The Iron Age 1916-07-27: Vol 98 Iss 4

New York, July 27, TABLISHED 1855 1916 VOL QO& Nx 4 Pacific Coast Steel Company’s Plants Open-Hearth Equipment and Bar and Structural Steel Rolling Mills at South San Francisco and Seattle ITH a steel-making capacity of over 125,000 W\ tons of ingots per year, and rolling mills at beth San Francisco and Seattle, Wash., the Pacific Coast Steel Company has made the steel- producing industry of the Western slope of the United States of considerable importance. Since the outbreak of the European war, it built the steel plant at Seattle, up to that time operating a bar iron rolling mill, and it has doubled the capacity of its San Francisco works, besides going into .the rolling of structural shapes in addition to merchant and reinforcing concrete bars. It has done a very considerable business At resent There Are Five Oil-Burning Open-Hearth Furnaces at the cent in sulphur, is the heat source for hearth furnaces. The San Francise« cisco, 9 miles south of the city on the wt «+ pla s at South San coast iine the Southern Pacific Railroad. It has now thre« 30-ton basic open-hearth furnaces and two of 40 tons capacity, and it is understood that contracts have already been closed for two 60-ton furnaces The plant was built in 1911 and the first steel was made Jan. 2, 1912. The charging floor of the open-hearth building is 30 ft. wide and the pouring aisle 45 ft. wide. The open-hearth charging machine was built by the gots in Groups is the Regular Practice with the Orient, particularly since the war, and has contributed largely to the development of concrete structures on the Coast. For raw materials Chinese pig iron has been used for some time, and the con- siderable quantity of old iron and steel collected OT n the Pacific Coast has, of course, been a factor. Prior to the war Scotch coke, running less than per cent in sulphur and 6 to 7 per cent ash, was rted, but for fuel, oil, running not over 1 per my sill} l ' ‘ ‘¢ : : ' : ot } t i \" Ph South San Francisco Plant and Bottom Pouring of |! Wellman-Seaver-Morgan Company, Cleveland, and ¢ 50-ton pouring ladles are used, handled by a 40-ton : i Niles electric crane and a 75-ton Morgan crane. j The smaller size ingots are commonly broken down > in a 22-in. mill, being discharged by means of a 4 hvdraulic mechanism to a reheating furnace, which is oil-burning, and which delivers upon the approach table of the 22-in. mill. For the larger ingots soak ing pits have been provided, and a 32-in. blooming 5 i 4 } i 4 N% Hi 4 oS ah RRR Rho age ev SN . 2 S parr ED Sate Si Eee FRM Marae dite Se Wie ee % IRON AGE MECHANICAL L PATTERN SHOP AND Se » DEPT = R Sh DOPING ICH 7S — — em — = —S!} — SN Shear Sear are 750 Hp Motor b \ COOLING BED ‘of > + 9 . : ~ \ Imster Conveyor 7 es: (a Not <i48 x : A= BY in <7 COOLING x | | Shear cures AS Licey 7 fable Y) Table | BED" Shears J —— , : ++ lop; 3 y =). Oe - 22°™ -_—- qe Motor —— ey 1 . re } \ [ 5 f furnace > \ % IFurnace * Borer | a 7 = N \ b R ROOM = Sear ° YARD = tor Jwiste COOLING BED Ps 5 1000 Ho \ * \ 5 _Gareror IN 8 a \ SOAKING ae £ OED Shears TANK . PITS ™ Table V4 Table PATTERN ~ NS 2 a = ey = == ne STORE HOUSE Inen Heart Furnoces } /5-Ton wer 7 FOUNDRY 7 iy Wy gk 4x Ys) Cupola ~ eee — _ 30-Ton ~ O-Tons Ladoran = - > n P/G ano SCRAP IRON YARD 7. a J ears | BRICK SHEDS ‘ — ; an on ae eS aa . General PI ind Charging Side of Open-Hearth Furnaces of South San Francisco Plant mill represents one of the late developments of the South San Francisco plant. The 22-in., the 18-in. and the 1l-in. mills are contained in a steel building 40 x 500 ft. in size. The 22-in. mill is a one-stand mill driven by an 800-hp. Corliss compound engine. Alongside of it is the 18-in. mill in two stands, also of three high rolls, and these three stands are commanded by a traveling tilting table. The 18-in. mill is designed to roll large angles, rounds, squares and flats, and the continuous furnace is 71 ft. long with a heat- ing capacity in 10 hr. of 250 ingots 10 in. square. The two stands of the 18-in. mill are driven from a 750-hp. Allis-Chalmers motor. Angles 6 x 4 in. and flats 1 in. thick are about the largest sizes rolled. The 11l-in. mill is in five stands, in the Belgian arrangement, motor driven with the roughing and first stand coupled to an 800-hp. Crocker-Wheeler motor and the remaining stands coupled to a 750-hp. Allis-Chalmers motor. A continuous furnace 41 ft. long supplies this mill. It is rated at 450,000 |b. of l-in. square bars in 9 hr., and the cooling bed is 200 ft. long. The 9-in. mill shown in the general plan of the South San Francisco works is of five stands and was built by the Lewis Foundry & Machine Com- pany. A 30-ft. four-door heating furnace is pro- vided and 120 ft. of cooling bed. This mill is driven by a 750-hp. Allis-Chalmers motor and is rated al 60,000 Ib. per turn. With the new blooming mill the plan is to roll steel beams and channels up to 15 in. in depth, and in general all types of beams and channels. In the smaller sizes of bars, the plant has, of course, spe- cialized for some time in corrugated square and round bars and in twisted square bars, largely for reinforced concrete construction. That there is 4 considerable demand for reinforced concrete work is indicated by some recent statistics. In 1914 100 rete bridges were built by the counties of Cali- ia against 10 bridges 10 years previous. The ent industries in California in 1891 produced e 5000 bbl., while in 1912 the production mounted 6.198,624 bbl. The works of the Seattle plant are located on a cre plat of Seattle tide land with a 500-ft. tage on the west waterway of Seattle harbor with switch spurs from the Northern Pacific, Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul, the Great thern and the Union Pacific railroads. The rks are located at what is known as the Youngs- n station of Seattle. As indicated by the accompanying plan, which ws also the equipment for making bar iron, the THE IRON L177 AGE plant has two 40-ton basic open-hearth furnaces, one 22-in. structural and billet mill, one 16-in. bar mill, one 16-in. muck bar mill, one 12-in. merchant mill, one 9-in. guide mill and one 14-in. merchant mill in the course of construction. The first mill at