The Iron Age 1920-02-12: Vol 105 Iss 7

Suan” New York, February 12, 1920 ESTABLISHED 1855 VOL. 105: No. 7 . - : » he tae. New Acid Steel Foundry at Alliance, Ohio Hot Water Conservation and Oven Car Bearings Among Interesting Fea- tures — Details of the Pouring Ladles N interesting example of modern type of steel A foundry designed for a wide range of work in castings from the smallest size up to 45 tons is found in the new plant of the Machined Steel Casting Co., Alliance, Ohio. This company was organized last June primarily to make castings for the Alliance Machine Co., with which it is closely affiliated, W. H. Purcell being president of both companies. The requirements of the latter company cover castings in a wide range of sizes for electric traveling cranes and other lines of equipment, in- Urerer Steeve, fire Cray Details of Nozzles, Stoppers and Sleeves for Pouring Ladles cluding rolling mill machinery, which the Alliance Mathine Co. has added to its line of products. The first heat in the foundry was poured late in December, and among the first castings that are being made are 32 housings for the mills for the new Niles, Ohio, plant of the Republic Iron & Steel Co. Each of these castings will weigh 34,000 Ib. The plant is designed for both floor and match- board work, although floor molds will predominate. In addition to supplying the Alliance Machine Co., the foundry will do a commercial business in steel castings of any required specifications. The foundry has one acid open-hearth furnaee rated at 25 tons but with a maximum capacity of 30 tons, and a second furnace of the same capacity is being installed. Both will be used when the largest castings are being made and for which the capacity of one furnace is not sufficient to supply the metal but ordinarily only one furnace will be operated, the other serving as a spare unit: Three or four heats will be run per day and the plant will have a normal capacity of 110 tons per. month, although it is / 1 | Borrom Steeve, fire Car 457 expected that this will be increased to 1200 tons when the castings are running unusually heavy. The plant is laid out for convenient and econom- ical operation and with a view of making extensions when required. A large amount of window surface provides good lighting, and both the heating and ventilation have been given attention in order to make the foundry as comfortable a place as possible in which to work. One of the interesting features of the foundry is that oil is used exclusively for fuel, the open-hearth and annealing furnaces, core 4; D-» 44,2- > 2> Nozzie e h/t» . ~ 4% ~ Srorren FOr ig |'2- [%q 2 Morzits Srorrses For 2-24-a3 Nozeces and mold drying ovens and the heating plant being oil fired. The foundry building is 400 ft. long and 72 ft. wide, and has a lean-to 30 ft. wide extending the entire length. The south end of the main building is used for molding work and the north end for the cleaning department. The east lean-to, which is not partitioned off and in reality forms an additional bay to the main building, is used for a sand mill room, core room, snap flask molding and for a cleaning room. The west lean-to is partitioned off from the main foundry floor and is divided up into rooms occupied by the pattern storage, pattern making and repair department, power plant, lockers and toilet rooms with showers, and the offices. This lean-to has a second floor covering the offices and several other sections, providing space for the stor- age of patterns. The main building is of steel construction with brick walls 5 ft. 6 in. high. Above these walls the sides are covered with corrugated iron and factory ribbed glass, the latter in steel sash. The roof is $k0 ie ' 7 Fy ; « t : $ 4 x j t 7 4 ‘7 4 sar MS ; = 2 * a Ra igh « 458 THE IRON AGE February 12, 1920 Specially of the monitor type, the monitor having sloping sides with swinging glass sections for ventilation. More light comes into the sloping windows of the monitor than would were the sides perpendicular, and it was for this reason that this design was adopted. The roof is of cement tile. The main building is 38 ft. in height to the roof trusses and 63 ft. to the peak of the roof. It is served by a 30-ton and a 15-ton Alliance electric traveling crane with a 75-ft. span in the main bay. Duplicates of these cranes will be installed. In the east lean-to there is a 5-ton crane. Supplementing the overhead cranes four jib cranes will be installed, two on each side of the building columns for handling flasks, molds, etc., and will be used largely on match-board work. These will have a 25-ft. radius and a capacity Le About 2*4.." > ath, L K + Cy SEE SMKERLZ 7 “Khikaks FTI Tr rrr se < KEKE IO rrr Sa ‘ \S >>, Designed Bearings Are Used on the Cars for the Mold Drying Ovens of 2'2 tons at the end of the boom and will be equipped with trolleys and air hoists. The open-hearth building is located at right angles to the foundry building at its south end and is of the same general design. It is 140 ft. long and 92 ft. wide. From this building a crane runway extends 150 ft. out over the stock yard for pig iron, scrap and sand. The open-hearth building and stock yard are served by a 15-ton crane with a 90-ft. span and equipped with a magnet. A receiving track runs through the stock yard and to the end of the open-hearth building and space is provided in this building for such raw material as is desired to place under cover. The open-hearth furnace is served by a 25-ton Alliance high type charging machine. The furnace Design of Stopper Arm and Grooved Glide. The stopper arm has a slot in which the stopper rod may be ad- justed to seat properly is at the side of the building with the pouring side at the end of the foundry so that the ladle when filled is picked up with one of the foundry cranes. A 25-ton ladle is used. Castings move in a straight line down through the cleaning department and are loaded on cars on a depressed shipping track that transverses the lower end of the foundry or are placed on trucks for haulage to the