The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1922-11-17

4 OF Supply or on the tran atton
gystems
IAN inspection OF various fac
tories shows q great variety III the
design OF batch storage bins, some
being built upon the ground and
requiring a considerable amount
lof manual feeding Of the con-
veyors; others having hopper bot
toms and gates built over tunnels
In which gathering cars Of con.
veyors are operated, while in
some plants the bins are located
at an elevation above the furnace
room so that weighing and mix
Ing cars may receive their charges
from hoppers in the bin bottoms
and travel over the tops Of a
series Of small furnace bins, dis
charging their contents directly
therein.
1.-THE prevailing design at the
! present time seems 10 favor the
second class above named where
in the weighing and mixing car Is
electrically operated, travelling at
or near the ground level In a pas
sage under the bins and discharg-
Ing its contents into a track hop
per from whence 1t is carried to
the small furnace bins by a sys-
tens OF bucket elevators and
conveyors.
Wooden bins, although cheap
est In first cost, arc little used
today as they lack durability and
are difficult TO maintain water
tight; are not flre-proof. and re-
quire internal bracing. Steel bins,
generally and preferably cylin-
drical in construction, are In COM
mon use and have the advantages
Of fair durability, rapldity Of con-
struction and erection and neat
appearance. They have a rather
serious defect In cold weather
due to the condensation Of mols-
ture on the inside Of the plates, n
defect not serious with sand but
Of considerable consequence where
the contents are soda ash or lime.
"In recent years the tendency
Is towards the construction Of
bins OF reinforced concrete, or
hollow tile packed with concrete
and reinforced at each horizontal
Joint, and also vertically, both
types being generally cylindrical
in design and placed close to-
gether in straight. rows on rein.
forced concrete foundations,
"The tile bin has tho advantage
over the concrete type In being
much impervious to water, but
with an adequate waterproof
coating on the concrete bin the
choice between the two will be
determined largely upon the mat
ter Of first cost. Either typo is
covered preferably with rein
forced and waterproof conical
concrete roof with Sssoe Of 3b
degrees from the horizontal.
'In steel bins hopper bottoms
OF heavy plate are readily con-
structed. and In the concrete type
hopper bottoms may also be used,
the construction Of which, though
presenting some difficulties. may
be made easier by the use Of steel
plate forms.
THE construction of hopper
bottoms OF reinforced tile, al
though feasible, has not come
into general practice.
I'm the usual construction OF
the concrete and tile bins. thu
bottoms consist OF flat concree~
openings fitted with gates. Com
slabs, each with one or more
plete discharge by gravity will
not, OF course, take place in this
construction, but the material re-
naming, after full discharge by
gravity takes place, may be con.
sidered as forming a hopper bot
tom and may remain undisturb-
cd, its volume being deducted
from the capacity Of the bin re-
! movable by gravity.
In case of serious shortage
OF batch material this hopper.
forming material may, of course,
be discharged by hand through
the openings in the concrete slab,
thus securing the full capacity II
the bin. In the soda ash bins the
hopper material may not be re-
coverable and workable II It has
been stored several months as this
substance cakes and. becomes un-
fit for use In time, due priucl-
pally to hydration.
In laying out plans for bin
structures the capacity of each
bin, or combination OF units for
each Of tho principal batch in
| gradients, should BIO figured on
the basis Of volumes rather than
weights in order to obtain we'll
balanced storage capacities.
The unloading OF soda ash
and lime Is a very disagreeabie
job, especially during the sum
mer months, on account OF the
fine dust, and this dust Is often
carried by the wind into nearby
buildings. During recent years
pneumatic systems for handling
these materials have been develop.
ed and are in successful operation
in several plants not connected
with the glass industry, but they
have not yet been extensively
used In glass factories.
THE pneumatic conveyors are
almost identical in operation with
the vacuum carpet cleaners and
entirely removerthe dust nuisance.
They require, however, rather ex-
pensive installations and use
from four to six times the amount
Of power which would be required
by ordinary elevators handling
the same material"
MEDIUM BROWN HAIR looks