Sequachee Valley news. (Sequachee [Sequatchie], Tenn.) 1896-1952, 1907-12-26
SOPER TALKS
ON CEMENT
Something About Copenha-
gems Great Plant.
PORTLAND CEMENT. AS
MADE BY THE DIXIE CO
Immense Enterprise Describ-
ed In Detail and Goes Into
Large Figures.

Ellis c. Soper, superintendent of the
construction of the great cement plant
at Copenhagen, recently made an ad-
dress before the Vanderbilt engineer
ing Association at Nashville, which is
holding series OF lectures on mechan-
ical achievements.
Mr.. Soper is vice. president OF the
Hunt ngineering Co which has built
the great 81, 600, 600 plant, and his con-
nection with 1t will cease as soon as he
sees that every one of the thousand de-
tails is working properly. In his ad-
dress that night he told OF the construct
ion of this plant, the greatest IN the
south, of the cost of manufacturing ce-
ment, and the methods and conditions
at this plant
The magnitude of the plant may be
realized when it ia known that it will
day, and that to make this amount 252,-
! 600 pounds of the raw rock will have to
be qusrried 1t will require 200 pounds
| of coal to each barrel OF cement, and
the pl ant will manufacture 1000 bar
rels per day. This means that the con-
sum ption OF coal each day will be 200
| tons.
At present only one of the ten great
kilns is running, but in the next month
all of them will be used. However, the
quarries will not be opened up enough
in six months to allow the plant to run
at It's full capacity. There is one steam
shovel in the quarries that does the
work of 90 men, and gets out one-tbird
of the raw material required from day
to day.
world. 1t weighs 424,0 pounds, and
the next largest weighs only 100000
pounds 1t Is made OF magnesia steel
cast, and would have required ten Or
binary freight cars to bring it to Copen-
hagen.It is circular in shape, and has a
diameter of twenty feet. 1t is twenty
feet high, and can handle cube OF
rock thirty-six feet on side at one
time. There is great spindle in the
centre of the crusher that has a two.
inch play in its revolutions. AS it turns
the rock is poured into hopper above
it, A space OF two inches is left and
the rock falls down and is caught by
the spindle.
To give an idea of the size of the
plant it may be stated that there are
ten smoke stacks on the kilns, each
built of re- forced concrete and ninety
feet nigh, while the power house has
two l50-foot stacks. Two per cent. oI
material in the kilns escapes up the
stacks, and this dust falls as far away
from the plant as Bridgeport.
The plant is constructed of steeI
frame work. covered with metal lath;
and cement plaster over that. Twenty
two thousand yards OF concrete were
, used in it's construction, The roofs
are made of galvanized corrugated
, steel.
In referring to the great increase il
the output of cement, Mr.. Soper said
r There are in the United States nov
seventy-fve plants with a rated capacity
| of 70, 100000 barrels yearly. How-ve
| they will only turn out about As pc
! cent of their rated capacity. There
are now 100 either projected or build
ing. In case these are all built the ra
ted capacity will be 115,000, 900 barrels
yearly, and the annual production a
{ bout 90, 900, 900.
4 This will mean that the Smalle
plants will be obliged to quit business
since it costs less proportionately Il
+ build large plant than it does small
one. The large ones will be able t.
stand the decrease in price, but it viii
e force out many of the smaller ones
: However, a majority Of the projected
plants will never be built.
1T costs about S4OO TO put up plan
that will make one barrel of cement
; day. But as the number OF barrels pc
day increases the cost per barrel de
j creases, so we are build 4,OOO-barre
e plant at cost of only $1,000, 900 instea'
= of 81, 5000 There are certain 6xet
charges that under moderate condition
make it Improbable to operate plan
OF less than 1000 barrels day capaci
. ty.
AT Copenhagen we have the require
i ments for a successful plant. There i
a a markes anywhere. there is plenty 0
raw material in the right proportions
:. we are close to fuel supply, there ar
tun railrnads md cnrrnannndinrlr 700