plant of the Alliance Machine Co. February 12, 1920 The arrangement of the plant is shown in the accompanying illustration which also shows proposed locations of additions both at one side and at the lower end. Space is provided in the open-hearth building for the installation of any additional fur- naces that may be required because of enlargement of the molding floor. As the company owns a 17-acre site there is sufficient room for growth as well as for the dumpage of refuse. Waste sand, slag, etc., are hauled to the dump with a gasoline tractor hav- ing a 1 cu. yd. dump body made by the Clark Trtc- tractor Co. An interesting method is employed in conserv- ing the water supply. The open-hearth furnace is equipped with water-cooled doors and door frames supplied by the Blaw-Knox Co. and the water from these doors and frames flows to a hot well located outside of the foundry near the power plant, its location being shown in the drawing. From this well it is pumped back to the furnace doors and frames, some water being added from the city mains to cool it sufficiently for re-use. Water used for cooling purposes in connection with the air com- pressor also runs into the hot well, to be used over again, and the water supply for the heating boiler is taken by the boiler feed pump from the hot well so that pre-heating of this water is not required and there is a saving in fuel. For annealing large castings a pit type of fur- nace is used, 25 ft. long, 15 ft. wide and 9 ft. deep. This furnace with a removeable top, similar to the top of a malleable iron furnace, permits the handling of heavy castings to and from the furnace with a traveling crane and does away with the need of charging cars so that nothing but the castings go into the furnace. A small hot bottom type of an- nealing furnace with a chamber 8 x 10 ft. is used for annealing small castings. There are two core ovens, one 15 ft. deep and 7 ft. 6 in. wide for large cores, and a small shelf- type quick-drying oven for small cores. As the small cores are left in the oven different lengths of time, depending on the size, the oven is not loaded at one time, but cores are placed on a shelf and left as long as needed, regardless of the charging of the other shelves. Cores for the large oven are loaded on a truck which is pushed in the oven by hand. There are two mold drying ovens which can also These are 30 ft. deep and be used for large cores. THE IRON AGE 459 pw ~ be The General Plan (Proposed Shows the Provisicn Addition) *' for Expansion and the — Water Conservation System - Mipbing Ti yw + 4 . re — Anneauiye | oe” Stach 40° Da O-S4“Mogh , “ge | ja Li . b a 4[ 9 Acerreeme locat#m dj Gevaneee Ane | MO DL Wocer, -“ a 7 i ; © 4 - = “4 } +. J? ari} yor --F “LN romee S38) | wu A-19 laa Se A ay ol 7 Pecone "ropesed New be — > p Oren foundry ard, lie | gy Core Burlaing bide , d jes . 3% & r siT C 4 4 et > hKinee S 9e5 i J\é Ms inl - - ot 7 ] w 2! Sam | EEL 2 LJ be - J -e ¥ ' ° - v 5 pee a ee ee ee \ ” “i Fe Se Proposed Add tron \ to Crane ~ usd Aurwey ee a ee a. OPEN HEARTH BUILDING > ipa = ; ain ee ee g- 2-8 Open Meer “ Stack 60° One. /28 high 20 ft. wide. Each of these ovens has two standd@rd- gage tracks, each track holding 3 cars, making the capacity of the oven 6 cars. These charging cars are of heavy steel construction 8 ft. long and 6 ft. wide and were built by the company. A special fea- ture is the car bearings. This consists of a cast- steel bracket with a bearing surface about 54 wide that rests on the axle. The bearing is attached to the side frame by two bolts on each side of the I beam used in making the side frame. The axle is a 3-in. shaft turned down 1/32 in. after the wheel is pressed on, to provide a smooth finish, and the inner side of the bracket in which the axle loosely turns is also finished to provide a smooth bearing surface. The advantage of this type of bearing is that there is no need of lubrication, which becomes Large Castings Are Cleaned in a Steel Sand Blast and Small Castings in a Sand Blast Tumbling Barrel, Shot Being Used in the Place of Sand for Cleaning ro veteein einai Bata : ® 4 f ae - Pape eS Dene +, Ee? Sey '- neh a i oh og Do Dl te SR art hn Aan ate — T ee ee eae ee ee Baca 4 ote z aw : _: _ 460 THE IRON AGE burned out in the oven. While not requiring this attention the bearing is greased occasionally. The oven equipment was furnished by the Ohio Body & Blower Co., Cleveland. For cleaning castings a steel sand blast house 12 x 12 ft. is provided for large castings and a 50 x 40 in. blast tumbling barrel for small castings. The two cleaning units are side by side and are connected to an exhaust system that discharges above the lean-to roof. Shot is used exclusively in place of sand for sand blasting. The sand blast outfit was supplied by the Pangborn Corporation. Oxy-acetylene torches are used for cutting off risers, gas being piped to the cleaning room from a generator house just outside the plant that is equipped with a Davis-Bournonville generator. The cleaning department is also provided with a 500- ampere Westinghouse are welding machine. An interesting feature of the plant is the ladle stopper rod operating mechanism, the details of which were worked out by W. E. Prump, first vice- president and general manager of the company, who has given this matter a great deal of study. The advantages claimed for the stopper rod arrange- ment and mechanism are its simplicity and ease of operation. The slide is of the groove type and with a slight pressure on the lever the stopper rod moves up and down very easily and it is stated that there is never any trouble caused by binding in the slide and guide. The stopper arm is designed with a slot in which the stopper rod fits, which permits a careful adjustment of the stopper rod when setting the stopper so that the latter will seat properly. The bottom sleeve fits over the stopper in such a manner that metal is prevented from working in between the sleeve and stopper and burning off the stopper rod pin, and the method of keying