T H E J O r R S d L O F I L V D C ' S T R I A L A S D EiVGIL?TEEKIiVG C H E M I S T R Y
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LEHIGH DISTRICTCEMEIT PLANTS Pi.431E Northampton Portland Cement Co. Nazareth Cement Co. Phoenix Cement Co. Dexter Portland Cement Co. Penn-Allen Portland Cement Co. Pennsylvania Cement Co. Bath Portland Cement Co. Lawrence Cement Co. of Pennsylvania a t l a s Portland Cement Co. Whitehall Portland Cement Co Atlas Portland Cement Co. Lehigh Portland Cement Co. Coplay Cement Manufacturing Co. American Cement Co. of New Jersey American Cement Co. of New Jersey Lehigh Portland Cement Co. Lehigh Portland Cement Co. Edison Portland Cement Co. Vulcanite Portland Cement C o . AlDha Portland Cement Co. Alpha Portland Cement Co
N O
i4 75 76
77 78 79 80
81 82 83 84
85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94
LOCATION Stockerton, Pa. Nazareth, P a Nazareth, Pa. Nazareth, Pa. Nazareth, Pa. Bath, Pa. Bath, P a . Siegfried, P a Korthampton, P a Cementon, P a . Coplay, Pa. West Coplay, Pa. Coplay, Pa. Egypt, Pa. Lesley, Pa. Ormrod, P a , Fogelsville, Pa. New Village. K . J. Vulcanite, h-.J. Alpha, K.J. Martin's Creek, Pa.
t h e first six months of the year the production of gg,ooo,ooo barrels was nearly 25 per cent ahead of last year, while shipments were 14 per cent larger t h a n for the first half of 1912. Surplus stocks increased nearly 3,000,000 barrels in the half year. The Lehigh district, a map of which is presented herewith, seems to be following the trend of orders more closely than a few years ago, when market conditions were quite chaotic; this district supplies about one-third of the American cement proI
LEHICH
DISTRICT
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duction. The Lehigh production fell I O per cent in June, while shipments increased 3 per cent as compared with those of June, 1912. Seventy-five per cent of the Lehigh kilns were active on July I , 1913, b u t the surplus stocks a t the mills on t h a t date, amounting t o 3,000,000 barrels, were only 4 per cent larger t h a n last year. Producers in the Lehigh district have taken steps t o prevent market demoralization by reducing their outp u t ; as a result of this policy, prices are being fairly well maintained. T H E BECKTON GAS LIGHT AND COKE COMPANY O F LONDON, ENGLAND The Beckton Gas Light and Coke Company, which supplies gas for two-thirds of the British metropolis, is described in the American Gas Light Jouvnal, gg, 34. At the river pier some 1,750,000 tons of coal are unloaded per annum, the hydraulically operated grabs being capable of handling 7 0 0 tons per day. The retort houses are 14 in number, and extend about half a mile, in double line. Some are electrically operated, others have the aid of compressed air, and a third variety is provided with hydraulic machinery. Jointly the retorts are capable of producing 61,000,000 cubic feet of gas per day, and of carbonizing 5,000 tons of coal. In addition, there is a carbureted water-gas plant capable of producing 27,000,000 cubic feet of gas per day. The plant is stated to be the most complete in existence, all the operations of gas-making and recuperation being controlled by hydraulic power operated
RAILROAD Lehigh & New England Lehigh & New England Lehigh & New England Lehigh & New England Lehigh & Y'ew England Lehigh & New England Lehigh & S e w England Central of New Jersey Central of New Jersey Lehigh Valley Lehigh Valley Lehigh Valley Lehigh Valley Lehigh Valley Lehigh Valley Lehigh Valley Phila. & Reading D., L. & W Central of New Jersey Lehigh Valley Pennsylvania
Capacity in hbls. per day I ,800 3,300 1,000 2,400 2,000 3,000 3,000 3.500 46,600 1,250,000 46,600 36,600 5,000 6,500 6,500 36,600 36,600
8,000 5,500
18,000 18,000
by levers from a central stand. The blowing plant for this installation consists of four I Io-horse power turbine-driven fans. The carbureted water gas, after being tested, is mixed with t h e coal gas a t the inlet of t h e gasholders, of which the storage capacity totals 19,000,000 cubic feet, the largest gasholders holding 8,000,000 cubic feet. A pumping plant capable of pumping 4,100,000 cubic feet of gas per hour delivers the gas to the storage holders or for use in London. There are extensive repair workshops, including the boiler shop for the repair of all stationary and locomotive boilers, and other work of a similar nature. There is a foundry capable of producing some 50 tons per week, with a pattern-making shop in connection therewith. T h e private locomotive sheds of the works provide accommodation for 3 I locomotives, and these are engaged upon 45 miles of single track. In the t a r works are.stills for the distillation of 18 million gallons of t a r per annum, with underground storage for 4,000,000 gallons. The five pitch beds adjoining the stills have a capacity of 30,000 tons. For the refining of the light oils the naphtha stills and washing plant prepare the distillate which, in the benzol house, yields benzol, toluol, and solvent naphtha amounting to 120,ooo gallons yearly. Naphthaline is refined by means of 12 stills, and is manufactured into salable forms in a house close by. Another battery of stills serves for the purification of carbolic acid, up to the standard required for surgical purposes. .4 series of large tanks contains the stores of creosote used for timber preserving, very large quantities being produced. I n another quarter is the house in which anthracene is purified. The liquor works contains stills and saturators producing 24,000 tons of sulfate of ammonia per annum. Beside it stand a sulfuric acid plant in which sulfuric acid is manufactured from the spent oxide resulting from gas purification; the furnaces are of modern mechanical type. Aimmonia gas is also purified for the manufacture of aqueous ammonia and for the production on a large scale of anhydrous ammonia (for refrigerating plant). In the cyanogen plant crude cyanogen liquor is converted into crystalline prussiates of soda and potash, and provides material for the manufacture of Prussian blue and for the' cyanides of potassium and sodium. -~
