The Iron Age 1891-06-04: Vol 47

Sa a aca ee a ene ‘THE The Erie City Automatic Steam Engine. The automatic cut-off engine which is here illustrated is made from entirely new designs and patterns by the Erie City Iron Works of Erie, Pa. The beds are well proportioned and strong, and are provided with new patent pillow blocks or main bearings, which have square sur- faces with an improved form of gib, to allow for taking up the wear. The gib is adjustel by a set screw tapped through the solid bed and pro- vided on its inner end by ball and socket i iit i : nit Hn gang OTT payer itil jul tril D sil! ne te aay rr ee oases atecaaalel oes saoraesgnaescavegesecewbescnseeanesenes” “ean THURSDAY, JUNE 4, 189). | ernor is very sensitive and insures close reg- ulation. The construction of the governor | | will be readily understood by consulting | the engraving, which brings out all the | details very clearly. The eccentric rod is driven from an eccentric pin, instead of | the usual eccentric and strap. The eccen tric pin is carried by a block similar to a | crosshead, and which is fitted to be moved | | in suitable guides. The eccentric pin thus moves on aradial line. The distance of | the pin from the axis of the shaft—and thereby the travel of the valve—is regu- | lated by the weighted levers, whose throw ‘is controlled by the springs. The tension AUTOMATIC ENGINE, BUILT BY THE ERIE CITY joint, to allow for perfect adjustment. This steam chest is made detachable from the cylinder. The valve is large and simple in its construction, is provided with water grooves for packing, is accu- rately fitted and perfectly balanced. The water packing avoids the use of packing rings or springs, which are more or less liable to get out of order and cause trouble, besides taking a great deal of power to move, and putting unnecessary strain on the governor. The governor plate is strong and heavily ribbed on the back, and the springs are arranged close to the plate to avoid undue vibration. The adjusting screw is placed on the same side of the plates as the weights, which brings all the strains in one plane, with the result that the gov- of the springs can be adjusted by means of an adjusting screw passing through a block, uniting their lower ends. The pis- ton rods are fitted by screwing them into the crosshead with United States standard threads, having jam nut to check up be- hind. This obviates the keying of the ec- centric rod and crosshead, which not in- frequently causes trouble when the key is driven too far down. The piston is also secured on the rod by United Stated stand- ard threads, and the ends of the rod are riveted over. The rocker is made with a take-up gib on one side, and has two strong arms, through which a steel shaft is passed. The engine is well built and well proportioned throughout, and is said to be one of the best high-speed engines now on the market. IRON AGE Maxim’s Flying Machine. Hiram Maxim has in a letter printed in the daily press furnished data relative to his flying machine. He says : My apparatus consisted of a long arm |mounted in such a manner that it would turn freely around a circle 200 feet in cir- cumference. The arm was accurately bal- anced, secured by wires in every direction so that it could neither tip nor twist, and was made very sharpso as to cut the air very easily. I attached a small flying machine to the end of this arm, with the screw shaft perpendicular to the arm, and to this IRON WORKS. shaft I attached small wooden screw propellers. This shaft could be driven at any required speed, and was nfounted in such a manner that the push of the screw and the power required to drive it could be accurately obtained. Attached to the same machine was a peculiar articulated movement to which I attached planes of different shapes and at different angles. Suitable apparatus was also provided to measure with great accuracy the amount of weight lifted by these planes. The ac- tion of the screw was to drive the arm around the circle of 200 feet circumference. On one occasion, when the plane was set at a very low angle, I think about 1 in 25, I succeeded in carrying 250 pounds to the horse-power, but [ usually placed the planes at an angle of 1 in 14—that is, whea- 4 BP At 7 HY * FB PGI t et Ane ai Fy 7 a ee oth S32SU4i aes ) es =e ithe See IETS ae KC 4 le at tees 2 oe ee ° 1058 ever the plane advanced 14 feet it pushed the air down 1 foot. In this case the lift- ing power was always just 14 times the push of thescrew. The skin friction on the plane was so very small that it was immeasurable. When the planes were worked at this angle they carried 133 pounds to the horse-power, and at high speed lifted about 8 pounds to the square foot. The speeds experimented with varied from 30 to 90 miles an hour. These experiments were conducted with the most delicate and accurate apparatus, and the data obtained may be considered as thor- oughly reliable. much for the small machine. In re- to the large machine, this weighs complete 4000 pounds, of which 1800 pounds is in the engine and steam a ator. Ifto this we add 400 pounds for two men, 500 pounds for petroleum and 500 pounds for water we shall have a total weight of 5400 pounds. The engines are two in number, each one having two cyl- inders, one being balanced against the other in such a manner that there is abso- lutely no shake when they run. They work on the compound principle, steam being used from 200 to 350 pounds press- ure to the square inch. The steam gener- ator is made on an altogether original plan. It weighs without tbe casing about it only 350 pounds, while the engines weigh exactly 300 pounds apiece, and the casing about the boiler, together with the steam pipes, serews, shafting and pump, bring the whole motor up to 1800 pounds. The fuel used is gasoline, and there are 45,000 gas jets, in what might be con sidered a grate surface of 40 square feet. The generator has 48,000 brazed joints, and when tested to 900 pounds to the square inch not one of them leaked. The total amount of water in the generator at any one time is about 2 gallons. Distilled water is used. The machine is provided with a very light condenser, which forms a part of the kite and which it is found is very