the stopper to the stopper rod has the advantage of simplicity. The bottom sleeve has considerable taper from the bottom to the top and the top sleeves are rather small in diameter. It is pointed out that this is possible with acid practice but with basic practice the sleeve should be 1 in. larger in diameter, which makes the bottom sleeve more nearly straight at the sides. After the stopper rod is set the nut at the top of the sleeves is backed off giving a 14-in. clearance to allow for the quicker expansion of the sleeves than of the stopper rod. Otherwise the stopper head might be broken off, with serious consequences. This has been adopted as standard ladle practice, after careful experiments. In these experiments it was found that an individual sleeve 9%% in. long ex- pands about 3/32 in. and the entire length of sleeve on the stopper rod, which is about 81 in., expands from 7% in. to 1 in. during the pouring of the heat. This maximum expansion of the sleeve is much faster than the expansion of the rod. The expan- sion of a stopper rod of the same length js about 11% in. on an average, and the maximum expansion is reached when the rod reaches a temperature of about 2000 deg. Fahr., which is about 45 min. after the heat is tapped. When making these experiments it was found that immediately after the heat was in the ladle, the sleeves took up the %-in. clearance and were practically tight against the nut and remained so for about 10 min. Then because of the expansion of the rod the clearance gradually increased so that 11 min. after this reading was taken there was 8/16-in. clearance, 12 minutes later there was 7/16-in. clearance and 8 min. later there was ¥2-in. clearance, which remained until the heat was com- pletely poured. February 12, 1920 Fuel oil is stored in two 50,000-gal. tanks. Two electrically driven pumps, each with a capacity of 2000 gal. per minute, are provided to pump the oil from the cars to the tanks and from the tanks to a stand pipe 10 in. in diameter and 50 ft. high, from which it is fed to the various consuming units. The foundry is provided with a fan heating system guaranteed to keep the temperature up to 50 deg. when it is zero outside. The air, heated by passing through coils of steam radiation, is forced into a 54-in. tile main that extends under the floor across the main building near the center, and from this main 36-in. distributing lines branch off pass- ing along the side walls on both sides of the build- ing. From these the hot air is discharged into a foundry through galvanized steel outlets, provided with dampers that are located 30 in. above the floor around the sides of the foundry. The heating sys- tem was installed by the Buffalo Forge Co. In the power plant, in addition to the heating system, are two 150-kw. rotary convertors, and an Ingersoll-Rand air compressor with a capacity of 1300 cu. ft. per min., which supplies air to the chip- ping hammers. The electrical current is supplied from a commercial circuit. Direct current is used for the cranes and grinding machines and alternat- ing current for the remainder of the machinery and lighting. The artificial lighting of the plant was given a great deal of attention. The lamps, which are of the Mazda type, are hung high under the roof trusses and are of various voltages and in different s!zes of reflectors and are arranged in staggered posi- tions. The lighting plans were prepared by the Western Electric Co., which installed the lighting equipment. The foundry is operated on two eight-hour shifts in the molding and core-making departments from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p. m. and from 3:30 to 11:30 p. m., with 30 min. for lunch. A gang is employed from midnight until morning shaking out the molds and getting the foundry floor in shape for the morning work. Other parts of the foundry are operated on a single nine-hour shift. Outlook for Motor Industry An interesting prediction as to the outlook in the automobile industry made by President Christian Girl, of the Standard Parts Co., Cleveland, is contained in the last issue of The Standard Parts Messenger, pub- lished by that company. In this Mr. Girl says: “In my opinion the demand for cars this year will far exceed the demand in 1919 and should run from 3,000,000 to 3,500,000 cars, inciuding trucks. Produc- tion will be nowhere equal to the.demand, and if it should run at the rate of 2,250,000 cars for the year, it is possibly all that can be expected. Cars are being designed better than formerly and lasting longer. Re- placement business will not amount to as much in pro- portion in the future as in the past, but this is in the tendency to greater economy in the entire industry, and in the use of automobiles, and should be a benefit rather than a detriment. “In my opinion, it will be impossible for supp!y to overtake demand within the next three years, after which the rehabilitation of other portions of the world and demand from them upon us for motor car means of transportation will be sufficient to afford an excel- lent market for our product for many years to come.” The meeting of the National Crane Builders’ Asso- ciation, at the Hotel Astor, New York, Feb. 6, was ad- journed until the first week in March, owing to the weather that prevented many from attending and the illness of some of the officers of the association. The next meeting will probably be called in either Cleve- land or Chicago. Blast Furnace Plant Built in One Year Weirton Stack with Co Full Provisions for F stitutes First of a Serfes of Improveme within one year constitutes an enviable record in it- self, but the fact that plans were started less than four weeks before the excavation work was begun adds emphasis to the performance of the engineers in charge of design and construction. The furnace in question is the first to be built for the Weirton Steel Co., Weirton, W. Va., and was blown in July 21, 1919, following a construction period of 364 days, ground having been broken July 22, 1918. The site of the plant