P O W D E R E D C OA L

A S A FU E L

"

Q . F . yE RI N GTO N
Mec h a n i ca l E ng i n eer

84 I L L US TR A TI O N S

NE W Y O RK

D o V A N N O S TR A N D C O MP A N Y
2 5 P A R K P L A CE

191 8
 P RE F A C E

the engin eering p ubl ic t h e

IN p lac ing th is b oo k b e fo r e ,

a u th or , who obtai n ed much of

the in formation herein pre
sented while employed as A ssistant E n gin eer in the office
of the Ne w York Cen tral Railroad Compan y wishes to give ,

due ac knowledgmen t for valuable aid ren dered to the firms

and in dividuals n amed below
Th e Fulle r Le high C ar Wh e el and
-
Th e Ra ymo nd B ro s Impa c t P ul
.

A xl e C omp any ve riz e r C omp a ny

Th e B o nno t C ompany Th e A m e ri c a n Locomo tive Co .

Th e Rugg l e s C o l e s C omp any

-
Th e Jeffre y M fg . C omp any
Th e G enera l E l e c tri c C omp a ny Th e A e r o P u lve riz e r C omp any
Th e We b ster Mfg C omp a ny . Th e Link B e lt C omp any

P r of R C C arp e nte r
. . . Mr H B arnh urst
. .

Mr . A A . . H o lbe c k M r Ja m es L o rd
.

Mr J H Van B u skirk
. . .

Various patents design s an d systems are h ere describ ed

, , ,

but the author wishes to emphasize the fact that compari

so n s have been made without bias an d claims co n sidered
without prej udice The un derlyin g obj ect has been n o t
.

to advertise the advantages of any o ne system b ut to show ,

th e merits of all .

C F H . . .

O C TO B E R 1 9 1 7 , .

37 61 32
 C O N TE NT S

G e ne r a l O p e ration of —
Plant C omp ariso n of C o sts with
O il an d Gas

II C O A L S S UI TA B LE
. F OR P O W D E R I NG

E xp erie n c e with Vario us — —

Gra des E xpe rim ents Th e
A sh Qu e stio n

III P R E PA RA TI O N
. OF P O WDE R E D C O A L
—
C rush ers D r ye s
r
— P l i
u ve r e rs
z —Air S e p aration

FE E DING A ND BURNI NG P O WD E R E D C O A L .

— —
Furna c e s Burn ers Pne um ati c Distribution

P O WD E R E D C O A L I N TH E C E M E N T IN D U S TR Y

E diso n Syste m—Ki ln C a l c u l atio ns— U tiliz atio n of

W aste H e at

A P PLI CA TI O N OF P O WD E R E D C O A L TO RE V E R B E R A T O R Y F U R
NACE S .

C anadian C opp e r —
C omp any W a sh o e Red u c tio n W o rks
“

—
Ana co nda P la nt

VII P O WD E RE D C O A L
. IN M E TA L L UR G I CA L F UR NA CE S
G e ne r a l E l e c tr i c C omp a ny
—F u rna c e L ining s—A meric an
L ocomo tive —
C omp any Le b ano n Pl ant

VIII P O WD E RE D C O A L
. U N DE R B O I LE R S .

Ge nera l E l e c tri c C omp any M— . K . T R R—A m eri

. .

c an Locomo tive C omp a ny

vii
 IX . P O WDE RE D C O A L F OR L O C O MO

E ar —
lyUse O pe o
r ati n

X E X P LO S IO N S
.

Sto rage D ifli c ulties

B IB LI O GRA P HY
 L I ST OF IL L U S T RA T I O N S

PA G E
Fro ntisp ie c e
Jeffre y S ingle r oll
C ru sh e r
-

S -A Impro ved C o al C ru sh e r
Ful e Le g
l r-
hi h I n d re c t fire d
i -
D ryer
Ru ggle s C o le s
-
D ryer

Raymo n d Ro ll e r M ill .

Jeffrey S win g-h ammer P u lve riz e r

Bonn o t Pulve riz er .

Bo nno t Tu be Mill
P ul ver iz ed C o al Pl an t
Wh elpley S to rer App aratus
Wh el pley S to re r App ara tu s
C r amp to n A pp ara tu s
C ra mp to n App ara tus
S mi th B urn e r a n d Fee de r
S mith B urn e r a n d Fee d e r
S mith B u rn er a n d Fee de r
We st Fee de r .

We st Fee d er .

H olbe ck S yste m Sh owing Indi c a to r D ials

,

Ro tary C e m e n t Kil n
Inj e c to r fo r C e m ent Kil n . .

E l o n g ate d Fl a m e in C e m e n t Kil n
E diso n Syste m
E diso n S yste m
Rever b e ra to ry F urna c e Usin g P o w de r ed C o al
Re ve rb e r ato ry F u rn a c e Usin g P o wde re d C o al
P o wder e d C o al in O p e n He ar th F urn a c e
O pe n He arth Furn a c e fo r P o wde re d C o al
Fuller P ul veriz e d C o al Pl ant
Fulle r P ulve riz e d C o al Pl ant
Fuller P ulveriz e d C o al Pl ant . .
 L IsT O F I LL U S TRA I O NS T

M ann B u rn e r
M ann B u rn e r
Fitting fo r Intr o du cing Primar y Air .

—
Fee der o x Lo n g itu din al S e c tio n
B
B —
Fee der o x C r o ss se c tion -

Fe e de r B o x S c re w
Ge n eral E l e c tr i c C o P o w de r e d C o al F u r n a c e
.

Ge n e r al E le c tr i c C o P o w de re d C o al F u r n a c e
.

Ge ner al E l e c tric C O P o wde r e d C o a l F u rn a c e

. .

Ge n eral E le c tri c C o P o wd er e d C o al F urn a c e

.

Ing o t H e ating F urn a c e U sing H o l be c k s S yste m of

’
P ul ve r iz e d

Pl ate h e ating
-
Fu rna c e Arrang e ments .

C o ntinu o u s Bille t H ea ting Fu rn a c e U sin g H o lb e c k Syste m

Rive t He ating F u rn a c e s U sin g H o l b e c k S yste m .

O utline o f Le b an on F urna c e
Pl ant Using C o arse ly G r o u n d C o al u n de r S te a m B o ile r
H e ine B o ilers Arran ge d for P ul veriz e d C o al
He ine B o ilers Arra n ge d for P ul veriz e d C o al
He ine B o ile rs Ar range d for P ul veriz e d C o al
Pinth er App a ratu s .

S c h w artz kop f App ar a tu s

B lake P h ipp s A pp aratu s
-

B e ttin g to n B o ile r
B . .
—
W B o iler fo r P ow dere d C o al Gene ral E le c tric C omp any . .

P o w de re d C o al in B W B o iler
—
. . .

Front of oiler General E le c tric C o

B
—
. . .

Arran ge ment of B u e s r n r B W Boile r . .

Air C urren ts in Bo ile r F u rn a c e

M K T R R Plant P a r so n s Ka s
. . .
— Fulle r E nginee rin g C o . . .
. .
, ,

. . . . r
. n —
M K T R R Pl ant a so s Ka s Fu lle r E ng in ee rin g C o
P , ,
. . .

B o iler S e tting M K ,
T R R . . . . .

Locomo tive E qu ippe d fo r P o wde re d C o al .

P o wd ere d C o al E qu ipme n t in a S te a m Locomo tive

S ingl e U nit G ravity M ill ing Pl ant H u dso n C o al C o
-
C a p a city ,
.

2 To ns p e r H o u r
D ouble Unit Plant an d Sin gl e Bin Locomotive C o aling S tation
- -

C a p a c ity 8 T o n s p e r H o u r
D ouble Unit Pl ant with Triple Bin fo r Lo a ding Locomotives
- -

C ap a c ity 1 6 To ns p er H o u r
D ouble Burner and Fire p an E quipment fo r Locomo tive C entral ,
 LIST OF I L LU S T RATI O NS Xi

PAG E
D o uble Feed E qu ipme nt o n Locomo tive Fender C entral Rwy
-
, .

of B raz il 1 74
D ouble Fee de r E qu ipment fo r Locomo tive Fe nder N Y C R R
-
,
. . . . . 1 76
Tr ipl e B u rn e r a n d F ire p a n E qu ipm e n t for L ocomo tive N Y ,
.

Tripl e B urn e r and Fire p an E q u ipm e n t fo r Locomo tive . A . T

S . F Rwy
.

Tr ip le Fee der E qu ipm ent on Locomo tive Fe n der . A . T .

L ocomo tive Fr o nt E n d fo r P o wde re d C o al

L ocomo tive C ab E qu ipm e nt fo r P o w de re d C o al
P o wdere d C o al E qu ipm en t fo r S tirlin g Bo il er . Th e H u dso n
C o al C o 1 85
P o wde r e d C o al E qu ipm e nt fo r O B rie n B o ile r
’
. M K . . T Rwy 1 87
. .

P o wdere d C o al E qu ipme nt for Wi c kes Bo il er 1 89

 POWDE RE D COAL A S A FUE L

C HA P T E R I

Po wD E RE D —
C O AL I N T R O D UC T O RY

C OA L is the staple fuel of t h e metal wor k i n g in dustries -

b ecause of its wide di stribution and fairly stable price .

It may b e secured from several sources b y almost every c o n

s umer a n d the coal industry is so widely controlled as to

lead gen erally to favorable prices

, ,
.

P owdered coal must compete with raw coal fuel oil , ,

an d in dustrial gas The elementary factor in such competi

.

tio n is the B t u cost If a gallo n of oil co ntainin g

. . . .

B t u costs five cents then the B t u derived when o n e

. . .
,
. . .

cent is spent for fuel oil will be If powdered coal

co ntaini n g B t u per poun d c an b e purchased for
. . .

o n e half ce n t per pou n d or te n dollars a to n the n there are

-
,

B t u o b tain ed for each cent expen ded to b uy coal

. . . .

The two fuels are then o n a parity so far as B t u cost . . .

goes but any fi nal analysis must co nsider also the compara
,

tive e fficiencies in the furn ace of the two fuels If a cen t s .

’

worth of coal will go farther ; that is last lo n ger or pro , ,

’
duce more in a given furn ace than a cen t s worth of oil
,

( eve n thoug h b oth are represe n ted by the same nu mb er of

then the coal is to b e preferred .

F uel oil fluctuates sharply in price and tends to b ecome

more expen sive as deman d in creases The same state .

men t is true of natural gas It is n o t true to anything lik e .

the same extent for coal Raw coal c an n o t b e compared .

with powdered coal with respect to efficien cy of combustio n .

With proper applian ces a n d methods t h e last produces an ,

2 P OWD E RE D C OAL AS A FUE L

almost smo k eless fire with a steady inten se h eat and maxi ,

mum furn ace temperature .

It is true that the n umber of powdered coal plants is

still small S ome of them have b ee n in service for ten to
.

fifteen years an d these have fully demo n strated the feasibility

a n d efficie n cy of a powdered coal in stallatio n F ully 9 0 .

per cen t of the P ortlan d cemen t made in the Uni ted S tates
is b urn ed in k ilns in which powdered coal is the fuel The .

c h an ge from other fuels to powdered coal does no t involve

expen sive furn ace reco n struction Any furn ace adapted .

for fuel oil or gas may with slight changes b e utilized for
powdered coal .

The fuel to be used for pulverizin g should b e b ituminous

or se mi bitum inous either the slac k or the run o f min e
-
,
- -
.

Coals rich in volatile matter are to be preferred An a d

—
.

van tage o f slac k over ru n o f min e is that with th e former -

n o preliminary crushi n g is n ecessary The following an al .

y si s represe n ts a dried coal that has b ee n found to give good

results

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

G E N E RA L O P E R A T I O N OF P O WD E R E D C O A L P LA N T

If already in fine particles the coal as received is

no t ,

crushed so a s to pass through a in rin g It is then dried -

. .

in a direct heat co n tact drier

-
The cost of the dryi n g is .

appreciable but this operatio n is absolutely n ecessary

,

in order to permit of gool pulverizin g U sually the per .

cen tage of moisture is reduced to about The e xp e n di

ture of heat for the dryin g operatio n is no t a ne t loss sin ce
n o fuel of a ny kin d ever bur n s in a furn ace until the moisture

co ntain ed therein has been evaporated .

F ollowin g the dryin g the coal is pulverized in some o ne ,

of the various types of grin der or mill described in later ,

 P OWD E RE D C O A L—I N T R ODU C T O RY 3

chapters It is made so fine that about 85 per cent w ill pass

.

through a 2 00-mesh screen a nd about 9 5 per cen t t hrough a

1 0 0 mes h screen
- A separatin g device is usually integral
.

with the pulverizer This carries o ff the fi ner particles

.

whil e returnin g the grosser for regrin din g .

The fin ely gro un d co al is n o w carried to bin s from whi c h

it is fed to the furn ace as required The furn ace co nstru o .

tio n and operatio n must be such that the lin in g remains

co ntin uously hot ; which implies a steady uniform feedin g ,

of th e coal This feedin g must b e un der positive co ntrol

.
,

alo n g with whic h must go a positive co n trol of the air supply .

The fire is started by lightin g a piece of oily waste placin g ,

it before the burn er a n d turning o n the coal A s is the case .

with fuel O il the combustio n is n o t very efficie n t u ntil after

,

the fur n ace is warmed up .

C O M P A RI S O N OF C O S TS , F U E L O IL , WA TE R GA S A N D P U LV E R

I ZE D COA L

The followi n g approximate figures are i nten ded to show

un der the assumed co n ditio n s the relative costs for i nstal
latio n an d operatio n of the three kin ds of equipme n t n amed .

It is assumed that there are 45 furn aces a n d that the heat

con sumptio n is B t u per mo n th . . . .

The assumed heat co n sumptio n is equi valen t to

gallon s of oil of B t u per gall on or to . . .

poun ds of coal at B t u per pound F or the gas . . . .

plan t it will be assumed that each cubic foot of gas co n tain s

474 B t u a n d that 2 0 cu ft of gas are produced per poun d
. . . . .

of coal Then the coal co n sumptio n per mo n th for makin g

.

the gas is ( 2 0 lb .

T hi s correspo n ds with a gas maki n g e ffic ien Cy of -

whi ch of course cann ot be realized when o n ly water gas is

made If however both producer gas an d water gas are
.
, ,

furn ished from the same plan t the comb in ed efficien cy ,

may be as high as that assumed The producer gas will .

then b e used for low temperature work an d the water gas -

in furnaces requiri n g high temperature .

4 P OWD E RE D C OA L AS A FUE L

1 Fue l Oil, First Cost of P lant

—
.

Thr ee o g 1
tanks at $850
a . st rage

Unl o ading e xc avation and setting tank s

, ,

Two au xiliary p ressur e tanks in p l a c e

O ne c ir c ul ating p u mp and mo to r
Piping fi tting s a nd val ve s
,

S tea m and air co nn e c tio ns to ta nks

C o nne c tio ns to furna c es 45 a t $50 ,

S tand p ipe s fo r tank c ars .

Pu mp and p ump h ou se
B lowers mo to r and blast conne c tions
,

C o ntra c to r profit c ent

’
s ,
1 5 pe r

E ngineering and c o nting enc ie s—1 0 p e c ent r

00

2 . Wa ter Gas, Fi rst Cost f P lant

o

G as plant ma c h ine ry e re c te d in p la c e
B uil ding compl ete with fo u nd ations
,

C o al tr e stl e h opp e r s with siding

,
.

Ga s p iping m ete r s va lve s w a te r p ip ing

, ,

C h ang es in furna c e s .

T o ta l
C o ntra c to r profi t c ent
’
s ,
1 5 p er

E ngineering and contingenc ies ,

1 0 per c ent

With regard to the powdere d coal plan t two types of ,

apparatus will be co n sidered The first is that in whi ch .

screw co n veyor apparatus is used for distributin g the coal ,

with in dividual bins co n trols a n d fee ders at each furn ace , .

Another type of plan t ( see Chapter IV ) is that in whi ch the

coal dust is carri ed to the various furn aces by mean s of low
 P OWD E RE D C O AIr —
INT RODU C T O RY 5

3 P owdered Coa
. l S cr ew Conveyor P lant, Fi rst Cost

Pulverizing ma c hin ery .

B uild in g s and f o u nd a tio ns

M a c hine ry fo u ndations
C o al trestle a nd tra c k siding
C o nve yo r syste m to th e fu rna c e s
W alkways and conveyo r su ppo rts
M o to rs a nd wiring fo r co nveyo rs
B urners and c ontr o llers for 45 furna c e s at $250
Furna c e c h ang es sta c ks ,
.

Furna c e bins 45 at $ 100 ,

.

H oo ds and e xh aust Syste m complete

S ta c k th im bl es thr o ugh r oof

T o tal .

C o ntra c to r profit c ent

’
s ,
1 5 pe r

En
ginee ring and conting enc ies ,
1 0 pe r c ent

00

4 Ai r D i stribu ti ng S ystem, P owdered Coa l, F i rst Cost

.

P ulve rIz ing M a c h in e ry .

B u ildings a nd fo u n datio ns
M a c h ine ry fo u ndatio ns .

C o a l tr e stl e e tc ,
.

S p iral rive te d p ip e fi ttin g s and va lv e s ,

Fu rna c e c h ange s .

B l owe rs moto rs and wiring

,

H oo ds and e xh a u st syste m comple te

T o tal .

C o ntra c to r profit c ent

’
s ,
1 5 p er

E nginee ring and co ntingenc ies ,

1 0 pe r c ent

pressure air which co n veys it in suspen sio n from a cen tral

storage b in ( H olb eck system) .
6 P OWD E RE D C OA L AS A FUE L

A gai n st
these in stallatio n costs for the four typ es of plant ,

we no w tabulate the ann ual operatin g costs in cludi n g fixed ,

or overh ead charges :

Operati ng Cost of F uel Oi l P lant

Fi xed Charges
Inte r e st, 5 p e r c ent of
D e pre c iatio n, 1 0 p e r c e nt
Ta x e s a nd i nsu r an c e , 1 p e r c e nt

Opera ti on
q

(
O il , g al . at
c e nts o
p e r g a ll n .

Lab o r ,
two m e n .

E l e c tri c a l c u rr ent air and ste a m

,

Re pairs, 2 p e r c ent of th e co st 00

00

Operating Cost of Wa ter Ga s P lant

Fi xed Charges
Inte r e st a t 5 p e r c e nt o f
D e pre c iatio n at 1 0 p e r c e nt
T ax e s a nd in su ran c e , 1 p e r c ent

Opera ti on
C o al , 5 760 to n s a t
Lab o r 1 O p e ra to r and two a ssistants
,

Unl o ading co a l at p e r c ar
C l eaning g e n e rato r s
Wate r
Ste a m
Re p air s 2 p e r c e nt of
, ,
00

00

Op era ti ng Cost of P owdered Coa l P lant wi th S crew Conveyors

Fi xed Charges :
Inte r e st, 5 pe r c e nt, of
D epre c iatio n, 1 0 pe r c ent .

Ta x e s and insu ran c e , 1 pe r c ent 00

 C HAP TE R II

C O ALS S UITABLE F O R P O W D E RIN G

P O WD E RE Dcoal weigh s 38 to 45 lb per cub ic foot .

,

although the solid particles have a S pecific gravity between

and The free surface of a pile at rest makes a n
an gle of 34 to 38 degrees with the vertical if dry These ,
.

properties do no t vary much with the grade of coal .

E X P E R I E N CE W IT H V ARIO U S G RA D E S OF COAL

The impressio n has prevailed un til recently that o nl y

bitumin ous coals were suitable for powderin g .

B itumin ous or soft coal diff ers from an thracite in its

, ,

greater proportio n of volatile co n ten t The greater the .

percen tage of volatile co n stituen ts in coal the more readily ,

will it deflagrate These volatile gases distill from the fuel

.

an d ign ite at a temperature much lower than that required

for carbo n itself To burn them requires a greater relative

.

supply of oxygen than that n ecessary for carbo n Their .

average heat value is n early 50 per cen t greater than that of

carbo n.

The fuels available for burn in g in P ortlan d cemen t kil ns

may have a wide ran ge of quality The best bitumin ous .

coal s are preferable but those of poor quality are occasio n

,

ally fou n d in successful use The fuels used in the E astern

.

portio n s of the coun try are gen erally obtain ed from the soft
coal min es of P enn sylvania a nd Marylan d V irgin ia a nd ,

West Virginia The coals employed in mil ls in the West

.

are those most accessible from the plan t a n d cheapest in

price o n the heat u nit basis .

The effort to use low grade coal has b ee n at o n ce o ne of

-

the most a ttractive and elusive featur es of powdered coal

8
 C O ALS S U ITAB LE FO R P OWD E RING 9

firin g Un suitab l e coal while not always the ultimate cause

.
,

of fail ure has oft en bee n the immediate cause for the dis
,

co n tin uan ce o f experimen ts Wh ile it is possib le to burn

.

in ferior gr ades of coal in powdered form there are often so ,

man y complicatio n s in troduced as to overcome a ny eco n omy .

The idea of u smg up the exten sive an thracite culm piles

may have to be aban do n ed The particular difficulty with
.

low grade coals is in the disposal of the slag A verage slag

- .

°
moves very sluggishly at a temperature of 2 500 F a n d p r a c .
,

tically all slag solidifies at 1 800 or above 0

.

As a sin gle example of the e ffect of low grade coal Mr -

, .

W A E van s in a discussio n b efore the W estern E n gi neers

. .
,
’

S ociety quotes his experien ce with a malleable iro n ann eal

,

in g fur n ace Coal co n tainin g about 4 per cen t of ash

.

was b ein g used with very satisfactory results E xact .

co n trol of th e heat was possib le throughout the annealin g

process A very small amoun t of slag was deposited in the
.

combustio n chamber o n a bed of cinders a n d this was easily ,

removed every twe n ty four hours O n e of the officers of

-
.

the company compared the appearan ce of the fine powder

with that from a cheap slack coal that could be b ought
for ab out half What the good coal was costin g a n d he insisted ,

upo n the use of the cheaper coal It did n o t take lo n g to

.

demo n strate the un avail abil ity of the sub stitute S lag .

deposited rapidl y in the combustio n chamber a n d freque n t

open in g of the furn ace fro n t was made n ecessary in the e ffort
to remove it The result was that the furn ace would cool
.

down The savin g in cost of fuel was soo n overcome b y

.

”
complicatio ns an d ruined castin gs .

It is desirable to use the very b est coal o b tainab le when ,

workin g out a n e w problem The trial of cheaper coal c an

.

b e undertak en w h en other details h ave b een perfected .

E X P E RI ME NTS

In th e E n gin eerin g a n d Mi n ing Journ al of 1 876, Chie f

E n gin eer B F Isherwood ,
. . described a test made by
n aval en gin eers un der his directio n in 1 867 a nd 1 868 at .
10 P OWD E RE D C OA L AS A FUE L
’

S out h B oston ,
Mass with both an thracite a n d semi .
,

bitumin ous coals in commercial a n d powdere d forms The

,
.

highest rate of comb u stio n attain ed was lb per square .

foot of grate per hour for the an thracite a n d lb for the .

bitumin ous referrin g all coal powdered as well a s solid

, , ,
’
to the grate area Mr Ish e rwo o d s co n clusio n s were that
. .
,

in cludin g the cost of pulverizin g the an thracite did a great ,

deal better a n d the semi bitumin ous a little better when -

,

burn ed upo n the grate in the ordin ary way than when burn ed ,

in the powdered co n ditio n .

The powdered coal used un der a Be tting do n b oil er whi ch

gave an efficien cy u n der test of per cent contain ed
, , ,

per cen t of moisture per cen t of volatile matter , ,

per cen t of fixed carb o n a n d per cen t of ash A .

n umber of these b oilers ( see Chapter V II I) are in use in

S outh Africa G reat B ritain a n d Can ada

,
.

F or metallurgical furn aces the practice of the American ,

Iro n and S teel Co of L eban o n P enn in dicates that the

.
,
.
,

volatile co n ten t sh ould b e no t less than 30 per cen t A .

typical coal used by them an alyzed per cen t moisture ,

per cen t volatile per cent fixed carbon and ,

per cen t ash The Am erican L ocomotive C o at S c h en e c

. .
,

tady N Y uses in its drop forge furn aces a coal high in

,
. .
,

volatile matter lo w in ash and dried until it co n tain s

, ,

n o t over of 1 per cent of moisture In a reverb eratory .

fu rn ace the Can adian C opper Co employs a good quality

,
.

of slac k An alysis of o ne lot sh owed : volatile matter

.
,

fixed carbon ash sul phur mois

, , ,

ture ,
per cent This coal h as a th ermal value of ab ou t
.

B t u per poun d
. . . .

O n e of the most severe tests yet made was wit h a semi

b ituminou s coal from B razil analyzin g as pulverized : ,
 C O A L S S U ITA B LE F O R P OWD E RIN G 11

The sulphur averaged from 3 per cent to 9 per cent an d

the B t u from . to
. . N o difficulty whatever
was experien ced accordi n g to Mr J E Muhlfeld in main,
. . .
,

tainin g maximu m boiler pressure when workin g a loco

motive with this fuel u n der the most severe O peratin g
co n ditio n s The ash an d sulphur co n ten ts in this in stan ce
.

are strikin gly ab n ormal a n d adverse to good operatio n A .

more usual coal for locomotive practice is mentio n ed b y Mr .

Muhlfeld as havin g been employed o n an A tlantic type

passen ger locomotive This was a Ken tucky u nwas h ed .

screenin gs test in g per cen t moisture per ce n t ,

volatile per cen t fixed carbo n

,
per cen t sulphur ,

a nd per cen t a sh It co ntain ed B t u per pou n d . . . . .

In M uh lfe l d s experimen ts o n locomotives described

’
,

in the Jour n al of the American S ociety of Mechan ical

E n gin e ers for D ecember 1 9 1 6 mixtures ran gin g down , ,

—
from 75 per cen t ru n o f min e bitumin ous and 2 5 per cen t -

an thracite birdseye ( over " a in an d thr ough 1 g in ) to .

§
.

40 per cen t of the former wit h 60 per cen t of a nt hracite

culm were burn ed with equally satisfactory results The
,
.

average compositio n of th e coals referred to is S hown in

the foll o wi n g table :

P ULV E RIZ E D .

I te m
B itu min o us
.

—
R u n -o f M rn e
B irdse y e ul m
.

. C .

M o istu re , per c e nt
V o l atil e , p e r c e nt
F ix e d c arb on pe r c ent .

Ash , p e r c e nt .

S u l ph u r , p e r c ent
B t u p e r po un d
. . .

Finene ss , p er c ent th r o u gh 200-m e sh .

S atisfactory
results are also reported from powdered
lignite havin g a n an alysis of : moisture per cen t ; ,
12 P OWD E RE D C OA L A S A FUE L

volatile cen t ; fix ed car b o n

, p e r ce n t ; sul
p e r ,

phur ,
per cen t ; ash p e r ce n t ; wit h a h eat value of ,

B t u per l b . . . .

