The Logan Republican. [volume] (Logan, Utah) 1902-1924, 1916-01-18
Iron and Steel Industry
In Southern California.

marvellous development of the by
product ovens are again working a
Transformation. The perfection Of
the blast furnace, the discovery of
the open hearth methods new de
velopments in the use of alloys, and
the utilization of electricity have all
made rapid changes in conditions.
The ores of Southern California
have not yet been touched, chiefly
because of the lack of fuel for smelt'
ing purposes. Such coal beds as
have been opened were not consider
ed coking coal. The cost OF trans
portation of the ores to operating
smelters has been prohibitive. The
supply of scrap has SO far been suffi-
cient for the needs of such furnaces
as were operating on the coast, and
the high cost of coke made it prac-
tically impossible to compete with
eastern prices for pig iron. But con-
ditions are changing.
Cooking Goals
The U. S. G.. S. Report, Mineral
Products of the U. S., 1912, in dis.
cussing the possibilities of the iron
industry on the Pacific coast, says:
1t has been shown that fairly good
coking Goals are mined in several
p aces in WashiEgtos, and that good
furnace coke can be obtained from
the Ration Trinidad coal fields of
Colorado and New Mexico and the
( Castle Gate district of Utah. These
facts together with the possibility
that coking coal may be mined in
I Alaska give rise to the hope that the
lack of a local fuel supply will prove
/ only n temporary obstacle"
! The use OF electricity reduces the
amount of coke necessary for smelt-
/ ing by two thirds and is rapidly ad-
vancing In importance in all branch
es OF the iron industry. The Iron
Trade Review, July, 1915. states: The
use of electricity in iron and steel
rlants for heating purposes has
shown a rapid growth in recent years.
Numerous installments have been
made covering a wide field Of opera
tons. This type OF heating medium
has proved satisfactory, not only for
handling raw material, but especially
for finishing OF high grade pro
| ducts. The Iron Age of August IL
| 1915, publishes an elaborate article
on Electric Production of Pig Iron
or Steel, dealing particularly with
possibilities for the West. 1t says:
That the electric furnace has been
successful in smelling iron in those
districts which present favorable con
ditions Is shown by the fact that elev
en- furnace. with total power capac
! ity OF about 10000 horse power, are
in operation In Sweden. In this
country there Is one electric furnace
a pig iron plant of capacity
Of about 1000 horse power at Heroult
Cal. While the electrical smelling
OF ore has been technically success
full at Heroult, 1t does not appear tc
have been so profitable as in Swcd
en- by reason of the cost of reduction
with charcoal or coke.
With regard to the use of electric
ity in steel manufacture, another au
thority says: The electric furnace II
already used in making steel. 1t II
a new process, as yet expensive. Blu
1t differs from all others in that thu
product OF the first smelling Is higi
grade steel. From the blast furnace
this result is only attained by expen
sive processes of refining-and thu
electric furnace, like the forge o
Tubal Cain, makes good steel direc
from the ore.
The authors of the article referred
to in Iron Age estimate that the cos
per gross ton OF producing pig irol
in an electric furnace plant, requir
ing $4,000 horse power and producin'
$4,000 tons of pig iron annually
would be s26.31. This is on basi
of IS per gross ton for ore; $40 pc
gross ton for charcoal or coke an,
Is cents per kilowatt hour for power
II Cost Of Production
In contrast to this is an estimat
made by Mr.. Jones In the Mining an
Oil Bulletin for May as to cost o
producing pig iron in Los Angeles
using coke from Utah as fuel. HI
puts the figure at 1914 estimatin
ore, total transportation and minin
cost per ton pig iron. Bessemer grad
a. 10. total cost OF coke per ton ni