The Iron Age 1935-11-21: Vol 136 Iss 21

eee FRITZ J. FRANK, President J. H. VAN DEVENTER Editor G. L, LACHER T. H. GEREKEN R. E. MILLER Managing Editor News Hditor Machinery Editor J e F. J. Winters T. W. Lippert > A. L. Prnpier L. W. Morrerr R.A Fiske F. L. Paswries re Editor Emeritus Washington Chicago Cleveland rs G. Emrenstrom, Jr. BuRNHAM FINNeSY GeraRp Frazar R. G. McInrosn pd Pittsburgh Detroit Boston Cincinnati . er PA. G O nt e Nn t S- November 91, 1935 239 WEST 39TH STREET NEW YORK, N. Y. e° Fifteen Thousand Million Dollars............... 17, + ® Recent Trends in Refractory Processes and Materials. . 18 > Machining Large Locomotive Bed Castings... .. ies 22 aa Improved Vertical Hot Tube Annealers............ 26 ot Machining Operations on the Packard One Twenty. . 30 r bd Stainless Alloy Lining on Oil Cracking Units 32 > New Ingot Heating Furnace... ... ..... 4 or New Equipment ..... . <>» RR a Te = Automotive Industry . ORAS nee aes 40 Washington News ... a Pieces aah ae Pe ke, ees be > Fee ees as 48 | Personals and Obituaries Peet ete Rate of Activity in Capital Goods. .. 53 Statistics on Metal-Working Activity. . . . . 54 Markets . A Lhe gh SE ia i» > a | Construction and Equipment Buying. .. 78 Products Advertised 2). VIR eee Index to Advertisers ape a | C. 8. BAUR, General Advertising Manager A. H. DIX, Manager, Reader Service Member, Audit Bureau of Circulations ADVERTISING STAPF Member, Associated Business Papers Emerson Findley. 311 Union Bidg., Cleveland Owned, Published and Copyrighted B lL by Published every Thursday. Subscrip- H. K. Hottenstein, 802 Otis Bidg.. Chicago ® tion Price: Uffited States and Pos- Peirce sessions, Mexico, Cuba, $6.00; Can- Charles hs Fehes Bite.. Chestnut & CHILTON COMPANY ada, $8.50, including duty; Foreign 56th Ou.. uty: (Incorporated) $12.00 a year. Single copy, 25 cents. c w. Executive and Publication Offices, oi Ww. Ch i Séth S Philadelphia, Pa. Cable Address, “‘Ironage. NY. D. ©. A. MUSSELMAN, President PRITZ J. FRANK, Executive Vice-President FREDERIO C. STEVENS, Vice-President JOSEPH 8. HILDRETH, = GEORGE H. GRIFFITHS. EVERIT B. TERHUNE. ERNEST C. HASTINGS, ™ WILLIAM A. BARBER, Treasurer TOHN BLAIR MOFFETT. Secretary band ie PEE He os bi ages Le paloma a a ges > ne magi ge ea mei — — ne > bo KEY TO MAKING STEEL BARS FOR SPECIAL PURPOSES Wraartever kind of carbon bars may be called for, Bethlehem facilities and ex- perience assure bars that fit the require- ments in every detail. Bethlehem maintains files in which every item of information bearing on a custom- er’s requirements is entered. Every set of specifications received is supplemented by minutely detailed informa- tion from these files. In this way Bethlehem Carbon Bars are made as wholly for the customer's particular task as though the steel mill were part of his own plant. Meeting highly specialized carbon-bar requirements has for years been an important Bethlehem activity. The resulting wealth of accumulated data on carbon bars—machining, forging, treatment, analysis, physi- cals, grain-size—provides an advantageous starting point from which to attack and solve new problems. The exact adjustment of carbon steel bars to the purpose offers opportunities for cost-saving too im- portant to neglect. By suggesting a slight adjustment in bar character- istics Bethlehem metallurgists have many times cleared the way for a manufacturer to lower machining or forg- ing costs, remove heat-treatment difficulties, improve his product. Bethlehem District Offices are located at Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Bridgeport, Buffalo, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dal Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, ansas City, a meres sew York, a a, ittsburgh, San Antonio, St. See St. Paul, ashington, Wilkes-Barre, x9 Coast Distributor: fic Coast Steel « orporation, San Francisco, Seattle, inn les, Portland, Salt Lake City, Honolulu. Export Distributor: Bethlehem Steel Export tion, New York. BETHLEHEM STEEL COMPANY GENERAL 16—THE IRON AGE, November 21, 1935 2 fe ge ee ee BETHLEHEM PA ... THE IRON AGE .... NOVEMBER 21, 1935 ESTABLISHED 1855 Vol. 136, No. 21 Fitteen Thousand Miillion Dollars IFTEEN thousand million dollars is big money. Too big for any man to visualize without the aid of comparisons. It is more than the value of all of the physical ere) in the State of Massa- chusetts or New Jersey or Michigan. Land, houses, office buildings, factories, cows, horses, pigs, chickens, motor cars, tractors and what else have you. If some giant hand were to wipe all of the results of man's handiwork from the State of California, you could replace them, lock, stock and barrel, for fifteen thousand million dollars. This huge sum is more than it cost Uncle Sam from 1914 to 1932, inclusive, to run the Navy and Marine Corps, including operations as well as naval construc- tion. And this period took in the World War. Fifteen thousand million dollars would build 35 Panama canals or 500 first line battleships. (The United States has a total of 15 such dreadnaughts; Great Britain has 18.) Make a tape line of five dollar bills sewn end to end, and comprising a total of fifteen thousand million dollars. It would reach from the earth to the moon and a fifth of the way back again. lf it were possible for a man to walk around the world at the equator and to pick up three hundred dollars at each step over land and sea, his ‘'takings'’ on the round trip would be about fifteen thousand million dollars. But if they were dollar bills and he could count them at the rate of 60 per minute, to do so would take him more than 1000 years, working 10 hours per day. Study these comparisons. You really need some idea of the magnitude of fifteen thousand millions of dollars. For that is the amount we are paying for Gov- ernment in the United States per year and if we don't watch out it will go still higher. Because of the many requests for reprints of editorials appearing in THE IRon ae, the publishers have ar- ranged to make such reprints available in any quantity desired at a price representing cost of production and 17 mailing. Please address Reader Service Department, THE IRON AGE, 239 West 39th St., New York City. Sar F asses ON Cnn ae THE