efficient. It is believed that this will condense all the water if no more than 150 horse-power is required. Ata late test of the engine, the machine being tied, it was found that the push on the machine with 200 pounds pressure of steam and both engines running was just 1000 pounds, and the power developed in useful effect on the machine itself was 120 horse-power. The amount of fuel con- sumed is rather less than 1 pound of petroleum per horse power per hour. As a push of 10 pounds on the screw in the original experiments easily carried 140 pounds, it is believed that this machine will at least carry ten times its push. There is no reason why it should not carry 14 times its push. If it does, there seems to be some reason to hope that the thing will actually fly. It has long been known to scientists that flying was only a question of obtaining enormovs power and light weight, and this I have already obtained, as will be seen, as there can be no question of the accuracy of the figures. I The financial collapse of the American Export and Trading Company is one of the curious occurrences of the times. This event followed the sudden death in this city of Edward H. Goff, who gave the concern a nomipal existence, and succeeded in con- vincing many persons of the genuineness of the scheme as a business enterprise. Although its assets, on paper, were reck- oned at $1,000,000 or upward, the entire tangible property found consisted of little more that an office desk and two safes. So called valuable ‘‘ concessions” from Mexico, Ecuador and other countries prove to be for the most part imaginary. Canada’s fisheries product in 1890 is officially stated to have been valued at $17,715,000. THE IRON AGE. SOUTHERN STEEL. THE DUPLEX PROCESS DISCUSSED The manufacture of steel from home product is the achievement which is now looked upon as the ambitious aim of South- ern iron makers. The movement to estab- lish a steel plant at Ensley, near Birming- ham, Ala., has attracted considerable attention in the South, and has brought out at least one contribution to the litera- ture of the subject, which we cannot allow to pass unchallenged, since it seems to carry considerable weight, and may there- fore do some harm. G. L. Luetscher, chemist of the Ten nessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company, at Ensley, Ala., has published in the Birming- ham Daily News an article in which he puts forward estimates of cost of product and of plant which are very misleading. The data which we present are the results of the experience of one of the leading mill managers in this country, who has had an extended experience with the basic process and has studied it abroad, having visited every leading works on the Continent. We quote from Mr. Luetscher’s paper as under. Raw Material. ‘*The only raw material available and practically inexhaustibie is the Red Moun- tain ore, especially the hard ore. The pig iron made from it will have the following composition : a | s }a)és& rae: B - B § | ° ; : Grade. | 2/| § . i Sig 5 £ 2/5 8 Z | 4 } = #|& 2 = |g = & sis a | @ = |e ' } Silver gray 3.13)0.02 5.5 Trace. 0.25 0.68 No. 2 soft.. 3 48)0.03' 3.5 0.004 0.26 0.68 No. 1 soft.. 3.58/0.08, 3.5 to 4.0/0.005 0.27 0.68 No. 1 foun- | dry. ... 8.49,0.07) 2.8 to 3.5 (0.005 0.25 0.68 No. 2 foun- ai . |8.5510 072.2 to 2.6 '0.024 10.22 9.68 No.3foun-| - } dry.. ....|3.48}0.10 2.0 to 2.4/0.025 0.21 0.64 Gray forge 3.00|0.57, 1.3 to 1.7 |0.045-0.070, 0.19 0.64 Mottled... .|2.11)1.22 1.1 to 1.6 0.125 0.14 0.64 White.... ./0.10 2.02 0.7 to 1.2/0.3 eames Besides these, some ‘‘off grades are made, like silver mill,” which, although graded as ‘‘ gray forge,” contains 4.5 per cent. sili- con and 0.125 sulphur. he average make, according to the grades, at the Ensley furnaces is: Silver gray, 8 per cent.; No. 2 soft, 15 per cent.; No. 1 soft, 12 per cent.; No. 1 foundry, 2 per cent.; No. 2 foundry, 7 per cent,; No. 3 foundry, 9 per cent. ; gray forge, 33 per cent.; mottled, 13 per cent. ; white, 1 per cent. or less. This will bring the average composition to about 2.75 to 3 per cent. silicon, 0.055 to 0.060 sulphur. Attempts have been made to reduce the amount of silicon without increasing the sulphur, without great success. The only means of doing this to some small extent is to crush the hard ore finer, mix it thor- oughly to make it more uniform and add some lime to it. The tiner shape will per- mit more ‘‘gas” reduction instead of ‘* direct coke’ reduction; the greater uni. formity will permit the addition of lime without danger of ‘‘liming-up” the fur- naces. The four furnaces at Ensley can, when properly managed, produce 120 tons of pig iron a day per furnace. The blast furnaces could be run so as to be tapped at regular alternating intervals to furnish 30 tons of fluid pig iron every 90 minutes in three 10-ton or four 74-ton ladles. The saving in avoiding the pig iron to be cast June 4, 1891 into pigs and all the further handling, in- cluding expenses of selling, &c., would probably amount to 65 to 75 cents per ton (as 3 per cent. of scraps would also be avoided). The furnaces could thus fur- nish fluid pig iron at a minimum price. It is evident from the average compo- sition of the pig iron that such iron is not directly fit to be used in a basic open- hearth steel furnace, the only pane, though, where its medium phosphorus contents will permit its conversion into steel. Its high silicon would corrode every basic lining at once. The silicon must therefore be first removed in an acid Bessemer converter. It may be stated here that it will never be possible to make basic pig iron direct from any Red Mountain ore, because the ore contains only } per cent. of manganese and too much silica. Methods Proposed, There are four possibilities to make steel out of Ensley pig iron, viz., to: 1. Desilicize metal, bought as pigs, cast it into chills and make steel out of chilled blown metal. 2. Desilicize metal, bought as pigs, and pour the blown metal fluid into the steel furnaces. 8. Desilicize metal, bought in fluid state, cast itinto chills and make steel out of chilled blown metal. 