The Iron Age 1909-02-11: Vol 83 Iss 6

THE IRON AGE Published every Thursday Morning by David Williams Co. 14-16 Park Place, New York. Vol. 83: No. 6. New York, Thursday, February 11, 1909. dua tent 6 dee re Reading Matter Contents ....... page 520 Alphabetical Index to Advertisers ‘“* 180 | | Classified List of Advertisers “ 170 Advertising and Subscription Rates ‘‘ 531 |) : REED F. BLAIR & CO. PRICK BUILDING, PITTSBURG, PA. STANDARD CONNELSVILLE COKE POUNDRY PURNACE CRUSHED The original and only Genuine ‘*‘STILLSON WRENCH ”’ is manufactured by WALWORTH } MFG. CO., Bosten, U. S. A. And bears their registered Trade-Mark Hundreds of car loads of U. M. C. shells were shipped during the last hunting season to the quail sections. There was a tremendous and popular UMC demand. Carry UMC shells and be hunted up by sportsmen who prefer the best. Arrow and Nitro Club loaded with Smokeless powder and New Club loaded with black powder, , The Union Metallic Cartridge Co.t --- AGENCY: 313 Broadway, New York READY TO APPLY FINISHED JOINT The Brietel Company, Watersury, ct. |_\WATER TUBE Ghe Babcock br toes Co., berty St . SAMSON SPOT CORD B OILERS See page 52 “eetes There Are No Losses---All Is Gain No T i m e Lost "- Ea eS 8 2 -_ * Shoes 7 ‘* Customers -7 66 mM oney 66 FOR HORSESHOERS WHO DRIVE “CAPEWELL” NAILS MADE BY The Capewell Horse Nail Company Hartford, Conn. RRANTED B SAMSON CORDAGE WORKS, aston TURNBUCKLES Cleveland City Forge and ironCo., Cleveland, 0. URNBUCHEISGS 4G Ga Slew York, H. Y, FORGINGS dg., Phil LING & CRANE Hie witew York UFKIN and RULES THE BEST iN THE WORLD THE S Spare See ee Windee aS JENKINS °96 PACKING permanently packs the worst Joints. When a jointhas once been made it will last for years without further attention, saving owner loss of steam, engineers trouble and vexation. Made in sheets and also in gaskets. The genuine bears our Trade Mark. JENKINS BROS., New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago Syoioh” Cold Role Stel 2 Drawing » Stamping THE AMERICAN TUBE & STAMPING COMPANY SEE 2 5 (Water and Rail Delivery) BripGgePortT, Conn. PAGE MAGNOLIA ,,iénon METAL The Standard Babbitt of the World We manufacture everything in the Babbitt Line. Wn MAGNOLIA METAL CO. , New York: 115 Bank St. Chicago: Fisher Building. Montreal: 31 St. Nicholas St. MONEL METAL SHEETS Anatural alloy of nickel, cop- per and lron—practically non- erosive and non-corrosive. AMERICAN SHEET AND TIN PLATE COMPANY Frick Building, Pittsburgh, Pa. See our ad on page 16 THE IRON AGE SHEET (The Plume & Alwood Wig, Go we contro. {/DRASS; #2,. rm wily COPPER asta FOLLANSBEE We | Themastoe, Conn wa oun. STEEL =e Now York Chicago St Loui and San Prancioe SHEETS SILVER Uo Wire ANTIMONY — S. P.*® Brand BRIGHT LOW BRASS, SHEET BRONZE, ‘(English Star) CHARCOAL SEAMLESS BRASS AND COPPER |C. W. Leavitt @ Co., Agents TIN PLATE TUBING, BRAZED BRASS AND | ——————_— FROM BRONZE TUBING: : : : : SCOVILL MFG. C0. OPEN HEARTH oe Manufacturers of BRASS, GERMAN SILVER, TO FINISHING Waterbury Brass Co. Sheet, Rolly, Wir, aod DEPARTMENTS WATERBURY, CONN. Brass Shells, Cups, Hinges, Seiten * York. Providence, R. |. eas 99 John St.. New Yor’ ietiietiena Pa Bridgeport Deridhed Brome] warensi, com, FOLLANSBEE e Netal Co WATERBURY, CONN BROTHERS BRIDGEPORT, CONN. La neceneeasanngennsienniamanad COMPANY es one menenaes HearySoutherEngineeria go. Pittsburgh ee Composition, Yellow Brass and Alumi-| Consulting Chemists, Metailur- num Castings, large and small gists and Analysts. meen eae Expert Testimony in Court and Patent Cases. All under our own supervision Matthiessen & Hegeler Zinc Co. La Salle, Illinois. Artnur T. Rutter & Go SMELTERS OF SPELTER SHEET ZINC AND apelin ACID NEW YORK. Small tabing in Brass, Copper, Steel, Aluminum, German Silver, Stove and Washboard Blanks. &o. Sheet Brass, Copper and Ger- man Silver. Copper, Brass and ZINCS FOR LECLANCHE BATTERY. Seeman Stet, 1 and Seamless Brass and Copper Tube. Copper and Brase Rod. GERMAN SILVER 7 THE BRIDGEPORT BRASS CO, In Sheet, Wire, Rods, Blanks and Shells : saieeien Pang aie! St. NICKEL ANODES an gob Pearl St Boston BRASS, BRONZE, COPPER in all forms Brass SHEET \ THE SEYMOUR MFG. CO., Seymour, Conn. pl’ AND TUBIN HENDRICKS BROTHERS Copper | WIRE we —— ae made to —. feom Manufacture of hee od, Wire and Tubing. Sheetand Bar Copper, Copper Fire Box Plates and Staybolts, Wire and Braziers Rivets Importers and Dealers in / : Ingot Copper, Block, Tin, Spelter, Se y Seeik Ginineane Lead, Antimony, Bismuth, Nickel, etc. ome: METAL Co. 49 CLIFF STREET ° ° NEW YORK RIVERSIDE, N. 2 THE IRON AGE New York, Thursday, February 11, 1909. A Heavy Hendey Lincoln Miller. The Lincoln miller shown in the illustrations marks a notable advance in practice for the type in that it is de- signed with sufficient weight and working capacity to make it available in the field of heavy manufacturing. It compares closely in massiveness of construction and in working surface of table and feed with No. 3 standard knee type milling machines. It is stated that of the two machines the Lincoln miller is capable of doing the more milling on some lines of work, the direct mounting of the table with its saddle on the bed giving it exceptionally rigid support. The new machine is built by the Hendey Machine Company, Torrington, Conn. In general details of design this tool resembles other recent millers of the Lincoln type brought out by its builder. The driving shaft is carried in a rocking frame, through screws with micrometer dials reading to thou- sandths of an inch. The fixed position of the spindles after setting is further secured by binder bolts, which pass through the upper sections of the boxes and clamp the uprights and boxes rigidly together. The table has a working surface of 15 x 54 in., with three T-slots 54 in. wide. It has automatic feed of 36 in. laterally and adjustment in line with the spindle of 12 in. The saddle affords a length of bearing for the table of 34 in. The table is fitted to the saddle with an angular lock and taper gib, and has a bearing surface on the shoulders of the saddle, supporting the table clear to the edge. The feeds have positive shaft and gear drive direct from the power shaft. There are 12 changes of feed with a