Mr Muhlfeld claims that the use of powdered an thra

—
.

cite culm will double the steam gen eratin g c apacity of

statio n ary b oilers no w b urn in g b irdseye anthracite han d ,

fired o n grates ; an d at the same time elimin ate fire clean in g ,

greatly decrease the amou nt of ash to be h an dled a n d ,

reduce the boiler plan t labor cost ab out 40 per cen t H e has - -
.

employed birdseye co n tain ing 7 to 9 per cent volatile a n d

1 9 to 22 per ce n t ash a n d culm co n tain in g 6 to 1 0 per cen t ,

volatile a n d 2 2 to 46 per cen t ash in tests o n a 463 horse ,

—
power S tirli n g water tube boiler with the followi n g results ,

T e st No .

D u r a ti on h o , u rs . 72 336 24 48 1 20 2 40 24
H o rse p ow tin g er ra 463 463 463 46 3 463 463 463
H o r se pow e d e ve lop r ed, 1 33 1 35 1 47 1 78 1 12 1 18 1 24
Fu el : A u th . An th . An th . A n th . An th . A n th . An th .

B
’
e ye B
’
e ye B
’
e ye B
’
e ye C u lm C ul m C ul m
D r yn e ss, p er e n t c 0 8
Fin e n e ss, p er c e nt

o
th r u gh 2 00 —m h es .

E vapo r a ti on ,
f om r a nd

lb
°
at 2 12 F .
,

C 0 2 , a ve ra g e p e r ce n t .

V a cu u m in b re e chin g
pt k in of w te
u a e, . a r . .

V c m in co mb u tion
a uu s

c h m b in o f w a t
a er , . er

B il e p
o u re av
r ge r e ss e ra

lb . 1 40 1 42 1 41 1 40 1 43 1 44 1 45
Flu e -
g a s te mpe r a ture

deg F . .
, a v e ra g e . 49 6 60 3 47 5 580 5 76

S U MMA R Y

Most of the experien ce hi therto obtain ed has been o n high

grade highly volatile soft coals an d eff orts to burn inferior
, , ,

grades have often led to disappointmen t It is in recent .

 C O A L S S UI TAB LE F O R P OWD E RIN G 13

practice and in th e han d of o nly a few investigators that

, ,

good results have been obtain ed from inferior soft coals an d

from an thracite All of the most recen t developmen ts for
.

steam gen eration have b ee n made with anthracite cul m ,

at o n e time defin itely aban don ed as a suitable fuel for

powderin g P owdered coal like ordinary commercial coal
.
, ,

should be practically free from sul phur for all but the most ,

exceptio n al applicatio ns .

TH E ASH Q UE S TIO N

The presen ce of i nert impurities in the fuel has n o t

much e ffect O nly combustible s will burn ; the c o mb u s
.

tibl e s if in ert do n o t n ecessarily a ffect the operatio n of the

, ,

furn ace Their e ffect Is In the reduced amou n t of useful

.

’
work obtained from a dollar s worth of fuel Coal has bee n .

burn ed whic h co ntain ed up to 5 2 per cen t of ash G ood .

performan ce depen ds no t so much o n the per cen t of ash

or the heat value of the fuel as upo n dryn ess fin e grin din g , ,

a hot fire b ox an d proper air supply O n e authority goes .

eve n so far as to say that a ny solid fuel that in a dry pul ,

ve r i z e d form h as two t h irds of its co n ten t comb ustible is

,
-
,

suitable for steam gen eratin g purposes D omestic a n d

‘

-
.

steam sizes an d qualities of anthracite bitumi n ous a nd semi , ,

bituminous coals a n d lign ite a nd peat as well as the in ferior

, ,

grades such as anthracite culm dust an d slush and bitu , ,

minous an d lignite slack screen in gs a n d dust are all suitab le

, ,
”
for burn in g in pulverized form .

B ut while the absolute a mou n t of ash in coal may have

only min or influen ce o n its suitability for use wh en pow
dered the qua li ty of t h e ash is all importan t
,
-
.

With th e or din ary method of burn in g coal un der a steam

boiler the grate ( with its b ed of solid in candescen t fuel more
,

or less e ncumb ered wit h ash an d clink er) o ffers a c o n

side rab le a varyin g and a n irregularly distrib uted resist
,

an ce to the passage of air rej ects the in combustib le residuum,

with some difficulty an d allows some of the unb urn ed fuel

to sift to the ashpit or to b e fused in with the c lin k er With .
14 P OWD E RE D C O A L A S ~ A FUE L

powdered coal burn ed in suspen sio n man y of these dif

, ,

fi c u l tie s disappear There still remain s however the dif

.
, ,

fi c u l ty of gettin g rid of the in combustible With 1 0 per .

ce n t of ash there will be 2 00 lb of refuse to be disposed of .

,

for each to n of coal burn ed If this a sh is kept in a pul .

v e r i z e d form it is carried in to the back co n n ectio n the tubes ,

a n d stac k a n d scattered about the n eighborhood

, If it .

is fu sed an even more serious di fficulty may arise The

, .

clin ker the n attaches itself to the surface of the furnace an d

welds itself in to large masses This may occasio n damage .

to the bric kwork when the clinker is removed a nd ne c e ssi

t ates comparatively frequen t lay o ffs for clea n in g In o n e -
.

i nstan ce the molten slag formed in ridges a n d sheets upo n

,

the sides an d in stalactites upo n the roof of the furn ace ,

while the floor was covered with a plastic mass which cooled ,

whe n the door was opened for its removal a nd could scarcely ,

be withdrawn without material damage to the furn ace .

A ccordin g to Muhlfeld clinker is of two kin ds : ,

hard
”
a nd soft . H ard cl ink er is formed by the direct melt
in g of some of the ash co n ten t It harden s as it forms a n d
.

usually gives but little trouble S oft clink er is formed by

.

the S laggin g of the ash an d is either pasty or fluid an d steadily

grows in size H o n eycomb
. or flue sheet clinker -

is formed by the co n densatio n or cokin g of tarry matter or

vapor as it strik es again st the fir e box s h eets a n d results -
,

in the accumul atio n of a relatively soft light ashy substan ce , ,

that grows or spreads over certain of the refractory or

metal parts of the furn ace .

A commo n source of troub le is the ferric sulphide ( iro n

pyrites F 0 82 ) in the ash This is reduced to ferric sulphide
,
.

( F e S ) i n the fur n ace The latte r

. substa n ce melts at about
°
2 300 F an d forms a pasty mass
. If subj ected to high .

heat and an excess of air it forms F e 2 0 3 ferric oxide which

, , ,

combin es with the silica presen t in the ash to form a rela

tiv e ly harmless inf usible clin k er If the supply of oxygen .

is in sufficien t o n the other han d the ferric sulphide becomes

, ,

ferrous oxide F e O which when combin ed with silica pro

, ,
 P OWD E RE D C O A L AS A FUE L
‘
16

tions S lag and clin ker gave n o especial difficulty In steam

,
.

gen eratio n they became serious factors o n ly u n der heavy

,

boiler loads say 40 per cen t above n ormal a n d in dicated the

, ,

n ecessity of care in design in g a n d operatin g boiler furn aces .

With powdered coal furn ace temperatures are high ; ,

2 700 F or more is no t u n commo n a nd most of the ash

°
.

will slag when hot It was aimed at S chenectady to slag

.

as much as possible drawin g O ff the fused product at inter

,

vals F ine ash passes o n amo ng the tubes The slag weigh s
. .

per cen t and the soot per cent of t h e coal that made
it This coal gives
. per cen t of ash in the laboratory ,

so that 2 per cen t must have go ne up th e stack This 2 .

per cent is a very fine white powder scarcely visible at the ,

chimn ey top T h e slag whic h weighs 1 1 4 lb per to n of

.
,
.

coal fired co ntain s no carbo n whatever A t moderate loads

,
.
,

say up to 1 80 per cen t of n ormal it is drawn out o nce durin g ,

the day to a co n crete pit con tain in g water T he pit is .

clean ed out with pic k an d shovel the n ext morning This .

is n o t the easiest way to han dle slag If there were a cellar .

b en eath the boiler ro om there would be less labor but even ,

as it is the work is not difli cu lt Water in the pit is essen .

tial however .

With heavy loads some particles of slag travel with th e

,

gas current and c lin g to the first cold surface th ey meet ;

that is to the bottom r o w of tubes If this slag is allowed
, .

to accumul ate for te n hours it will cho k e O ff en ough of th e ,

gas passage to make reductio n of load n ecessary T h is was .

a great difli cu l ty at fir st but it has b een overcome Th e

,
.

accumulatio n c an b e b lown o ff with a steam j et o n ce durin g

the forenoon and again in the aftern oo n This does no t .

call for muc h time a n d is no t lab orious F urth er im .

provemen t has been made b y admittin g a little steam at th e

in let e n d of the gas passages This steam travels with the .

hot air min glin g with it and alterin g the character of th e

,

fire ; it makes slag ru n more freely soften in g an d decreasing ,

the quan tity that clin gs to the tub es It pays to b low .

tubes o n ce a day Most of the soot goes over through the

.
 C OALS S UITAB LE F O R P OWD E RING 17

second pass of th e b oiler a nd drops in t h e bac k c h amb er

’
.

T h e b ottom of that chamber has bee n paved giving it a ,

p itc h with
,
a drain pipe leadi n g to a pit a n d all this material ,

is was h ed out every secon d day by merely opening a valve .

The soot however is a loss ; for 60 per cen t of it is carb o n ;

, ,

that is 60 per cen t of

,
per cen t or 2 per cen t of the
coal is unburn ed T he soot is light an d fluffy weighin g 1 8
.
,

lb per cub i c foot

. No good use for it has b een fo und
.

”
thus far .

T roub le from as h in m etallurgical operations may aris e

in the comb ustion chamb er o n the hearth or in the fl u e s , , .

In the comb ustion chamber slag c an be provided for by the ,

use of a b ed of cin ders whic h will remain loose an d c an be,

pried out O n the heart h of a reverb eratory furn ace the

.

as h forms a slag whic h can b e drawn o ff wit h other im

purities In th e gas flu es co ntrol of the h eat s h ould b e
.
,

suc h as to k eep the temperature too low to permit the

formation of slag In any case frequen t and easy access
.
,

should be given for cleaning C h ec k er work is accordi n g .

,

to o ne authority entirely u nsuitab le for t h e use of powdered

,

coal It will slag up an d become inoperative

. .

I n locomotive applicatio n s the liquid as h ru n s down the ,

un der side of the main arch an d the fro nt a nd sides of the

forward combustio n zo n e of the furn ace a n d is precipitated
into the self clean in g slag p an H ere it accumulates a n d
- -
.

is air coo led and solidified in to a butto n of slag which c an

-

b e d umped b y opening the drop bottom doors .

S U M MA RY

Ashdisposal presen ts pro b lems differen t from t h ose e n

coun tered with ordin ary coal i They are to be han dled by
proper selectio n of fuel ( givin g attentio n to the compositio n
of the ash ) by con trol of combustion by ru nn in g o ff liquid
, ,

slag and by the mechanical or man ual cleaning of surfac es

wh ere p owder or clink er may accumulate .
 C H AP TE R II I

P RE P ARATI O N O F P O W D E RE D C O AL

HA V I N G selected a proper grade of coal u sually o ne c o n ,

tain in g in the n eighborhood of 30 per cen t of volat ile matter ,

the first operatio n is gen erally a cru shin g to about l ih -

.

S ize
.

Fig 1 shows the Jeffrey sin gle roll crusher It is so c o n

. .

structed a s to withstan d the severe usage to which it is

FIG . l .
— J e ffre y S in g l e ~
r o ll C r u sh e r .

l ik ely to be subj ected bei n g built for strength and en duran ce

,

rather than with a ny over r e fine me nt of parts

-
.

The machin e con sists of a heavy cast iro n frame In whic h -

,

are mounted a crushin g roll a n d a breaker plate The .

break er plate is hin ged at its upper e nd and is held in

positio n by a pair of adj usting rods at the lower edge B y .

18
 P RE PARATI O N OF P OWD E RE D C O A L 19

th is means the cle ar open ing b etween t h e b rea k er plate

shoe an d the surface of the roll c an b e varied to give a ny ‘

size of product required .

A clampin g e ffect is produced by proper adj ustment of

the cross rod bolts between the side frames whereby suf
-
,

fic ient frictio n may be brought upo n the hin ged break er

plate to elimin ate chattering a nd to assist th e safety device .

The co n cave break er plate actin g in co nj unctio n with the

roll makes a form of maw with a very small angle of repose ;
,

hen ce the machin e will readily grip a large lump and reduce
it to such size as will pass thr ough the open in g betwee n the
roll and plates A coun tershaft mounted directly o n the
.
,

machine drives the roll through a pair of gears These

,
.

are made so heavy th at sufficient tor que is o b tain ed to start

the roll un der all co n ditio ns of load T h e machine cann ot .

become overloaded or clogged up un der a ny volume of coal .

I t mak es the entire reductio n in a si n gle operatio n .

The driving pulley is n o t k eyed to t h e shaft b ut is ,

moun ted on a separate h ub wh ich it drives t hrough a set of

wood pin s inserted in holes in the arms of the pulley Wh en .

a n y u n due strain comes o n the machin e from any cause ,

these wood pin s shear o ff and the roll stops while the pulley
,

k eeps o n revolvin g There is thus forme d an efficien t safety

.

device preven tin g accide nts to wor kmen After th e c au se .

'

of the troub le h as b een removed new wood pin s put the ,

machin e again in operative co n ditio n .

A pair of h eavy spri n gs is placed on t h e tensio n rods .

These sprin gs do no t move u n der ordin ary wor kin g co n di

tio n s ; b ut wh en an u n due pressure comes o n the breaker
plate t h ey act as a cush io n yieldin g slightly tak in g up the
, , ,

in ertia of the parts an d allowin g time for the pins to shear

wit h out break in g more import an t elemen ts of the machin e .

—
F ig 2 shows the S A improved coal crush er fitted
.
,

wit h the paten ted toggle sprin g release which gives maxi ,

mum pressure between t h e rolls when th ey are in n ormal

operatin g positio n O n the ordinary sprin g type of crusher
.

the pressure is weakest wh en t h e rolls are in normal operatin g

20 P OWD E RE D C OA L As A FUE L

positio n Th e two types of crush er operate in exactly oppo

.

site ways S in ce the pressure between the rolls decreases

.

as the rolls are separated pieces of iro n or other hard

,
”
material will n o t in j ure the rolls of the improved type “

of crusher as they do the rolls of the ordinary machin e .

The pressure between the rolls is regulated by n uts that are

easily accessible .

F ollowi n g the crushin g the coal may be carried ( O ften

,

b y b elt co nveyor a n d elevator) to a magnetic separator

F IG . 2 .
—S—A Improved Coal C ru sh er .

lik e the D in g magnetic pulley which removes any iro n ,

or steel scrap n uts pick poin ts pieces of iro n bolts etc

, , , , ,
.
,

that would in ter fere with pulverizatio n .

The coal before pulverizin g should be well dried do wn

, , ,

to 1 per cen t or less of moisture This makes it pulverize .

better a n d burn more freely Coal does n o t grin d well if

.

moisture in excess of this is presen t N othin g is lost b y .

dryin g it separately In burn in g coal the moistu re free

.
, ,

or combin ed must b e di sposed of either in the process of

,

p r eparatio n or at the moment of combustio n In the latter .

 P RE PARATI O N OF P OWD E RE D C OA L 21

case no t o nly is th e pe fli c ien c y of the fu rn ace lowered by the

,
“

?
calorifi c in vestmen t in the superheated steam passin g out
as a product but the temperature of the furn ace is lowered
,

materially D ryin g wet coal in the furn ace itself is doin g

.

this n ecessary part of the work in the most expen sive place
a n d at the sacrifice of temperatures which may be esse n tial

to the in dustrial process .

In the practice of the American Iro n a n d S teel Co .

( see Chapter V II ) atte n tio n

,
has bee n given the possibility
of usin g u n dried coal In all cases it was fi n ally deemed
.
,

best to provide for dryin g The dryin g equipmen t may be

"

arran ged for in termitten t use if apparatus of stan dard size ,

is too large for the required quan tity an d moisture co n ditio n

of the coal available .

F irst cost so often en ters into the selectio n of apparatus

that a number of plants without dryers have b ee n in tro
du c e d with fairly good results main tain ed even when the ,

coal co n tain ed as much as 1 5 to 2 0 per ce n t of water .

Mr L ord of the American Iro n a n d S teel Co describ ed

. .

a visit to an in stallatio n in Iowa at a time when t h ere was

deep s n ow o n the groun d In to this sn ow the coal was .

shoveled after dyn amitin g it out of the car I t was then .

elevated sn ow a n d all to the coal hoppers over the pulver

, ,

izin g mac hi n es There was n ever a ny difficulty in the opera

.

tio n no r a ny trouble in main tain in g the flame but the ,

procedure was cert ainly n o t favorable to good eco n o mic

results It was estimated that about 2 0 per cen t more coal
.

was used in the furn aces than would have b een co n sum ed
with adequate dryin g facilities : an d the power co n sumptio n
for pulverizin g was co n sidered to be about 5 0 per cen t in
excess of n ormal .

The o n ly reason for using wet coal is t h e desire to k eep

down the in itial in vestmen t ; a n d even at that says Mr , .

L ord there must exi st the a ssuran ce of commercially dry

,

coal for the greater part of the time i e coal carryin g ,

. .
,

moisture un der 5 per cen t P rovisio n should be made for.

protectio n from the weather as much as possible both at the

22 P OWD E RE D C OA L AS A FUE L

plan t a n d in tran sit O ne co n cern ships its coal in box

.

cars S torage will drain O ff some moi st ure but slack coal
.
,

will retain 1 5 per cen t of moisture in defini tely unless stirred ,

up an d brought in co n tact with air .

Wh ere wet coal is used an d in all low temperature app li

,
-

cation s an ign itin g fl ame must be provided In the in stal

, .

latio n j ust referred to th is is accomplished by a grate fire

in a steel b ox 1 8 in square and 5 ft lo n g an d 1 2 in square
. .
,
.

inside the b ric k lin in g The powdered coal blowin g t hrough

.

this small b ox comes in co n tact wit h the grate fire fl ame

a n d hot b ric k walls an d ign ites readily The coal o n this .

grate is replenish ed b y particles droppin g from t h e powdered

coal as it b lows thr ough T h e powder whic h falls o n the
.

grate forms co k e and burn s freely Attention is required .

o nly o n ce in twen ty four h ours for clean in g and rak in g out

-
.

The possible eliminatio n of the dryer is furth er limited

to those cases where a type of grin din g machin e is used that
will han dl e moist coal P ul verizers usin g screen s for the
.

separ atio n of th e coarse a nd fin e material clog up imme

dia tely when fed with moist coal .

T HE O RY OF D RYI N G

T o dry a state d weigh t of any material a definite numb er

of h eat u nits must be used ; first to raise th e temperature ,

of t h e material to seco n d to ra1 se the temperature ,

of the total amount of water co n tained in the material

to and third to evaporate such part of th e water
,

as may b e desired The total nu mber of heat un its

.

may b e calculated from th e specifi c heat of the mate

rial the in i tial and fin al percentages of moisture an d th e
,

initial temperature .

If then t h e heating value of t h e fuel used for dryin g an d

t h e thermal efficien cy of th e apparatus are kn own th e ,

quan tity of fuel required for any capacity may be determined .

Wh en the compositio n of fuel is kn own we may then ,

compute h ow much air is theoretically needed to burn it .

T he resultin g temperature of combustio n however would b e , ,

24 P OWD E RE D C OA L AS A FUE L

water vapor given o ff by the moist coal The furn ace for .

h ea tin g the dr yer is placed be tween the stack chamber an d

the hood The furn ace may be provided with a large com
.

b u stio n chamber through which the dr yer shell passe s .

The en tire furn ace is built of brick an d the walls are securely
boun d together by mean s of b u c kstays a n d tie rods .

The moi st coal is fed in to the dryer shell through a feed

spout located in the stack chamber This spout en ters the.

dryer shell a n d delivers the coal close to the bottom A .

series of lo n gitudin al shelves fasten ed to the in side of the

dr yer shell lifts the coal a n d drops it through the curren t
of heated air passin g through the in side of th e dryer shell .

S in ce the revol v in g shell of the dryer is S lightly in clin ed

doa a r d toward t h e di scharge e n d the coal travels the
,

e n tire len gth of the shell and is fin ally discharged from the
lower e n d .

The hot gases from the furn ace c irculate aroun d the out
side of the dryer shell pas sin g through the combustio n
,

chamber of the furn ace They then leave the combustio n

.

chamber through the horizo n tal breechin g an d en ter the top

of the hood at the lower end of the dryer From t his hood .

the hot gases fl ow to the in terior an d come in di rect co n tact

with the coal in the dryer shell A fter they pass through
.

the interior the hot gases en ter th e stack chamber at the

,

upper e n d of the dryer an d th en escape to the atmosphere

,

t h rough the stac k .

N o flame comes in direct contact with the coal bein g

’
dried and there is ab solutely n o possibility of the coal s tak
,

in g fire durin g its progress through the d ryer shell N o fan s .

are used in co nn ectio n with this type of dryer as the stac k ,

draft is sufficien t to move the gases at the requi red velocity .

Ru ggl e s C ol e s D rye r
-
This form of dr yer ill ustrated in
.
,

F ig 4 con sists of two lo n g con cen tric steel plate cyl in ders
.
,

whi ch are set with the delivery e n d slightly lower than the
head en d B etween the inn er cylinder which acts as a flue
.
,

for th e hot furn ace gases a n d the outer shell is the space
,

which h olds th e material to be dr ied The two cylin ders .

 P RE PA RA TI O N OF P OWD E RE D C OA L 25

are rigidly co nn ect ed midway between the e n ds a n d by ,

placin g swin gin g arms betwee n this c e n te r a n d each e n d ,

allowan ce is made for the u n av oidable expan sio n a n d c o n

tractio n due to differen ces
in temperature S uch c o n
.

stru ction en tirely preven t s

the shearin g of rivets or
loosenin g of j oin ts .

The dryer is supported

o n two steel tires w hich are

rigidly riveted to the outer

cylin der . E ach tire rests
on four bearin g wheels
made of c h ill ed iro n These .

are arranged in pairs o n

rocker arms which are sup
,

ported o n heavy cast iro n -

b ases
. Two large thrus t
wheels are provided o n o ne
of the bases to hold the
cylin der tires again st the
Wheels . S e t screws allow
the bearing wh eels to be
adj usted while th e machi n e
is in operatio n so that tires
,

c an ride ce n trally o n them

without exertin g pressure

o n the t h rust wheels .

D istributio n of the
weight of the dryer o n
eight bearin g wh eels each ,

of whi ch has two bearings ,

preven ts excessive wear or o v e r heatin g Riveted to a n d .

aroun d th e outer cylin der is a heavy gear which e n gages

with a pin io n k eyed to the drivi ng shaft This shaft may .

be located o n either side or at the e nd of th e dryer as may ,

best suit local co n ditio n s .

26 P OWD E RE D C OA L AS A FUE L

L iftin g plates are fasten ed to th e inside of the outer

shell ru nn in g parallel with the axis of the dryer for its en tire
,

len gth The revolving of the dryer causes these plates to

.

lift the coal and drop it o n the h ot inner s h ell B y the .

in clin atio n of the dryer the coal is carried from the feed
e n d to the delivery e n d O n the i n side of the discharge .

head at the delivery end th ere are riveted buc k ets which
discharge the dried coal through a cen tral delivery casting .

A t the feed e nd th e inn er cylin der exten ds beyo n d a n d

through the statio n ary head and co nn ects directly with the
flue from the furn ace This inner cylin der forms an ex .

ten ded combustio n chamb er for the un co n sumed gases leav

ing the furn ace D oors are provided at b ot h en ds of th e
.

dryer for inspectio n purposes .

F ollowin g the drying the coal is pulverized to its fin al ,

degree of fineness With the best type of machin es O btain

.

able for this pu rp ose the coal an d its co n tained impurities

,

may readily be powdered to suc h a degree that u n der

screen in g tests 85 to 90 per cent will pass through an
apertur e m in square wh ile the total residuum left upo n
-
.
,

a screen whose apertures are fi m in squar e will be o nly l

-
.

from 2 % to 5 per cen t ; an d even this residuum would pass

through scree n s T ifl f in squ are It must be b orne in min d
l -
. .

that of the quan tity passi g the apertures r te in square

n - .

t h ere is a h igh percen tage of absolute dust or impalpable

powder no t comm ercially measurable This is proven by .

t h e fact t h at in tests made upo n calib rated screen s of fi a

in square aperture over 70 per cen t still passed th rough
.
,
.

It is certain ly safe to assume th erefore that the average , ,

v olume of particles wil l be less than that of a cub e m e a sur

ing o n the side N o determin ation is made usually

.
, ,

of fi neness b elow 2 00 mesh -

.

The total numb er of particles resulti ng fro n the powder

in g of 1 ou in of coal to spheres m in in diameter is over
. . .

1 5 millio n . S imple calculatio n o n this basis shows that wh ile

a cubic inc h of coal exposes 6 square i n c hes for absorptio n and
l ib eratio n of heat the surface exposed for the same purpose
,
 P RE P ARA TI O N OF P OWD E RE D C O A L 27

b y th e powdered coal is over 8 square feet S ince no fuel .

burn s u n til it is heated to the temperature at which it

develops more heat than it receives the advan tage of this ,

en ormous absorbin g an d deliverin g sur face is apparen t .

The result of this is shown in the clearn ess an d u n iformity

of the flame produced Wh ere coarse particles are permitted
.

to en ter the furnace distin ct sparkles are apparen t These

,
.

larger part icles are carried beyo n d the regio n of oxygen

supply and are for t his reaso n no t fully burned .

At the A n aco n da plan t ( see Chapter VI ) the gri n di n g is

do n e so that from 9 3 to 9 7 per ce nt will pass through 1 00
mesh and 79 to 82 per ce n t through 2 00 mesh Coals -
.

of high specifi c gravity will grin d fi n er in an impact pulver

iz e r
. In ceme n t work there is n o gai n b y gri n di n g fi n er
,

than 9 5 per ce nt t hr ough 1 00 mesh T h is gives from 7 5

-
.

to 85 per cen t through 2 00— mesh the percentage depen din g

,

upo n t h e physical character of the coal Coal t hus pul .

v e ri z e d will co n tain a high percentage of fin e dust p rac ti

cally unmeasurable As th ere is no difficulty in b urnin g

.

coal t hus prepared t h ere seems to b e no good reason for

,

pushing pulverizatio n b eyo n d th is poin t Coal c an b e .

brough t to this co n ditio n qui te c h eaply an d t h e mills ab le ,

to so this work h ave large capacity H igher percentages .

may be o b tain ed b y th e sacrifice of capacity a nd co u se ,

q ue n tly of gri n din g eco n omy T h e stan dard of appro xi

.

mately 85 per ce n t through 2 00 mesh and 95 per cen t -

through 1 00 mesh is a practicab le commercial standard a n d

-

should b e mai n tain ed .

Full e r L e hi gh P ulve riz e r M i11

-
In t h is mill ( F ig 5 ) the
.
~
.

coal is fed from an overhead b in b y means of a feeder

mounted o n top of th e mill This feeder is driven direct
.

from t h e mill shaft by mean s of a b elt running o n a pair

o f three step cones which permit operative adj ustmen t
, .

In additio n the h opper of the feeder is provided with a slide

, ,

whic h permits th e operator to i n crease or decrease the

a mou n t of coal e n teri n g the feeder hopper .

