Show OPERATION OF SMELTER k DESCRIBED BY INVENTOR INVEr TOR f f BY EDWARD FINK During the last two mouth months or 01 more mere much has been written writt about the experimental mental smiting plant which was then being erected near hear Garfield by y Mr Now New d house A great many maey of the statements published were wert far tar from accurate V r absolutely ridiculous Although often Rea n re requested tt T quested to make a statement I did not BOt feel justified in doing so 80 at the time tine and f Id even now I hesitate he tate about giving any att dell iWI t lute information for or publication The Fink furnace is Ii not a cureall cureaU fo fOI every metallurgical difficulty ner tier can ean It I smelt every ore known to t n 1 J was Wag reported In one paper The underlying the present day smelt M I Ing operations are the same as w t wn em F a hundred years ao a i the s l J merits meats being largely in tb t tbs t man Juan manner ner ncr of applying g those fundamental pd ia The Improvements w ma mafe from time to time have nave been made first by altering the tile Na es see sec second ond by changes chan in the th manipulation If f t 1 the charge to be smelted smelLed mIt To read sont sante j 0 of the statements made mane by leading metal only a few yean ears ago relating to t the smelting processes as conducted at the time one can hardly realize that In Inthe Inthe inthe the present day smelting melting methods opera operations o operations are performed which were regarded as absolutely impossible For Fcc example Dr Peters in the earlier editions of his hie most moat valuable book bock boc k cm JOI u copper 5 states emphatically that it Is III I to enrich clinch mitte to any an extent by putting same Bame through th thu furnace two or more times lines Today this thie is successfully u ully done do e h ani this fat fact ha hu has done much munch to make k the th smelting process p e a success Not Nat nany man years ago a furnace smelting 23 tons per day da wa was consulTed a late lare Today re rev v r funi furni am arc r built ban haYl lr a ac Ii c apa it f tons per day and Mast blast t if I rs s irp by no means uncommon I ip flO Mo tons tone r day dav i f p lis of f e nr po converting erting pig pip iron Into steel l by for ins sir air ir through a colu I f f t nioton iron v nici while used in te t iron fn foi fOl vu man years did dW not notI I find application in copper opper smelting until r The ThO difficulties li were Rere ere IIII mechanIcal ones 0 ind n t U c use sr If wro WY of rooms the th practice of if in quite as 5 common I n In in r irr practice pratI as in the pro n j I cn cu Mon i f tf t 1 r v i ini cc has been ben I r j i a phI ell pl ae lit a the th of J JS s 5 I inducted therein were designed t tu to i ni i i on I f Problem of Fine Concentrates I I It bugal bugaboo oo of 1 o w blast hlat furnace oper operator operator o R ator has ha been n fine fin or ore for fo the a i bla f t forced In at itt tie hr blows blow a eon con conSiderable 1 blE amount t of this product out of ef f r the furnace before it II can reach far enough down to enter the Ih zone of fusion To over overcome overcome i come CORte this fits t difficulty a great many expert experiments meats ments live hive been n conducted and much mone expended in tn preparing the fine ore 01 p or concentrate for blast furnace smelt smelting tt ing leg Mst Mist of ot the tests testa were along the tho lines 11 of or sintering the tM prod product t net the Idea being to render it sufficiently fl d dense nae before introducing same t Into th furnace to prevent pr Ii White While these experiments experiment helped In a mea meas measure ure the results re ul l up to the he present time leave much to be desired moreover they ti I entail a separate operation which Is la not only expensive but wasteful It does dge not J I require a scientific mind to discover d Kover that a II III I Continued on Page 2 ci OPERATION OF SMELTER DESCRIBED BY INVENTOR Continued from Page 1 smelt small smal particle of or matter mater wilt will wl fuse fus much more readily than a large mass a handful of snow If exposed to heat het will wi melt mel more rapidly than the same weight of Ice Fine Concentrates are arc obtained from massive ore are through a process of grinding and sub subsequent subsequent subsequent sequent washing press such a product Is ideal Idel for rapid smelting because bause of its fineness It I becomes evident that to try tl and bring it back to its original state