The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1911-08-08
CO.
TO TRY A
NEW PLAN
Problem of Using Coke Oven
Gas in Blast Furnaces Be
ing Solved by U. S. Steel
Co. Engineers; $50 Million
Cubic Feet Every Day.

brand new experiment is to be
tried out at the Gary steel mills. 1t
will be the problem of using coke oven
gas as fuel in blast furnaces. Bias.
furnace stacks now use a special gas
made expressly for the purpose bur
economy is seen If coke gas Is used.
Gary watched Abroad.
The report that the Gary mills are
to try out the experiment is being
watched with interest by other steel
companies and by editors or technical
publications and German steel interests
have instructed their Chicago engi-
neering representatives to pay special
attention to the methods which will be
used In a way, the Gary coke ovens
were designed by German engineers
one million dollars having been paid
for the use of their patent rights.
The BInst Furnace Gas.
Very few people have an idea of the
enormous amount of gas generated i'll
the Gary steel works. The manufac-
ture of one ton of iron produces 100,
900 cubic feet of gas. In day a blast
furnace has an iron productions of 4e0
tons or sixty million cubic feet. Six of
the eight Gary stacks are in commits
sion which means that the enormous
sum of $50 million cubic feet is gen
Grated by the blast furnaces every
twenty -four hours
Much Coke oven -sas.
In the coke ovens oven generates
125. 900 cubic feet in twenty four hours
and the ESQ ovens in operation now
give forth 35 million cubic feet every
twenty-four hours. At the present
time so much gas is produced that the
surplus amounting to several million
feet is dissipated by burning from the
top of a high stand pipe.
However, by the extension OF cox.
gas pipes throughout the plant the
waste amount is being diminished
Coke gas is now being used in the hot
beds of the axle and three merchant
mills, the axle mills huge boilers. part
of the rail mill and is being installed
under the blat furnace boilers. One
half OF the coke oven gas is also being
unsed to heat the coke ovens.
Used For Many Purposes.
In the open hearth furaces special
gas has to be produced and no coke
gas will be used in the tin plate mills
as the Gary works will soon use all Its
own surplus and the tin plate mills
will be operated by their own prooucec
gas Various parts of the Gary stee
plant cannot use coke gas a fuel be
cause of it's richness
| Blast furnace gas is used as a fue
to operate the big seven million dollar
electrical station Of $4,000 h. p. capaci
! t. that is used to produce power for al
Gary mills and the power and lighting
purposes of the entire city of Gary.
Could Heat Whole County.
| More than 400 million cubic feet .
| gas are generated by the bias
| furnaces and coke ovens alone in til.
Gary mills and this is an amount NOR
than many large cities use in twenty
four hours.
/ Coke gas of which the steel corpora
ton has plenty is not rich enough 70
illuminating purposes but were it pos
| sible to build q separate system o
| piping every house in Lake count.
| could be heated at a very minimum
Il cost When the steel corporation com
II pletes ESQ coke ovens now under wa,
its coke gas output will be doubled.