The coal leaving the feeder e nters the p ul verizin g zo n e

28 P OWD E RE D C OA L A s A FUE L

of the mill The pulverizing elemen t co nsists of four

.

unattached steel ball s which roll in a statio nary hori ,

z o n ta l
,
co n cave shaped grin di n g ri ng ( F ig
-
The ball s .

are propelled aroun d the gr in di ng rin g by mean s of four

pushers attached to four equidi stan t horizo ntal arms form
in g a portio n of the yoke which last is keyed direct to the
,

mill shaft The material di scharged by the feeder fall s

.

FIG . 5 .
—Fulle r Le hig h
-
P u l ve riz in g M il l .

between the balls a n d the grin d in g rin g in a u n ifo rm a n d

co n tinuous stream an d is reduced to the desired fin en ess
,

in o n e operatio n .

Those mills wh ic h operate with fan di scharges are fitted

with two fan s O n e of the se fan s is co nn ected in the separat
.

in g chamber immediately above the pulverizin g zo n e an d ,

the other fan operates in the fan housin g immediately

b elow the pulverizin g zone The upper fan lif ts the fine.
 P RE P A RA T I O N OF P OWD E RE D C O A L 29

particles of coal from the grindin g zo n e o nto the chamber

above the gri n din g zo n e where these fin e particles are held
,

in suspen sio n . The lower fan acts as a n exhau ster a n d ,

draws the fi n ely divided particles through the fi n ishin g

screen which completely e n circles the separatin g chamber .

The coal leavin g the separatin g chamber is drawn i n to the

lower fan hou sin g from which it is discharged through the
,

discharge spout by the actio n of the lower fan A ll of the .

coal discharged from the mill is fi n ished product and r e

quires no subsequen t screen i n g .

F IG . 6 .
—Fuller Leh ig h
-
G r in d ing R in g .

T h e curren t of air i n duced by the actio n of t h e lower or

discharge fan passes over the pulverizin g zo n e a nd out ,

through the scree n surrou n din g the separatin g chamber ,

thus insuring cool operatio n a n d maximum scree nin g c ffi

c ie n c y
. Thi s curre nt of air keeps the scree n perfectly
clean an d en ables the mill to han dle coal co n taini ng a c o n
sid e r ab le amou n t of moisture .

Whe n the mill is in operatio n it is h an dlin g o nly a limited

,

amou nt of coal at a ny o ne time A s soo n as t h e coal is .

reduced to the desired fi n e n ess it is lifted out of the pul

,

veri z in g zo n e and discharged As t h e crushin g force .

30 P OWD E RE D C OAL As A F UE L

is applied to o nly a limited amoun t of coal th e power ,

required to operate the machin e is reduced to a minimum .

F urthermore this power is applied directly to the Coal

,

bein g pulverized .

In order to in sure steady operatio n every mill sho u ld be ,

provided with a storage b in of capacity no t less than four to

six times the hourly capacity of the mil l E ach bin should .

have a chute or feed pipe 6 or 8 in in di ameter to permit

, .
,

the coal to flow from the b in to the hopper of the mil l feeder .

This chute should b e provided with a gate or cut out slide -

placed close to the bin so that the flow of coal through the
chute may be co ntrolled .

A platform should be provided arou n d th e mi ll so t h at

th e O perator may have easy access to the feeder T h e .

floor of thi s platform should be about 3 in below the top .

fl an ge of the in termediate sectio n A small volume of air .

is discharged from the mi ll with the fin ely pulverized coal .

A n air chamber sho u ld therefore be provided in co nn ectio n

with the co n veyor taki n g the coal away from the mill ,

to permit the free escape of the air The size of the air .

chamber varies with the size an d n u mber of the mills dis

chargi n g in to the co nveyer The air chamber should be
.

proportio n ed so that an area of cross sectio n of 1 sq ft -

. .

is provided for a 33 in mill a nd of 1 % sq ft for a 42 —

-
. in . . .

mill A ve nt pipe about 1 0 in in diameter sho u ld b e placed

. .

o n top of the air cham b er This ve nt pipe may be co nn ected

.

with a suitable collectin g chamber to preven t loss of dust

from t his source .

In order to facilitate t h e erectio n of the mills and the

re newal of worn parts it is advisable that some form of hoist
,

be placed above the mill These hoists sho ul d have a capac

.

ity of th ree ( 3) to n s for the 33 in mill and four (4) to ns for

-
.
,

the 42 in mill These mills are capable of grindi ng coal to

- . .

a fin eness such that at le ast 95 per cen t will pass t hrough a

1 00 mesh scree n
-
.

Raymond Bro s Impac t P u lveriz e r The Raymo nd roller

’
. .

mill ( F ig 7) crushes an d grinds coal b y gravity and c en trif

.
32 P OWD E RE D C OA L A S A FUE L

Ce ntrifugal force throws the rollers outw ard agai n st the

steel ball ri n g A plow is located ahead of each roller
. .

Thi s co n stan tly throws a stream of coal betwee n the face of

the roller a n d the gri n di n g ri n g .

In the mills with air separatio n air e nters the mill ,

through a serie s of ta ngen tial ope ni n gs arou n d the p u lve riz

in g chamber directly u n der the gri n di n g ri n g a nd rollers .

That portio n of the coal which is reduced to the required

fi n en ess by o n e passage of the roller is i n sta ntly carried
up by the air curre n t to the receivi n g receptacle That .

which is n o t groun d sufficie ntly fine by the first roller is

carried betwee n the succee di n g roller an d the grin di n g ri n g
to receive a seco n d treatmen t .

If the mi ll is kept properly filled with coal eac h of the ,

plows will t hrow a co n stan t stream b etween the two gri n d

in g faces preven ti n g direct co n tact of t h e roller an d the
,

gri n di n g ri n g
.

In this mill the casti n g supporti n g the plows is attached

to an d rotates with the slow speed upright shaft a nd little
-
,

power is required to raise the coal an d throw it between the

crushi n g surfaces of the roller a n d the gri n di n g ri n g The .

plows c a n be removed without taki ng the mi ll apart by ,

simply ope ni n g o n e of the doors The co nstructio n is .

such that the faces of the rollers always remai n parallel with
the face of the gri n di n g ri n g .

P O IN TS O N A I R S E P A RA TI O N

To obtai n perfect separatio n an d secure an impalpable

po w der the air must be expan ded a n d rarefied so that coarse
,

particles will drop out of the curren t .

To obtai n a large quan tity of impalpable powder per

hour by air separatio n a large volume of air must b e used
,

in order to lift the material .

To use a large volume of air an d yet obtai n a curre n t

so light as to carry o ff o n ly the impalpable powder there must ,

be ample room to expan d a n d rarefy the air .

To secure perfect separatio n the mecha nism for expan d

,
 P RE P A RA T I O N OF P OWD E RE D C O A L 33

VO L U M E S AND WE IG H TS O F D RY A IR A T A T M O S P H E R I C PR E S S UR E ,

P O U N D S P E R S Q UA R E I N C H
W e i g h t i po unds
n 0 80 7 2 8 Vo l m e i c u b i c 1 0 0 2 0 35 8( T —3 2 )
u n

p er c u b i c f oo t 1 " GO2 U3 5 S ( T —32 )

. f ee t pe r po und 0 80 7 2 8 .

Weig h t o f
V o lu m e o f
1 C u ft 1 L b of Te mp
o f A i in in it h V l
. .

r A ir D eg F W o A ir in
P o unds C u bi c F eet u m e at 3 2 P o unds u i c e et
. .

.
°
C b F .

29 2 33
29 . 86 3
30 . 49 4
31 1 24

2 2 00
34 P OWD E RE D C OA L A S A FUE L

ing an drarefyi ng th e air must be suc h t h at t h e coarse par

tic l e s will drop out of the curre n t a nd n o t carry the fi n e
powder with them .

The apparatus must be so co n structed that the coarse

particles or taili ngs will drop by gravity i nto the co n tracted
portio n of the separator where the blast is stro n ger in order
, ,

that they may pass out through the taili ng spout or bac k i n to
the pulverizer without carryi n g the fine material with them .

The n earer the co n ditio n withi n the air space of the

apparatus c an be made to approach a vacuum the fi ner ,

wil l be the separatio n .

C O S T O F LABO R A ND M A I N T E N A N C E F O R P O W D E RE D C O A L
W IT H R AY M O N D P ULVE R IZ E R S

L A BOR
ai n M
T o tal C a p a c ity P e r C e nt Per C ent T o tal H o rse
0 1
05 : "1 T o ns 1 0 0 2 00 H o rse po wer
t
C o st p er
e n ance

p er T on , p er me s h m es h po w e r p er T M enat C 1 pe r 0 3 ?
n .

C e nts H o ur 3 2 p er
on
C e nts
.
. . .
,
T o n,
C ents
. .
.

D ya . .

0 0 0 0 0

The cost in the above table does no t i n clude that of power ,

as this is variable with local co n ditio ns The cost of mai n .

te n an c e whe n gri n di n g 9 5 per ce n t 1 00 mes h is much les s -

than when gri n di n g 9 5 per ce nt 2 00 mesh A s a ge neral -

.

rule doubli ng the fin e ness of the mesh dou b les the main
,

ten anc e cost .

 P RE P A RA TI O N OF P OWD E RE D C O A L 35

Th e J e fi re y S win g H amm e r Pu lve riz er

the past few . In
years the swing l hammer pulverizer has proved itself
,

to be a n efficie n t machi n e for the pulverizi ng of coal a nd

other materials .

The machi n e sh own in F ig 8 pulverizes coal b y stri k .

ing it whi le in suspe n sio n as opposed to the ru bb i n g a nd

,

abrasio n mills whi ch roll a nd mash the coal b etwee n hard

surfaces The material to be reduced is fed in n ear the
.

top of the machi n e an d in falli n g comes in co ntact with

,

FIG . 8.
—J e ffre y S win g h amm e r
-
P ul ve riz er .

rapidly r e V O Iving hammers which drive the coal agai n st the

,

breaker plates from which it rebou n ds again i nto the paths

,

of the hammers .

F i n e ness is to a l arge exte n t determi ned b y the inte n

sity of the b low a n d he n ce di ffere n t degrees of reductio n
,

may be had by simply varyi n g the speed of the machi ne .

D i ffere n t materials a n d di ffere n t co n ditio n s of the same

material as to temperature moisture etc will result in , ,
.
,

correspo ndi n g di ffere n ces in the degree of reductio n so th at ,

it is impossible to predict b eforehan d the results to be ex

pe c te d from any particular material un til it is tried out .

The supply of coal may b e fed by han d or discharged

directly from a large bin some sort of automatic feeding
,
36 P OWD E RE D C O A L As A FUE L

device b ei n g desirable The coal falls down o n a slopi n g

.

breaker plate w here it is e n gaged by the rapidly movi n g

hammers The partially reduced material immediately
.

passes over the cage of scree n bars H ere all that is suf .

fic ien tly fine will pass t h rough while the residue is car ,

ried aroun d the machi n e for a seco n d operatio n The top .

breaker plate materially assists in reduci n g oversize coal .

Th e Ae ro P u lve riz er The A ero pulverizer F ig 9

.
,
.
,

co nsists of three i nteriorly commu ni cati n g chambers ( type

E has four) of successively i n creasi n g diameters in which ,

revolve paddles o n arms of correspo n di n gly i n crea si n g

FIG . 9 .
—
Ae r o P u l ve r i z e r .

le n gth s . The separate chambers are in fact separate pul

v e r i z e r s o n a si n gle shaft each su c c e e din g p u l v e r i z e r havi n g
,

greater speed at its periphery a n d therefore greater power for

fine gri n di n g . A n additio n al chamber co ntai n s a fan the ,

fun ctio n of which is to draw the more fi nely pulverized coal

successively from o ne chamber to the n ext a n d to deliver ,

it through a pipe co nn ectio n to the furn ace u nder the impetus

of a forced draft The separate pulverizers a n d fan are
.

e n closed in o ne steel cyli n der A n adj ustable feed mechan

.

ism co ntrols a nd varies the q uantity of coal admitted a n d

delivered by the machi ne .

The feed mechanism is exact an d u niform In Its opera

tio n an d is easily a dj usted to meet eve n mi nute variatio n s in
 P RE PA RATI O N OF P OWD E RE D C OA L 37

the fuel requireme n t Two adj ustable i nl ets in the feed

.

mechani sm admit lth e air required for fine gri ndi n g A n .

auxiliary i nlet betwee n the last gri n di n g chamber a n d the

fan co n trolled by a damper admits such additio n al air
, ,

as is required for combustio n The air dampers with the .

,

fe ed co ntrol give regu latio n of the flame withi n a wide

,

ran ge .

The di schar ge may b e either right orl eft h and as desired -

.

The pulverizer is dust proof a n d is arran ged for easy

’

-
,

repair to the parts susceptible to water The cost of such .

repair is sm all The pulverizer may be located either in

.

fro nt of the fur n ace or at either side or above or below , ,

.

The co nnectio n betwee n the pulverizer a n d the furn ace

is usually a galvanized iro n pipe N o additio n al feedi n g or .

mixi n g apparatus is n ecessary as the powdered coal a n d air ,

are i ntimately mixed in the pulverizer The fur n ace e n d .

of the discharge pipe is made of such size a n d shape as the

furn ace co n structio n may require .

I
S TA N D A RD S Z E S O F AE RO PULVE RIZE RS

N o r m al N o r m al H o rs e
Weig h t H eig h t F l oo r S p a c e O ut p ut S o f t
R p m
11
p 8 253;
p
gz t g
ve r f
P o nds
u
,

I n c h es
,

I n c h es C o al P o unds
,

mp
. .

e co m
o o

p er H o ur C R
. . .
,
o n su
ti o n .

. m ended .

sse 6 1 g x 2 7g
45 7 7% x 2 9
463
; 7 8% x 2 9
50 89 x 33

Bonnot P u lve riz e r The B o nn ot pulveri zer Fig 1 0

.
,
.
,

co nsists of a heavy o n e piece mai n frame which co ntai ns

-
,

the gri n di n g parts co nsistin g of gri n di n g rolls a nd roll

,

head or driver The mai n frame is bored a nd li ned with a

.

removable steel bushi n g formi n g a seat for the gri n di n g rin g .

The gri n di n g ri n g stan ds vertically a nd is held in place

by two large clamp bolts exte n din g through to the rear of
the base The rolls revolve aroun d the inn er side of the
.
38 P OWD E RE D C OA L AS A FUE L
“

ri n g and are h eld in place and drive n by the head or driver .

The driver is reces sed to receive the rolls an d is so shaped

as to con verge the coal o n the track in fro n t of the rolls : It
is a high carbo n steel casting with hard weari n g surface s
- -
.

F IG . 10 .
—
B onn o t P ul ve riz er .

There is a large cover plate o n the side of the mai n frame ,

through whi ch the driver rolls an d gri ndi n g ring may be

,

r em o v e d w ith o u t disturbi n g other parts

'

This pulverizer is particularly adapted to use with a

separator owi n g to the fact that the gri ndi n g parts revolve
,
 '
40 P OWD E RE D C OA L A s A FUE L

Th e Tu b e M ill
The B o nn ot tub e mill con sist s of a
.

cylin der of steel plate usually made from 4 to 5 ft in

, .

diameter a nd in a ny len gth from 1 5 to 2 5 ft The h eads .

of the mi ll are lin ed with hard iro n plates an d the cylin der
with either silex sto n e or hard iro n as may be desired The .

cylin der is supported at eac h e n d o n large gudgeo ns which ,

are cast solid with the circular steel heads formin g the en ds
of the cylin der These heads are bolted to h eavy cast
.

rin gs runnin g o n large b ea rin gs The mill is driven b y .

mean s of a coun tershaft having a pin io n e ngag ing with a

large spur gear attac h ed to t h e cylin der .

FIG . 11 — B
. o nn o t Tub e M ill .

The material is fed i nto the cylin der b y m e a n s of a worm

in the hollow gudgeo n at o n e e n d of the mill The feeder .

is a n automatic regulati ng device a n d c an be adj u sted in

stan tl y to give a ny desir ed capacity up to 5 0 per ce n t

above the n ormal capacity of the mill It is supported by a .

heavy bracket bolted to the main bearin g It is drive n .

direct by mean s of gearin g from the e nd of the gudgeo n

,
.

The material is di scharged from the mill either through

the hollow gudgeo n at the discharge e n d or through the e n d ,

of the cylin der b y mean s of slotted holes through the lin ers
an d discharge head Wh en the latter arran gemen t is used
.
,

close -fittin cast iro n dust housin g is provided which is

a g
-
,
 P RE PA RA TI O N OF P OWD E RE D C O A L 41

supported b y brac k ets restin g o n th e main h earing T h e .

fin en ess of the product obtained is regulated b y the amount of

material fed into th e mill .

This tube or pebble mill is eco n omical with regard to

wear owin g to t h e fact that it is a slow runnin g machin e -

a n d gri n din g is do n e by the rollin g or impact of flin t pebbles ,

with which the cylin der is filled ab out o n e half full S uc h -

.

materials as ceme n t clink er and similarly hard gritty sub ,

stan ces ar e h andled advantageously by the tub e mill T h e .

e fficien cy of the mill is n o t reduced by wear o n the peb bles

a n d linin g p r ovided t h e normal charge of peb b les is main
,

tain e d . S ome tu b e mills use len gths of pipe or tubin g ,

or steel plate pun c h in g s instead of loose pe bb les A ll grin d

-
. .

very fine ; so fine in fact as to b e fre quently expen sive

, ,

in power .

CA P A C I TI E S O F TU B E MI L LS

A 5 b y 2 2 ft mil l wi t h S ilex lining containing 6 to n s of

.
,

peb bles fed with coal n o t exceedin g

, in size ground 1 % .
,

to 2 to n s per h our 94 per cen t to 1 00 mesh

,
-
.

The same mill with pebbles an d 4 ft tub es ground

,
-
.
,

2 % to n s per h our 95 per ce n t to 1 00 mes h

,
-
.

A N o 1 8 K omin uter mill grin din g 1 0 to 1 2 to n s per h our

.

sen t all tailin gs which would pass over a by fi in screen -

.

to a B o nn ot tube mil l loaded wit h p u n c hing s Two suc h .

mi lls 5 by 9 ft ground 4% tons of th e tai lin g s per h our

, .
, ,

9 6 per ce n t to 1 00 mesh
A 5 by 22 ft S ilex lin ed mill loaded wit h 1 1 tons of slugs
.
-

—
groun d 3é to 4 to ns per hour 9 6 per ce n t to 1 00 mesh , .

A precisely similar mill o n a succeedin g day produced th is

same fi n eness o n 4é to 5 % to n s per h our-
.
 C H A P T E R IV

FE E D ING AND BURNIN G P O W DE RE D C O AL

IN a paper before the American In stitute of Mini n g

E ngi n eers 1 9 1 3 Mr H R B arnhurst lays down certai n
, , . . .

principles of w hich the followin g is an abstract : When

coal is shoveled or fed in bulk a certain degree of com ,

minu tio n or pulverizatio n takes place in the fire as an inci

den t o f combustio n Coal does n o t burn in lumps b ut its
.
,

ash comes away pulverized This gradual pulverization .

occurs in the fire at the expen se of some of the heat units

in the fuel A s this pulverization is accomplished slowly
.
,

it is n ecessary to supply a large grate area so that the col

le c tive surface exposed for disen gagemen t of heat sh all b e
sufficien t for t h e purpose for which the fire is used .

To be classed as a fuel a material must be able to give

out more h eat than it receives N o fuel will burn un til its .

particles are b rought to this self supportin g co n ditio n by the

-

h eat absorbed from particles previously b urn ed N ot .

o nly this b ut the oxygen of the air must be h eated lik ewise
,

to a combinin g temperature This in volves heatin g the .

accompan ying n itrogen This heat must be passed from

.

substan ce to substan ce in in cremen ts small in th emselves

but collectively as large as the occasio n deman ds .

In t h e use of powdered coal th e fuel is already prepared

for the absorptio n a n d evolutio n of h eat In additio n it is .
,

a imed to prepare the air b y a practically similar subdi

,

visio n for j oin in g in the process The delivery of coal an d

, .

a ir to the furn ace must be co n trolled so that the proper

amou n t of each will be secured .

The sequen ce of even ts in combustio n is as follows : the

volatile elements of the fuel are first disen gaged These .

highly comb ustib le hydrocarbon s c omb ine with th e oxygen

42
 FE E D ING A ND B U RNING P OWD E RE D C OA L

of th e air b urning to C0 2 and H 2 0 a nd disengaging heat

, ,

en ough to brin g l u p to an ignitio n temperature th e fixed

carbo n compo n ents .

It is eviden t that comparatively large masses of fuel

supplied with large volumes of air will for reaso n s simply ,

mechanical fail in efficien cy This is more particularly

,
.

the case when large co n ten ts of volatile matter are suddenl y

set free by co ntact with an other mass of incandescen t fuel
and wit h heated surroundings Un der such conditio ns .

it is impossible to get the best results from a ny fuel T h e .

sweeping o ff p f volumes of volatile gases b y large volumes

-

of insufficien tly heated air produces smo k e This smo k e .

represen ts but a small weight of carb o n unb urn ed b ut ,

may in dicate a co n ditio n un der which a large quantity of

gases passes o ff un combin ed A h eavy draft pressure accent
.

u a te s this co n ditio n a n d records are ple n tiful of the passage

,

through fires of large excesses of oxygen wh ich h as failed of

its duty from lack of heat preparatory to combin atio n .

A pulverized fuel the particles of w hi ch are eac h sur

,

sou nded by a mi nute e nvelope of air sufficien t thoroughly ,

to burn them is an ideal fuel u n der ideal co n di tio ns In

,
.

proj ecti n g a cloud of such fuel i nto a highly heated c h amb er ,

each particle because of its opacity becomes an ab sorbe nt

of heat radiatin g n o t o nly from the chamber walls but from
, ,

each neighbori n g particle as it infl ame s This i nfl ammatio n .

progresses with rapidity almost i n co n ceivable P ulverized .

fuel i nj ected with its air supply at a speed of several thou

san d feet per mi nute infl am es right up agai nst the delivery
n ozzle the flame playi n g about its mouth
, This is best .

accomplished by avoidi n g high pressure in proj ecti n g the

fuel The fin al combi n atio n of air and fuel occurs at the
.

i n stant of proj ectio n i nto the furnace The air carryi n g .

the fuel expan ds as soo n as it is heated T his expansio n .

is of course due to the i n crease in temperature a n d explain s ,

the large volume assumed by the fl ame o n leavi n g the poi n t

of e n tran ce .

The powdered coal problem is o ne of com b ustio n un der

 ‘
44 P OWD E RE D C OA L As A FUE L

peculiar co n ditio n s The burni n g of powdered coal di ffers

.

from the burni n g of solid fuel in o n e esse n tial particular .

In the combustio n of coal in commercial sizes lyi n g o n the

grate the air for combu stio n passes between the pieces of
,

coal a n d the products of combustio n pass o ff in the flue .

P owdered coal does n o t burn u n der such co n di tio n s as the ,

particles are so fine that sufficien t air for combustio n could

n o t reach the coal through crevices between the particles

lyi n g in a solid bed To burn powdered coal successfully

.
,

it must be burn ed while in suspe n sio n in the air In such .

a positio n each particle is surrou n ded by air which supports

the combustio n The form of fu rn ace used in maki n g P ort
.

lan d ceme n t is favorable for combustio n in suspe n sio n ,

sin ce it is very lo n g an d aff ords plen ty of room .

Co ntact of the particles of coal dust with other bodi es

results in the loweri n g of temperature to such a n exten t as to
make combustio n impossible There is a more or less com
.

p l e te loss of a n y fuel which falls dow n to the grate The .

time for combustio n is evide ntly i n creased as the S i ze of the

dust particle is i n creased ; from w hich it follows that the fi n er
the gri ndi ng other thi ngs bei n g equal the quic k er a n d more
, ,

perfect will be the combustio n .

In the early days of developmen t of the process of pow

dered coal burni n g ign oran ce of the n ecessity of fin e gri n d
,

in g was the cause of man y failures in burn i n g the fuel In .

the ceme n t i n dustry S pecial devices for re g ulati n g the supply

,

of air for i nj ecti n g the fuel are supplied but n o special

,

co ntrolli ng apparatus is supplied for the air which e n ters

the kil n through the various ope ni n gs arou n d the hood .

It would be di fficult to co n trol the admissio n of such air

but by i n creasin g the fuel charge it is possible to bri ng the
,

air supply do w n to a ny relative proportio n desired .

P atents taken out man y years ago for the burn i n g of

powdered coal u n der boilers a n d in various arts show vari
a tio n s in the ki n ds of pulverizers a n d feedi n g devices and ,

also foreshadow the idea of deliveri n g the powdered coal i nt o

the furn ace by a j et of air or steam .
 F E E D I NG A N D B U RNI N G P OWD E RE D C O A L 45

T h e perfect combustio n of 1 lb of carbo n deman ds 2 3 .

l b o f O xyge n Thi s is co n tai n ed in

. . lb of air or about .
,

1 5 4 c u ft should less than this quantity of air be supplied

. .
,

a proportio n ate amou n t of fuel will be burn ed to C O with ,

a loss of two thi rds of its poten tial efficien cy A part of

-
.

this loss may be regai n ed by co n tact with heated oxygen ;

or the C O may pass o n an d burn in the chimn ey doi n g n o ,

good Carbo n mo n oxide is n ecessarily formed in a n atmos

.

p h e r e of gases deficie n t i n oxyge n a n d its formatio n re n ders ,

still more difficult the further establishme n t of active com

b u stio n
The temperatures attai nab le with powdered coal are very
high so high that excess air is commo nly admitted in propor
,

tio ns ran gi n g betwee n 5 0 a nd 1 00 per ce n t T hi s excess air .

dilutes the gases resulting from combustio n and lowers

the tem perature .

The follo w i n g tab le s h ows the temperatures attai n ed

in the perfect combustio n of pure carbo n with varyi n g
amou n ts of air :

1 lb . c arb on with lb . a ir ( n o r ma l)
1 lb . c arb o n with lb . a ir 1 0 % e xc e ss)
1 lb . c arb o n with lb . a ir 2 0 % e xc e ss)
1 lb . c a r b o n with lb . a ir 30 % e xc e ss)
1 lb . c arb o n with lb . a ir 40 % e xc e ss)
1 lb . c arb o n with lb . a ir 5 0 % e xc e ss)
1 lb . c a rb o n with 1b . a ir e xc ess)

1 lb . c arb o n w ith lb . a ir 70 % e xc e ss)

1 lb . c arb o n with lb . a ir 80 % e xc e ss)
1 lb . c arb o n with lb . a ir _
9 0 % e xc e ss)
1 1b . c arb o n with lb . a ir ( 1 00 % e xc e ss)

In
practice the furn ace ten der soo n becomes educated
,

to the poi n t of j udgi n g whether a fire is hot e n ough by its

color a n d by the le n gth of the fla me The more perfect .

the co n ditio n s the shorter a n d whi ter the flame .

