The Iron Age 1920-09-16: Vol 106 Iss 12

New York, \BLISHED 1855 BY GILBERT of the Indiana Steel Co. is known shout the world not only as the largest ‘ing steel works, but as an industrial giant ig up in a few years on what had been stretch of sand dunes bordering the ‘ extremity of Lake Michigan. Unlike Which expanded gradually through ce Trom time to time to keep pace with ‘emand for their products, the Gary nstructed in accordance with carefully 3 Ww hich established the interrelation us units of the plant, whether pro- nediate construction or projected for ‘stant date. Consequently the com- aught unprepared when the Great multiplied the consumption of steel 4 proportionate increase in produc- it Is not to be inferred, however, of these plans made their execu- he contrary, labor shortage and e Capa at 4) t the ¢ pn Cas ce THE IRON AGE September 16, 1920 Gary Works Exy Cent Du Two Coke Oven Batteries, Four Blast Furnaces, Duplex Plant, Wheel Works, Blooming, Sheet and Merchant Mills Added Under Impetus of Conflict 699 VOL. 106: No. 12 nded Fifty Per g War L. LACHER war-time priority rulings governing the disposition of materials, proved which were sur- mounted only through perseverence and resourceful- ness. The additions which were erected in the face of adverse conditions are testimony to what Ameri- can industrial genius can accomplish, and are of a magnitude not generally appreciated. Although the new units have been briefly noted in our annua) review numbers, war-time precautions restricted the issuance of information concerning construction activities and prevented their receiv- ing publicity in keeping with their importance. The very scope of the work done precludes a detailed description even at this time and, therefore, atten- tion will be centered on the novel and outstanding features in the new construction. Gaging the additions by the number of blast furnaces, the plant was expanded 50 per cent, four furnaces having been added to the existing eight. As the new furnaces are of larger capacity than the obstacles necessary ee a 700 older ones, the increase in capacity was even greater than that percentage. Complementary additions included new coke oven batteries, an ore yard extension, increased blowing engine and power generating capacity, enlarged water pumping facili- ties, a duplex steel furnace unit, a 40-in. blooming mill, new soaking pits, a 160-in. sheared plate mill, a rolled steel wheel plant, 10-in. and 20-in. merchant mills, new tie-plate finishing equipment, and neces- sary increases in roll shop, machine repair shop and foundry facilities. The immensity of the works as it now stands may be grasped when it is learned that its capacity is approximately 265,000 tons of steel per month. Tonnage figures, however, do not tell the whole story, as Gary has extensive equip- ment for rolling small sizes of merchant bars, which represent more labor and rolling time per weight than heavier forms of finished material. The premier steel works both from the stand- point of plant facilities and of tonnage output, the Gary plant still has room for further growth. Its site comprises 1140 acres and the original plans provide for four additional blast furnaces and steel making and finishing capacity in proportion. This article, however, is concerned with what has been done rather than with what is projected for the future. In considering war-time extensions, it may be noted that the first unit to be added was a benzol plant to serve the by-products coke ovens. This work, however, was not undertaken to increase the steel capacity of the works, but rather with a view to recovering the by-products from the coke oven gas, thereby conserving what was formerly not utilized. The benzol plant was completed in the fall of 1915, and the additions to the works subse- quently made were more strictly related to war demand for steel, as they all contributed to an increase in output. Among these were 140 coke ovens, which were added to the existing coking facilities comprising 560 ovens. The new batteries are of the Koppers type and differ little from the original installation, one of the principal deviations in design being the location of the collecting mains on the pusher side of the ovens instead of the delivery side. Complementary additions included another series of track hoppers at the coaling sta- tion, crushers and breakers, an extension to the coal conveying system, a coke wharf, coke screen- ing station, extension to boiler house, new satura- tors, three turbo-exhausters, boosters, and another 30-in. cast-iron pipe main to conduct the gas to the steel plant distributing station. Of the added equipment, the coke wharf represents a departure from previous practice, as the older batteries are not provided with wharves but are served by ele- vated screening stations. Another addition to the coke plant facilities was the installation of a third motor-driven centrifugal pump with a capacity of 30,000,000 gal. of water per 24-hr. day, thereby increasing the maximum daily output to 90,000,000 gal. In this connection it may be observed that the coke plant has its own pumping station, boiler house, machine shop and store house and, except for its dependence on the main works for electricity, castings and heavier machine work, is a self-con- tained unit. The site of the coke plant is east of the steel works, on the other side of a turning basin serving the ore slip from the lake. 3eginning at the raw material end of the Gary works proper, the first war-time addition to be noted is a 1000-ft. extension to the ore yard, making the total present length 3400 ft. The storage capacity of the addition is 1,000,000 tons of ore and limestone and the capacity of the entire yard is 3,200,000 tons. A Hoover & Mason ore bridge with THE IRON AGE September 16, 19209 a span of 187 ft. between legs and a bucket traye| of 300 ft. was added to the existing five bridges, The new bridge is of the same type as the ones and like them is equipped with a capacity bucket. On the slip side of the older l 1-ton storage yard two new Hulett unloaders were installed. These are of heavier construction