The Iron Age 1909-05-13: Vol 83 Iss 19

THE IRON AGE Published every Thursday Morning by David Williams Co. 14-16 Park Place, New York. Vol. 83: No. 79. New York, Thursday, May 13, 1909. $5.00 a Year, including Postage, Reading Mattor Contents........ page 1556 ee —— —— — Alphabetical Index to Advertisers ‘‘ 186 ; ' , Classifled List of Advertisers ~ 176 Advertising and Subscription Rates ‘“‘ 1565 REED F. BLAIR & CO. PRICK BUILDING, PITTSBURG, PA. STANDARD CONNELSVILLE COKE FOUNDRY FURNACE CRUSHED va Th mit RRO me The original and only Genuine ’ ‘STILLSON WRENCH "’ is manufactured by WALWORTH ! MFG. CO., Besten, U.S. A. And bears their registered Trade-Mark You will make a Ait if you order UMC cartridges and Steel Lined shot shells from your jobber now. We are dooming the sales with a tremendous #sing campaign. Don’t let our demand bump into you and find you ess. Meet the UMC demand and take the profits. 5\ We Create the Demand — You Meet It BRISTOL’S PATENT STEEL B BELT LACING Bridgeport, Conn. Agency: 315 Broadway, New York City READY TO APPLY FINISHED JOINT _The Bristol Company, j, Waterbury, Conn. WATER TUBE Ghe Babcock @ Wilcox Co., BOILERS scepagess 9 ©’ Now Yorn SAMSON SOLID BRAIDED CORD THE MOST SERVICEABLE HORSESHOE NAIL No matter how severe the conditions “* Capewell’’ nails can always be relied upon to HOLD THE SHOE and SAVE unnecessary EXPENSE. “The Capewell” Nail is Always the Best MADE BY THE CAPEWELL HORSE NAIL COMPANY Hartford, Conn., U. S. A. Samson Ceodeas Works, - Boston TURNBUCKLES Cleveland City Forge and Iron Co., Cleveland, 0. TURN BUCH ITDS MERRILL BROS. Maspeth, New sow York, 8. ¥. N.Y. IRON ORES Real Estate Trust Bldg., Phila- PILLING & CRANE Empire Bldg., New York Jenkins Bros. Valves are made in Brass or Iron in a variety of types and sizes to meet every condition of service. Standard Pattern, for ordinary pressures, Extra Heavy Pattern, for high press- ures. Made of new steam metal; high grade workmanship 3 interchangeable parts. Al] genuine bear Trade Mark Catalog? JENKINS BROS.., New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago “Swedoh” Cold Rolled Steel ‘,4°*: Drawing = Stamping THE AMERICAN TUBE & STAMPING COMPANY SEB 2 5 (Water and Rail Delivery) Bripesrort, Conn. PAGE MAGNOLIA peiction METAL The Standard Babbitt of the World We manufacture everything in the i ; Babbitt Line. MAGHOLIA METAL CO. New York: 115 Bank St, Chicago , Fisher Building, Montreal: 31 St, Nieholas St OF AT. ADE IN AMERICA and _ “THE ABEST iN THE WORLD | | THE LUFKIN RULE CO. Saginaw, Mich., U.9.A. New York London, Eng. ‘Windsor, Can. A little spark will set a whole city on fire— but not if it falls on MF 32 Pounds Coating ROOFING TIN 'The roofing that {is fireproof. ‘AMERICAN SHEET AND TIN PLATE COMPANY Frick Building, _ Pittsburgh, ‘Pa. See our ad o on page 17 THE IRON AGE SOFT BRASS}, GERMAN (=, ST b E L SILVER WIRE Pat. Leveled Sign Brass No Buckles, Clean Surface, Polished or Plain PAT. LEVELED GERMAN SILVER Polished or Plain for Soda Water and Bar Fixtures Low Brass, Gilding and Bronze Metal, Sheet, Rod and Wire Manufactured Goods in Great Variety Waterbury Brass Co. WATERBURY, CONN. 1 Cliff St., New York Providence, R. I. Bridgeport Deoxidized Bronze & Metal Co. BRIDGEPORT, CONN. Phosphor and Deoxidized Bronze Composition, Yellow Brass and Alumi- num Castings, large and small SHEETS We can make prompt shipment of one, two or three pass Cold Rolled Steel Sheets SEND US YOUR INQUIRIES FOLLANSBEE BROTHERS COMPANY, PITTSBURGH Matthiessen & Hegeler Zinc Co. LA SALLE, ILLINOIS SMELTERS OF SPELTER AND MANUFACTURERS SHEET ZINC AND SULPHURIC ACID Rolled Battery Plates. Special Sizes of Zinc cut to order. Selected Piates for Etchers’ and Lithographers’ use. Selected Sheets for Paper and Card Makers’ use. Stove and Washboard Bianks. ZINCS FOR LECLANCHE BATTERY GERMAN SILVER \ In Sheet, Wire, Rods, Tubing and Blanks NICKEL ANODES BRASS, BRONZE, COPPER in all forms THE SEYMOUR MFG.CO., Seymour, Conn, 7 HENDRICKS BROTHERS Sheetand 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 - o : The Plume & Atwood Mfg. Co, Manufacturers of Sheet and Roll Brass, Wire, Rods, German Sliver and Brass Goods In great variety Rolling Mill Thomaston, Conn. Factories Waterbury, Conn. Branch Offices New York Chicago St. Louis and San Francisco A SERVICEABLE BOOK LAYING OUT FOR BOILER MAKERS A practical treatise on the layout of boilers, stacks, tanks, pipes, elbows and miscellaneous shee metal work, with over 425 illustrations. A Large Quarto Volume Double Colum PRICE, $1.00, DELIVERED. DAVID WILLIAMS Co. - 14-16 Park Place, New York SCOVILL MFG. CO. Manufacturers of BRASS, GERMAN SILVER, Sheets, — Wire, and 5. ofi191 Pages, n. Brass Shells, Cups, Hinges, Buttons, Lamp Goods, Spectal Brass Goods to Order Factories WATERBURY, CONN. Depots} NEW YORK CHICAGO Henry Souther Engineering Go. HARTFORD, CONN. BOSTON Consulting Chemists, Metallurgists and Analysts. Complete Physical Testing Laboratory. Expert Testimony in Court and Patent Cases, Arthur 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. \“PHONO-ELECTRIC” WIRE. “iT’S TOUGH” TROLLEY, TELEPHONE and TELEGRAPH LINES. BRIDGEPORT BRASS COMPANY ‘elegraph Bldg. Broadway and Murray 8t., New York _ PHOSPHOR-BRONZE GERMAN SILVER THE RIVERSIDE METAL CO. Mills Beidgeport Conn, RIVERSIDE, N J THE IRON AGE New York, Thursday, May 13, 1909. The Barnes All-Geared 20-In. Gang Drill. The new all-geared 20-in. four-spindle gang drill, just brought out by the Barnes Drill Company, Rockford, I11., embodies the same principles of construction as the builder’s 20-in. upright drill, described in The Iron Age, April 30, 1908. The novel features of construction there noted in the single tool have been retained in the gang machine in which the use of cone or feed belts is also eliminated. Each spindle ,f the gang tool has four changes of geared speeds or eight changes when back geared; like- by the peculiar but effective form of the back brace sup- porting each head. The crown gearing: is unusually large and strong, and the spindle, besides being of larger diameter than is ordinarily used, is double splined. The spindle takes a No. 3 Morse taper, but when desired a No. 4 taper