The Iron Age 1909-01-07: Vol 83 Iss 1

y "Thursday Morning 4 c “TRON: AG by David Williams Co., -16 Park Place, New al. 83: eading Matter Contents iphabetical Index to Advertisers lassified List of Advertisers a peomeieg and Subscription Rates ‘ REED F. BLAIR & CO. PRICK BUILDING, PITTSBURG, PA. STANDARD CONNELSVILLE COKE FURNACE No, I. 106 372 361 138 OUNDRY CRUSHED The Original and only Genuine ‘* STILLSON WRENCH ”’ ig manufactured by wanweats MFG. CO., Beston, U.S. A. And bears their registered Trade-Mark THE BRISTOL COMPANY MANUFACTURERS OF The Wm. H. Bristol 5 Electric Pyrometers For High Temperatures THE BRISTOL CoO. Waterbury, Conn. WE MAKE ALL KINDS OF BRAIDED CORD, INCLUDING SAMSON SPOT CORD See Page 250 SAMSON CORDAGE WORKS, — Mass, leveland City Forge and Iren Co. Cleveland, 0. “UuURNBUCKLILES - MERRILL BROS. Se ee. | w Phosphorous Pig. ‘ Real Estate Trust Build- oo & Crane ing, Phila. hesney Bidg., Pittsbg. Empire Bldg. * , New York MADE IN AMERICA and THE BEST IN THE WORLD HE LUFKIN RULE CO., Saginaw, Mich., U.S.A. New York London, Eng. Windsor, Can. Special Electrical Sheets Highest electrical efhciency sheets produced anywhere AMERICAN SHEET AND TIN PLATE COMPANY Frick Bullding, Pittsburgh, Pa. See our ad on page 26 Mois York, ‘sila aes 7, 1909. WATER TUBE ETD tee rece 10 $8.00 a Year, including Posta Single Copies, 15 Cents U.M. C, Nitro Clubs are popular for allkinds of shootin . ate moderate in price and like OG. M Arrows are Steel Lined. And like all U. M. C, Shelle t Nitze Clubs are made for every make and type of gun. That means that there is a demand for Nitro Clubs ime all kinds of sportsmen for all kinds of hunting Attractive Advertising for the Asking The Union Metallic Cartridge Company Bridgeport, Conn. 313 BROADWAY Agency New York Ghe Babcock @ Wilcox Co., 85 Liberty Street, New York Protection for ‘‘Capewell’’ Purchasers Our rigid system of inspection protects every buyer of ‘‘ Capewell”’ nails from paying for defective nails and pieces of scrap. The most perfect nails mamufactured anywhere in the world are shipped from our factory and are acknowledged by all who use them to be the best driving and holding nails. For All Classes of Work the MADE BY The Capewell Horse Nail Company Hartford, Conn. Best Jenkins Automatic Air Valves Thousands are They are inexpensive, neat in design, and take up no more room than an ordinary air cock. Besides being very simple, they are most sensitive and durable. for steam radiators, heating coils, etc. in use, and giving entire satisfaction. Write for Catalog and Prices. JENKINS BROS., New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago Eacinaciclnnsaecesaiaisieeaaeneen “Suro” Gold Role tel Drawing» Stamping STAMPING COMPANY SEB PAGE THE AMERICAN TUBE & (Wacer and Rail Delivery) BRIDGEPORT, CONN. ANTI MAGNOLIA ,.tcnon _ METAL The Standard Babbitt of the World We manufacture everything in the Babbitt Line. 15 Bank St. Chicago: Fisher Building. Montreal: 31 St. Nicholas St. 2 All Valuable Characteristics So much desired in Steel Sheets used in manufactur- ing electrical are found in FOLLANSBEE ELECTRICAL SHEETS We are not presenting ex- perimental material. Our sheets have been proven of superior quality in many important factories. To use them is to exercise economy and secure best results. FOLLANSBEE BROTHERS COMPANY PITTSBURGH machinery THE IRON AGE BRASS}"»,. COPPER)‘ GERMAN(steet SILVER wy WIRE LOW BRASS, SHEET BRONZE, ) | SEAMLESS BRASS AND COPPER TUBING, BRAZED BRASS AND BRONZE TUBING: : =: : eee Waterbury Brass Co. WATERBURY, CONN. 99 John St., New York. Providence, R. f. ‘| Bridgeport Deoxidized Bronze & Metal Co. BRIDGEPORT, CONN. Phosphor and Deoxidized Bronze Composition, Yellow Brass and Alumi- num Castings, large and small Matthiessen & Hegeler Zinc Co. La Salle, Illinois. SMELTERS OF SPELTER AND MANUFACTURERS SHEET ZINC AND SULPHURIC ACID Special Sizes of Zinc cut to order. Rolled Battery Plates. Selected Plates for Etchers and Lithographers’ use. Selected Sheets for Paper and Card Makers’ use. Stove and Washboard Blanks. ZINCS FOR LECLANCHE BATTERY. “GERMAN SILVER w NICKEL ANODES In Sheet, Rods, Blanks and Shells | BRASS, BRONZE, COPPER in all forms | \ THE SEYMOUR MFG. CO., Seymour, Conn. ,7 | | la HENDRICKS BROTHERS Sheet and Bar Copper, Copper Fire Box Plates and Staybolts, Wire and Braziers Rivets Importers and Dealers in Ingot Copper, Block, Tin, Spelter, Lead, Antimony, Bismuth, Nickel, etc. 49 CLIFF STREET - NEW YORK “” ~*; \ The Plume & Atwood Mfg, Ca,| Manufacturers of Sheet and Roll Brass, Wire, Rods, German Silver and Bras; Goods In great variety. Rolling Mill Thomaston, Conn, Factories Waterbury, Corn Branch oe Chicago . Louis and San Franc ANTIMONY ‘sA. S. P.** Brand (English Star) C. W. Leavitt @ Co., Agents New York SCOVILL MFG. CO. Manufacturers of BRASS, GERMAN SILVER, Sheets, Rolls, Wire, and Rods. Brass Shells, Cups, Hinges, Bottoas, Lamp Goods. Special Brass Goods to Order. New York Factories WATERBURY, CONN. Depots: NEW YORK CHICAGO BOSTON HenrySouther Engineering Co. HARTFORD CONN. Consulting Chemists, Metallur- gists and Analysts. Complete Physical Testing Laboratory. Expert Testimony in Court and Patent Cases. Arttur T. Rutter & Go 256 Broadway, NEW YORK. Small tubing in Brass, Copper, Steel, Aluminum, German Silver, &c. Sheet Brass, Copper and Ger- man Silver. Copper, Brass and German Silver Wire. Brazed and Seamless Brass and Copper Tube. Copper and Brass Rod. ‘ Search- Light” GAS Bicycle Lanterns Send for Circulars and Electrotypes. The BRIDGEPORT BRASS CoO. BRIDGEPORT, CONN. i Postal Telegraph Buliding, Broadway and Murray Street, NEW YORK. pie ry CSF vy Y, : 4 LI 3 ~ HOSPHOR-BBOWZE GERMAN SILYER THE RIVERSIDE METAL Co. RIVERSIDE, N.J. THE IRON AGE New York, Thursday, January 7, 1909. The Greatest Steel Plant in the World.