S ome fuels c an be burn ed almost without care o n the

part of the operator ; gas is o n e a n d oil an other There is .

n o eco n omy i n such ways of operati n g b ut the furn ace is ,

 “
46 P OWD E RE D C OA L A s A FUE L

u nde n iably hot Mr A S Mann of the G en eral E lectric

. . .
,

Company remarked : ,
I recall a n i n stan ce where an oil
m an wan ted a really good fire a n d had n o oil to waste H e .

watched the fire all the time an d k ept it right ; if he eased

off his oil a trifle he cut down his air too an d did n o t forget
to loo k at the chimney top a nd bottom S uch work , .

always pays whatever the fuel may be

,
.

P owdered coal is n o t a fuel th at can b e left for half

a day to itself while the fir eman goes to grin d his kn ife
”
a n d pare an apple F ires may ru n all day with no c h an ge
.

in adj ustmen t wh atever but somebody should always ,

kn ow that t h ey are righ t ; a nd th e fire should be loo k ed after

every half h our or so There is always slag an d some fine.

ash formi n g ; it is well to kn ow where these are goin g O n .

the other han d a wro n g adj ustment O f eith er coal or air

soo n mak es itself apparen t P owdered coal bu rn s best with .

a supply of 2 00 c u ft of air for each poun d It c an b urn

. . .
,

a n d b urn clearly with 1 60 ft a n d eve n less b ut the excess

,
.
,

pays Wh en t h e supply exceeds 2 00 ft e fficien cy b egin s

. .

to fall There is a n oticeable loss even at 2 08 ft The

. .

eye cann ot discriminate between a 2 00 ft an d a 2 08 ft -

.
-
.

,
n 2 —
fire but it c an recog ize a 50 ft or even a 2 2 0 ft blaze .
-
. .

There is a marked chan ge in the appearan ce ; an d unless a

cutti n g fir e is really wan ted t h ere is no excuse for suc h ,

bad mixtures .

This is n o t true of oth er fuels S olid coal o n a grate .

is no t doin g its b est at 2 00 ft an d it tak es a remarkably .

,

close O bserver to n ote the differen ce wit h a 2 40 ft fire -

. .

With o il this is even more pro n oun ced It is th e usual .

thing to fin d a n oil fir e wit h air greatly in excess an d the fact ,

n o t kn own The average ope rator will n o t even try to fin d

.

out whether he is wro n g for in order to do so he must reduce

,

his air little b y little until thin gs go wro n g an d that tak es ,

’
time F iremen are n o t pai d to save fuel
. The powdered .

coal fire begin s to spar k an d wheez e when it has too much

air . In a typical powdered coal feedi n g a n d b urn in g -

installatio n the coal is received in a b in over the feeders

, ,
48 P OWD E RE D C O A L A S A FUE L .

where I ts weight is about 38 lb per cubic foot when it is .

loose in the b in S ettlin g brings the weight down to about

.

45 lb per cubic foot

. A cross the bottom of this b in a n d
.
,

within a pipe exten din g horizo n tally from it is a double ,

flight worm or feed screw This double fligh t screw resists

-
.
-

the ten den cy of the ligh t coal to flow of itself alo n g the feed
s crew. The screw exte n ds over a flan ged pipe cross in to -

which the fuel is delivered The rear e n d of the screw is .

supported by a bearin g in a fl a n ge o n the side of the b in ,

the shaft proj ectin g to receive a drivin g pulley or chain

sprocket The delivery e n d of the screw shaft is supported
.

by a bearin g in the cover of the horizo ntal open i n g of the

flan ged pipe cross The top open in g of the cross is u n covered
-
.

to permit air to draw do wn with the fallin g fuel This .

fuel descen ds a vertical pipe attached to the lower open in g

of the cross the pipe b ein g lo n g en ough to b e within the fu n
,

n e l or i n j ectio n pipe A t the bottom of the funn el is a diag

.

o n al plate upo n which the fuel falls The plate is tight .

again st the air pipe o n the u p stream e n d a n d is flared open-

, ,

o n the side toward s t h e furn ace ( down the curre n t ) It .

covers about o ne fourth the diameter of the pipe thus

-
,
‘
formin g at this poi n t a ven a co n tracta a n d producin g ,
’

a suctio n in the funn el Co n sequen tly supplemen tary air

.
,

is drawn through with the fuel The fuel sprayin g upo n this .

plate mi xe s very tt ro u gh ly with the air from the fa n ,

the eddy curre nts assistin g materially in dispersal of the

fuel through the main column of air .

The admi ssio n fu nn el should be far en ough from the

furn ace to permit this mixture to be thorough P re ssures .

carried ab n ormally high may defeat thi s a n d they al so ,

ten d to proj ect the fuel too far in to the furn ace before
flu shin g A s soo n as the fuel cloud begins to absorb the
.

heat of the chamber in to which it passes a rapid expan sio n ,

of the air takes place separatin g the particles of fuel in

,

suspen sio n The amoun t of expan sio n is determin ed by the

.

ratio of the absolute temperatures in the furn ace a n d of the ,

in itial air It is a matter of discussio n whether the best

.
 FE E D I N G A N D B U RNIN G P OWD E RE D C O AL

results are obtain ed by a delivery of all the air foun d n e c e s

sary for combustio nthrough the feed pipe or to use a smaller ,

quan tity of air in the feed pipe an d provide a further sup

ply from other open in gs G ood practice would seem to poin t
.

to absolute co n trol of the air by the fa n a n d co n trol of the ,

fuel by a varied speed o f the feed screw The furn ace should -
.

have a good n atural draft to a chimn ey co n trolled by a ,

damper .

F U R N A CE S

The des i gni n g a n d buildin g of furn aces is an u n dertakin g

that calls for en gin eerin g skill S peeds volumes an d cur .
,

ren ts must all be co n sidered ; sizes a n d areas i n fl ue n ce heat

gen eration a n d distributio n ; the positio n of the egress
ports if their n umber or size is great may defeat the pur
, ,

po se o f the fu rn ace It will n o t do to build a furn ace in a

.

haphazard way apply a b urn er somewhere a n d if it does

, ,

n o t work feed in e n ough fuel to make it work P erhaps

,
.

there is n o fuel so sensitive to correct use as powdered coal .

Wh ile coal ign ites freely in a hot chamber this ign itio n , ,

n eces sitate s the ab sorptio n of heat from some source a n d ,

if coal rapidly proj ected by air does n o t develop its heat

n ear the poin t of ig n itio n other mean s must b e devised to ,

main tain the heat n ecessary for ign itio n where ign itio n is
n eeded i e , at the first e n tran ce of the coal in to the fu r
. .
,

n ace . G ivin g the fuel too great velocity upo n en tran ce is

n o t good practice .

S ome sin gular errors a n d misco n ceptio n s h ave atten ded

the practice O f man y users of powdered coal More par .

tic u la r ly is referen ce in ten ded to the use of large fan s to

supply the air n ecessary for the proj ectio n of the fuel ,

where the a ir n ozzle is reduced from 1 6 or 1 8 in in diameter .

to 4 or 5 in at the j et with the expectatio n that all of the

.

air in th e 1 6 or 1 8 in pipe will b e h urried t hrough t h e 4 or

-
.

5— in n ozzle
. .

Th e first essential of a powdered coal furn ace is a large

combustio n chamber where the flame c an occupy about
50 P OWD E RE D C O A L AS A FUE L

four times th e volume of the flame produced by a n or dinar y

grate fir e This e n tire combustio n space must be free from
.

a ny metallic cooli n g surfaces There is little possibi lity.

of such a cooling surface in most metallurgical furn aces ,

but this is the probable re aso n why powdered coal has had
thus far o nl y limited applicatio n u n der steam boilers C o n .

tact with a cooli n g surface stifles the flame an d stops com

b u stio n The reverberatory type of furn ace is well suited
.

to the use of powdered coal It has a large combustio n .

space which in the case of powdered coal exte n ds out over

,

the hearth In all cases the fuel must b e proj ected i nto a
.
,

chamber sufficiently hot to cause i n stant d efl agr a tio n The .

furn ace must be properly proportio n ed properly e quipped ,

a n d in good co n ditio n .

B U RN E RS

There have b ee n filed in the Uni ted S tates P ate nt O ffice

almost as man y pate nts o n powdered fuel burn ers as o n n o n
refillable bottles Al most a ny e n gi neer c an design a suc
.

c e ssfu l burn er after kn owi ng the requireme n ts A ny

mechanism which will give a u ni form mixture of coal a nd
air with both u n der co ntrol c an be used as a burner for pow
dered coal .

B urn ers are usual ly made up of a screw conveyer of

variable speed whi ch drops the coal i nto a blast of air O ne .

thi n g to be guarded again st is the possibility of flushi ng .

P owdered coal seeks its o w n level like water It will .

sometimes ru n alo n g a screw co nveyer so as to get ahead of

the screw F or this reaso n the screw is usually made very
.

lo n g so as to i ntroduce en ough friction to k eep b ac k the

,

flush of coal .

There is o ne very successful b urner in whic h no mechan

ism whatever is used everyt hi n g depe n di n g upo n the blow
,

in g of air through a pocket of powdered coal The air pic k s .

up e n ough of the powder in its passage through to provide

for combustio n P ossibly this apparatus would have a
.

closely limited capacity .

 FE E D ING AND B U RNING P OWD E RE D C OA L 51

S ome of the failures that h ave b ee n experien ced in b urn

ing powdered coal have bee n due to a n i n correct method
of i ntroductio n of air i nto the furn ace either by i n duced ,

draft or by a blast separate from that which supplies the

coal Air and fuel must be mixed thoroughly before
.

e nteri n g It is possible to add a little more air after a

.

mixture has bee n made but good combustio n should b e first

,

i n sured by a good mixture of fuel a nd air at en tran ce .

The burn er must be design ed so as to be free from pockets

or storage spaces an d must be out of the i nfl ue n ce of the heat
,

of the furn ace H eat will cause coke to form an d in terru pt

.

the operatio n .

O n e of the first pate nts granted in co nn ectio n wit h

powdered coal was that to Messrs Whelpley a nd S torer in .

1 866 . I t covered the simple operatio n of feedi n g powdered

coal so as to cause it to come i n to co n tact with the supply of
combustio n air The pulverized coal was to be employed
.

merely in order to assist solid coal fires already burni n g in

the furn ace The idea was that the fuel e n terin g with the
.

column of air would meet n ear the poi nt of e ntran ce the , ,

flames of the fur n ace fires Thus as the powdered coal .

en tered the wor ki n g chamber it was i nstan tly a n d thoroughly ,

co n sumed It was n o t i n te n ded to dispen se with the usual

.

fires mai ntai n ed in the fire box of the fur n ace b ut merely ,

to augmen t them an d to eco n o mize in fuel .

In 1 870 the same i n ve n tors were gran ted a pate n t cover

,

in g a device for in troduci n g a n d reg ulati n g the supply of

po w dered coal a n d air in to furn aces a nd fire b oxes t hrough ,

a large number of O pe ni n g s ( F ig sf 1 2 to
In 1 87 1 Mr T R Crampto n was gran ted a patent for
,
. . .

a n improveme n t in apparatus for feedin g powdered coal to

fur naces which co n sisted of six eight or more or less b urn ers
, ,

accor din g to the size of the furn ace S treams of air mixed .

with powdered coal were i nj ected i nto the back of t h e com

b ustio n chamber ( w hi ch had a plai n solid bottom without
fir e bars or divisio n s of a n y ki n d ) through ope ni n gs n ear
each other an d o n the same plan e so that the streams com ,
 ‘
52 P OWD E RE D C O A L A s A FUE L

mi ngled as they expan ded o n leavi ng their respective pipes

or ope n i n gs This assured u n iformity of combustio n
.

superior to that e ffected with either a si ngle pipe or with

bran ches from a sin gle pipe openi n g i nto the combustio n
chamber at places too remote from each other to permi t
sufficie n t commi n gli n g of the fuel a n d air .

FIG . l2 . Wh e lple y
- St o re r A ppara tus .

F IG . 13 .
—
W h e lp l e y St o re r A pp a ra tu s .

In order still further to promote combustio n the b ridge ,

wall was co n structed w ith a suitable slope to w ards the ope n

i n gs so that the com min gled streams impi n gi n g o n it at an
,

a n gle spread in all directio n s Thi s led to a further com

.

mi n gli n g ; a n d a combi n atio n of air an d fuel homogen eous

 FE E D IN G A ND B U RN ING P OWD E RE D C OA L 53

in its character was : deflected over the bridge wall ready to

do its w ork in the furn ace .

In stead of relyi n g upo n the combi n atio n of air an d fuel

escapin g from a si n gle pipe as sufficie n tly perfect to secure
co nti nuous a n d un iform combustio n the fuel a n d air were ,

thus subj ected to first the actio n of similar streams from

, ,

adj ace n t pipes ; and seco n d impi n gemen t upo n the b ridge
, ,

wall or eve n upo n the bottom of the combustio n chamber

,
.

The po w dered coal grou n d to the required fi n e ness was

, ,

placed in rectan gular reservoir located above the plan e of ,

the pipes In this reservoir there were rotati n g stirrers

.

whi ch urged the fuel through a gate at o ne e n d of the reser

voir a n d upo n a roller a part of whose periphery formed
, ,

the bottom of a box attached to the rese rvoir w hich sup

ported the fuel issui n g from the gate .

Ab ove the roller j ust described was anot h er and smaller

‘

, ,

o ne a part of w h ose periphery was wit h in t h e b ox ; the two

,

rollers by proper gearin g b ein g made to move at ab out the

same surface speed .

T he rollers were adj ustab le as to speed and received ,

b etween t h eir faces the powdered coal passing t hrough the

gate of th e reservoir T h ey deli vered it in a t hin sheet of
.

grains of uniform size in to a trough from wh ic h desce n ded ,

as ma n y receiving tubes as t h ere were co n ducting tub es

leadin g to t h e furn ace .

T h e upper openin gs of t h e receivin g tu b es in t h e trough

were rectan gular and so arran ged side b y side as to divide
,

equally the sheet of grain s fallin g into t h em into as many por

tio n s as there were co n ductin g t ubes .

T h e b ottoms of the receivin g tub es were circular and ,

th ey were un ited each to its separate co n ductin g tub e ,

slightly o n the furn ace side of the ope n e n d of th e latter .

H avin g thus secured to each co n ductin g tube an equal

su p p ly o f fuel
,
the n ext thin g to be do n e was to combin e
,

or mix this fuel with air an d to force the combin atio n then
, ,
”
called carb o nized air into the combustio n c hamber
,
.

This was eff ected by a fan or similar co n trivance Th e .

54 P OWD E RE D C OA L AS A FUE L

blast of air was forced in to a cylin der in the same plane

with the co n ducting tubes opposite to the open en ds of
,

which were an equal n umber of air n ozzles .

These n ozzle s were smaller in di ameter than the open

e n ds of their respective tubes a n d at a short distan ce there
,

from so that there was space in to whi ch the extern al air

,

might en ter in to the co n ductin g tubes alo n g with that which

was forced in to them from the air n ozzle s ( F igs 14 a n d .

In 1 87 1 a paten t was gran ted to Mr J Y Smith of . . .

P ittsburgh P a o n a device shown in F igs 1 6 to 1 8 which

,
.
,
.
,

the inven tor describes as follows :

An apparatus for feedin g powdered coal in to a furn ace ,

combi nin g in its co n structio n the followin g elemen ts viz ,

.
,

a n i n ductio n a n d a n exhaust pipe a n i n termediate wheel

,

arra n ged to be revolved by the actio n of a curren t of steam ,

air or gas passin g through said pipe a n d a shoe or other ,

feedin g mechan ism regulatin g the dis charge of the powdered

”
coal co nn ected with said wheel .

In combin atio n with a pipe or series of pipes for passin g

a curren t of steam or gas in to the furn ace or combustio n
chamber there is employed a hopper or p ipe for deliverin g
,

into such curren t the powdered coal ; a n d a n ope n ing or

,

series of openi n gs for in trodu cin g air min gled with the
steam or gas a nd powdered coal in to the furn ace or c o mbu s
-

tio n chamber .

In 1 87 6 Mr Wm West of G oldenC ity Col was gran ted

. .
,
.
,

a paten t for a powdered coal burn er which co n sisted of a

small screw co nveyer for feedin g the coal dust from a b in
to o ne or more tubes ; from which it dropped through a
funn el shaped pipe into a blast pipe F rom this the air
-
.
,

picked it up a n d carried it in to the furnace The screw had .

a co n e pulley or oth er mean s for regulatin g the spe ed of the

co nveyer ( F ig 1 9 to .

In 1 880 Mr West together wit h Mr Joh n G M c Au l ey

. . .

improved the design of this powdered coal feeder a n d were

gran ted a paten t o n their improvement It co n sisted of .

co n structin g the feeder with a vertical co n duit through ,

56 P OWD E RE D C OA L AS A FUE L

FIG . 16 — S mith Bu r n er
. a nd Fe e d e r .

F IG . 17 —S mith Bu r n er a nd Fe e d e r .

F IG . 1 8 —S
. mith B u rn e r a nd Fe e d e r .
 F E E D IN G AN D B URNIN G P OWD E RE D C OA L 57

which the powdered coal dropped commun icatin g with a ,

horizo n tal pipe whi ch was made of greater in side diameter

F IG . 19 .
—
W
e st F eede r .

F IG . 20 .
—We st Fe e d e r .

j ust b ac k of the poin t of en tran ce of the coal th an it was

farther back An in clin ed shelf at the bottom of the verti
.
,

cal fuel co n duit preven ted the blast o f air from strikin g
,
 C OA L ~
’

58 P OWD E RE D AS A FU E L

upward a n d made for a b etter mixin g of th e particles of coal

dust a n d air .

The E di so n patents o n feedi ng an d burning equipment

are described in Chapter V O ther apparatus of this sort
.

will be foun d discussed in Chapters VIII and IX .

P n e umati c F e e ding S ystem In most plan ts usin g pow

.

dered coal the above described screw co n veyer system is

-

employed A bout a year ago the aut hor visited a n umber

.

of work s usin g powdered coal Amo n g them were several .

that ar e usin g the ai r di stri bu ti ng ( H ol b ec k) system ; an d

the co n trast between th e two systems was most mark ed .

Th e air distributin g system is briefly described as fol

lows : Air is the agen t used for co nveyin g the coal dust to th e
furn aces The coal is first pulverized in the usual mann er
.

a n d delivered to a storage b in located in the coal buildin g .

This bin is the o nly o ne used for stori n g powdered coal in

the e n tire plan t It is made of su fficient capacity to serve
.

t h e furn aces for te n h o u rs .

The powdered coal is tak en from t his b in b y a standard

double fligh t screw con veyer driven by a variable speed
-
,

motor : a n d is then fed into the suctio n side of a high

pressure blower From th is it is blo wn into the di stri b utin g
.

main a n d carried to the furn aces t hrough bran ch pipes .

The coal which is no t used at the furn aces is return ed t hrough

a return lin e to a collector located o n top of the powdered
coal b in where it is extracted from the air a n d falls in to
,

the storage b in to b e fed over again Th e air from th e return .

lin e after the coal is extracted is return ed to th e suctio n

, ,

side of the distributin g blower .

In terposed in the distri b utin g main is a special fl ow

in dicator a nd co ntroller ; inten ded first to in dicate the , ,

rate of flow of air through the system an d seco n d to c o n ,

trol the feed of powdered coal into the system so as to have

a un iform mixture of coal dust a n d air to the b urn ers ,

regardless of the n umber of furn aces in operatio n .

The return li n e permits a velocity of air in the di stribu t

i n g mai n su fficie n tly hi gh to keep the powdered coal in sus
 F E E D IN G AN D B U RN IN G P OWD E RE D C O A L 59

p e n sio n of t h e air a n d in circulatio n in t h e system eve n ,

with n o furn aces operatio n .

When the valves in the bran ches at t h e furn aces are

O pe n ed so as t o permit a flow of coal dust to the bur n ers ,

there is a n increase in t h e fl ow of air through the flow

i n dicator Thi s i n creased flow is i n stantly in dicated o n the
.

i n dicator dial as show n in F ig 2 1 A t the same time. .

a small pilot motor is start ed a n d by mean s of proper

,

g ear i n g the arm of a special field rheostat is moved in pro

portio n to the in crease in th e fl ow of air through the dis
tributin g mains T hi s rheostat co n trols the variable S peed
.

motor that drives the feed screw thus speedi n g up this ,

motor a n d feedi n g more coal dust to meet the deman d .

In case a valve of t h e furn ace should be partly closed thus ,

c ausi n g a decrease in the flow of air through the system ,

the pilot motor is automatically reversed the rheostat ,

arm is moved in t h e opposite directio n a n d the motor driv ,

i n g the feed screw is slowed do w n so that the mixture of

-

coal dust a n d air is automatically kept u ni form .

With this system the powdered coal c a n be co nveyed

,

to a ny reaso n able distan ce The author has see n a plan t

.

where the first furn ace was 400 ft from the pulverizi n g .

plan t an d an other where the last furn ace o n the lin e was
,

1 5 00 ft from the milli n g plan t

. If the velocity of flow
.

is reduced due to frictio n in the mai n a seco n d or even a

, ,

t hi rd a n d fourth distributi n g blower or booster c an be

placed in the lin e a n d thus the circ u latio n c an be kept up
for a n i n defi nite distan ce .

The advan tage of h a n dlin g th e coal dust in t his way

over the old system of usi n g screw co n veyors are : ,

.1 Whe n it is take n i n to co n sideratio n that the air used

for co nveyi n g the coal dust is also used to take the place of
the seco n dary air for combustio n that would have to b e ,

furni shed by some other mean s the actual co n sumptio n ,

of power for furnishi n g coal dust to the furn aces is very low .

.2 The wear a n d hi gh cost O f repairs i n cide n tal to the old

method of usin g screw co nveyers is elimin ated It is esti .
60 P OWD E RE D C OA L AS A FUE L

mated that a 9 in
-
scre w co n veyer costs about
. per
lin eal foot and the po w er cost to turn it will average at least

per day for every ru n of 2 50 ft S crew conveyers

.

are apt to clog up a nd stop feedi n g n ecessitati n g work to

,

locate the stoppage a n d the n to make repairs .

 FE E D ING A ND B U RNING P OWD E RE D C OA L

3 Air
. distributio n en tirely elimi n ates th e storage b in
at each in di vidu al furn ace whi ch takes up a great deal O f
,

space that c a n be used for other purposes It also elimi n ates

.

the han gin g u p of coal dust at the furn aces which may
-
,

cause avalan chin g a n d flushi n g past the co n trollers leadi n g ,

the furnaces to puff or smotheri n g the fire Thi s difficulty .

from powdered coal ( caki n g at the bin s ) seems to be quite

gen eral The writer has see n the coal dust bi n s suspe n ded
.

by spri n gs in shops where it was e n deavored to stop the

caki n g of th e c o al resultin g from the j arri n g of forge ham
,

mers .

4 Wit hi na few mi n utes after the furn aces are shut o ff

.
,

all of the coal dust in the distributi n g system is return ed

to the pulverized coal plant thus leavin g n o coal dust in
,

storage in the works or at the furn aces .

With t hi s system of di stributio n there Is n o large com

,

b u stio n chamber built n o r is the existi n g furn ace chan ged

,

to a ny exten t The oil or gas supply is cut o ff a n d o n e or

.

two small bran ches of pipe are brought down to the furn ace
with a valve n ear the main fixed so that it c a n b e operated
,

from the floor .

The distributi n g main co nsists of spiral riveted pipe

ru nni n g overhead and feedi n g the furn aces If there are .

te n or twelve furn aces a n d it is desired to shut down o n e

,

or more of them the valves at the bran ches are closed a n d

,

the automatic co n troller does the rest .

F or getti n g rid of ash a n d smoke the fro n t side walls of

,

the furn aces are built out a n d a sheet steel hood is placed
directly across the fro n t of each furn ace the bottom of the ,

h ood restin g j ust above the work open i n g ; each hood is

'

tapered in to a small pipe a n d co nn ected to a n exhaust

main A t o n e e n d of the shop a n exhauster is placed to
.

whi ch thi s exhaust mai n is co nn ected a n d the co n ten ts are

di scharged i n to a separator placed outside of the buildi n g .

Un dern eath the separator is a storage b in from which the ,

ash c an be removed .
 C HAP TE R V

P O W D E RE D C O AL IN TH E C E M E NT IND U S TRY

AM O N G the various applicatio n s of powdered coal ,

the first was in the man ufacture of ceme nt .

A bout forty three years ago Mr W illia mS weet of D il

-
,
.

worth P orter
,
Compan y was usin g powdered coal em
, ,

ployi n g a screw a n d fan to i nj ect the coal i n to the fur n aces .

The coal was simply crushed as fine as it could be between

ordin ary rolls an d this lac k O f the fi n e ness requi red for
bu rn i n g probably accou n ted for the failure of the proj ect .

F or the past t hi rty years there have been suggested man y

schemes for burni n g powdered coal in cemen t plan ts u n der ,

boilers an d in heati n g furn aces A large n um ber of burn ers

.

a n d processes have bee n i n troduced with varyi n g degrees

of success .

D uri n g the early years of the cemen t i n dustry in t hi s

cou n try oi l was employed as a fuel by S prayi n g it i nto t h e
,

lo wer e nd of the furn ace with a j et of compressed air or

steam The use of oil was successful but due to the in
.
,

crea si n g cost after 1 89 5 very expen sive F rom 1 89 7 to

,
.

1 9 00 the i n crease in price was so great as to make the

use of oil almost impracticable c o mm e rbially This fact .

h a s bee n the pri n cipal in ce n tive for developi n g the use of

powdered coal .

In 1 89 4 a series of experimen ts o n t h e use of powdered

coal was begu n by the A tlas P ortlan d Cement Compan y .

The se were in imm ediate charge of Messrs H urry an d .

S eaman Chief E n gi n eer a n d S uperin ten den t respectively

, .

They led to man y discoveries the in ventio n of vario u s devices

,

and fi n ally to the commercial developmen t of the art .

H urry an d S eaman are en titled to the credit of havin g been

the first succes sful users of powdered coal in the cemen t ih
62
 ‘
64 P OWD E RE D C OA L AS A FUE L

Th e modern rotary cemen t kiln co n sists of a sligh tly

inclin ed steel cylin der moun ted o n steel rollers and arran ged
so that it c an be revolved The upper e n d is co nn ected .

with a stac k or c himney wh ic h permits of th e escape of dis

charge gases The raw cement material in the form of dust
.
,

or slurry , enters th e upper e nd of t h e k iln A t the lower

’
.

e n d of t h e cylinder is a statio n ary h ood whic h affords a dis

c h arge open ing for the burn ed material an d which also acts
as a support for th e fuel supplyi n g devices The rotary c ylin
-
.

ders are of various dimen sio n s The ten den cy h as b een c o n .

tin u al ly to in crease t h e size of cylinder Thus for in stan ce .

, ,

in 1 890 t h e rotary kiln s were in some instan ces 4 ft in .

extern al diameter and 40 ft in len gt h From 1 89 5 to 1 902

. .

kiln di mensio ns were quite gen erally 6 ft in di ameter an d

.
.

60 ft lo n g
. At the presen t time k iln s 1 0 ft in di ameter a n d
. .

1 50 to 2 00 ft lo n g are commo n
. The Atlas plan t at H udso n .

is equipped with k iln s 1 2 ft in diameter and 2 75 ft lo n g In

. . .

most of the l ate in stallation s th e kilns are tru e cylin ders

havin g t h e same diameter at each e nd ; b ut in many plants
kiln s are to be foun d with the diameter at t h e top about
1 ft less than that at the bottom the two parts bein g
.
,

conn ected b y a tapered sectio n formin g the frustum of a

co n e .

