The Iron Age 1906-07-26: Vol 78 Iss 4

THE IRON AGE New York, Thursday, July 26, 1906. Commonwealth Electric Company’s New Station. The First Steam Turbine Electric Generating Station in Chicago. Central station progress is an important part in the activity of a growing city, such as Chicago. Every year adds 70,000 to the population, and the area of the city is now more than.191 square miles, almost covering Cook County. To keep pace with the demands for electric current the two great electric service companies that to gether cover the city, the Chicago Edison Company and the Commonwealth Electric Company, have had to unify into a homogeneous system a number of variously equipped generating stations. Gradually most of them have been changed over to converting substations, leav- ing only three or four with steam generating machinery, Fig. 1.—View in the Turbine Room of the Fisk Street Station instalation of Curtis steam turbo-generators. being the first great power house in the world to be equipped with steam turbines. The plant now consists of a power house and switch former being about one- third completed, while one-half of the latter has been finished. Another third of the power house and an ad- ditional quarter of the switch house are under construc- tion. buildings are covering approximately 14 and an additional 9 acres just opposite, on the south side of the river, is used for coal storage, where from 20,000 to 60,000 tons of coal are kept in reserve. <A private tunnel under the river con- house, the These located on a site acres, > | iat wl of the Commonwealth Electric Company, Chicago. The No. I Unit in the Foreground. while the system is operated from two or three principal generating stations, a plafi dictated by the economy of large, modern generating fiffits; the rapidly growing and uneven distribution of ¢fiffemt demand and many other considerations, The two companies Operate separate systems, which are, however, imterconnected, most of the current being generated at the new station of the Commonwealth Elec- tric Company at Fisk street and the river, and the re- mainder principally iii the now outgrown station of the Chicago Edison Company at Harrison street and the river, the latter Having a total capacity of about 15,000 kw. The former is & famous example of central station construction in mafy ways, but chiefly because of its nects the two parts of the property. The tracks of the Chicago & Alton and the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroads enter the grounds, and a slip from the river runs back on either side of the north plot, providing ample coal transportation facilities. The architectural style of the buildings is French, the construction being of steel, covered with red pressed brick ornamented with heavy cut Bedford stone. Every detail, has been carefully studied by the architects, Shep- ley, Aintan & Coolidge of Boston and Chicago, and the buildings already stand out as a grateful relief among less pleasing surroundings. Lighting and ventilating in the power house are assisted by the ingenious arrange- ment of coal bunkers, &c., which permitted the construc- tion of very large windows or louvers 25 ft. wide and SCALE IN FEET 30 INCH EXHAUST TO ATMOSPHERE Mh Liu Z —S=— ———— ————s —— l 4 2 a oie eee EE ' >; “I; 50 TON CRANE oe ~~ | oe! ti] K LEIS SECTION THRO’ COAL BUNKERS => FRONT OF COAL BUNKERS V TMD Cent fl Iezzzz (ZZ e LZ. he SWITCH BOARD GALLERY 6000 K.W. TURBO -ALTERNATOR SURFACE CONDENSER 20,000 SQ. FT. Ne Satna 55s SaReEE SSS ONE ROC Nipian feo | THE IRON ee rez ‘ie pt A iP eS aT << i} } Z Ku sorry HESS: LA SAS AGE —--44--e Bowes Lo ee Col, OF FIRING ROOM———- i --—-—-—SECTION NORTH OF 1 TURBINE—-——- <——— - SECTION THROUGH CRUSHER PIT——- THE 'fON AGE “SECTION THRO’ BOILER AND ASH HOPPERS --SECTION FRONT OF ASH HOPPERS Fig. 2.—Cross Section of the Fisk Street Power Station, Show ing the Unit Principle in the Relation of Boilers to Turbines. July 26, 1906 32 ft. high in the walls, and large ventilating skyiights over the inside sections. The several metal framed window sections in each of these louvers and the sky- lights are operated by air supplied at 90 pounds pres- sure by a steam driven compressor located in the basement, In the turbine room the walls are lined with white enameled glazed brick with terra cotta trim- mings, and the floor is laid with terra cotta 2-in. hexag- onal tile. The are lamps for lighting this part of the station are of ornamental design, supported midway between the visitors’ gal- lery and the tracks of the 50 and 100 ton traveling cranes by massive iron brackets, with Bauer-Barff finish. The station rests on piles driven down to hard pan and capped with mas- sive concrete foundation work. Under the turbine and condensing apparatus these piles are located 3 ft. apart in all directions. While the plans original- ly contemplated a station of 70,000 kw. capacity the 14 turbine units to be in- stalled will have a maxi- mum capacity for a sus- tained period of at least 156,000 kw. Four turbine units have already been in- stalled, Nos. 1, 2 and 3 hav- ing a rated capacity of 5000 kw. each and No. 4 8000 kw., and work is be- ing pushed on sections for units 5, 6, 7 and 8 of 8000 kw. each. The first four machines, shown in Fig, 1, bave demonstrated that generators of this type can safely be made to carry temporary overloads of 100 per cent.; in fact, unit No. 4, rated at 8000 kw., fre- quently carries over 9000 kw., and the machines to be installed are ali de- signed for a_ sustained maximum of 12,000 kw. each. The unit system of con- struction has been worked into every detail of this station, with a view to the isolation of possible station troubles. Two batteries, each containing eight dou- ble drum Babcock & Wil- cox boilers, constitute a section of the boiler room corresponding to two tur- bine units, being completely divided from the turbine room by a heavy fire wall and massive iron doors. These sections are laid out at right angles to the tur- bine room axis, as shown in Fig. 2, which is a cross July 26, 1906 THE IRON AGE 201 I. | section through the : boiler and turbine a : rooms. Fig. 3 shows VIO OO ORO bbe the longitudinal sections a LIL | HUH on different planes 5 > ieee ) through the boiler room. The boiters are of 550 hp. each, and have an unusual hight of tubes Hm over the fire, thus prac- ( i) tically embodying the es pon ag function of a fuel econo- at OTT Sod rub . mizer, considering the oa Oita} fll ES type of superheater em- eel STH TNL ployed. The simpler \\Weeee oH a construction was adopt- al i ed because of its lesser | first cost and mainten- ance expense, considera- tions which in this case practically offset the virtues of the usual fuel economizer. There are 252 4-in. tubes 18 ft. long in each boiler, giv- ing 5000 sq. ft. of water heating surface. The steam passes down from the drums to the super- heater, which is located below the former in the path of the hottest of the flue gases, just be- fore they enter the up- takes. This superheater has 900 sq. ft. of sur- face. The boiler pres- sure is 180 pounds, and 150 to 200 degrees of superheat is secured, The station is coaled from cars run into the train shed and dumped into receiving hoppers. In each section there are two large motor driven coal crushers lo- eated below the receiv- ing hoppers, and two McCaslin conveyors en- circle the coal bunkers above the boilers, the ashpits under the chain grates and the _ coal a deel i 442. —__ 5 TON CRANE c FIRING ROOM NO.1 _ THE 1RON AGE i¢ SCALE IN FEET BASEMENT FLOOR \ } t ‘oe FLooR-{ || | yOO14 W20¥ wa v08 BA0av ,302 HOVES odin ar te BOILER SETTING THROUGH SECTION Taken on Different Planes. COAL BUNKER ¥OO1s WoO mall 3AO3Y G0 NOVAS SECTION AT BOILERS BENEATH STACK Longitudinal Sections Through the Boiler Room, « crusher. The capacity i = of the coal bunkers over ly each battery of boilers iy i t is 1200 tons, which is a. iN +f sufficient for several ie \ } ome . . id Mm \ 4 — days’ average run of its i % a 7 rT = GH il t Z turbine. The conv eyor 5 i £ i th-Se\ are endless chains of i | | x Veoran | wo Bers) ; 7 - ef 5 wh > +H 40% ot Dea overlapping iron buck- a a y | z pee Ti ‘ i | x 24h Wh) eof EH ets, each with a capac- ‘oe 4OOTd WwOUs uF 2 ‘¢ w/a Lf ¥$ he / Baoev oes Evol HY 87il ima Ge ity of 100 pounds of cae yh Mh, J tee] Fo 3 crushed coal, and travel 4 j Ht} i 7 | oo a IW H — all at the rate of 50 ft. per ; — 1 g minute, being driven by £ SST 4 — ae a 15 hp. motor, so that ‘ ph i i 9 an on ! L__(a) || U } 1 the total capacity is 75 i wa I wy - s ith . ee tons of coal per hour. A : 4G 7 2 s ae epee -| detail of the upper run Cin aN : of the conveyor is given LMI $< XL eae in Fig. 4. The lower Fe) (So Se: end of each coal bunker } og > et Li ] . : a iti; So +: & is flexibly connected to t sit] { ; | ! : CU, See | an iron chute, through ett, ZT = which the coal is let ci PZ i down to the’ stoker Se ||| une hopper by a hand -" aU. Ht Eins y controlled cut-off, as 202 THE may be seen in the view in one of the firing rooms, Fig. 5. The grates are of the moving chain type, traveling 5 to 7 in. per minute by the usual automatic stoker ar- rangement. The coal burned is chiefly Illinois screen- ings, but combustion is so perfect that practically no Fig. 4 A Detail of the Run of Conveyor. Upper the Coal and Ash Fig. 2 } smoke is produced. The ashes fall into ash hoppers below the grates, from which they are conveyed to a large ash bunker over the train shed and are then dumped into empty cars. Means are provided below the front of the grates for catching and saving the fine coal which inevitably leaks through. IRON AGE July -26, 1906 For each present boiler section of the station there is one stack 18 ft. inside diameter and ft. high, but for the two sections now building the stacks will be 5V ft. higher. The boiler up-takes and flues are constructed of steel, lined with 13-in. firebrick, which is also carried up inside of the stacks to the top in successive thick- nesses of 9, 6 and 4 in. These immense stacks do not rest on foundations of their own, but are supported by special heavy girders spanning the boiler thus greatly economizing in space. Immediately below each double row of boilers is a long space known as the “header room.” Here the 6-in. steam headers, the auxiliary boiler feed headers and the blow-off and service pipes for each unit are located, gal- leries affording access to each joint and valve. One large steam main for each row of boilers supplies the corresponding turbine, increasing in size from 6 to 14 in, at the turbine. There are two separate boiler feed headers for each row of boilers, separately connected to each of the two feed pumps and independently to each boiler. One of these is the “hot feed” ang the other the “cold or auxiliary” supply. The latter has “ pres- sure wash” connections, so that one feed pump may be utilized in cleaning the boilers. Near the turbine room end of each section the two main steam headers are cross connected by an 8-in. pipe, so that a turbine may be run either from its own or the adjoining battery of boilers. The hot feed headers are similarly connected; otherwise all of the piping for each unit is independent. All pipes are wrought iron, with welded steel flanges, smooth finished and ground with emery on iron face plates and joined without gaskets. In designing the station itself and the auxiliary ma- chinery for the turbines many difficulties were success- or steel rool, One of the Double Firing Rooms. «fully overcome by the engineers. The very necessities of the condensing apparatus for the turbines were the cause of some uncertainties, for no precedents existed. However, the need of a very high vacuum decided that be surface condensing, as vacuum by the type must would lower the the jet type permitting the introduction Juiy 26, 1906 of air mixed with the water. Further, no oil being used to lubricate the steam chambers of the turbines the water of condensation could be returned immediately to the boilers. The cooling surface of each condenser is 20,000 sq. ft., 4773 1-in. seamless brass tubes 16 ft. long being used. The condensers have three superposed sections of passes, the water supply for each pass being introduced at the top and flowing out at the bottom. The steam enters at the bottom, condensing as it circulates upward. Cold water to the condenser is supplied from the east slip, through intakes supplied with screens, one for each two boiler sections. It