adjoins the Chester branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad, near the main line between Pittsburgh and Steubenville. The Ohio River forms the northern boundary of the plant, the general yard level being 88 ft. above water level. The problem presented to the designers was com- plicated by the fact that the plans had to be drawn not only in conformance with the maximum economy in the arrangement of the original units but with due regard to expansion of this first unit, without any interruption in operations, into a plant of three furnaces; also the requirement that all steam and power generation and pumping facilities for the entire furnace and steel plant, exclusive of open hearth waste heat boilers, be concentrated at the blast furnace blowing room or power house. An additional factor which had to be taken in account was that during the first 12 to 18 months of blast, pending the completion of the open [wi construction of a complete blast furnace plant lete Equipment and re Additions Con-: hearth and steel works, the plant would have to be utilized as a merchant furnace, after which it would revert to an operation tied in with by-product coke ovens and the exigencies of modern steel plant practice. ; No. 1 furnace is 92 ft. x 22 ft. 6 in., and the capac- ity from tap hole to bottom of bell is 25,500 cu. ft. The lining is heavier at the bottom thus to afford maximum thickness where required and to give moderate thick- ness where extessive depth of lining is detrimental. No interior water cooling is given the lining above the mantle but a permanent pipe spray ‘with connection is affixed to the shell. Six rows of bosh plates are placed in the bosh wall; the tuyere breast is eooled by’ two plates between and flush with the top of the cooler arches, one plate between the cooler arches, and two rows of plates beneath the cooler arches. The hearth . o walls are cooled by the cast-in cooling pipe of the hearth jacket. The stock line is afforded protection by _ a cast-iron wearing plates of high combined carbon con- . tent. These plates are laid ‘integral with the lining ; 2 and are of small surface dimension in each unit. The F, lining is made up of General Refractories Olive Hill *, brick. : The iron and steel work of the furnace consists of a heavy continuous cast-iron sub-base, with heavy ; anchor bolts from the iron sub-base to the concrete foundation. The concrete foundation for the column base is reinforced by tension bands which encircle it tN a raw Daag peer ee eee ; : ? i t = ; -— 5 The Accompanying Plan of the Weirton Steel Co.’s Blast Furnace Does Not at ? 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This is to allow room for work about tuyeres and plates, to place the columns at a more remote loca- tion from a possible breakout, and to afford possibility of enlargement. The bustle pipe, circle pipe and trough are hung from the top segment of the columns by riveted or cast-on saddles. This arrangement, together with special de- sign of circle pipe inlets and trough overflows, allows room for a walk on the bustle pipe, thus giving access to three-way cock and water discharges entirely free from suspension strap or pipe interferences. The hearth jacket is of cast-iron segments, 16 in all with pipe cast in, and is heavily wedge-banded and bolted. Taper construction is used to maintain a safe thickness of hearth wall against erosion and to main- tain ample brick at the bottom to prevent short holes. The tuyere breast is of butt strap-plate armored con- struction, with 10 cast-steel tuyere cooler frames. The bosh is reinforced with heavy steel butt strap bands, the bands being held by cast-steel distance pieces to prevent slipping. The mantle is of built-up plate and angle construction and is provided with a trough with drainage connections for collecting shell spray water. The furnace shell is of butt-strap construction on both the top and two bottom rings. Intermediate rings are of double and triple-riveted construction. The shell is surmounted by a Kennedy-type dome of heavy con- struction, integral with the shell. The furnace top is of the stationary double bell-type Brassert design. The large bell is hung by Ives’ bell suspension. The top is laid out with particular reference to an abrupt and cor- rect assumption of the dumping position by the skip, the high dumping speed of the skip, adjustable skip lip and deflector plate, adjustable centering of hopper and bells, and with volumetric proportions of throat and hopper areas of bells worked out by combined ex- perimental layouts and practice results. The gas is taken off by four off-takes from an an- nular gas space about the big bell hopper, which both reduces the average gas velocity and eliminates segre- gated velocity areas above the stock and past the bell lip, which reduces the production of flue dust. These off-takes combine into four up-takes, two of which are surmounted by Baer safety valves. The up-takes lead into four downtakes, each two combined into one down- comer. The two downcomers enter the dust catcher radially. The gas leaves the dust catcher at the top, where there is provided a gas bleeder valve, and passes to a Brassert-Witting tangential whirler. From the whirler the gas is passed through a Brassert washer with a vertical water seal separator, and thence to the stoves and boilers. A by-pass is provided so that gas from the whirler may be sent direct to the boilers rough-cleaned—the gas for the stoves only being passed through the washer or so that in necessity rough-cleaned gas may be sent to both stoves and boilers. Water seals are provided so that the stoves or boilers may be singly or com- binedly shut off from the entire cleaning system or furnace at cast or shut-down, and so that the wet clean- ing may be isolated from the dry cleaning system whenever desired or necessary. The water seal valves are all supplemented with goggle valves. Bleeders are provided at the extreme ends of both boiler and stove gas mains. The washer is of the improved Brassert