T h e rotary kiln is lined t hrough out with a fir e bric k -

lin in g except in rare cases where a very wet slurry is em

,

ployed in which case the lin in g for a short distan ce from t h e

,

upper e n d is omitted T h e temperatures in th e c o mb u s

.

tio n chamber required for burnin g cemen t clinker are from

2 800 to 3000 F
°
To withstan d these high temperatu res a
.

lin in g havin g high refractory qualities must be employed .

I t must also h ave the qual ity of withstandin g decomposi

tion by the chemical actio n taki n g place in the k iln The .

pro b lem of k iln lin in gs has bee n a serious o ne The lower .

part especially has to be repaired frequently unl ess co n di

”
tio n s are unusually favorabl e .

Th e kiln is so operated as to keep the lin in g coated with

th e cemen t mixture for the purpose of protectio n .
T I NDU S T RY 65
66 P OWD E RE D C OA L AS A FU E L

F ig 2 2 show s the general features a nd arran gement of

.

the various operati n g parts of a typ ical rotary cemen t kil n .

In t hi s illustratio n the kil n is show n at C the fine for dis ,

—
charge ga ses at B the supporti n g rolls at D D the sta
, ,

tio n a r y hood at the lo w er e n d at E the rotary cli n ker coole r

,

at G the cli nker pit at F the blow er for supplyi n g compressed

, ,

air at H the coal b in at K the feedi n g i nj ector for coal

, ,

dust at J the co nveyer for deliveri ng coal to the fuel tan k

,

FIG . 23 .
—Inj e c tor fo r C e me n t Kiln .

at L a n d the dust bin for raw material at A The hood E

,
.
, ,

is usually mou nted o n ro lls so as to be easily moved away

whe n repairi ng the ki l n It is customary to supply a sepa
.

rate stack for each kiln although in some cases o n e stac k

,

received the discharge from tw o kil n s In a large i n stal .

latio n it is customary to supply the air for several burn ers

from o ne blo w er In the i nstallatio n shown the blo w er
.
,

draws in air which has first bee n warmed b y passi n g thr ough
a rotary cli nker cooler .

F ig 2 3 gives a n idea of the character of the combustio n

.

whi ch tak es place in the burni ng of powdered coal in a

ceme n t kil n The powdered coal is delivered to the kil n
.

by a j et of air which impi nges o n the fuel dust with force

e n ough to discharge the dust i nto the kiln The compressed .
P OWD E RE D C OA L I N TH E C E ME NT IN DUS TRY 67
68 P OWD E RE D C OA L AS A FUE L

air may b e o b tai ned from a fan or a compressor as may be ,

co nvenient ; the illustratio n shows both schemes .

The i nj ector varies greatly in differe n t co n structio n s but ,

in all cases it performs the fu n ctio n of i n j ecti n g the coal

dust i nto the kil n by a j et of air It always co n sumes less
.

than the amou nt n eeded for combustio n The addi tio nal .

air needed for combustio n e n ters the kil n pri n cipall y through
ope n i n gs in the hood an d through the di scharge duct for
cli nker S uch openi n gs are shown in F ig 2 3 by arrows
. .

at poi n ts marked a The amou n t of air supplied b y the

.

compressors or fan s should be sufficie n t merely to carry the

dust into the ki l n without producin g a combustible or
explosive mixture The fuel dust enters the combustio n
.

chamber of the kiln in the form of a black cloud a n d bur n s

like an elo n gated torch as i ndicated in F ig 2 4 The le ngth
,
. .

of the flame in actual kil n co n structio ns is ge n erally from

2 5 to 40 ft although thi s is aff ected by local co n di tio n s
.
, .

The diameter of the flame in some p laces may be very n early

equal to that of the combustio n chamber Un der the best .

co n ditio n s of burni ng the fl ame does n o t perceptib ly im

pi n ge agai n st the side walls of the kil n an d the heat utilized ,

is practically all given o ff by radiatio n .

E D I S O N S Y S TE M

In 1 904, Mr Thomas A E diso n designed and patented

. .

a method of burni n g P ortlan d cemen t clinker by the use

of po wdered coal which is described as follows :
,

The inve ntio n con sists in a method whereby a greater

amou nt of fuel may be co n sumed in kiln cyli n ders without
raisin g the temperature to wh ich they are n o w usually
subj ected Thus the desired quality of material is se c ured
.
,

whi le the output thereof is largely in creased .

The rotary cyli n der burn ers heretofore in commo n use

for bur ni n g P ortlan d ceme n t materials co n sist of a cyli n der
about 60 ft in le n gth li n ed with fire brick a nd havi n g a n
.

in side diameter of from 4 to 5 ft the cyli nder bei ng set at

.
,

a slight an gle a n d the powdered coal bei ng fed in at the upper

P OWD E RE D C OA L IN T H E C E M E NT I N DU S TRY 69

FI G . 25 .
—E d iso n S ys te m .

F IG . 2 6 — E d iso n S yste m
. .
70 P OWD E RE D C O A L A S A FU E L

end thereof The rotatio n of the cyli n der by reaso n of its

.
,

i n cli n atio n slowly advan ces the material toward a n d out

,

of the lower e n d The speed of progressio n of the material

.

le n gthwise through the cyli n der depe n ds upo n the speed of

rotatio n a n d the i n cli n atio n of the cyli n der The exit .

or lower e n d of the cyli n der ope n s i nto a closed chamber

provided with a n orifice at the bottom t hrough whi ch the
burn ed material may make its exit .

“
With such cyli n drical kil n s as have h eretofore been
used there is i n serted in this chamber in a n axial li n e
, ,

with the bore of the cyli n der a n ozzle through which , ,

( by mean s of compressed air) a stream of powdered coal is

proj ected in to the cyli n der a n d there co n sumed Total .

combustio n of the powdered coal takes place wit hi n a rela

tive ly limited distan ce n ear the lower e n d of the cyli n der ,

such distan ce bei n g perhaps n o t over 2 0 ft The very hi gh .

temperature n ecessary for the fi n al cli nkeri n g of the ceme nt

materials is restricted however to a much smaller distance
, ,

—sa about 8 ft of the le n gth of the cyli n der W i th

y . .

cyli n ders of the dime nsio n s i n dicated a n d providi n g for ,

total combustio n of the powdered coal in approximately

the distan ce me n tio n ed about 2 800 lb of ceme n t cli n ker
,
.

are produced per hour with a n expe n di ture of about 800 lb .

of coal dust the maximum temperature reached bei n g

,

approximately 3000 F The gases of combustio n are swept

0
.

forw ard in the cyli n der a n d impart th eir h e a t to the a d va n c \

in g material fi n ally fi n di n g their exit through a stack at

,

the feed e n d at which the cold material is i n troduced The .

compressed air for pr oj ecti n g the po w dered coal through the

n ozzle i n to the cyli n der bei n g i n sufficie n t to effect its

complete combustio n the additio n al air n ecessary for that

,

purpose is i ntroduced through the exi t orifice for the

burn ed cli nker Thi s suppleme n tary air is drawn in by
.

reaso n of the draft created by the stack a n d by the c om

pressed air The small amou n t o f material which passes
.

through the cyli n der has so limited a capacity for the

ab sorptio n of heat whe n it e nters the co ntrac ted zone of
72 P OWD E RE D C OAL A S A FUE L

zo n e so as to secure anywhere between suc h points a suf

,

fi c ie n tly high temperature to obtain th e desired clink erin g

effect .

In this way it is po ssible to secure wi thin the b urn er a

much larger proportio nal area of e ffective combustio n with
relatio n to th e quan tity of fuel used th an is n o w po ssib le .

To il lustrate th e prin ciple gen eral ly assume two n ozzles ,

to b e employed o ne bein g suppli ed with powdered coal an d

,

air at say 5 0 l b pressure p e r S quare in ch wh ic h serves to

,
.
,

t hrow the fuel with grea t velocity in to th e cylin der so ,

that th e center of its zo n e of combustio n is say 2 5 ft from ,

.

the exit e n d of t he cylinder : a nd t h e other bein g supplied

with co al an d air at say 2 0 l b pressure so that the zo n e of
,
.
,

comb ustion th ereof will b e located between the first zo n e

an d t h e exit e n d The columns of air an d powdered coal
.

from the n ozzles o n accoun t of t h eir great velocity pass in to

, ,

the cylin der for a c o n siderab le distance before sprea di ng

a n d before the temperature o f either reac h es the com

b u stion poin t . By employin g a numb er of n ozzles sup ,

plied wit h air a t diff eren t pressures and with th e proper ,

amoun t of coal fed into each a very lar ge amount of co al,

can be b urn ed ; and th e exten t of th e zo n e of clink erin g

temperature may b e in creased Thus the output of fin ish ed.

material may be largely augmented In this way a con .

side r ab le savi n g is secured in invest men t and operatin g

labor per to n of output ; while an additio n al saving is secured

in the dim u n ition of the amount of coal n ecessary to burn a
given amo u nt of material b ecause of th e dimi nished loss b y
,

extern al radiatio n .

In ot h er words b y directin g th e di fferent c olunms or

,

stre ams of powdered coal within t h e cylin der so that th e

”
areas of combustio n wil l so to s p eak ,
overlap it is pos , ,

sible to secure a n additio n al area of clink erin g temperatu re

or a n additio n al zon e of high h eat ; which cann ot be secured
with a sin gle burn in g column of fuel or with a plurality of
such columns of fuel separated to too great an extent .
 P OWD E RE D C OA L IN T HE C E M E NT INDUS T RY 73

K I LN C A L C U LA T I O N S

A dequatedryin g of th e coal is gen erally co n sidered

essen tial although for some small plan ts the writer h as seen
,

kil n s i n operation o n coal which had no t been dr ied Wet .

co al has a detrimen tal effect o n feedin g and on t h e capacity

of th e kiln The effect of th e moisture h owever depen ds
.
, ,

upo n th e kin d of coal so th at n o limit c an b e defin itely

,

stated as essential to success in advan ce of a trial .

A ccor di n g to Carpen ter t h e weigh t of powdered co al

, ,

required per b arrel of cemen t varies somewh at with the

,

character of t h e kiln and the c h aracter of t h e process In .

t h e dry process of manuf acture t h e weight of coal is from ,

83 to 1 00 l b per b arrel of ceme n t

. In the wet p rocess th e .

coal varies from about 35 to 5 0 pe r cent of th e fin ished

product that is from 1 33 to 1 9 0 lb of coal per barrel
, ,
. .

T h e theoretical amoun t of coal required di sregar di n g the

h eat due to th e formation of silicates of lime an d alumin a ,

is pro b ably n o t far from 30 lb per b arrel provided .

,

B t u per pou n d of coal are ut ilized

. . . Co ntin uous sta ti onary .

k iln s are report ed as con sumin g 1 2 to 1 6 per cen t of fuel

of from 45 to 60 p e r b arrel of cemen t .

T h e capacity of the modern k iln in barrels per twen ty

four hours when operatin g o n dry material with flue gases
at about 1 000 F may b e approximately expressed by t h e
°
.

following formul a :

wh ere C = capacity in 2 4 hours in b arrels of , 380 lb .

D = outside diameter in feet

;
L = le n gth in feet .

T h e eco n omy of the kiln has been increased b y in

creasin g its len gth This is due in part to a chan ge in pro c
“

ess of burn in g : the C O being driven O ff from t h e material .

before it reaches the combu stio n zo n e in the kiln : a nd in

74 P OWD E RE D C OA L A S A FUE L

part to a reduction of los ses The savin g due to the use of a .

1 5 0—
ft kil n in place of a 60 ft kiln has exceeded 2 0 per cen t
.
-
.

in fuel a n d in additio n has cut down the labor required

,

in operatio n more than o ne half Kil n s c an be operated -

.

wi th a stac k temperature of less than 1 000 E but in such

0
,

even t the capacity is lessen ed an d the result is generally an

in crease rather than a decrease in cost .

Mr Richard K Meade in his boo k o n P ortlan d cemen t

. .
, ,

gives the following calculatio n as to the heat n ecessary

per 1 00 lb of raw material : .

H ea t re quire d : Bt . u .

D e compo sition o f 75 l b C a CO . 84
D e compo sition of 4 l b Mg C O . 4X 384

H e at su pplie d :
B urning o f lb . su l ph u r 0 3X
.

B u rning o f lb . c a rb o n

B al an c e to b e su pp lie d by fue l :

B tu . . .

Ab out 600 lb of raw material are eeded per b arre l

. n ,

so that the total heat required per barrel would be

disregardin g the effect of the sili cates The combi .

n atio n of the silicates a n d lime gives o ff heat The amount .

is in doubt as the exact resultin g compositio n of th e silic a te s

is n o t kn own A certain combin atio n migh t produce
.

B t u per 1 00 lb of raw material ; thi s is h ardly

. . . .

possible as it wo ul d reduce the heat to be supplied to 2 789

B t u per 1 00 lb of raw material or to
. . . . B t u per barrel . . .

of cemen t A t . with coal evolving

the weight of coal per barrel of cement is
Trg w lb .

The prin cipal cause of lack of eco n omy in the rotary

kil n is the excessive flue loss D r Joseph W Richard . . .
 P OWD E RE D C OA L IN THE C E ME NT I NDUSTRY 75

has reported th e followi n g di stri b utio n of heat losses in a

6 by 60 ft k il n :
-
.

36 pe r c e nt d u e to e xc e ss a ir in c him ney ga ses ,

p e r c en t dare t o e xc e ss. temp e ra t u r e o f n e c e ssary pro du c ts of

comb ustio n ,

p e r c e nt in h o t c l inker ,

p e r c e nt i n r a d i a ti o n a nd co nv e c ti o n .

The ab ove investigation i n dicates ab out 72 per ce n t

of flue loss of whic h o ne half is due to poor operatio n an d is -

preven table .

In order to utilize the waste h eat in the stac k it was ,

arran ged in the C ayu ga L ake plan t to pass th e disch arge

gases of two kilns through a bo il er and an eco n omizer t h e ,

draft bei n g m ai n tai n ed by a fan It was also arranged to .

heat the air e nteri n g the kil ns by drawi ng it t h rough t h e h ot

clinker discharged from the kil ns The kil n s were 60 ft in . .

le ngth ,
ft in di ameter at the lower e n d a n d
. ft in diam .

eter at the upper e n d The results are shown in Table 1 . .

TA B LE 1

TWO R i ms 7 4 A N D 6% BY 60 FE E T
C o al co nsu m e d pe r h o u r , lb .

C link e r sp e c ific h e a t,
C linker p r o du c e d p e r h o u r ( C a O = 62 p e r c e n t) ,
lb
W e igh t C aC O 3 pe r h o ur , compute d , lb
M o istu re in m ate rial
raw p e r c e nt ,

Weigh t C 0 pe r h o ur from m ate ria l lb

2 ,
.

Weigh t of air su pplie d pe r lb o f coa l 44 pe r c e nt e xc e ss .

, ,
lb .

To tal weigh t o f a ir su pp lie d pe r h o ur l b ,

.

Weigh t of air su ppl ie d by co al fe e de rs pe r h o u r lb

T o tal weigh t o f g ases disc h arg e d p e r h o u r lb ,

H eat disc h arge d p e r lb of g as .

,

Are a of outsid e of kiln sq ft ,

.

Ar ea o f h oo d e xpo se d sq ft ,
.

Gas l eaving kilns deg F ,

.

Air e nterin g kiln s de g F , . .

G as l eaving b o il er de g F ,
.

G as leaving e co nom iz er d eg F ,
.

Te mp of ki ln by O p tic a l p yr om e te r l o we r thir d deg F

.
, , .

Te mp of kiln b y O p ti c al p yr om ete r u pp er p art de g F

.
, , .
76 P OWD E RE D C O A L AS A FUE L

F rom the data I n Table 1 Table 2 has been computed ,

showi n g the approximat e distributio n of heat thr oughout

the process .

TA B LE 2

APP ROX IMATE D IS TRIB UTIO N OF H E AT

B t P e r C e nt . . u .
.

H eat ente r ing kilns fr om c linke r coo l e r .

H eat entering kilns fr om comb ustio n o f co al

He at pro du c e d from c h e mi c a l rea c tio ns .

T o ta l h eat su pp lie d .

D isc h arg e d from kiln to b o il er .

D isc h arg ed with c linke r ( 80 1 8X 2 X 500 )

C a C 0 de compo se d ( 8875 l b a t 765
3 .

1 2 6 l b su l p hu ri c anh ydr id e libe ra te d

.
0 8
2 5 2 l b wa te r e va po ra te d
. .

Ra diatio n and una cco unte d fo r .

Ra diatio n pe r sq ft of surf a c e o f kiln p e r h r

. . 9 74
H eat ab so rb e d by b o il e r fr om kiln ga se s .

H e at ab so rb e d bye co nomiz er fr om ki ln g ases

S ta c k l o ss and b o il e r r a di atio n

The i nvestigatio n thus showed that about 5 0 per ce nt

of the heat was discharged i nto the stack a n d of that amoun t
about 68 per ce nt could be utilized in a boiler a n d eco n omizer
so that the ultimate n ecessary flue loss was o nly about

1 7 per ce n t of the heat in the fuel .

U TI L I Z A T I O N OF WA S TE H E A T

In the cemen t i n dustry very few attempts have bee n

,

made to utilize the heat of the escapi n g gases The reaso n .

why the waste heat has n o t bee n utilized to a greater extent

is n o doubt the di fficulty of arrangi n g a nd main tai ni ng
, ,

the waste heat boilers .

Although the temperature of the kil n stac k gases has

bee n co n siderably reduced with the adve nt of the lo n g
ki l n these gases are still discharged at temperat ur es which
,
 P OWD E RE D C O A L IN TH E C E M E NT I N DU S TRY 77

j ustify i nstallatio ns of equipmen t for the utilizatio n of the

heat in the large volumes of hot gases whi ch ar e co nstantly
discharged from the furnace .

O n e method of utilizi n g the heat in these gases stan ds

out promin en tly o n account of the eco n omical results
obtain ed This system co n templates passi n g the kil n gases
.

through a rotary dryer placed directly behi n d the k iln .

S uch a dryer should be so proport io n ed in relatio n to

the kil n that n o co n ditio n c a n be produced whi ch will
te n d to reduce the capacity of the kiln The diameter .

of dryer should be at least equal to the bore of the kiln ,

so that the dryer will n o t h ave a dampe ni n g e ffect o n the

draft The kil n a nd dryer should be served by separate
.

stacks of the same diameter a n d height so that the kil n

, ,

may be operated either i n depe n de n tly or in uni so n with the

dryer The stack chambers servi n g the kil n and the dryer
.

should be liberally proportio n ed so that the gases will n o t

,

be su b j ected to any i nterfere n ce as they leave either the kil n

or the dryer B etween the ki l n stac k c h amber a nd the
.

dryer there should be a removable hood to permit free ,

access to the dryer w ithout i n terferi n g wit h the co n ti n uity

of operatio n of the kil n A rotary kiln di schargi ng its
.

waste gases t h rough a properly proportio n ed dryer will

n o t o n ly fur ni sh su fficie n t heat for e ffectuall y dryi n g the

raw material for a number of kiln s but in ad ditio n will ,

produce as much cli nker per poun d of coal as will the same
size of ki l n n o t coupled to a dryer A kiln 8 ft in diameter
. .

1 2 0 ft lo n g coupled to a dryer 7 ft i n diameter a n d 5 0

.
,
.

ft lo n g ki l n a n d dryer each bei n g served by a 7 ft stac k

.
,
-
.
,

1 00 ft hi gh w ill have the same capacity a n d will S how the

.
,

same fuel co n sumptio n as a n ordi n ary kil n O f the same

size di schargi n g its gases of combustio n to the atmosphere

through a stack of the same dimen sio n s as the stac ks serv

ing the coupled unit s .
 C H A P TE R VI

A P P LICATI O N S O F P O W D E RE D C O AL TO RE VE RB E RA T O RY
F UR NA C E S

TH E losses an d nuisan ces arisi n g from flue dust in blast

furn ace smelti n g n o less than t h e better fuel ratio an d
,

to nn age obtained with powdered coal are leadi n g to a grow ,

i ng use of that fuel for reverbatory fur n aces The latter .

type of furn ace also fur nishes opportu ni ty for the proper
han dli n g of co n verter slag derived from basic ores The .

pri n cipal difficulty atten di n g this applicatio n of powdered

coal have arisen from the choki n g u p O f fl u es by adheri ng
-

layers of ash : an d thi s difficulty is mi ni mized by usi n g

straight fl u e s free from abrupt chan ges of area The .

deposit of a silicious surface over the charge is made imp o s

sible if the coal is positively a n d regularly fed to the furn ace .

Two papers o n this subj ect presented to the American

In stitu te of Mi ni n g E n gin eers in F ebruary 1 9 1 5 descri b i n g , ,

plan ts of the Can adian Copper C o Washoe Reductio n .

,

W orks a n d A n aco n da Copper C o are reproduced here by

.
,

S pecial permissio n of the writers the late D r D avid H

, . .

Brown e Metallurgical E n gin eer of the Internatio n al N ic kel

,

Co .
,a nd Mr .L ouis V B e n der of the A n aco n da Copper
.

Mi ni ng Compan y .

(P a p er by D r D a vi d H B ro wne)
. .

CA N A D IA N CO PPE R CO .

The use of coal dust reverberatory furn aces was for

the Can adian Copper Co a matter of n ecessity a nd no t of
.
,

choice F or twe nty years smelti n g had bee n do n e in blast

.

furn aces alo ne a n d with the H e rr e sh o ff fur n aces used prior to

,

1 9 04 there was n o trouble in treati n g fin e ores B ut little .

78
80 P OWD E RE D C O AL As A FUE L

In th e E n gineerin g a n d Min in g Journ al of F e b ruary

1 0 , 1 9 06, Mr S S S ore n se n , describin g certain expe rimen ts
. . .

at the H ighlan d B ay S melter called the atten tio n of th e ,

metallurgical world to the possibilities of powdered coal as a

reverberatory fuel While Mr S oren sen s experimen t s. .
’

did n o t lead to the adoptio n of powdered coal at H ighlan d

B ay they showed clearly that in crea sed to nn age coul d
,

be attain ed wit h decrease fuel co n sumptio n a n d that such ,

difli c u l tie s as he en coun ter ed were largely mechan ical an d

presumably removable Mr S oren sen was probably the . .

pion eer in th e use of powdered coal in reverberatory f urn aces .

“
H is experien ces were supplemen ted by Mr Charles .

S helby wh o in an able article in the E n gin eeri n g a nd Min in g

,

Journ al of March 1 4 1 9 08 described his investigatio n of

, ,

the use of powdered coal in a reverberatory furn ace at Cana

ne a . Mr Shelby experien ced trouble from the stickin g
.

of ash in th e fl u e s a n d from the formatio n of a silicious

blanket over his charge ; but un til blocked by these c o n ,

ditio n s he attain ed better results both in to n n age an d in

, ,

fuel ratio than had been obtai n ed by grate firin g A

,
.

profitable con tract for the purchase of fuel oil led to the
disco n tinuan ce of these experimen ts but en ough had bee n ,

don e to show that the su b j ect was worthy of fur ther in vesti
g a tio n .

O cto b er 1 9 09 th e Tepoe Valley smelter ( of which

In , ,

Mr S oren sen was the S upe rin ten den t ) was visited by the
.

writer We wen t over th e detail s of the H ighlan d Bay

.

e xperimen ts together a n d agreed that with prope r atten tio n

to structural a n d mechan ical details the troubles there e xp e ri

c h oed would be avoided In the same mo n th Mr S helby . .

w a s in terviewed regardi n g the difficulties e n coun tered at

Can an ea These also seemed avoidable It was eviden t
. .

that if the problem could be worked to a successful issue ,

the fuel ratio then usually about 4 to 1 might be raised to

, ,

or 7 to 1 This warran ted con siderable expen diture in

.

workin g out the details of practice .

In visitin g all of the promin e n t Western smelters in

 AP P LI C ATI O N S OF P OWD E RE D C OA L 81

t hat year it was foun d that the proposal to use pow

dered co al o n a large scale was received with more in terest
than enthusiasm As a rule investors were s k eptical as to
.
,

th e expedien cy of startin g a n e w plant o n a practically

unproved method .

D urin g the fall of 1 909 Mr G eorge E S ilvester vi sited . .

the cemen t factories in the E astern states in order to study

the prope r method of grin din g a n d burnin g coal H is .

report con firmed the opin io n that the process was pra e
tic ab le an d dur in g the win ter plan s were drawn for a rever
,

be rato ry furnace plan t to use powdered coal as a fuel .

“
The mechan ical di fficulties en coun tered at H ighlan d
Bay an d at Can an ea co n sisted c h ie fl y of two t hi n gs viz ,

the stoppage of fl u e s with accumul atio n s of ash a n d in ter ,

ru p tio n s a nd irregularities in the co al dust feed It had been -

.

demo n strated in cemen t plan ts however that the operation s , ,

of feeding an d b urn in g powdered coal could be made quite

as con tinuous as uniform an d as easily regulated as feedi ng
, ,

fuel oil ; provided o nly that proper met h ods were used in
,

the preparatio n of the coal .

A plan t e quipped with the latest applian ces for dry

in g an d pulverizin g coal was t h erefore des ign ed to be located ,

in a fireproof buildin g en tirely separated from the rever

,

b e ra to ry furn ace buildin g E special care was tak en to

.

specify that all bin s co nveyors etc for the powdered coal
, , .
, ,

b e made as n early dust proof as possible by t h e use of

-

rubber ga skets to elimin ate the dan ger of dust explosio n s

, .

To circumven t if possible the trouble from accumulatio n s

, ,

of coal ash an en tirely n e w arran gemen t of furn ace flue

,

w a s de sign ed the idea bein g to elimin ate the several right

,

a n gled ben ds in commo n use an d to provide as far a s , ,

possib le a straightway course for th e gases In followin g

, .

out this idea the s kimmin g door was taken from its tradi
,

tio na l positio n at the e n d of the fu r n ace and placed o n

the side en tailin g the sacrifice apparen tly of n othing but
, , ,

the traditio n .

A s the furn ishi n g of steam power from waste gases w a s

82 P OWD E RE D C O A L A S A FUE L

n o t an esse ntial feature of the i nstallatio n hydro electri c ,

-

power bei n g used in the plant the waste heat boiler was made ,

e ntirely a seco n dary co n sideratio n and was situated so a s ,

n o t to i nterfere in a ny way with the straightway idea ,

whether in use or by passed -

.

In F ebru ary 1 9 1 0 in company wit h Mr S ilvester

, ,
.
,

the Western smelters were visited to o b tai n inf ormatio n o n

reverb eratory practice Mr S ore n sen was k ee nly i nter . .

e ste d in Mr S ilvester s plan s in which he advised a few

’
.
,

modificatio n s of min or details while approvi ng t h e ideas a s ,

a whole .

In April 1 9 1 0 the C anadian C opper C o aut h orized

, ,
.

co n structio n an d wor k was b e g un at o n ce As the e n tire

, .

site of the proposed plan t had to be raised 1 1 ft ab ove th e .

yard level a nd a large amount of rock cuttin g an d filli n g

,

was necessary o n the hillside where the bin s an d approache s

were plann ed active co nstructio n did n o t comme n ce u n til
,

D ecember 2 3 1 9 1 1 , .

