Mills in Altoaragón - central eléctrica

Broto

Broto is situated near Torla and the Ordesa National Park. You'll find the mill on the left bank of the Río Ara at the northern fringe of the village a few steps away from the village church and the new school.
The mill takes its water from the Río Ara.

Pictures: 28.VIII.2017, 30.X.2017

(1) Old central eléctrica in the grist mill seen from the door.
Separating wall with harinero is right in the picture.
The old powerstation is hidden in the depths of the wheat mill. At the far end of the stone table a door leads to the generator room (1). It is small space (about a quarter of the floorspace of the construc­tion) with a wooden floor. There is one window (1, left) giving a view into the turbine room of the new powerstation which was later built against the mill.
Clockwise from that window, we have first a control panel opposite to the entrance (1, 2). Then comes an opening to the space where the wires connect to the grid (11, 12). Then comes the socle where the generator lived and at the far right (1) the wheel which controls the water flow to the turbine below the floor (3).


(2) Control panel with dials, circuit brakers and fuses

(3) Turbine with regulator and belt wheel
In the center of the control panel a small tag can be seen. It shows the supplier of the installation (4): A.E.G. Ibérica de Electricidad.

In 1899 the German company A.E.G. participated in the creation of the Compañia Madrileña de Electri­cidad. This company built the first powerplant in Spain in order to provide street lighting.
In 1901 a new company was established —Socie­dad General Española de Electricidad (AEG)— and this one in 1920 eventually gave birth to the compa­ny of the tag (4).

The top of the panel (2) is taken by originally four large dials. The remaining three are Ampere meters with a scale ranging from 0 to 250 (5). Two of the dials carry the AEG brand, the 3rd one (shown in 5) is without. The fourth dial may have been a Power meter (KW).

In the middle, left and right of the AEG tag, two smaller dials are mounted: a Volt (7) and an Ampère meter (6). They must have monitored the exciter circuit. They both carry the full AEG Ibérica name.


(4) A.E.G. Ibérica de Electricidad
Coso 104 - Zaragoza

(5) Range 0 - 250 Ampères


(6) Ampère meter; range 0 - 40 Ampères

(7) Volt meter; range 0 - 120 Volts
The turbine is mounted below the wooden floor. The flow was regulated by means of a wheel with gauge mounted against (partly in) the wall (3). In the cement left above the wheel a faint inscription can be discerned. It reads Año and then something un­decipherable.

A large belt wheel (3) is fitted to the turbine. Although some of the planks are removed it is still clear that the belt passed through a slit that had been sawn into the floor.

The generator was mounted on rails on a low socle (1, 10). The rails made it possible to slide the generator back and forth in order to adjust the ten­sion of the belt. Notice that the wall behind the socle (10) features a curved cut-away to accommodate the generator.

The space with the transformator (10) does not belong to the original construction. A tower made of bricks (11) was built leaning against the northern wall of the mill. All the wiring needed to connect this station to the grid is mounted on the walls of this tower (9, 10, 12).


(8)

(9)


(10)

(11)
It is not clear to me if this tower was also used for the new powerstation. It looks like there is only wiring coming from the old station.
There is a gap between this tower and the new building (visible in 11 right side) and I can't find any wiring between the two. How then the new central was connected with the grid remains unclear.

(12) Last step before the grid: wiring and insulators just below the roof of the tower (11).

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