construc- tion. Briefly, it embodies the principle of two-stage scrubbing, combining a first cleaning stage to eliminate the rougher and heavier portion of the dust and to effect cooling, followed by a second stage in the same tower to eliminate fine dust and fumes. The gas en- tering at the bottom is distributed by a perforated in- verted frustrated cone, and passes through three banks of superimposed offset baffles. All water is introduced at the top baffles in the form of a heavy spray, the arrangement of nozzles and sprays being such that gas AGE February 12, 1920 and spray are churned into intimate contact. The spray coa‘esces into rain in the baffle chambers and falls through the tower, its descent being impeded and distributed by the lower hurdles. A pronounced in- crease in the retention period of water in the scrubber and a consequent economy in water and the cleanliness of the gas are effected. A special characteristic of the washer is its ability to handle heavily dust laden gas from rough working or slipping furnaces. The water seal separator is a receiver that gives the gas three alternations of accel- eration and retardation in velocity, in combination with a simultaneous reversal of direction of flow. It is used both to remove entrained water carried by gas from the washer and as a water seal after the washer. Long experience with this type of ceaner is stated to have demonstrated a reliability, utility and dependability which more ‘than compensate in practical operating practice for the actual loss of four per cent in heat abstracted from the gas. The Dougherty system of steam for the prevention of gas explosion is used on the gas main system. The stoves are three in number, 22 ft. x 100 ft., with a total heating surface of 285,000 sq. ft. They are of the two-pass side-combustion type, having checker openings 3% in. square. The checkers, arch and draft chamber design follow the Brassert-Jones construction. This design equalizes the flow of ascend- ing gas and descending air through the checker open- ings, and overcomes the usual tendencies towards seg- regation or selective draft areas in the checker open- ing area with resultant hot and cold idle checker seg- ments. This stove equipment, due to its relatively high heat transfer rate and low radiation lass, provides blast heat and heat reserves for 45,000 cu. ft. of wind. The stove is insulated throughout with sil-o-cel pow- der and brick, and the blast mains with Johns-Man- ville thermo fire felt. The stove trimmings include blow-off valves turned down into chimney draft flues, two chimney valves, Universal gas burners, and Mathesius hot blast valves. The stoves are served by a Heine brick lined reinforced concrete stack, 9 ft. 6 in. x 225 ft. This stack will also serve the next block of stoves to be built in conjunction with the projected No. 2 furnace. The cold blast line is provided with a steam con- nection for the extinguishment of fire and also has its snort valve opening turned down into the chimney draft flue. There are two counterweight blast relief valves on the cold blast line. The by-pass enters the hot blast main at No. 3 stove and is provided with a gate shut-off valve, a McCarthy check valve, and a butterfly regulating valve. This is operated from the cast house, the lever being in proximity to the hot blast temperature indicator. The stove foundation top and cast-house floor are on the same level. The dust catcher and whirler dust bell platforms, the contro] valves for water at water seals and washer, the control valves for steam in dust catcher and gas main, the main water supply valves and by-pass, are all operated or accessible from this elevation, thus enabling the general foreman to main- tain supervision of stoves, water, dust catcher and washer attendance, and practice with mixer valve, without the deterring handicap of ceaseless!y climbing up and down steps. The identical elevation of the stove operating level and the cast house will in the future provide a thoroughfare for foreman and main- tenance gangs and material between all three furnaces. The yard is reached by steps midway between the stoves and the furnace, steps at the end stove platform, and steps leading from the stoves and furnaces to the skip house and thence to the bins or yard. The cast house was laid out with a view to running metal direct to the pig machine while the plant was operating as a merchant furnace but eventually to run to track ladles for delivery to an open hearth mixer when the pig machine will be still available for off- grade and week-end metal. This was worked out by placing a Pittsburgh coal washer double strand casting machine at the bottom of the cast house. Two Pollock short pour ladles (with spare) were placed one at each side of the machine. The ladle furthest off-center February 12, 1920 THE IRON AGE In the Main View of the Accompanying Group Are to Be Seen the Dryer, Washer and Dust Catcher, with a Gondola Car Stationed Under the sas Mentioned the skip incline is visible the coke breeze elevators, noted ; in two other illustrations, which elevators are situated at the base of the skip incline The left view shows the coke chutes and breeze screens leaning offset position of the furnace columns, affordi! tuyeres and plates, is noted in the oval view : is 13 4 ! s% 7 > » Oa 2 re Se ee Fie ly atc et: ghey ahmed Picks Wileemarvag FP ae eS ee. ee prehA Tent ee 4s Neat ied nalts ee eo pderietg® 52 TB, mh bt jap ne maa begs < ri are oe >. SE EA IS NO PEL A ae Sal att, ae poets BaD oi pine ye ot . uk caer ew es ne sai chan ral aS ; ee _ 464 had its pedestal and pouring stand placed in the loca- tion of the future track that will bring hot metal cars to the casting machine from all three furnaces. This located the center line of the pig machine from the cen- ter line through the cast house and the location of the other ladle with its pouring stand and pedestal. Tem- porary iron runners were placed to reach the present location of the ladles. Later these runners will be re- moved and