will be supplied. With the box column type of gang here shown, a single table with oil channels is furnished; it is sup- ported by two screws to take end thrust, so that when clamped the table does not give under heavy work. A crank at one end affords means of raising and lower- ing the table. When desired the gang may be furnished A Four-Spindle 20-In. All Geared Gang Drill Built by the Barnes Drill Company, Rockford, Ill. wise each spindle has positive power feeds, ranging from 0.001 in. up to 0.025 in., controlled by the small lever on the ratchet faced segment, conveniently located at the left of each spindle as shown in the engraving. All changes of speeds and feeds are made instantly by the operator from the front of the machine without stopping the spindle, and no stopping is necessary to throw the back gears in or out. The absence of cones and feed belts does away with the time consuming practice of re- pairing, replacing and shifting belts. All four spindles are driven by a single shaft, yet by simply moving the speed changing lever to its central position, throwing the transmission gears out of mesh, any individual spindle may be instantly stopped. The drift hole is placed below the sleeve, so that when the spindle is stopped the tool may be drifted without turning the spindle around to match the hole in the sleeve. Strength and rigidity of the machine is secured with independent columns, having separate tables, either round or square, set on a heavy bed base. The gang is built, in either style, with two, three, four or six spindles. For tapping, any or all of the spindles may be supplied with reversing friction clutches, with which the right hand spindle of the machine here shown is equipped. The following specifications include the principal di- mensions of the tool: eee Ge RS, ww cmguedeecad.ee see <a ee Distance from center to center of spindles, inches...... 15 Diameter of spindles (double splined), inches.......... 1 7-16 Each spindie will drill to center of a 20-in. circle. Vertical travel of spindle, inches.............-secees 10 Vertical travel of table, Mehew.. .. ccc ccc eve cccces 14 Greatest distance from spindle to table, inches........ 27 Size of table, planed surface, four-spindle drill, inches..14 x 60 Size of tight and loose pulleys on single shaft drive, ED 006s didig Aa owes ch bes 6h 845-00 phen se awn 12x5 Floor space, four-spindle machine, inches.......... 40x 82 Speed of tight and loose pulleys, rev. per min......... 100 } | ace meme ee Sree aaa a tele Sree ne — see ee ethane + ates Pile i Ra ak OER eT eee le Se ite - aes ia fe NE ET s CNA SR er re I ST EE ee 1488 The gang drill has the same capacity as the single all- geared 20-in. drill, being built with the necessary strength and power to effectively handle twist drills up to 1 in. in steel without back gears, or up to 1% in. in steel when back geared. In cast iron it will drive taps up to 2 in. ———_9--9—_— Stock Distribution for Blast Furnaces. A New Method of Rotating and Dumping the Bell. BY J. E. JOHNSON, JR., GLEN WILTON, VA. The problem of stock distribution for blast furnaces has received probably more thought than any other that has developed in connection with the blast furnace in the re / THE IRON AGE May 13, 1909 some cases the additional parts are the small bell and operating mechanism or its equivalent. In other cases hoppers have been proposed which extend down inside the furnace and rotate through a certain angle at each discharge. The plan here shown involves virtually noth- ing but the main bell itself, although a gas seal is added as a matter of safety to prevent the burning of the gas out through the hopper and onto the top gear in case of trouble with the main bell. Broadly, the plan con- sists in using a main bell dumping unsymmetrically, the bell being rotated when empty so that it will dump in a new direction each time. An unsymmetrical bell may be used which will dump automatically with a tipping motion when lowered, or a perfectly flat bell may be used which will be dumped when lowered. The accompanying drawing shows the general plan. «The bell is suspended by two bell rods both working Revolving Charging Apparatus, with Unsymmetrical Dumping of Main Bell and Partial Rotation While Closing. last ten years. The cheapness and convenience of me- chanical charging make it almost obligatory, while the simplicity of the skip makes it a favorite method of ac- complishing this result. It is, however, open to the ob- jection, now too well known to need discussion, of dis- tributing the coarser and finer portions of the stock very unequally around the circumference of the furnace, with all the attendant bad effects. The fundamental cure for this evil was recognized and patented first of all by Alex- ander Brown, and consists in rotating about a vertical axis the line of discharge of the stock upon the main bell. The main bell distributes the stock around the circumference of the furnace practically as received by it. The only objection to this general method has been its cost, complication, and the difficulty of keeping the ap- paratus in repair. The conditions as to wear, &c., with the grit from the stock and the heat from the top gases on the working parts, are very severe. Every method of rotary distribution so far used or proposed has necessitated some element in addition to the main bell, which had always been a right cone. In in the same plane and depending from a small lever, which in turn is suspended from the main bell lever. A fixed ring, S, is provided on which the projecting end of the suspension lever F' strikes when the bell is low- ered. The suspension lever is thereby given and trans- mits directly to the bell through the bell rods, a tipping motion, the whole taking up the position shown by dotted lines. When the bell is empty and during its return the suspension link of the dumping lever is rotated by any suitable device. In the construction shown the main bell lever A, drag link B and the suspension link C constitute a parallel motion, so that the center of the spherical collar D on the suspension link C moves in a vertical line. On this spherical collar rests a bevel gear, E, so that