—l. THE GARY WORKS OF THE INDIANA STEEL COMPANY, SUBSIDIARY OF THE UNITED STATES STEEL CORPORATION. First of a Series of Articles Descriptive of a Plant Which Only an Aggregation of Colossal Resources Could Undertake. (With Supplement.) Since the organization of the Indiana Steel Company as a constituent interest of the United States Steel Cor- poration in January, 1906, and the subsequent announce- ment of its plans for the building of a steel plant of un- precedented size at Gary, Ind., this undertaking has com- +SOUT ett Cot, Ne ‘Steel Plant <eHienc THT —te+ “ls c Lilt A, +++) Cc. & wt het ne +( 1; sin . Steel Col) . + (Wise in Ee / . T 2 Vex deral Furaace = : \ 3 | Semet ® Nt ty © | Coke ch. ~ tit if f y IMET R : pees —- A Q , » WESTERN ME LAKE GEORGE) 7 8 aS J t a St Western Steel C. CON $ Foundry, === - N x Ss eal Fowhiriok \ \] 7 \, © Ss ‘ & +++ t+ eae Co.\h\ 3 + 14 ‘s = \| cHIcaGcol=1)|° Republic Iron. 4) Steel_Co.]) Fig. 1.—Map of the Calumet District, Comprising Portions of Indiana and Illinois, Showing the Location of the City Its Railroad Connections. and manded the interest and attention of the entire indus- Nor is this due alone to the magnificence of for it was opportunity trial world. the scale upon which the work was planned; easily recognized that an would be here afforded for a concentration of the most modern methods and appliances for from the ore to the finished product. Projected under conditions unhampered by the limita- tions of capital and favored by the acquisition of an ade- quate site, it was expected—and with good reason—that unprecedented making steel plant when completed would represent in al) of its units, and collectively, the acme of achievement in this branch of the world’s industries. And as the plans have developed and taken form in construc- tion, no doubt remains that these expectations are in the the Gary individually of Gary end to be realized in the fullest degree. The opportunity a complete steel making plant of such size nor in- of designing has never before presented itself to engineers; deed can conditions better successful plishment be easily conceived. in this and other countries, suited to accom- The history of steel plant has been, gen- construction, erally speaking, one of evolution from more or less mod- est beginnings. First plans for such enterprises usually make only imperfect or inadequate provision for future growth and extension, with the result that there are lack- - THE IRON AGE ing the perfect symmetry and complete co-ordination of parts which are only possible when ultimate ends are in the view from the beginning. Here, however, is a great, well balanced plant, which will finally comprise a system of component units fitted together in a related plan eal- culated to facilitate, at every stage, the production of steel, and to secure the maximum of economy in the cost of producing it. A crowning feature of this plant is that the gas from the blast furnaces will all be utilized. A large percentage of it will be used in combustion gas en- gines for the generation of electric power. Except for various auxiliary purposes, and as a reserve in case the blast furnaces are shut down, steam will have no place in the mills of the great Gary plant. Fuel economy is a most important consideration in a plant located as this is. The coke for operating the blast furnaces must be brought from western Pennsylvania or West Virginia. Judge Elbert H. Gary, chairman of the United States Steel Corpora tion, in his testimony before the Ways and Means Com- “ The Illinois coal is cokeable, but in the first place it is very mittee in Washington, December 18, said: best high in sulphur which could be eliminated at a certain cost; but worse than that, the physical structure isesuch ‘that it is not practicable. It will not carry the burden in the furnace.” When, in consideration of the large and rapidly grow ing consumption of steel products in the Middle West, it was decided to locate the proposed plant centrally in that region, three factors of prime importance were to be con sidered in the selection of a site: First, there was re quired a lake harbor with a depth of water sufficient to accommodate the largest vessels of the ore fleet; second, adequate rail] transportation facilities were imperative, and finally a tract was needed of large acreage and mod- erate value, in one body, so located as to include the first two requirements. The conditions seemed to: be fully met in the uninhabitated waste of sand dunes on the south- ernmost shore of Lake Michigan in the northern end of investigation a tract of land Indiana, where after due he embracing more than 9000 acres was purchased and t work of construction started. Owing to its remoteness from other habitable centers, it became necessary to provide dwelling places for the employees, and the building of a city was added to the original undertaking. The city of Gary was therefore laid out, just south of the steel works, upon an orderly plan and comprehensive scale, taking into account its probable growth to metropolitan proportions. Already Gary has an estimated population of 15,000 before the plant has fairly started, and is provided with an ade- quate water works system, whose permanent water sup- ply will be drawn from Lake Michigan through a tun- neled intake now under construction; an electric light- electric street railway and a ing plant, an complete sewerage system. Its main street, paved with brick and concrete, has its northern terminus at the entrance of the steel plant, where the company’s three-story brick administrative building and hospital buildings, yet to be erected, will face each other on either side of the street. The geographical position of the town and works with respect to Chicago and various adjacent industrial cen- ters, together with main rail transportation lines and connecting links, is shown in Fig. 1, which comprises a map of what is known as the Calumet District. When first acquired by the Steel Corporation, two lines of road, the Baltimore & Ohio and the Chicago, Indiana & South- ern, ran through the center of what is now the mill site. Over 40 miles of new railroad was built, and both the above roads were re-established by the corporation on January 7, 1909 rights of way passing between the town and the mills. The tracks at this point are elevated to allow an unob structed entrance to the works. The space required for an adequate description of these works, covering all of its branches, makes it im- practicable to attempt to include it in a single issue. Some of the finishing mills, moveover, are yet in an in completed state, with the details