580 



METALLURGY. 



improvised and imperfect apparatus, he be- 

 lieves that, when the fluid metal can he charged 

 into the open - hearth furnace, the time re- 

 quired for its conversion into mild steel will be 

 very greatly shortened. 



In view of the success of European experi- 

 ments in melting iron and steel with gases re- 

 sulting from the decomposition of steam by 

 incandescent coal, Mr. N. Lilienberg and Mr. 

 George S. D wight have devised a plan for pro- 

 ducing and burning those gases in a manner 

 economical and efficient for metallurgical pur- 

 poses. Their apparatus is so adjusted that 

 the air and the water-gas in a pre-heated state 

 meet under an oblique angle and create an in- 

 tensely heated flame, which is turned directly 

 on the metal in the deepest part of the bath ; 

 and they pass also toward the furnace, through 

 channels in which the heat gradually increases 

 as the furnace is approached. 



Several improved coke - ovens have been 

 brought to notice, in the construction of 

 which provision is made for saving the by- 

 products of the coking process. In the oven 

 built on the Francois system, as used in France 

 and Belgium, the furnaces have in the side- 

 walls vertical flues, and the gases are carried 

 off from under the beds through ports. The 

 Coppee oven is by its small width and the 

 arrangements of its channels especially suited 

 for poor coals. Among its other characteris- 

 tics are combustion of gas by double admission 

 of air, with entire suppression of smoke ; the 

 collection of all the hot gases in a large conduit 

 and their utilization for heating boilers; and 

 galleries for cooling and preserving brick- work. 

 A largely increased yield is secured with this 

 oven, which is rated at 70 tons of coke for 

 every 100 tons of coal burned. 



In designing the Jameson oven, the inventor 

 has had in view to use the ordinary bee-hive 

 oven, with some alterations and additions, and 

 to employ a portion of the highly heated coal 

 charge for giving the requisite heat, and obtain- 

 ing the highest degree of heat for coking. For 

 the purpose of collecting the waste products, 

 the oven bottom is perforated and provided 

 with a cast-iron suction-pipe. When the ex- 

 hauster is started, it carries the nascent prod- 

 ucts of distillation, and all gaseous products 

 resulting from the process of coking, through 

 condensing-pipes, settling-tanks, etc., so as to 

 recover the ammonia, light and heavy oils, and 

 tarry products, from which many beautiful 

 dyes are manufactured. The gas, in a very 

 pure state, is the last residual product passing 

 away. It can be used for heating and lighting. 



It is claimed for the Simon-Carves oven that 

 it possesses the economical advantages of all 

 the other designs of ovens, and provides a more 

 extensive detail than any other apparatus for 

 the saving of all available by-products. It aims, 

 in a higher degree than is done in any other 

 oven, at the utilization of the waste products 

 and at a greater yield in percentage of coke, 

 and is extremely expeditious. It consists of a 



number of long, high, and narrow chambers 

 or ovens, of brick- work, built side by side! 

 with partition-walls between them, sufficiently 

 thick to contain horizontal flues. Flues are 

 also formed under the floor of each oven. 

 Thus the oven is not only heated at the bot- 

 tom, but also evenly at the sides, and the 

 coal becomes rapidly and completely coked. 

 Through the middle of the roof is extended a 

 gas-pipe, provided with a hydraulic valve, 

 through which the volatile products of distil- 

 lation rise and are led through a range of ex- 

 ternally cooled pipes. 



Mr. F. W. Gordon, of Philadelphia, claims 

 for the Gordon converter, of which he is the 

 inventor, that in it intensity of chemical action 

 is removed from the lining, whereby the dura- 

 bility of the same is insured ; that the tuyeres 

 are readily replaced ; that they may be with- 

 drawn instantaneously and simultaneously, 

 without complications of construction ; that it 

 requires only a mild blast, whereby expensive 

 blowing machinery is avoided ; that it secures 

 a reduction of carbon and silicon to any desired 

 extent, even to totality ; that it is readily ac- 

 cessible for repairs in every part ; that the cost 

 of its construction and maintenance is low; 

 that by it the best steel is produced from high- 

 grade pig-irons, Bessemer steel from ordinary 

 pig-irons, phosphorus steel from common pig- 

 irons ; and chilling irons, malleable irons, strong 

 machinery irons, and semi-steel and steel cast- 

 ings from ordinary grades of mineral-fuel pig- 

 irons. The special features of the converter 

 are the durability of the sides and bottom, and 

 the tuyere, which dips into the bath through 

 side-holes piercing the shell, and is moved into 

 and out of the metal, automatically, by the 

 action of the blast. 



In the Davy process, devised by Mr. Alfred 

 Davy, of Sheffield, the converter is simply the 

 foundry-ladle, or a vessel of similar construc- 

 tion. Into this vessel, which stands on the 

 floor, is introduced a straight pipe or tuyere, to 

 which is attached the ladle-cover. The tuyere 

 is connected with the blowing apparatus, and 

 may be raised or lowered into the ladle by 

 means of a hydraulic crane ; or the pipe and 

 lid may be stationary, and the ladle raised until 

 the tuyere is below the surface of the metal. 

 An opening on one side of the cover allows the 

 hot gases, made during the blow, to escape. 

 Mr. Davy claims to be able, with his appara- 

 tus to make steel with 80,000 pounds tensile 

 strength, and 20 per cent, elongation; that 

 such steel will not cost more than from $20 t< 

 $22 per ton, pig-iron being rated at $15 ; and 

 that the cost of the apparatus for producing 

 one ton at a time, will be only $3,000. 



In the Avesta process, which is described by 

 Prof. Josef von Ehrenwerth in the " Oester- 

 reichische Zeitschrift" for 1884, the convertei 

 is suspended on trunnions, like the ordinary 

 Bessemer converter, but, instead of the expen- 

 sive hydraulic machinery used in turning, it is 

 turned by one man by means of a crank. The 