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THE MODERN BY-PRODUCT COKE OVEN
In the Monthly Bulletin of the American I r o n and Steel Instltute, I , hTo. 5 , are published several papers relating t o the present status of the by-product coke oven in the United States. Meissner expressed the opinion t h a t when located a t points suitable t o its requirements, the by-product coke oven was the p o s t satisfactory and economical yet known for the manufacture of metallurgical coke. In the last six months of 1912 coke
O c t . , 1913
T H E J O C R N d L OF I,YDCSTRIdL A S D ESGI-VEERISG CHEMISTRY
was produced a t the rate of 2,900,000 tons per year a t the Gary, I n d . by-product coke oven plant, on a mixture of 7 6 . 4 per cent Pocahontas and 23.6 per cent high volatile coals. The conservation of coal through producing this amount of coke in b y product ovens instead of bee-hive ovens amounts to about 1,190,ooo tons per year. It has been found by the United States Steel Corporation t h a t the coke produced in by-product ovens, when properly made, is fully equal in quality to t h a t obtained in beehive ovens; and t h a t it is possible to utilize a larger variety of coals, when properly selected and mixed, including coals which up t o the present time have been practically regarded as “noncoking.” and make a highly satisfactory metallurgical coke. The by-product plant can be erected near the blast furnaces and it is practicable t o ship to it coking coals from any radius within favorable freight rate; this, however, is not the case with the bee-hive ovens, which, in most cases, are placed near the coal mine which supplies the coal, and, when the mine is exhausted, the bee-hive plant has t o be abandoned. Blauvelt pointed out t h a t the first ovens in this country coked 1 4 tons of coal per oven per 2 4 hours, and t h a t 2 j ovens, with a carbonizing capacity of I I O tons a day, were regarded as the proper unit for one crew of men. “The oven of to-day is carbonizing 20 tons per day, and practically the same crew of men, with the help of modern machi will handle j o ovens or more, carbonizing 1,000 tons per d He stated that from 40,000,000 t o jo,cioo,ooo feet per day of illuminating gas from coke ovens are now produced and sold in the Vnited States. The following points were indicated by Blauvelt as important to a well-designed oven: Largest yield of surplus gas; ability to substitute producer gas for oven fuel gas; maximum yield of by-products; maxirnun yield of good coke ; shortest coking time ; lowest cost of operation and repairs; simple and strong, with weight properly distributed. -4twater called attention to the fact t h a t the recovery oven has achieved a definite place as a part of the steel-making process, and t h a t it presents economies and advantages with which the present-day steel manufacturers must reckon. bleissner had referred to the employment of benzol as a motor fuel; Atwater cited the case of a truck engaged in general city delivery work. On a six months’ test with benzol alone as a fuel, a gallon of benzol yielded 1 5 per cent more work than a gallon of gasolene; based on an equal number of heat units supplied the efficiency was about the same. “NERADOL D”, A SYNTHETIC TANNIN Stiasny, in the course of a paper on artificial tannins,’ gives an account of the production of “ syntans ” (synthetic tannins), one of which products has been placed on the market by the Badische Company, Ltd., under the name of “Seradol D.” Syntans are condensation products which may be produced either by heating phenol; with formaldehyde in a slightly acid solution and solubilizing the resinous products thus obtained by means of sulfuric acid, or they can be made by first sulfonating the phenols and then condensing them with formaldehyde under such conditions that only soluble products are formed. “Neradol D ” resembles, in its appearance, a vegetable tannin extract of bright color. The analogy between this product and natural tannins is shown by the following behavior of “ Seradol D : ” 1ts”water solution is of a semi-colloidal character, passing a semi- permeable membrane only slowly and giving n precipitate with gelatine solution. Iron salts produce a deep hluish violet coloration, and a IO per cent solution of iron alum is a suitable means of controlling the course of “Neradol D ” tannage; this is done by placing a fexv drops of the iron solution 011 the fresh cut of a half-tanned hide, when the tanned layers are colored deep blue. Lead acetate as well as aniline hydrochloride give precipitates with “h-eradol D.” Stiasny makes 1
Ciiani. i I - o r l d . 2 , S o . 7 , 2 1 G .