this site was built in 1904-5 but as a steel plant the first cast was made Sept. 30, 1915. The plant has an iron-bar mill which was formerly owned by the Seattle Steel Company, which operated it up to Jan. 1, 1912, and its conversion to an open-hearth plant was undertaken by the Pacific Coast Steel Company, which had also acquired the Irondale Works at Irondale, Wash., formerly owned by the Western Steel Corporation. From the Irondale plant some of the open-hearth equipment and the (ance STORAGE PATTERN MAIN p\ STORAGE PUING BENCHES asiinind or rice SHEMAS \ . } a = yw « mL SCALE OFF ‘ > ———————— ial £ > J ll a & BUSN FURAN ] j | | b 14 k 16° —uCK = — ———— 4 \WA\N* IS Ne lic eis SP ees Sorte | 16 incH ZZ - —1) CON TINUOS @ | / S i FT x SES ym “4 - A (| OS 6.88 -O2e— fe orn” 7 é S ) URN Hf i || “NGOT ano D CONRFUAN. Bo + 2 £\R 5"? , BSB Sa BILLET | —— aay ’ - 7 eT oat Tr => Z mt STORAGE a8, = « mae WML Yr ACH. * AAA i 5 CZ || YARD |g EFM en ey eSy Y| Swap | * eerzen : ie) = ? som - 3 E 3 PSs Gt I} @prmoron - JO Red BSI) a ewe i§ , Roe OL. anes R34 St R- OLL SHO! N =| Me: a’ 8 rs ’ Pad R ~*s ° ° Oo = 1] oP 66M. RSI ES 3 ‘$3 RS Sia © | deen | — L_JF S35 FS 3 Ry «(ges BLACKSMITH 8 | DA AZT Maitiy |) BY BESS SHOP ~~ -—- me tt tes SEY ER 3 td - { 7 J 4 BENDING _| DEPT. BRS RR ) | J DEPRATMENT P yd 2 \ ' sama) np 4 ; fp IPPING - 1 OFFICE h OPEN HEARTH STOCK YARD General Plan and Charging Side of Open-Hearth ee eae Furnaces of Youngstown Plant, Seattle, Wash e 22-in. mill were obtained. Besides merchant steel bars and structural shapes, the plant is capable of turning out T-rails up to 20 lb. per yard. The open-hearth building of the Seattle works is constructed of steel and reinforced concrete. The furnaces were designed by Alex Laughlin & Co., Pittsburgh, and they are served by a Shaw electric 60-ton ladle crane with 5-ton 50-ft. span auxiliary hoist and one 5-ton 50-ft. span Shaw electric crane operating on the same track for taking care of the ladle work and the pouring pits. The charging floor is equipped with a Wellman-Seaver-Morgan charging machine. The 22-in. structural mill is a three-stand three- high mill, rope driven from a 1200-hp. Allis-Chal- mers 3-phase, 2300-volt alternating-current motor operating at 440 r.p.m., 23%<-in. Jupiter ropes driv- ing the mill at 82 r.p.m. being used. A Laughlin design continuous furnace and an 8 x 8-in. Lewis Foundry & Machine Company’s shear for the hot 7 The Three Stands of the 22-In. Structural Mill at the Seattle Ke . ai billets are included in the equipment. The mill iN building is of structural steel and reinforced con- crete also, and is equipped with a 742-ton Shaw 80-ft. span electric crane. Parallel, with a 70-ft. span 742-ton Shaw crane with a lifting magnet, oa) is the mill billet yard; this second crane puts ingots & & into the 22-in. mill furnace and handles the billets coming from the mill. The 16-in. mill is a three-stand three-high bar mill operated from a 700-hp. Corliss engine and equipped with two heating furnaces, each with a 150-hp. Cooke waste heat boiler utilized to supply steam for operating the engine. The 9-in. guide mill is composed of three stands of three-high rolls and two stands of two-high rolls, belt-driven from a 300-hp. Corliss engine operating at 100 r.p.m., but driving the mill at 240 to 260 r.p.m. The heating furnaces for this mill have a 250-hp. Cooke waste heat boiler. The 16-in. muck bar mill comprises five stands of three-high rolls and is driven at 180 r.p.m. by an 800-hp. alternating-current motor from 16 strands of %-in. rope. One continuous heating fur- nace serves this mill, having a 150-hp. waste- heat boiler to operate steam pumps and auxiliary «machinery. aE SS > a a ery CE oe ae SRE RAS ese 2, ee rey, ae ps7, oaeneeasenmasmsanacty etait de othe iam CPT ly, aa 178 THE IRON AGE July 27, 1 Serving the entire length of the three mills scribed is a 5-ton, 60-ft. span Shaw electric used for changing rolls and handling all the y incidental. The roll turning shop is equipped \ three-roll turning lathes and the machine shop \ two engine lathes, two drilling machines, two s} ing machines and one planing machine. The bla. «- smith shop has four fires. There is a complet: laboratory included in the equipment of the p! and the yards are traversed by a Brown hois traveling yard crane with electric magnet handling scrap and other materials and two narrow- gage yard locomotives for hauling material to and from the open-hearth furnaces. The Pacific Coast Steel Company also owns works at Portland, Ore., for making bar and band iron, and has a 60 x 11-ft. blast furnace at Irondale. wnich has not been in operation for some time. Judge E. M. Wilson is president and treasurer of the company. D. P. Doak and William Pigott Works Are Rope Driven from a 1200-Hp. Motor Shown at Extreme Right are vice-presidents. Mr. Pigott is in charge of the Seattle plant, with T. S. Clingan general manager at Seattle, and George W. Foraker general superin- tendent at Seattle. W. S. Burt is secretary of the company and located at Seattle. E. S. Houdlette is auditor and assistant secretary at the headquarters, in the Rialto Building, San Francisco, and some of the other officials are J. C. Wallace, Jr, purchasing agent; John B. Leonard, district general sales man- ager; D. E. McLaughlin, southern general sales manager at Los Angeles, and 8. S. Lawrence, form- erly with the Pennsylvania Steel Company, foreign general sales manager. The Laursen Automatic Pump Company, Menom- onie, Wis., manufacturing pumping engines for mining, irrigation, drainage, etc., has reorganized, following the resignation of L. A. Laursen,.president and chief engi- neer. The new officers are: President, C. A. Straubel, Green Bay, Wis.; vice-president, J. R. Myers, Green Say; secretary, W. J. Eberwein, Menomonie, Wis.; treasurer, A. J. Edminister, Holcomb, Wis. The com- pany recently moved from leased quarters at Chippew? Falls, Wis., to a plant purchased at Menomonie. The new quarters were inadequate, and a branch factory was established at Green Bay. Both plants are now running at full capacity. oO oa 27, 191 Heavy-Duty Single-Pulley Drive Lathes new line of heavy-duty, single-pulley drive, ared head, quick change gear, engine lathes