Percy Jose Mitchell
Percy Jose Mitchell (1879-1935)
Acquired British rights to the Rateau Patent System of Exhaust Utilisation.
1909 Offered thermal storage system as designed by Mr Druitt Halpin.
1909 Tendered for Exhaust steam turbine plant at Darlington[1]
1935 Obituary [2]
PERCY JOSE MITCHELL was responsible for the design and construction of several very large factories in this country and abroad, notably the £380,000 glass works at Queenborough for Messrs. Sheet Glass, Ltd., and the £280,000 cardboard and fibre board mills for Messrs. Merton Board Mills, Ltd., Surrey, in which he overcame the special difficulties presented by the marshy nature of the site.
He was born in London in 1879 and was articled to Mr. F. M. Rogers in 1894, but a year later became apprenticed to Mr. J. Bennett of Messrs. Bennett, Sons and Shears, Ltd., manufacturers of machinery for sugar production and for breweries.
In 1901 he was appointed London representative of Messrs. Fullerton, Hodgart and Barclay, Ltd., of Paisley, and was responsible for the installation of machinery at several South Wales tinplate works. At the same time he commenced to practise on his own account as a consulting engineer, and introduced the Rateau system of exhaust steam utilization into Great Britain. He carried out the pioneer installation at the Hallside works of the Steel Company of Scotland.
Subsequently he equipped no less than fifty additional works with similar installations; in certain cases the exhaust turbines were combined with steam accumulators. For the Dominion Iron and Steel Company he designed two power stations and a pumping station with a capacity of 22,000 gallons of salt water per hour. In addition, he designed a fresh water pumping station with three pumps, each of 400 h.p., and a turbo-blower power house with five 3,000 b.h.p. turbo-blowers delivering 32,000 cu. ft. of air per min. at 25 lb. per sq. in.
During the War, Mr. Mitchell relinquished his consulting work and established the Staines Projectile Company for the manufacture of projectiles, aero-engines, and chemicals, and himself designed nearly all the tools used in making the shells.
He became interested in the glass industry after the War, and was concerned with the formation of a company to develop the Fourcault process for sheet glass production, and with Colonial and Foreign Glass Industries, Ltd., which handled the foreign patents. He was also concerned in the introduction of evaporators manufactured under patents owned by Messrs. Prache and Bouillon, of Paris.
Mr. Mitchell was elected a Member of the Institution in 1913.
His death occurred in London on 13th September 1935.
1935 Obituary [3]
PERCY JOSE MITCHELL died in London on September 13, 1935, at the age of fifty-six.
Born in London on May 15, 1879, he was educated at Stoke Newington. On leaving school he was articled to Mr. F. M. Rogers, but about a year later he was apprenticed to Mr. James Bennett, of Messrs. Bennett, Sons and Shears, Ltd., makers of sugar machinery and brewery and general engineers.
In 1901, he was appointed London representative of Messrs. Fullerton, Hodgart and Barclay, Ltd., Paisley; while with them he installed plant in several tinplate works in South Wales and assisted in the erection of dock hoists and cranes, and refrigerating equipment.
Two years later he started to practice as a consulting engineer. He acquired the patent rights of the Rateau system of exhaust steam utilisation in Great Britain, and first installed plant of this type for the Steel Company of Scotland; this was followed by the erection of similar plant in some fifty iron, and steel works power stations, the exhaust turbines in some cases being combined with steam accumulators.
During the war Mr. Mitchell gave up his consulting practice and took up the manufacture of projectiles, aero engines and chemicals, the Staines Projectile Co. being formed for the purpose; nearly all the tools in the shell factory were constructed to his design.
The war over, he turned his attention to the glass industry; lie was concerned with the formation of the British Window Glass Co. to develop a Belgian patent, and also of Colonial and Foreign Glass Industries to handle the foreign patents covering this process. Further, he was responsible for the construction of a heavy cardboard and fibre-board mill at Merton for the Merton Board Mills, Ltd.; its erection presented difficulties owing to the marshy nature of the ground. In addition, he was concerned in the control of P. and B. Evaporators, Ltd., which manufactured evaporators constructed under the patents owned by Messrs. Prache and Bouillon, of Paris.
Mr. Mitchell was a member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and the Institute of Sanitary Engineers; he joined the Iron and Steel Institute in 1905.
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ The Times, Apr 21, 1909
- ↑ 1935 Institution of Mechanical Engineers: Obituaries
- ↑ 1935 Iron and Steel Institute: Obituaries