range of 0.01 to 0.13 in. per revolution of the spindle. The reversing of feeds is accomplished by a toothed clutch on the shaft between reverse running Two Views of the New Heavy Lincoln Milling Machine Built by the Hendey Machine Company, Torrington, Conn. which gives quick adjustment when the headstock spin- dle is raised or lowered, and constantly maintains the shaft in parallel alignment with the spindle. Binding bolts at either end lock the frame in position. The cone pulley on the driving shaft has three steps with a largest diameter of 15 in. and takes a 4-in. double belt. The gearing ratio, driving shaft to spindle, is 6 to 1. The main spindle is a hammered steel forging, having a 1%-in. diameter hole through its center, and has tapered journals at either end; the front journal is 5% in. long, and tapers from 4% to 3% in. diameter. The bearings for the spindle are cast annular, and are bushed with Lumen bronze. The spindle has Brown & Sharpe No. 12 taper hole in the front end. The nose is 3% in., is threaded and carries a slotted driving collar for arbors. The tailstock has a sliding block for the spindle, cast annular, and is fitted with a split taper shell to clamp the spindle. The shell is 45 in. diameter, and can easily be removed so that an arbor with cutters up to 4% in. diameter can be passed through the block without dis- turbing its elevation. There is suitable bearing for this split bushing to receive a collar bearing on the cutter arbor. The spindle of the tailstock is fitted with a taper split bushing in its front end adjusted by a draw-in bolt, and is adapted to receive the pilot end of the arbor. Vertical adjustment is provided for both spindles bevel gears. The mechanism is carried in a box which receives the ends of the transmission and gear box cone shafts. The feed worm is keyed to but slides on its shaft, and is carried in a self-contained bracket, which takes all end thrust from the feed shaft under cut, and so removes any twisting strain on the saddle. The worm runs in oil in a pocket of the bracket. The feed mechanism is carried entirely on the outside of the bed, which does away with the necessity of coring large holes in the bed to make feed connections which would material- ly weaken the casting. Both the head and tail stocks and the saddle are gibbed to the bed with anguiar locks to in- sure alignment of the spindle with the travel of the table. Hand movement of the table is effected by a large hand wheel geared at right angles to the shaft and bracketed to the end of the bed. The saddle adjustment is ob- tained by a screw running through the center of the tail block casting and carried in a bracket on the end of the bed, which has a graduated dial reading to thou- sandths of an inch. The adjustment of the tail block is similariy effected, also with a graduated dial. The adjustment of the spindle above the table is 1% to 12 in., and the maximum distance between the head and tail stocks is 27% in. The two countershaft speeds are 250 and 300 rev. per min. The floor space required is 80 x 90 in., and the net weight of the machine on high legs is 4650 Ib., and in an oil pan, 5250 Ib. 464 The Manufacture of Steel for Castings.” The Various Processes Compared as to Equip- ment and Quality and Cost of Product. BY BRADLEY STOUGHTON.t The United States contains about 170 active foundries devoted to the manufacture of steel castings, not includ- ing other steel plants where castings are occasionally pro- duced, incidentally to their regular business. Of these 170, about 101 can make open hearth castings, 43 can make Bessemer converter castings, and 45 can make cru- cible steel castings, while the number of furnaces of the different kinds are: Acid open hearth, about 85; basic open hearth, about 90; converters, the producing equiva- lent of about 27, and crucible melting pots about 750. The actual number of active converters is close to 60, but the majority of these are not capable of continuous pro- duction. The tonnage of the different kinds of steel pro- duced in 1904 and 1907 is shown in Table I, from which we see that even the astonishing percentage increase in the production of total castings is less significant than the increase in castings made by the basic process. This condition of affairs is too well known to require more than a passing mention, and is reflected in the produc- tion of steel for purposes other than castings, as shown by Table II. In short, it is now recognized that the growing scarcity of low phosphorus ores, in comparison with the ever increasing demand for them, is rapidly forcing upon all the steel manufacturers of this country the only process available to them for the reduction of phosphorus. Whether this circumstance is or is not a benefit to the steel casting industry is one of the objects of this paper to study. Table I.—Steel Castings and Total Steel Produced in the United States. Increase. 1904.—Tons. 1907.—Tons. Per cent. Acid open hearth castings.. 203,915 879,401 86 Basic open hearth castings. . 98,919 366,476 270 Bessemer converter castings. 16,051 33,300 107 Crucible castings (estimated) 3,000 6,000 eae Tota! steel castings........ 821,885 785,177 146 Total steel, all kinds. . .13,859,887 28,359,637 70 Table I1.—Production of Acid and Basic Steel in the United States. Increase. 1904.—Tons. 1907.—Tons. Per cent. Acid open hearth.......... 801,299 1,269,773 58 Basic open hearth......... 5,106,867 10,279,315 101 Bessemer converter......... 7,859,140 11,667,549 48 GEN. sb Ka'eueee cetscses 92,581 143,000 55 DE Sas nas oases ee 13,859,287 23,359,637 79 The Acid Open Hearth Process, The distinguishing features of the acid open hearth process are: 1. An acid slag, small in amount and tenacious of oxygen, while in the basic process the slag is of large amount and an energetic oxidizer. . Melting a large proportion of steel scrap with the charge, while the basic process uses a large proportion of pig. Recarburization may be effected in the furnace, which can- not be done in the basic process. For the sake of economy its operation must be continuous. . Its flexibility in chemical composition of product is small. . Its flexibility in tonnage produced Is small. . The waste of metal during melting and conversion is small. . Temperature of furnace lining always hotter than that of the metal. . Its fuel economy is greater than for any process except Bes- semer. 