ng brought out by the Cleveland Machinery ly Company, Cleveland. The machine that is rated is the 20-in. size, but it will also be built 22 24, 26, 28, 30, 32 and 34 in. swings, in Heavy-Duty Single-Pulley Drive Lathe for Automo- bile and Forge Shops length of bed required. This lathe is of heavy nstruction, being designed for all classes of heavy vork and is claimed to be particularly well adapted for automobile and forge shops. The bed is un- isually wide and heavy and is of the box-section type. It has a large compensating V in front and a flat way in the rear. The headstock is of improved geared construc- tion, having a single-pulley drive with nine mechan- ical speed changes operated by two levers. All gears are of steel. The single pulley is equipped with a powerful friction clutch operated from the front of the machine either at the headstock or apron as may be desired. The bearings, including those for the spindle, are bronze bushed and the spindle s provided with a ball thrust bearing with lock nut idjusted for wear. The carriage has an exceptionally long bearing the shears, is equipped with a wide compound ‘est bridge and is gibbed both in the front and j ack. It also has a solid bearing on the bed through- it its entire length. The cross-slide and compound rest are provided with taper gibs for taking up the vear. Both the front and back wings of the car- lage are provided with felt wipers to protect the V’s. The apron is of the heavy box type and has steel gears throughout. The bearings are bronze ushed. The bearings in the back wall of the apron are all oiled from one oil reservoir which is reached from the top of the carriage. Only one friction is used for operating both the ongitudinal and the power cross feeds. Automatic stops and reverse for the feeds are furnished. The apron is equipped with a safety device which pre- vents the engaging of the half nut without first throwing the feed lever in the central position. The perator is, therefore, unable to engage both the screw and rod feeds at the same time. The quick hange gear box is of the cone type construction and provides for a wide feed and thread range. It is equipped with steel gears and the bearings are ronze bushed. The driving mechanism for the lead rew and feed rod is arranged so that both cannot evolved at the same time, thereby doing away any unnecessary wear on the lead screw when chine is used only for turning. he lathe in any of its sizes will be furnished ped with any attachments required, such as attachment, four tool turret tool post, hexagon carriage turret and power feed bed THE IRON AGE 179 turret. It will also be furnished for motor drive with either direct or alternating current. The mo- tor drive will be provided either with direct gear or silent chain drive as desired. Reverse to the spindle will be supplied either for belt drive or motor drive. New Device to Premelt Ferroalloys What is claimed to be an improvement in open- hearth furnaces is covered by a patent (U. S. 1,188,- 867, June 27, 1916) granted to Bradley P. Wheeler of Duluth, Minn., with one-half assigned to Thomas S. Blair, Jr., of Chicago. It comprises a melting compartment, built as an extension to the back wall of the furnace, in which ferromanganese and other final additions are melted by the heat of the furnace. The illustration shows the design in which a is the back wall of a furnace of which b is the hearth, with cross-section from front to back. Against the back wall and preferably adjacent to the tap hole is the chamber c¢ open to the interior of the furnace. It has a melting hearth, d, and a tap hole, e, and is closed by a door, f. The finals, such as ferromanga- nese, ferrosilicon, spiegeleisen, ferrochrome, etc., are WZ 7. e Wy ‘ MW | | = Missin | — 1: LE yy yy RSs Yj Y Ly CU SS ttt Mitt Ce lll Vt CEL to OK Dn QIK iMwiffMw GZ Cross-Section, Front to Back, of an Open-Hearth Furnace, Showing the Additional Chamber for Premelting Ferroalloys charged through this door and are melted by the heat of the furnace. They are tapped and added to the heat as needed, doing away with any special melting or delay caused by their preparation. The Sullivan Machinery Company, 122 South Mich igan Avenue, Chicago, and Salisbury House, London, England, has established an agency in Holland with Petrie & Co., Heerengracht, 141-145 Amsterdam, as its special representatives. Petrie & Co. will sell the Sul livan air compressors, rock drills, hammer drills, dia mond core drills, quarrying and coal mining machinery in the Netherlands. This new arrangement replaces the Sullivan Machinery Company agency previously at the Hague. ee eo alegre she oe 5 Detecting Alumina Inclusions in Stee An Investigation as to Their Occurrence and Appearance—Distinguishable Under the Microscope from Other Impurities BY ALBERT comprise silicates, chiefly of manganese and of iron (frequently called slag), and manganese sulphide (often associated with iron sulphide). The use of titanium as a deoxidizer may introduce some titanium nitride inclusions, while the use of aluminum for the same purpose may result in the formation of alumina inclusions through the oxida- tion of some of the aluminum. The present investigation was undertaken for the purpose of ascertaining whether the occurrence of alumina inclusions in steel could be detected lL ,CLUSIONS in steel, as commonly described, SAUVEUR* The too plentiful use of Al in steel may hay condemned, partly at least, because it forms oxi silicates in the metal, which, being insoluble and fusible, exist in the solid steel as very harmfu! sonims, Of course, to form the oxide there must still be som oxide of iron or manganese in the steel. If the meta were free from O perhaps the weakening effect of A\, when added in greater quantity than a few hundredths of 1 per cent, would not occur. So a part of the A) added in the ladle would form sonims which might be fluxed and floated out, while that added in the molds, if the steel were free from O, would not be oxidized but would all be left to exercise its full effect in pre- venting the formation of gas bub- bles and the resulting blowholes in the steel. GEORGE F. COMSTOCK ON ALUMINA IN STEEL In an article entitled “A Study of Alumina in Steel,” published in Metallurgical and Chemical Engineering for Dec. 1, 1915, George F. Comstock, metallur- gist, Titanium Alloy Mfg. Com- pany, Niagara Falls, N. Y., des- cribes the occurrence and ap- pearance of alumina inclusions *n steel as follows: These inclusions are in _ the Fig. 1 is a Photomicrograph of the Longitudinal Section of a Bar, Forged from a form of small rounded spots, ar- Steel Ingot to Which 0.144 Per Cent Aluminum Was Added. 