replaced with runners to spouts at the side of the cast house over the same ladles mounted on trucks. The pouring stand will remain at the east side for pouring from track ladles, but its pedestal to- gether with pedestal and pouring stand at the west side of the machine will be removed, thus giving ample room for skulling and relining ladles for three fur- naces, together with provision, as at present, for plac- ing scrap and ladle rubbish in cars. The pig: machine house is served by a Whiting crane. The runners have a % in. fall to the foot and little scrap results. Coke dust, sand, loam and clay are brought to the cast house by a Pawling & Harnisch- feger monorail from bins adjacent to a track at the base of the cast house. The monorail also removes cast-house scrap and rubbish, and handles tuyeres and furnace tools. The equipment of the cast house includes a Berg- Brosius clay gun, which was specified not only as a safety measure but also for the purpose of keeping the blast on the furnace and gas at the boilers to the max- imum over costs in view of the heavy outside power load. Only one cinder notch is provided, this being 45 deg. from the iron notch. Cinder is for the most part granulated, and is discharged into a deep pit, which fs served by a Pawling & Harnischfeger monorail. Six cars can be spotted under the monorail. A Brosius single line bucket is provided for handling the granu- lated slag. The cinders may also be run into ladles through spouts which lead to a track adjacent to the cast house. The shutters are all of the remote control type, and provision has been made for rodding the furnace from the cast house—snort valve wheel, gun control and shut- ter control all being located as a unit. For purposes of communication duplex signal apparatus connects cast house and stock house, boiler house and power house. Special lighting facilities have been provided and an abundant number of hose connections for both high and low pressure water. Both steam and air are piped to the cast house for use on the gun and for other casual requirements. Water for the furnace bosh, gas washer, pig ma- chine, cinder pit and miscellaneous uses is supplied through two independent lines from the pump house, with cross connections for emergency use. The circle pipe is fed by duplex feed lines provided with Elliott twin basket strainers. An auxiliary high pressure line is also in proximity to the three-way cocks for blow- ing out the furnace feed and discharge lines and hot blast valves. High pressure and steam lines are also provided at the top of the furnace. Although the plans included an ore bridge with a movable car dumper, the necessities of the program compelled deferring its installation. Instead two 30-40 Brown cranes with a 70 ft. boom and a 2-cu. yd. bucket were purchased, to be utilized later on yard work for the completed steel and furnace plant. These are being used with outrigger wheels during the present season for stocking and reclaiming ore. They have proved capable of unloading at a rate of 55 to 60 cars per day, as well as reclaiming ore for bins outside of unloading requirements. Hand labor is, however, required at present for unloading cars. The later installation of an ore bridge will be carried out independent of stock- ing operations as the necessary ore bridge track rails have been provided on the ore bin back wall and its extension. Particular attention was paid to the lighting and ventilation of the stock house. Air ducts are located in the central division wall of the bins between the rail- road tracks, thus insuring ventilation above the scale ears. A large opening in every vent on either side of the scale car track makes possible a large light storage for spare parts. A 12-ft. concrete base was laid under THE IRON ft. high. AGE February 12, 1920 the car track and the concrete floor encases the wooden ties. The top of the floor is brought flush to the top of the rail on the outside of the track. The concrete between rails is depressed 2 in. and sloped from the center of the track toward the sewer traps. The bins themselves are of the Rawstorne rein- forced concrete type. They have an earth fill and trestle approach on a 2% per cent grade. From the scale car to the transfer car rails is 32 ft. There are two tracks, one track serving the coke, limestone and scrap bins and the other the ore bins. These tracks are supported by Bethlehem type girders across the coke bins while at the other bins the track stringers rest on the concrete bin division walls. The ore bins are served by a Brown 50-ton transfer car, into which ore is loaded by the cranes from the stock pile. Each bin has a gross capacity of 200 tons of ore, thus giving 40 to 48 hr. capacity, depending upon the rate of driv- ing of the furnace, and giving flexibility for eight grades of ores and by-products. The double coke bin has a gross capacity of 270 tons of coke, or from 10 to 12 hr. capacity. This capacity is virtually net inas- much as the bin is free moving in all sections and does not exhibit any dead pockets of coke. The bins are ar- ranged to tie into a continuous system for the future furnace. The bins are lined with cast-iron plates. The stock house is served by an Atlas hopper scale car, equipped with a dial scale indicator. The bin gates are manually operated by the scale car man and feed from both sides into the car hopper. Coke is drawn direct from the bins to the skip bucket, each skip hold- ing 4500 lb. of coke. A Haven type coke screen is used, obtaining a retarded cascade effect over self-clearing screen openings. Both the slope of each element and the effective area of screen opening may be altered to suit the character of coke. The screenings are handled by DePere automatic skips from hoppers beneath the screens to track hoppers. Provision is made for two bell rod and air actuated coke bin gate operation by the scale car man or by an independent operator. Bell _indicators and speaking tube to top are provided, as well as siphon for skip pit. An extra scale