4. Decilicize metal, boughtin fluid state, and pour the blown metal fluid into the steel furnaces,” The pig iron, as shown by these analyses, is rather anpromising for use as stock for the basic open-hearth process, At least 14 per cent. of the make could not be used even after being Bessemerized. It would have to be worked up by careful mixing in small quantities. ith proper care and skill, its average quality as to silicon and sulphur could be much improved by the blast furnace manager. In the work done at the blast furnace will be found the key to success both in the basic Bessemer and open-hearth proc- esses. It is as important for one as for the other. Without the proper pig iron re- quired by the process to be employed commercial success cannot be reached, whatever tours de force may be accom- plished from a purely technical point of view. Taking the pig iron as it exists, the four methods of utilizing it as described may be discussed as follows: No. 1.—Melting Iron and Casting Blown Metal.—This is the most expensive method, as the most work is done and the least fuel saved, There would also be absorbed a certain amount of sulphur during the melting in the cupola, While it is not impossible to remove this sulphur in the furnace, it involves loss of time in ‘‘ melt- ing,” and also increased loss of iron. Cupola melting, however, will be neces- sary for at least a part of the product, un- less sold as pig iron, No. 2.—Melting Pig and Transferring Blown Metal.—This method would greatly increase the danger of absorbing sulphur while in the cupola, because the transfer of the molten blown metal would involve a high initial temperature in the converter. This means more fuel in the cupola, and, of course, more sulphur to be absorbed. No. 3.—Durect Bessemer and Remelting Open Hearth.—It is quite possible that this may, in the end, prove to be the most eco- nomical of the four methods of procedure. All danger from loss from chilling in the transfer ladle would be avoided, and an opportunity would be given to insure the best results by properly mixing the open- hearth charge. No. 4.—Direct Bessemer and Direct Open Hearth.—This, of course, is the most fas- cinating and attractive of the methods, If it can besuccessfully carried out and made to give uniform results in the finished prod- uct, it will certainly be the best and chao ae nd June 4, 1891 THE IRON AGE. 1059 cheapest of the four alternatives. It| with mine, set down in an additional means, in the first place, that the work | column, and will then give my reasons for done at the blast furnace must be of the! the difference : Cost of Desiliconizing Direct Metal. Items. 500 tons of liquid blast-furnace metal at $10.... Labor for 24 hours...... gd 2 na eae daar oa MMR ined Uacantaed scvekslestcsquaguantenens wats Repairs, interest, &c................ pie eeneaees I I ccs cxeened) nalagerds <ccdtewaes Pisin cascek 6 Chee he CART ee ae ek keane 450 tons desiliconized metal, equal total. .. highest class. The product must be kept regular within very close limits, or else a system of mixing must be provided, similar to that employed at Edgar Thom- sop. This is essential. Without extreme regularity of stock no one can do good work in making high quality of steel in either the basic Bessemer or open-hearth provesses. The only alternative is an op- portunity to properly select and mix the stock before it goes into the furnace. Certain practical difficulties are involved in the transfer of the molten metal from | makes a total o the converter to the open-hearth furnace. Luetscher. Corrected. goad — - Cost per — ™ Cost per Caen. ton. hours. ton. | oe ...|| $5,000.00 | $11.111 $5,000.00 | $11.111 70.00 .156 360.00 .80 ) ...|| 20.00 1044 || 63.00, 14 ...|| 85.00 188 275.00 61 ace, ees vl’ udegae Oe 12 spa? vocals Ota, | 450.00 1.00 .. «|| $5,175.00 11.499 6,202.00 | 13.781 At $70 per 24 hours for 450 tons of de- siliconized metal, the labor cost per ton would be 15.6 cents. This seems to me absurdly low. As compared with the ordinary Bessemer process, the items of labor which would be saved by the use of direct metal and by charging liquid metal into the furnace are as follows: 1. Un- loading pig iron, 5 cents; stocking and running the cupola, 2 cents; unloading coke, $ cent; pit labor, 13 ceats; propor- tion of a up, say 5 cents. This 25.5 cents. In an acid Bessemer plant converting The greatest of these is the liability to'500 tons of pig iron the labor was $1.45 chilling or ‘‘skulling” in the transfer ladle. The oxidation of the carbon and silicon which takes place in the converter, as proposei in this process, is hardly carried on far enough to replace the heat lost by pouring into the converter, changing the graphitic to combined carbon, absorb- tion by the walls of tbe coverter, pouring into the transfer ladle, transferring to the furnace, and finally pouring the metal into the latter. A large amount of heat will! be lost from each ove of these courses. Experience hus shown that if a heat be tapped from a cupola, poured into an open- hearth furnace, heated therein as hot as possible in say two hours, tapped into a ladle, and then poured into a vessel, it will not be as hot as if it were poured into the vessel direct from the cupola ladle. There will always be great danger of loss from chilling in the transfer ladle. This was one, if not the principal, reason why the two-vessel duplex process was aban- doned at Witkowitz. This is the rock on which this process is most likely to make shipwreck. It is quite possible that in the end it may be ani to work successfully, but it means hard work, much lost time in the beginning, and a very large item which must be charged to ‘‘ experience account,” If, however, it can be made to work smoothly, without excessive delay or ‘*skulling,” and if as good steel can be as regularly made by it as by the third plan, then the saving effected would pay for a very large expenditure in working it out. The expenditure for experience would, however, be certain to occur. The Cost of Production, Our correspondent deals as follows with the estimates of cost of producing ingots and billets: In order to desiliconize 500 tons of pig iron in 24 hours—a heat of 10 tons being the basis—there must be made 50° blows, or one every 28.8 minutes. This is, of course, a rate easily attained, but it would