than the older unloaders and have 17-ton bucket capacity as against 10 tons for the other machines. The unloaders are electrically operated and complete an operating cycle in from 50 to 55 sec. To enable the machine to reach under the deck beams of a vessel, the bucket has been designed so that one jay can be extended horizontally, and the entire bucket leg is arranged so that it can be rotated around its vertical axis. In July, 1920, unloading records at the Gary docks were broken, 1,060,000 tons of ore and limestone having been handled. Another feature of the storage yard extension was the construction of a tunnel connecting blast furnace side with the dock side, thereby giy- ing employees engaged in unloading a short cut t their work. y tne Improvements in Blast Furnace Design Four new blast furnaces were erected during the war period in that portion of the works sout! of the eight older furnaces and adjacent to th ore yard extension. Each pair of furnaces served by seven two-pass stoves with a single stack, instead of eight with individual stacks as in the case of the other furnaces. Each of the four new furnaces is rated at 550 tons of pig iron per 24-hr day, as against a rating of 500 tons for the older furnaces. The height of the new type of furnace from the iron notch to the top of the stock chamber is 82 ft., or 93 ft. to the top platform. The hearth is 18 ft. high, the bosh 22.5 ft. and the stock line 17 ft. in diameter. The large bell is 15 ft. diameter and the small bell 6 ft. furnace are of the Hoover & Mason type with r ing drum gates. The most important difference between the ne\ and older furnaces lies in the construction 0! furnace tops. These are swelled out in dome-lik shape above the stock line, and the gas off-takes instead of being at the junction of the top with t shell, are several feet above the stock chamber either side of the bell hopper and from there rist 25 ft. where they connect with the downcomers The advantage of this design is that the veloci! the gas is slackened before it reaches the off-taxe: and thus dust tends to drop back into the furnac: rather than to pass out through the downcome!s Another feature of construction is the fact that u furnace lining is not continued into the top. the contrary, the lining stops just above tne s\™° line and the furnace top merely consists 0! plate shell, the inside of which is covered with abrasion plates. Thus the damage done ») stock is reduced. The gas washing and drying apparatus \ differs from that on the older furnaces, each T of which are served by three sets of washers = new blast furnaces are equipped with pr! washer, drier and secondary washer. for the stoves and under the boilers pass through the primary washer and the “a the secondary washer, of the Theisen being used for gas going to the gas ae The primary washer is a cylindrical tank a ing a series of wooden baffles arranged 1” ; zontal tiers. The gas enters the bottom ott velocity and passes through a horizontal upward vertical baffles, from which it continues sins for the D Pp. a ste (as asses yntal! e2waiivg ‘O) /22}§ Pueipyy o— $11441.¥¢ Za ae : . , S¥YOM AYWO NW le Vs J 4 ~. } . i . e » ‘ } * . & as — ;: ; ' " ¥ 7 + a tr > * >? x - . mY)! 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S | \ * > |* j r< ‘ ; ~ > Ni Bi) 3 & l} wa v ee ‘ Y / f & BON oll WY S {ii [why Y % ; t = } y : \\WE 1s i 4 oy” 4 r TUW TLV 7d HSVFHS MOY | WV le _ = 4 & a aeaennanaamamm see 4 \ q | p / / » W pl WS) I j i ‘ > h d ; ai) & | ly y4 numeri 9 4 RC [> °° y Zz, 2 VR je i} = j s) / f » \\ . 4 f . \ ‘ A . } g | } > i i | : 7 ! | $i Z£ . — “ gets seca ae . Be si ‘ say emails = : THE IRON AGE September 16, 1920 The Tilting earth Plant The From eight to nine Tapping Side of the the h Furnaces in the Duplex being 13 ft. x 46 ft CONVERT T 2 “ a | $/L1CO, E IVE RTER || SPAR \MAGNESITE| ; OI LIC | ( Y ! BIN Pw 3 |e SK Ss | 1 ' ; 412 COMPRE 2 be ¥] cate eo | vO ow CA KOKO LY yA /e D,+ ladle Stands i furnaces heats are are of large obtained every MANGANESE! BIN | = 7 OG00 ‘e Al . dle Stands Se POU zs nn — . — ae ae an ne = ae Sins as te eiinenes -_ — ans eee anti The Duplex Plant Is 1300-Ton Iron Mixer, Equipped with a Pig Two 25-Ton Bessemer _~ Terre FURNACE — proportions, 24 hr Conve — + 4 - . +—+ 5 ar 7 le AW Ma FAV s J wr m a BOTTOM 4 | | | A “ ~~ - x — at Bl a 3 a a Od September 16, 1920 IRON AGE 70% > ‘ in the Foreground Are Used for unching and Cutting igh Carbon Tie Plates The end of one o 1e I KF 1A I i f P } y t High ¢ t I I t TY 1 of f ti iting furnaces in which the bars are heated before being punched is visible at the extreme right = See ; Se : es 7 r 4T BIN | - — 7 , } - ee — a C—O i K 4 - - ee — — J qs T = pee —— te Nid > T . os * ' » | a } Closet House | A ; ~~ / i . } hon a — oe - x rT ++ — ->— _ —_ am i. ++ 1 5 . . f NICONVEIRTERS | ; ng TT 1 ’ , a h co! iad t E VANE fou [ of > wt, ; l i } — 4 4 at “ 3 . d - \ Yr a ee -_ { § . =. f—— _>y + — 7 > an q ° : ti'y i ; 1 4 » - / t “ : < |) XER |) , 4 | hehe i } "j 1c) 1 : as x } » r —_—-— J ; as - : ” al v —! {7 “iim Pefuae Platf , 7 r 7 Pr > t = 5 » Se EIT. T a + = ' yaraulic Pipe ench ~ 7 4 J 0 0 . “a r £ as - ation a Se PPAR MER aa Snenaeiiies * = > » ci . 7. . * a icity Each. The open hearths may be heated by coke-oven gas, oil or tar, and space has A nen ; ice a 704 THE IRON AGE September 16, 1999 - lle ‘ Yh be eo ae The Wheel Blank Cutting me end of the bloom the blanks is r Three blanks Long are cut Machine Contains forces it forward as gulated by an between several cross-pipes with large down-sprays of water, then through another series of vertical baffles, next through umbrella sprays, and finally alternately through several series of bevel and ver- tical baffles and umbrella sprays. From the washer the gas passes through the drier, which is of sim- Ld = Ee FS tS ilar construction except that the tiers of baffles are arranged vertically and the moisture is drawn from the gas instead of being added to it. The first of the four furnaces was blown in April 14, 1917, and the last, on March 14, 1918. The erection of the blast furnaces necessitated the provision of blowing engine