stimulus for the production of better re- fractories is not based on expanding or new markets for this type of materials. In other words, there is no parallel to the widening market we are wit- nessing for the use of the light- weight alloys in building construc- tion and transportation. Rather the refractories manufacturer is confronted with a definite trend toward a narrowing and more high- ly critical market. It has thus been necessary for re- fractory makers to set their eco- nomic house in order by scrapping obsolete or high-cost production units, and gradually concentrating manufacturing in fewer and more efficiently operated and economical- ly located units. Diversification of products has assumed importance. Otherwise, the manufacturer who 18—THE IRON AGE, November 21, 1935 ° o ° By LOUIS J. TROSTEL Chief Chemist, General Refractories Co. ° ° ° THE temperature differential between steel mill furnaces and the fusion tem- perature of refractories is relatively much too small for the peace of mind of both the mill operators and the refractory makers. Soaking pits, such as the one illustrated, open-hearths and other stee! mill furnaces all would function more economically and efficiently with refrac- tories more correct chemically and ecent Develop ¢ intends to supply only standard tonnage materials must be satisfied with the limited market in which he has a freight advantage. Of particular importance to en- gineers and other users of refrac- tories has been the production of products better suited technically to specific purposes. Two avenues of approach have been open in attain- ing this objective, namely, new ways of processing old materials and the use of entirely new materials. Great strides have been made by improved processing in developing latent properties of well-known ma- terials, because the industry has not been afraid to depart from old standard practices. New crystal- line combinatiéns and modifications of the well-known refractory oxides have appeared, but no startling in- novations in compositions, since all the well-known high-melting oxides, except beryllia, thoria and zirconia, physically than those now available. either from natural sources or by synthesis, have been utilized. The object of this article is ac- cordingly to point out, as the result of the factors outlined, trends in processing, the refractories avail- able as the result of more scientific processing, and some applications of these newer products. If empha- sis in places seems to be overdrawn on products or processes which at present are costly or do not repre- sent the bulk of the tonnage of the industry, it is done purposely to record some thought-provoking changes which have taken place. In general, the conventional man- ufacture of refractories has always been effected in the five unit opera- tions which follow: (a) Grinding and screening (b) Mixing (c) Pressing or molding (d) Drying (e) Burning OPfhents and |rends in Refractory Processes and Materials A great deal of practical knowl- edge and skill has been developed in the course of time regarding these unit operations, and has served as an admirable background for later, more distinct, technical achievements. The efficient opera- tion of standard machines, control of the size of the finished product within established tolerances, insis- tence on good workmanship to make a product of good appear- ance, and maintenance of breakage and other losses within economical limits have received a great deal of attention. Gradually there has developed a realization of the value of determin- ing in advance the definite guiding principles of processes which need to be controlled to enhance the unique properties which fit refrac- tories for their special field of en- gineering materials. The recognition of high bulk density, in any given group of re- fractory materials, as the most im- portant single property which may be controlled in manufacture, and which affects the greatest number of other important properties in ser- vice, such as strength, volume sta- bility, slag and spalling resistance, and heat capacity, has resulted in the application of most of the more novel principles in manufacturing. Grinding, Mixing and Molding The first point of approach to increased density obviously is the size of the grains constituting the batch. Grinding, however, has al- ways been largely a matter of re- duction of the original raw or calcined material to some estab- lished upper limit of coarseness. N this article, the first of a two-article series, the author points out that a narrowing and more critical market has been the stimulus for improvement of refractories. And improved refractories have been developed by several novel principles in manufacturing, namely, grain sizing, increased molding pressures to as high as 10,000 lb. per sq. in., de-airing of the batch, pre-stabilizing the grog, developing high crystal- linity by super-firing, direct electrocasting of refractories, and forming by the Ritex process in which firing is entirely eliminated. Newer refractories are named and described. These modern products include super-duty fireciay, mullite from cyanite, electrocast mullite, chrome spinel and magnesite, a magnesium silicate from olivine, un- burned magnesite and chrome brick, insulating firebrick, and castable mixtures with a hydraulic set. Mixes are expressed as fine, medi- um, or coarse, simply when all the material passes an opening of a certain width. This produces a collection of grains of heterogene- ous sizes and proportions, grading down in diameter from the width of the screen used for sizing. A number of refractories are now available in which high density is achieved by carefully screening out grains falling within certain size bands, and recombining them in definite proportions. It has been found by experimen- tation that the densest mixtures closely approach binary systems of rather coarse and fine grains, in which the proportion of coarse to fine particles is about 55 to 45 per cent, and the percentage of inter- mediate particles is maintained at a minimum. The application of this principle is, of course, modi- fied by a number of factors. It may be used most successfully on highly crystalline materials