of construction not yet fully worked out, so that a comprehensive review of the plant as a whole is not at the present moment feasible Work on the blast furnace end has been carried forward that and the to an extent includes the completion of four fur- naces finished erection of four others, nearly which will comprise one-half of the installation plan. This installment of a series of articles on the great un- dertaking will. therefore be limted to a description of the blast furnaces, together with their auxiliary equipment, including the ore handling facilities, gas washers, blow- ing engines, &c. Before examining these divisions in detail, a word may be said as to the general plant layout as outlined in Figs. 2 and 3. Therein lies a well wrought scheme of unification which is markedly characteristic of the en- tire plan. It embodies an adjustment of structural ar- rangement to the convenience of transportation rather than to alignment with compass lines, and constitutes not only a departure from precedent, but is productive of an unusual degree of flexibility in the interchange of traflic. The details of this design and its features of inter-relation and accruing advantage will be noted in the further sequence of this article. The'Harbor, established at War February 12, 1908, fixes the limit for lake- The Department harbor line Gary by the ward filling at 25 ft. of water. This will carry the shore line 2000 ft. beyond its original location in 1906. Filling is done by means of sand suckers: pumping from the. bed of the lake, and is speedily and economically accom- plished. Through the past season of lake navigation, be- ginning July 28, when the first cargo of ore in the hold of the steamer Elbert H. Gary entered the harbor, boats have entered the canal slip direct from the lake. There is now under construction, however, a filled crib break- water, which, starting at a point 500 ft. west of the mouth of the slip, projects lakeward in half-crescent form 3200 ft. It is being built by the Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company. The accompanying pictorial supplement gives a pano- ramic view of the plant from the slip, together with the primary gas washers at one of the blast furnaces and a view under the ore bins. The Ore Docks and Yards, Starting at the docks where the ore is unloaded from the boats, the material passes uninterruptedly westward through the blast furnaces to the open hearths, thence to the billet mills and onward to the various finishing mills, The dock and ore yards are located on a canal slip 250 ft. wide, with 22 without a return pass at any point. ft. of water, extending inward from the lake a distance of 5000 ft. basin, having a free turning area of 750 ft. in diameter, At the south end of this slip is a turning where boats, after being unloaded, are headed about for their outward passage. To provide for the ore require- ments of the furnaces during the winter months, when navigation is closed, a great ore yard storage capacity is required, and to guard against contingencies which might prevent replenishment of the supply for a pro- longed period, plans have been made for the stocking of mit 2,500,000 tons, which, it is estimated, will keep the en- tire plant in normal operation for six months. SUPPLEMENT TO THE IRON AGE, JANUARY 7, 1909. | | oti | | Say = po Get onan wae Cae tt pare per The Primary Washers of the Gas Cleansing System Installed by the Allis-Chalmers Company at the Blast Furnaces of the Indiana Stee] Company. THE GREATEST STEEL wae Ta VA iti hee ra ia Steel Company, Subsidiary of the United States Steel Corporation. yormeprs ener ee a NORE AEP ENN NT RTD ce RE oe NI LR I AIR View Under the Ore Bins at the Blast Furnaces of the Indiana Steel Company. -ANT IN THE WORLD. OR ERR AE TEE EMI pee DRAB are pear RR URE ee A EAE IE I hye me <a rR ree Ree oT EER ' } ' ' January 7, 1909 When the installation is completed the ore yards will extend along the front of the 16 furnaces, and will be approximately 4000 ft. in length. The yards are divided into three sections, by heavy longitudinal concrete walls, and are floored with concrete laid to a depth of 18 in. Between the ore yards proper and the unloader walls, which parallel the yards along the edge of the dock, is a space occupied by four ore shipping tracks, means being thus provided for the transfer of ore from the unloaders to the cars for rail shipment without rehandling. The central or main ore yard has a width of 187 ft. between retaining walls, and the east and west yards are each 100 ft. in width, with concrete division walls 26 ft. high THE HULETT UNLOADERS, Ore is taken from the boats by Hulett unloaders of standard type, built by the Wellman-Seaver-Morgan Com- pany, Cleveland, five of which are already installed, de- signed to serve eight furnaces; five more will be added when the remaining eight furnaces are completed. The unloaders are mounted on a concrete wall at the edge of the dock, along which they move laterally, being shifted to different points as occasion requires. Being lifted from the hold of the vessel by these machines, the ore is dumped from the clam shell buckets into a transfer car which transfers it to an ore trough built in the wall of the west ore yard. This trough has a capacity of 35 tons per lineal foot, and is constructed with an oval bot- tom, having a radius corresponding to that of the ore bridge clam shell buckets. Ore can also be dumped from these unloaders by means of the transfer car into. weigh- ing hoppers, and from these into cars on tracks below for rail shipment when desired. HOOVER & MASON BRIDGES. Five Hoover & Mason ore bridges, half the number contemplated in the completed plans, carry the ore from the yards to the ore bins. These bridges, which are of the usual type, are 495 ft. in length over all, with 130-ft. cantilevers on each end. They are elevated to an un- usual higbt in order to provide sufficient clearance over the unloaders to permit the free operation of the latter in any position, standing 84 ft. above the ore yard floor. The bridges are mounted on tracks traversing the two walls of the main ore yard and are adjusted for a skew ot 17 degrees. Each bridge is equipped with a 15-ton