", an abridged version of which appeared in the PROCEEDINGS in 1921. | |||
Quite early in his career Mr. Bennis became interested in the application of mechanical stokers to marine boilers, and as far back as 1895 he equipped two Spanish ships with that type of boiler firing and personally attended the trials. This innovation, for certain practical reasons, did not prove popular, but the introduction of the air-draught sprinkler stoker induced Mr. Bennis to persist with his experiments and after trying it out on a Lancashire boiler in 1926 he successfully equipped, in 1934, the steamer Manchester Hero, belonging to [[Manchester Liners|Manchester Liners, Ltd]]., with the Bennis system of marine stoking, the results obtained leading the owners to fit several further ships with the same system. Throughout his career he was keenly interested in methods of raising steam at low cost and brought out a works magazine in which these ideas were ventilated. After attending technical classes in Bolton he entered his father's business in that town and obtained a thorough course of training in the engineering works and foundry. Later he was employed as an erector, his duties in that direction taking him all over the Continent. | |||
On the conclusion of two years' experience as assistant manager to the [[Deansgate Foundry Co]] (subsequently merged with [[E. Bennis and Co|Messrs. E. Bennis and Company, Ltd]].) he was admitted to partnership in the former firm in 1892. He was appointed general manager three years later and at the same time took over the duties of that office for [[E. Bennis and Co|Messrs. E. Bennis and Company]] with a seat on the board of directors. On the merger of the two companies in the Bennis Combustion Company he became chairman and managing director. Mr. Bennis was a member of the Institution for fifty-three years having been elected an Associate Member in 1895 and transferred to Member ship four years later. He was also an Associate of the [[Institution of Electrical Engineers]]." | |||
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<references/> | <references/> | ||
{{DEFAULTSORT: Bennis}} | {{DEFAULTSORT: Bennis, Alfred William}} | ||
[[Category: Biography]] | [[Category: Biography]] | ||
[[Category: Births]] | [[Category: Births 1870-1879]] | ||
[[Category: Deaths 1940-1949]] | [[Category: Deaths 1940-1949]] | ||
[[Category: Institution of Mechanical Engineers]] | [[Category: Institution of Mechanical Engineers]] | ||
Revision as of 07:53, 11 September 2015
Alfred William Bennis (c1870-1948)
1948 Obituary [1]
1949 Obituary [2]
"ALFRED WILLIAM BENNIS, whose death at the age of seventy eight occurred on 4th May 1948, was the chairman of Messrs. Bennis Combustion, Ltd., of Little Hulton, near Bolton, and had been identified with that firm for the whole of his long professional career, including his apprenticeship, which he began to serve in 1886. He will be remembered for the prominent part he played in the development of the sprinkler stoker with the com pressed-air furnace, and later the coking stoker and the air draught stoker. He was chiefly responsible for the perfecting of the design of the Bennis Quadrum Boiler, and he had many inventions and numerous patents to his credit, and was the author of a paper on "Automatic Stokers", an abridged version of which appeared in the PROCEEDINGS in 1921.
Quite early in his career Mr. Bennis became interested in the application of mechanical stokers to marine boilers, and as far back as 1895 he equipped two Spanish ships with that type of boiler firing and personally attended the trials. This innovation, for certain practical reasons, did not prove popular, but the introduction of the air-draught sprinkler stoker induced Mr. Bennis to persist with his experiments and after trying it out on a Lancashire boiler in 1926 he successfully equipped, in 1934, the steamer Manchester Hero, belonging to Manchester Liners, Ltd., with the Bennis system of marine stoking, the results obtained leading the owners to fit several further ships with the same system. Throughout his career he was keenly interested in methods of raising steam at low cost and brought out a works magazine in which these ideas were ventilated. After attending technical classes in Bolton he entered his father's business in that town and obtained a thorough course of training in the engineering works and foundry. Later he was employed as an erector, his duties in that direction taking him all over the Continent.
On the conclusion of two years' experience as assistant manager to the Deansgate Foundry Co (subsequently merged with Messrs. E. Bennis and Company, Ltd.) he was admitted to partnership in the former firm in 1892. He was appointed general manager three years later and at the same time took over the duties of that office for Messrs. E. Bennis and Company with a seat on the board of directors. On the merger of the two companies in the Bennis Combustion Company he became chairman and managing director. Mr. Bennis was a member of the Institution for fifty-three years having been elected an Associate Member in 1895 and transferred to Member ship four years later. He was also an Associate of the Institution of Electrical Engineers."