which do not compact readily under pressure and conversely is of least value in brick mixes of inherently high plasticity. The exact bands of sizes which are most effective in producing high density are dependent upon the type of fracture and shape of grain produced by crushing or grinding, as well as the softness of the ma- terial. The function of the mixing op- eration at one time was conceived to be mostly the homogeneous dis- tribution of the various clays or other minerals used in a batch. The true function of the mixing operation is now recognized to be the distribution of the plastic ma- terial so as to coat thoroughly the non-plastic constituents. Thus there is provided a lubricant dur- ing the subsequent molding oper- ation to create free plastic flow of the batch particles and permit them to be bonded to a mass with a min- imum amount of voids. Improvements in mixing have THE IRON AGE, November 21, 1935—19 meri est ke y Cis Sia me ae we asoksc inert teks SE Sn ese Nadal SAE. * SME A cade ot ~ rene Ue SRM Et rhea mete ee * ' been needed where the percentage of plastic material is low, as in the dry press method, and have been effected by departing from the older style of wet pan, a type of edge runner mill, to the use of pans of the Simpson type. In the older pans the wheels are mounted so they rotate over the bed of the pan at its periphery. In the Simpson type, the wheels are mounted very close to the cen- ter of the bed of the pan, causing a corresponding increase in the slip or shearing effect of the wheels and more effectively rubbing or coating the plastic material on the non- plastic grains. Regarding the molding proce- dure, the original conception was merely the shaping of the ware. Accordingly, hand-molded batches were generally designed with a high proportion of plastic material and moisture. Hand molding per- 1Qhio State University Engineering Experiment Station Bulletin Nos. 56, 82 and 74. sisted because it was adapted to small production and the manu- facture of odd shapes. With the necessity for faster production of uniform standard sizes, the stiff- mud process developed in which a column of clay is continuously ex- truded through a die of certain size and shape. This was an advance over the hand molding process in many respects since the batch was somewhat drier and denser, but the presence of lamination planes in the clay column has always been a major weakness. The continual call for brick of greater density, strength, volume stability and uni- formity eventually resulted in the dry-press method of molding with mechanically operated presses, which is particularly suited for batches of mostly non-plastic ma- terial. The effect of the amount of pressure per unit area employed in the dry-press method, however, has been appreciated so little that it has been only recently, in going over to high pressures on mechani- cal presses, that it was determined Tus 800-ton hy- draulic press is the world's largest, and is used in the manu- facture of Ritex brick at General Refrac- tories’ Baltimore Works. with certainty what pressures were in use. Some brick manufacturer: thought they were operating with pressures of 5000 Ib. per sq. in., whereas actually 1500 lb. per sq. in. was found to be about the maxi- mum. Rate of pressure applica- tion has been mostly a matter of keeping up with production re- quirements. An obvious method of increasing density, though attended by many practical difficulties, was to in- crease the molding pressure. This did not follow until one manufac- turer installed a specially con- structed hydraulic press for regu- lar brick production. This press was capable of pressing at 10,000 lb. per sq. in., which stepped up the pressure five to ten times over that attained on the usual mechani- cal press. There should be men- tioned, also, the systematic study at the Ohio State University En- gineering Experiment Station’ of methods to overcome the numerous practical difficulties arising with the use of these super-pressures. Compression of the air entrapped in the voids of dry-press brick dur- ing pressing, with subsequent ex- pansion upon sudden release of the pressure, results in a very undesir- able type of lamination or pressure crack, and the higher the pressure the worse the lamination. In order to take advantage of the high den- sity possible with high pressure, various means of de-airing brick during pressing were suggested in the above studies and now are be- ing rapidly extended. The de-airing of dry-press brick may be accomplished in one of four ways, each with certain tech- nical and economical advantages. Slowing down the rate of pres- sure transmission and pressure re- lease is effective since the air com- pressed within the voids can slowly seep out through the sides of the brick and mold box. Double-pressing is another scheme which has been tried. The method consists in applying a very high pressure, not lower than 5000 Ib. per sq. in., sufficient to allow the brick to crack. The brick are then repressed to heal the lamina- tion planes. De-airing by the use of a gas is also applicable. A gas such as bu- tane is used to flood the mold box displacing the air. With the ap- plication of pressure from the press ram on the mix, the gas either is \ /ERTICAL extru- sion press with ecial die equip- ent employed in e manufacture of ollow refractories. adsorbed by the clay or condensed, and the mix then flows together to a well-knit mass. Certain hazards in connection with the use of such an inflammable gas have delayed the extension of this process to date. The use of a vacuum, either through vents in the sides of the mold box, or through perforated or porous plates such as Aloxite at the top and bottom of the mold box, is the method which holds most promise for dry-press brick. Successful de-airing of stiff-mud brick by vacuum has extended rapidly since 1932 in the industry and the number of installations is more general than for the de-airing of dry-press brick. In the stiff- mud de-airing process the shredded clay is fed from a pug mill into a chamber maintained under a vacu- um of about 25 in. of mercury and then extruded as a continuous col- umn by an auger through the die which forms the ware. Improved