car with switch is also provided. The skip incline is a self-supporting structure of the cantilever type, inclined 60 deg. from the horizon- tal. It is 171 ft. long with double track for two skip cars of the trailer truck type. The skips are operated by a Lidgerwood direct current electric hoist of the double-drum single-motor type. The motor is a West- inghouse of 200 hp. The hoist has a rope speed of 225 ft. per min. and is designed for an unbalanced load ca- pacity of 20,000 lb. Cutler-Hammer control is supplied. The hoist is located in a concrete and brick house un- der the skip truss and above the track. This structure also houses the bell cylinders for operating the bells. The cylinders are aetuated by air from the cold blast mains. An auxiliary air supply is also provided from the high pressure compressor line. It is automatically admitted through a pressure regulating valve in the event of a drop in the main line pressure. The boiler house is 200 ft. long, 48 ft. wide and 42 It is of brick and steel construction with cor- rugated steel roof; the monitor is of the open type without sash. All window sash is of steel Truscon type, glazed with factory ribbed glass. There is pro- vided 4800 boiler hp. in units of 600 hp. class M Stir- ling three-pass boilers, built for 231 lb. pressure and 125 deg. superheat. Seven are gas fired, being equipped with four improved Birkholz-Terbeck burn- ers each. Provision for quick auxiliary coal firing has been made through the equipment of each boiler with Kelly shaking grates. Vu'can soot blowers have been provided throughout and Copes feed water regulators and Foster superheaters. The eighth boiler is equipped with type E Combus- tion Engineering Co. stoker and Clarage fan blower. This equipment carries a builders’ guaranty of 250 per cent on rating for 4 hr., 200 per cent on rating for 24 hr., and from bank to 200 per cent on rating within 10 min. It was installed to supplement the gas-fired boil- ers, to eliminate hand firing as much as possible over periods of fluctuating gas supply over cast, and to meet peak loads on the generator. The boilers are February 12, 1920 served by a 225-ft. x 12-ft. 6 in. Heine reinforced con- crete chimney, connected to the boilers with an over- head breeching of % in. plate, lined with Johns-Man- ville insulation. Coal storage bins are arranged for the installation of a monorail unloading system and foundations for mechanical ash handling. The boilers are placed singly, right and left set- a gee , aoe _ ome ting, with 6 ft. aisles, and with 15 ft. in front of boil- ers. Dust from the boiler house gas main is flushed through a trough to the sewer. Approximately 4200 to 4350 boiler hp. “from and at” is realized with gas from the furnace, driving at a 550-ton rate, and credits per THE IRON ton of pig iron from power from surplus gas are high. This is due both to the high efficiency realized at the boilers where stack temperatures of 550 deg. with car- bon dioxide content of waste gases of 23 per cent are averaged, and also to the high Rankin cycle efficiency attained at the blower and turbo-generator due to the high pressure and superheat of steam. These Views of the Pig Cast ing Machine Show How the [ron Is Delivered from the Ladle. In the left back- ground of the bottom picture is visible the monorail Boiler feed water comes from the hot well of the blowing engine condenser at 115 deg. Fahr. with auxili- ary supply from the turho-generator hot well at 96 deg. Fahr., and is put through a Graver combined heater and hot water softener. Chemical treatment is AGE 465 Palen 2 Viera saline ie Or a ne one rien oe sigr ot ilihcretsitnctel nah catia aoe: Wace hs 466 THE IRON AGE February 12, 1920 automatically proportioned. An average feed water parallel to the width of the building. The power unit temperature of 202 deg. Fahr. from the hot water is a 7500-kw., 6600-volt, 3-phase General Electric turbo- treater is maintained. Centrifugal boiler feed pumps have been installed, having a capacity of 550 gal. each per min. at the 600-ft. discharge head. Worthington three-stage pumps are used, driven by a Moore non- condensing turbine equipped with a Fischer governor The exhaust steam goes to the heater. Other exhaust steam goes to the heater from the. .Clarage fan engine, the blowing engine and turbo-generator condenser air pump and the auxiliary service water pump. The boiler feed lines are in duplicate to obviate possible shut-down by failure or clogging, and there is an emergency connection to the boiler feed lines from a Knowles reciprocating pump. The boiler house, inclusive of building, gas main, steam and water lines, is laid out to permit expansion to the north with additional gas fired boiters for the additional blast furnaces, and to the south with additional stoker fired boilers. The latter will form a balancing group to carry fluctuating steam demands against a fluctuating gas supply and to supply any deficit between steam demands for the power requirements of the furnace and steel plants and steam available from blast fur- nace gas. The steam lines are in duplicate, consisting of a main header with capacity foy the entire steam de- mands of the blower, generator, pumps and auxil- iaries. It is supplemented by a parallel header tied in any cross at four points so that in the event of replacement of any fitting on the main header, at least six boilers can be tied to power house and cast house operation. The auxiliary line is of a capacity sufficient to run the blower, the pumps, with some reserve for partial load on the turbo-generator. The main and auxiliary steam headers are carried on brackets on the boiler house columns up to the end of the house. Here they reach the power house through a tunnel, which also carries service and auxiliary service water lines, high pres- sure water and air lines and electric conduits. The steam lines in the power house are all beneath the floor level. The main steam header in the boiler house, with its lead to the power house, forms the first element