10. The time of melting and conversion is long—7 hr. 11. The continuous campaign of a furnace is long—1000 heats. 12. The cost of a furnace is large—$12,500 to $30,000. 13. Its cost for operation is less than any except the basic. 14. The liability of blowholes in the product is greater thao that of any process except the basic. 15. The quality of its castings in other respects is higher Gas that of any process except the crucible, These characteristics are summarized with those of the other processes in Table IV. The small proportion of slag makes the acid process OAD w bw © * From a paper —- before th Philad i hia Association, February , ef wit or genet + Of Columbia ues New York. THE IRON AGE February 11, 1909 more efficient than the basic in the utilization of the heat of its flame, wherefore melting is more rapid, a larger proportion of steel scrap can be used in the charge, heats are shorter and fuel economy is promoted. Furthermore, the acid slag, with its lower content of metallic oxides, especially those of iron, is much less liable to leave the steel in the oxidized condition which produces blowholes. Nevertheless, the tendency whch competition has brought upon the majority of acid casting plants of forcing their heats by reducing the amount of pig iron in the charge and increasing the additions of ore, does much to coun- teract this desirable condition, and still further harm re- sults when steel scrap in small sizes is used or the charge melts cold. The cause of greater cost of operation in the acid than in the basic open hearth process is the necessity for purchasing purer materials for the charge, while its economy as compared with the converter process is due to the smaller waste of metal. The Basic Process, The basic slag runs 45 to 55 per cent. of metallic oxides, of which nearly one-half is oxides of iron. The danger of over-oxidation of the bath thus produced ren- ders it wise to use a larger proportion of pig iron in the charge, which is also demanded by the inefficiency of the furnace as a melter. The more impure the charge in phosphorus, and the easier is it melted, but the same conditions also result in a more bulky slag and a longer time for purification, which more than counterbalance any fuel economy hoped for on this account. Add to the labor and fuel charges the costliness and frequency of its repairs, and we have the chief items of expense of this process, but the use of impure, cheap raw materials makes it nevertheless the cheapest process in America for mak- ing steel castings on a large scale. On the other hand, the quality of basic castings is the lowest of all, due espe- cially to its liability to blowholes, and to the other condi- tions which have resulted in prejudice against basic steel for all purposes. The Converter Process, The converter slag is the ideal one for avoiding over- oxidation of the metal, with the consequent’ danger of blowholes and other attendant evils, because it is not only small in amount and low in oxides of iron, but is not used for the purpose of oxidizing the impurities in the metal and is therefore less liable to oxidize the metal itself, especially since no highly oxidizing materials are added to it and all its metallic oxides come from the bath itself. This is no doubt an important cause of the common observation that converter castings are the least liable to blowholes. A contributory cause is probably the higher temperature of the converter metal at the end of the operation, while the necessity of using only a smail amount of steel scrap with the charge removes another danger of overoxidation. Opposed to these favorable con- ditions are the rapid oxidation of the process and the large amount of iron burned to oxide—not nearly so large however, nor so highly oxidized, as that added to the acid and basic open hearth processes. The recarburizing conditions in converter practice are also favorable to soundness, because the recarburizer is added to the metal in a hotter condition, whence a better reaction is likely to occur, and because it is added to the bath in the fur- nace. The operation here is only next in efficiency to the familiar and effective “ killing” in the crucible proc- ess, since the charge is often retained in the converter for some time after the operation is ended, while small lots of steel are poured out at intervals. As compared with basic metal, the product of the converter has two additional advantages—namely, a higher and more uni- form content of silicon in the steel and no danger of rephosphorization. Basic open hearth steel has in its favor the advantage of lower phosphorus. Some tests of steel castings made by all the processes here discussed are given in Table III. The most important consideration leading to the in- stallation of so many converter plants is doubtless the low cost of the apparatus. One converter costs about $1500 to $1700. If the converter is made with fixed bottom, however, it requires three of them of 2 tons size to approximately equal in capacity a 15 or 20 ton open hearth furnace, because each converter can operate February 11, 1909 only every third day as a rule, on account of the time required for repairs. The cost of such an equipment will be: Comperteen: Gd Mime. 6 oicc eiiccciccccedssapotuwuent $5,100 Dior FE WAGON sy o5i.k oie bisic esa ced sc eselews ees ee nem — 90 I I TEE ioe a ad cn cre ns 6ae ne CAs ORO SAS O20 One 2-ton converter with one spare interchangeable bottom would have equal capacity and would cost: Combertet and’ latee ii ol. ok. kA aay $1,700 POU MOCROUN s 5 6:45. Swed kee tg cede ce cewsgsice mines dio dqes TEI. NO ba ost 0 0005.0 06.00 ip ambbes + enoenee A crucible steel plant of equal capacity would cost several times as much. Table III.—-Tests of Steel Castings. Averages of several results in each case. Blongation Reduction Tensile Elastic in2in. of area. strength. limit. Per cent. Per cent. Converter steel....... 68,384 ie Kad 81.8 44.9 Converter steel....... 67,337 36,263 33.0 42.8 Open hearth steel..... 72,644 39,066 24.6 33.9 Open hearth steel..... 