density and nearly complete elimi- nation of the lamination planes typical of products made by this molding process are accompanied by a very high increase in strength. The molding of large special shapes, which do not adapt them- selves to machine molding, has been improved by borrowing some of the advantages of the other proc- esses. It is now possible to mold dry-press batches by hand, tamp- ing with pneumatic tools, into shapes of very high density and uniform workmanship equivalent in every way to brick made on the most powerful presses. The method further retains all the flexibility of the old hand-made process for mak- ing difficult shapes on a small scale. Drying and Burning Discussed Drying has for its purpose re- moval of the moisture, often con- siderable in high plastic mixes, which was added preparatory to molding in order to develop plas- ticity. This added water, however, when subsequently eliminated, not only leaves voids which contribute to low density, but causes high shrinkages and internal strains in proportion to the amount of mois- ture present. Accordingly, use of the minimum feasible amount of water is desirable. The so-called dry-press process, really semi-dry press, involving the use of only 5 to 8 per cent of moisture in a high non-plastic batch, as compared with 10 to 15 per cent in the stiff-mud method with a high plastic batch, has been extended gradually to the manufacture of all types of re- fractory materials. The elimination of such a large part of the moisture, as one of the essential constituents of dry-press batches, has progressed to the point where dryers are omitted in some tunnel kiln plants and the brick is loaded directly from the press into the kiln cars. The little drying that is necessary is accomplished during the heating-up stage of the burning cycle. The plasticity necessary for batches composed of 90 to 95 per cent grog has been successfully developed with very little moisture by the addition of an electrolyte to promote the colloidal character of the smal] amount of bond clay used. This method has received its great- est commercial development prob- ably in Germany, though it is also now in use in this country. Shapes as long as 36 to 48 in. and 2 in. thick have been made by this scheme and molded by the pneu- matic tamping method. By thus maintaining the moisture at a low figure, the dried size is practically the molded size and nearly all strains attendant upon drying are eliminated. Burning, or firing, as conducted (CONTINUED ON PAGE 90) THE IRON AGE, November 21, 1935—2! tr ha! ‘ ee ee ee ee . on aan leh tis ge italia sie wilt aren ti ce ar segriny ee Sie Sie A esse pes 6 aati il pte Ril he aypmenmpibintiie: Gai a Stet Mie LANER-TYPE_ wmillers—including straddle milling ma- chines—now employed at the plants of the General Steel Castings Corpn. for machining one-piece locomotive bed cast- ings, with cylinders and cradle cast integral, were illustrated and described in the first part of this article, in THE IRON a] AGE of Nov. 7, page 26. Cross planers, planer-type slotters, i E cylinder boring, drilling and other machine shop equipment for Bi operations other than milling are dealt with in this, the concluding, part of the article. a 5 RR GO ° ° °o i) yi THE Betts cross p!aner head is driven back and forth along mews: shown in Fig. 7 is a the crossrail by a helical gear hie i planer of special de- meshing with the rack attached to te hi * sign with dimensions the crossrail. The helical gear is ni & suitable for operations on the large on an angular shaft which is ot % ; bed castings. Smaller machines of driven by helical gears from a 20- ‘ HT this type have been used for many hp. reversing planer-type motor ; years on smaller products. Each mounted on the head. Adjustable 22—THE IRON AGE, November 2/, 1935 dogs on the crossrail reverse the direction of the heads, a rapid re- turn stroke being provided. The too! holders have hand adjustment on the heads, but the table is pro- vided with electric feed and trav- erse along the bed by a 25-hp. motor driving through a worm and rack. The crossrail is elevated by a separate motor on the top brace. The machine has a distance of 11 ft. between housings, 8 ft. under tools. The table is 50 ft. long. A number of planer-type slot- ters have been used at Granite City for many years. A new type of Betts cross planer, shown in Fig. 8, has recent'y been built for the Eddystone shop. A_ vertical slotting head is mounted on the crossrail in place of the left-hand cross planing head. The slotting tings Machined on Special Equipment we . the i re- The ment pro- rav- -hp. and d by race. f il nder slot- nite type » in for tical the and ting ram is driven by a helical gear meshing with rack teeth cut in the rear surface of the ram. The heli- cal gear is on an angu'ar shaft driven by helical gears from a 20-hp. reversing planer-type motor mounted on the head. Adjustable dogs on the slotting head reverse the direction of the ram. The slot- ting head may be swiveled. In ad- dition to the table feed and trav- erse, the slotting head my be fed or traversed across the crossrail by a screw and nut. The screw is rotated by the table feed motor. The machine has 11 ft. between housings, 10 ft. under tools. The table is 60 ft. long. The Ingersoll cylinder boring machine, shown in Fig. 9, is de- AT LEFT IG. 7—Two-head cross planer (Betts) of special design for operations on large one-piece locomo- tive bed castings. AT RIGHT IS. 8— Combina- tion cross planer and vertical slotter recently built for the Eddystone, Pa., shop. A vertical slotting head is mounted in place of the left- hand cross-planing head. By M. M. MeCALL signed to bore the cylinders from the rear. Less shop space was required when the operation was performed in this manner, and the pilot beam on the bed casting could be made full Jength in front of the cylinders. The bed casting is set up on the centering and raising blocks (shown in the center), which accurately center the cast- ing arid locate it at the proper height to bore the cylinders, Each boring head has independent cross adjustment and is adjusted against accurate distance blocks to obtain the correct center distance between the cylinders. The boring spindle