The Works Of Messrs. Schneider And Co.

_________ ______________ SIEMENS-MARTIN STEEL DEPARTMENT : parallel tracks, one on each side. One of these tracks is extended along the front of the 35-ton furnaces. A special feature of these tracks is that they run over the pit itself. The inside rail is movable, and eonsists of a series o£ steel castings 4.5 metres (14 ft. 9 in.) in length, the ends resting on masonry pillais, which divide the pit into five cells on each side, into which the ingot moulds are placed. Before setting the mould in position, or raising the ingot, the rail Casting has to Le lifted : this is done by the 10-ton travelling crâne. The pit contains fifteen casting compart- ments, ten in the cells and five on the centre line. Several ingot moulds of average size can be placed in one cell. The following are some dimensions relating to the casting pit, the arrangement of which is well shown by Figs. 89 and 90, Plate XXI. : Width of the pit at the cells ... Width between pillars carrying movable rail Depth of pit ______________ Total length ______________ Distance between parallel tracks 12.600 m. 41 ft. 4 in. 4 m. 13 ft. 2 in. 7 m. and 10 m. 23 ft. and 33 ft. 37.650 m. 124 ft. 8.300 m. 27 ft. 3 in. ____________________ From the foregoing it will be seen that the operation of casting in the pit is an easy one. Collecting Ladies.—The collecting ladle, having been previously heated over a coke fire as already described, or over a gas generator provided with air biast, is hauled on the main track in front of the furnace, in order to receive the charge. The runner is made in two parts ; that nearest the furnace is free to move vertically, and is lifted by means of a hydraulic hoist when the steel has run out ; the slag then falls into a tank placed under the runner joint; the other part of the runner is free to move laterally, and is turned round after the steel has been dis- charged. This arrangement prevents any slag from falling into the ladle. The travelling steam crâne, acting as a locomotive, liauls the filled ladle to the casting pit, to a position exact I y above the ingot mould. The casting takes place direct, without the use of runners. If several moulds are to be filled, the ladle is brought over each in succession. All these manœuvres, which are very simple and rapid, are carried out noiselessly and with great précision under the supervision of a foreman. 65-Ton Ladle.—The heavy ingots which require the charge of several furnaces are cast in the middle part of the pit. For ingots of a size requiring the charge from two furnaces, a 65-ton collecting ladle is used, into which the steel from the two furnaces is tapped by means of special runners. The dimensions of this ladle are : m. ft. in. Diameter of ladle ... ••• ••• 2.(00 8 10 Height „ ____________ 2.800 9 2 Figs. 91, 92, and 93, illustrate the construction. Casting the Heaviest Ingots.—For the heaviest ingots that require the steel from more than two furnaces, the quantity is made up by two other ladies filled from the other furnaces ; these supplementary ladies are hauled on LIQUID STEEL COMPRESSING PLANT. _________ ______ _______ ___________________ 39 _________ _____________ to the track opposite that on which the 65-ton ladle stands. In such a case, the ingot mould placed in the centre of the pit, is filled by means of inclined runners that carry the metal to the top of the ingot mould. Ingots weighing from 8 to 130 tons are cast in this pit. In a short time, as soon as the fourtli furnace, of^ 45 tons capacity, has re- placed the existing furnace of 25 tons, the maximum weight of ingots that can be cast at Creusot will be 145 tons. Fig. 94, Plate XXII., gives a good idea of the Siemens- Martin 35-ton furnaces and accessory plant. Ingot Moulds.—The following are the dimensions of the large ingot moulds employed in the steel works at Creusot : 1. Square Moulds. Base. Top. Height. Weight of Ingot with Dead Head. m. ft. in. Hl. ft. in. m. ft. in. tons 1.900 6 3 1.570 5 If 4.400 14 51 110 1.580 5 2i 1.250 4 1 4.400 14 4 71 1.225 4 oj .975 3 3.200 10 6 47 1.170 3 10 .970 3 2 2.600 8 6i 23 .940 3 1 .850 2 9i 1.800 5 11 11 2. Rectangular Moulds for Armoub-Platbs. _____ Base. Top. m. ft. in. Hl. ft. 2.500 = 8 2| 2.450 = 8 by by 1.300 = 43 1.150 = 3 2.300 = 7 6i 2.240 = 7 by by 1.000 = 3 3| 0.850 = 2 2.570 = 8 5| 2.500 = 8 by by 1.175 = 3 10| 1.000 = 3 2.100 = 6 lOf 2.030 = 6 by by 1.250 = 4 1 1.080 = 3 2.050 = 6 81 2.000 = 6 by by 1.400 = 4 7 1.250 = 4 1.830 = 6 0 1.770 = 5 by by 0.770 = 2 6| 0.630 = 2 1.670 = 5 5| 1.630 = 5 by by 0.580 = 1 J1 0.505 = 1 Height. Weight of Ingot. in. m. ft. in. tons 3.000= 9 10 70 9| * 3.000 = 9 10 51 2i 3.400 = 11 2 76 3i 8 3.400 = 11 2 66 6* 7 3.000= 9 10 65 1 9i 2.200= 7 2f 20 OJ 2.000= 6 7 12 8 ______ Liquid-Steel Compressing Plant.—In 1896, a 10,000- ton hydraulic press was erected in the steel works, for compressing the liquid steel in the ingots. It was placed in the large casting pit (see Fig. 84 and Figs. 89, 90, Plate XXI.), which was lengthened for this purpose for a distance of 9 metres (29 ft. 6 in.). The principal dimensions of the press are the following : m. ft. in. Distance between columns ... 3.040 10 0 Diameter of columns 0.500 1 8 Height between crossheads ... 8.200 26 11 Maximum height of ingot moulds ... 6.000 19 8j Diameter of piston 1.676 5 6 Travel ... 1.000 3