clam shell bucket operated by a motor on the bridge. This system of handling ore is illustrated in Fig. 4. ORE BINS, Adjoining the ore yards on the side next the furnaces and paralleling them for their entire length are the ore, coke and limestone bins, half the number included in the finished plan being already installed. These bins are of the Brown parabolic type, and were designed and built by the Brown Hoisting Machinery Company, Cleye- land, Ohio, together with the auxiliary apparatus for their operation, with the exception of the electric skip hoists, which were supplied by the Otis Elevator Com- pany. The ore and limestone pockets are located on the ore yard side, material being dumped into them direct from the bridges or distributed along the line by means of 60-ton side dump transfer cars, which are mounted on a 6 ft. 3% in. gauge track, extending along the top of the structure on the side next the ore yords. Three other car tracks of standard gauge traverse the top of the bins, and rail shipments of coke and limestone are dumped or unloaded into the pockets from the cars. In its general arrangement and construction the bin storage layout is not different from the standard instal- lations of this type. One feature of interest, however, THE IRON Ww AGE has been introduced, the design of which is to facilitate the handling of coke, when by reason of cold weather or other causes the operation of the larries should be tem- Ordinarily material from the bins porarily interrupted. s transferred to the skip hoists by a system of electrical- ly operated larries, but movement by this method is lia ble to through the freezing of the temporary suspension at times in the winter contents of the bins. To gsuard against such contingencies a special coke pocket of large size, fitted with steam pipes to prevent freezing, is provided for each furnace; it faces the skip incline, and is so arrunged that coke may be fed from it direct to the skip car. Aside from its convenience as an expedient for emer- gency use, as indicated, this special pocket finds favor for another reason. Naturally each handling of coke causes more or less crushing of the lumps, which is of course undesirable, and in taking it from the ordinary pockets by !arries two handlings are necessary to put it in the skip car. But with the direct feed from the special pocket, one suffices to accomplish the same result. Each of these special pockets has a capacity for the storage of coke sufficient to supply a furnace for a run of 15 hr. The skip feed opening of these bins is under the direct control and in plain view of the skip hoist opera- tor. The entire bin storage capacity for all material is ample for a run of all furnaces for 15 hr. without replen ishment. THE BLAST FURNACES AND STOVES. Starting at the shore line of the lake—as it will be established when the projected work of filling in has been finished—and stretching southward in a direct line for 54 mile are the 16 blast furnaces comprised in the plan shown in Fig. 3. Much of the filling required has already been done, as will be observed by reference to the plan view, since the original shore line ran through the site occupied by furnace No. 11, which, with No. 10, was the first to go in blast. These blast furnaces are of standard design, but are of unusually heavy construction throughout; uniform in size, they are rated at a daily capacity of 450 tons. From the cross section view in Fig. 5 a clear idea of the followed in their construction may be general lines gained. As here indicated, the hight from center of iron notch to top platform is 88 ft. Starting at the bottom is the hearth, 15 ft. in diameter and 9 ft. in hight, above which the bosh rises 13 ft., tapering from 15 ft. at the bottom to 21 ft. 6 in. at the top line. Immediately above the bosh, at a point 8 ft. from the bosh zone, the stack tapers from 21 ft. 6 in. to 16 ft. in diameter at the top. Furnaces Nos. 11 and 12 have been blown in, and Nos. 9 and 10 are practically ready for firing; Nos. 5, 6, 7 and 8 are under construction and will probably be com- pleted in the spring of 1909. It is expected that work on the remaining eight furnaces will continue progressively without interruption until what is recognized as the greatest of modern achievement in this line will have been accomplished. While there is nothing of special in- terest marking notable departure from regular practice in the design and construction of the furnaces them- selves, there are embodied in the general layout of the furnaces, gas handling equipment and trackage system features of convenience and mobility in handling of the product that challenge attention, both on account of their unusual character and completeness of detail. The Trackage System, The chief point of interest in this connection lies in the disposition of the cast houses with reference to the THE IRON AGE January 7, 1909 Fig. 2.—West Half of the General Plan of the Gary Works of the Indiana Steel Co: on the Opposite Page. trackage system. In order to shorten the distance of plant, the common rect: alignment of cast houses travel] for the products of the furnaces and secure the with the main tracks as discarded. In substitution highest degree of compactness possible in this part of the therefor, as may be see y reference he general plan, January 7, 1909 THE IRON AGE : : tp | ~ | } / / j j \ } | | | i | i \ ; / ' j \ \ = } hii | z \ s i h} ‘ - } \ / sf ) a } Uf / ff} N\\ Z J \ au | 3 ms j i ih \ 5 f i | SPL || 5 Uy ~ / / ~ | I | Wf 4 | | } ¢ he Yj } Mp $f j | v/ L | py 5 rit | 111 | ; I iki} j / / a | LY | fii Vy f f i } ¥ j | | ~ 2 / x i | > > ° | : ] é / / A & | \ a” >a + 4 4] i a m | wi % DP» | oO / & } f A > | | | i 7 | uw | \ 2 | : ‘ } j AE NNN j | : . {| - / i y \ ‘a « 1 c ' Ux / 1 | \ j ‘ u | 2% ( f | A / ' ° | > . \ / if | wi! i | é Y Ay J ' ow | 7 ~~ / j i ‘ < f r SfhiVy / fic ¥ \ >» Vy, / ' i; h/ fff py f | | yf | j ms * 7 f : 4 j \ D | 4 f fa / . , : i } j »x / . Y) / : y t 4 / / J / j/ 4 j 7 ¥ } y , Y eo q P fi * / — 4 A. “ a — ’ A 4 | , | ‘ East Half of the General Plan of the Gary Works of a, Sey, ag Fig. 3, angle of the scheme adopted places the cast houses at an 1 291, degrees from the parallel line of the fur- } } naces and the three main line tracks by which they are served are a series of ladder stub tracks giving access to the cast houses and primary washers. Three of these lead to the cast houses at each furnace, and one extends under each set of washers. Of the cast house stubs. as shown > nae a i > ' carey 3 7 ‘ ‘tip : . \— A —— t + =~ ij k 4 = b 4 4 E 1 bk 4 — f=. Sa } . / f a = L " as ir - vil | ¥ t i } i . i ; t - j Fig. 5.