9 Fig. 2 is a Photo- . ; > micrograph of the Polished Unetched Surface of the Longitudinal Section of a ranged close together im one Forged Bar of Thermit Iron Treated with Alumina. Both have been reduced about elongated streak. They are of a one-fourth from an original magnification of 300 diameters under the microscope and of studying the character- istics by which these inclusions can be distin- guished from other inclusions. PAST LITERATURE Barring one or two unimportant exceptions, I am unable to find in the literature dealing with inclusions any reference to the occurrence of alumina antedating the article presently to be referred to. Previous to this, alumina had not gen- erally been considered as a distinct, or, at least, as a distinguishable inclusion. Referring to the use of aluminum as a deoxid- izer, however, and to the resulting formation of alumina, Walter Rosenheim, in his book, “An Introduction to the Study of Physical Metallurgy,” writes: A more powerful deoxidizing agent than manga- nese is furnished by aluminum, but this differs from manganese in two vitally important respects. In the first place, the oxidation product of aluminum is a particularly refractory substance—alumina—which has a strong tendency to remain in the molten metal in suspension as fine particles. In a paper before the American Institute of Mining Engineers, entitled “The Solid Non-Metallic Impurities in Steel,” Henry D. Hibbard writes: If other elements have been added, such as Al, W Cr, Ti or Va, their oxides and silicates may be present. *From a report by the author, who is professor of metal- Jurgy in Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass very dark bluish-gray color, when examined with the white light of an electric arc, appearing black unless highly magni- fied, and it is practically impossible to polish them without forming little pits around each inclusion. If the polishing is done very carefully, these pits may be kept very small’; but with certain methods of polish- ing, the pits are made so large that the original in- clusions cannot be seen at all. hi oe ; If the specimen is not rotated constantly during the final polishing, the pits take the form of short scratches, and each inclusion will have a littl tail, like a comet. It will be noticed in Fig. 1 that although this shows a longitudinal view of a bar, the individual inclusions have not been elongated by the forging at all, but merely the group as a whole has been drawn out into a streak. ‘ The difference between inclusions of alumina and ordinary slag or silicates in steel may then be sum- marized as follows: (1) Silicate inclusions will generally take a fair!) smooth polish in a section prepared for microscopic examination, while alumina is very hard to polish without pitting. (2) Silicate inclusions are always elongated in the direction of rolling or forging, whil alumina particles are not (the groups of particles are, of course, elongated but not the particles themselves) (3) Silicate inclusions are often found of quite large size (as well as very small), while particles of alumina are always small, and do not seem to coalesce into large bodies even when closely grouped together. These char- acteristics of alumina inclusions agree with what is known of the properties of alumina. Its great hard- ness and brittleness would account for the pitting © fect; its infusibility would account for the small siz of the particles and the tendency not to coalesce; ané both of these properties together would account fo! 180 J 7, 1916 cles not being elongated by forging or rolling eel in which they were embedded. amples in which more than the merest trace na was found by analysis were seen to con- typical inclusions as described above, and which alumina was not found by analysis, did tain these inclusions. Furthermore, those in ore alumina was found by analysis contained these inclusions than those in which only a ttle was found. These facts have been con- as a good confirmation of the theory that the small inclusions, as described above, found in y commercial steels, are chiefly, if not wholly, THE PRESENT INVESTIGATION a preliminary step I took photomicrographs nagnification of 300 diameters of five samples that Mr. Comstock used in his work, and a com- parison of these photomicrographs with those taken hy him showed that both sets were very similar ind that they confirmed his description of the appearance of the inclusions. In Fig. 1 is shown, under a magnification of 300 diameters the appearance of the longitudinal section of a bar forged from a_ steel ingot to which 0.144 per cent aluminum had been added during the teem- ing from the ladle to the molds. The steel was made at the Water- town Arsenal, Watertown, Mass., in a Tropenas converter. Both ferromanganese and ferrosilicon were used in recarburizing and deoxidizing. The inclusions shown in the photomicrograph present the characteristics des- cribed by Mr. Comstock as per- taining to alumina inclusions, namely, small dimensions of the THE IRON AGE 181 whatever of these inclusions having been elongated by the forging. Although they do not occur in clusters or in strings, they present the chief fea- tures described by Mr. Comstock as characteristic of alumina inclusions, the most significant of which is the absence of elongation in the direction of the forging. INGOT IRON MELTED WITH ALUMINUM AND ALUMINA A small amount of ingot iron was melted in an alundum crucible with the addition of aluminum. The expectation was that enough oxygen would be present to cause the oxidation of some aluminum and, therefore, the occurrence of alumina inclusions to the exclusion of all other inclusions. The result- ing mass was forged into a bar measuring about 4 x % in. in cross section. A longitudinal section of the bar was polished and photographed under a magnification of 300 diameters. The presence of a number of small dark particles was clearly revealed (Fig. 3). They exhibit the characteristics pre- viously described as pertaining to alumina inclu- individual particles, dark colora- Fig. 3 is a Photomicrograph of the Longitudinal Section of a Bar Forged from ion. stri i ; i. Ingot Iron Treated with Aluminum. Fig. 4 is the Same from Ingot Iron Treated tion, string formation in the di with Alumina. Both have been reduced about one-fourth from an original mag- rection of the forging but non- elongation of the particles them- seives. Attempts were made as follows to produce molten iron under such conditions as to preclude the occurrence in the solidified metal of any inclu- sions but alumina: Thermit iron produced with an excess of minum. 