67,633 30,900 28.9 47.1 Crucible steel......... 78,267 56,600 19.7 40.0 The Crucible Process, The crucible process is a remelting and not a purifica- tion process, and employs wrought iron or steel scrap as charge, instead of pig iron. It can be operated intermit- tently, without considerable additional expense, and has corresponding flexibility in product, but its flexibility in chemical composition is limited by the uncertainty as to its content of carbon and silicon. It can produce steel as hot as desired, and the quality of its product is the highest of all the processes. It does not require a long, special training on the part of those who are to operate it, but the labor involved is large and costly and this item, together with the costs for crucibles and fuel, makes it the most expensive of the processes. To make large quantities of steel it is also costly to install, but where tonnage is no object a small daily capacity may be obtained with the expenditure of a few hundred dollars. Table IV.—Characteristics of the Different Processes of Making Steel for Castings. Acid open Basic open hearth. hearth. Converter. Crucible Partiettion © baie. ssc cs Acid. Basic. Acid. haan ee Amount of slag, per cent...6to15 15to80 10toll ....... Steel scrap used, per cent.. 85 50 a. . emiae ae Recarburige § ...2.cccce In furnace. In ladle. In furnace. ....... Can be operated....... i Continu- Continu- _Inter- Inter- ously. ously. mittently. mit’ntly. Flexibility in analysis... Small. Small. Great. Great. Flexibility in composition Small. Small. Great. Small. Metal loss, per cent...... 3 5 15 to 30 1to2 Metal or furnace hotter?.Furnace. Furnace. Metal. Furnace, Fuel used, per cent....... 25 80 15 125 Time of conversion....... 7 hr. 8hr. 20min. 4hr. Campaign in heats....... 1,000 350 20to1,000 Several thousand. Cost of installation...... Large. Largest. Small. Smallest. Cost of operation........ Medium. Smallest. Small. Largest. Danger of blowholes...... Medium. Greatest. Small. Least. Quality of castings....... Second. Lower. Lower. Best. The New Tropenas Process, In order to obtain some of this advantage of a small capacity at very low cost two recent innovations in prac- tice have been made, The first of these is the new Tropenas baby converter, described before this associa- tion last month (see The Iron Age, January 14, 1909, page 162), in which the necessary heat is obtained by adding at a certain period of the blow manganese or sili- con, whose combustion will give a solid oxide instead of a gas. This idea, in a cruder form, was described in the patent specifications of Hainsworth in 1884 (U. S. patent, 309,540 and 309,712), in connection with a little converter which he proposed to carry around the foundry and pour from directly into the molds, and in those of Walrand- Legénisel about 1892; but Mr. Tropenas, with that in- genuity for which he is justly famous, appears to have overcome the difficulties which proved to them insur- mountable, and to have obtained results in practice and in quality of product which we cannot but admire. As would be expected, something must be sacrificed in the cost of operation when manufacturing on such a small THE IRON AGE 465 scale, and it becomes a question whether or not one of the new electric processes cannot produce steel cheaper than is possible in such a small pneumatic vessel. The cost of operation of certain of these electric furnaces is known to be more economical than that of the crucible process, and the waste is almost negligible, while the cost for materials used would be considerably less than that given in connection with the new Tropenas furnace. Their cost of installation is not great and their control of temperature and quality of product is unsurpassed. A Baby Open Hearth Furnace, The most recent innovation in the way of a low priced installation for small capacity is the baby regenerative furnace erected for an Eastern steel foundry by W. M. Carr. [A description appears on another page of this issue, hence Professor Stoughton’s account is abridged. —Eprror.] This little furnace is lined with refractory clay bricks, instead of the silica bricks usually employed, and this circumstance, together with its small dimensions, are given by Mr. Carr as the reasons why he can operate it intermittently without excessive damage to roof and walls. He does not recommend a furnace as small as 500 lb. capacity for commercial purposes, but gives the following estimate of operating costs for one of 1000 Ib.: Production : 4 heats per working day = 4,000 Ib.; loss, 5 %. Pee Ws 6k 6.068 ¥kh ao aoe 1,260 Ib. at $20 per ton, $11.25 Steel SLAB... so ccc s oewer 2,940 Ib. at $18 per ton, 23.62 4,200 Ib. $34.87 po EE re re eee on re ert eee Sree 2.25 eee a eee ee $4.00 PNR 9. Cis. eed d weld apie Uden deans 0% 1.50 — 5.50 Fuel, 88 gal. at 3 cents per gallon.............eee008 ~ aoe Total costs, 2 tons production...........eeeseeeeee $45.26 Cost per ton, $22.63, or per pound, $0.0113. The cost for repairs is not included above, because Mr. Carr says this will vary with different conditions, but will never be large, as the body of the furnace is the only part that suffers and this is detachable and can be re- placed and repaired very cheaply. Various Small Converters. The first of the modern steel casting converters to be developed was the Robert, about 1882. This type has had a long and successful career in France, both the acid and basic processes having been employed. The loss was oftentimes moderate—15 per cent.