is conducted to the cold well through a 4%-ft. concrete tunnel and discharged into an 8-ft. _ tunnel running under the turbine foundations, which will take care of five condenser units and dis- charges into the west slip. For each condenser there is a two-stage dry vacuum pump connected to a small vertical drum at the top of the condenser for removinz the air, a wet vacuum pump for removing the condensa- THE IRON AGE able to carry about 65 per cent. of its ordinary load under those conditions. The Emmet-Curtis type of steam turbine, manufac- tured by the General Electric Company, Schenectady. N. Y., is now too familiar to require more than a general description here. The first of these Fisk street turbines was the first of any make of great size, and when started up in the station it had never been tested under load, con- sequently it was run for a month with load supplied by a large water rheostat, consisting of plates suspended in the slip on the west side of the property. Having been thoroughly proved and tested the turbine was put in service on the company’s mains October 2, 1903, 14 months after ground was broken for the station. The first three turbines stand about 30 ft. high, rising 26 ft. above their foundations, and their greatest diam- eter is 16%, ft. They are two-stage machines, the first stage abstracting the energy in the steam due to its pres- sure above the atmosphere and the second stage the re- Fig. 6.—The Condenser and Auxiliary Machinery for Unit No. 4. tion, which passes it into a hot well supplying one of the boiler feed pumps, and a centrifugal pump, with 24-in. discharge, designed to supply 140,000 cu. ft. per hour at 75 rev. per min. for circulating the cold water. These three pumps for each condenser are operated by a 145- hp. Corliss vertical-horizontal engine placed opposite the condenser, the circulating pump being mounted on the shaft and the other pumps connected separably to the piston tail pieces, as shown in Fig. 6. For turbines Nos. 5, 6, 7 and 8, to be installed, the condensers will be of the subbase type, which closely resembles the above described type laid on its side. The main casting supports the turbine, and the foot-step bear- ing is an integral part of the condenser construction, avoiding a vacuum connection at that point. The yracuum in the condensers, even when the turbines are running under heavy overloads, is never less than 28 in.., although the temperature of the cooling water frequently rises to 75 degrees F. in summer time. A 30-in. exhaust pipe from each turbine runs up to the roof inside the boiler room wall. In case the vacuum is lost an automatic valve opens in this exhaust connection and the turbine runs noncondensing, being mainder, depending on the condenser vacuum. The steam enters through three sets of expanding nozzles and gains tremendous velocity by the time it strikes against the blades. So low, however, is the velocity of the exhaust that the condensers for units Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4 have been placed very close to the turbines, and the exhaust steam ports are of an unusual size. The governor is attached to the top of the turbine shaft, above the generator, and maintains the speed con- stant within 2 per cent. at 500 rev. per min. An emerg- ency centrifugal trip on the shaft, between the turbine and the generator, releases a trigger controlling a valve in the main steam header and shuts off the steam to the turbine if the speed increases to 550 rev. per min. In the first three turbine units each of the three steam chests contain 12 nozzle valves, and each of the two turbine wheels have four sets of blades. These wheels are 12% ft. in diameter. The steam is directed back on each wheel three times in its course through each stage, thus reducing the peripheral speed, which would otherwise have to be approximately 1300 feet per second. The blades have a slight clearance, which requires occasional adjusting, and is accomplished by a ratchet device hand 203 Siyiins boon carsales memes et es Pete eet one en a Rey ee Castres Nah he ible a ee CS FY oS ee as prs THE 204 operated from the attendant’s station on the machine. This in turn actuates a worm gear, which turns a great nut on the stationary part of the bearing. Each turbine is provided with a magnifying indicator, which shows the exact relative position of the moving and stationary blades. Turbine No. 4, is a five-stage ma- shown in Fig. 7, chine, there being but two rows of blades on each of the 7 and 8 are of the same type. five wheels, and Nos. 5, 6, Fig. 7.—Turbo-Generator No. 4. The First of the Five-Stage Machines Installed. No. 4 also differs from the others in that the steain enters through two steam chests instead of three, in each of which are 15 expanding nozzles. There is also pro- vision for better ventilating the generator, as it is de- signed for greater capacity. Each turbine has an independent motor-driven trip- lex high pressure oil pump, with a capacity of 6 gal. per minute. These were originally depended upon for the oil circulation, but are now held in reserve, the oil system being consolidated for three turbines, and a large steam engine in the oil return and filtering room under the boilers maintains the pressure, which is in the neighborhood of 1200 pounds per square inch for the foot-step bearings. A branch of the oil piping, provided with a reducing valve, supplies oil at a much lower pres- sure for the two lateral bearings of the turbine shaft and for the governor. The auxiliary machinery has sight feed oil cups, for which, as well as for the cylinder oil system, there is a constant gravity feed from an oil tank located on the boiler room wall above the level of the machines. This is kept filled by two small screw pumps. All the oil is filtered every time it makes the return circuit from the oil drains. For emergency pur- poses there is an oil accumulator located in the boiler room and connected with the turbine oil system, which is built much on the general plan of the hydraulic ac- cumulators used in connection with elevator systems. Should the pressure on the system fall below a certain point a retaining trigger in the accumulator is auto- matically tripped, permitting the gravity