The Mechanical Handling and Storing of Material

COKE FROM COKE OVENS 389 the rails to any waiting wagon, either in front of, or some way beyond, the oven from which the coke came. The discharging door is then opened a little way, at first inwards, and the table revolved in a counter-clockwise direction; the coke is, in consequence, gradually pushed out by the plough-like door on to the screen, which is set in motion by means of gear from the motor, and the screened coke is automatically loaded into the wagon (see Fig. 549). One of the important features of the system is the expeditious way in which the coke is handled; the time occupied from the start of the push to the time when the door is on the oven again ready for recharge is only eight minutes, and the whole operation, from the beginning of the loading into the wagon, including the steaming or drying period, does not require more than twenty-seven minutes. The principaladvantages of this machine are its great simplicity, in spite of its automaticity (the weight being, only about 28 tons), and the fact that the hot coke comes only in contact with renew- able cast-iron plates, a mate- rial which is least affected by it. The installation at the Weardale Steel, Coal, and Coke Co., at Spennymoor, has been at work for nearly two years; it serves a battery of sixty ovens, with a yield of 1,700 tons per week, and is attended by two or three men only, as against twenty- one to twenty seven when the coke was quenched and loaded from an ordinary hearth by hand. In addition a. Travelling frame, b. Bunker for breeze, c. Breeze trucks, d. Annular receptacle for surplus quenching water. e. Waste-water pipe from d. f. Waste-water gutter, g. Vapour duct. h. Iron rim which prevents the coke from falling out at the side. n. Grating for eliminating fine coke. 0. Loading shoot. to this advantage, the breakage of coke is less by | per cent., and the moisture contained is below 2 per cent. The machine is driven by a three-phase electric current from the central station close to the works, but it is, of course, equally adaptable for steam power. The Goodall principle has been modified by F. Méguin & Co., of Dillingen, as illustrated in Fig. 550. In addition to the alterations, which may be seen from the diagram, the scraper for discharging the coke has been so modified that it is actuated by the revolving table. The lettering given under the illustration will