—but, as with all of these side blow converters, if not handled just right, the practice was liable to be wild. Mr. Bookwalter handled the Robert converters in this country and at one time as many as 14 were in operation. But the period of their installation, just at the beginning of the panic of 1893, was an unfortunate time, and they rapidly dropped off, so that only two of the original installations have re- mained in operation to the present time, to which one has been added since. These failures, however, were due more to adverse conditions than to any defects in the apparatus. From its history in its own country we find no such cause to condemn this type as our ex- perience here might imply. In point of time the Tropenas converter followed that of Robert. Its form and appearance is too well known to require more than a reference here, as about 25 of them are in successful operation in this country. It was originally planned to blow through two rows of tuyeres on the side, but, if we are correctly informed, most of the operators at present prefer to use only the lower row, because observation of the temperature of the steel and chemical analysis of the gases have shown that the upper row is not necessary. Mr. Tropenas, by his scientific attainments and technical organizations, has contributed to the small steel casting industry of this country more benefit than any other man. Two each of the Zenzes and Fisher types of converters are in use in this country, but neither involves any original features of design or operation so far as has been made evident. It is said, however, that those who operate the Zenzes process melt in the cupolas a charge consisting entirely of steel, and then, after certain addi- tions are made to it, use this metal for blowing. Complaint is often made against all these small con- verters that, when the tuyeres are worn out, which oc- 466 curs at the end of 25 to 30 blows at most, the vessels must be cooled down and go out of commission entirely until repairs are made, when they must be reheated in order to be ready for further operations, This involves the necessity of the plant lying idle part of the time, and repairs are made with difficulty in the confined space, besides usually requiring a hole to be cut through the side of the vessel, which must afterward be replaced and dried, with all the extra delay and cost. It would seem that the simple expedient of taking off the bottom, which has long been recognized as indispensable in stand- ard Bessemer practice, would prove equally advantageous here, and I believe that it does. It enables one vessel body, which lasts for at least 1000 heats, to be continu- ously served in turn by each of two spare bottoms, and gives the utmost economy and rapidity in making repairs. There are now five converters of this type in successful operation in this country, and we may add for the in- formation of those who are interested in the question of converter waste that one of the installations made three years ago was built and operated under a guarantee that the loss in cupola and converter together should not ex- ceed 15 per cent. ——_4+@e————. The Small Open Hearth Furnace for Steel Castings. BY W. M. CARR. The year 1869 saw the introduction of the Siemens regenerative system for the production of steel ingots. At that time a furnace of the open hearth type operated under that system in capacities of 5 tons per heat was considered large. The fuel was producer gas and it was found a drawback when applied to a furnace of small capacity, but by increasing the length of the furnace body and at the same time increasing its capacity a gain in economy of fuel resulted. This brought about the construction of large furnaces, so that in the present state of the art a maximum of fuel economy is attained in furnaces of 40 to 50 tons capacity, while a furnace of 200 tons capacity excites no comment. These facts have particular reference to producer gas fuel. A gas producer is not one of the most highly de- veloped metallurgical devices, and when operated under conditions existing in most steel works yields a gas lean, variable in quality and low in calorific effect. To use this as an agent for stee] melting requires special con- struction in open hearths, so as to get the greatest possi- ble thermal efficiency by increasing the distance of flame travel through the body of the furnace. A short furnace tends to burn out quickly at the ends, while a longer furnace secures with the same fuel a longer life of the refractory bricks. This advantage has been recognized by T. Blair, Jr., who has designed a furnace some 45 ft. between port ends, since on those lines a great gain in fuel economy is secured. Such large furnaces, necessi- tating heavy outlays in first cost and up-keep, require special care in the avoidance of successive heatings and coverings, since great changes in furnace temperatures always cause more or less severe racking of the re- fractory brick work. Better and larger open hearth furnaces have sounded the knell of the Bessemer process. Statistics are con- vincing and proof that open hearth steel is of better quality than Bessemer is not wanting. What is true of ingot practice bears with some force on the manu- facture of steel castings. The rapid growth of that in- dustry owes its impetus to the advantages, economically considered, of the open hearth. The opinion, however, prevails that certain ecénomies are confined to furnaces 25 tons per heat as a maximum capacity and of 5 tons as a minimum. And with producer gas as fuel the weak- nesses of the larger furnaces, as well as their steady fuel consumption during idle periods, exist also with open hearth furnaces for castings. They must be kept going continuously to avoid collapse. Therefore, open hearth furnaces of ordinary capacities do not lend them- selves satisfactorily to small tonnages and irregular, intermittent operation. The foregoing facts are re- THE IRON AGE February 11, 1909 sponsible for crucible steel castings and those made by small converters of the side blown types, both varieties being produced at a higher cost than by open hearths of any capacity. In localities where fuel oil can be obtained at a rea- sonable cost as a substitute for producer gas, a new set of conditions arises. Liquid fuel carries a large number of calories, is concentrated, so to speak, and burning with regeneratively heated air in the hearth of a fur- nace produces an intensely hot flame, and one free from the stratification common to producer gas. A body of producer gas entering an open hearth has above it a layer of regeneratively supplied air. Combustion takes place mainly on the upper surface of the sheet of gas, and the calorific energy resulting must be radiated down- ward through a cooler, slower burning body of gas to ele- vate the bath of metal below to the high temperature absolutely necessary. The result is certain vortical movements of alternating hot and cooler gases and prod- ucts of combustion, with the greatest elevation of tem- perature at a point some distance from the surface of the bath. The walls, sides and roof become heated and radiate to some extent the heat generated by the com- Fig. 1.