on each head is driven by a 75-hp. motor. The spindle rotates in a ‘large anti-friction bearing in the front end of the long support cast- ing bolted to the front of the bor- ing head drive box. The boring and facing heads are attached to the spindle where they project beyond the anti-friction bearing. Each boring head is fed and trav- ersed by Oilgear hydraulic feed. The adjustable bracket in the fore- ground, clamps on a lug on the side of the cylinder, helping to THE IRON AGE, November 21, [935—23 Pe ai 7 ie wy err ra te a eS Top ~ecgnneean coe Ty Se ea ee § a aoncr dts Dat saat” ars consis ce hold the cylinder steady during the boring operation. When customers required the rear cylinder heads to be cast in- tegral with the cylinders, it was necessary to arrange this machine to bore the cylinders from the front. The pilot beam was made shorter and a bed extension was necessary on the machine to sup- port the bed casting when mounted in the reverse position. Valve Hole Boring The holes for the piston valves are bored from both ends of the 24—THE IRON AGE, November 21, 1935 cored opening in which the valve ports for each end of the cylinder are located. Fig. 10 shows an In- gersoll valve boring machine, The bed casting is set up on the center- ing and raising blocks in the cen- ter, which are similar to the blocks used on the cylinder boring ma- chine. The two beds upon which each boring mechanism is mounted have independent cross adjustment and are adjusted against accurate distance blocks to obtain the cor- rect distance between the valve holes. Each boring spindle is ro- tated by a 20-hp. motor. The bor- 1G. 9—Cylinde, boring machi: designed to bore +! cylinders from th rear. Performed this manner, less shop space is ro- quired. Each boring head is fed and tra versed by an Oil- gear hydraulic feed. 8 8 e n ing spindle with cutters in place is fed into the front end of the valve hole by means of a quill on the spindle, the feed being mechan- ical. Cutters for boring the rear end of the valve hole are mounted on a hollow spindle in a rear cutter head, which slides on the boring machine bed, and is located behind the rear face of the cylinder. These cutters are driven by splines in the extension of the boring spindle which extends through the valve hole and drives the hollow spindle while sliding through it. The cut- IS. 10—Holes for piston valves are bored from both ends of the cored opening on this valve hole boring machine. linder achine ore the m the med in r, less iS re- boring nd tra > feed. place ' the ll on han- end d on itter ring hind hese the ndle alve ndle cut- re th od e. ters in the rear cutter head are fed into the valve hole from the rear as the rear cutter head is fed along the bed by means of a revolv- ing nut on a fixed screw in the bed. The feed is transmitted from the spindle feed mechanism by a spline IS. 11—Combina- tion machine em- ployed for drilling and boring numerous holes in the bed casting. shaft, and the proper amount is obtained by changes on the rear cutter head. The spindle and the rear cutter head may be rapid traversed in either direction. Care- ful design was necessary on this machine to bore the valve holes in different bed castings and prevent interference between the bed cast- ing and the parts of the machine. Numerous Holes Drilled and Bored in Bed Numerous holes are drilled and bored in the bed castings. These holes have been drilled and bored on some of the milling machines and on special frame drills and radial drills mounted on traveling carriages. The latest machine for these operations is the Betts com- bination drilling and boring ma- chine shown in Fig. 11. THE IRON AGE, November 21, 1935—25 The right-hand head on the crossrail is a right-angle unit for drilling horizontal holes parallel or perpendicular to the face of the crossrail, The vertical spindle is arranged to swivel to suit the di- rection of the drilling operation. 1G. 12—Combina- tion milling and planing machine for machining the bind- ers, which are bolted across the pedestal openings on the loco motive bed castings. The head is fed in and out on the face of an arm when drilling holes perpendicular to the face of the crossrail, and the arm is fed along the face of the crossrail when drill- ing parallel holes. The spindle is driven by a 5-hp. motor mounted (CONTINUED ON PAGE 94) Sain er ae Camedia te Tie, os ery all i du 1a ae * Pargtses z Sorat Saris aa aah = Sey Fag CTU f S-as een at ewetctti pent ay es ne ome sinatra geen ethene ae “ame ong = ee MELTS Haak. conor mee ar ig 9 = anche mai oe = ne ce tr ct Tal a Mow ef wal vp laegpiaisen is seule hye metal sree? EW moe = Ll, seme eed an a mae Pe eis, Arete oan apenas VERTICAL hot tube bell type annealers, utilizing gas fuel, con- stitute one of the lat- est innovations in steel sheet mill practice. The feature of these an- nealers is the system of heating, which consists of a ggries of verti- cal tubes which are so located as to be inside of the furnace but with the ends protruding through the walls. Gas burners fire into the lower ends and the hot products of combustion exit at the upper. The vertical portion of the tubes are thus heated and this heat is radi- ated into the interior of the fur- nace. The furnace proper is known as the cover, for it is lifted on and off a base by crane. The base is loaded with a stack of sheets and the cover is then dropped down onto the base. The cover and base are made air tight with a sand seal. The hot tubes 26—THE IRON AGE, November 21, 1935 take the place of a muffle and these furnaces supersede the old time box annealers which were rolled in and out of large brick and refrac- tory furnaces. While only 24 months old no less than 107 of these vertical hot tube annealers have already been installed in vari- ous sheet mills. Although the use of hot tubes of this type has so far been confined to sheet steel an- nealers, their application to many other kinds of heating is clearly indicated. One reason for the unusual ac- ceptance of this annealer is that the vertical heating element allows the fuel to be burned in the lower section of the tube. Thus a great portion of the heat liberated is radiated to the bottom of the charge where it is most needed. Another