compressor to continue the high pressure oil feed until the machine can be stopped or the regular oil system be put in op- eration again. The turbines generate three-phase rent at 9000 volts pressure and 25 cycles. alternating cur- The generators IRON July 26, 1906 are mounted on the vertical shafts immediately above the bearings, being separated from the latter by a heavy cast iron diaphragm thickly covered with asbestos ce- ment, protected by an outer covering of sheet steel. The heavy iron casing of the armature is pierced with nu- merous large ports, through which the rapidly revolving field draws air, producing excellent ventilation. The generators are very much smaller for their capacities than would be expected, owing to their relatively high speed, the diameter of the revolving fields being under 7 ft. 4 in. There are six pole pieces of laminated con- struction, which are dovetailed into the laminated sheets which form the field core, these being strongly keyed into position, and the whole heavily banded with steel. The armature has a distributed winding of formed coils similar to that of an engine driven machine. The terminals are located on the west side, toward the switch- house, and the cables connected thereto lead down to a junction box in the base of the turbine through six brass pipes. Three of these cables are connected to the three- phase legs of the armature; the fourth is a neutral to the ground, and the other two contain the exciter and gov- ernor control circuits. From the junction the main ca- bles run in vitrified conduit to the switchhouse. The exciting current for the generators is taken from a main and an independent auxiliary exciter bus in the “cable basement,” under the turbines. Near each’ tur- bine is a 50-kw. motor generator, providing 115-volt direct current for exciting and control. These are op- erated by current from the turbo-generators, through special oil switches and stationary transformers located in the switchhouse and controlled from the turbine room operating gallery. Each exciter set has a control- ling panel near by, and also remote control from the gallery. Connected to the same exciter busses are 4a steam driven 75-kw. auxiliary exciter and a 70-cell 800 ampere-hour storage battery, the latter being located over No. 1 firing room. The switchhouse is another example of the “ unit idea.” It was built to isolate the large amount of com- plicated high tension switching apparatus and to house the very large line, auxiliary and transfer busbars and the numerous oil switches in connection with them. In ad- dition it provides a large amount of room on the second floor for the local offices of the company, and various accommodations for the employees, including a commo- AGE Fig. 8. The Six-Stage Centrifugal Fire Pump. dious dining room. An elaborately equipped electric kitchen and 200-pound refrigerating plant adjoins the main dining room, and electrically cooked meals are served every day. Living rooms for the employees who may have to stay at the station several days at a time are provided on the same floor. The generator leads enter in underground ducts, rising to the basement ceiling in recesses provided in the east wall and crossing over to the busbar chambers. All the busbars and connections are isolated on the unit July 26, 1906 plan in separate fireproof compartments, and are in- sulated to withstand a pressure of 20,000 volts. On the first floor above are the oil switches. The energy from the generators passes through oil switches to the opera- tor bus and from there is delivered to the transfer, aux- iliary and line busses, the latter being equipped with sectional oil switches. The main operating board for the station is located on the gallery above the visitors’ gallery on the west wall of the turbine room. It carries switches for con- trolling all of the motor operated oil switches in the switch house and the most necessary indicating switches only. The other apparatus includes the instrument trans- formers, overload relays, intergrating watt meters,” &c., all located in the switchhouse, thus greatly simplifying the main board. On the main board all the controlling apparatus for each unit and its lines is mounted on one 5-ft. panel. This includes an ammeter and watt meter on one leg of each of the four lines from the generator, a volt meter, power factor indicator and a frequency indicator, an ammeter for the field current and a volt meter and pressure switch for the exciter circuit. There is an operating table at each panel, with only the handles of the switches projecting through it, the openings being protected by shields mounted beneath them on the switch handles. Indicating dummy busbars and pilot lamps are provided at each panel, and there is a signal system whereby the attendant can communicate with the attendant in charge of the turbines. The switchboard gallery is inclosed with plate glass as a protection from the penetrating hum of the turbines. The station buildings are entirely fireproof, being constructed of noninflammable materials, and are also completely isolated from their surroundings, standing as they do in about the center of 14 acres of otherwise vacant land which is four-fifths surrounded by water, so danger from fire is most remote. A 6-in. high pressure main is laid in the ground surrounding the buildings and to this are attached a number of fire hydrants and standpipes running to the roofs. This main also runs to the river, where <>nnections for the city fireboats are provided. At various convenient points about the build- ing 200-ft. lengths of high pressure firehose are located. In a special fireproof room in the third section of the boiler house has been installed a six-stage centrifugal motor driven pump, shown in Fig. 8, having a capacity of 750 gal. per minute at 250 pounds pressure in the main. The pressure rises to 250 pounds when the speed is raised to 800 rev. per min. The station force is thoroughly drilled for fire fighting. There is a duplicate electric service system for the power house and switchhouse, supplied from the service bus in the new Twenty-second street substation of the company, recently built on the north end of the Fisk street property. Over 1200 