require two vessels in use at the same time to insure doing so with regu- larity and certainty. In criticising the estimates of cost I will in each case give his table of costs Refractories cost 21 cents per ton in an acid Bessemer treating 500 tons per 24 hours. Allowing for decreased wear and tear, due to not completing the ‘* blow,” this would certainly amount to 16 cents for desiliconizing. The repairs would cer- tainly amount to 38 cents, and most likel to more. The total of this item woul then amount (38 + 16 + 7.4 = 61.4) to 61.4 cents per ton, instead of 18.8 cents. All reference to the general charges has been omitted, although the Bessemer de- partment would have to carry its share. The management would have to be very economical if this did not amount to at least 12 cents per ton. Of course these charges vary in every concern, but they must in all cases comprise at least superin- tendence, clerk hire, yard shifting, sundry freights, laboratory and stationery. Roy- alty has also been omitted. In my opin- ion there can be no doubt that the asso- ciation controls the patent covering the duplex processes, whatever may be the doubt as to what else it may own. It is estimated that it would cost 20 cents per ton to put the liquid desilicon- ized metal into the shape of pigs. This seems to me to be too low. The labor alone would be 12 cents, and I think the chills would cost more than 8 cents per ton of metal chilled. I have taken 22 cents as this cost, but I am afraid this is too low. The desilicouized metal, cast in chills, would therefore cost $11.70 on his estimate and $14 on mine. The above cost is based on a loss of 10 per cent. in the converter, or 450 tons of desiliconized metal per 24 hours. Cost of Desiliconizing Cupola Melted Metal. Items. Repairs, interest, &c...... Se Oe SI NENG 6 5 So ceed cocencccceasase SE I agit sc tvvudws>tyeccinnedun ses BN hie s siee! exces vdvatuadsawedrieds enna Luestcher’s estimate, 450 toms............... TES COMIN, GET BORE. 6 65.500 ci ccc ciivesieces in 1883. I do not think much improve- ment has been made in this respect since then, beyond what comes from increased product. Say, however, that improve- ment in design and appliances has reduced the cost to $1.30 If 38.5 cents be taken from $1.30 it leaves 91.5 cents, say 90 cents. It is possible that the reduced wear and tear on the vessel linings might reduce the labor 10 cents more. Ido not think this would be the case, but I wish to give the benefit of all doubt. This would make the cost of labor for desiliconizing 80 cents, instead of 15.6 cents, per ton of metal. With steam at $20, the cost per ton would be 4.4 cents. This is too low. With coal at 90 cents per ton, steam costs 14 cents per ton on 500 tons treated. I see no reason why this should be much less, if any, in the proposed process, un- less coal is cheaper. Interest and repairs at $85 per 24 hours means 18.8 cents per ton. Taking his fig- ures for the smaller plant pro ($100, - 000), the interest as amortizement would be $10,000 per year, or $33.34 per work- ing day. This would be 7.4 cents per ton. Corrected. | | | Amount Cost per Amount Cost per r 24 r 24 ours. ton. ours. ton. | ...|| $5,375.00 | $11.944 | $5,375.00 | $12,185 95 00 211 437.00 | 991 eee 20.00 O44 72.00 163 aa GAD | ccsccaues 277.00 | .628 aan 150.00 333 150.00 | 34 cxsllecccksaseebas scone 54.00 | -122 écdllvess sal dcidqucconunen 441.00 1.00 _..|| $5,725.00 | $12.72 suite acai neieahaanal $6,806.00 | $15.43 All the remarks in regard to the first estimate apply to this one also. There are also the following additional errors : No allowance has been made for loss in the cupola. This would average at least 2 per cent. The additional labor requred by the cupola has been put at 5 cents. I believe 17 cents to be a low figure. No allowance has been made for cost of run- ning the cupola hoist. This would be at least 2 cents per ton. No increase has been made in the item of repairs, interest, &c. I think this would amount to $ cent at least. The general charges, remaining at the same aggregate, will be slightly increased. The royalty will be the same er ton. If the royalty be charged on ingots instead of desiliconized metal, this item would be slightly decreased. The estimate of the capacity of the open-hearth furnaces seems to me sanguine, to say the least. I do not know any 20- ton acid open-hearth furnace which is to- day making three heats in 24 hours, even when working on 20 Ee cent. of pig and 80 per cent. scrap. Some of the 15-ton furnaces are doing as well as this. Of course the basic process is more rapid than = aoe af ae eel e fie: ——— * 4 1060 the acid process when working on the same kind of pig iron. That is, if the phosphorus in both cases is below 0.10 per cent., the basic furnace will turn out about 33 per cent. more steel. When the phos- phorus is above this point the time re- quired to make a “heat” increases, be- cause the proportion of pig iron required is greater. The reason for this will be shown later on. There is no reason to suppose that chilled blown metal and scrap will work any faster than pig and THE IRON AGE. Jane 4, 1891 The loss »n the furnace will be between 4 and 5 per cent. I have taken it at 5 per cent. for safety. The total cost of blooming is put at $2. This is too low when scrap aud oxidation are included. The oxidation loss will be about 2 per cent., and it will not be safe to count on less than 12 per cent. of scrap, the prod- uct being soft steel. The finished prod- uct obtained from 500 tons of stock will be as follows for the four different varia- tions of the process: Product. 