The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1881-08-04
REDUCTION OF IR0N.

The Board of Trade having sp
pointed q committee on iron. tht
duties of the committee being to take
che necessary Steps for reducing the
ore to the merchantable metal, the
gentlemen of the committee ought tt
Investigate the different processes o.
seduction and adopt that most suit
able to the ores of Utah. The cost Of
csoduction and the quality otshe pre-
.suct are the chief matters 20 De taken
into consideration; that is, In order to
make the industry successful, iron OF
"a good q quality as that imported at
. given price, must be manufactured.
The fact that it is home p1cdnct
may figure in its behalf in sentiment,
Dat IN trade the rules of trade will
govern. Our WOODEN factories were
not Financially successful until they
Rsrs able to compete in quality and
szrice With imported goods. And go
& has been and will be with aoy
manufacturing industry. Theore:lc-
ally, community should pstronizs
Its own industries; in practice, the
masses will buy where they Can best
accommodate their pockets at
shs time. Tue manufacture OF
non Is destined. to become
Ont OF Utah's chief Industries.
Tae unlimited supply of rich ore and
coal, and the vast consumption OF
lion throughout the great interior
,regioa Of which this territory is tbs
geographical and commercial centre.
are advantages iu favor of Utah
which cannot be overcome. The only
things wanting are capital and we'll
directed energy. These, We have as
surances, will soon be forth coming.
The fret thing is to make 4 start, aud
for this purpose. as VS. understand it,
che Board of Trade committee was
appointed. Great improvements have
Seen made within the past few yesrs
In the processes for the reduction of
iron from the ores. Ia the older pro-
ceases the reduction was q matter Of
considerable time, as we'll as heavy
expense for roasting, casting into
pigs, remelting, aud pudding tor the
removal of impurities. ETC., before
she metal was ready for rolling into
bars. The waste, also, has slWsys
Oesn a considerable item. The ores
had to be mixed with coal, lime
ssOne or other material, charged
into blast furnace and the iron cast
into pigs of orude.lmetsi. The New
York Times gives an outline of the
~''direct method" of reduction which
ia fast coming into use. and by which
She bar metal is produced by single
heat of not more than two hours
duration.
The ore is ground to 8 coarse powder
and intimately mixed with lime, clay,
sud carbon. This mixture is then nodded
into the form Of hollow cylinders, about
-,
diameter, the walls being about three
then placed quite close together upon the
hearth of large reverberatory furnace
and high heat is Immediately applied. |
The object of molding the cylinders is to
asble the heat to rapidly act upon the |
Under these circumstances, the
carbon of the mixture reduces the iron
Of the ore to q metallic state, bat the |
metal is not fused, as in the blast fur |
mace. It remains in the form of the
original cylinder mixed with Stag that
contains most Of the impurities, and is |
known as spOngy iron. It is well known, |
tory furnace is naturally an oKidiZing /
lame, and tends to burn up any iron that
nay be exposed to its action, and the
spVAkJ AAOA - IL NOAA0AtAOh
adapted to rapid oxidation. This diff
Guilty has been ingeniously over
eOme by careful attention to the
nature Of the Stag which, in /
several ways, plays an important
role in this process. The Stag must be a |
non-fowing Stag, so that it will not run |
away from the iron. but remsin as q |
covering to protect it from the oxidizine
fame. It must also be basic Stag, for /
than it removes the phosphorus aud sui