incandescent and 50 are lamps are required to light the present buildings and 300 hp. in motors is used for various purposes, exclusive of the fire pump motor, which is 220 hp., and which has separate service. Every attention has been paid to the most modern sanitary requirements in both buildings. Commodious shower and tub baths, with individual lockers, are also located on the second floor for the turbine room and office employees. In the power house, above the firing room of the first section, is located a comfortable fur- nished library and rest room for the boiler house em- ployees who may be off duty, and similar baths are pro- vided for them in an adjoining apartment. All the engineering work connected with the equip- ment of the Fisk street station has been carried out un- der the direct supervision of the permanent engineering staff of the Commonwealth Electric Company and stands to-day as a monument to their enterprise and ability. The success of this great plant constitutes one of the more important recent episodes in the development of power manufacturing plants the world over and of elec- tric central station activity in the West. —~++oe At Jamestown, N. Y., July 19, in the United States Court the case against the Association of Sewer Pipe Manufacturers was about to be presented to the Federal THE IRON AGE 205 Grand Jury when the attorney for the manufacturers stated that he would enter into an agreement that the association dissolve. This proposition was accepted by the district attorney, and is taken to mean that the so- called sewer pipe trust will go out of business as such. ————2-e__ The Gas Blowing Engine Piant for the Indiana Steel Company. What will eventually develop into perhaps the largest gas power plant in the world has its inception in an im- portant contract recently placed with the Westinghouse Machine Company, of East Pittsburgh, Pa., for 8 large gas driven blowing engines to be installed in the Indiana Steel Company’s new plant at Gary, Ind. As it is the ex- pressed intention of the United States Steel Corporation, which controls the Indiana Steel Company, to make this the foremost American steel center, the significance of simultaneous development of gas power is obvious. The machines comprised in this initial order will be uniform in size and capacity. Each gas engine, as an electric unit, will have a rated capacity on blast furnace gas of nearly 3000 hp., corresponding to a rating of 4000 hp. on natural gas. The unit will be arranged in twin tandem fashion, each side consisting of two double acting gas cylinders and cne blowing cylinder in the opposed or vis a vis arrangement. Power cylinders are 42 in., and the air cylinders 68 in. in diameter, with a common stroke of 54 in., the unit running at a maximum speed of 75 rev. per min. for blowing and 84 rey. per min. for electric work. The capacity of air delivery at this speed will be 33,000 cu. ft. of free air per minute at 18 pounds pres- sure, with a maximum pressure delivery of 30 pounds per square inch. This type of engine will not only be used for blowing purposes but also for electrical generation. In all sizes a resemblance to the horizontal tandem heavy duty steam engine design is strong. ‘The general design conforms quite closely to that of similar machinery ordered by the United States Steel Corporation for the Carnegie Steel Company’s plant at Bessemer, near Pittsburgh. It also follows closely, but on a larger scale, the design of a number of smaller units already in operation in various parts of the country for power work; notably those at the plants of the Warren & Jamestown Street Railway Company, Warren, Pa.; Standard Steel Car Company, Butler, Pa.; Iola Portland Cement Company, Iola, Kan. ; Carnegie Technical Schools, Pittsburgh, &c. Some of these smaller plants are operating on natural gas, but, with the exception of slightly different proportioning of air and gas passages and cylinder diameter, the general construction of the natural gas engine is practically identical with that intended for leaner gases, such as pro- ducer and blast furnace gases. For several months a 350-hp. engine of this type has been in regular operation on blast furnace gas at the Edgar Thomson Works, Pittsburgh, generating electricity for motor driven foundry machinery. The engine was installed largely for experimental purposes and has given such excellent operating results that the success of the larger machines may be regarded as an assured fact. This engine is now completing a 30-day continuous load and duty test, operating 24 hr. per day and seven days per week during the period. ———_3- o____—_- The Merchants’ Association, of Danville, Ill, is en- deavoring to enlist the attention of manufacturing in- dustries in its city as an advantageous point for location. Danville is a division point on the main line of five rail- road systems which bear direct connection with all the leading middle Western and Western centers, the roads deflecting to such points as Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, &e. Aside from transportation facilities, Danville enjoys the distinction of being the metropolis of the large Indiana and Illinois bituminous coal fields and therefore the center of an inexhaustible fuel supply, which is an important factor in manufacturing operations. Favor- able rates are said to be given on pig iron, ore and similar materials which can be hauled in returning coal cars. rae ca ee na fonenenalitondieti sid : THE IRON Free Alcohol Regulations. WASHINGTON, D. C., July 23, 1906.