—Cross Section of One of the Gary Blast Furnaces. 6 THE IRON at No. 9 stack, the loading of miscellaneous rubbish January 7, 1909 AGE B is the principal hot metal track, while A is used both as an auxiliary hot metal track and for Track C takes care of the cinders, which come either from the furnace direct Branching from the two tracks nearest the furnaces or from large concrete cinder tank The spur D runs eemeecenees 0 wuhhy! . ae A K =a SS —I _—— way \ / ie a / — — F / \ _ facia 7 ; | 1 ean co nN \ {ie f ~ ++ ~ + a a * * i: a » * x ¥ ¥ ~ bee <= M = mo ~—$—— ll oe as piavepienasasaee « Seanad eae oats a Fig. 4 Arrang t Ore Bridges and Dumps at the G \\ under the primary gas washers, from which the dust and dirt deposits are dropped through bottom openings into the cars. The main hot metal spur crosses over to the second or main line hot metal track. From this main line two crossovers lead out, one each at furnaces Nos. ¢ and iil, With the three main blast furnace tracks and an ad- respectively, and pass on to the open hearths. ditional line extending between these and the boiler houses there is wide freedom of movement both in and out, in the furnace zone, so that notwithstanding the heavy traffic that will be carried on when the full line of furnaces are in operation, there will be, under this admirable system, but little interference with the moving The space effected in the angular arrangement of hot metal and other material from the furnaces. economy of of the cast houses permits a closer grouping of the fur naces than would otherwise be possible, and at the same time affords ample room for the handling of casts and transferring hot metal to the open hearths. The distance between the paired furnace units is 300 ft.. the space between pairs being 220 ft. Each furnace is supplied with four Massick & Crookes three-pass fire brick stoves, the eight required for two furnaces being oO set in a parallel line between them. These stoves are 22 ft. in diameter by 95 ft. high and are of usual construc tion The Furnace Tops, Although following in a general way the latest ac- cepted practice in design and construction, some changes worthy of note have been introduced in the furnace charging tops. This is especially true of the Baker & Neu- When this style of distributer was first installed at the Joliet mann distributers, with which they are equipped. Works it was mounted on the upper bell, and was actu- ated by the raising and lowering of the bell rod through a series of bevel gears and a pawl and ratchet. Later modifications led to improvements, the latest of which are represented in the Gary installation. As now built the distributer is a half funnel shaped easting, incased in a cast steel hopper immediately be- neath the receiving hopper. It is driven from the upper skip hoist shaft by a crank and rod mechanism, the de- tails of which are shown in Fig. 6. The actuating motion is communicated by a pawl engaging a ratchet on the rim flange of the distributer. Each trip of the skip car January 7, 1909 gives the distributer about 3 degrees more than a quar ter turn, so that in four trips of the car it moves 12 de grees beyond a full revolution. Thus instead of deposit- ing the charge in the same quadrant at each successive turn it keeps shifting forward and so evens the distri- bution. An ingenious but simple electrical device has been sub stituted for the earlier cumbersome and complicated mechanism by which the changing position of the dis tributer was indicated on a dial in the operating room. This consists of four electric contacts on the rim of the distributer, which continue through a part of each quad rant; these are wired to four incandescent lamps at points numbered to correspond to the quadrants to whici they are connected, which as they light successively and 4 ( \ + 4 wend \ AH \ ] y = E — — ‘ \ ik x . , > TA ” \ ‘ q ' oF // — : Tt. "Tr wy ee THE IRON AGE 7 is shown in Fig. 6, by which the bells are raised and lowered, their movement being controlled by a four-way valve on each cylinder. These valves are opened and closed by cords leading to the operating room. The stock rauge is also located in this room, the rods being handled by a geared hand crank. All of the furnace operations are therefore concentrated in the hands of one man. The arrangement of the skips for carrying the charges of ore. coke and limestone from the bins to the furnace tops is shown in Fig. 7. Dust Catchers and Gas Washers, Because of the adoption of furnace gas engines as the principal means of generating power, the complete elimination of ore dust and other impurities fronf the gas became an imperative requirement, since the satis © \ e \ 7 } $ \ ‘A j ° a\ Fig. 6.—The Top of a Gary Blast Furnace, Showing the Baker & Neumann Distributer. automatically indicate to the operator the location of the distributer. If unevenness develops in the stock chamber the skip car can be run empty one or more trips, until the distributer is in position to deliver the charge at the desired point. In choosing a motive power and equipment for operat- ing the furnace bells steam was of course not considered, though the use of an electrical winch was entertained ; but because of excellent results obtained from a similar installation at the South Works of the Illinois Steel Com- pany it was finally decided to employ air cylinders with pistons operated by air pipes from the cold blast main. For this purpose two vertical cylinders, one for the large bell 40 in. in diameter with 5-ft. stroke, and the other for the small bell 21 in. in diameter and 47-in. stroke, are located together with the skip hoist motor in an elevated structure underneath the skip incline. The pistons are connected to levers, the arrangement of which factory operation of the gas engines in this manner