equipment. A new combined blowing engine and power station was blowing engines These engines, like these in the older stations, were fur- nished by the Allis-Chalmers Mfg. Co., Milwaukee. A reciprocating steam blowing engine for use as a spare unit in emergency was moved to the station from another house. Power is generated by 3000-kw. Allis-Chalmers dynamos whereas the older stations equipped with 2000-kw. dynamos. Other therefore erected and and seven gas power engines were installed. seven gas are Rolls off by an hydraulic-cylinder extension block situated just beyond the cutting end of t ~ oe ee — . i * % fe A .. ) | Pn ae pe ae Sy i 7 Between Which a Bloom Is Revolved A pusher hydraulically operated disk knife TI improvements in power generating equipment clude two 7500-kw. Allis-Chalmers steam tur! which were installed in an older station. The pumping station of the main works was also expanded, three pumps with individual capaci- ties of 40,000,000 gal. per day, delivered at 30-ft iis } fe | | ai | mi et ++ (| If Cradle. . - Hn Mot Ls | tt | mm Hn rn J ; H | 1] tee TL HH | ition Directly Connected to : PHU head, having been installed to provide ¢ for the surface condensers for the new /? turbo-generators, and two pumps dellverite 000,000 gal. each at 120-ft. head having bee! & : to increase the general water sup] os Duplex Plant of Massive Design The duplex plant is of massivé mixer building at one end being the converter building 85 ft. x furnace building 460 ft. in length, of 72 ft. on the pouring side and 54 charging side. Owing to the large SY open hearth furnaces, the spacing or columns is 115 ft., necessarily requir’> construction, the crane girders Dee ing and pouring bays being 15 tt. in depth. - £4 ‘ s.) \ 1) rt e September 16, 1920 THE IRON Vheel Plant. Showing the Delivery End of the Continuous itive Type Heating Furnaces In e pig iron mixer has a capacity of 1300 tons set on a high level. The metal is hoisted by mn Alliance crane to the mixer, which is by motor, storage battery power being 7 tt] | i —- — ystee el — 2 SMT i ’ ° _ Pig . yaraw lic tylinde: 50Hp. Motor i 4 Ane 4 : , 1 MeN Mot |, Axtention Bloch a a one re, — | Ach | ‘T » ie. Matar (~) 1 WA i eT Jit tf At me PET Aen eesesn Ea cae a | 10 ite, SB See , ys phobias 4M sla sag eT 7 sh ety Witt teebteetteesteteertees i LL m j 1 ~ “- 6. —a— t tts 7 tt oT ale Pif-Crane nergency. The mixer, in turn, pours cn is run forward to the converter discharges directly into one of bessemer converters. The converter 1i@ Car on the floor level of the bu ld veighed and then pulled by trolley locomotive underneath the charg- : ne furnace building. Here the ladle \00-ton crane through a hole in the irged into one of the open hearth protection to the operator, the € 18 separated from the ladle car no ng struts connected by a dummy nree tilting. open. hearth furnaces of y each, two’ of which aré-in opera- rd { approaching’completion. The Recuperative Preheating the background Alliance charging cranes furnaces are of large proportions, the dimensions the hearth being the continuous obtained every They are of type, from eight to nine heats being The tilting is accomplished et ttt \ Ayeebe yy ces se yy ye Eey EEE yEy CY X "Wp <__—— ~~) S oO by electrical power. Each end of the furnace rests on a reciprocating bed, gear teeth on the cylin- drical bottom of the furnace engaging rack teeth on the flat bed. The bed is moved by a worm gear operated by two 3715-hp. motors. Each furnace, therefore, served by four motors, or two for each bed, the two sets of motors being connected by a stabilizer to insure operation in unison. The doors of the open hearths are hydraulically operated. The furnaces may be heated by coke-oven gas, oil or tar, and space has been provided for the installation of producer gas equipment. A tar pump house is adjacent to the duplex plant and here cars of tar from the coke plant pass their con- tents by gravity into two tank reservoirs. The tar is then heated and pumped through a circulating system of the return type which prevents the tar from dead-ending and getting cold and permits the is THE IRON AGE September |i The 10,000-1. Forming Pri Wheel Plant with Two Set to Insure Great in Handling wheel blank t the forming press ton hub pun visible at ries WoO! ously mentioned, a 100-ton Alliance traveling cran serves the pig iron mixer. In addition, three ton cranes operate on a runway extending throug! the charging floor to the end of the converte building. On the pouring side of the ope: two 175-ton Alliance cranes have been provided Adjacent to the furnaces on the tapping side ar twelve 110-ton ladle stands, as well as two ladk repair pits, one at each end of the building. Slag transfer tracks have been provided under the fur- naces, so that slag pots can be moved from positions under the slag doors to the pouring side and car- ried away by crane. The charging floor is equipped with two charging machines for cold charging and for handling the spouts for charging hot LOO metal. There is not a window pane in the plant, light being furnished by steel shutters. Adjacent to the duplex plant is a wash-house, containing lockers surplus tar not used in the furnaces to return to and up-to-date sanitary equipment. This building . OP OP eee SHIPP/NG BUILDING 75 4p Motor I9Ro 374 Hp. Motor ea 4 $e: ate bh 5 Rollers Hit yf if i oR if yf He ti oat te TEE ADPEEER Aad eS 1829 4 i Operating + 0) oy -Flectric Pump Motors Platform Accumulator . {plc Scrap shear Ses et ion, } , ra ‘ TT} | hee a ee -_ a4 44 LIF Sera -ONTR FQ BOAR 5 EE I t I ro ornce I t f I I t I The Plate Mill Is a Three the pumping unit and be utilized again. When it is desired to use oil instead of tar as fuel, the circulating system is cleaned out with steam and the same pumping unit is used for the oil. The material handling equipment in the duplex plant is designed for heavy work. As was previ- —— High Mesta Installation Operated by Iiting Table 4 13 Rollers I a dee to my tee te erates ue coe CONTROLLER BOARD HOUSE nen dice a ~ - eee ~ . ee ea. Direct-Connected 7000-hp. Westine is 35 ft. x 74 ft. The bottom house serving the sists of a main