2 a | sf g. | | 2] ei ad 2 | a = Ss Ei] = = 219) a)e] a] ' 2 a : > |} Oo | & oD as b s | - | - $ (RS “ ~ 2+ Bg b>) ke) Be Be ke S38 Stgz| e8| #8 Bo, RS 500 | 500 | 450 | 428 || 368 | 51.36 500 490 441 419 || 360 50.28 500 «490 | 441419} 360 -50.28 Sta o | = ad | Mi | E § % a & gi|/3/8)8 | 8 | g - i= wt . < 2 eee tad | | > | o ete te lee | Be | Be be | Be Re | ke So/88/s8/ gb | ge (2s 4 || 500} 500, 450) 428 | 368 | 51.36 3 500 | 500) 450) 428 || 368 | 51.36 2 500; 500 450 | 428 || 368 51.36 1 500 | 500, 450| 428 | 368 | 51.36 scrap. In fact, the experience with Krupp In the above table the weights are all washed metal, a very similar material, ex-|in tons, the losses on which, it is calcu- cept as regards phosphorus, points to the | lated, are as follows: Two per cent. cu- opposite conclusion. pola loss, 10 per cent. vessel loss, 5 per cent. know that a 15-toh heat of washed | open-hearth furnace loss, 12 per cent. crop metal and scrap will take about one and a half hours longer to make than one of pig and scrap. The washed metal is much harder to melt than pig iron. The costs of the desiliconized metal in the four processes proposed will be as follows: | | Luet- Cor- |echer. rected. | 4/1 ton direct blast-furnace | | metal, liquid desiliconized| ae $11.50, $13.78 3 |1 ton direct blast-furnace metal, chilled desiliconized shi vide Gist xeceba wis’ 11.70 14.00 2 |1 ton remelted pig iron,| liquid desiliconized metal..| 12.72) 15.48 1 |1 ton remelted pig iron, chilled desiliconized metal! 12.92) 15.65 I have no very accurate figures on the | cost of basic open hearth ingots in this country. I think, however, that $7 and $8 would hardly cover the cost from liquid and solid stock to ingots. Of course this will depend largely upon the product of the furnace. Ido not believe that in the present state of the art more than 13 heats with solid stock or 18 to 19 heats with liquid stock can be made per week r furnace. In my opinion $8 per ton or ao and $9 per ton for solid stock would be much safer figures tc take for Cost of Ingots. Luet-| Cor- scher. rected. 4 | Liquid blast-furnace metal, liquid open-hearth stock.. $18.50, $21.78 3 | Liquid blast-furnace metal, solid open-hearth stock...| 19.70 23.00 2 Remelt pig iron, liquid open-hearth stock........ 19.72 23.67 1 |Remelted pig iron, solid open-hearth stock........ 20.92, 24.65 estimating purposes. The lower figures might eventually be reached. On this basis the cost ot ingots by the | ends in blooming mill and 2 per cent. loss from oxidation in the blooming mill. The cupola loss has been ignored in the calculations of the Daily News article, and the others are not given, although proba- bly calculated upon. On the above basis the cost of the metal in 1 ton of finished product, blooms, slabs or billets, will be as follows: Cost of Metal in 1 Ton of Blooms. | | Leut- jscher. Cor- rected. 4 Liquid blast-furnace snetels| liquid desiliconized metal..|$19.98) $23.79 | | 3 \Liquid blast-furnace metal,| solid desiliconized metal..| 21.38) 25.31 2 |Remelted pig iron, liquid de- siliconized metal.......... | 21.95) 26.01 1 |Remelted pig iron, solidde| | siliconized metal......... 22.88) 27.15 The cost of blooming is put at $2 per ton. This I take to be the cost of oper- ating alone, the loss being ignored. I do not believe the operating cost of bloom- ing, the scrap not being counted, can be kept much, if any, below this figure when the mill is to be run on,varied product. On 7-inch blooms or heavy slabs this cost would be much lower. In fact, it would be much lower if the mill could be de- signed for any one class of product and kept to it. ; —— Luet- Cor- scher. rected. 4 |Liquid blast - furnace metal, | liquid desiliconized metal. ./$21.98) $25.79 3 |Liquid blast furnace metal,| solid desiliconized metal...| 23.38 27.31 2 |Remelted pig iron. liquid de- siliconized metal.......... | 2395) 28.05 1 |Remelted pig iron, solid de-| siliconized metal.......... | 24.88) 20.15 When this $2 per ton is added to the cost of the metal in 1 ton of finished prod- uct the total cost for each variation of the four different processes would be as above. ' process will be as above. My estimates of cost are based on ordi- nary labor at $1.10 for 10 hours; cupola foreman, at $4.50 for 12 hours; ves- sel foreman, $4.50 ior 12 hours; pit foreman, $3.25 for 12 hours; melter, $5 for 12 hours; heater, $3.50 to $4 for 12 hours, and roller, $4.50 for 12 hours. The tunnage basis for these rates is 150 tons of blooms in 12 hours. The product basis is 500 tons of metal from the blast furnace in 24 hours. Coal is taken at 90 cents at the works and coke at $2.50. From these data any one can make a comparision which will be correct for the rates and prices which can be maintained at Ensley. Five hundred tons of metal treated would mean 25 open- hearth heats every 24 hours. If each fur- nace only made one heat per turn 12 fur- naces would be required to be in opera- tion. If each furnace made a heat every eight hours, then eight furnaces would be required to be in operation. With six fur- naces in operation each furnace would have to make 4.16 heats per 24 hours. This latter is, I think, a lurger output than can be expected. There should be at least one reserve furnace. In calculating the probable profits, the item of freights seems to have been neg- lected. I doubt if 300 tons of finished blooms per day could be sold in the im- mediate vicinity of Ensley. If not, then new markets must be created or the old ones invaded. In either case the freight must be taken account of. Ensley would have the advantage in the South, South- east, and Southwest, but at present the consumption in these regions is hardly sufficient to take up the whole of this prod- uct, Undoubtedly the product would be exceedingly well-fitted for all purposes in which soft steel is employed. The Darby process seems to be a success, and by means of it any grade of steel can be made. Open- hearth steel castings have been made by this process equal to the best made from the old acid furnaces. Mr. Luetscher’s remark that scrap will not be wanted is perfectly correct, but not for the reason given. The sentences, ‘‘ No scrap is necessary at all for this continuous rocess, as the low-carbon metal will i. obtained at will by longer blowing of the metal in the converter,” and (further on), ‘‘If there is a little more silicon than usual, all that is wanted is a little more blowing in the converter,” seem to me to contain the greatest mistake of the article, as far as my information and experience go. The rapid work in the open-hearth de- partment necessary for the amount of product estimated upon is based on the supposition that the carbon and silicon can be eliminated to a great extent in the converter, leaving a metal which is suit- able for use in the furnace. The carbon and silicon