—Small Stationary Open Hearth Furnace Used in Experimental Work. bustion of the upper strata of gas, but as the radiation from the refractory walls diminishes with the square of the distance, being neutralized by the cooler interven- ing body of gas rolling over the bath’s surface, the heat- ing value of a lean gas is lost unless the length of flame travel be extended. Thus the fuel economy of a small or short hearth is poor with producer gas. On the other hand, the length of hearth is unimportant when burning liquid fuel. Combustion occurs immediately and the thermal effect is transmitted to the body of metal. There is no dilution of the fuel, as is the case with producer gas, other than a small quantity of air under pressure needed to atomize the oil. The flow of the fuel is subject to quite a delicate control and the flame can be made of any length desired. Radiation from the refractory walls is more active, tending to promote and intensify combustion. The advantages of liquid fuel as a heating agent have proved very useful to the writer in the development of the small open hearth furnace that would not have other- wise been possible. To meet a demand for the produc- tion of steel] castings in small quantities at irregular periods, the small open hearth furnace, oil fired, offers certain economies not found in any other type of steel making unit. Its advantages are: 1. Low initial costs of installation. 2. Absence of high power machinery. 3. Ability to withstand intermittent operation. 4. Low fuel consumption. 5. Low labor and repair charges. 6. Hot fluid steel of good quality. 7. The ability to use up to 75 per cent. of scrap. The writer in the course of research work designed, February 11, 1909 built and operated an oil fired open hearth of 4 ton capacity. The fuel consumption per ton of steel was found to run as low as 20 gal., or 50 per cent. less than regular practice. This effect was due to the narrowed and restricted hearth volume, producing an active cataly- sis, and to the short distance between the surface of the Fig. 2.—Plan View of Checker Chambers, Flue Connections and Furnace, bath and the highly heated refractory material of the walls and roof, bringing the whole into effective radia- tion. The charges were melted quickly and the tempera- ture of the metal when in readiness to tap was found to be 100 degrees C. hotter than that of metal from a gas fired furnace. The furnace was found to be extremely sensitive to heat control. Steel made under such condi- tions can be made supermolten, with the advantage that Fig. 3.—Sectional Elevation of Furnace Chamber and Port Connections. the furnace is not damaged in so doing. Superheating in the ordinary gas fired open hearth furnace results in a rapid erosion of the brick structure. Steel made in a small open hearth fired with oil can be tapped into hand ladles and poured into molds without undue haste. For commercial purposes a furnace of 1000 Ib. capac- Fig. 4.—Sectional View Showing Stopper in Position and Means of Operating It, ity can be used when that quantity may be wanted regu- larly or at odd intervals. The whole cost of installation need not exceed $2000, and the equipment other than the furnace will be a storage tank, an oil pump and a low pressure blower. Such a furnace will make four heats in a day of 12 hr., yielding steel of the same composition as standard acid open hearth. The labor will be a steel melter and one laborer. The fuel consumption will not THE IRON AGE 467 exceed 40 gal. per ton, making allowance for keeping the furnace warm over night if running regularly. With a melter at $4 and a laborer at $1 per day, fuel oil at 3 cents per gallon and pig iron and steel scrap at $20 and $18, respectively, the operating costs figure out at $22.60 per net ton for the metal in the ladle. These figures are in keeping with standard open hearth practice, recog- nized as the cheapest means of producing steel castings. Fig. 1 shows a small stationary open hearth furnace of the type described. It is believed to be the smallest regenerative furnace ever built. Fig. 2 is a drawing, more or less diagrammatical, of a proposed construction for which a patent application is pending. Only one set of checkers is required with fuel oil, thus reducing the first cost. The oil is applied at aor a’ (Fig. 3) by a common type of oil burner. The furnace body is more or less cylindrica] and will be entirely separable from the ports. To avoid trouble with slag, always more or less of an annoyance in lip pouring, the furnace will be fitted with a nozzle and stopper, worked through the charging door and set in place long enough before tapping to permit of heating the stopper fittings. Fig. 3 shows the furnace in working position, with the stopper, b, resting horizontally, Fig. 4 shows means of operating the stopper. When in readiness to tap, the furnace is rolled over, bringing the nozzle to the lowest point, and the flow of metal is controlled in the usual manner. If desired, the furnace can be carried to the molds, pouring directly into them, thus giving a combined melting chamber and pouring ladle. In the latter case the lines of the furnace are deepened around the nozzle so as to get as great a verti- cal depth as possible in the column of liquid metal while pouring. The furnace body is lined with first quality firebricks, which have no expansion or contraction. The bottom and roof are lined with silica sand sintered in the usual] manner over the bricks. This structure will stand rapid heating and cooling without damage. When one furnace shell is burned out a freshly lined one can be immediately substituted. A furnace of small dimen- sions requires special volumes, flue areas and checker spaces, and the proportions do not work out on the same basis of “ton capacities” as in designing larger open hearths. a Canners Want Both Better and Cheaper Tin Plate. The National Canners’ Association, composed of pro- ducers of canned food