A s built the origi n al fur n aces were li ned with basi c

,

bric k an d the hearth was an inverted arch of magn esite

,
.

The furn aces we n t i nto operatio n b efore a ny mean s of dry

in g the flue dust was provided a nd duri n g the wi n ters of ,

1 9 1 1 a n d 1 9 1 2 a large amou n t of charge wet an d froze n as it

, ,

came from the piles was shoveled in through the doors of

,

the furn ace All the co n verter slag was poured in ; at first
.

through a door n ear the fire e nd j ust as Scrap is charged in ,

a n ope n hearth furn ace

-
.

The i ntroductio n of so muc h cold air and cold material

made it impossible to att ai n any satisfactory fuel ratio D u r .

in g the first five mo n ths to n s of cold charge an d

,

to n s of co nverter slag were smelted with 9 60 9 to n s

of coal This shows a ratio of
. to n s of total charge per
to n of coal but of o nly
, to n s of cold charge per to n of coal .

H owever as the cold charge was wet a nd often frozen

, ,

better results could probably n o t be expected .

The combustio n of fuel was satisfactory from the start ,

n o trouble bei n g experie n ced either in gri n di n g or in burni n g

 AP P LI C ATI O NS O F P OWD E RE D C OA L 83

the coal T he ash whi le worki n g o n cold charges c h o k ed

.
, ,

a n d clogged the fin e at the throat This di ffi culty was n o t .

elimi nated u ntil later when hot calcin es were used a n d a , .

larger to nnage was smelted In ge n eral the more slowly .

,

the fur n ace worked the colder w as the ash an d the more it
,

stuck a n d accumul ated ; while the faster it was drive n the

less did the ash han g b ac k in the furn ace Un der prese n t .

co n dition s wit h rapid smelting t h e as h is a n egligible

, ,

factor .

In t h e summer of 1 9 12 t h e roof a n d side wall s were

repaired a n d Some facili ties provided for dryin g the charge
,
.

In the winter of 1 9 1 2 four wedge furnaces were b uilt to

roast gree n ore fines These we nt in to operatio n in March
- .
,

1913 A t t hi s date we ceased to run co nvert er slag in the

.

reverb eratory furn aces sin ce with the ope ni n g of N o 3 ,

.

mi n e the blast furn ace charge b ecame more silicious a nd

slag could be used eco nomi cally as a fl ux .

D uri n g the n ext year very pro nou n ced improvements

were made by Mr A gn ew then S uperi nten den t of the sme l
.
,

ter who with his foreme n Messrs K e n t M c A skill a n d

, ,
.
,

Maso n worked out a nd adapted to our use a modificatio n

—
,

of the Can anea system of side fettli n g L o n g a nd s h allow .

poc kets were provided alo n g the side wall t hr ough holes ,

in which the gree n ore fin es were fed to protect the sides

-
.

This n aturally led to bricki n g up all the doors o n the fur

n ace a n d marked improveme n t resulted from the exclusio n
,

of cold air a n d the i nsulatio n of the w al ls by a n o n co n duct -

ing a n d co ntinuously ren ewed blanket of fines .

A s the wall s were thoroughly protected b y t h e charge

thus introduced the use of basic brick in th e wall s and hearth
,

was no lo n ger n ecessary a nd the n ext change in O ctober , , ,

1 9 1 3 was to the sili cious b ottom and b ric k walls customary

,

in Western smelters .

In 1 9 1 4 the fuel ratio a n d furn ace practice were

steadi ly improvi ng The figur es for the fir st t hree mo n ths
.

in 1 9 1 4 o n e reverberatory b ei n g in use are gi ven in the

, ,

tabulatio n below .
84 P OWD E RE D C OAL AS A FUE L
—
1 9 1 4 CANAD IA N C O P PE R C O M PANY

J annar y . F e b ruar y . M ar c h .

F u rna c e d ays,
.

C al c in e s to ns
,

B l a st furna c e fl u e d ust to n s
, ,
.

We dg e furn a c e fl ue dust tons

, ,
. 1 71
C onve rte r slag to n s ,
69
G r e en o re fines and sa mp l e s to ns
-
,
.

To tal c h arge tons ,

C o a l , tons
C h a rg e p e r d ay, to ns
C o a l p e r d ay, to n s .

Ra tio o f c h a rg e to fu e l

In the summ er of 1 9 1 4 a chan ge was made in gri n di n g

the ore fi nes for the wedge furn ace The ore whi ch was .
,

previously too coarse to make a good calci n atio n was treated ,

in ball mills an d scree n ed so that o nly about 1 4 per ce n t

, ,

remain ed o n a 2 0 mesh screen i nstead of t h e former 40

-
,

per ce nt This fine r crushed ore could no t b e produced in

.
-

sU ffi c ie nt quan tity to k eep the fu rn ace up to its capacity .

F urthermore when the calci n es dropped o n accou n t of

, ,

t hi s fin er gri n di n g of the ore from 1 3 per ce nt of sulphur to ,

7 or 8 per cen t the productio n of sla g i n creased a n d the

,

productio n of matte fell off These co n ditio ns with the .

,

shortage of calci n es mili t ated agai n st a high ratio of charge

,

to fuel a n d in Jun e 1 9 1 4 the fuel ratio was

, , ,

The ab ove narrative is i ntroduced to show the gradual

developme nt of the process a nd the co n ditio n s which have ,

brought about changes from the origi nal plans We n o w .

co n sider some details of co nstructio n .

The area occupied by the reverberatory— fur nace bui ld

ing was raised about 1 1 ft above the surrou n di n g yard by .

pouri ng furn ace slag betwee n co n crete retai ni n g walls ,

which were protected as the filli ng progressed by spreadin g

 AP P L I C AT I O N S OF P OWD E RE D C OA L 85

clay agai n st the co n crete A t distan ces of 5 6 ft apart . .

,

o n the ce n ter li n e s betw ee n the fur n aces tunnels 1 2 ft , .

wide were provided in this slag fou n datio n These tu nn els .

were to carry tracks so that the reverberatory furn aces

bui lt o n this poured slag area could be tapped i nto pots
-

at the level of the yard The furn aces are s kimmed i nto .

2 5 to n pots at th e yard level

-
( Figs 2 7 an d . .

Un der the lin es where the furn ace side walls were to
“

go co n crete footin gs were in troduced an d between t h ese

, ,

footin gs tran sve rse rods were laid in iro n p ipes Then th e .

slag po ur in g was co n tinued The tie rods carried an c h or .

plates which held the footin gs un der t h e furn ace walls to

gether a n d too k up the lateral thrust at th e foot of th e side
b u c ksta ys Un der t h e f urn ace hearth the slag fill in g rose
.
,

1 2 in above these co n crete footin gs

. On the co n crete .

footin gs were erected the silica bric k furn ace walls -

.

“
The horizo n tal dimen sio n s of the furn ace are 2 3 ft .

6 in by 1 1 6 ft 9 in outside of the bric kwork

. . .
,
.

The side walls arisin g from the foot in gs in close 1 2 in .

.

of poured slag whic h exten ds un der the sili ca heart h The .

side walls are carried up 2 7 in in thic kn ess to a h eigh t of .

3 ft 43 in makin g the total height of the side walls 8 ft

. .
,
.
,

9 i in up to the poin t where the cast iro n sk ew bloc k is

.
,
-

laid for the arc h roof This height is main tain ed for a .

distan ce of 34 ft from th e fire en d from which poin t th e

.
,

skewbac k s slope down to correspo n d with th e slope of th e

arch roof referred to above .

The e n d or fire wall is 3 ft 6 in wide at th e b ottom . .

for a height of 2 ft an d is then stepped b ac k to 22 % in at a

. .

height of 3 ft 8 in a n d again stepped b ac k to a width of

. .
,
—
1 3é in at a h eight of 6 ft 3 in
. A t th e ot h er e n d of th e
. .

furn ace commo nly called th e s kimmin g e n d or fro n t the

, , ,

co n structio n is very heavy to resist the e n d thrust of the ,

heart h I t co n sists of a b ric k b lock 6 ft wide an d 3 ft high

.
, . .
,

whic h is stepped b ac k to a width of 2 ft 6 in at th e t hroat . .

,

at whic h poin t it is 4 ft 9 in h igh . . .

The roof at the fire e n d is of 2 0 in silica bric k Th e -

. .
86 P OWD E RE D C OA L AS A FUE L

Bow w zg oa
88 P OWD E RE D C OA L AS A FUE L

h eight at t he skewback is 7 ft in above the bottom of th e . .

quartz hearth The cen tral lin e is 9 ft 9 % in abo ve the same

. . .

poin t The radius is 2 9 ft 3% in o n the un der side of the

. . .

arch
Wh en the h earth is in the in side arch at the cen ter .

is from 7 ft in to 7 ft 1 1 2 in above the top of the hearth

. . . .

a n d about 6 ft 8 in above the skim l in e or 4 ft 8 in ab ove

. .
,
. .

the cen ter lin e of the coal dust n ozzles .

This height of arch is main tain ed for a len gth of 34

ft from the out side or fire wall In the n ext 1 2 ft the arch
. . .

drop s 2 2 % in givi n g a heigh t of from 5 ft 1 1 in to 6 ft 1 in

.
,
. . . .

above the top of the heart h an d about 4 ft 1 0 in above the . .

skim lin e This height is co n tinued straigh t through to

.

the throat of the furn ace .

The 2 0— in silica arc h b ric k s are used for 34 ft o n the

. .

straight arch an d for 1 2 ft more o n the slopin g arch The . .

remain in g portio n of the roof is of 1 5 in brick A s the height -

. .

O f t hi s roof has been chan ged at various times t h e h eights ,

given for the roof at various poin ts are no t exactly correct

at presen t .
0

There are no side doors to th e furn ace As originally .

built doors were set o n 1 2 ft cen ters but t h ese have been
,
-
.
,

filled up so that the side walls presen t a co n tin uous face

,

of s ilica brick 2 2 % in thick . .

The hearth is silica san d tamp e d in place N o b in der .

has bee n used though better results migh t h ave been,

obtain ed had some base been in troduced Af ter about .

five days firin g 50 to n s of high grade matte were put in to

,
-

saturate the bottom If steam from the silica san d came .

through the walls the heat was cut o ff for twen ty four -

hours to allow the moisture to escape S ome patches of .

bottom fl oated up but n o t en ough to in terfere with sub ,

sequen t operatio n s This bottom is almost fl at b ein g .

,

24 in thick at the e n d walls an d 22 in thic k at the tap

. .

hole 36 ft from th e fire wall In buildin g the side walls

,
. .
,

wood strips were introduced to provide for expan sio n .

These wood strips ( 7; in t hic k) were placed every four bricks

3
.
 AP P LI C ATI O N S OF P OWD E RE D C OA L 89

on th e in side an d b etween every six b ric k s o n th e out

’
side A s these burn ed out they all owed the bric k to expan d
.

h orizon tally The arc h is l ai d in separate section s 1 0 to

.

1 2 ft wide with the usual woode n expan sio n wedges 2

.
,

or 3 in thick b etween sectio n s

. .

The side walls built as descri be d are carried straigh t, ,

to a poin t 2 6 ft from the throat where they curve in wardly

.
, ,

the space of 1 9 ft 9 in b etwee n them bein g n arrower up . .

alon g the lin e of gradually in crea sin g curvature to a width

of 8 ft 8 in at the throat A t this poin t th e ope n in g is 4 ft
. . . .

3 in high at the cen ter a n d 3 ft 9 in at the sides

. Th e arc h . . .

h ere is about 4 ft 8 in above the skimmin g lin e . . .

F rom the throat a straight flue 8 ft 8 in wide leads to . .

the waste h eat boilers a nd to the sta c k O pe n in gs are .

provided alon g the side of thi s flue for cl e an in g o ut any

deposited ash An open in g opposite the throat is provided
.

by raisin g the b ottom of this fl ue ab out 1 8 in ab ove th e .

throat and introducin g a door in t h e space thus formed .

This is useful for removin g a ny accretio n s of as h fused in th e

throat The s k immin g door is placed o n o n e side of the fur
.

n ace 1 6 ft 6 in bac k from t h e t h roat

,
.
_
This door 2 ft 6 in
. .
,
. .

wide by 1 5 in high allows slag to ru n o ff down to a s kimmin g

.
,

lin e 1 4% in above the hearth at the tap hole T h e slag

. .

c an rise 6 in ab ove this lin e b efore reachin g th e level of

.

the side doors n ow b ricked u p O utside the s k immin g .

door a cast ir o n clay lin ed box is provided to trap a ny matte

- -

carried over F rom this the cast iro n slag laun der curves to
.
-

a fine almost parallel with the furn ace an d d elivers the slag
in to 2 5 to n pots wh ich are brought in o n trac k at right
-
,

an gles to the furn ace un der the fl ue .

The furn ace is fed in a rather peculiar way Wh en .

the furn ac e was started almost all of the charge was in tro ,

d u c e d through two charge hoppers n ear the fir e e n d as in ,

usual W estern practice The first hopper delivered through .

two open in gs 1 1 in in diameter an d 7 ft 6 in apart an d 8

,
. . .
,

ft from the outside of th e fire wall The seco n d hopper de

. .

livered thro u gh two similar open in gs 1 8 ft from the fire wall . .

90 P OWD E RE D C OA L A S A FUE L

At prese n t almost all of the charge is i ntroduced thr ough

hoppers alo n g the side walls D irectly over the side walls .
,

at the fire e n d of the furn ace large bi n s are provided which

, ,

discharge i n to small bottom— dump cars These cars ru n .

o n 24 in tracks which are supported from overhead

-
. Un der .

these trac ks a lo n g trough ru n s down each side of the fur

n ace j ust above the side walls These troughs are filled .

from the cars o n the track above them E ach trough has .

ope ni n gs in the bottom 2 ft apart which ope ni n gs com,

.
,

mu nic a te by a slide gate with 6 in iro n pipes These pipes -

. .

pass i nto holes drilled in the ro of bricks whi ch allow the ,

charge i ntroduced through these ope ni ngs to slide down

o n the side walls over which thi s charge forms a n almost

co nti n uous blank et A s there are n o doors o n the furn ace

.
,

a n d as the 6 in pipes are clayed i n to the ope n i n gs in the

-
.

roof it fo llows that n o air is in troduced i n to the furn ace

,

except what is purposely i n troduced a t the fire e n d .

These pipes form a co n ti nuous li n e of chargi ng holes ,

which exte n d the e ntire le n gt h of the furn ace The charge .

o n the side opposite the slag door is fed all the way to the

thr oat O n the slag side it is fed alo n g as far as the slag
.

door a n d n o farther as the cold air comi n g in w hile s ki mmi n g

,

cools the walls from the skim door to the throat a n d obviates
the n ecessity O f chargi n g beyo n d thi s poin t S ix similar .

ope ni n gs are used in the fire wall .

The walls are held in place by 1 2 in I beams in pairs -

.
-
,

with a space of 5 ft between each pair whi ch form the side

.
,

braces These are wedged in at the bottom by woode n

.
,

wedges again st a n iro n strap in the co n crete footi n gs

,
.

The co n crete footi n gs are tied together as previously de

scribed by 1 % in rods passi n g across the furn ace
-
. .

The coal dust is i n troduced through five pipes 5 in ,

.

in diameter O n e of these pipes is o n the ce n ter lin e of the

.

furn ace the others are in horizo n tal lin e with it at a distan ce
,

O f 3 ft 3 in from ce n ter to ce n ter

. . These pipes are 5 ft . .

2 in above the bottom of the san d hearth or 3 ft 2 in

.
,
. .

above the top of this hearth They are about 2 ft ab ov e . .

92 P OWD E RE D C OA L A S A FUE L

wall betwee n the coal burn ers These ope ni n gs are stopped .

by loose bricks so that the amou n t of air is readi ly co ntrolled

, .

The draft at the fire w all is about in of water a n d at the .

throat the maxim um draft is about in The c o m bu s .

tio n is very good O n e test made for te n days ( J an 9

. .

to 1 9 1 9 14) showed the followi n g averages :

,

C o alco nsu mptio n to n s in 24 h o ur s

,

Ga s te mp e r atu r e a t th r o at d e g C ,
.

80 a nd 0 0 p e r c e nt
2 2,

O xyg en p e r c e nt
,

S0 p e r c e nt
3, .

D uri n g this test the average charge was 409 to n s in

24 hours . This shows a ratio of parts of charge to 1
part of coal but much higher ratios have been attai n ed
, .

The average for March 1 9 1 4 was , This coal rati o

,

depen ds largely upo n the compositio n of the charge an d the

n ature of the slag produced .

A criticism might be made of t h e low temperature of

°
the gases at the throat 9 2 2 C The usual practice in ,
.

Western smelters is to carry a temperature of 1 2 00 to 1 300 0

C at thi s poi nt a n d it might be thought that thi s low tem

.
,

p e r a tu r e i n dicates i n e fficie n t firi n g The fact is that the .

heat of combustio n is utilized in smeltin g ore alo n g the side

walls a n d co n seque n tly the escapin g gases havi n g do n e
, ,

more work than is usually the case are relatively cold The , .

fu n ctio n of a reverberatory furn ace is to smelt ore a n d n o t ,

to rai se steam a n d for thi s reaso n the more heat that is

,

absorbed from the coal gases in the furn ace the more ,

efficien t is the operatio n an d the cooler are the escapi n g

gases .

The great advantage of coal dust firi n g in applicatio n s -

of this sort is the absen ce of the usual breaks in the tem

p e r a t ur e curve due to grati n g or clea ni n g the hearth a n d as ,

a co n sequen ce a greatly i n creased to nn age a n d fuel ratio .

The operatio n of firi n g bei ng purely mechani cal comes

‘

, ,

u n der the immediate a n d direct co ntrol of the furn ace

 AP P LI C ATI O NS OF P OWD E RE D C OA L 93

foreman a n d respo nds i n stantly to hi s regulatio n In .

additio n to t hi s the peculiar method of feedi n g by almost

,

co nti nuous chargi n g ob viates breaks in the temperature

curve due to chargi n g or or di n ary fettli n g F or these two .

reaso n s the chart of temperature shows a horizo n tal li n e ,

risi n g or falli n g in almost exact accordan ce with the speed of

the coal feedi n g device
-
.

The maxim um bath of matte an d slag is 2 2 in deep . .

A co n stan t bath of 8 in of matte is carried . Thi s matte .

lies 6 in bel ow the s kimm i n g plate so that after skimmi n g

.
,

there are 6 in of slag a n d 8 in of matte left in the furn ace

. .
,

makin g a total mi nimum depth of 1 4 in The skimmi n g .

door is banked up 8 in with san d so that j ust before ski m

.
,

mi n g the slag is 1 4 in deep A s the charge alo n g the side

. .

walls occupies a great deal of room there is n ever at a ny time

more than 40 or 5 0 to n s of slag in the furn ace .

In rebuildi n g this reverberatory or in design i n g a ne w

plant the hearth shoul d be w ide n ed to provide for a larger
,

body of matte which experie n ce has shown to be n ecessary

, .

A s this method of burni n g coal a n d of admitti n g the charge

i nto the fur n ace bids fair to come i n to ge neral use it is ,

expected that man y chan ges b oth in co n structio n a nd ,

operatio n will be i n troduced There is n o doubt that

,
.

reverberatory smelti n g alo n g these li nes will become cheaper

than blast furn ace smelti n g a n d that a wider ran ge of ores
-

c a n be used in such a f u r n ace tha n in the old style coal or

oil furn ace .

(P a p er by Mr . L ou i s V . B en der .
)

WA S H O E R E D U C TI O N WO RK S

Af ter i nvestigatin g the work of coal dust at the Can a

di an Copper Co the man ageme n t of the W ashoe plan t
.

decided to experimen t with a n d ascertain the adva ntage s

of usi n g powdere d coal as fuel in their reverberatories .

Co n sequen tly dur i n g the mo n th of Ju n e 1 9 1 4 o n e of their

, , ,

reverberatory furn aces was chan ged t o use powdered coal as

94 P OWD E RE D C OA L A S A FUE L

fuel T h e result s obtai n ed by this method of firi n g are

.

gratifyin g a nd show a decided savi n g in co st of smelti n g

as compared with grate firi n g of ordin ary coal .

The furn ace as remodeled is 1 2 4 ft lo n g by 2 1 ft wide . .

,

a n d varies in height from 8 ft 6 in at the back to 5 ft 7 in . . . .

at the skimmi n g e n d The ge n eral co ns tructio n of the fur

.

n ace is S imilar to that of other furn aces at this pla n t .

There are n o side doors to t hi s furn ace as it was thought that ,

w ith the prese n t arran gemen t for feedi n g n o fettli n g or

clayi n g would be required The in terior of the furn ace c an .

be i n spected through the b ur n er portholes after shutti n g ,

O ff the burn ers a n d givi n g a few seco n ds time for the ga ses
’

i n side the furn ace to clear away The chargin g is do ne o n .

either side of the furn ace from lo n gitudi n al hoppers ex ,

te n di n g a distan ce of 74 ft from the back e n d of the furn ace

. .

L eadi n g from the hoppers i n to the furn ace are 6 in pipes -

.

spaced 1 9 i in apart through which the charge is i n termi t

.
,

te n tl y dropped The charge is kept well above the slag

.

li ne at all times ; i n this way the side walls are protected a n d

n o fettli n g is n eeded o n thi s portio n of the furn ace The .

remai n der of the furn ace requires fettli n g A fter operati n g .

for three mo nths it w a s fou n d that the bricks were eate n

,

i nto alo n g each side wall from the skimmi n g door bac k to
the poi nt where the charge had b een dropped The depth .

of thi s cutti n g away was 8 in close to the fro n t e n d a n d .

gradually tapered to zero at a di stan ce o i 50 ft an d was .

,

greater o n the side of the furn ace havi n g the larger fl ue

co nn ectio n H oppers will be put in for the e ntire len gth of
.

furn ace from which fettli n g material will be dropped to

, ,

preven t this cutti n g .

After a r u n of three mo nths the roof was in excellen t

co n ditio n A t the bac k of the furn ace the bricks were n o t
.

cut i nto at all ; at 30 ft from the back e n d they were eate n

.

away 2 in b ut at 60 ft distan t they were as put in The

.
,
. .

roof is 2 0 in thick After operatin g for a while trouble was

. .

en cou ntered in tappi n g the matte The tap hole was o n the .

east side of the furn ace 83% ft from the fro n t e n d Chargi n g . .
96 P OWD E RE D COA L As A FUE L

A NA C O ND A P LA N T

The followi n g equipme nt is i n stalled It is larger than .

is required for o n e furn ace but was i n stalled with the idea ,

in mi n d of fi n ally equippi n g the e n tire reverb eratory plant

for coal dust fir i n g -
.

The coal from the storage bin is fed i nto a 30 by

30 in Je ffrey si n gle roll crusher where it is reduced to 1 in
-
.
, .

maximum size After passi n g a magnetic separator it is

.
,

elevated an d fed by gravity i nto a 40 ft by 6 ft 8 in -

. . .

Ru g gl eS Coles dryer -
The dryer co n sists of two cyli n ders
.
,

the o ne withi n the ot h er B lades of angle iro n are faste n ed .

to the i nn er side of the outer cylin der a n d the outer side of

the inner cyli n der so arran ged that as the dryer revolve s
,

the material fed i nto the space b etwee n the cylin ders is .

lifted an d dropped o nto the in n er cylin der an d at the same

time carried to the discharge e nd The outer cyli n der at .

the di scharge e n d exte n ds beyo n d the i nner cyli n der a n d has

a revolvi ng head riveted to it ; o n the i n side of the head are
buckets which lift the coal a n d deliver it out through the
ce n tral casti n g I t takes a particle about t hi rty mi nutes
.

to pass from feed e nd to discharge e n d of the dryer A t .

th e feed e n d the i nn er cyli n der is exte n ded b eyo n d the outer

cylin der a n d passin g through a statio n ary h ead is co nn ected
, ,

with a fire box The gases are drawn from the fire box by
.

mean s of a 72 in S turteva n t fa n fo r w ar d th r o u gh the i nn er

-
.
,
‘

cylin der a n d back through the annular space betwee n the

cyli n ders to the stac k This exhaust fa n is placed o n top of .

the fire box a n d is co nnected to the dryer b y mean s of

a 30 ih sheet iro n pipe The fire b ox is fed with lump coal
-
.
-
. .

The capacity of a dryer depen ds upo n the mois ture in the

coal an d the speed of the fan With D iamo n dville coal 1 8 .
,

to n s are dried per hour D uri n g the mo nth of S eptem .

b er 1 9 1 4 30 ton s of co al were used to dry

, , tons
of coal .

F rom the dryer the coal is conveyed b y a screw c o n

v e yo r a n d is discharged i n to a steel b in above the pulverizer
, ,
 A P P L IC AT I O N S OF P OWD E RE D C O A L 97

which is in a separate buildi n g from the dryer It is n o t .

‘
well to have the pulverizer in the same b ui ldi n g with the
dryer for the reaso n that if a n acciden t should occur caus
, ,

in g the coal to overflow it might the n be drawn i n to the

,

fire chamber of the dryer and cause a fire with possible i n j ury ,

to employees .

The Raym o n d five roller mill is used It h as an -

.

average hourly capacity of 43; to n s ( see Chapter I II) A fan

1
.

is co nn ected to this mill from whi ch air is admi tted u n der

,

n eath the g i n di n g surface The material is take n away

r .

by the air Curre n t as quickly as it is reduced by the rolls ,

a n d blown i n to a cyclo n e dust collector placed 2 0 ft above the .

pulverizer The mi ll is thus free O f fin e material The

. .

collector is of galvanized steel co n e shaped an d has a retur n , ,

air pipe leadi ng from it to the housi n g aroun d the base of

O f the mi ll A surplus air pip e from t hi s retur n air pipe
.
-

relieves the b ac k pressure a n d is a n outlet for a ny surplus

air that may e nter wi th the feed An auxiliary coll ector .

is placed to receive the dust escapin g thr ough this surplus

air pipe .

The fi ni shed product is discharged through a spout

at the bottom of the dust collector a n d is take n by a screw ,

co nveyor to a b in placed n ear to a n d above the furn ace .

The co al from the b in is i n troduced i n to the furn ace by

mean s of a n ai r curre nt delivered through five burn ers .
’

The air curre n t is produced by a N o 1 1 B uffalo fa n at a .

pressure of 1 0 oz a nd b y mean s of a pipe carryi n g a n ozzle

.
, ,

is i ntroduced i nto a 6 i h pipe leadi n g i nto the e n d of the

-
.

fur n ace The coal dust fed fro mthe b in b y a screw c o n

.
,

v e yo r drops upo n this n ozzle ( which acts as a spreader ) a n d

,

is mixed with the air a n d take n i n to the furn ace A seco n d .

ary supply is O btai ned aroun d the portholes t hrough which

the burn ers are proj ected i nto the furn ace These port .

holes are eac h 1 2 in in diameter whi ch leaves an annular

.
,

space 3 in wide aroun d each of the 6 in pipes B y mean s

.
-
. .

of suitable dampers e n circli ng the burn ers t hi s seco n dary ,

air c a n be regulated An other source of seco n dary air is

.
 o
.

