The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1906-12-17
UTAH PLANTS NOW
FACE A CONDITION
Smelters No Longer Confronted
by Theory Regarding Sui
phur Gas Disposition.
ONLY FOUR WAYS TO
DISPOSE OF SULPHUR
Remedies, However, Fail in
Providing Real Way Around
Main Trouble.

The recent decision by Juge Marshall
Of the United States court at Salt Lake
City, granting an injunction against all
the smelters in the Salt Lake valley on
the ground that their operation is IN
furious to other interests, especially the
agricultural, because or sulphurous gas
discharged into the atmosphere. Is
serious matter, says the Engineering
and Mining Journal. Judge Marshall
held that the smelters could not escape
injunction because of the benefits ans
ing in many respects from Their opera
tion, which could not be considered as
an Offset TO the damage inflicted by
them.
The smclters of the Salt Lake valley,
among whom are included the American
Smelling and Refining company: Utah
Consolidated, Bingham Consolidated
and United States Smelling company.
are now confronted by condition. not
a theory. According 10 the terms OF
the Injunction, they may not smelt any
ore containing more than ten per cent
of sulphur, by which we understand that
no ore of higher sulphur content may
be roasted, and similarly no ore, or
rather furnace charge, of higher sulphur
content may be smclted directly III the
blast furnace. The enforcement OF this
Injunction has been postponed for SIX
months by appeal by the smelters, but
~ considered for readiusting their
practice on a new basis. However, this
is not new matter, some action having
been anticipated for long time, and
elaborate experiments for the neutralI-
zation of the sulphurous acid having
been conducted by several companies.
IL is certain that the recent troubles
over this question which have been cx-
perienced by smelters not only at Salt
Lake, but also in California, at Butte
and elsewhere, Will bring to a head tech
nical investigation and legislation upon
this subject. Evidently we are coming
to the point, even in some of the smclt-
ing districts of the West, where some
such requirements as exist in Europe
must be conformed To. The require
ments are often extremely onerous, even
in Europe, and if enforced in some Of
our Western districts would not only
be more onerous. but also might be pro"
hibitive The great problem is to fix
or absorb the sulphur in some way that
our particular conditions will permit.
At the present time we know of only
three ways of overcoming the sulphur
nuisance, One is the dispersal of the
gas so high in the air that it will be
diluted so much that it cannot possibly
cause trouble; the second method is neu-
tralization with milk of lime, which is
a feasible though costly and rather a
troublesome process; the third method,
which is the one generally followed in
Europe, is the manufacture Of sulphuric
acid Unfortunately. if all the sulphur
burned at Butte and Salt Lake City
were converted into sulphurIc acid, no
one would know what TO do with the
acid
A fourth eXpedience is the perform
ance of the desulphurization at places
where no one would object. There is
talk now of erecting roasting furnaces
in Bingham canyon. where the sulphur
would be no particular nuisance. How
ever, that would be only partial solu
tion of the problem and would not help
the case of the large ore supply from
outside districts, which some of the
smeltcrs of the Salt Lake valley re-.
ceive, all Of them, with the exception
Of the Utah Consolidated. having be
come substantially custom plants, as
the works of the American Smelling
and Refining company and the United
States Smelling company arc essential
". The ideal solution is the employ
ment of the sulphurous gas for some
useful metallurgical purpose, The ques-
tion is one which will deeply engage
the attention Of meiallurgists in Amer
lea. The first step is TO study careful.
" the elaborate Investigations made in
Europe, as TO which there is a consider
able literature.