See also THISJ O U R X A L , 6 , 7 0 5 .
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special mention of the very bright color of solutions of “Keradol D ” and of the complete solubility in cold water-distinct advantages over the ordinary tannin extracts. It is said that the real character of “Seradol D ” is t h a t of a light leather tannin, and that sumach and gambier are those natural tannins whose effects have the greatest resemblance to t h a t of “rieradol D.” It may be used a s a bleaching agent of dark-colored leather; in this case the retanning action of this artificial tannin prevents loss of weight, which accompanies most of the usual methods of bleaching heavy leathers. ___THE CAUSES AND PREVENTION OF SEWER PIPE FAILURES
It has been stated that, with the inclusion of cement pipe and the cost of labor and materials, it is probable t h a t $75,ooo,ooo are spent annually in this country in the construction of sewers and drains. This expenditure has been largely based upon a visual examination of the pipe or tile, and a conjectural inference as to the loads which it may be expected t o carry safely. IVith a view of developing a correct method of calculating the loads on pipe and of preparing adequate standard specifications for the quality of drain tile and sewer pipe, the Engineering Experiment Station of Iowa State College has conducted a series of experiments, the results of which are reported by Engineering Record. 68, 46; these are presented a t some length on account of their interest to the ceramic and sanitary engineer. The following general conclusions reached as t o the failure of drain tile and sewer pipe in ditches are based on extensive data obtained from drainage engineers: I . There h a r e been a large number of failures of drain tile and sewer pipe by cracking in ditches, and there is a wide prevalence of cracked pipe in existing sewers and drains. The cracking is generally confined to pipe larger than 14 in. in diameter. Engineers have not properly appreciated either the extent or the importance, nor have they fully understood the causes, of cracking of drain tile and sewer pipe in ditches. 2 . The principal cause of the cracking of the drain tile and sewer pipe in ditches is simply that, as a t present manufactured, sizes larger than I j in. in diameter are very generally too weak to carry the weight resting upon them from more than a few feet depth of ditch filling. 3. In very many cases it is entirely impossible to prevent cracking in ditches of drain tile and sewer pipe as a t present manufactured by any possible reasonable amount of care in bedding and laying the pipe and refilling the ditches, -1material difference in the carrying power of the pipe, however, can be made by proper care in bedding and laying. 4. Drain tile and sewer pipe crack more readily in ditches with hard bottoms than when laid on slightly yielding soils j . I t is reasonable, advantageous and necessary to require the pipe-laying contractor carefully t o shape the bottom of the ditch to fit the under half of the pipe surface, and to bed the pipe carefully for this distance in sand or granular soil, so as to secure a firm, uniform bearing. 6 . Drain tile and sewer pipe are so rigid and crack from such slight distortions, as compared with the yielding of the most solidly tamped earth filling, t h a t it is not feasible to prevent cracking by tamping the ditch filling on each side of thc pipe a t the midheight. Such side tamping, however, should always be required, and thoroughly done, for i t is of great value in preventing the collapse of pipe after it is cracked. j. IThere the pipe is found to crack in spite of faithful observance of the specifications stated in j and 6 above, the only effective remedy, other than using stronger pipe, is to bed the pipe in concrete up to the midheight. Such concrete can be lean, and need not be thick if the soil is firm, but must thoroughly fill all spaces between the lower half of the pipe and the bottom and sides of the ditch.