products, in convention at Louis- ville, Ky., February 4, adopted the following resolutions: Whereas, It is the aim and desire of the National Canners’ Association to continually improve and perfect their products, and, whereas, the quality of tin plate now being furnished for the canners’ use should be improved materially by the use of an additional quantity of tin, therefore be it Resolved, That the National Canners’ Association request the Food Inspection Bureau at Washington to adopt a regulation compelling the use of no less than 2% lb. of pure tin in the making of a base box of 112 sheets, size 14 x 20 plate, and that this grade of tin plate be required to be used in the manu- facture of all tin cans used for the preservation of food products requiring sterilization by heat. Whereas, The present duty on tin plate, such as is used in the canning industry, is approximately $1.50 a box, which adds to the cost of No. 2 cans about $2.75 a thousand, No. 2% cans about $3.50 a thousand, No. 3 cans $4 a thousand, or about 2 per cent. to the manufacturing cost of a staple finished product like No. 3 canned tomatoes in universal use; therefore, be it Resolved, That the president of the National Canners’ Asso- ciation appoint a strong, aggressive committee, which will make proper representations before the Ways and Means Committee of Congress, having definitely in view the admission into the United States of tin plate for the canners’ use duty free. : a The alumni of the Stevens Institute of Technology wil) have their annual dinner February 19 at the Hotel Astor, Broadway and Forty-fourth street, New York. Among the speakers will be President Alex..C. Humphreys of Stevens Institute; Alfred Noble, past president of the American Society of Civil Engineers and a former member of the Panama Canal Commission, whose topic will be the Panama Canal; Col. H. G. Prout, vice-president of the Union Switch & Signal Company; John A. Bensal, com- missioner of the Board of Water Supply of New York City, and Col. George Harvey. Se siinenendeainn a ee - “= an iain ceils ste lla ll NS A Am aN AND, 2 cca atl Sas ME a la a a i a te . no merece nea a aa oe 468 A Revolutionary Proposal in Blast Furnace Construction. Joseph E. Johnson, Jr., Longdale, Va., has been grant- ed patents on a form of blast furnace construction and a method of blast furnace operation which involve a marked departure from ordinary practice. While the in- ventions have not yet been practically applied they are of special interest in view of the prominence given Mr. Johnson’s studies of blast furnace thermal problems, the results of which he contributed to the discussion of the Gayley dry air blast. It may be recalled that, whereas the early claims of economics secured through the refrigeration of blast for the iron furnace were dis- puted, Mr. Johnson brought forward a theory of the THE IRON AGE ‘decomposing moisture. February 11, 1909 which would otherwise be available for ore reduction is carried off by the nitrogen in the air of the blast, while a smaller yet important quantity of heat is expended in Obviously any reductions in the amount of nitrogen and moisture in the blast will in- crease the amount of heat available for the effective working of the furnace. Previously a patent had been secured on a process of supplying blast containing an excess of oxygen, utilizing the heat in the fuel by passing the gases escaping from the furnace through the incom- ing body of ore and maintaining them out of contact with the incoming fuel. The form of furnace in which this process is carried out is indicated in Fig. 1. Without going into such details of construction as are common to the ordinary blast furnace, attention may be called to the special features. The ore is dumped into the hopper a. At the center of the hopper is a vertically placed mantle, b, the upper portion of which is cylindrical, and the lower portion of a fluted cone shape, as illustrated in Fig. 2. ‘The mantle has hollow metal walls, the annular space b’ being adapted to the circulation of cooling water. A conical fuel hopper, c, is mounted at the top of the mantle. For charging the fuel a hemispherical pusher, d, is provided, attached to a rod which ter- minates in a piston fitting the cylinder e. After charg- Proposed Construction of Iron Blast Furnace Using Blast with an Excess of Oxygen. thermal relations of the blast furnace and a method of figuring them, which have been accepted as explaining accurately this saving. He showed that it is necessary to secure in the biast furnace a certain “ critical” tem- perature, below which it is impossible to accomplish the desired reactions between the fuel, the gases derived therefrom, the ore and the flux. The energy exerted in bringing the products of combustion up to the critical temperature is unavailable for these reactions, which can only take place at or above that temperature. The efficiency of the furnace, therefore, it was shown, can be greatly increased by adding to the amouni of heat avail- able above the critical temperature. This the removal of moisture does. The introduction to the specifications of the last patent granted Mr. Johnson, that on a new form of blast furnace construction, points out that much of the heat the fuel into the hopper c the bell is raised, allowing the fuel to go in on top of the pusher, which, being raised to its highest position under the bell, allows the fuel to go into the mantle. The pusher is then forced down to the top of the fuel and gives a desired pressure, that in the cylinder e being varied at will. The construction, it will be seen, provides a means of feeding the fuel which gives a gas seal intermediate between the mantle and the source of fuel supply. The mantle b being fluted the fuel is discharged from it in a fluted or star shaped column surrounded on all sides by the descending ore. There is thus an intimate contact between the ore and fuel. The ore being heavier than the fuel will tend to cut off the descent of the latter, and, therefore, the column of fuel is made higher to compensate for this. The purpose of the pusher is to control] the ratio between the amount of ore and fuel charged into the furnace. February 11, 1909 Another patent