—Manufacturers in all parts of the country, and especially the makers and users of internal combustion engines of various types, are addressing communications to the Commissioner of In- ternal Revenue in the hope of foreshadowing the general terms of the regulations now being prepared for the ad- ministration of the law recently passed by Congress grant- ing free denatured alcohol for industrial purposes, which takes effect January 1, next. The regulations will not be made public until October 1, but certain features of the code have been practically determined. It is also pos- sible to correct certain erroneous reports now current among manufacturers with regard to both production and consumption of denatured spirits. Commissioner of Internal Revenue Yerkes, accom- panied by Dr. Crampton, chief chemist of the Internal Revenue Bureau, is now in London for the purpose of studying the laws and regulations of the leading European countries which have adopted free alcoho! policies. Until they return little progress will be made in preparing the regulations, but in a circular letter just issued by Acting Commission Williams, the promise is made that these will be ready for promulgation not later than October 1. How the Trade Shall Be Regulated. It is the present intention of the Internal Revenue Bureau to divide the consumers of denatured spirits into at least two classes: first, manufacturers who use alcohol denatured with a special agent suited to their product; and second, persons who employ spirits denatured with the standard agent to be adopted by the Internal Revenue Bureau, whether as a component material of manufacture or for heat, light and power. It was the original desire of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue that all manu- facturers using specially denatured spirits should pay a small tax, but the Senate Finance Committee declined to accept this suggestion. It is understood, however, that the commissioner will incorporate in his regulations cer- tain provisions, a draft of which was submitted to the Senate committee while the bill was pending. These pro- visions are in part as follows: Specially Denatured Alcohol, That any manufacturer of articles in which aicohol is used who is not a distiller and desires to use alcohol denatured with material specially suited to his line of manufacture may, after being duly qualified, be authorized to withdraw alcohol, tax free, for said purposes upon full compliance with all the re- quirements of this act and of the regulations issued pursuant thereto. Provided, that the word “ manufacturer,” as used in this act, shall be held to mean any person, firm or company having an established place of business and manufacturing, for wholesale only, any article included in the provision of this act. That any manufacturer desiring to avail himself of these provisions shall file with the collector of internal revenue of his district a notice and application in duplicate, setting forth his name and residence, and, if a company or firm, the name and residence of each member thereof; the location and description of the premises and buildings where his business is conducted ; the article or articles in the manufacture of which alcoho] is to be used, and the authorized distiller or wholesale dealer from whom the alcohol will be obtained. That each manufacturer filing the notice and application provided for shal] execute a bond with surety, to be provided by the collector of internal revenue, in a penal sum of not less than double the amount of tax on the estimated quantity of alcohol specified"in his notice. The collector shall refuse to approve said notice and bond when in his judgment the situation of the manufacturer's premises is such as would enable him to defraud the United States, and in case of such refusal the manufacturer may appeal to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, whose decision in the matter shal! be final. Use of Standard Spirits. In the case of manufacturers using spirits denatured with the standard agent, and those persons employing such spirits for heat, light and power, it is probable that no bonds will be required, but it is understood that a license, to be issued without charge, will be provided for, so that the Internal Revenue Bureau may have a record of parties who make more or less regular purchases of denatured spirits. It has been suggested that license should only be required for persons buying certain quan- tities of denatured alcohol at a time, which would exempt the small household users who would buy a few gallons only for heat and lighting purposes. The general pur- AGE July 26, 1906 pose of the regulations, it will be noted, is to enable the bureau to trace unusually large purchases of denatured spirits, which might be made by unscrupulous persons for the purpose of illicit purification. There seems to be little doubt that the bureau will adopt as a standard denaturing agent about 5 per cent. of wood alcohol with a small quantity of pyridine base, which would not only give the mixture strong toxic prop- erties, but an odor so offensive as to prevent its use as a beverage, although not sufficiently powerful to make it objectional when burned. The commissioner is clothed by the provisions of the law with ample authority to au- thorize the use of special denaturing agents peculiarly suited to the manufacture of certain products, and an interesting development of the application of the law will be the experiments that will be made to determine just what agents can safely be used. The primary require- ment will be that spirits denatured by special agents shall be rendered nonpotable. Production of Denatured Spirits, The manufacturers of small internal combustion en- gines, and especially the concerns that are producing these engines in connection with the manufacture of agri- cultural machinery, &¢., have submitted a number of in- quiries with regard to the regulations that will be adopted for the government of producers of denatured spirits. The impression appears to be quite natural in the West that under the new law any farmer may make alcohol on his own premises from surplus grain, fruits, vegetable refuse, &c., have it denatured by an official of the Govern- ment and employ it to run an engine to operate his agri- cultural machinery or for heat and light. It can be very positively stated that such methods of distillation will not be permitted under the regulations now being pre- pared. Every producer of grain alcohol designed to be denatured will be obliged to comply with all the laws and regulations which now govern the manufacture of taxable spirits. The minimum capacity of a distillery will be 500 proof gallons daily, a requirement that will shut the farmer out of the manufacture of alcohol, except in a very few isolated cases. The regulations will further provide that before the alcohol is withdrawn from the distillery warehouse it