structure, 67 ft. x lean-to, 20 ft. x 154 ft. It contains heated by coke-oven gas, for baking for building up bottoms, the necessar! ynverters ( 916 ft., with © eight ovens bottoms, P! raw materi# 192() _ _ » ng Upera- Plant a 2000- Coning t bins, and three machines for grinding clay. ted capacity of the duplex plant, with all ices in operation, is 729,000 tons per The Plate Mill 60-in. sheared plate mill building is an tructure of irregular shape. Five reheat- es of the regenerative type, burning coke- cupy a space, 125 “t. x 456 ft. The mill oper is 130 ft. wide at the mill end and 56 ft ith most of the length. The total length f tl ling is 894-ft. It is joined at the end lilding, 100 ft. x 401 ft., and a shipping » ft. x 336 ft. s a three-high Mesta installation oper- lirect-connected 7000-hp. Westinghouse motor, together with two generators, a motor room, 85 ft. x 85 ft. Two rs have been provided to tilt the tables of the mill and other motors operate itors, the table rollers, etc. rolls used in the mill are chilled cast ) and bottom rolls are 44 in. in diam- iddle roll 28 in., the latter being run RnAe mera Tt w at | j a “yt ¥ ian } - rE =" f____.| pee Lees beeen ; 9 elietatiatt 1 yt tt ded Abel hbk kha hdecbebing | ) prttababehitl dade adel adel « Pollers —* Prasaifers tes ats ke Oe Oe ok Oke ile | ol ee Ne \\ September 16, 1920 THE IRON AGE 707 by friction, while the top and bottom rolls are driven by motor. A roll changing buggy operates on a track on the side of the mill opposite the spindle. After leaving the mill, plates pass through straightening rolls and then to a 160-in. hydraulic ———— oo | os , 3 = i Ds Dy FURMAC r SH HOUSE YARD it terre 708 shear which trims them across the plate, after which they are passed over a castor bed on both sides of which are located hydraulic shears which make the side cuts. From the castor bed the plates are moved to a transfer table, where they are weighed and then conveyed by roller table into the shipping room. In case they are to be piled in stock or trimmed into circular shape, they are lifted by magnet crane from the transfer table and carried into the stock room. Here a standard-type motor- driven 60-in. shear is used for trimming heavy plates, while a motor-driven rotary shear manu- factured by the R. S. Newbold & Son Co., is used for light plates. The rated capacity of the mill is 216,000 tons per year. New Merchant Mills The new 10-in. merchant mill is situated at the north end of a row of merchant mills, all of which are served by the same billet yard on one side and by a continuous warehouse on the other. The length of the 10-in. mill building from billet yard to ware- house is 735 ft.; its width for a distance of 360 ft. is 96 ft. and for the remaining distance 62 ft. Motor rooms on either side are 41 ft. x 100 ft. and 30 ft. x 125 ft. respectively. Billets to be reduced by the mill are lowered by overhead crane to a skid bed, from which they pass by gravity to a furnace charging table, containing motor-operated rollers. From there they are fed into a recuperative-type preheating furnace fired by coke-oven gas, or oil. The furnace has an inclined bed and the billets are moved along as they are used by motor-driven pushers situated at the charg- ing end. The billets are discharged from the fur- nace in their turn by a push bar driven by pinch rollers, and are picked up by pinch rolls on the other side and carried by roller table to six 13-in. continuous two-high stands. The passes are alter- nately oval and round, so that only three turns of the piece are necessary as against six turns in ordinary practice when alternate oval and diamond are used. From the roughing stands the pieces pass through a two-high 12-in. leader stand from which they are delivered to a series of two- high finishing stands. There are two duplicate sets of five finishing stands each, arranged in oppo- site halves of the building. The leader stand feeds both sides of the finishing department, from which the finished bars pass to a 470-ft. Morgan Construc- tion Co. cooling bed. Pieces may be finished on the stand following the leader pass, namely stand No. 8, or on stands No. 10 and 12, according to the section desired. Stands No. 9 and 11 cannot be used for finishing because of their positions in relation to the repeaters. No hand labor is required in any of the operations of the mill except at the last two stands where catchers are now employed. Even this hand operation is expected to be elimi- nated through the installation of repeaters. The six roughing stands and the leader stand are gear-operated from a single 1300-hp. General Electric Co. motor. Stands No. 8, 9, and 10, on both sides of the finishing department, are run bv rope drive from two 850-hp. General Electric motors, the rope drive having been installed because it insures smoother operation than gear propulsion. The last two stands on each side are driven by direct-connected motor. When it is desired to change rolls, they are set up in spare housings and are hoisted by overhead crane and placed in the proper locations. Two Alliance 5-ton overhead cranes serve the mill building. The section of the Morgan cooling bed is an isosceles triangle. The bars are first passed on to passes a runout table exterdire the entire length of the THE IRON AGE September 16, 1929 apex of the triangle and then are kicked down notch by notch over a series of racks on either side of the bed until they reach the base where they are deposited on shuffle bars. When enough bars have accumulated at this point, the shuffle bars carry them to roller tables whence they go to shears. After being cut to length they are dropped into a cradle, weighed and carried away by overhead crane. The 10-in. mill has a nominal capacity of 15,000 tons a month. The 20-in. merchant mill is at the other end of the row of merchant mills and is 156 ft. wide by 735 ft. long, not counting the warehouse which joins it at the finishing end. It is a cross-country mill, containing two recuperative reheating fur- naces and nine stands, of which the first three are of continuous roughing type. Unlike the 10-in. mill. it has a