Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-12-26

rINuE plant OF tho Hothieham steel Com
many At South bethlehem. Pa, is be
yond question the most modern. complete
and ser-eontRlnsd In existence Every
pound OF pig iron aud steel used therein Is
locally produced there being In unccaslng
operation for this purpose ave boO-ton and
ono 2so-ton blast furnaces for tho produc.
ton OF the pig Iron. with an additional
b0o-ton furnace In tho course Of eonstruc-
lion thlrty-two open-hearth furnaces. with
capacity OF from ntteen to seventy-hvo
tons each. and three Bessemer conycrters,
Present ore requirements approximate ht
100000 tons year. nEuro that
promises 20 be materially increased when
tho company has successfully conHurnmatsd
It's plans for the sale OF Bethlehem pig In
The open market
The ores used at Bethlehem. owing TO
abnormal conditions. are brought from
many fields at present but after tho war
the company sEpeets to obtain by far the
larger proportion OF ita ores from Chilli and
CUBA. where II has invaluable and what are
believed to be insxhaustrbis holdings.
bringing them TO New York by It's own
feet OF steamships
Bethlehem has splendid system for dis
charging the ore. the outstanding feature of
which IL the twin ore bridges or conveyors.
which have a span OF $50 feet and travel
Ing area OF thousand times their span.
permitting them to convey the ore TO any
desired point.
SO Interesting II the entire method, in
aaH a ri iNN
would seem 20 be imperative. Firat. tho
cars are run two at time into n eylln-
drleal device that turns over and prseipi-
tatss the ore Into the pit. Here IL is picked
up by fourteon-ton grab buciot--A part
OF the equipment OF the bridge--and car
rled 10 a Designated pile, all tho ores being
kept apart. AS needed It ls mechanically
loaded into aiEht-foot gauge electrically
propelled cars and conveyed TO the blast
furnaces. Hers II In dumped into hoppers
then ldhded Into the skipa and carried 20 tho
top OF ths furnace BY incline and smptsd
on to the top OF the upper bella" each OF
these processes being automatic.
In tho od-type furnace there was only
one bell" the technical designation for
the oup-shapsd receptacle into which the
ore, coke and limestone are placed. and
which. by dropping and revolving emptlea
the same into tho furnace consequently
when the operation was in progress there
being no barrier against their escape. ths
gases. forced by combustion. would rush
aSyward as though impellsd by omnipotsnt
force.
What a tremendous waste Of energy this
Escape spelled can be readily understood
when II is stated that there are generated
Ia a blast furnace 10000 oublc feet OF
gas 10 every ton OF pig iron produced.
In the modern furnace there are two
bells. one over the other. The material
In hrst placed on the top OF the first bell.
which FeyoiVea and drops II on 10 the bell
below. which IL not dropped until the FIRST
bell has been reversed Into position again.
consequently when tho second bell empties
ita load into the furnace the tremendous
gas pressure. instead OF escaping. ls CON
fined within the furnace, Thus today II II
esilmated that more than ninsty-fys per
cent OF tho waste gases OF the Bethlehem
steel compahYs furnaces are utilized In