2. Ingot iron melted with aluminum. Ingot iron melted with alumina. The results obtained are briefly described as OWS: THERMIT IRON A small mass of thermit iron was produced in isual way in a graphite crucible with the addi- n of a small amount of finely powdered aluminum he thermit mixture as commercially supplied. small ingot was forged into a bar about 4% x 4 ross section. lt is believed that the thermit mixture prac- lly consists of pure iron oxide and pure alumi- and that any inclusions present must of neces- e alumina resulting from the oxidation of me aluminum. A longitudinal section of the forged bar was Prepared for microscopical examination and the Polished but uneteched surface photographed under 4 magnification of 300 diameters (Fig. 2). It will ‘e seen to contain many small, dark and roughly inded particles scattered through the iron. It also be noted that there is no indication ry r qn nification of 300 diameters sions, being small in size, dark in color, and non- elongated in the direction of the forging. Some ingot iron was melted in an alundum cru- cible with finely powdered alumina. It was assumed that while most of the alumina might float to the top of the molten bath, some of the finest particles at least would be retained in the solified metal as alumina inclusions. The small ingot was forged into a bar 4% x ™% in. in cross section, and the appearance of a longitudinal section polished and magnified 300 diameters is shown in Fig. 4. Here again we note the occurrence of small dark inclu- sions scattered through the mass and devoid of any tendency to elongate in the direction of the forging. CONCLUSIONS From the results published by Mr. Comstock and confirmed by my examination of some of his samples, and from the results obtained in my own experiments as reported in the foregoing pages, it seems justifiable to conclude that alumina inclu- sions may be distinguished under the microscope from the other inclusions generally occurring in steel, being characterized by their small size, their dark coloration and more especially by a complete absence of elongation in the direction of the rolling or forging. About 600,000 automobiles were built in the United States in the year ended June 30, 1915, as compared with 445,000 on the preceding year. The output for the year ended June 30, 1916, is estimated at 900,000. Dh ee gues =P a is Pian Ler were ee re ot a Sai nar et Vale Ae bape ler 2 bald) sy 182 THE IRON AGE July 27. i916 ACID RESISTING ALLOYS* Composition and Properties of Duriron, Tantiron and Others—Substitutes for Stoneware BY W. C. CARNELL For many years various metals and alloys have been offered for which more or less acid resisting properties were claimed. They had their uses but as complete acid resisting materials they were not successful. With the advent of fused silica a decided advance was made, and it successfully replaced platinum in a number of processes. FUSED SILICA, FERALUN AND FERROCHROME In 1911 a basin of fused silica was tried out at the factory with which the writer was connected; so successful were the results that a 10-ton cascade con- centrating plant for sulphuric acid was erected to re- place a platinum outfit. The results were all that could be desired. The acid made was even better than that made in platinum. Fused silica is brittle and costly and must be handled with as much care as glass. In 1913 a material under the trade name of Feralun was tried out. This was a mixture of cast iron and an abrasive, the abrasive being an alloy of aluminum and silicon. The surface of the iron was covered with the abrasive. The abrasive was acid resisting, but the acid soon destroyed the iron, leaving a porous mass. We, however, found Feralun useful for nipples on acid tank cars. Fused silicon has acid resisting properties that are all that could be desired for sulphuric acid, but it is more brittle than fused silica, and its use has not been very extensive. Ferrochrome is a very promising prod- uct. Glacial acetic acid does not attack it; 56 and 28 per cent acetic acid attacks it slightly. Strong and weak nitric and sulphuric acids have practically no effect on the alloy. Hydrochloric acid attacks it read- ily. The experiments were carried out in a bowl 18 in. in diameter and 6 in. deep. SILICON-IRON ALLOYS The materials thus far mentioned are valuable for specific purposes. The real dawn of acid resisting alloy came with the use of silicon-iron alloys. The beginning of the use of these alloys was about six years ago. The first advertisement the writer observed of this alloy was in the Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry, Jan. 15, 1912. This was a silicon- iron alloy, Tantiron, introduced by the Lennox Foundry Company, Ltd., of London, England. In May, 1912, after a year of experimenting, the first silicon-iron alloy in the United States was put on the market under the name of Duriron, by the Duriron Casting Company of Dayton, Ohio. Ironac is another trade name for a silicon-iron alloy made by the Houghton Company, Ltd., of London, England. While these are all alloys of iron and silicon, their composi- tion is not the same. Silicon-iron alloys, as put out under the above names, are very resisting to all strengths of sulphuric acid, and apparatus made of this alloy is used in all forms of concentrating vessels and cooling devices for the con- centration of this acid. By the use of the