it can rotate freely and swing laterally to a limited extent. From the bevel gear E the dumping lever F is directly suspended. The suspension link C carries a horizontal shaft H which supports a bevel gear, J, with a ratchet, K, fast to it, the bevel gear J meshing with the gear E. A pawl, L, en- gages the ratchet K and rotates it through any desired May 13, 1909 angle. In the construction shown the pawl is driven by an arm on the drag link B. For certainty and sym- metry, two ratchet wheels are mounted on the shaft H and two pawls are actuated by the arm M of the link B. The arrangement of the gas seal is clearly shown. A small bell shuts down into the dumping hopper N, the bell being so constructed that its topeplate P has some lateral freedom and complete liberty to rotate to compensate for the movements of the bell rods Q. Counter weights on the gas seal lever and the main bell lever keep the main bell constantly closed and the gas seal constantly open. A cylinder is trunnioned on the gas seal lever with its piston rod attached to the main bell lever. When pressure is applied in the cylinder the first move- ment is to shut the gas seal, that being much more easily moved than the main bell. After that is shut the cylin- der can drop down no further and the piston rod then raises the main bell counterweight and opens the bell. In this way one cylinder, by a simple arrangement, operates both bells automatically, so that the gas seal is closed before the main bell can open, and conversely the main bell is closed before the gas seal can open. The method of rotating the suspension lever and the main bell is immaterial. The method shown is simple and positive. It is also easily adjustable by changing the location of the pawls on the arm M. All that is really essential to obtaining a good stock distribution with this apparatus is to have a central dumping hopper not too large in the aperture and the suspension and rotating mechanism of the main bell. The gas seal, &c., may be eliminated entirely. The double bell rods at first thought might appear to obstruct the opening through the small hopper too much, but it will be seen that they actually obstruct it less than a single bell rod. They are put as far apart as the smallest diameter of the hopper will permit and allow a little clearance, so that the clear space between them is virtually the diameter of the hopper opening less the diameters of the two rods, whereas with the single rod in the center of the hopper the clear opening is less than half the diameter of the hopper opening. The simplicity of the whole apparatus, with only one cylinder and no motor or gears other than the bevel gears on the suspension link, is its most notable characteristic; but the fact that rotation only takes place when the bell is entirely un- loaded is a point which must not be ignored. The design of the dumping lever and bell rods in rela- tion to the bell is such that when the reaction from the dumping of the stock takes place the upper edge of the bell is solidly against the lip ring all the while. When the stock is all gone the bell has a few inches of swing until its center of gravity comes into the center of the furnace. Swinging to any detrimental extent is impos- sible because the length of the two bell rods being dif- ferent the period in which they vibrate is also different and under these conditions it is well known that vibra- tions are quickly deadened. Even if the bell were swing- ing considerably when it was approaching its seat this would make little difference because, owing to the double suspension, it can only come to its seat when in its cor- rect position. By a suitable design of the suspension lever the variations in distance apart of the two bell rods in the region where they pass through the gas seal can be kept down to a minimum, so that large holes through the top of the gas seal will be unnecessary. It will be evident that by controlling the depth of the drop of the bell, its final angle and the radial position of the stock dumped will be decidedly altered, thus mak- ing it possible to effect a change in the distribution radially without changing the diameter of the bell. This design of distributing apparatus lends itself to certain objects which cannot be accomplished with the ordinary method of distribution. It will be noted that in the illustration two skips are shown, one in full lines and one in dotted lines, the latter slightly above the other. The object of this is to let one skip run on the top chord of the skip bridge and the other on the bottom chord, with a very decided saving in the cost of the bridge and with the advantage of dumping everything in one central plane. But this is not all. By allowing the two skip tracks to diverge in the vertical plane as they THE IRON AGE 1489 approach the ground one may be made to take its mate- rial from under one trestle, the other from under a dif- ferent trestle. This means that the lower skip would take coke from a trestle next the furnace and would never handle anything else. It would discharge this with the least possible drop into the receiving hopper. The ore and limestone would normally come from a sep- arate trestle further back from the furnace. These ma- terials would be dumped from a little greater hight, but not sufficient to make any difference. Such an arrange- ment has no particular theoretical advantages but works out excellently in practice. This leads to dumping alter- nate skip loads of coke and of ore and limestone. With the ordinary style of charging this would not answer at all because the mixture that would result in dumping the main bell would be the very opposite of stratified filling and thoroughly objectionable. But with the main bell dumping the charge at different points around the circumference of the furnace, it is perfectly possible to make it dump two continuous spirals of coke and of ore and limestone. With such a condition the necessity of a large hopper and main bell disappears. Each skip load is dumped on the main bell and by it into the furnace. A perfectly simple interlocking device will secure the dumping and rotation of the bell at the proper time in the travel