covers a process for the economical extraction from the atmosphere of a large proportion of its oxygen, and this considerable elimination of nitrogen from the blast is a very important feature of Mr. John- son’s proposal. It is figured that the power requirements for this separation of oxygen will not exceed those in- volved in compressing the blast for the ordinary furnace to 20 Ib. pressure. The most revolutionary feature of the entire combination of innovations is that since the oxygen so obtained would not require preheating, the usual hot blast stoves, the gas consumed in them and all their attachments would be eliminated. It is suggested in connection with the specifications of the patent here- with illustrated that as the purity of the oxygen can be regulated by the adjustment of the apparatus for produc- ing it such regulation takes the place of the regulation of the temperature of the blast under present practice. Another very important suggested change which would accompany the successful working of the inven- - tion is the use of bituminous coal in place of coke in the blast furnace. This is made possible by charging the fuel in a continuous column of fluted cylindrical section, through which it is not necessary that the gases should pass, this being, in fact, undesirable, since the coherence of the bituminous coal in a solid mass when hot protects it largely from the dissolving action of carbon dioxide. Another point suggested is that the fuel column being in the center of the furnace would be out of contact with the walls, and, therefore, the possibility of hanging is pre- vented. The gases resulting from the distillation of the coal as it is heated being very combustible and having a powerful deoxidizing effect would pass up through the column of ore and assist in its reduction. The specification notes that the blast containing an excess of oxygen is not employed to raise the tempera- ture in the furnace, but to increase the amount of heat which at the critical high temperature is requisite for performing that part of the smelting operation which can only take place at the highest temperature—produced by the employment of an air blast. The results of the successful carrying out of Mr. Johnson’s proposal are a subject of interesting speculation. Oxygen blast would greatly reduce the total fuel used per ton of iron and a large part of that employed would require no coking. With the elimination of nitrogen and the reduction in fuel consumption, the quantity of gas discharged from the furnace would be only a fraction of the present amount. Yet it would not necessarily be less combustible than present furnace gases, even though much more highly oxidized, the removal of inert nitrogen and the addition of volatile matter from a part of the coal being reckoned as offsets. It cau be appreciated-that the effect of the gases on the ore for a given furnace volume would be more rapid than at present, and that if a sufficient re- duction in pressure can be secured through the reduction in volume much has been done to solve the problem of slipping. The capital requirements for such an innovation are a matter of speculation. It would be a case of putting the cost of apparatus for the separation of oxygen and nitrogen against that of hot blast stoves, taking account also of the smaller outfit of coke ovens per furnace. The greater compression of air called for would probably be regarded as offset by the smaller volume of blast re- quired. As an attempt to cope with the known disadvan- tages of the iron blast furnace the entire scheme will at least arrest attention. The significance of the successful carrying out of the proposal was recognized in the state- ment made in the discussion of the dry blast, that the saving by the elimination of moisture is only an index of that which may be expected from the removal of the nitrogen. — ~~ pe me Foreign Aluminum Makers Turn to Other Products. —The unfavorable position of the aluminum trade is re- ported to have induced the Neuhausen Aluminum Indus- try Company to decide upon the utilization of a portion of the additional power which will become available at the new works for the manufacture of nitric acid and SET SRET THE IRON AGE 469 nitrates derived from atmospheric nitrogen. With this object in view, the company has entered into an agree ment with the owners of the patents of the Engineer Moscicki at Freiburg, Switzerland, whose experiments are said to have led to a very favorable conclusion after trials extending over many years, whereby the company has become possessor of the patents for Switzerland and Austria. A community of interests has also been con- cluded between the aluminum company and the patent owners with regard to manufacturing under, or the sale of, the patents in other countries. The work of estab- lishing plant for the production of nitric acid and nitrates has already been commenced at the new works at Chippis, Valais, Switzerland, and a portion of the installation is to be set in operation next year. ‘cceinihineciilaliilediasiabasiiicii Briquette Tests by the Geological Survey. For the purpose of procuring data that could be used in.estimating the value of the briquetting process as applied to American fuels, the United States Geological Survey, in co-operation with other interests, began in 1904, at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, certain ex- periments involving the production and use of bituminous coal briquettes. Machines were installed at St. Louis, and later at Norfolk, for the manufacture of such briquettes, and an elaborate and carefully executed series of tests involving the use of natural coals and of briquettes made from the same coal, previously crushed, has deen carried out on a locomotive mounted at the testing plant of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company at Altoona, Pa.; less ex- tensive tests were made on several other railroads; and some preliminary experiments involving the use of bri- quettes in marine service have been made in connection with one of the Government’s torpedo boats, A description of these tests, prepared by W. F. M. Goss, has been published by the Survey in Bulletin 363. The results obtained are said to sust