so-called cascade basins, set in a proper furnace, full strength oil of vitriol is made from 50 deg. acid. If all the fittings and coolers are made from this alloy the re- sulting oil of vitriol is practically free of iron after the plant has been in operation a few weeks. Where brimstone acid is used the resulting oil of vitriol should not contain over 0.0002 per cent iron. For sulphuric acid concentration, the alloy is durable and the break- age is very small. A plant properly handled will run for months without a shut down. The success of the modern tower system for concentrating sulphuric acid has been due largely to the use of pipes and fittings made of this alloy. *From a paper read before the eighth semi-annual meeting of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers at Cleveland, Ohio, June 16. Mr. Carnell is with Harrison Brothers Com- pany, Philadelphia, Pa. AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR STONEWARE Silicon-iron alloy castings have extensively stoneware parts for the manufacture of nit d Early in 1915 the demand for nitric acid increaseq ;, enormous proportions; extensions to old nit) plants and the erection of new and larger plants acid was immediately demanded. The capacities of the sic ian factories of the country were soon taxed to th: limit. Deliveries could not be made under six months, jf a all; had the production of nitric acid been dependen; upon stoneware as it was a few years ago, the prodye. tion of nitric acid would have been greatly curtailed and the story of the great war would probably different. The silicon-iron alloy is resistant to nitric acid of various strengths. It can be cast into all the various forms required for nitric acid apparatus. Castings can be made as readily and as quickly as can those made of cast iron. Here was the ideal substitute for stoneware. Necessity compelled its use and to-day jt has largely superseded stoneware for nitric acid pro. duction. de DURIRON IN A NITRIC ACID PLANT A large nitric acid plant equipped entirely with this alloy in the form of Duriron was in service for eight months; the alloy showed no indications of corrosion or deterioration. There was practically no breakage. Fire destroyed the building housing of the plant and most of the supports for the apparatus. It did not harm the castings, though they were exposed to in- tense heat, and 80 per cent were recovered, put into service and are in use at the present time. Ninety per cent nitric acid, made in a plant equipped with Duriron castings showed an average iron content of 0.0014 per cent iron, while 36 deg. nitric acid (52.30 per cent) showed 0.0042 per cent iron. The silicon-iron alloy was developed to resist acid. It not only resists acid, but it is resistant to corro- sion and to rust. Ground surfaces, representing the true alloy, are practically immune from rust. The rough casting may show some rust on exposure, but this is due to impurities in the surface, caused by contact of the alloy with the molding sand; this is a surface rust only and will not penetrate. The alloy is also heat resisting, when made of suitable design. The walls must not be too thick for very high tem- peratures. Castings do not distort on heating, but hold their form up to the melting point. The con- position properties of Duriron are as follows: Silicon bs Vk «Rhee wee OO 14.00 to 14.50 per cent Oe. coca cede ee 0.25 to 0.35 percent Tes GOON iis ds sae douse ae 0.20 to 0.60 per cent PR « 2086.c0 eee ome 0.16 to 0.20 per cent NE Se ne eS Shad Geis Under 0.05 per cent Dueten WON i okie ies .2500 to 2550 deg. Fahr Specific gravity...... eee 7.00 Compression strength.......... 70,000 Ib. per sq. in Tensile strength. ...25 per cent less than cast iron A bar of Duriron was compared with a bar of equal size of the best grade of chemical pottery, under equal conditions, the earthenware test bar broke so quickly that the testing machine gage did not record any pres- sure. The Duriron bar broke under a load of 100) lb. By using a suspended vessel on an earthenware bar and gradually loading it with small pieces of mete! and sand, a breaking test of 100 lb. was obtained for the earthenware bar. TANTIRON AND ITS PROPERTIES Tantiron was first produced by Robert W. Lennox of the Lennox Foundry Company of London, England, about 1908. In 1913 the rights for the use of this alloy in the United States, Canada and Mexico were 4 quired by the Bethlehem Foundry & Machine Company of South Bethlehem, Pa. An approximate analys!s of the properties of Tantiron is as follows: PE bs weed ees Re AE 14.00 to 15.00 per cent Sulphur sh im ed dn ne. eearaac ae 0.05 to 0.15 per cent Phosphorus ei ED ee 0.05 to 0.10 per cent SND ig s,s cae eee 2.00 to 2.50 per cent Carpan Carantite) <2. ..0c<ssiet 0.75 to 1.25 per cent Melting point about ........... MPOCIIS -BEAVIEG . i. «44s cede ee : Tensile strength............... 6 to 7 tons per sq. 1? 2550 deg. Fahr. 6.5 July 27, 1916 eneral silicon-iron alloys cannot be cast in ar shapes or flat surfaces. The chemical should collaborate with the foundryman in lesign shapes which can be produced in the ind still serve the purpose of the operating required. illoy is not suitable for apparatus in which nal pressures are to be used unless it is pro- a protecting jacket. Forty to fifty pounds as the maximum pressure for an autoclave lantiron. CONCLUSIONS there is still opportunity for improvement » there is much more to be desired in an acid material out of which to construct apparatus acid industry, yet the silicon-iron alloy or s of iron, as it has been called, has proved a the acid industry, and without which many ould not have been accomplished. more efficient than stoneware. At best, chem- eware, if made properly, should take 10 to 12 r its production. Castings of this alloy can and delivered in the same time it takes to astings out of cast iron. limitation to castings of this alloy are shop indry limitations only. One company has a with a furnace capacity of 72 tons per day. thousands of tons of castings made of this re in use. It is finding its way into all branches ‘-hemical industry. Since its introduction new have been started which were im- e before because of lack of* suitable apparatus. Silicon-iron alloys are