can, of course, be eliminated by blowing; the mistake made is in think- ing that the resulting metal will always be suitable for use in the furnace. It seems to be a perfectly established fact that phosphorus must be removed in the presence of carbon when the furnace is used; this being exactly the opposite to what takes place in the basic converter. All the information I have been able to gather together from the technical papers seems to fully bear out this point. All the English experts insist upon it, and the practice in America, so far as I know it, shows the same necessity. If the carbon goes out first great waste of iron takes place from oxidation, and all the numerous troubles occur which are caused by a highly oxidized slag at the end of the ‘‘ melt.” What these are would be too much to explain here, but they will readily occur to the practical man. ‘In practice they would certainly render the process a commercial failure, if not a tech- nical one also. In order to prevent this oxidation, when the carbon is eliminated before the phosphorus, it is necessary to aR NNN Re Ar ee June 4, 1891 THE [RON AGE 1061 ‘* pig back,” as it is called—that is, pig iron is added to the bath to increase the contents of carbon, which is again boiled out. Sometimes this must be repeated several times, This expedient wastes time, and is ex- pensive in every way. It is especially hard on the furnace, as it renders it necessary to keep it up to full heat for a long time. The most economical practice is to so pro- portion the contents of carbon and phos- horus that the latter will all be elim- inated, while the former is still above 0.20 per cent., when making steel below 0.10 carbon. If high-carbon steel is wanted, it is better to put it into the steel after tapping, by means of the Darby process. In practice it is found necessary to charge at least 50 per cent. of pig iron into the furnace when the bath contains more than 0.3 per cent. of phosphorus. When the bath contains 0.5 per cent. of phos- phorus at least 70 per cent. of pig must be charged. In the first case the bath would contain 0.3 per cent. phosphorus and from 1.63 to 1.75 per cent. of carbon ; and in the second case it would contain 0.5 per cent. of phosphorus and from 2.28 to 2.45 per cent. carbon, That is,the phos- phorus is about one-fifth of the carbon. The silicon should not be over half a per cent. in the bath, and ought to be as low as possible. The higher the content of phosphorus the less difference there need be between it and the phosphorus. If the pig and ore process be used, then the pig can contain as much as 2.00 percent. of phosphorus, but in that case it is often necessary to ‘‘ pig back.” It is an essential condition to the suc- cess of the basic open-hearth process that the slag should be highly oxidizing during the early part of the boiling period and as nearly free from oxide as possible at the end of it. The slag should be in- tensely basic from the start. Now, it is well known a large part of the carbon is also oxidized during the so-called silicon period of the Bessemer ‘* blow.” I have not been able to find many an- alyses published taken from varying periods of the blow, and among those I have found none have the carbon as low and the silicon as high as the average given of the Ensley pig—i. ¢., carbon 3.35, and silicon 2.75 to 3.00 per cent. In every report of such investigation that I have seen the carbon is 1.50 per cent. or below when the silicon has been reduced to 0.5 per cent., and is down to 1.0 per cent. when the silicon is down to 0.3 per cent. Although the published analyses of basic open hearth charges are not very many, those that I have been able to get to- gether confirm our own and seem to show that it is necessary to have about five times the amount of carbon as phosphorus with the latter at 0.3 per cent. in the bath; and about three and ahalf times the amount of carbon as phosphorus when the latter is from 0.5 to 0.6 per cent. Of course, the lower the content of phosphorus in the bath, the harder it is to remove it. In order to get it below 0.02 per cent. it is almost always neces- sary to ‘‘ pig back” under any circum- stances. The pig which it is proposed to use at Ensley has 0.6 per cent. of phos- phorus. The bath would, therefore, re- quire from 1.90 to 2.10 per cent. of car- bon to insure good and economical work. This pig also contains 3.35 to 3.50 per cent. of carbon, and from 2.75 to 3.0 per cent. of silicon. When this silicon would be reduced to 5 per cent., by blowing, the carbon would certainly be below 1.4 per cent. This amount of carbon is not enough to carry 0.6 per cent. of phosphorus. The carbon would have to be left at about While this amount of silicon is very ob- jectionable, still it can be used without very serious results; the principal of these would be loss of time and increased cut- ting of the sides and bottom, together with an increase in the amount of slag. Under these circumstances it will be per- ceived that little or no scrap can be used in the furnace, unless the Bessemer blow be stopped early enough to allow the carbon and silicon to be diluted. If this can be done, it hardly seems necessary to Bessemerize at all. In order to get the product estimated upon above, it will be necessary for each furnace to make six heats per 24 hours, or one heat every four hours. I do not be- lieve this is possible where the bath con- tains 2.00 per cent. of carbon, 0.8 per cent. silicon = 0.6 per cent. phosphorus, even with fluid stock. I think it would take six hours at least to charge the heat, tap it and make the necessary repairs. This would give four heats to the 24 hours per furnace. I think this result is a possi- billity and even a probability, but the probability is not a very strong one. It appears, therefore, that the product upon which the above costs are based is a possibility with six furnaces in operation, In order to insure six furnaces in operation continuously, at least one spare furnace should be built. The cost of this furnace, with its platforms, would be about $12,000, which would have to be added to the cost of the open-hearth plant. The above argument is based on the great body of information which I have gotten