of each skip and the troublesome questions about the periods at which the main bell and the small bell are dumped, with present constructions, need never arise. . It will be obvious, however, that the superposed skip tracks and the style of operation just described are not at all a necessity with the present design. They are pos- sible and easy, if considered advantageous, but the dis- tribution itself will work just as well with the ordinary single or double skip as it will with the arrangement de- scribed. In such a case the hight of the mechanism could be reduced very materially, though as shown it is prob- ably less than that of most now in use. Furnacemen should not fail to note one important point. This is that as the coke does not require to be stored in the small hopper previous to the opening of the small bell, the distance from the nose of the skip down into the hopper can be reduced to a small fraction of that necessary when the small bell is used. And it will not escape their notice that the capacity of the main hopper for a given hight is very great. Both of these factors contribute to sherten the drop of the coke and reduce the damage by breakage to a fraction of its present amount. In conclusion it may be pointed out that the newness of this device consists not so much in any particular mechanism as in the whole method of making the main bell itself dump unsymmetrically in successive radial di- rections. ———__~>-o___—__ Vanadium Steels.—A booklet prepared by J. Kent Smith for the American Vanadium Company, Frick Building, Pittsburgh, deals with the classification and heat treatment of vanadium steels, and gives directions for the application of vanadium to steel and iron. Some general considerations are presented in the introductory portion of the pamphlet on the effect of vanadium, “ at- mosphere” influence in steel making, heat treatment of vanadium steel and the composition of the various types of such steel. Different grades of vanadium steel are made for different purposes, the composition and heat treatment being varied according to the use to which the steel is put. Type A is spoken of as the most adaptable of all vanadium steels, having great static strength and ductility, with high resistance to shock and fatigue. Type D is used in the manufacture of springs, also for gears in constant mesh, for rifle barrels and high tensile wire. Type E is designed for case hardening, type G for locomotive tires, type H for cutting tools, type J for steel castings and type K for punches and dies. A com- panion pamphlet, issued by the same company and pre- pared by W. L. Turner, deals with type D or vanadium spring steel. It has an elastic limit of 180,000 to 225,000 lb. per square inch, with tensile strength ranging from 190,000 to 250,000 Ib. A life of three times that of carbon steel springs is claimed. TESTE” Bese +R ae 1490 THE IRON AGE May 13, 1909 The American Electrochemical Society. A Symposium on the Electrometallurgy of Iron and Steel. The first day of the fifteenth general meeting of the American Electrochemical Society, held at Niagara Falls, Canada, on May 5, under the presidency of E. G. Acheson, was given over to a symposium on the electrometallurgy of iron and steel. Through the efforts of Prof. Jos. W. Richards, professor of metallurgy at Lehigh University, and of F. A. J. FitzGerald and P. McC. Bennie of Fitz- Gerald and Bennie, consulting metallurgists and electri- cians of Niagara Falls, N. Y., a wealth of papers was available. While these traversed a good deal of ground familiar to readers of the technical journals, many new and interesting facts were brought out. There was a large attendance of engineers connected with nearly every large steel interest in this country, but on the whole they maintained an attitude of silent hearers. There was little searching cross-examination. Dr. Haanel, who may be remembered as the Canadian Government expert who conducted the experiments in direct ore reduction in the electric furnace at Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, gave an account of a visit made by him some months since to Sweden to witness a test of the furnace designed by three engineers, Gronvall, Stahhane aud Lindblad, and built at Domnarvfet. As a govern- ment official, Dr. Haanel did not feel justified in antici- pating the details of his official report, and indicatéd that data were withheld. It may be due to this circum- stance that the impression was created that his conclu- sions are exceedingly sanguine. It is possible, however, that Dr. Haanel may view the problems involved from the standpoint of the conditions affecting what are after all minor iron producing countries, like Canada and Sweden. P. McBennie of Niagara Falls followed with a paper on Electric Pig Iron in California, The industry of producing pig iron in blast furnaces nat- urally segregates into certain neighborhoods, for reasons that are well known, one of the most important of which is contiguity to fuel supply. Changes in conditions have some- times resulted in the abandonment of existing plants, or the erection of new plants at new locations, the reasons therefor being equally well recognized. It is not pretended that the production of pig iron in electric furnaces is now or ever will be economically possible everywhere, for it is subject to the same governing influences as the older industry. The necessary conditions are known, can be definitely described and shown to exist at certain points in this country. That such an industry is as yet only potential may be attributed to the lack heretofore of an entirely suitable in- strument or apparatus in the way of a furnace fit for ex- tended campaigns and rough handling; a practical rather than a merely feasible apparatus. Several serious attempts to develop such an apparatus are now being made, however, with encouraging results. One of these is in California, an account of which will follow this introduction. WHY THE ELECTRIC FURNACE IS SUITABLE TO CALIFORNIA. During a recent visit the author had an opportunity to study the local situation pertaining to the iron industry. Conditions at some Pacific Coast points are peculiarly