desirable factor is that the first cost of the equipment is about half that of the old-style Improved Vertical Hot | ube §/ double-box furnaces and auxiliary equipment. Sheet steel annealing is a com- paratively low temperature opera- tion, around 1300 deg. F., but these vertical hot tubes can be used on any kind of heat treating furnace requiring much higher tempera- tures, up to and including 1850 deg. F. These new annealers or covers are rectangular in shape and con- sist of a refractory shell insulated and enclosed in a gas-tight steel case. They are built in six sizes to correspond to the six standard sizes of sheets, ranging from 36 to 84 in. in width and will take stacks 62 in. high. The vertical hot tubes are lo- cated on the side walls of the cover, 6 to 18 on a side or 12 to 36 in all, according to the size of the annealer. The hot tubes are of chrome-nickel alloy and are all alike, each being 4 in. in diameter ITH the experi- ence gained in operating the older type of annealer, this improved model was designed. Better combustion engineer- ing has resulted in a less complex and more efficient unit. De A\nnealers and 36 in. long between elbows, while the inlets and outlets are 3 in. in diameter. They are made up in three different ways using fabri- cated tubes with welded elbows, solid cast elbows and cast elbows welded to the tubes. The gas burners are of the blast type and fire into the lower end of the ver- tical hot tubes. A new principle in securing a greater efficiency in tube type heat- ing is the application of refrac- tory “core busters,” a principle de- veloped by the Lee Wilson organi- zation. These “core busters” are star-shaped baffles, several of which are inserted within each tube to form a chain, from the upper elbow to a point about half way to the lower elbow. The dual effect of these core busters is to cause the hot products of combus- tion to scour the tube thereby giv- ing up the maximum amount of CRANE has lift- ed the vertical hot tube annealer from the pack. Note the corrugated steel inner cover to pro- tect the charge dur- ing cooling. ° ° By LEE WILSON President, Lee Wilson Engineering Co. ° heat and at the same time, they be- come incandescent so that consider- able additional heat is forced through the tube by radiation. A third effect of these core busters is to so baffle the tubes that the combustion is completed in the lower portion of the tube thereby concentrating the greatest amount of heat at the bottom of the fur- nace where it is vitally needed. This principle of applying the heat of combustion at the bottom and utilizing the core busters to take out the maximum amount of heat from the waste gases in the upper portion of the tube results in from 20 to 25 per cent greater pro- duction. Conversely, a similar amount of fuel is saved. An actual! test of two identical annealers on the same work in the same mill, one without the core busters and one with, showed a fuel consump- tion of 1170 cu. ft. of gas per net ° ton of steel for the old type and only 910 cu. ft. for the new. Granulated and stuck corners, sometimes acquired when heating short charges, are entirely elimi- nated by the ure of the individually fired vertical hot tubes because it is possible to shut off the end tubes and the corner heat. During cool- ing the charge is protected from the atmosphere by a corrugated steel inner cover so that the outer can be used on another charge. In this way the maximum production is obtained with the least number of covers. Another recent development is the use of a throttling temperature control, which proportions the vol- ume of fuel to the actual tempera- ture requirements of the furnace, and makes it possible to obtain, when using vertical hot tubes, the maximum efficiency from this type of annealer. As the furnace comes THE IRON AGE, November 21, 1935—27 up to the desired temperature, the throttling control reduces slightly the volume of fuel being burned. This, in turn, reduces the tempera- ture of the tube an equal amount at the top, middle and bottom, the bottom still remaining consider- ably hotter than the top so as to continue pushing the bottom of the 28—THE IRON AGE, November 21, charge. By the use of the throt- tling control, in conjunction with vertical hot tubes, it is possible to obtain automatically the desired temperature gradient between the bottom and the top of the charge, regardless of charge height or length of cycle. While practice at different mills XTERNAL view of one of the old- type vertical hot tube annealers. This medium sized unit uses 24 hot tubes. varies somewhat, one company us- ing a number of these annealers makes up charges of sheets rang- ing from 35,000 to 45,000 Ib. each and measuring from 30 in. by 96 in. to 36 in. by 96 in. Each charge is heated to 1300 deg. F., which requires about 12 hr., and then the cover is removed and set XTERNAL end view of an im- proved vertical hot tube annealer in op- eration. Note the simpler design as compared with the older type shown above. S ECTION through a vertical hot hot tube annealer show- This ing details of con- unit struction of outer as. cover and burner units. Also shown are the shape and arrangement of the core busters in the heating tubes. ° ° ° H ESS RR aH SL BS SZ; on the next base and charge. Gas the usual 12 hr., after which the electric furnkte has claimed over consumption runs between 1000 burners are turned off and it is al- the vertical hot tube annealer was and 1100 cu. ft. per ton without lowed to soak for 6 hr. longer. At simplicity of design and ease of S- the core busters. Deep drawing the end of this period the cover is starting. The newly designed ver- rs stock for automobile fenders, ra- removed, but the inner cover is tical hot tube annealer is simplicity e- diator shells, cowls, etc., requires left in place to protect the charge itself as reference to the accom- ch slow cooling. The above practice from the atmosphere until the panying photographs will disclose. 