de- pends chiefly upon the purity of gas. No pains, there- fore, have been spared in making the purifying as ef- fective as possible, with the result that there has been constructed one of the most complete, as well as the largest, gas washing plant ever installed. The arrange- ment of the piping is shown in Fig. 8. Passing from the top of the furnace, the gas is dis- charged through four outlets feeding into two down- comers, by which it is carried to a first or main dust catcher; this is a cylindrical tank 25 ft. in diameter by 45 ft. high, with conical top and bottom, and is set close in to the furnace and the first stove on the side next to the ore yards; thence it passes to a second or auxiliary dust catcher of the same general type, 18 ft. 6 in. in di- ameter by 30 ft. high. This tank serves the double pur- pose of a dust receptacle and water valve. When used in the latter capacity it is filled with water high enough . | i a oe 8 THE IRON AGE January 7, 1909 to submerge the mouth of the inlet pipe from its corre to take care of the gas from a single furnace, so that sponding furnace to protect it from back flow of the gas one is always available for cleaning or repairs. These when shut down for repairs or other cause. Since the Washers are cylindrical in form, 22 ft. in diameter by two furnaces working in pairs, with identical equip 10 ft. high, including the gas inlet, with cone tops and ment, discharge into a centrally located common gas main bottoms. and are filled with water to about one-third leading to the primary washers, the necessity for this their hight, which level is maintained by proper overflows arrangement is obvious. entering at the top The system of dust catchers above indicated applies The gas and dust are carried downward through a “naces e..% a : Ss] » lc are OV CC ; . } : to furnace Nos. 9 to 12, inclusive, which are now Mn central pipe which terminates near the water level in a pleted, but in furnaces Nos. 5 to 8, inclusive, now under fluted mouth designed to spread the gas at its contact construction, the process of dry dust elimination is car with the water over the greatest possible area Flowing ried a step further. Under the latter plan the gas, in upward from around these fluted edges, the gas passes out through two openings, one on each side of the washer, entering a dust leg, whence it passes onward to the main, supplying stoves, boilers and the secondard gas washing plant It is at this point that gas for firing special furnaces under the steam boiler batteries and stoves is diverted, about 714 per cent. of the entire volume heing used for steam generation, 80 per cent. being taken for heating the stoves; the remainder goes on to a set of washers for further treatment. Comprised in this grou] are eight Zschocke washers, which serve four furnaces They differ from the older type of construction in that the entire system of baffle plates and checker work is ombined in one vessel instead of two; tli hecker work ; ia n this instance is superimposed upon the baffle plates the whole forming a vertical drum 60 ft. in hight Through mains leading from the primary washers, in h dust pockets are located at intervals, the gas is troduced at the bottom of this secondary set, and rises in a zigzag course through the baffle plate, which extends about half way up the structure; there it enters the checker work Chamber. where it encounters a shower checkered openings, the remaining dust and other purities. The water is jetted in at the top through a ? § 3 $ $ : ; series of Schutte & Koerting spray nozzles The final cleansing process is performed L>\ what is nown as Theissen washers, one of which is connected ach of the Zschocke units. From the top of the latter gas is conducted to the Theissen washers, which are so onnected that both may be shut off simultaneously. \ detailed description of this apparatus was printed in Tse Tron 4 September G, 1906. Briefly, the Theissen asher consists of a cast iron cylinder inclosing a re ° olving drum carrying a series of paddles and blades on s outer circumference. Driven by a 150-hp. motor, this cylinder revolves at the rate of 350 rev. per min., spread- ng a film of water against the inside surface of the e ; vlinder, which gathers from the impinging gas such im- purities as it still contains. These machines, which are ; 2 designated as No. 4 A, have capacity for handling 14,000 Fig. 7 Skip, Pit and Bin Arrangement at the Blast Furnaces E : of the Gary Works cu. ft. of gas per minute, and were furnished by the Kilby Mfg. Company, Cleveland, Ohio. stead of passing direct from the secondary catchers into os ; ; ; - : . j The cleansing process being completed the gas, after the common central pipe, will at this point enter a tanl . : l i ply I - : passing through a water separator, is conducted under 40 ft. in diameter by 25 ft. high, and from there pass into : ae : ‘ ; . slight pressure to holders 90 ft. in diameter by 30 ft. the gas main. The advantage gained in this construction : 3 ll dana ; : high. with a capacity for 350,000 cu. ft. from its distribu- is that, by means of the large area provided in this tank, , : ; : ; tion to the electric power stations and blowing engine the velocity of the gas will be checked and thus allow , — . houses, which consume about 57% per cent of the total more of the dust to settle to the bottom. For convenience : . : : rari ; gas product. When the 16 blast furnaces are completed in cleaning all of the dry dust catchers are supplied with + ' ' ' and in operation this will amount to about 44,900 cu. ft. bell bottoms, which discharge direct into cars on the O4 of gas per 24 hr track running underneath. The flow of gas from either an ; , ; * The distribution of the furnace gas and the relative furnace may be shut off as described. preventing back ; : Z 7 : a : quality provided for the various purposes for which it flow of gas from mains beyond : . : ; cae s utilized are shown in the diagram, Fig. 9 Having moved all of the impurities possible by dry precipitation, the gas is conducted through a main pipe Safeguards, into the primary washers. There are three of these to Great care has been taken to provide safe and easy each pair of furnaces, each having a