P OWD E RE D C OA L A S A FUE L

through four ope ni n gs betwee n a nd above the b ur n er ports

,

the size of the ope ni n gs being regulated by putti ng in or

taki ng out bric k The amou nt of coal fed is de termi ned by
.

the speed of the screw which is co ntrolled by a Reeves

,

variab le speed regulator The gri n di n g co nveyi n g a nd

-
.
, ,

b in system from the dryer to the burners is made as air

, ,

tight as possible with the result that the e ntire plant is

,

extremely clean a n d free from dust .

1 00 P OWD E RE D C O A L AS FUE L
 P OWD E RE D C O A L IN M E TA L LU G RIC AL FU RNAC E S 101

believe t h at powdered coal h as the adva ntage H ere .

every u nit of heat is proj ected i nto the furn ace : a n d in the
furn aces it is expected equal efficie n cies will be realized
, ,

from powdered fuel a n d gas P roducer g as has its place .

where checker wor k a n d ash troubles are obj ectio n ab le .

Wh ere the ash c a n be take n care of there seems to be ,

a savi ng by the use of coal amou nti n g to about 2 5 per ce nt .

S ome man ufacturers of powdered coal i n stallatio ns argue

that the proper way to measure efficie n cy is o n a B t u . . .

basis In other words if a furn ace performi n g a certai n

.
,

heati ng operatio n uses 2 0 gallo n s of fuel oil per hour each ,

gallo n of oil co ntai ni n g there will be c o n

sumed B t u in the operatio n
. . . O n thi s basis .
,

it will require B t u in coal in a pulverized state

. . .

to perform the same O peratio n the superior efficie n cy of ,

coal arisi n g from the fact that the B t u in oil . . .

would cost more than the same n umber of B t u in coal . . . .

This fact is obvious ; for if fuel oil costs 5 ce nts a gallo n ,

c oal ( at B t u per pou n d ) would have to b e sold at

. . .

$ 1 0 a to n to give a n equivale n t cost per B t u . . .

B ut thi s compariso n does n o t by a ny mea n s measure the

e fficie n cies of heati n g fur n aces for the real problem is o n e ,

of heati n g cost a n d n o t of fuel cost P owdered coal or a ny .

,

other fuel in substitutio n for what is no w in use should n o t

, ,

b e chose n for the mere reaso n that it has a lower B t u . . .

cost ; but rather o ne must select a fuel which all thi n gs

, , ,

co nsidered will S how the lowest p r oduc ti on cost u n der exist

,

i n g co n ditio n s in the shop .

P roductio n costs depe n d o n thr ee thi n gs ; the i nput ,

the output a n d the operator ; a nd in no two shops ar e these

three co n ditio n s simi lar E ach shop o n accou n t of its c o n
.
,

d itio n s requires a separate study to determi ne w h at will

,

lead to hi ghest efficie n cy in h eatin g operatio n s .

In order to determi n e the e fficie n cy with a n ew fuel in

compariso n with a fuel no w in use the followi n g O bserva ,

tio n s should be made :

S tart the fur n ace at the temperature of the room raise ,
1 02 P OWD E RE D C O A L AS A FUE L

it to a cert ai n fin al temperature a n d n ote the time take n

for this operatio n both with the fuel n o w in use a nd with the
,

n e w fuel co n templated .

The n take the furn ace at the temperature of the room

a nd put in a certai n amou n t of material at the same tem

p e r a tur e as the fur n ace ; a n d raise both the furn ace a n d the
material to a certai n fi n al temperature n oti n g the time c o n ,

sumed in this operatio n for each of the two fuels in questio n

, .

L astly start the fur n ace an d material at the temperature

, ,

of the room ( or at an y desired temperature ) a n d operate the ,

furn ace in the regular mann er N ote how man y pou n ds .

of material are raised to a cert ai n fi n al temperatur e with ,

the n umber of pou n ds of coal oil or gas expan ded in order

, ,

to perform this operatio n U nless the n ew fuel shows

.

better results in these respects than the fuel formerly used ,

it is n o t more efficie nt n otwithstan din g argumen ts by the

,
'

man ufacturers to the co ntrary If powdered coal tried .

,

out in thi s man ner does n o t produce e ffects superior to those

,

from fuels formerly used it is n o t more e fficien t

,
.

A t a meeti n g of the Am erican In stitute of Mi ni n g E n gi

n ee r s in 1 9 1 3 Mr H . R B arn hur st presented a discussio n
. .

from whi ch the fo ll owi n g is abstracted The proper method .

of firi n g powdered coal is to admit with the fuel the exact

quan tity of air necessary for the result desired as S ho w n by ,

O bservatio n a n d to mai n tai n the relatio n ship bet w ee n fuel

,

a n d air as lo n g as the co n ditio n s desired are bei n g realized .

This matter of complete co ntrol of the tw o factors fuel ,

a n d air is a n d will b e at the root of all success with pulver

,

iz e d or sprayed fuel in the metallurgical proces ses .

It is u nf ortu n ate that in the prese n t state of our arts it is

difficult to o b tai n exact readin gs of the temperatur es a t
ta in e d in the b urn i n g of fuel W e do kn ow how ever that a
.
, ,

defi nite quantity of air w ill deliver the oxygen required to

give the high est attai nable temperature from a gi v en fuel .

W ith a kn owledge of the compon ents of the fuel the laws ,

of thermo chemistry tell u s n o t o n ly the quan tity of oxyge n

-

we must h ave but also the maximum attain able temperature

,
.
1 04 P OWD E RE D C OA L AS A FUE L

passages that were too small givi n g the gases too high a
,

velocity .

With a kn owledge of how much air must be supplied

with a give n amou n t of fuel to produce a desired temperature ,

a n d a kn owledge of the volume of the gases so produced it ,

is easy to proportio n the ports both of i nlet a n d outlet

so that a scouri n g blowpipe e ffect may be avoided The .

excelle nt practice already attai ned is u ndoubtedly due to the

applicatio n of such kn owledge .

A side from the adva n tages from the higher efficie n cy

attain ab le with thi s fuel there are a n umber of i n cide ntal
,

factors which in actual service co ntribute to the p r o fitab le

n ess of its use .

The furn ace begi n s its work a lmost in stan tly a nd with
whatever degree of temperature i nte nsity may be desired .

There are n o periods of lowered temperature due to firi ng

cold fuel There is n o clean si n g of fires for puddli n g or
.

heati n g so that operatio n is practically co n ti nuous There

,
.

is some ci n der formed in puddli ng and heati ng furnaces :

this is disposed of in the usual way Most of the ash .

passes out of the c hi mney an d floats away lightly A .

n eutral ash co n te nt withi n reaso n able limits does n o t

appreciably affect the fire .

It has bee n somewhat difficult to O btai n from large users

exact data co n cern i ng the performance of the various fur
n aces .P erhaps the best evide n ce of s uccess is the co nti n
u a n c e of use a n d the e nlargeme n t of pla nts n o w in O pera

tio n The followi n g are authe ntic data : In roastin g

.

carbo n ate ores of high sulphur co n te n t the carbo n has been

,

drive n o ff a n d the sulphur reduced withi n permissible limits

by the use of fuel amoun ti n g to less than per ce nt of the
weight of the charge This problem i nvolves the mai n
.

te n a nc e of a l o w temperature about 2 1 00 F
0
,
to preven t .
,

the agglomeratio n of the ore fi nes i nto masses The same .

practice obtai n s in the roasti n g and n odulizi ng of ores

and flue dust where the temperature must be sufficie nt
,

to permit the ore to form n odules or balls but must no t ,

 P OWD E RE D C O A L I N M E TA LLU RGI C A L FU RN AC E S 1 05

b e so high as to cause it to stick to the walls of the roasti n g

kiln .

In ope n h eart h practice with pulverized coal st eel is

-
,

usually made with this fuel at the rate of from 450 to 500 lb .

of coal per n e t to n of product Thi s is from a n average

.

of 45 heats the fuel a nd product bei n g carefully weighed

,
.

These figur es were obtain ed duri ng a co n tin uous ru n of

six weeks T h e furnace was operati n g beautifully whe n
.

visited an d no mechani cal difli c u l ty had bee n experi e n ced .

The melts were obtai n ed in slightly less time t h a n with oil .

In puddli n g furn aces the fuel supply varies wit h the

,

seaso n the cool weather of spri n g a nd fall permitti ng a

,

larger putput than whe n i nte n sely hot weather affects the
m e n at the furn ace I t is safe to say that iro n c an b e pud
.

dl e d at a n average expe n se of 1 2 00 lb of powdered coal per .

gross to n of muc k b ar produced ; in fac t less than 1 000 lb , .

of coal per gross to n of bars has b ee n shown in practice

duri n g periods whe n favorable temperatures and co nti nuity
of work co n duced to high eco n omy .

In heati n g furn aces an d busheli n g fur n aces t h ere is some

latitude of performance due to variatio n in charges placed
,

in the furn aces a n d in the sizes of mills served b y them .

The average co nsumptio n of powdered coal in h eati n g

fur n aces seems to be from 5 00 to 5 5 0 lb of fuel per gross .

to n. The b usheli ng furn aces require from 5 50 to 600 l b .

To o b tai n such results however the furn aces must b e

, ,

properly proportio n ed an d equipped a n d in good co n ditio n .

I t must n o t be expected that the results obtai n ed b y simply

squirti n g coal of greater or less degree of p ulverizatio n i n to
a fur n ace with a n u nm easured j et of air will equal the pra e
, ,

tice here shown S uccess implie s dry coal fine pulveriza

.
,

tio n a n d proper air supply An other factor is that the at

.

te n dants should be i nterested in the productio n of good

results M e n of good order of i ntelligen ce operatin g
.
,

mechanisms which displace the shoveler an d the wheel

barrow man and w h o are co n stantly o n the firi n g line
,

b oth practically and metaphorically are extremely v alua ble , .

1 06 P OWD E RE D C OA L A S FUE L
FI G S . 31 a nd 32 .
—Full e r P u lveriz ed C o a l P l a nt .
 P OWD E RE D C OA L I N M E TA L L U RGIC A L FU RN A C E S 1 09

b ut also wh ile doing t his acts as a n i nj ector drawi ng wit h

, , ,

it the desce n di n g column of air co n tai ni n g the e n train ed

coal from the bi n s above The fuel is therefore completely
.

mixed with the ultimate column of air whi le e nteri n g the

furn ace The speed a n d volume n ecessary for proper fur
.

n ace performan ce are predetermi n ed from k n own data .

The air is co n trolled by the fa n speed or by gates or b y ,

both a n d the coal by the n umber of revolutio n s of the feed

,

screw per minute The operator adj usts these factors to the
.

quantity an d inte n sity of fire desired and by i nspectio n at ,

times sees that the co n ditio ns remai n as requ ired The .

co nstructio n of the fur n ace is n o t materially changed whe n

powdered coal replaces oil or gas The operati n g cost in .

the furn ace room is very low as o ne m a n c an oversee a nu m

,

ber of furn aces The furn aces are so varied in co nstru e

.

tio n a nd operatio n that it would n o t be possible to describe

all of them ( see Chapter IV) It may suffice to state that .

a ny solid fuel which c a n be dried an d pulverized will reach

its highest efficie n cy in that form an d for thi s reaso n fuels ,

hitherto deemed u navailable such as co k e breeze ligni te , ,

culm a nd anthr acite culm may be no w loo k ed to for a

, ,

cheap source of heat .

In actual practice in the use of powdered coal the ease ,

with whi ch it is burn ed h as b ee n to a cert ai n exte nt a draw

back rather than a n advan tage The n ovelty of the method .

is so attractive that those experime n ti ng with it are at first

satisfied with produci n g a good fir e w ith S imple apparatus
i n which may exist n o such mea n s of co n trol as are n ecessary
for realizatio n of the highest eco nomy .

I t is n o success to use twice as much fuel as t h e wor k may

r e q ii ire n o r is it a success to drive a small fire to a destructive
,

i nte n sity in order to offset defective proportio ni n g in design .

Correct proportio ni n g i nvolves k n owledge of the heat re

q uir em e n ts of the j ob The amou n t of fuel n ecessary may
.

b e ascertain ed a n d the volume an d velocity of the air supply

computed With this comes n ecessaril y a prescriptio n of
.

the volume of the furn ace so that combustio n may have

,
1 10 P OWD E RE D C OA L A S A FU E L

time for its completio n The proper size of ports taki ng o ff

.

the gases the size of the chimn ey a n d the velocities of the

, ,

gases should all be as carefully determi n ed for powdered

,

coal as for gas or o il A simple experime n t based o n o ne

.

set of co n ditio n s should n o t be regarded as co n clusive

.

With proper proportio ni n g of the apparatus the opera

,

tio n will be elastic a n d adj ustable to a wide ran ge of perform

 ‘
1 12 P OWD E RE D C OA L As A FUE L

and there is the n a n immediate chan ge in the character of

the fire The flame is n o lo n ger local ; the mixture with air
.

is n o t as good a n d burni n g calls for more time Coal that

, .

FI G S . 3 4, 35 and 36.
—M a nn B ur n e r .

c an fin d adequate air n ear the tuyere burn s there ; other

coal waits till it fin ds air an d there is a lo n g flame in c o nse
,

q u e n c.e B y ma nipulati n g the air valves at Y a n d U the ,

 P OWD E RE D C OA L I N M E TA LLU RG I C A L FU RNA C E S 1 13

ran ge of regulati on is great a n d it is possi b le to make a l

"
very lo n g fl ame ; eve n as much as 30 ft lo n g un der certai n .

c o n ditio n s The same t hi n g is true of a n oil fire If mix

. .

tures are very poor a n d oil is se n t from the b urn er in slugs ,

a flame of great len gth is attai n able ; it is o nly requi site ,

for a lo n g flame that the fuel a n d air travel in parallel

,

streams whatever the n ature of the suspe n ded fuel S uch

,
.

lo n g flames are n o t eco n omical ; good mixtures give good

e co n omy I t must be remembered that the velocity of the
.

stream passi ng alo n g the axis of the bur ner should n o t be so

low as to drop the coal The burn er must therefore n o t be
.

too large if a short fir e is wanted Wh e n tw o air streams

,
.

( as at S a n d Y ) rotati n g i
,
n cou n ter di rectio n s meet rota , ,

tio n becomes nil a n d the axial speed must be e n ough to k eep

the coal in suspe n sio n a n d preserve the mi xture already
made It will be n oted that the rotary motio n withi n thi s
.

burn er is j ust the motio n used in a ce ntrifugal separator

to draw moisture out of steam or in a dust collector to sepa ,

rate air from solids In these devices either the body diam
.

e ter is large e n ough to keep the two eleme n ts apart or ,

baffles are provided to trip the heavy material More .

over there are separate a n d guarded outlets for the two

,

c ompo n e nts in such devices ; n o n e of which is used in this

burn er That the device does produce a mixture is shown
.

in its operatio n ; for eve n whe n the ope ni n gs S a n d Y are .

used causi n g both j ets of air to swirl in the same directio n

, ,

the flame is o nl y about 2 4 in lo n g A S the combustio n air . .

at X is reduced a n d the air at U is i n creased the flame le n gth ,

is i n creased an d c o mb ristio n becomes slower showi n g a ,

less perfect mixture S ome of the furn aces are piped in j ust
.

that way ; a n d though the ran ge is n o t g reat it is ample for

most forgi n g work .

F or a feeder the G en eral E lectric Co h as foun d that a

,
.

simple screw will an swer every purpose The feeder draws .

coal from a supply tan k an d delivers it in definite amou nts

to a cavity from which it c a n be pic k ed up by the primary
air whi ch carries the fuel alo n g with it In this plan t the
,
.
1 14 P OWD E RE D C OA L A S A FU E L

feeder is driven by a small motor whic h c a n turn at 1 800

800 r p m or a n y i ntermediate speed
. . . It is geared .

do w n o nly o n ce The scre w w ill feed at 300 or 600 turn s

.

a mi n ute or at a n eve n hi gher speed if required With so

,
.

wide a speed co ntrol it is possible to carry a fire that shows

j ust a visible red ; by a simple moveme nt of a rheostat
han dle the same fir e will spri n g up vigorously an d shortly
give heat en ough for any forge work .

There is a feature of the plai n screw feed that makes it -

very co n ve nie nt in man y situatio n s viz : it c a n stan d a little ,

.

back pressure ; so that the discharge distan ces may be lo n g .

In this i n stallatio n the coal is fed across the shop u n der

grou n d ; th e supply tank with its feeders a n d motors is above
grou n d The coal is carried 9 0 ft or more the n up to a
. .
,

fur n ace a n d its burn er The distan ce could be greater eve n.

,

several hu ndr ed feet a nd the co n trol w ould be j ust as con ve m

,

ie nt a n d exact because the switch a n d rheostat are located at

,

the side of the furn ace an d the operator has no occasio n

to come over to the supply tank In all of these lo ng tran s .

missio n s there w ill be a little bac k pressure at the screw .

P rimary ai r is i ntroduced o n the eductive pri n ciple usi n g ,

the fitti ng shown in F ig 37 The resistan ces o n the dis . .

charge side i n crease with the distan ce If the distan ce .

is short there is a n egative pressure in the pipe leadi ng from

,

the screw to the ope ni ng A ( see F ig E ight i n ches of .

vacuum by water colum n is easily a ttai n able As the

, , .

discharge distan ce I n creases with the additio n of elbo w s ,

“

a n d crooks this vacuum falls ; it may totally disappear

, ,

a n d there may exist as much as 4 or 5 in of pressure A . .

plai n screw is little affected by these chan ges for the throat ,

fit at A F ig 38 is machi n ed so that a certai n impetus

,
.
,

is give n to the coal The lo n g di st an ce tran smissio n has been

.

so proportio ned however that the static p ressure is usually

, ,

n egative say 1 in or so of vacuum

,
. .

The feeder box a n d the screw are sho wn in F ig 39 a n d .

F ig 40 respectively While usually o nly a small amoun t

. .

of power is n eeded to turn the screw ( it c an be tur n ed w ith

 ‘
1 16 P OWD E RE D C OA L As A FUE L

the fi nger fast enough to carry a moderate fire) there are

times when a co n siderable amou nt of power is required .

N ormally the coal is light a n d fluff y but u n der certai n ,

co n ditio n s ( as after lo n g stan di n g) coal packs so tightly

that n o mechani cal device c a n move it The screw is cut .

in a lathe w ith spaces proportio n ed to the quan tity required .

A 2 é ih d iameter scre w as shown will feed 700 lb per hour

-
.
, , .
,

a n d with slight mo di ficatio n s much more The bottom of .

the t hr ead is tapered so that after the screw has take n its ,
”
bite the volume i n creases as the thr e a dful advan ces a nd
, ,

the flow to the pipe is free a n d easy in co n seque nce The .

weight of a cubic foot of powdered coal may be an ythi ng

from 2 9 lb to 5 0 lb Wh en delivered by a co n veyor screw
. .

to a tan k 7 ft deep and the n measur ed immediately it weighs

.
,

—
3 1 é lb per cubic foot
. I n twe n ty four hours it will reach
.
-

35 lb an d it the n i n creases in de n sity u ntil wit hi n six weeks

.

( w ithout j arri n g ) it will weigh 38 % lb These cha n ges will .

tak e place in a co n tai n er with smooth sides wit h a diameter

equal to h alf its depth In a piece of 6 i h vertical pipe .
- .

1 0 ft 6 in lo n g it was fou n d that there was li ttle settleme n t

. .
,

eve n after two mo nths The weight of coal in the tanks is .

computed at 35 lb per cubic foot S ometimes the coal . .

flows as freely as a liqui d a n d will spread out so that its

top surface is n early level in the tan k A t other times it .

will n o t eve n flow down hill though it always moves freely ,

e n ough u nless it h as b ee n stopped for forty eight hours or -

lo n ger .

Thi s te n de n cy to pac k an d clog is due to the physical

arran geme n t of the particles through settleme n t rather than
to moisture P o w dered coal will ab sorb mi croscopic par
.

tic l e s of water but it can n ot be made wet by throwi ng

,

water upo n it It is impossible to make a paste by usi ng

.

sticks to stir the coal i n to water The o nly way to make a .

mixture is to take a little coal an d water betwee n the

fi nger an d thumb a n d k n ead the two together I n a day .

or so this water evaporates leavi n g the coal clean a n d dry ,

.

I t is n o t difficult to dry the coal to of 1 per ce nt of

 P OWD E RE D C OAL IN ME TAL LU RGIC AL FU RNAC E S 1 17

moisture or less but there is always some small portio n

that co n tai ns m disture in excess I t is surprisi n g to find
.

—
a n 8 to n b in of coal that has bee n n icely dried drippi n g

with water twelve hours afterwards ; but it does so a n d it ,

is n o t a n un commo n t hi n g to fin d a pulverizer froze n up with

water in the morni n g The source of such water is n o t
.

hard to fi nd Whe n coal is in a dryer it is hot a n d so is the

.

co nt ai n ed air The air is satur ated with moi sture at the

.

temperatu re of the dryer a n d whe n the coal a n d air cool

the moisture is precipitated a n d in cold weather makes
, ,

its prese n ce felt I t thus appears that coal cann ot be made

.

thoroughly dry through the age n cy of hi gh temperature .

It is ofte n asked whether a n oil furn ace c a n be success

fully chan ged over to use powdered coal T hi s has bee n do n e .

at the G e n eral E lectric Compan y works in the fo llowi n g

mann er : a coal furn ace n eeds o ne or sometimes two burn ers ,

depe n di n g upo n the size a n d ki n d of work that it is doi n g .

A n oil fire make n o visible smoke a n d there is little or n o

odor from its products of combustio n so there is n o reason ,

why there should be a c hi mn ey or (in man y case s) eve n a

furn ace ven t F lames a nd hot gases c an be brought up to
.
,

a n d passed out of the door keepi n g the fro nts hot A

, ,
.

coal fire yields n o blac k or colored smoke though the ,

gases co ntai n some small particles of white ash ; but it

does have a decided a n d disagreeable odor I t is better .

the n to provide a hood over the fur n ace door ; e n velopi n g it ,

if heat is wan ted right at the door as it is in most forge

work ; a n d thi s hood must have a n outdoor ve n t If all .

gases are allowed to escape in thi s way the heat distribu ,

tio n is n o t perfect a n d therefore it is best to use a chimn ey

,

ve nt at a n appropriate poi n t It is good practice to r u n

.

t hi s chimn ey up t hr ough the roof over each fur n ace a n d to

°
cut i nto it a 45 Y to which the hood ve n t is attached .

A n upward draft is i n duced in the hood ve n t by the c hi m n ey

draft Figs 41 an d 42 are views of such co nn ectio n s I t
. . .

pays to provide a ni cely fitted damper which c a n be adj usted

with precisio n ; if the damper works o n a screw thread the
 ‘
P OWD E RE D C OA L AS A FUE L
1 20 P OWD E RE D C OA L A S A FUE L

i nstall o nl y such surface as c an b e rea di ly cleaned a n d t h e ,

low temperature preve nts the bur ni n g out of the preheatin g -

surface It is good practice to allow 1 5 sq ft of surface

. . .

i n a fur n ace that bur n s 1 00 l b of coal per hour wit h an .

,
°
i nside temperature of 1 35 5 C .

The preheater is made of 3 in cast ir o n soil pipe six -

.
,

le n gths bei n g rusted i nto a header at either e n d a nd placed ,

be n eath the hearth in the path of the waste gases .

Tw o vertical sectio n s of a furn ace which is used in t h e

G en eral E lectric works are shown in Figs 43 an d 44 T h e . .

hearth is 43 in lo n g a n d 2 4 in deep though this same design

. .
,

is used for fur n aces havi n g twice the area .

F ur na c e L ining An important part of the subj ect of

.

furn ace co n structio n which must n o t be overloo k ed is the

, ,

durability O f the fur n ace In the metallurgical arts when .

,

extreme heat is a feature of the operatio n care must b e ,

tak en to avoid destroyi n g the fur n ace by its o w n opera

tio n This is n o t difficult Much of the trouble has arisen
. .

from the gases impi n gi n g upo n the furn ace walls at poi nts
w here chan ges of directio n of gas travel are n ec essary a n d ,

from too high a velocity of gases due to co ntracted areas ,

for passage .

P owdered coal is destructive because of co n cen trated

heat of blowpipe te n de n cy weari n g e ffect due to the im ,

pi ngi ng o f the coal a n d the ten de n cy of the ash a n d bric k

,

to flux together These obj ectio n s ar e p ar tially overcome

.
\

by the use of low air pressure i ntroduci n g the coal at ,

a very l o w velocity spreading the flame over as large a n

,

area as possible a n d the cooli ng of brickwork by water

‘

cir culatio n Where the fuel blows agai n st a bridge wall

.
,

the latter requires frequent repair There has bee n a gradual .

reductio n of air pressures from 2 0 lb o n the ceme nt fur .

n aces of early days do w n to as low as oz o n metallurgical .

fur n aces Thi s drop in pressure has bee n due to an effort

.

to avoid the destructive effect of the heavy blast of powder

agai nst the bric kwork Wh ere low pressure is used it .
,

must be applied close to the furn ace for 4 oz of pressure ,

.
 P OWD E RE D C OA L IN M E TA LL U RG IC A L FU RNAC E S 121

is n ecessary to carry the fuel through eve n a short le n gth of

p i pe
.

If the utili zed heat is largely absorbed from the gases by

the charge the waste gases will be proportio nately less
,

active in scouring the brickwor k In almost any c o n .

structio n ( except perhaps a rotary ceme nt ki l n) it is fou n d

n ecessary to cha nge the directio n of the gases in their prog

ress toward the fl ue This change of directio n causes the

.

gases to impin ge upo n the di verti n g bric k s with an e nergy

proportio n al to their velocity The bric k c an b e fully pro
.

te c te d at these poi n ts by a system of water cooled pipes -

imbedded in the walls The b ric k may fret away somewhat

.

u ntil the area of protectio n is reac h ed after whi c h further ,

progress is arrested .

The surprisingly small amoun t of water whic h it h as b ee n

found n ecessary to i ntroduce wh ile mai ntai ni n g t h e outlet
,

below 2 00 F proves t h at the cooli n g effect is limited to a

°
.
,

preve ntio n of cumul ative actio n an d is no t p er c e p tably a

drawbac k upo n efficie ncy O f course the piping must b e so
.
,

arran ged that no air or steam pockets shall exist an d so that

the circulatio n will be proportio n al to the heat stimulus .

A t the G e n eral E lectric works fur n ace li ni ngs have occa

,

sio n ally bee n b ur n ed out by powdere d coal fires S ometimes .

a wall looks li k e the rocks in a turbule nt stream after ages

of weari n g The brick has bee n cut away in a few weeks
. .

Coal may b e destructive in its actio n but it n eed n o t be ,

.

A hot stream of coal an d air drive n at high speed agai n st

a wall wi ll cut it out A low fusi n g poi n t brick is melted
.
-

down ; a refractory brick is cut away mecha n ically I t is .

possible to cut away carboru n dum brick by misdirecti n g a

fire which did n o t eve n approach in temperature the melt
in g temperature of the brick B ut such actio n is u nnec
.

essary E xcept at the bur ni n g tuyere brick n eed n o t meet

.
,

a destructive flame a n d the tuyere itself c a n b e so shaped

,

that repairs will be mi n or a n d i nfreque nt The remedy .

for melti n g down is to avoid high velocity alo n g the brick

work If a wall must tak e the full force of a curre nt
.
,
1 22 P OWD E RE D C OA L A S A FUE L

it is best to protect it with loose brick or to pass a current

of combustio n air alo ng its face whi ch both deflects a nd ,

protects A n arch c a n always be treated in this way

. .