flat cooling bed, 180 ft: long. The materia] is passed by straight edges from the center of the bed outward to the sides and is then passed through straighteners and shears to the back shear table in the distributing building. The rated capacity of the 20-in. mill is 216,000 tons per year. New Method of Manufacturing Tie Plates The tie plate plant is located between the 20-in. and 18-in. merchant mill buildings. It is 160 ft. x 300 ft., one-half of the space being used for tie plate bar storage and the other half for punching, bund ling and shipping. Tie plate stock is general rolled on the 18-in. mill, although the 20-in. mill is also suitable for that purpose. Eight puneh presses, one of which is a Treadwell and seven Long & Alstatter machines, are used to punch the tie plates and to cut them to length. Six of these machines are used for cold.tie plates and two for high carbon tie plates which are punched and cut hot. Two heating furnaces fired by coke-oven are in the stock room. Two bars lying side by side are heated at one time. One of the bars is fed the press by an automatically operated feeder, while the other is still being heated. After the first has passed through the press the second bar pushed over into its place by hydraulically operate¢ pushers and a third bar is charged into the furnac The previous operation is then repeated, the seco! bar being fed through the press while the third is being heated. To prevent the punches from s! ing to the hot metal and distorting the tie plate the presses are equipped with strippers. The st! per is operated hydraulically in synchronism W"' the motor which drives the press and the feeder Chutes, which have been attached to the deliver side of the presses, carry the finished tie plates gravity to a drop-bottom bucket which rests pit in the floor. When the bucket led raised by overhead crane and its dropped on one of two cooling tables where plates are inspected and bundled. Bundles of tie plates are loaded which are lifted from the cooling table crane and either drop their contents direc! gondola cars or into chutes leading into D x doors. ngth ~ fil ed, + a conten DV OVE A railroad track running the leng™ side of the floor simplifies the hanaling ments. The capacity of the tie plate plan tons of tie plates per month. New Type of Wheel Blank Cutting Mac wheel! | hine The 40-in. blooming mill and the will be treated together, as the former, 1)“. to producing standard blooms and billets, SS. the wheel blanks which are pressed and rolled ! the finished wheels. The blooming " proper is 80 ft. x 330 ft. and the motor ree" mil] buds aaje September 16, 1920 ——_ in an Alliance Charging About to Be Placed in the Wheel Rolling Mill t, 56 ft. x 176 ft. The soaking pit building ided across one end of the blooming mill three soaking pits having been added to lle the ingots for the mill. lhe blooming mill is a two-high reversing Mesta directly connected to a 4000 hp. West- e motor. Steel rolls are used varying in in. to 44 in. The mill rolls from 4-in, x 4-in. billets to large blooms. roll rotates in a fixed position while the adjustable. Blooms or billets are con- Oller table to hydraulic up-cut shears are cut to lengths. Butts are carried mnveyor and the billets or blooms are the delivery table into a cradle, from ire hoisted by overhead traveling crane to points of storage in the stock yard. most novel features of the blooming is the wheel blank cutting machine. rolled down to 18-in. rounds and then he table to a position adjacent to the ine, where motor-operated fingers en the table rollers are raised and to roll off the table over a sloping the cutting machine. This machine long rolls, the bloom rolling on to rolls. The top roll is forced down hydraulic pressure, and the bloom, 1 three points of contact, is straight- m is then revolved by friction from rated rolls between which it rests. yperated pusher engaging one end es it forward, while an adjustable, er extension block engages the piece and regulates the thickness nk to be cut off at each operation. ‘rformed by an hydraulically oper- Which is forced against the bloom by friction from the rolling piece. ndency of the bloom to push away ‘uring cutting, the faces of the blanks ‘spiral shape. As they are cut off, to a motor-operated conveyor and » Om oO THE IRON AGE 709 are delivered into a storage yard where they are pickled and chipped before being shipped to the wheel plant. It is worth noting at this point that there is practically no loss of steel in cutting the blanks. The wheel plant is roughly 240 ft. x 506 ft., not counting minor irregularities in plan. A 10-ton Alliance overhead crane serves the wheel blank yard, which is on a railroad siding connected with the blooming mill. All of the blanks are 18 in. in diameter and vary only in thickness, according to the weight desired. The blanks are fed into the end of a continuous recuperative preheating furnace containing an inclined bed to permit the blanks to roll to the delivery end. To separate the blanks to be used for different jobs, round billets are inserted as markers. The installation of the preheating fur- nace in the wheel plant was adopted because high carbon steel is more favorably treated when heated gradually before it is worked. Two one-ton charging cranes transfer the wheel blanks from the preheating furnace to two side- door heating furnaces of the regenerative type. From the latter the blanks are conveyed by charg- ing crane to a chipping stand where the scale is knocked off. From there they are taken by a motor- operated horizontal swing transfer to a 10,000-ton hydraulic forming press, equipped with two dies on a movable bed to insure greater rapidity in handling material. To illustrate, one die is being pressed while the other die is receiving the next wheel blank and, likewise, the pressed blank is being removed from the first die while the second die is being pressed. Another blank transfer car- ries the wheel blank from the 10,000-ton press to a 1,000-ton hub punching press, where it receives further work. Two Alliance drawing and charging machines pick up the blanks from the hub punching press, charge them into a reheating furnace, and, similarly, withdraw the reheated blanks and trans- fer them to the wheel rolling machine. Here a mandrel and nut are fitted into the bore of the wheel blank, which is then pushed up a run- 7. 