capacity sufficient access to all parts of each individual structure compris- January 7, 1909 ing the various furnace units at points required to be reached for the purpose of cleaning or making repairs. Railroad iron platforms, galleries and furnish a likelihood of their being called in the performance of their duties tairs secure footing for the men wherever there is The provisions of this character are unusually complete, and have been worked out with special reference to safety in the conduct of general operations. Concrete Cinder Tanks, As an instance of the compact and convenient group ing of related units, a illustration is offered in Each of large enough to take care of two furnaces, between pairs striking the arrangement of these is the cinder tanks of which they are set parallel with the cast houses. They are built of reinforced concrete and are 154 ft. by 17 ft on top, tapering to a 12-ft. oval bottom, with a depth of 22 ft. 6 in.; they above ground It project 14 ft. Was THE IRON AGE 9 in this connection lay in the disposition of the terminals of the pig casting machine conveyors, and its successful solution may be followed out by an examination of the general plan, Fig. 3. Situated at the extreme south end of the furnace line, the main hot metal tracks continue on in an almost parallel course into the cast house, which is supplied with three ladle tracks. This is a steel struc- ture, 82 x 700 ft., planned to accommodate 11 pig casting Heyl & and they represent in general machines. The six now installed were built by Patterson, Inc., Pittsburgh, the standard type of machines produced by this firm. Hot metal is transferred from the furnaces in 40-ton ladles to the cast house, where they are lifted from tracks to pouring cradles by 75-ton Alliance Machine Company electric traveling cranes, of which there are two spanning the floor. Particular interest attaches to the pouring cradles be- | » |X lS KX | 1 A rs ibeaieticieneae "| )} 7 Pipes of course desired to provide facilities for running cinders either into cars or into the cinder tanks. Their position enables this to be conveniently done from one cinder notch in the even numbered furnaces, while, to secure the same result, two cinder notches placed opposite each other are provided for the odd numbered furnaces, One of these leads to the cinder tank and the other empties into the cinder run on the cinder track side Pig Casting Machines, Cast House, At the southeast corner of the site is located the pig casting plant, including cast house, pig casting ma- chines, ladle repair shop, scrap yard, skull cracker and storehouse for brick. In none of the other furnace ad- juncts is the general scheme of layout and perfection of detail carried out to fuller extent or with better results than are shown in this most interesting installation. Notwithstanding the large area of the site at the dis posal of the designers, the extraordinary size of the plant required to take care of the product of 16 furnaces made an economical and compact arrangement of its con stituent units an imperative necessity. The chief problem at a Pair of Blast Furnaces at th Gary Works cause of features of improvement worked out and intro- duced by the steel company’s engineers with a view to danger to handlers attendant The heavy cast steel frame, having two arms upon which the ladle is on heayy steel supports on the Side next the pouring ladle de- while its pouring lip, being near the little. minimizing the waste and upon pouring molten metal cradle consists of a firmly supported. These arms are trunnioned pot, so that, when raised, the bottom of the scribes a wide are, rotating axis, moves very Instead of dropping from a hight, which at the start usually closely approxi- ladle stationary at a mates that of the itself, the mouth in this case remains practically distance of about 18 in. from the pouring pot. Naturally very little splash ing of metal results from this method, and casualties from this source are greatly reduced. Raising and lower- ing of the cradle are performed by a specially designed stationary jib crane, one being provided for each cradle They are constructed of lattice box girder masts and jibs, with top and bottom ball bearings, and have a lifting capacity of 30 tons, which, with the leverage afforded by the cradle arms, is ample to handle the 40-ton ladles, IO These cranes were also furnished by Heyl & Patterson, Inc. On the side of the cast house, opposite the machines, 14-ft. ladle and cinder are loaded into cars on a tr: is a cleaning wharf, from which the scale k paralleling the building on the outside. In the angular alignment of the pig casting machine cooling and loading conveyor termi- nals are provided, this being a model arrangement for the avoidance of traffic congestion in handling the product. By a well adapted system of ladder tracks cars can be loaded at any one or all of the terminals without inter- ference and shifted forward on a gravity grade of 1%4 per cent. toward the main east and west yard lines. Without sacrificing anything in the mobility, the whole loading system, considering its magnitude, has been com pressed into a remarkably small space, and at the same time profits in the advantage derived from lessened ravel. Just east of the cast house are the ladle repair shops, scrap yard and skull cracker, the three structures suc- ceeding each other in order. steel structure, 75 x 200 ft., contains three tracks, four relining The ladle repair shop, a pits and six ladle dryers, which are served by an Alliance Machine Company 50-ton electric crane of NEN ENN | ) — tit Le ia THE IRON AGE January 7, 1909 the skulls, which are carried over from the crane on the lower runway. Here, as elsewhere throughout the plant, lifting magnets play an important part in the work of handling material. Both the drop and the skulls will be will form The nets here used were supplied by the Cutler-Hammer Mfg. picked up and transferred by magnets, which part of the equipment in these departments. mag Company, Milwaukee, Wis. When the finishing mills are running full, in propor- tions to the furnaces in blast, the open hearths will be fed direct from the blast furnaces, and under ordinary con- ditions there