of or hardness harness and size even eve though this could be sue suc successfully accomplished Is a step ste hack back backward bik hackward ward providing it I could bo be smelted ct t tA tA war A blast furnace is certainly not au aa auto u 1 to smelt fine ores ore or products of o 0 al description and if smelted in a reverberation Hon tion ton furnace a preliminary roasting opera operation tion is I necessary nery to remove a portion of te its ts sulphur an operation which also yields considerable flue fine fye dust dut Clearly then to smelt such a product cheaply it becomes Im necessary n ary to break breakaway brek breakaway chepy away from the welt well established methods and change chance the furnace furac as well el as manip manipulation an of toe the te charge earge corgI so s as to be able to take advantage of the fineness finnes of the ore without danger of o losing too to much in flue fue dust A second and most mot Important con consideration consideration is the fuel consumed Many Ian of or orthe the more moe common minerals contain sul sulphur sulphur sulphur conditions this will Under proper wi Ignite and burn giving oft off heat just as ascal lurn coal cal or wood oo will mi do on o burning In or ordinary ordinal ordinary dinal blast blest furnace smelting a good per por portion pr ties tion tio ef et the sulphur sul ar Is 1 volatilized and andes es escapes escapes capes from front the top of the th stack in rover rever cp smelting much JIh of ot the sulphur Is 1 removed before the ore is introduced into lve the furnace furac As stated above above sulphur is isa Isa isa a fuel and to obtain the maximum heat beat effect effe its Is combustion should take place In the th furnace furnace where the heat het is required Principle of Fink Furnace In the tile ordinary blast furnace furce smelting I as conducted before the advent of or the smelting process It was customary cus customary tomary to roast the ores in order to re remove remove remove move the excess of sulphur which opera operation oper operation tion ton was necessary to produce a matte mate of sufficient richness for further refining The T fuel value of or the sulphur given glen off offin offIn offIn in roasting the ore ort was wa absolutely lost lostIn lostIn lostIn In the process pros which has of late years assumed deserved prominence the ores are arc fed fe Into the blast furnace In their crude state enabling the tile utilization of or considerably more sulphur as fuel than thanIn In the old method of or smelting the matte mate produced however being much lower in grade than when the ore was previously roasted rOte This Thi low grade matte Is again put through the he furnace and the operation ma manipulated manipulated in such a manner as to burn bum off orf considerably more sulphur finally pro producing clueing duing a product of or the required grade of richness The zone zon of ot the fur furnace nace where the air all blast Is Introduced is where the smelting takes place and andis is the only portion of or the furnace where any sulphur is utilized as fuel ruc Above this thi zone the sulphur is only volatilized and escapes from the Uie Ue top of or the furnace Theore The Theore Te Teore ore upon reaching the zone of fusion at atthe atthe atthe the melts Immediately and rap mp rapidly rapIdly idly runs out of or the furnace so that it I is 18 impossible to enrich the th matte mate without re no repeating r petting Ung the th operation o one or more mere times time It I occurred ourn to me that if It I were ere pOI possible b ble to retain the molten molen matte mate in the th zone zo for any desired time It would woul 1 ho be possible ble to obtain a product of any desired concentration To accomplish this end it would be bE necessary to construct a 1 furnace differing considerably from fron those thO now in common use US and to 0 met meet this end the Fink furnace has been designed In re tire the th real coal is generally burned on a grate at one end of ot the th furnace furac the flame only entering entering the th furnace the heat h t being bing deflected down downward downward downward ward and concentrated onto the charge charge To obtain the lie full fuU efficiency of the fuel same sape should he burned at a point pit where the heat hal i 1 is required h burno In the furnace Itself t and as In the case of or the fusion of the theare theore ore are the tb maximum ta efficiency is obtained when I the coal cl Is ground gund to a powder the finer the