710 remainder of which roll the edges into th shape. After rolling, the blank passes b¥ conveyor to the web hole punch press and@jhe con- ing press. The web punching press is a 600-ton hydraulic machine and is used only when web holes are specified. In many cases the wheels pass directly from the rolling mill to the coning press, which is a 2000-ton hydraulic machine. From the last press the wheels are drawn on narrow gage cars by a storage battery locomotive to the wheel storage room, where an overhead crane carries the wheels to a crushed slag cooling floor. After cooling, the wheels are rolled by hand into storage where they remain until they are ready for machining. Reverting back to the forge department of the plant, the presses are served by four 2500-lb. pres- sure hydraulic pumps operated by four 650-hp. motors, a 2500-lb. pressure accumulator and a 5000-lb. pressure intensifier. Both the presses and the pumps, as well as the wheel rolling machine, were built by the Bethlehem Steel Co. The motors were supplied by the Allis-Chalmers Mfg. Co., Mil- waukee. A smaller accumulator and three plunger pumps operate the doors on the various furnaces at 500-lb. pressure. In the machine shop are four rows of machine tools used for boring and facing the hubs and turn- ing the tires. There are two double wheel lathes, one a Putnam and one a Niles, ten extra-heavy Betts car wheel borers and seven 66-in. Betts standard steel tire mills. The machines are of massive design, the car wheel borer weighing 44,000 lb. and the tire mill 42,000 lb. The machines are motor- driven and are served by two 15-ton Alliance over- head cranes. There are additional miscellaneous tools in the shop which are used in machining dies and for general repair work. The finished wheels are rolled by hand from the machine shop to the inspecting and shipping depart- ment. This is a spacious room, 90 ft. x 240 ft. and is very well lighted, the roof eaves being 40 ft. above the floor and continuous sash being provided in three walls and in the monitor above. The floor throughout the inspection room and the machine shop, except for the concrete foundations of the machine tools, is of wood block and heavy planking. These materials are well adapted to the rolling of wheels and prevent their being chipped or damaged if they fall to the floor. In the inspection depart- ment the wheels are sorted in pairs, marked and weighed, and rolled into railroad equipment, which is switched in on a track running the length of the 4 oe TY r 3 / Le i ES in pairs, railroad spected, sorted THE IRON The Wheel Inspection Room Is a Spacious and Ww AGE September }; 1920 room. This department is also served } (-t Alliance overhead crane. The rated capacity of the wheel plant wheels per month. The plan of the work that it may be extended without impairing tion of the various units to each other o) tating any change in the present scheme o}{ work through the plant. 0.000 In rela DeLamater-Ericsson Memorial Tah At the annual convention of the America of Mechanical Engineers last December, a meeting was held on the evening of Dee. 3 j; me oration of the eightieth anniversary of the arrival! the United States of Captain John Ericsson and } fifty years’ association with Cornelius H. |) in engineering work. In advance of the meet been decided to erect memorial tablets to mar! of certain buildings which were closely iden the work of DeLamater and Ericsson. It wa to erect four tablets as follows: One at th Foundry at Laight and West streets, New York, wher the first screw-propelled vessel in this countr first steam fire engine were constructed many other original developments were made; Captain Ericsson’s residence, 26 Beach St: York, where he designed the Monitor and mad inventions during his later years; one at the DelLamat Iron Works at the foot of West Thirteenth Stree where the engines of the monitors Puritan and ID tator were built, and one at the Continental Iron Works Greenpoint, L. I., where the hulls of the Monitor and other warships were built. Those who would care to contribute to the tablet fund, especially to commemorate the invention of th screw propeller and the building of the Monitor, ar requested to communicate with the DeLamater-Ericsso! Tablet Committee, H. F. J. Porter, chairman, Roon 1100, Engineering Societies Building, 29 West Thirty ninth Street, New York. The James H. Herron Co., consulting eng Cleveland, announces that the firm of Hoo] & Jo! have become associated with it and new offices been opened in New York and Milwaukee. Ho Johnson are George A. Hool, professor structura engineering at the University of Wisconsin, and Nat C. Johnson, who has been in consulting several years in New York, specializing 1! of concrete manufacture. They have also bee! ciated in the authorship of text books on concret have another book on building construction now 0h press. The company occupies a building at West Th Street and St. Clair Avenue, Cleveland, using *"" sq. ft. of floor space, in which are located chemica' * physical laboratories, machine shop, patter! drawing room, etc. pract the le rw ¢ LT Ta LE pea red ell Lighted Bay: or air weighed, the wheels are ‘v""'"™ marked and Cars may be noted at the | equipment. Ferromanganese Practice in Great Britain Furnace Design and Ores Used—Cost of Pro- duction—Post-War Situation and American Market—British and American Competition BY PAUL M. TYLER* ire of ferromanganese in Great Britain, practice in that country appears to be lit- vy different from that on the Continent s common knowledge that no marked im- ements have been made in the last 25 years. The success of the British smelters can be largely ’ ted to their long experience in the busi- ness and the individual skill and training of the fu emen. The furnace operations are gov- rned chiefly by rule of thumb. Fair recoveries le, but this is at the expense of rapid IT te of the secrecy