will be but little pig iron cast, except on Sundays, holidays and other occasions when the mills are shut down. The Blowing Engines, In a line parallel with the boiler houses and gas scrub- bers, just west of the blast furnaces, are the blowing engine houses. They are of brick and concrete construc- tion, 104 ft. wide, one being 600 ft Each of addition to and the other 500 ft. blowing the longer building a central pumping and hydraulic power plant. in length. these houses contains 10 engines, in which there is included in Of the 20 blowing units 16 are horizontal twin tandem gas engines, two in each house being Tod steam driven blowing engines. The gas engines have gas cylinders 42 in. by 54 in. stroke, with two direct driven 72-in. blowing tubs, capa- ble of delivering 30,000 cu. ft. of free air per minute ~~ Sat) ect} i oe DUST CATCHER e) BLAST FURNACE PRIMARY WASHER HOT BLAST STOVES BOILERS SECONDARY WASHER GAS HOLDER BLOWING ENGINE HOUSE ELECTRIC POWER STATION & Blast Furnaces, 36 r 80Gused here or 7.5 oe, — 12.5% used here or Remain ng 45 avai ab e for Total B 67 y 1.Ft. 1,700, a 000 Cu. Ft. 2,800,000 Cu.Ft. per Hour Electric Power Station and 22 a per Hour Fors per Hour 2 ised for Auxiliaries Other Purposes Equivalent to 2 }) B.H.P. (in Gas Engines) Blower & Other for Blast F ces themselves rl ag Cu.Ft per Hour Pumpe, ¢ for Gas Prod (in Gas Engines) or Equivalent to 110,000 B.H.P. Heating of Bidgs., ete. 600,000 Cu.Ft. per Hour (in Gas Engines) with Gas at Total for Furnace Operation 15% ®) B.T.U, per Cu. Ft. and or 3,44 00 Cu.Ft. per Hour 1 B.T.U, per B.H.P. Hour Fig. 9. 79 ft. span. The ladle drying equipment is unusually complete. Telescoping gas burners project vertically from an overhead connection to a gas main into the ladles and can be adjusted to concentrate the heat at any point of the interior of a ladle. with the raising and lowering of the bell cover, is con- This movement, together veniently controlled by a counterbalanced lever mechan- ism. Gas is supplied by a small gas producer located in the building at the end of the line of dryers. Upon com- pletion of the full line of furnaces it is expected that furnace gas will be used for the dryers, since furnace No. 1, when erected as planned, will be near enough to afford a convenient source of supply. In a leanto on the“east side of the ladle repair shop are a clay storage and mixing room and a tool and gen eral repair shop. ‘The ladle repair shop opens into the scrap yard, which, with the skull cracker just beyond, is served by electric cranes on a common runway 382 ft. above the floor line, that extends through all three struc- tures. A standard gauge track entering the skull cracker at the outer end runs on into the scrap yard, so that all loading in both sections is expeditiously handled by the overhead cranes. The skull cracker is a steel skeleton structure 80 ft. wide by 100 ft. long and 70 ft. high. top it is spanned by a cracker crane of 40 tons capacity, Ten feet from the providing a sheer drop, for the weight, of 60 ft. to the ground level. <A large pit deeply lined with strongly re- inforced concrete has been sunken in the floor to receive -The Distribution of the Furnace Gas at the Gary Works Gas Consumption against a pressure of 18 Ib. per square inch, and are so designed that they can be operated at any pressure up to 30 lb. These tubs are of the Slick type, the character- istic feature of which is that the tubs or cylinders them- selves constitute the air inlet valves, which are so con- structed that an inlet area of 25 per cent. or more is easily attainable, thus insuring the complete filling of the cylinders at the maximum speed of the engines, which are normally operated at 75 rev. per min. The patents covering the Slick tubs are controlled in this country by the Allis-Chalmers Company. located at Eight of these engines were built by The gas and air cylinders are the opposite ends of the engine frame. the Westinghouse Machine Company and eight by the Allis-Chalmers Com- Each engine is rated at 25 of the the Westinghouse engines, a new system devised by the pany. hp. Instead usual ignition mechanism applied to steel company’s engineers has been adopted. It includes the use of two 5-kw. motor generator sets, with a voltage ranging from 80 to 110 volts. It is so arranged as to give independent control of each engine, and is equipped with a safety device, by which in case of trouble any engine is The supplied by an independent compressor set electrically automatically cut out. air starting pressure is driven, and instead of separate storage tanks for each engine air is piped to each one under 200 Ib. pressure from an extra heavy 30 in. main, laid under the floor the full length of the house. The Tod blowing steam engines have cylinders 44 i 5 January 7, 1909 by 84 in. and 72-in. stroke, with 90-in. air cylinders, and running at 40 rey. per min. under 150 Ib. pressure and 26 in. vacuum, will deliver a maximum of 40,000 cu. ft. of free air per minute. Three cross compound Snow pumping engines comprise the principal equipment in the hydraulic plant, which serves all the works. These pumps, which are supplied with Worthington condensers, have a rated maximum capacity of 1900 gal. per minute, With 150 lb. of steam, against a total water pressure of 500 Ib. Water is taken from the canal slip through a 20-in. pipe. The blowing engine houses are each served by two 50-ton Morgan electric cranes, commanding the entire building. The Storage of Coke, Coal and Limestone, Ixxtensive yards for the storage of coke, coal and limestone have been laid out at a point on the lake shore, about 3 miles west of the mill site proper, at Stockton Station. The site covered by these yards comprises part of the large tract of land included in what is known as the Gary properties, owned by the United States Stee! Corporation, The facilities provided for the storage of these materials will be shared jointly by the Illinois Steel Company, and will be the most extensive of their kind in the West. Loading and unloading will be done by mechanical appliances of the most modern type. The unloaders in use are of an improved revolving conveyor type, having a capacity each of about 50 cars for a 9-hr. d