together and upon my own experi- ence. Iam bound to say, however, that I have found two instances in which much quicker work bas been reported. The first is given in Herr Thielen’s re- marks on J. W. Wailes’ paper, ‘‘ Notes on the Basic Open- hearth Process ” (‘‘Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute,” 1887, No. II, page 132). Speaking of the prac- tice at the Phoenix Works at Rubrort, Herr Thielen says: ‘‘ They used 60 to 70 per cent. scrap, and bad a grayish or white pig iron, containing from 2 to 24 percent. of phosphorus. Their charges were worked, of course, much more rapidly. With a basic Siemens furnace they turned out two and a half times the quantity than could be done if they employed pig iron, and so had to waste two-thirds of the time in purifying the pig.” The above means that from five and a half to six heats are made in 24 hours from a mixture containing about 1.25 per cent. carbon and 1.50 per cent. phos- phorus. This work is Gone on cold stock from which a large portion of the phos- phorus and a smaller proportion of carbon is eliminated during the melting. The fact remains, however, that the phos- | phorus content is greater that the carbon content, and good work is done. How it is done I do not know, and it is not ex- plained by Herr Thielen. We have not yet been able to do anything like it. The second instance [ have found in an abstract in the ‘‘ Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute,” 1890, No. II, pages 781- 782, of an article by Prof. F. Kupelwieser, in the ‘‘Oesterreischische Zeitschrift fiir Bergund Hiittenwesen,” Volume XXXVIII, page 261. In this paper Prof. Kupelwieser discusses the use of fluid pig iron in the open-hearth furnace. He de- cides that it is of advantage when the scrap added is much less than the pig iron charged, and also when the pig iron used is especially pure. He thinks that the difficulty which occurs of raising to a high temperature in a short time the fiuid metal charged can be overcome. He cites Witkowitz as an example, where three open-hearth furnaces have been running continuously on metal taken from 2.00 per cent., and in that case the silicon | the blast furnace. ‘This metal has been would be about 0.75 to 0.8 per cent. | subjected to blast for about two minutes, the result of which is shown in the follow- ing analysis : Si. Mn. Ce. Before the blow. ...... 0.95 1.77 3.39 After the blow.. ...... 0.26 0.75 3.03 He then says: ‘‘ The temperature of the metal when it reaches the open hearth is but slightly increased by this process. The charge consists of 90 per cent. pig iron, 10 percent. scrap and the necessary quantity of ore, together with some lime to reduce the percentage of phosphorus. The process is very rapid, the three fur- naces making about 17 charges in 24 hours. The fuel consumed is but from 10 to 12 per cent. of the weight of ingots made.” Unfortunately, it is not stated where the ‘‘blowing” is done, or how much phos- phorus is in the pig, or whether the vessel in which the blowing is done is acid or basic in its lining. From examination of the quotation it seems to me evident that the blowing is done in a basic- lined vessel, and then charged into the furnace. This seems to be shown by the rapidity with which the silicon has been eliminated, leaving the carbon practically untouched, and by his speaking of the metal arriving at the furnace after having been ‘‘ blown.” It also seems to me that the phosphorus content of the pig iron must be low, from the very casual reference made to the lime additions, One form of duplex process was in use at Witkowitz in 1888, in which two vessels were used instead of an acid vessel and basic open-hearth furnace. The process was rather slow, and very apt to make large amounts of scrap. I am informed that it has since then been abandoned. A study of Professor Kupelwieser’s original article would probably give a much clearer understanding of what has been done with the ‘ vessel-furnace duplex process,” but I have as yet had no opportunity of so doing. A duplex process has been, and possibly still is, in use at Hoerde. It was men- tioned by Dr. Wedding in his paper read before the international meeting in Pitts- burgh. Io this process, however, the vessel and furnace both had basic linings. Of course in such a vessel the silicon can be very quickly reduced without affecting the carbon very much. Whatever work was done in this direction by the Otis Iron and Steel Company was of a purely ex- perimental nature, and has not, as yet, been continued into practicel operation. (To be continued.) or—— Anti-Trust Legislation in Illinois’ ~> Following is the text of a bill which has just been passed by a very large majority in both houses of the Illinois Legislature: If any corporation, organized under the laws of this or any other State or county, for transacting or conducting any kind of business, in this State, or any partnership or individual or other association of per- sons, whosoever, shal! create, enter into, become a member of or a party to any pool, trust, agreement, combination, con- federation, or understanding, with any other corporation, partnership, individual, or any other person, or association of per- sons, to regulate or fix the price of any article of merchandise or commodity, or shall enter into, become a member of, or party to, any pool, agreement, contract, combination, or confederation to fix or limit the amount or quality of any article, commodity, or merchandise to be manu- factured, mined, produced or sold in this State, such corporation, partnership, or individual or other association of persons shall be deemed and adjudged guilty of a conspiracy to defraud, and be subject to | indictment and punishment as provided in / this act. It shall not be lawful for ™ corporation to issue or to own trust certifi- cates, or for any corporation, agent, offi- eg LT ce SP pene ee June 4, 1891 THE IRON AGE. 1032 ‘yuojg fo yuawabunsity possuvey— | brxqg—wepshg xajdng ey ol 9 ot ie } Ee age pasties [eae a ——4 — ZOWNUNS"H‘O ZOWNUNS *H “O ZOWNUNS *H“O BOWNUNS"H'O ZOWNUNS*H'O ZOWNUNS "H“O tt oisva NOL Zt O1sva NOL 24 O1SV8 NOL Zb O1SVE NOL 2b o1sva NOL Zh OISvO NOL 2b g = J 2 A” * 4x9 LOOM! : ie ° +H , r s oh Aj = " D2 