favor- able to electric furnace treatment of iron ores. The present market there is not less than 150 tons a day, the supply being either imported or brought a long distance by rail. Some foundries even go to the extent of melting promiscuous scrap in cupolas. Pig iron brings $9 to $10 per ton above Pittsburgh base, market quotations varying from $23 to $26 per ton, whether of domestic or foreign origin. Conditions are not favorable to the operation of a blast furnace to fill this demand. While iron ores might be had at reasonable rates, the carbon problem is serious. The only plentiful fuel is California asphaltic petroleum, which cannot be used for the purpose. Metallurgical coke brought from the East by rail would be out of the question, while imported coke is not only high in price but irregular as to supply, and, therefore. variable in price. The California demand for coke is met by importation in cargo from Germany, Belgium and Australia. The coke is bid for upon arrival, hence the ir- regularity both as to price and supply. The price may be anywhere between $10 and $13 per ton. Therefore a blast furnace plant would be an investment of uncertain value. With electric smelting of iron ores the cost of carbon be- comes of less importance, the quantity used being only about one-third that required for the blast furnace. If now we could cheaply assemble iron ore, limestone and electric power could afford to use coke or charcoal at 2 price prohibitive so far aS a blast furnace is concerned. Such conditions may be found at several places in Cali- fornia, within easy reach of the principal market. One such location has been chosen for exploitation by the Noble Elec- tric Steel Company. I had intended to contribute a paper on this company’s activities, but recently Prof. Dorsey A. Lyon, general manager of the company, consented to prepare an account for us, which I am pleased to substitute for my own as coming directly from those actually doing the work, and, therefore, more in consonance with the original intent of this symposium. at one place, we THE EXPERIMENTAL CALIFORNIA ELECTRIC FURNACE. While Professor Lyon does not refer to it, the experi- mental 160 kw. furnace was run for a period of about 40 days, during which time data were gathered to be used in the design of the present 1500 kw. furnace. The results thus experimentally obtained make it not unreasonable to expect a power consumption around 0.25 hp. year per ton. Without allowing anything for byproducts, charcoal will probably cost’ $9 per ton, of which 1 ton should be sufficient for about 3 tons of pig iron. If the figures obtained with the smaller furnace can be realized in the 1500 kw. furnace, the cost of pig should be in the neighborhood of $15. The freight to San Francisco should not exceed $3 per ton. When it is considered that the product will be charcoal pig iron, and should command a higher price than ordinary blast furnace pig iron, there seems to be a comfortable margin of profit for the manu- facturer. Another point not touched upon by Professor Lyon is that such high grade pig iron, coming from the electric fur- nace in a molten state, would be most desirable starting ma- terial for steel. The liquid metal could be tapped into a second electric furnace and refined to steel, particularly in view of the very pure iron ore available. Or a modified method like the Lash process could be used. The added ex- pense would be less than the added value, so there would be a distinct gain for the manufacturer. The detailed description is given in Professor Lyon’s paper as follows: THE NOBLE ELECTRIC STEEL COMPANY'S PLANT. BY DORSEY A, LYON, The history of the plant of the Noble Electric Steel Com- pany at Heroult is somewhat as follows: For 25 years or more a company known as the Shasta Iron Company has owned a deposit of magnetite, located about seven miles from the mouth of the Pitt River, in Shasta County, Cali- fornia. The ore is a very pure magnetite, having on an average the following composition: Iron, 69.9; magnesia, 0.10; manganese, 0.18; silica, 2.40; phosphorns, 0.011, and sulphur, 0.009. It occurs at the contact between limestone and diorite. The ore body is remarkably uniform, a series of 20 samples, taken over a cut 60x40 ft., giving a maxi- mum of 70.5 per cent. of iron, a maximum of 68.8 per cent. and a mean of 69.7 per cent. The limestone is also of excellent quality, having an average composition of: Silica, 1.20 per gent.; alumina, 0.50; magnesia, 1.10; lime, 53.80, and oxide of iron, 0.20; equivalent to about 98 per cent. calcium carbonate. Although at one time or another the Shasta Iron Com- pany had planned to make pig iron from this ore, nothing definitely was done until the summer of 1906. At that time the possibility of smelting this ore by electricity was brought to the attention of H. H. Noble, president of the Northern California Power Company, which practically supplies all of the electric power used by the various mines and smelters in Shasta County. After more or less correspondence with Mr. Heroult, plans were made for the erection of an experi- mental plant, on practically a commercial scale, at a point on the Pitt River. This place was named Heroult. In July, 1907, the first furnace having been completed, experimental work was begun. This furnace was a 1500 kw., three-phase furnace of the resistance type. It was soon found that the type of furnace first used presented mechani- eal difficulties which made its commercial use impractical, and so it was closed down. Since that time the experimen- tal work has been carried on in a 160-kw. furnace, and from the results obtained in this furnace and its method of op- eration another 1500-kw. furnace was designed and built, which at this time would probably be in operation but for the heavy storms of January and February, which caused practically a cessation of construction work during that time.