being improved rapidly and time does not seem far distant when all sorts of ssels will be made of this or a similar alloy that will give to the chemical industry the ideal non-corrosive material that may be fabricated into all the shapes to the needs of the industry. i processes pecullar Two-Speed Alternating-Current Elevator Motor \ car speed of 400 ft. per minute is made possible the use of a new alternating-current motor for ele- ervice that has been developed by the Westing- e Electric & Mfg. Company, East Tlittsburgh, Pa. rly the speed limit for this type of equipment 200 to 250 ft., it is explained, due to the fact that ngle-speed motor which was stopped by a mechan- brake had to be used. The special feature of the vo-speed motor is the employment of two sepa- windings in both the stator and the rotor. For a 24-pole connection is used which gives a peed of 250 r.p.m. As soon as this is reached nections are changed automatically to give eight ind the motor then comes up to a speed of ap- itely 850 r.p.m. slowing down the 24-pole connection is again ght into service and advantage is taken of the that an induction motor driven above synchronism a generator to produce an electrical braking that reduces the speed. The car is finally ght to rest by an electricaily-operated mechanical vhich is applied after the motor is disconnected e supply line. The controller used consists of er of magnetically-operated switches and relays the resistance out of the circuit automatically the line connections from one winding to the the proper time. tr D. Wileox Company, Mechanicsburg, Pa., turer of drop forgings, etc., at its recent an- eting elected officers as follows: President and manager, Frank E. Wilcox; vice-president, “amuel T., Houck; secretary and treasurer, Mervin E. ifacturers of Chattanooga, in an effort to cope labor shortage, have organized an employment Offices have been opened in the Manufacturers’ ‘*, 815 Broad Street, with A. D. Kirby in charge. THE IRON ~ ow AGE 1 Push-Button Controlled Polishing Lathe A new design of motor-driven polishing and buffing lathe has been added Machine Company, which is to the line built by the Gardne Beloit, Wis. This machine, several is provided with push- new built in sizes, button control and a fan is mounted on the arma ture shaft to supply forced ventilation for the driv ing motor, which is of the inclosed type. Special e1 frames containing the ball bearings” for the arma ture are used for the nating current motors are provide adjustable speed The push-button panel is cated on the front of the machine pedestal. ton at the right is used for i Either direct or and it for the wheels motors. alter used, is possible when desired conveniently lo The but starting and is sunk below control Coenen ee nee ~ i Motor-Driven Polis £ Buffing Lathe Equippe Push Button Control Panel Recessed to Prevent A lenta 7 Starting and a Fan Mounted on the Motor Armature to |} 7 vide Forced Vent ition for the Inclosed Dri gz Motor the face of the plate with a view to preventing unin tentional starting. A further precaution against ac dental closing of the circuit is supplied by a locking device provided for the stopping button at th left of the panel. Either alternating or rent motors and it speed of the machine spindle. simp‘ direct cur vary th adjustable ~~ ps aan is possible to When an are used speed drive is desired direct-current motors having speed range or operating at a constant rate are used, V a lever within the base being moved to the desired : rate. Pressing the starting button then causes the ' motor to come up to the speed at which the adjusting device in the base is set. With the alternating-current motor, it is not possible to ment, as only certain speeds are available. The motor used for driving the machine inclosed, an arrangement which is relied upon to make . 5% them both dust and dirt proof. A fan attached to the Hs / a f obtain as fine an adju is fu motor shaft inside of the cover draws air up fron the base on the right, forces it through the motor and ime down into the pedestal at the left. In this way it is 3 a emphasized a thorough circulation of air is obtained ee under normal operating conditions and the motor Wed prevented from overheating. +e 2 When it is desired to change the wheels a special te ‘ locking device is employed. This consists of a button a4 £ head pin acting over a coil spring. One of these de- vices is provided for each spindle, and in use they are % pushed down into one of the four holes which are ey ‘ placed at equal distances around the spindle collar. It ia is thus possible to lock either one or both spindles as ae may be desired. ‘ nF The Minneapolis Crucible Steel Company, Minne- 1 J upolis, has purchased a small Snyder electric furnace The Oxygen Content of lron and Steel’ Its Effect on Their Properties— The Johnson [ro ns Discussed—The Presence of Oxygen in Ingot Iron BY J. HE following report is a continuation of previous rT work on the same subject carried out by the author, and also jointly with F. M. Potter, and published in Carnegie Scholarship Memoirs, 1912, page 52, and Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute, 1914, No. II, page 181. The results already published refer almost entirely to open-hearth steel, and the present paper deals with other varieties of steel and with cast iron and wrought iron. OXYGEN IN BESSEMER STEEL The specimens examined were supplied through the courtesy of Samuel Fox & Co., Ltd., of Sheffield, and C. H. Ridsdale of Middlesbrough. The specimens were chosen as being representative of their class, and good, average quality material, so that the results may be taken as indicative of the amount of oxygen normally occurring in this class of steel. For convenience of reference the samples are arranged in the various tables in ascending carbon order. It is possible to notice in the Bessemer steels some correspondence between silicon and oxygen content, but the relation is too ill marked and irregular for much importance to be attached thereto. The very striking exception (No. 11) which has 0.015 oxygen with 0.255 Oxygen in Acid Bessemer Steel Man- ganese, Silicon, Per Cent Per Cent 0.61 0.066 0.85 0.080 0.90 0.098 0.83 0.048 1.07 0.060 1.01 0.082 