shall be denatured in the presence of an authorized Government officer, with an approved denaturing material which renders it unfit for use as a beverage, such material to be furnished by the distiller at his own cost. It is quite possible that in certain agri- cultural sections, especially in the great grain district of the Northwest, co-operative distilleries may be established in which the farmers in the surrounding country may have their surplus products worked up into alcohol at cost. It is more than probable, however, that the use of such cheap raw materials as molasses, by-products of beet sugar manufacture, &c., will enable the large commercial distilleries to produce denatured spirits at a price so low that the farmers, even in the most remote regions, will find it more profitable to buy their spirits than to distil them. It is confidently predicted that denatured spirits will be obtainable in all the leading markets at less than 20 cents per gallon within one year after the law goes into force. This price will be higher than gasoline in the leading industrial centers of the East, but would be about on a par with that product in the West and South. For power purposes the efficiency of alcohol and gasoline is prac- tically the same, gallon for gallon, but for lighting pur- poses it has been conclusively demonstrated that a gallon of alcohol is equal to exactly two gallons of kerosene. so that at 20 cents denatured spirits would be considerably cbeaper than kerosene, in any part of the country. W. &.C. ———__4--o___—_——_- The large chimney of the Colwell Lead Company. at Bayway station, Elizabeth, N. J., which was destroyed py a bolt of lightning July 4, was successfully wrecked a few days later. On July 9 the material for the new chimney arrived and in three days it was completely re- built. On Thursday of the same week steam was turned on and the plant placed in operation. The output in cludes enameled iron bath tubs and other sanitary sup- plies. July 26, 1906 THE IRON 207 AGE Improveménts in Rolling Iron and Steel.” BY JAMES E. YORK, NEW YORK CITY. The honor so fairly earned and so incompletely and tardily paid to Henry Cort, the inventor of the puddling furnace and the rolling mill, has been fully set forth by Charles H. Morgan and needs no further emphasis here. In view of the importance of the rolling mill in the Forty years ago the bulk of the metal rolled was iron. Rolling iron was in some regards simpler and in other regards more difficult than rolling steel. Iron was adapt- ed to quicker reduction, being softer and capable of sus- It was inherently taining greater heat without injury. THE Fig. 1.—Method of Rolling a 6-In. Flat. treatment of iron and steel the paucity of information concerning it is surprising. With the exception of a book, written about 35 years ago by Peter Ritter von Tunner, and of desultory articles on simple sections which have appeared in technical journals, I know of Fig. 2. no publication attempting to treat this subject, although volumes have been written on the scientific theory and technical manipulations involved in other branches of the iron and steel industry. This strange anomaly may be due to the fact that roll turning cannot be called a scien- tific business. It does not ordinarily come within the range of an educated engineer; yet it cannot be per- formed by an ordinary mechanic. It demands some of the qualifications of an engineer in designing and those of a mechanic in execution. The men who have followed this trade have controlled the training of their succes- sors. In many cases the technical knowledge required has been handed down from father to son, and there has been a motive of private interest to prevent its public dissemination. Moreover, the statement of the various principles involved in the process would require, besides manual experience, a degree of scientific knowledge which roll turners do not usually possess; and, finally, any book on the subject in order to possess real prac- tical value would have to be so fully illustrated as to make it very costly to publish. Regarding my own experience, I may say that I served a six-year apprenticeship at the trade of roll turning at Wednesbury, South Staffordshire, England, and later accepted a position as head roll turner, believ- ing that I fully understood the technical points of the business, but after a short time I realized that if there were any theories governing the practice I still had to acquire them. * Paper read at the joint meeting of the Iron and Steel In- stitute and American Institute of Mining Engineers, London, July, 1906. weaker than steel at a rolling temperature, even when properly heated, but piles could be made conforming to the finished section, which was a great advantage in making flange sections. In the early stages of this business the market called THE IRON AGE| Method of Rolling a 6-In. Beam. for simple forms only, such as flats, rounds and squares, but with the advent of railroads and other commercial demands it became necessary to roll more complex sec- tions, such as rails, beams, channels and tees, which add- wi THE IRON AGE Fig. 3.—Elevation of the York Universal Mill, Showing the Method of Rolling an 18-In. Beam with 6-In. Flanges. ed very materially to the difficulties in the art of roll designing. These difficulties I will attempt to explain. Fig. 1 illustrates the rolling of a flat 6 in. wide and 14 in. thick. This was undoubtedly the first rolling ever 208 done in grooved rolls and represents the simplest section that we have to make, and the only shape rolled in closed grooves to which the principle of uniform flow of metal from rolling contact can be applied. It is recognized by all experts that metal flows under pressure in the direction of least resistance, which in rolling is at right angles to the journal of the roll, or JA THE IRON AGE Fig. 4.