surrounding the manu- Blast Furnaces Used Exclusively ‘ntire output is supplied by six producers, hom employ blast furnaces. On account high cost of power, ferromanganese could e produced on a commercial basis in elec- naces in the British Isles.t The fur- re similar to those employed for making and are alternatively used for that pur- se as well as for the manufacture of spiegel- eisen. Frequently a furnace is blown in on spiegeleisen and switched to ferromanganese as gets into normal running. When the ecomes badly worn, the furnace may again spiegeleisen and later, when the lining ne still thinner, pig iron may be made weeks before blowing out and relining. ‘last two or three years, owing to the securing manganese ore, furnaces run for weeks on mixtures of man- s and manganiferous iron ores, making en aS a main product although under nditions the production of spiegeleisen il since it is not in great demand by teel makers. ist furnaces used by the ferromanga- mpanies are larger and better equipped verage British furnaces, ranging from 0 80 ft. high and being rated at from 1000 ou tons of pig iron per week. When running ‘rromanganese, however, the capacity is re- iced to ‘etween 400 and 520 tons per week, or ‘ie more than one-third the normal rat- extra time lost in repairs and relining ed the reduction in output is even Furnace Design apparently no uniformity in the de- urnaces and the operators claim that : that will make pig iron can be used maki erromanganese, provided extra care ning. Less emphasis seems to be laid ve capacity than is given in the ‘, but this may perhaps be explained rate of driving. The dimensions of xpert, United States Tariff Commission. the United Kingdom average approxi- Owatt-hour and probably the lowest rate _ projected hydroelectric developments in i rate at a cost of 0.15d at the plant but ot favorable for the economical transport and the power cannot be transmitted to Ons to compete with steam generated reas 711 one furnace used in making ferromanganese are as follows: Feet Height (hearth leve » charging platform) 70.0 Diameter of bell ; 10.0 Diameter of stock line (throat) 15.5 Inside diameter of bosh 18.0 Inside diameter of shell (at bosh line) 28.25 Diameter of well 10.0 Depth of well ealatees 6.25 An unusual feature of the design is the con- traction from the bosh to the hearth which, in- stead of being a straight line, comes down on a curve of 26-ft. radius. As indicated by the above figures, the thickness of the lining at the bosh line is 5 ft. No water-cooling blocks are used. There are eight 6-in. tuyeres. The blast pres- sure varies from 6 to 71% lb. per sq. in. and the average temperature of the blast is about 1000 deg. Fahr. As compared with pig iron practice in England, the blast pressure is that commonly employed on a furnace of this height while the temperature ranges between 200 and 300 deg. higher. The ore averages about 40 per cent coarse (fist size), 30 per cent “rubble” (say ™% in. and over), and 30 per cent fines. The average output from the above furnace is 400 tons per week of 77 to 78 per cent ferro- manganese. The usual charge is Indian ore, 55 ewt.; dolomite, 19.5 cwt.; and coke, 67.5 cwt. The coke consumption, on the basis of these data and probable recoveries, may be taken at 2 tons, 7 ewt. (5264 lb.) per ton of ferromanganese. The amount of slag produced per ton of ferro- manganese figures out between 1.5 and 2 tons. The average manganese content of the slag is given as 10 per cent. No data are available to show the amount of manganese lost in the flue dust. Coke Consumption The coke consumption in various British ferro- manganese plants is said to range from 2 tons, 5 ewt. (5040 lb.) to 2 tons, 15 cwt. (6160 lb.) per ton of alloy. It is stated positively that at no furnace in the United Kingdom is the coke con- sumption down to two tons (4480 lb.) in making ferromanganese although pig iron is made in the same furnaces using only 20 to 21 cwt. (2240 to 2352 lb.) of coke per ton of pig iron with 36 per cent iron on the burden. The slags are kept rather basic in order to in- crease the temperature and eliminate suphur and phosphorus. It is difficult to obtain any average slag analyses covering British practice, but the high lime factor is clearly shown by observation of the dumps which disintegrate very rapidly upon exposure to the weather. The manganese content of the slag will range from a minimum of perhaps 7 per cent to 15 per cent or more, depend- ing upon the conditions in the furnace. The aver- age content may be taken at between 10 and 12 per cent manganese. These slags, however, are generally sold to foundry iron makers or used alternatively with manganiferous iron ores to bring up the manganese content of pig iron. The following table gives comparative slag Ete mee we ewe | *agr ge 712 THE IRON AGE analyses for a German furnace described by Ja- kobi* and for a recent run in a British plant, sulphur being calculated as CaS: German, British, Ver Cent Per Cent SiO, 30.32 32.7 FeO 1.41 0.9 Al,O LOSS 7.5 CaO $1.34 29.5 MeO 2.96 13.0 MnoO 8.52 13.0 Cas ».94 3.4 P.O 0.01 Ba) 0.48 It will be noted that on account of local condi- tions dolomite was used as flux in the British fur- nace. The alumina content is lower than that of the slags ordinarily made and is close to the mini- mum for proper working of the furnace. Ten per cent is probably a more common figure. Accord- ing to Jakobi, the German figures are for a typical blast furnace run; the coke consumption was 2.37 tons per ton of ferromanganese (which compares favorably with the best British practice) and, of the total manganese charged, 76.9 per cent was recovered in the product, 6.7 per cent was ac- counted for in the slag, and 16.4 was “volatilized” or lost in the flue dust. The Ores Used Practically all the ore that has been available in England since 1914 has come from India. The yield from this ore, which averages at present a trifle more than 50 per cent manganese, is between 50 and 52 tons of ferromanganese per 100 tons of ore charged. The product averages 77 per cent manganese, so the recovery may be taken at nearly 80 per cent of the