0.85 0.090 Phos- Sulphur, phorus, Per Cent Per Cent 0.049 0.057 0.056 0.048 0.048 0.054 0.046 0.056 0.045 0.050 0.049 0.049 046 0.050 Carbon, Per Cent 0.42 0.45 0.49 0.51 Oxygen, Per Cent 0.014 0.017 0.014 0.018 0.007 0.014 0.006 013 No. 0 rygen in Basic 0.175 0.475 1.0 1.0 Bessemer S nil nil 0.085 0.055 0.055 0.06 0.06 077 ».031 010 015 0.09 0.475 0.49 ore U.200 ).0191 Omitting No. 8, which was not deoxidized. silicon strengthens a suggestion expressed in a paper that oxygen content is not dependent on the actual percentages of other elements present, but rather on details of procedure in manufacture. Thus it may well be that with a firm regularly making steel of one general composition and observing the same procedure from day to day, the oxygen may be found to vary inversely with the silicon content; while with another maker, steel of approximately the same analy- sis may contain quite a different amount of oxygen. If this opinion were ultimately substantiated, then the oxygen content of the finished metal would appear to be one trustworthy criterion of the excellence of the works practice. former CRUCIBLE STEEL The samples examined were supplied by Samuel Fox & Co. and Sir Robert Hadfield. Their analyses and oxygen contents are given in one of the tables. WROUGHT IRON Swedish wrought iron, purchased wrought iron of unknown make, and specimens of best Yorkshire iron were examined. The Swedish iron was in the form of a thin flat bar, and drillings were taken along the *From a paper which was granted a Carnegie Scholarship memoir by the Iron and Steel Institute in May, 1916. ALLEN PICKARD whole length. The purchased iron in the plates was drilled at various points in the The best Yorkshire iron was supplied as a rou and the samples for analysis were taken by mo in the lathe and turning off the end face completely from the circumference to the center and thoroughly mixing the turnings. The Yorkshire iron is loy in oxygen, the Swedish slightly higher, and the purchased samples very much higher. An interesting, and at first sight rather puzzling matter is the difference between the loss in weight the samples due to abstraction of the oxygen and t total loss in weight, which is especially noticeable the case of the Yorkshire iron. When a determina. tion of oxygen is made the difference in the weight of the sample before and after treatment is always determined, as a precaution which might serve to de- tect errors. For instance, if the total loss in weight of the sample were less than the percentage of oxygen found it would be evident that the latter must have been erroneous. In the case of steels it is found ij practically every case that the loss in weight, as would be expected, is slightly greater than the percentage of oxygen found, but not very much so. This might readily be explained by loss of moisture from the sur. face of the drillings in the first operation of the method of analysis, by loss of carbon, of sulphur, and perhaps nitrogen. It had been anticipated that in the case of wrought iron, in which there was no reason to expect that total loss in weight from these causes would be greater than in steel, the oxygen percentage would check fairly well with the loss, but this is not the case. The difference is explainable, however, even with the Yorkshire iron, on the assumption that oxygen is extracted in com bination with carbon; and determinations of carbon before and after the oxygen determination were made, with the result that about 80 per cent of the difference between oxygen percentage and total loss was found to be due to carbon. In both cases the difference between oxygen and loss is nearly the same for samples of the same material, although the oxygen percentage is not so: race, i Dar ¢ 7 ing + es h e in Differ- Carbon, Carbon ence, Before, After Per Per Per Cent Cent 0.055 0.054 0.107 0.098 Loss, Per Cent 0.565 0.657 0.268 0.208 Oxygen, Per Cent 0.510 0.603 0.161 0.110 Wrought Wrought Yorkshire Yorkshire 1 iron ) 2). ) ) iron iron Iron 2 0.122 This result is particularly interesting, since it sug- gests that oxygen is first eliminated from iron (and presumably also from steel) chiefly in the form of carbon monoxide produced by the initial action of car- bon on iron oxide, and that the water formed and weighed only results from the decomposition of this intermediate product, and not directly from the oxide itself. The possibility that all oxygen may be originally present as carbon monoxide is excluded by microscopi¢ evidence adduced by Law, by Matweieff and Steinberg. Law finds that oxide specks were visible under the microscope if the specimen had received a high polish and a magnification of 1000 diameters. When the polished specimen was heated in hydrogen, pits Te sulted which occupied a greater area than the original spots. The results of Matweieff are corroborative. Steinberg finds that open-hearth steel before deoxida- tion shows characteristic streaks and cracks in the ferrite crystals. ; These results show definitely that some oxygen '§ present as oxides of iron and manganese. Simple de- carburization owing to the heating in hydrogen, itt 184 7, 1916 THE IRON AGE 185 " oxygen in the metal, is excluded by the fact arburization does not take place to anything same degree with steel, which contains more but less oxygen; and also because the decar- in does not proceed beyond this limit if heating continued. ssing it may be remarked that this behavior corroborative evidence that the objection to hor’s method of estimation, based on the as- that carbon monoxide will not be extracted tee] except in a high vacuum, is quite unfounded. rable support is also given to the view, which idually been gaining weight, that carbon O gen in Acid Open-Hearth Steel Man- Phos- ganese, Silicon, Sulphur, phorus, Oxygen, Per Cent Per Cent Per Cent Per Cent Per Cent 0.73 0.95 0.035 0.027 0.004 0.65 0,21 0.030 0.050 0.021 0 6&8 0 085 0.031 0.027 0.007 0.62 0.024 0.033 0.022 0.014 0.65 0.056 0,027 0.02 006 0.140 O30 0.024 0.004 049 0.100 0.027 0.026 O01] Mean... 0.010 ) gen Basic Ope n-Hearth Steel 00 7 0 0.020 0.0 0O.O1LS of o.o4 E 0.0350 0.70 0.1 15 0.060 0.026 0.014 q 1120 +, O30 0.031 0 005 : 0.05 ‘ 029 0.62 0.1 15 0.051 0.020 } 0.62 0.1 15 0.057 0.02 0.0