* * Professor Lyon reports in a letter recently received that the new furnace started off well, but was stopped because @ water cooling device had to be replaced. worked perfectly. As long as it ran it May 13, 1909 OPERATIONS AT THE MINE AND FURNACE, At present the iron ore is mined by quarrying. From the mine the ore is to be taken to the smelter by means of a surface and gravity tramway. The distance from the mine to the top of the gravity is about 6000 ft. At the head works, at the top of the gravity, the ore is to be crushed and dropped into chutes from which it will be released into cars operating on the gravity. The latter is 1800 ft. long and has a grade varying from 15 to 30 degrees. On this in- cline a loaded car going down pulls an empty car up. At the bottom of the incline the loaded car is unhooked from the cable and an empty car hooked on. The empty car is then pulled up by another loaded car coming down, &c. The cars are controlled at the head of the gravity by a worm gear driven by a 5 hp. motor. From the bottom of the incline the loaded cars will be trammed to the ore bins, a distance of about 700 ft. From the bins the ore and fluxes will be drawn and transported in hand cars to the furnace building in the supply car. Above the crucible at the base of the furnace is a super- posed stack which resembles an ordinary blast furnace and which has a bosh communicating with the crucible. In the operation of the furnace, the ore, mixed with its proper proportion of fluxing materials, will be fed into a preheater, wherein it is to be dried and heated. The source of the heat for the preheater is to be derived from the products of com- bustion from the combustion chamber at the top of the stack, which will be let into the base of the preheater through a flue which communicates with an annular chamber surround- ing the top of the stack and communicating with the com- bustion chamber through openings or ducts. A scale car runs upon a circular track round the top of the stack and will alternately receive a charge of ore and flux from the preheater and a weighed charge of carbon from the carbon hopper, these charges being delivered alternately by proper mechanism into the body of the furnace. In the operation of the charging device, a charge of ore and flux will first drop into the upper portion of the hopper, the bell being closed, and after the charge is properly dis- tributed about the hopper the bell is lowered so as to permit the charge to pass into the lower compartment of the hopper, the upper bell being then closed and the lower bell opened, so as to permit the charge to pass into the stack. The charge of carbon is then fed into the furnace through the charging device in the same way. The charge will be kept at a certain level in the stack. Above the level are small openings in the stack with suitable valves for admitting the requisite amount of air to burn the gases resulting from the reduction of the ore in lower part of the stack, thus still further heating the charge, and, as above stated, these waste gases will then pass up through the preheater, thus preheating and drying the ore before it is charged into the furnace. The electrodes, six in number, are arranged equidistantly around the furnace. The electric current passing between them melts the charge and the molten metal and slag are collected in the crucible, from which they are drawn as in ordinary blast furnace work. Three tap holes are arranged at different levels so that the crucible may be partially or completely emptied as desired. The tap holes are provided with bronze water-cooled casings. THE CHARCOAL PLANT. tealizing that the cost of charcoal would be an impor- tant item, a complete by-product recovery charcoal plant has been installed, under the direetion of W. B. Harper. A standard vertical retorting apparatus designed to fit our local conditions has been installed. The equipment consists of eight vertical retorts and four preheaters set in a concrete furnace lined with firebrick; 17 cages to fit the retorts, each holding 2 cords of wood; eight tubular condensers, one con- nected with each retort by means of a copper vapor pipe; several collecting tanks for the condensed vapors, and numer- ous stills for the refining of the crude products distilled from the wood, such as wood alcohol, tar and acetates. In addi- tion to these essential requirements for distillation of the wood are the necessary conveyors, pumps, buildings, &c., to make a complete plant. The retorts are cylindrical in shape and are mounted in an upright position in concrete and brick, there being four retorts to a battery. Each retort holds 2 cords of wood. We are at present putting up two batteries of these retorts. The wood is placed in cages similar in construction to the retorts themselves and these cages then placed in the retorts. The volatile products obtained during the distillation of wood will be condensed by means of condensers and then pumped to the refining building where the condensed vapors will be refined into commercial products. After the distilla- tion of the wood is complete, the cage containing the charred wood is to be taken from the retort and placed in a cooling stand until its temperature has been lowered below the flash- ing point of the charcoal. In the meanwhile another cage containing a charge (2 cords) is to be placed in the retort and the charring begun together, with the accompanying driving off of the volatile constituents. The cages in which the wood is placed are air tight, the opening for the escape THE IRON AGE | 1491 of the volatile constituents being closed automatically when the cage is lifted from the retort. When the charcoal has cooled below its flashing point, it is to be discharged into the charcoal storage bin, which is cylindrical and entirely closed except for an opening near the top just large enough to receive the bottom of the cage through which the charcoal is discharged. From the char- coal bin the charcoal is to be taken to the furnace building and hoisted to the charging floor and dumped into’ the char- coal hopper. This is the only-part of the charge which has to be elevated, the ores and fluxes being handled by gravity. The wood is reduced to charcoal containing about 93 per cent. carbon, the condensable part of the vapors being col- lected in tubular condensers, the uncondensable gases being led under the furnace and burned. The quality of charcoal that can be made from ~_r wood supply is very good, the following being specimen analyses of charcoal from our ordi- nary beehive ovens: I If. tl. Water and volatile matter............. 