of the eventual boiler plant where the header will expand into a loop system through the boiler and power house with three cross connections and with steam from the waste heat boilers tieing in at the south end. American Ideal steam traps are used. Whe power house, which is 180 ft. long, 74 ft. wide, and’ 88 ft. high, is also of brick and steel. Particular atterition was paid to day lighting and ventilation. The monitors’ im the roof are in every other bay located which forms the first of four or five of these units to be located in the extension of the power house southward. A 600-kw. motor-generator set furnishes 220 volt direct current for blast furnace purposes. Auxiliary equipment at the turbo-generator includes a Westinghouse Le Blanc barometric con- denser and air pump, and a carrier air washer. Swart- out exhaust heads and Davis atmospheric relief valves are placed on the atmospheric exhaust line. The biowing equipment consists of two Mesta high speed horizontal cross-compound blowing engines, 34 generator, —) Seven of the Boilers Are Gas Fired, Being Equipped with Four Improved Birkholz-Terbeck Burners Each. The eighth boiler shown in the foreground is stoker coal-fired only and intended to supplement the other boilers when necessary. The blowing equipment consists of two Mesta high-speed horizontal cross compound engines x 72 in., and 84x 48 in., equipped with Schutte & Koert- ing emergency stop valves. Iverson valves are used on the air tube. The air intake is through the foundation individual to each blowing tub. The tubs are equipped with a common receiver, from which the air is led through a Dyblie non-return valve to the blast line manifold. This connects to the No. 1 furnace cold blast main with blanks for No. 2 and No. 3 furnaces. An aux- iliary atmospheric relief blast valve and line is also provided so that the engine can be turned over and warmed up. By closing the atmospheric relief blast valve, with the cold blast valve open the blast is thrown on the furnace and the other engine taken off without juggling with the cold blast valves. The blowing engines are equipped with Schutte-Koerting emergency stop valves and are served by one Alberger condenser and dry air pump, designed for 26% in. vacuum. The exhaust lines are designed for extension if desired for interconnection with exhaust lines for No. 3 and No. 4 blowing engines, so that any of three operating engines ean be operated on three condensers. Lubrication is taken care of by a Bowser system located in the basement with tanks on the roof truss. 7] February 12,°1920 The remaining power house equipment includes an Ingersoll-Rand motor-driven compressor for 300 cu. ft. free air at 100 lb. pressure, a Champion 25-ton crane, and Alberger condenser and air pump. The initial requirements for water, which is pumped from the river, total 31,000,000 gal. per day. The initial pumping head from the river to the turbo- generator was 175 ft., and the distance pumped was 2700 ft. To conserve on the size of mains and horse- power on pump drive there was worked out and in- stalled a unique system, which involves the delivery of 9700 gal. of water by the river pumps at 175 ft. head, to the coke ovens and the generator condenser. The condenser tail water escapes through a weir into the main supply cistern beneath the pump room floor. The reserve capacity in the cistern is 225,000 gal., sufficient to run the furnace and boilers alone for several hours. There are three 3200-gal. service water pumps in the basement, two of which are in continuous operation, one pumping to the furnace and one pumping water for miscellaneous uses. The river pumps are Allis-Chal- mers with motor drive. The power house pumps are all Alberger, two of the service pumps having Al- berger-Curtis turbine drive, and the spare service and the blowing engine condenser pump having Allis- Chalmers motor drive. A Knowles compound duplex pump is provided in the pump basement for emergency and casual high pressure requirements. Fear German Competition WASHINGTON, Feb. 10.—Trade Commissioner T. O. Klath reports from Copenhagen that considerable anx- iety is felt at present in the Danish iron and porcelain industries concerning the competition of the low-priced German imports in these lines. “The situation appears to be extremely bad in the iron industry which employs approximately 39,000 laborers,” says Mr. Klath. “One prominent manufac- turer states that Denmark is at present paying the highest wages of any European country with the pos- sible exception of Norway. The Danish manufacturers who have been exporting a portion of their output are, on account of the high coal prices, the adverse position of the Danish exchange, the high wages and the upset conditions of importing markets, seriously handicapped in the export field. On the other hand, the Danish manufacturers interested in the domestic market are met with the competition of goods imported from Ger- many at very low prices, in many cases at less than half the cost of production in Denmark. “It is stated that the German salesmen come to Denmark and examine very closely just how much it costs to produce certain goods in Denmark and then they quote prices to Danish merchants slightly below the Danish production costs—in other words, make the traffic bear as much as possible. The Germans quote prices in kroner.” Advancing Prices in Belgium BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, Jan. 15.—The course of prices continues to ascend. Quotations in franes per 100 kg. are nominally about as follows, together with equiva- lents in United States money with exchange figured at about 14 fr. per $1: Heavy plates......... 96-105 fr. (3.05c. per Ib.) yp MO Se 130—160 fr. (4.138c. per Ib.) SB See 85.5 fr. ($60.70 per gross ton) EA TONE ick cans 90 fr. ($64.06 ) ee EE rere 62 fr. ($44.12 ‘ ) is cane woendd ake 70-71 fr. ($49.73 ‘ ) rr ie rr 67.5-68 fr. ($47.54 “ ) CED v0.s kicousnsateos 80-81 fr. (2.55c. per lb. ) These prices compare with heavy plates at 95 fr. per 100 kg., m