manganese contents (neglecting the ultimate recovery of the manga- nese in the slag when resmelted in pig iron fur- naces). Prior to the war, British makers used considerable quantities of Caucasian ore, either alone or mixed with Indian ore. They were then able to make ferromanganese containing from 78 to 82 per cent manganese and averaging 80 per cent. Owing to the somewhat higher iron con- tents of the Indian ores, British manufacturers have had to lower their standards to 76 to 78 per cent, the latter being the absolute upper limit that they can obtain from Indian ore without the ad- mixture of other ore that will raise the manga- nese-iron ratio. The Indian ores delivered in Great Britain during the past year have averaged probably about 51 per cent manganese and 6 per cent iron, a ratio of 8.5 tol. If the recovery of manganese be taken at 80 per cent and that of iron at 100 per cent (due to iron contents of coke and flux), it would appear possible to make an alloy containing 80 per cent Mn, 13 per cent Fe, and 7 per cent carbon and other impurities. This does not work out in practice, however, indicating an apprecia- ble amount of iron in the fluxes and ash from the large quantities of coke required. While the Caucasian ore generally does not carry any larger percentage of manganese, its manganese iron ratio is considerably higher than that of Indian ore, frequently as much as 30 to 1. Cost of Production : Detailed costs of producing ferromanganese in the United Kingdom have not been obtained, but sufficient data are available to make a fairly close estimate of the cost of making the alloy in British works. Since the cost of ore and fuel de- livered at the furnace constitutes over 80 per cent of the total cost of production, slight errors in *Ferromangan im Hochofen, Stahl und Eisen, Vol. 29, 1909, p. 1119. September 16, 1999 estimates of costs of running the furnace wil] no: introduce differences in excess of the norma! fluctuations in the market quotations for the ore Next to raw materials, labor is the most jm. portant item. In spite of the somewhat lower wages paid in Great Britain, the labor cost js ap. parently larger there than in American plants owing to differences in mechanical equipment The labor cost of pig iron made in the United Kingdom in 1919 ranged from 16s. to 33s. per ton. Since the furnaces operated by the ferro. manganese makers are better designed and more efficient than the average British furnace, a fai) estimate of the present labor cost for these fur naces is 20s. per ton of pig iron and certain) not over 40s. per ton of ferromanganese. Fewer data are available for estimating the cost of relin- ing and repairs, but these items are probably little less than they would be in the United States owing to slower driving and lower wages. Re- fractories can be taken at a trifle under the cost at American works. Based on the above assumptions and figuring exchange at £1—$4.00, the following cost sheet may be made out: Cost of Producing Ferromanganese (77 Per Ce Works in July, 1920 Two tons of ore (50 per cent) at 4s per unit Freight and handling on ore.. a { Two and one-half tons coke at 65s (delivered) One ton limestone at 15s... re Direct labor at 40s...... ieee owe Relining and repairs Other CHAPHES ..scwecss EME? (5 a bik Saad Bereta When it is considered that ferromanganese was quoted at £35 ($140) for home consumption, tt would not appear that British makers were mak- ing any large profit, but it must be remembered that most of them had secured their ore at 3s. 6¢ and that export prices, ranging from £5 to #ll higher, permitted narrow margins on home (e- liveries. As compared with pre-war costs, the ab figures represent varying advances, all of whi are considerably in excess of 100 per cent. A‘ tle British ferromanganese was offered in United States at $35 before the war, and it seems probable that in 1913 and 1914, ferromangane~ was being made at several British works for a little as $30 per ton. The chief increase has bee! of course, in the price of manganese ore, Wh! : was selling in London in 1914 as low as 9d. oe and may have been obtained even more cheap’ by the companies that had direct connections | India and the Caucasus. Fuel has increases fully 200 per cent, good coke being obtainable 1914 at 18s. or less. Wages at the furnace hav increased by from 125 to 175 per cent, the averse" being about 150 per cent for all classes of 0 furnace employees. There are now practica® no workers about the furnaces that do not wees ve at least £1 per day of 8 hr. and the averart slightly higher. Post-War Situation Following the cessation of hostilities, an ferromanganese makers made active efforts ' tet establish themselves in the American ma™” which they had been forced to largely net” during the war, owing to home requirements a restricted ore supplies. With the assitance | the Ministry of Munitions, they had ee al continue operations and, when the armistict signed, there was a considerable surplus ot and some ferromanganese on hand, ee oe meet the estimated requirements ee ut program for six months. Early in 1919, negiec: September 16, 1920 British steel works were greatly reduced and , ferromanganese was available in large ints for shipment to the United States. The e in England dropped to under £25 per ton nd at least one shipment was made to the United States on the basis of $95 per ton, c. i. f. the summer and early fall of 1919, Indian obtainable at 2s. 6d. per unit and British inganese was freely offered in the United States at around $100 per ton, which included the t of 20s. and other shipping charges. Many gh-cost American producers who had en- | the field during the war were unable to eet this price and were forced to shut down. While the British producers were successful in orders for their product, they did not their ore requirements, evidently expecting nued drop in ore prices. tead of the difficulty of securing ore be- » less, it increased during the reconstruc- neriod. Heavy shipments of jute and seeds ndia had the effect of raising the freight manganese ore and changes in the design vessels made it unnecessary for many of