5.3 7.8 6.5 AE catdieeddadectceseovgceceeacdees 0.5 0.7 0.6 Cds ee ie eee RR Ree AAs 94.2 91.5 92.9 It is also the intention to introduce at this point an elec- trolytic method of making lead acetate, for which there is a certain demand on the Pacific Coast. The entire plant is designed to produce charcoal at low cost for labor, for the utilization of waste heat and saving of time. Prof. Jos. W. Richards dealt with The Electric Furnace Reduction of Iron Ore, analyzing first the reactions which take place in the ordinary blast furnace, the fundamental fact being that the amount of fuel used in the blast furnace is deter- mined by the amount which must be burned at the tuyeres to produce the necessary smelting temperature and not by the amount necessary to perform the reduc- tion of the metallic oxides. The latter is only one-third to one-half of the amount necessary to be burned to pro- vide the smelting heat. Since all the heat necessary in the electric furnace is supplied by the electric energy, carbon is needed only for reduction, the quantity depend- ing upon whether carbonic acid or carbonic oxide is formed. The quantity of carbon required will range be- tween one-third and one-fifth of that needed in the ordi- nary blast furnace reaction. Since no air is blown in in the electrical furnace, any excess of carbon above that consumed for reduction must accumulate and eventually clog the furnace. To avoid this serious feature of the electrical furnace Professor Richards suggests the fol- lowing modifications of working: 1. A deficit of carbon may be put into the charge, thus permitting unreduced iron oxide to escape in the slag, and preventing unused carbon from accumulating. This solu- tion leads to the disadvantages of loss of iron, heavy corro- sion of lining of furnace, and heavy consumption of electrode carbon. It may have the secondary result of preventing re- duction of silica or taking up of carbon by the iron, and thus furnish a metal with high melting point and approaching steel in composition. Such slag would also remove some of the phosphorus in the charge, but practically no sulphur. 2. A charge of ore and flux without fuel may be run through the furnace whenever an accumulation of carbon occurs, as is shown by the resistance of the furnace falling off and the furnace getting cold. This was the device adopted in the experiments of the Canadian Commission at Sault Ste. Marie, but while permissible in experimental work, it would not do to thus periodically derange a furnace in regular running. 3. The fuel may be calculated only for the production of CO in the furnace, and this condition approximated by lead- ing off the gases from the hot part of the furnace and not allowing them to cool in contact with the ore. In this way reduction by CO is avoided, and the fixed carbon in the charge may be consumed almost entirely to CO without formation of CO,. This would bring the furnace consump- tion of carbon nearer to a definite amount, and by avoiding reduction except by solid carbon tend to use up all the car- bon charged, the amount of which would be calculated by this manner of working. 4. The best solution of this difficulty may be to provide tuyeres by which air can be sent into the crucible of the furnace, and thus burn any accumulation of carbon. A given quantity of air will always burn a given quantity of carbon, and therefore the cure would seem to lie in having a variable supply of air, which is increased whenever the fall- ing resistance of the furnace indicates that carbon is begin- ning to accumulate, and diminished to a small minimum sup- ply, only enough to keep the tuyeres open, when the furnace is in good electrical running order. It would represent a combined electrical and blast furnace, with the blast so reg- ulated as to overcome the chief difficulty of the purely elec- trical furnace—the accumulation of unused carbon in the crucible. 1} Se SES: 1492 It may be quite possible, by some such device as Mr. Taylor’s large electrical furnace, to practically combine the blast furnace and the electrical furnace. The writer is quite confident that any practicable method of introducing elec- trical heat into the crucible of a blast furnace will result in large economies in the furnace working. Only one-quarter of the heating power of the fuel is developed around the blast tuyeres, and yet if half of this could be replaced by electri- cally generated heat, an economy of 50 per cent. could in all probability be reached upon the fuel bill. To put it into figures, it takes 1.2 tons of coke to make a ton of pig iron in the blast furnace, and about %4 ton is burnt by the blast, producing at the smelting zone about 25 per cent. of the calorific power of the coke. If electrical energy could be made to supply only one-half of this, the furnace would make iron with half the previous coke supply, that is, with 0.6 ton of coke per ton of pig iron, and this with an expenditure of electrical energy equal only to 12.5 per cent. of the calorific power of the coke, that is, equal to the calorific power of but 0.15 tons of coke. The question of economy in this case will not be, then, the simple replacement of fuel heat energy by an equivalent amount of electrical heat energy, but the comparison of fuel heat energy with the cost of one-fourth its amount of elec- trical heat energy. This may be quite possible in many local- ities, and the combined furnace would work more regularly than a purely electrical furnace. The question awaits the coming of the electrometallurgical engineer who can make practicable the requisite combination. A possible solution may be to use cheap electrical power to superheat the hot blast, and thus to make the blast itself the agent for carry- ing electrically developed heat into the furnace. The series of papers on steel manufacture was opened by that of Cav. Ernesto Stassano, the well-known pioneer in this branch of metallurgy, who is at the head of the Turin plant. No new facts concerning the design, opera- tions and results