—Plan of the York Universal Mill. lengthwise of the bar. The result is to make the bar, stronger longitudinally than transversely; and this is true of every bar except rounds and squares, either of iron or steel rolled in grooved rolls. In some cases the difference amounts to from 10 to 15 per cent. of the strength. The most important physical effects are produced on the metal during the last stages of rolling. As the tem- perature decreases and the section becomes thinner greater resistance is offered to reduction, and there is THE IRON AGE July 26, 1906 The billet or ingot from which any flanged section is rolled in an ordinary mill must have dimensions prac- tically equaling or exceeding the extreme dimensions of the section to be produced, although the actual area of metal in this section will be much smaller than that of the original mass. Moreover, the first shaping groove must be wider than the mass, in order that the latter may enter it. It follows that the reduction of the metal by rolling pressure is wholly in one direction, and this result is inseparable from the conditions presented by ordinary mills, Fig. 2 shows how we rolled, two-high, an ordinary 6- in. beam. Modern mills are three-high, but the same prin- ciple governs. This is one of the easiest flange sections we have to roll, because it has an equal amount of metal on each side of the pitch line or center of the mill, and the flanges are of equal dimensions. The difficulty encountered in rolling a section like this (and found to be still greater in sections of unsymmet- rical form) is involved in the displacement of the metal from a square or flat billet to form a web. This dis- placed metal runs to length, and since'there is no com- mensurate reduction of the flange parts of the section the metal of those parts is liable to crack because it is not rolled, but stretched. After the blank in the first pass has been filled out a more uniform reduction of the va- rious parts can be provided for. The finished section shown in Fig. 2 has a flange 3.33 in. wide, with a web about 0.23 in. wide, the latter having received a trans- verse reduction about 12 times that of the cross section of the flanges. The rolling of flange bars involves the thinning of the THE IRON AGE Fig. 5.—Method of Rerolling a T-Rail by the Universal Mill. consequently a greater “ fining” of the grain in steel or the fiber in iron. It is well known that in large ingots there is scarcely any fining of the grain by rolling and that this effect is only reached when comparatively small dimensions have been attained. (Of course the result is influenced also by overheating and by the chemical composition of the metal.) The only important modern change in the process of rolling is the addition of a third roll, which doubles the capacity of the mill and constitutes the three-high sys- tem. flange sideways by forcing into the groove metal much thicker than the recess provided. This is rather a wedg- ing and drawing than a rolling action, and all such flanges are tapered to permit their exit from the rolls. At the ends of finished bars of this character considerable waste is created by the different roll dimensions, which prevent uniform surface speed of the metal during the operation. Another objection to this method of making flange bars is that it is impossible to distribute the metal in scientific proportions. In most of the beams rolled to-day July 26, 1906 ‘by the prevailing method the web is thicker by at least 20 per cent. than it need be, to harmonize with the other dimensions of the bar. The reason (if we take Fig. 2 as an instance) is that the part of the roll which forms the web is 3 in. greater in diameter than the part which comes into contact with the widest part of the flange, es | Oe = THE §RON AGE Fig. 6.—Method of Rerolling a Girder Rail by the Universal Mill. and has at least 9 in. per revolution greater surface travel than the part in contact with the end of the flange. The flange must therefore either slip or stretch to ac- commodate itself to the larger diameter. This causes the web to buckle or corrugate when rolled down to the proper thickness, These difficulties are greatly increased Fig. 7.—End Elevation of the York Transverse Mill. in rolling wider flanged sections, whether large or small in other dimensions. In fact, it is almost impossible to produce, in an ordinary rolling mill, any shape with a flange equal in width to the total hight of the section. The effect of the difference in surface speed of rolling on various parts of rails, beams and other flange sec- tions is, in my opinion, the cause of a large number of otherwise unaccountable fractures in service, due, prob- ably, to permanent internal stresses rolled into the bar. THE IRON AGE 209 While engaged in the manufacture of iron beams about 30 years ago, it was suggested that if beams could be rolled with wider flanges, greater hight and thinner webs at least 20 per cent. greater carrying strength could be secured for a given weight. This led my brother and myself to design and build what is known as the York universal mill, for rolling sections with wide flanges and thin webs, or the usual sections when de- sired. The front elevation and plan of this mill, which is a radical departure from the process of rolling illus- trated in Figs. 1 and 2, are shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The advantages of this mill are: 1. It dispenses with grooves entirely and gets uniform sec- tions without this provision. 2. It eliminates the wasteful and difficult method of dis- placing metal to form a web which is out of all proportion to the other parts of the section. 3. No technical knowledge is required to design the rolls. 4. The operation is exceedingly simple, and the same rolls can produce a properly proportioned section weighing 50 or 150 Ib. per ft. = 5. By the old methods the web increases in the same propor- tion as the width of flanges, which is a great waste of metal. 6. This mill is adapted to roll either scrap or new steel to THE IRON AGE Fig. 8.—Front Elevation of the York Transverse Mill. sections at least 50 per cent. less in weight per linear foot than the common forms. 7. The beam produced by this mill has the same tensile strength transversely (where it is required) as in the longitudi- nal direction. 8. The rolis can be adjusted either at the commencement or during the operation, in order to have the web thinner and the flanges thicker, or the reverse. 9. This mill can roll a bar having one flange thicker than the other, since the dimensions of the flanges can be modified to