1] a A ZY ’ } ¢ ; ‘+ <q O07 4 C7 \ =e oe ‘Lid uaasnvel h GUVA 1IVL3W I GYHVA WLIW “ts weed Sdwnd G334 SNS dig BUBANL SN3AO WO1L06 (0) (0) ( JQVOOE = : eee. + «tet: : ey Bos S46 hres ly BE 2 é es es bei Beige fie Sa 3 ee ea: ae ’ a te a Sees BO BBE eel 3 Ae eee 8: Shik ze ee p E : i Uses ee oe ee ‘3 mei pa - i Ain ma — ay eames ee June 4, 1891 THE IRON AGE, 1048 cer, or employees, or the directors or stock- holders of any corporation, to enter into any combination, contract or agreement with any person or persons, corporation or corporations, or with any stockholder or director thereof, the purpose and effect of which combination, contract or agree- ment shall be to place the management or control ot such combination or com- binations, or the manufactured product thereof, in the hands of any trustee or trustees with the intent to limit or fix the price or lessen the production and sale of any article of commerce, use or consump- tion, or to prevent, restrict or diminish the manufacture or output of any such article. If a corporation or company, firm or association shall be found guilty of a violation of this act, it shall be punished by a fine in any sum not less than $500 nor more than $2000 for the first offense, and for the second offense not less than $2000 nor more than $5000, and for the third offense not less than $5000 nor more than $10,000; and for every subsequent offense and conviction thereof shall be liable toa fine of $15,000, provided that in all cases under this act either party shall have the right of trial by jury. Any president, manager, director or other officer or agent or receiver of any corporation, company, firm or association, or any member of any company, firm or association, or any 1n- dividual found guilty of a violation of the first section of this act, may be punished by a fize of not less than $200 nor to ex- ceed $1000, or be punished by confine- ment in the county jail not to exceed one year, or both, in the discretion of the court before which such conviction may be had. Any contract or agreement in violation of any provision of the preceding sections of this act shall be absolutely void. Any purchaser of any article or commodity from any individual, company or corporation transacting business con- trary to any provision of the preceding sectiuns of this act shall not be liable for the price or payment of such article or commodity, and may plead this act asa defense to any suit for such price or pay- ment. The fines hereinbefore provided for may be recovered in an actién of debt in the name of the people of the State of Illinois. If upon the trial of any cause instituted under this act to recover the nalties as provided for in Section 3, the jury shall find for the people, and that the defendant has been before convicted of a violation of the provisions of this act, they shall return such finding with their verdict, stating the number of times they find the defendant so convicted, and shall assess and return with their verdict the amount of the fine to be imposed upon the defendant in accordance with said Section 3; provided, that in all cases under the provisions of this act, a preponderance of evidence in favor of the people shall be sufficient to authorize a verdict and judg- ment for the people. It sh-ll be the duty of the prosecuting attorneys in their respective jurisdictions, and the Attorney General, to enforce the foregoing provis- ions of this act, and any prosecuting at- torney ofany county securing a conviction under the provisions of this act shall be entitled to such fee or salary as by law he is allowed for such prosecution. When there is a conviction under this act, the infor.ner shall be entitled to one-fifth of the fines reco¢ered, which shall be paid him when the same is collected. All fines recovered under the provisions of this act shall be paid into the county treasury of the county in which the suit is tried, by the person collecting the same in the manner now provided by law, to be used for county purposes, The revenue cutters Rush, at San Fran- cisco, and Bear, at Seattle, have been ordered to proceed on their annual cruise tothe Behring Sea. A DUPLEX STEEL PLANT. For the Treatment of Iron High in Silicon and Phosphorus. BY GRAM CURTIS, CONSULTING ENGINEER, PITTSBURGH, PA. The vast deposits of rich ore in close proximity to beds of coal bas already at- tracted large capital and developed in- dustries that place Alabama in the front rank of our iron producing States. Cheap labor in addition to these advantages makes her a formable rival in many branches for consumption of pig iron, and were it not for the fact that her product contains certain impurities that, at present, absolutely exclude it from a very large field of demand—that of the steel manu- facturer—there is but little doubt that she would soon be crowding out many of our Northern furnaces, and not a few of the steel manufacturers themselves. The large percentage of phosporus, silicon and sulphur generally carried by these Southern irons renders them unfit for the manufacture of | steel by any one of the more common methods. The high phosphorus, while rendering the metal unfit for the acid Bessemer process or the acid open hearth, is still not sufficient for the basic Bessemer, yet favorable for the basic open hearth. But in all basic treatments the high silicon is very objectionable, and if the attempt be made to exclude this ele- ment at the blast furnace, high sulphur, that enemy of the rolling-mill man, is the result. The basic open hearth, therefore, seems a promising and indeed, at present, a most important factor in the economical treatment of the Southern irons, but be- fore this process can be employed satisfac- torily the silicon must be greatly reduced, and this without materially@ncreasing the sulphur. This requirement—reduction of the silicon—points directly to the acid Bessemer, for it is well known that the greater part of the silicon contained in the bath is readily eliminated by this method. In other words, this metal calls fora double treatment, or for the duplex proc- ess, as it is called, in which process the pig—high in silicon and phosphorus— after being melted in a cupula is charged into an acid-lined Besse