of the furnace were presented, a large part of the paper being a review of the criticisms of it in rather a keen manner. Stassano, who was present, after the reading of the paper by Mr. Bennie, showed a diagram recording the fluctuations of the electric power requirements of his plant for 24 hr., which proved its uniformity... We understand that Mr. Stassano is now producing regularly the steel castings which are required in the manufacture of the famous Fiat automobiles. A highly interesting paper, accompanied by drawings and photographs of the Norieux installation of the Holtzers was that of Ch. A. Keller, general manager of the Société des Etablissement, Keller-Leleux, Livet, Isére, France. L. E. Saunders brought forward the paper by Paul Girod, director of the Société Anonyme Electrometallur- gique Procédés Girod, Ugine, Savoy, France, on the fur- nace bearing his name. In the absence of Robert Turnbull, who, it was an- nounced, was on that day expected to start the 15-ton Heroult refining furnace at South Chicago, F. A. J. Fitz- Gerald read his paper on the Heroult Electric Steel Furnace. The only serious discussion of this series of papers was that of Dr. John A. Mathews on Electric Steel Processes, One could scarcely have studied seriously the develop- ments of the last decade without coming to the conclusion that there are several methods now known by which steel can be successfully made in furnaces which are electrically heated either by induction, resistance or the arc or by a combination of these methods. However dubious we may be about the commercial future of these methods, we can scarce- ly doubt the fact that steel and very good steel can be elec- trically made. As to just how good this steel is, compared with the product of the older methods, there may still be doubt in the minds of many. Perhaps the electrochemists or the inventors of the processes may have claimed too much. In his presidential address before the Iron and Steel In- stitute a few years ago, Sir Robert Hadfield intimated that such might be the case when he stated that the trouble with the electrometallurgists was that hey assume that all steel as now made is fundamentally wrong. This may be putting the case a little strong, but I do believe they have made statements that they have not taken the trouble to substan- tiate by actual experimental data. For instance, it is gen- erally assumed or claimed for each electrical process that the superiority of its product depends upon the fact that the steel is melted in a neutral or reducing atmosphere and hence the product is better deoxidized and freer from dissolved gas- eous impurities. While this sounds reasonable and I believe is true in most cases, I have never seen any experimental proof ve any determinations of the gaseous content of elec- tric steel. THE IRON ‘ AGE May 13, 1909 AN INVESTIGATION OF THE GASBOUS IMPURITIES OF STEEL WANTED. As scientific men, I ask you whether it would not be a good idea to make an exhaustive investigation of this sub- jest, and while we are about it make it equally exhaustive in regard to the gaseous impurities of steels made by the old processes. Would not an authoritative investigation of the subject be of tremendous interest and might not its results be of inestimable practical importance? Surely the desul- tory investigations that have been made of this subject for years past have been far from satisfactory and even the methods of determination of these elements are not above suspicion as to their accuracy. Moreover, the influence of the casting and subsequent heats has not been studied in its relation to the gaseous contents and mechanical properties. To my mind an isolated test or two of specimens of steel taken at random, said to be Bessemer, open hearth or cru- cible, is of no value whatever. The whole history of the process by which it was made must be recorded. Such an in- vestigation cannot be undertaken lightly; it will take years to complete; its outcome will be problematical, but is it not high time that it were begun? I have been pondering this subject in my mind for years and am trying to develop a plan to undertake it. It is such a stupendous task that it cannot be done at odd times or in a college laboratory. Sev- eral workers must give their undivided attention to it for years. Are we ready for it? Would this society support me in the organization and direction of such a work? It ought to be undertaken under works conditions where the materials can be watched from the beginning. As manager of a works where three distinct processes are in use—the basic open hearth, the crucible and the electric, I feel it a solemn duty to undertake it. But to return to electric steel. As regards quality, few who have studied the subject at first hand, or who have read the reports of the Canadian Commissioners, the investiga- tions that have been published by a score of metallurgists and by the inventors of these interesting processes, can en- tertain reasonable doubts that several electrical processes are capable or producing steel fully equal to that of the older processes. To be sure there are still those who believe that good tool steel can only be made by various blends of Swed- ish irons; who claim that the results of melting hammered Swedish bars are much superior to those obtained by melt- ing rolled bars of the same material; who talk wisely about “body ” in tool steel but who never define what “ body” is. They remind one of the student who, when called upon to define space, said: “I can’t exactly define space, professor, but I have it in my head.” Now, while it is true that there seems to be an intangible something about tool steels which is not revealed by the ordinary analysis, yet the weak point in this talk about “body” is that it seems invariably to be developed in an astonishing degree in the particular brand of steel which the spokesman is trying to sell you. To my mind “body” is more likely to represent the embodiment of the sum total of care used not only in the selection of raw materials, but also in the melting, cogging, rolling and annealing of the steel and in the selection of the right analysis for a given pur- pose.