New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-12-04
CHEAPER STEEL PROMISED.
IMPROVED METHODS MAY WORK A REvO.
LUTON IN TRADE.
S'oN"E IRON, WHICH is BETTER RAW
MATERIAL THAN PIG, NOW pRoDCCIILE

| Why ChEAPLY BY NEW PROCESS.
rN'sourg' Dec Spectacular announcement has
oeeh hade mere within few days which possesses
great commercial and scientific Importance. and
renuers possible serious revolution in the steel
industry.
Nearly all of the steel Of commerce except that
usea Tor tools and ordnance is now made by either
'"e besseiner or open hearth" process In both
| IRON Is employed which has already undergone at
| east one refining operation In q furnace since
| eaVlng the mine. The charge" put into a Besse
| Hler converter consists entirely Of pig iron Sc
| ected with special reference to the and
nature OF the Impurities therein and costing about
sl@ Il ION at present When the metal IL treated by
the open hearth process a different quality of
| pig. costing 81 ton less. may be used for a
! portion of the charge say % per cent. and the
| remainder consists Of scrap" which Is trifle
cheaper The proportions are varied considerably
by different makers. the quality of the materia!
ana the use TO which the product II TO be devoted
| being kept In mind. As the Aame in reverba-
| tory furnace tends to burn some of the carbon
already in the metal, modification Of the open
| hearth system. known the Martin process. has
| been widely adopted. This provides for bath OF
melted castiron. Astounding in carbon. into which
the of the charge is added piecemea rapidly
| as is practicable without chilling the bath.
Another form of iron. known as sponge. and
| in respects superior to pig. may, however
be substituted for the latter in this industry If ii
can only be produced oIpls enough. Spongs
| iron is ore from which the oxygen has been re-
| moved by association with carbon, solid or
gaseous under a degree of heat considerably lower
than that required for smelling. and its superiority
is due to the fact that whatever inpurity Is left
in it is held In the mass of porous metallic iron
| mocha nicaly and not chemically. Experts have
long looked upon sponge iron promising great
things for the steel industry, but until recently II
has been possible to obtain it cheapy.
Usually the ore was treated with solid coal Hydro
fN..ly
but only on small scalo. wynn at, rev year A.
however Charles Adams Of st. LOUIS; h ;be ore ore
been is SO f perieccd that L is possible thereby to
ner tom o FSTh 'fG" by Thomas Blair
jr Of Pittsburg render the sponge s'" r ToIe
re eaIiS' mainly to form of hearth adapted to
In making sponge by Mr.. Adanss method a
current of at red heat is passed tnrough tne
produce pig the iron is deoxydized perfectly. BY
Instant removal of the mass to me hear'n tne
cool Thereby imposing less of tax ON the steel,
making heat sOurceI. but fresh evacuation
say aVGie s own reducing plant directly associated
with it. therefore Aeeordng TO mr. r Bia 40 ce the
ton; and this is fully met by me in H,ea
Effected the hearth; With the same , amount of
labor fuel and fixed charges il Is alleged that the
output of steel in a given time Is increased ~
For time 1t believed possible 70 use spons'
but at present little pig is considered necessary
In production large scale. say LOO tons OF
lngots per day. the cost per ton Is estimated a.
follows Threc-fourths of ton Of sponge s. ~
onc-fourth of ton OF non-Beysemer pig y 20
waste amounting to l2i2 per cent, u cents. con
version s.; total. 81 80. BY the Bessemer process
he stock would cos, sl2 a ton. TO which 81 % fo'
waste and s. for conversion would have TO be
added giving total of SIS so per ton of ineots CON
version is term here used to inciude me Goa
and labor. of plant. Office rent ana interest
II il generally conceded that the cost o. conversion
by the open hearth and Bcssemer process is vT-
,.,nli. 10 ymD |
steel can be made for So go less ton than Tor
11erly although a royalty OF 81 ton may be eX-
tcted by the patentees of the new method for
time No, only Will the product OF the Adams-
clair system be cheaper. but II may also prove
better in quality for. as already indicated. inc
phosphorus and silicon In merely mechanical
continuation with the metal In the sponge. ana
are eliminated by the use Of lime in the furnace as
Stag. - =.
Within the last three or four years experiments
ave been made at several .drnaces in llttsbuis:
indianapolis and elsewhere with this process, anu
over 1900 tons OF ingots have thus FAR been turned
out Experts who have looked Into the several
operations and the product express conndence IN
the new scheme. and steps are now being taken 10
persuade capitalists to utilize II commercially