6 is varied in other plants by using temperature has been reduced to The lighting up of this furnace is 2 an inner cover. In this case the 300 deg. F. now accomplished by touching a . charge is heated to 1300 deg. F. in The one advantage the bell type _ button. pt Steel Protects Government Records HE intricate system of metal stacks, shelves and drawers now being built to accommodate official records of the United States Govern- ment in the $10,000,000 archives building recently completed at Washington, will occupy approximately half of the structure's 8,700,- 000 cu.. ft. Agitation for the estab- lishment of a permanent home for the original docu- ments important in the na- tion’s history extended over a century and a quarter, be- fore the building was finally authorized by Congressional adoption of the Sixty-ninth bill for the purpose. Installation of the first completed by the Berger amounted to about 1200 tons miles. It took Berger four Canton, Ohio, a of finished material and filled months to fabricate the ma- unit of stacks, representing Mfg. Co., from an eighth to a tenth of division the present building’s re- Corpn. quirements, is just being The end the finished of Republic Steel 66 freight cars. Laid end to terial, according to L. 58. cases and Hamaker, vice-president and total shipments uprights would reach 175 general manager. THE IRON AGE, November 2!, 1935—29 LL cam contours on the camshaft are turned at one setting on a Melling lathe. Att pin bearings on the crankshaft are turned and cheeked on a LeBlond 6AC two-spindle crankshaft lathe. Machining Packard YLINDER bores in the cylinder block are honed on a Barnes honing machine equipped with Micromatic hones. 30—THE IRON AGE, November 21, 1935 WELVE oil holes in the lower ring groove of the aluminum alloy pistons and one clear- ance hole for cutting the slot in the skirted piston are drilled on this Ex-Cell-O machine. INISH cutting of teeth on all transmission gears is done on rotary gear finishing machines made by the National Broach & Machine Co. Derations on the ne | wenty SPECIAL chuck is used in diamond boring the bronze bushing in the reverse idler gear. THE IRON. AGE, November 21, 1935—31 , Tee Frew prey ey SS 7 ebllp BP a mone been ieee iri GE ON ly fee Ba te ont eer SRR er me o are catnip PE Celie na A SS tee TH nh a i, en ln > he ae as Rai ers. » SABE CETL ene 5 ey a etree Rd seine ht FeO ns « = “ a - » i + te Se 7 aN int: Pimrdage “sania Rarege | mystic Je 5 oe ceceuater thane, aaa CC te acierepcenenceteeiencetaatiintateapca et Stainless A\lloy Lining |_engthens | ite USE of carbon steel for load-carrying pur- poses in conjunction with a stainless alloy lining as a protection against cor- rosion offers numerous advantages to any processing industry requir- ing vessels that must remain free from the effects of corrosion and where contamination is a factor. The use of this type of construc- tion is illustrated graphically by the oil cracking industry which imposes the severest kinds of tests upon its equipment and which has attempted many means of protec- 32—THE IRON AGE, November 21, 1935 tion against excessive cost of equipment and operation, as well as against the hazards which re- sult from corrosion lowering the safety factor. Carbon steels and low alloy steels in general are attacked, at cracking temperatures, by oils con- taining impurities such as sulphur compounds. It is customary to compensate for this attack by re- ducing the allowable working pres- sure or temperature each time inspection shows it to be necessary. Although this control of stress tends to preserve safety, it has little effect in promoting the lon- gevity of vessels and is detrimental to the process efficiency. Refiners have been alert in see- ing the possibility of temporarily preserving cracking vessels by con- structing them with excess wall thickness. As long as relatively non-corrosive oils were processed, this compensation was effective for quite a period. In conjunction with temporary coatings, excess wall thickness proved beneficial, since corrosion still caused a reduction in the thickness at local areas as progressive failure of these coat- ORLD'S largest cracking unit, combined weight about 700,000 Ib., partly lined with sheet alloy by the Smith method. OMPLETELY lined oil crack- ing still for service in the Far East. Av ings occurred. However, the prac- tice of building the vessels with excess wall thickness is now giving place to more effective and eco- nomical methods of preservation. One of the first outstanding metallurgical developments of im- portance to the cracking industry was the introduction of arc-welded vessels by the A. O. Smith Corpn. Previously, the refiner was forced to use relatively small forged ves- sels or thin-walled vessels of riv- eted or hammer-welded construc- tion. Corrosion caused a rapid and oftentimes serious weakening, particularly of the latter type of vessels. The construction, made possible by welding with properly covered electrodes, opened the way for dependable joints, larger sizes and heavier walls, thus improving longevity and efficiency. Since corrosion results from cer- tain impurities found in the oil, some individuals advocated that these ingredients should be re- moved or made harmless. How- ever, the general conclusion, to date, has been that the removal of corrosive ingredients from charging stocks by chemical reac- tion is usually very difficult to ac- complish as well as prohibitive in cost. Neutralizing agents, such as lime or caustic added to charging stocks to render the oil less harm- ful at cracking temperatures, have also had a rather limited applica- tion. Ganister linings have been used considerably in recent years. They consist essentially of inert aggre- gates bonded with cement. Preven- tion of rapid disintegration is accomplished by applying the gan- ister in thicknesses of one inch or more over a metallic reinforcing grid, which is bonded to the inner surface of the vessel. Refractory paints have been tried as a means of internal pro- of Oi Cracking Units By O. E. ANDRUS A. O. Smith Corpn., Milwaukee MITHEINED oil vessel in course of construction showing close spacing of resistance welds. tection for vessels, but have given little satisfaction because of po- rosity and susceptibility to me- chanical injury. Chromium plating was one of the first metallurgical attempts to combat corrosion, and means were developed for its application and repair at the refinery. The