better for then the the combustion tit la Is practically ra instantaneous Blast Bast fur furnaces furnaces I which U is nut not naces require coke a product keh II always available and moreover it I is ex cx expensive pensive as compared compare to coal l Oil 01 has bas nev never ne neer nevor er or been successfully used We in blast fur nape naoe smelting practice though some has hasben nar been used in work ork In the Fink ben us furnace coal 1 oil 01 charcoal or saw sawdust s sawdust dust may bo be t used Ue the heat beat bt obtained being beng augmented further where whre the carry car sulphur fey by I of this thi element In the furnace furnare ur many instances hUt when once onre the smelting operation Is underway the sulphur alone is L capable of nf supplying most mot of the heat hat required for smelting The plant at It lt GarfIeld consists consist of two bar br r of or revolving 0 log ing In at different pact speeds speed and ao In opposite opsie directions The flu Tl fuel Is 18 blown blon Into one on and the flame fiame Is returned into time the til second ld furnace While hile the charge herse in the first frt smelted and mid refined the furnace fuma e Is being th charse phane in tn the second furnace furnare is roasting the heat being supplied from the gases i ie escaping e from the first frt furnace The T i construction of Lie lh furnace allows of a R bessemer smelting s as wl wi as refining op operation op an crude rude on nr r charged cb Into time the tit furnace fuma is discharged a as I a finished product Mister copper Introduction I of Ore ore is i fed fe Into th th the furnace fuma either orf or er Intermittently being ing In Introduced Introduced Into the th bath of ot molten stag slag sag and matte mitte causing the th floe fine nn particles prk to fuse immediately thus preventing their ther escape ep a flue fue dust The T revolving of the th furnace hastens the smelting action very ver material materially ly and makes possible the th operation in It A permanent refractory lining Is used thus differing from fm the reg regular regular regular ue ular converter which must be ned lined with silica which lining Is consumed nume In a very el short time Although the Fink furnace has been designed primarily for treating fine ores and flue fue dust dust It i may also be b em employed employed for smelting ordinary ordinal ores er It I be being beIng being ing only necessary to reduce the size of or orthe the Ing larger pieces pie by b passing same name s me through h suitable crushers crashers The blast blat furnace Is preeminently a furnace of great et capacity and will continue as a a most mOt economical I reducer of ores On suited suie to that style etyle Itle of smelting yet et Us Its Is usefulness hardly harly extends s to plants of at small smal capacity moreover the te prod ct obtained Is always a matte which requires require subsequent treatment to bring same to t blister copper To be b successful continuously continuously such a plant must be operated a condition which Is often oten difficult to meet where the ore supply suph Is I Irregular The Fink furnace may ma be successfully suc run Intermittently and small smal plants may maybe mayb maybe I be rn b economically operated The experimental tal plant at Garfield was designed d for us using usIng using I ing oil oi however yet local conditions made madeI It expedient to use coal coa making It I necca necessary necessary sary I to improvise apparatus to accomplish this after the furnace was wa already on the ground While le far from perfect and very eo gund crude in its Is conception this improvised apparatus has shown hown the possibilities of or powdered coal cal The furnace is now being changed to use ue oil 04 and when the installation installation lation laton is complete it will wi be possible to change from one form forum of fuel to another without any an delay Too To much credit can cannot cannot cannot not be given to Samuel Newhouse who made possible the th testing out of the iha fur furnace furnace nace and process on a commercial scale scale The nce delays Incident nt to installing and blow blowIng blowIng blowing Ing In of the furnace would have hae discouraged discouraged aged a man of or less le s courage and persever perseverance perseverance ance yet through all al he lIe never wavered an anc waver It has been possible possible Instant What hat success ha ble to achieve thus far may be b placed wholly to the credit of or Mr Sir Newhouse ew bouse |