El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-11-24

Z see that IL Is exactly right for tn,
making Of steel. There are more thar
Is practically an equal number Al
Z South Chicago. Their work goes OF
day and night and they aid IN the
I experiments made for saving the
waste as well as to the lettering OF
/ the steel
Few people realize how closely the
great industrial plants of today watch
the pennies, and how much they viii
| spend to save = fraction OF a cent in
[ a process. Last year the Illinois
! Steel company spent &1,0oo,oO0 on its
/ docks that Il might save - minutes
unloading each steamer They will
} spend thousands Of dollars % save
/ cents. provided they think the saving
I will continue and A. South Chicago
and Gary they are nov coming mil
/ lions out OF the stuff that only few
years ago flo2ted away on the air
{ The gas from these furnaces formerly
: went to waste Today Il is saved, and
used for heating the stoves which fur
{ nish the blast and for running the
I machinery OF a whole plant II goes
! 10 the boilers. where il generates
steam. and 70 gas engines which are
used for blowing air and generating
electric power
In one station At the Illinois steel
plants I saw 5000 horsepower created
! in this way. and I went through large
/ through the waste gas OF the furnace.
+ One of the latest things in gas saw
Z ing is washing this gas from the
smelling in order that iron dust IN u
may be saved and melted over again.
7 In this process the gas is passed
I through water which washes it the
/ iron dust falling TO the bottom in the
/ form Of a flour L is too fine 20 be
{ smelted, but il is put through pro
cesses which transform II TO Jumps
aH-- -
nuts can then he turned back into
the furnaces, and made into steel.
Waste Matter f. Utilized
One OF the great problems Of steel
making mas been the waste which
has passed off into Stag or refuse OF
Z the furnaces Until recently this has
all gone to waste and you may see
great mountains Of it stiiI lying about
the country. During my stay at Birm-
inZham 7 saw them using this Stag
for making building brick and sui
plate OF ammonia The latter IS an
excellent fertilizer. and the president
Of the steel plant there told me il has
become a valuable 5y-product. Here
at the foot Of Lake Michigan the
steel plants use their Stag for making
cement, and this has been done a.
other plants Of the United States
Steel corporation
The Stag. as II flows out IN . mass
Of liquid fire from the furnaces. is
dropped in-o water in such a way
that instead Of becoming a solid rock.
IL turns mo granules or powder
not unlike sugar. II is on about the
same principle that shot are made by
dropping the molten metal from
great height IN the shot tower IN this
powdered form IL is mixed with lime
stone. an equal part Of lime being
added. and II then becomes the very
finest Portland cement.
-
waste. the scrap iron. and even the
sparks from the furnaces are gath
cred up and used over again There
Is cOnsidera bic scrap from each
charge, and this Is often in huge
Jumps It has to he broken before IL
can be used and this Is done by the
means Of a magnet connected with the
electric dynaraos OF the power houses
The touch OF a button throws the
electricity into the magnet, which. at
tached to 4 steel cable. Is 50 dropped
that 1t just kisses, as it We're a steel
ball as high As a man. This ball
weighs six tons. but II flies up with
the amoFous kiss Of the magnet the
cable raising il TO the height of
seven story house. Then. by the touch
OF a button. the electricity IL removed
and the great weight drops on the
scrap Think OF lifting 20 much steel
that II would take Il horses TO haul
Il on a wagon over country roads. TO
height Of 70 feet, and you have
some idea OF the power Of this mag
net The same force is used for load
ing the steel plates intended for
our bsttleships. They have magnets
here that would lift Is tons Of such
plates and lay them on the cars as
gently as you drop your baby on the
pillow At night This is 50 notwtth-
standing some OF the plates are each
as big as a bed quilt
Increases By-PrOduct Ovens
The war is rapidly increasing the
by-produot coke ovens I found this
50 in Alabama, and 1t Is being carried
on TO an even greater extent at the
foot Of Lake Michigan There are by
product coke plants at both South
Chicago and Gary The Gary plant is
one OF the largest in the coUntrr- Il
consumes 10000 tons Of coal every
q hours and the coal Is the best that
can be obtained Il comes from the
Pocahontas mines. the quality OF
which Is equal 70 that Of the Cardiff
mines Of England
This coal Is Of about the same char
acter as that which was formerly
used in the old beehive ovens. result
ing in q product Of coke equal to SO
or So percent Of the coal. The remain
ing so percent or the coal was lost.
going out in volatile gases which dis
solved in the air II took - hours 70
the result
Today they make coke in about one
fifth Of that time and they get so
percent Of the coal contents OF che
coke while the remaining 20 percent
is nearly all saved in the way OF by
products This 20 percent comes out
IN gas, which. in the Gary plant.
amounts 20 about 100. 600 .00o cubic
feet every - hours This Is run
through a by-product plant which
"a kes out OF the gas vast quantities
OF ammonia liquor and the ammonia !
sulphste which Is nov being used to
increase our food supply.
From this same gas also comes ben J
zol. which has many OF the proper /
ties Of gasoline, and is used largely 1
in the industrial arts. II furnishes
also a certain percen taEe OF toluoI 4 Z
powerful explosive which is nov used /
on the battlefields Of Europe and al ,
so tar and napthalene. Indeed. OF all |
that goes into the coke plant today Z
practically nothing is lost. The meat
packers claim to save all OF the hog
but the squeal The steel makers are !
nov saving almost every b1t OF the I
raw materials, except the noise and
shrek OF the engines. and in the Z
electric work OF To-Day. that seems 10 /
have almost disappeared.
Have Ss0 At Gary.
As II is now, they have here At
Gary $50 Of these great by-product !
ovens. and they expect 70 increase I
this number TO 100. so many that iti
require 1880 tons 81 coal per
DAY to operate them In the past the I
coal went into the beehive oven ]
in a lump. II IL now crushed 70 a /
powder Or flour, so fine that the +
grains viii pass through = mesh OF ]
20 holes 70 the inch After crushing IL .
is carried into the furnaces hy con
veyers and II drops sutoma tically in 3