chro- mium deposit remained inert chiefly because of the formation of a very adherent and resistant film upon its surface. Although unaffected by corrosion, the plat- ing was found to be susceptible to mechanical injury and expensive to apply. Another metallurgical develop- ment deserving mention is that of sprayed «aluminum. Comparatively thick deposits are reported to have given protection for some time ex- cept when subjected to mechanical abuse. THE IRON AGE, November 21, 1935—33 An inspection facility, developed and patented by the writer and suitable for use in all vessels built without permanent linings, con- sists of non-corrosive alloy buttons or plugs welded to the wall at con- venient locations. These buttons or plugs eliminate the necessity for drilling holes, since, as corrosion progresses, they stand out in relief, thereby enabling the inspector to determine quickly and accurately the corrosion loss and any distor- tion of the vessel. Cracking vessels, fabricated en- tire'y of corrosion-resistant alloys, have been considered but generally found prohibitive for several good reasons. The non-corroding met- als, such as the high chromium and high chromium-nickel alloys, are too expensive to warrant their use for load carrying purposes. (CONTINUED ON PAGE 96) yop os 7 pre er Ste nL rae ps BEG aie Bali i 7 oa a ey ae ee a ee rae hairs , . asc lias ia fe oa Mal oa ES SM i a ee dee o i rae ee re a: me . . < ae t ¥ “ 1 an pia Cad hi ey Pee wake be peer ae Bitatiintons c, , Sy hioehets ko. perce > | tesa | as ip eb Sa me mg FC Acie Se canting OT ae fs rs LORS Beis A INE BD ang ep atagainen ss . ate We ab netic eM sae nae: ig | oe ee ee 2 ern ~ eee eee PF. ; Reba Dee! EN) Tear LE Sap L a Sim wire nears, Se: ecrbites Gee ahny et eH is) RE POAT RE Se eer his ba sittic FIs. I—Slab ingot being removed from the new circular ingot heating furnace. The unit in the Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. plant handles 140 tons daily. A. New THE original concep- tion of the so-called soaking pit, involved in all processes of steel making, was an insulated chamber into which steel ingots were charged soon after stripping the pouring molds. This chamber al- lowed the cooling process to con- tinue until the molten interior of the ingot had solidified and until the entire ingot had arrived at a uniform temperature suitable for rolling. Very early in the history of steel making, these pits were designed for an actual heating of the ingot on the outside while the interior cooled. This procedure was followed in order to speed up production and to obtain approximately the same temperature of ingots at the roll- ing mill, this temperature being in- dependent of the history of the ingot up to that time. For many years, all such pits were fired by the Siemens regen- erative principle, as were most of the early furnaces in the steel in- dustry. In very recent years, one new development is recorded, name- ly, the “one-way fired” soaking pit, in which the regenerators are re- placed by continuous recuperators and in which the circulation of flame is constant, following a horse- 34—THE IRON AGE, November 21, 1935 Ingot Heating Furnace shoe shaped path from the top of the pit to the bottom. With this exception, there has been practically no improvement or change in the design of soaking pits previous to the furnace de- scribed herein, although rapid strides have been made in better designs for similar heating equip- ment above ground. It seems as if combustion engineers, in looking about for places to improve opera- tions, had missed the soaking pit because it was out of sight in the ground. The new furnace, called an ingot heating furnace to differentiate it from the old-fashioned pit devoid of all modern improvements, is de- signed to incorporate all of the de- velopments which have been made in other high temperature equip- ment, including insulation, sealing means for control of atmosphere, premixing of fuel, proportioning control of fuel and air, automatic temperature control, and uniform- ity of temperature. The furnace described here was designed and built by the Salem Engineering Co., Salem, Ohio, at the Campbell Works of the Youngs- town Sheet and Tube Co. This furnace has been in continuous operation for six months. The ac- companying illustrations show the furnace in operation. The hole is circular in section, with a charging opening 11 ft. in diameter, and 7 ft. deep, lined with firebrick of special quality with ex- tremely low spalling character- istics. This firebrick is backed up with 5 in. of insulating brick. The entire furnace is contained in a circular shell of simple design. The circular cover is suspended from a trolley equipped with sepa- rate mechanisms for traversing and for raising and lowering the cover. The cover seals in a sand trough and is arranged to travel both ways from the center to re- duce the average area of opening required for loading and unloading the hole, with consequent reduction cf the large amount of heat loss represented by radiation from the working opening in any type of soaking pit. The pit is fired by means of gas burners, arranged to utilize gas of approximately 500 B.t.u. per cu. ft. thermal value. This gas is made up of a mixture of blast furnace, coke oven and natural gases. The burners fire tangentially through the wall at the bottom of the pit, where the wall is greater in diam- eter than it is at the top, so that the gases travel some distance after leaving the burner before striking any ingot. The products of combustion are vented through a port in the center of the bottom of the furnace and are conducted through a horizontal flue to a short stack about 8 ft. high. The center port in the furnace is also the cleanout opening for making bot- tom. The proper mixture of gas and air is automatically maintained by means of a zero governor and pro- portional mixer, and means is pro- vided to quickly change the gas- air ratio to suit any change in the type of gas supplied to the furnace. Air is supplied to the furnace at 16 ounces pressure by an individual blower. The temperature in the furnace is automatically controlled by a standard recording pyrometer and platinum thermocouple. The couple is inserted throug