S ome of the combustio n air is cut o ff from a burn er a n d

se n t alo n g o n top a n d over it The total volume of air u sed
.

is n o t i n creased an d a reduci n g fire c an still be carried ;

the heat di stributio n is n oticeably good .

A n i n teresti n g problem in furn ace co n structio n prese nted

itself in a case where it was desired to heat certai n metals
very slowly a n d u ni formly ; the furn ace to be charged when
cold that is at room temperature an d brought up to 9 00 C
, ,
°
.

°
in six hours the rate of temperature rise n ot to exceed 2 00 C
'

.
,

per hour at an y part of this time Af ter reachi n g 9 00 C .

°
.

the he at was to be held for the rest of the day P erhaps this .

c a n be do n e with other fuels ; it was very easily do n e with

powdered coal a n d there would have bee n n o trouble in

,
°
holdi n g to a temperature i n crease of 2 0 per hour had it bee n
required Th is was true of the first hour too which by the
.
, ,

way prese nts the greatest difficulty

,
.

I t may be of i nterest to n ote the result of trials upo n fur

n aces built to heat metals for forgi n g purposes There is n o -

stan dard of compari so n as there is in the case of a boiler

trial so o ne had to be devised There were e le ve n b ille ts
, .
.
'

4 in square a n d about 2 0 i n lo n g weighi n g approximately

. .
,

9 1 lb each which were to be melted down for scrap

.
,
The .

two furn aces selected could each heat o n ehalf of them at a -

charge five at o n e time a nd six at the n ext so the hearth

, ,

was covered over 5 0 per ce n t of its area a nd 4 in deep . .

A s soo n as six of these billets were heated to a smart forgi n g

temperature j ust short of dripp i n g they were hauled out a n d
, ,

the five cold o n es put in The hot billets were dropped in a

.

tank of cold water an d k ept u ntil they were sto n e cold ‘

In this way these charges were heated altern ately al l day

,

F uel was weighed furn ace temperatures were measured

, ,

a n d in order to allow for the metal bur n ed away it was

weighed at the begi nni ng a n d close of the trial to give a n

, ,

average The procedure in boiler testi ng was followed as

.
1 24 P OWD E RE D C OAL AS A FUE L

closely as possible with these two the furnaces di ffere n ces —

,

were cold w he n started a n d n o t all the metal was heated

that could have bee n heated If each charge had bee n twice .

as great the output per poun d of fuel an d the w orki n g

,

e fficie n cy would have bee n n early twice as large ; for o nly

about 1 0 per ce n t of the fuel in the fur n ace goes to w ard
heatin g the charge ; o n e quarter of the rest goes to heat up
the brickwork an d the balan ce goes up the chi mney , .

The table below gives the results of these trials The .

first was upo n fur n ace N o 4 with cold combustio n air a n d .

coal dust for fuel ; the seco n d upo n N o 0 furn ace with hot .

air a n d coal dust ; the third was with oil o n N O 0 furn ace . .

RE S U T S O F L F O R G E FU RNA C E T R IA S L

K ind o f C o al C o al C o al .

D u ra ti on o f t r ia l

Te m p of fu na ce a t st t
e r a tu re r ar

T e mp a tu of fu n c t finish
er re r a e a

A v e a g f n a c te m p
r e tur e er a u re

T im e p h e a t in cl u din g w min g
er ,
ar up

N mbu of he t er a s .

Av e
e ra
g t im o f h t n g l e c tineg fi ea ,
e rst .

T mp a t
e of comb u stion a i
er u re r

B t u p e po u n d f l
. . . r ue

T o t l fu e l in cl ding k in d lin g
a ,
u

T o t l st e l h ea te d
a e .

H o u r ly Qu a n ti ti es
Po un ds of t e l p s e er oh ur

P o unds of fu l p e e r ho ur .

E co n o mi c resu l ts:

P o u n d o f st s eel pe r po und of f uel . .

B t . . u . in fu e l p e r pou n d o f ste e l

N O 4 fur n ace is somewhat larger in area than N o 0

. Th e . .

first a n d seco n d trials may be compared to show the effect

of preheati n g the air ; the seco n d and third to S how the rela
tive merits of coal a n d oil .
 P OWD E RE D C O A L I N M E TA LLU RG IC A L FURNAC E S 125

The temperatu r e of the heated air was appare ntly hi gher

in the case of the Coal than in that of oil ; but all of the air
was preheated for oil ; whi le primary air or sa y 2 5 per ce nt ,

of the total air for coal was n o t heated at all In a n y

, ,
.

even t the same air h eater an d the same furn ace w ere used
in the two cases .

The heats in thi s class of work are u n questio n ably better

Wi th coal : They are n oticeably brighter a n d softer ; to
express the differe n ce as a forge smith w ould coal heat is ,

more pe n etrati n g a n d in a give n furn ace more w ork c a n be

,

do ne a n d more fuel c a n be w ell bur n ed w ith coal than with

, ,

oil Columns N o 2 a n d 3 of the table sho w a 1 0 per ce n t

. .
-

greater output with coal than with oil I t may be n oted .

,

h owever that efficien cies are virtually the same The same
,
.

thi ng is true in compari n g co k e with oil in a large ove n ,

a n d in ge n eral it may b e stated that efficie n cies will be equal

if the fuels are properly bur n ed a n d thi s will cover coal upo n
,

a grate too If burni n g co ndi tio ns are right if fir es are

.
,

carefully a n d i ntellige ntly watched efficie n cies will b e hi gh ,

a n d will b e esse n tially equal Whe n fires are n o t under

.

stood whe n co n ditio n s are wro n g a n d results are poor

, ,

there is n o use in tryi ng to draw co n clusio n s from a t rial .

The speeds of two race horses cann ot be gauged by a trial

whe n they are both half starved If a fire be neath a b oiler .

—
cann ot turn 75 per ce nt of itself i nto steam show 75 per
—
ce n t e ffic ie n c y either the operator is u ntrai ned or the
bur ni n g arran geme nts are wro n g A s killful man will .

o b tai n better than 75 per ce nt .

The powdered coal fur nace h as n o ups or downs There .

is no thi ck fir e or thi n fire fresh coal or old coal to i nsure

,

fl uctuation s The fur nace c an always be kept at its b est

.

worki n g poi nt a n d if so k ept it will be heated eve nly all

,

over O f cour se a large charge O f metal to be heated will

.
,

by its very volume absorb heat rapidly causi n g a fall in ,

waste gas temperature an d possibly a little smoke at first , .

This is in the n ature of thi n gs but co n di tio n s quickly bri n g

,

the charge to a poi nt where the c h ill is no t sufficient to

1 26 P OWD E RE D C OA L AS A FUE L

affect combustio n H igh t emperature s the n come agai n

. .

a n d smoke disappears If the rate of w ork to be do n e is

.

co n stan t , there is n o reaso n why hi gh efficie n cy may no t be

u niformly mai n tai ned by proper co nstructio n a n d operatio n .

The subj ect has been mastered to a poi nt b eyo n d the e xp e ri

me ntal stage H igh e fficie n cy may be co nfide ntly relied
.

upo n The quality of the coal is n o t of supreme importan ce

. .

I n deed in the developme n ts of the future the chief a ttr ac

,

tio n of po w dered c o al m ay lie in hi gh e fficie n cies obtain able

'

from low class or refractory fuels hitherto thought u n avail

-

able .

A ME R I C A N L O C O M O T IV E CO . P L AN T

At the wor ks of the American L ocomotive Company at

S c h e nectady N Y there has bee n i n stalled o n e of the pow
,
. .
,

dered coal plants of the Qui gley F urn ace a n d F ou n dry Co .

of S pri n gfield Mass This has bee n visited a n umber of

,
.

times by the author This plant wor ks very satisfactorily

.

with a disti n ct savi n g in fuel charges The plant formerly .

used a fuel oil system for heati ng the b lanks for drop fo r g
- -

ings an d for ge neral small forgi n g wor k .

This plant was built an d started in May 1 9 1 3 a n d while , ,

there has bee n the usual amou nt O f trouble to be expected

in starti n g up n e w equipme n t the system is at the prese nt ,

time givi n g good results .

The coal milli ng a n d distri b uti n g plant is motor drive n -

a n d ce ntrally located in a b uil di n g of n o n combustible c o n -

structio n A t prese nt it h as a capacity of 5 to n s per hour

.
,

a n d it is so arran ged that by duplicati n g t h e dryer a n d pul

v e r iz e r its capacity c a n be doubled The plant has a c o n .

crete hopper placed u n der a n elevated trac k where it c an

be served with coal either by dischargi ng directly i nto it
from the car or from the stoc k pile by mean s of a traveli n g
cran e an d grab buc ket The co n crete h opper d ischarges .

i nto a rotary cru sher capab le of cru shi ng 20 to ns per hour

of ru n o f mi ne coal to in cubes from which the coal is
- - -
.
,

c arried by mea n s of a bucket elevator to a storage b in which

1 28 P OWD E RE D C OA L AS A FU E L

disc h arges through chutes an d a reciprocatin g feeder i nto an

i n direct dr yer of 6 to n s capacity per hour F rom here it .

is elevated to a dried coal storage bin arran ged to feed by

-

chutes di rectly i nto the pulverizer the n elevated to a pul

,

ve r i z —
e d coal storage b in from which it is distributed by
,

means of screw co nveyors to the various fur n aces in the drop

forge sh op T h e plans permit of further exte nsio n to the
.

b lacksmith shop a n d other departmen ts later .

The milli ng bui ldi n g is detached well ve n tilated and

, ,
’
well built in co nformity with un derwriters requi reme n ts ,

a n d has bee n accepted by them as o n a par wit h buildi n gs

co n tai ni ng equi pmen t for fuel oil or gas for i n dustrial

purpo ses There has bee n n o trouble whatever from spo n
.

ta n eou s combustio n or from fires from other causes and

, ,

there appears to be n o reaso n to expect trouble from this

s ource if ordi n ary precautio n s are used as required with a ny
,

o ther ki n d of fuel .

The feed device used at the A merican L ocomotive s h ops

h as a motor driven co ntroller a nd co n sists mai nly of two
-

screws the upper located so as to propel the powdered coal

,

from the bin forward to a poi nt where it falls in a stream , ,

past an ope ni n g through which a cross curren t of air at low

pressure ( a small portio n of the total amoun t of the air r e
q uired for combustio n ) is directed so as,
to force the desired
quantity of coal to the bur ner through suitable pipes .

The lower or retur n screw is of gr e atef pitch than the upper

a nd retur n s a ny excess of coal to the base of the h O pp e r .

By t hi s method a co n ti nuous stream of coal passes the

ope ni n g a n d a ny portio n up to the capacity of the upper
screw may be utilized by i n creasi ng or decreasin g the force
of the cross j et of air A S the lower screw has a greater
.

capacity than th e upper it is impossible to clog the device

even when the co nsumptio n of coal is altogether stopped .

The oil was measured as follows : There were two tank s

with gauge glasses so that the exact level of oil could be
,

determin ed : the tanks were so co nn ected that o ne could

b e filled with oil while the other supplied oil to the furn aces .
 P OWD E RE D C OAL IN M E TA LL U RG I C A L FU RNAC E S 1 29

TE S TS A T AME RI C AN L O C O M O TIVE C O MPANY WO RKS

Te st on O il Furna c e .
‘

N o v 1 4, 1 9 1 3
. . T e st sta rte d A M
. .
—r a n to P . M .

Furna c e ran 1 1 h e ats, 1 2 pie c e s to ea ch h eat : p e destal die we dge s .

eats Time Mi nutes F o rgi ng Ti m e Pie c es

H . , .

M inutes .
,
.

T o tal a c tual tim e ,

9 h o u rs, 2 5 minu te s .

O il u se d , 1 2 38 ga ll ns o .

B last o n O il burner —
65 o unc es from 6-in . pipe c
r e du e d to 4 in at
, , .

b urner .

Mo to r ,
1 20 h orse power
-
,
ru ns th re e No . 1 0 S turtevant b l o we r s fo r
blast .

E ach blast co nsu m ed 1 % h o rse po we r -

.

C O M P A RI S O N OF P OWD E RE D C OA L FURNA C E A N D O IL
FU RNAC E
( B o th sa m e siz e )
P o wdered C o al uel O il F urna c e
F urna c e
F .

Tim e r un . .

Fu el co nsum e d .

Av e ra g e tim e p e r h e at
Ave rag e tim e p e r fo r gin g
A c tua l f o rg ing s .

Fo rgings to b e co u nte d .

C o st o f fue l at co ntr a c t p ri c e

C o st o f fuel d e live re d to th e fu rn a c e .
1 30 P OWD E RE D C OA L As A FUE L

The tank s were accurately calibrated an d the oil co n sumptio n

compute d accor di n gly .

The powdered coal fur n ace r an fifty seve n mi n utes lo n ger -

than the o il furn ace H owever thirty mi nutes were lost

.
,

because of failu r e to charge the furn ace o n N ovember 1 2

j

a n d eightee n mi n utes w ere lost o n N ovember 1 3 because the ,

plate for heati n g the dies was n o t put i n at the proper time .

The w ork was o n pedestal die wedges whi ch are of iro n ,

.

The blocks weigh 2 5 lb a n d the forgi ngs 1 6 lb The time

. .

lost o n the powdered coal fur n ace would have bee n more than
sufficie n t for maki n g te n additio n al forgin gs so that the ,

amou n ts turn ed out by the furn aces should be co n sidered

equal as i n dicated in the table above
,
.

S ome w eigh t Should be give n the fact that the oil costs
were probably k ept at a mi ni mum as the operator w a s ,

thoroughly familiar with oil an d was ab le to obtai n the maxi

mu mheat with the mi nimum amou nt of fuel The same m e n .

ra n the two fur n aces a n d the o nl y variable fact or of impor

tan ce was that the ram used o n the hamm er at the oil furn ace
was about 5 00 lb heavier than the ram o n the hammer at
.

the coal furn ace Thi s did no t affect the time of heats but
.
,

allowed a quicker forgi n g time a n d there was therefore less

time lost with n othi n g in the furn ace whe n usi ng oil , .

A M E R I C AN IRO N AND S TE E L P LA N T S

L e b an on pla nt is described by Mr James L ord in the

Th e .

Western E n gi neer s S ociety P roceedi n gs A bout 1 9 03 the

’
.
,

A merican Iro n an d S teel Company n oti n g the use of ,

powdered coal in large furn aces in the cemen t i n dustry ,

comme n ced the experime ntal use of this fuel in m e tallur g i

-

cal fu rn aces .

From the fir st it was apparen t that econ omical use de

pe n ded upo n absolute co n trol o f the feed by the burn er .

This havi n g bee n accomplished the fuel has bee n applied

,

to over o ne hun dred furn aces of various types such as those ,

for puddli n g an d heati n g a n d of smaller sizes for reheating

,

nu t bolt a n d spike b ars

,
.
 1 32 P OWD E RE D C OAU A s A FUE L

It
has proved to be a commercial success for al l of the
above purposes a n d c a n probably be used with equal eco n omy
'

for basic ope n hearth steel furnaces either with o r without

-
,

checker work E xperie n ce in the use of this fuel over a

.

n umber of years has bee n so satisfactory a n d so eco n omi cal

that the compan y is n o w largely i n creasi n g its i n stallatio n ,

a n d is about to apply it to ope n— hearth furn aces .

They have fou n d that success in usi n g powdered coal for

metall urgical fur naces requi res :
1 That both the free an d combi n ed moisture b e expell ed
.

by artificial heat down to about ,

per ce nt .

2 That the coal be pulverized so that 9 5 per ce n t will

.

pass through a 1 00 mesh sieve an d over 80 per ce nt will

-
,

pass through a 2 00 mesh sieve -

.

3 That delivery to the fur n ace b e co ntrolled by t h e

.

b urner so that the proper feed may be secured The capac .

ities of bur ners used at L e b ano n range from 40 lb per hour .

to 9 00 lb .

In the puddli n g an d heati n g furn aces the firi n g grates ,

formerly used for lump coal serve as combustio n chambers

.

for th e powdered coal a n d collect a large portio n of the

,

ash T h e combustio n chambers in the heati n g furn aces hold

.

about 6 to n s of iro n pil es a n d are about 5 ft from back to

,
.

bridge wall S ome ash is col lected at the base of the stack
.
,

a n d some of impalpable fi n e n ess passes through the stac k

, ,
.

That whi ch falls upo n the material in the furn ace is too
small a perce ntage to affect it u nfavorably I n o ne of the .

plants located n ear a reside ntial sectio n suctio n fan s have

, ,

bee n installed to collect the ash .

The equipme nt for preparatio n of the powdered co al at

the L eban o n plant is as follows :
The slack co al is co nveyed automatically from the car
to the pile the n tak e n by screw co nveyors to the dryers
, ,

a n d in the same mann er from the dryers to the pulverizers .

Whe n readyfor use it is S imil arly co nveyed throughout the

work s in some cases as much as a thi rd of a mile It is n o t
,
.

touched by han d or shovel from the freight car to the furn ace .
 P OWD E RE D C OA L I N M E TA LLU RG IC A L FU RNAC E S 1 33

"
U si n g slack coal a crusher is u nn ecessary V arious types
,
.

of dryers are used The pulverizers are of two types the

.
,

horizo n tal tube mi ll a n d the upright gri n di n g mi ll They

,
.

are practically equal in e fficie n cy each mac hi ne deliveri n g ,

4 to 4 to n s per hour B oth of these types of mill are made

.

by a number of manufacturers .

A s the coal leaves the pulverizi n g plan t it is weighed

o n a large automatic scale The heati n g a nd puddlin g
.

furn aces have each a small automatic scale a n d the total of ,

the small scal es is checked up each day with the large scale .

At the e n d of each li n e there should be a n overflow

pipe to preve n t t h e coal from c h o ki n g up the screw if a ny ,

th i n g should happe n to t h e cross li nes O therw ise sho ul d .

,

the coal overflow n ear a n ope n fir e it will at o nce ignite , .

A ttached to each of the fur n aces is a tank or hopper of ,

’
size to carry ab out a fif te e n hours supply of powdered -

coal O n several occasio n s the fuel has igni ted in these

.

tan ks usually o n Mo n day morni ngs wh e n the left over coal

,
-

had accumulated moisture In suc h cases it is o nl y n e c es

.
,

sary to stop the supply a n d feed the burni n g coal i nto the
furn ace u n til the tank is empty There is n o dan ger of a n .

explosio n u n der these co ndi tio n s In deed duri n g the e n tire .

,

experien ce at the L e b an o n works with this fuel there have

bee n n o explosio ns These occur from coal in suspe n sio n in a
.

room in co ntact with flame The same result w ould follow.

filli n g a room with wheat flour in suspe n sio n P roper atte n .

tio n to the pulverizi n g plan t and machi nery will elimi n ate
this possible dan ger .

The fuel sho ul d be delivered to t h e puddli n g an d heati n g

fur n aces at a low air pressure Thi s plant employs 4 to 6 oz
. .

of blast to blow the coal through a small pipe from the burn er
i nlet to the large blast pipe which in a heati n g furn ace is from
,

1 0 to 1 4 in in di ameter
. This large pipe co nveys the coal
.

to the furn ace at a pressure of 1 oz or less per square i n ch . .

If these pressures are adhered to the roof a n d side walls of a ,

fur n ace heatin g wrough t iro n for the rolli n g mill will last four
or five mo nths whe n ru nni n g dou b le turn six days per wee k -
,
.
1 34 P OWD E RE D C OA L AS A FUE L

to the eco n omy of the fuel actual results in t h e C e n

As ,

tral works duri n g the mo nths of A pril a n d May 1 9 1 3 are , ,

as follows :
P u d dlin g F urn ac e s The followi n g figures show the .

quantity of fuel co n sumed to produce a to n of puddled bar ,

made from gray forge pig iro n ( The product duri n g these .

mo n ths was high grade bar requiri n g special work a n d time )

-
.

A p ri l , Lb . M ay , Lb .

N O 23
. f u rna c e .

No . 24 fu r na c e
No . 2 5 fu rna c e

The average duri n g the same mo nths o n a lower grade of

pig a n d cast scrap was 1 2 39 lb .

H e a ting F urn a c e s I n heati n g piles for rolli n g the fol .

lowi n g results were obtai n ed duri n g the same mo n ths :

N a me of Mi ll . A p ril , Lb . M ay Lb
, .

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

The figures sho w the w eight of fuel in pou n ds co n sumed ,

to produce a gross to n of rolled bars O n steel billets the .

amou n t would be o ne third less -

.

Records for the year 1 9 1 2 show the cost of prepari n g

pulverized coal to have bee n as follows

Re p airs to b u il ding s
O p e ratio n .

P o we r ( stea m and e l e c tri c )

Repairs to m a c h inery and e qu ipm ent . .

$0 60 2
1 36 P OWD E RE D C OAL AS A FUE L

T his total i n cludes the cost of tran smissio n t hrough

p i pes to the furn aces .

The item of repairs i n cludes expen ses whi ch should have

b een charged over the past eight years an d the total cost ,

of preparatio n an d tran smissio n did n o t actually exceed 5 0

c e n ts per to n of powdered coal produced duri n g 1 9 1 2 .

If the cost of tra n smissio n is separated from that of actual

preparatio n the cost of the latter would b e less than 40
,

ce n ts Many plan ts would no t need th e expensive tran s

.

missio n system required at L eban o n .

In ge n eral so man y variable quantities e nter i nto the

,

matter of cost that o ne c an hardly set an exact figure .

A t the same time it is certai nly useless to accept th e low

,

figures give n by manuf acturers of pulverizin g machi n es .

We hear much about costs of 1 0 or 1 2 ce n ts per to n for

gri n di n g whi ch may b e adequate for some part of the
,

process Wh at the purchaser wishes to k n ow is the total

.

cost of handli n g the coal from the cars up to the furn ace .

The very exte n sive a nd well design ed plant at L eban o n

-
,

from exact figures counts o n 5 0 ce nts per to n for u nl oadi n g

, ,

S cree n i n g dr yi n g gri n di n g a n d placi n g at the fur n ace

, ,
.

T h is i n cludes the wages of two m e n e n gaged all the time in

unl oadi n g cars a n d cari n g for the di stributio n of the coal .

It also i n cludes the care of the dr yer care of the gri n di n g ,

plants a n d up k eep of the apparatus Thi s 5 0 ce nts a to n .

is j ust about take n care of by the di ffere n ce betwee n the cost

of slack coal a n d that O f r u n o f mi n e coal t h e latter of whic h
- -
,

could be used o n ordi n ary grate fir es .

Whe n the coal is prepared as herei n outli ned smok e is ,

practically elimi n ated If the stack shows blac k smo ke

.
,

it proves that there is wasteful use of the fuel to the de tri ,

’
me nt of the operator s interest and t his is or s h ould b e
,

at o n ce corrected .

F ig 45 shows th e outlin e of a furn ace from whi c h gas

.

samples an d furn ace temperatures were take n at the three

p oi n ts i n dicated G ases
. were a n alyzed by a n O r sa t appa

ratus an d furn ace temperatures were take n by a Thwi n g

 P OWD E RE D C OA L IN M E TA LLU RGIC A L FURNAC E S 1 37

radiatio n p yr ometer The first three ru n s were made un der .

worki n g co n ditio n s heati n g a pi pe pile a n d the last three , ,

with the furn ace empty The coal u sed co n tain ed .

per ce nt fixed carbo n per ce n t sulphur per ce n t , ,

FIG . 45 — O u tlin e
. of L eban on F u rna c e .

moi sture per ce n t volatile matter a n d

,
per ce n t
a sh I ts computed heat value w a s
. B t u per pou n d . . . .

It w a s grou n d so that per ce n t pa ss ed over a 1 —

00 me sh
and per ce n t over a 2 00 mesh scree n -
.

G A S A N A L Y S IS
p eed
.

S
0
Z D ate T i me B ridge C enter Ne a r Ne ck C o ntr o l
S c rew
. . . .

3
4

g R p m .

54 C0 2 0 CC C0 2 0 CO C0 2 0 CO

1 MA 11 0 15 0 2 1 0 12 0 2 8 0
2 2 55 P M . 9 0 0 7 0 15 0 1 7 0
3 PM 6 4 6 0

4 P . M 8 0 0 2 0 5 4- 6 2 5 625 42 8
5 P M 0 0 Q 2 3 2 5 3 7 —42 5 62 5 0 500
6 52 5 P M 8 6 5 4 0 6 0 37— 42 5 62 5

S TA C K A ND F UR N A C E CO N D I T IO N S
B RIDG E . C E E
NT R . NE AR NE CK .

Test
No Sm k o e o e Sm k Sm k o e
f r om F urna c e T
f r o m F urna c e f r o m F urna ce
.

e rn
D g f
I
S ta c k S ta c k S ta c k
e .
, .
.

N o ne Ready N o ne D rawi ng
t o D raw
2 N o ne D w mg ra N o ne M a ki ng
B o tt om
3 Tra ce R e ady N o n e D rawing
t o D raw
4 Tra ce E m p t y 2 480 N o ne E mp ty
5 N o ne E mp t y 2 46 0 N o ne E mp ty
6 N o ne E mp ty 2 5 40 N o ne E mp ty
 C H A P TE R V I II

P O W D E RE D C O AL U ND E R B O ILE R S

A P LA N T N ew Jersey rece n tly visited by the author

in
made a test o n crushed coal grou n d to a fi n e n ess of o n ly
,

about 60 mesh The coal was fed i nto a coal i n tegrator

.

a n d co n veyed to the boiler fur n ace a di stan ce of a p p r o x i ,

mately 1 00 ft by air at 4 lb pressure through a 1 in

.
,
.
,
-
.

rubber hose The test started at 1 1 A M with the furn ace

. .

empty the steam gauge then S howi n g 80 lb an d at

,
.
,

AM . the gauge was at 1 2 3 lb an d the safety valve blew . .

The amou n t of coal burn ed duri n g this time was 470 lb .

a n d the amou n t of water evaporated about barrel s

of 400 lb each The n
. . 470 lb of water -
.

were evaporated per poun d of coal D uri ng the test the .

coal was fed through the top of the furn ace whi le the air ,

for combustio n at 1 o z pressure was fed i nto the furn ace

,
-
.
,

from both sides at the rate of 1 80 c u ft of air per poun d . .

of coal The heat was so co n ce ntrated a n d i nte nse that the

.

i nside li ni n g of the fire box door was melted A sh piled .

up in the furn ace n ecessitati n g a shut down after ru n ni ng

,
-

about an hour for cleani ng out The trouble was no doubt

,
.

due to i n sufficien t gri n di ng .

Referen ce was made in Chapter IV to t h e apparatus

devised by Wh elpley a nd S torer for firi ng a boiler in part ,

with pow dered coal T hi s was experimen ted with at a n

.

early date by Chief E n gi n eer B F Isherwood U S N . .

,
. . .

The boiler was of the horizo ntal type with two fl u e s havi n g ,

. .
—
2 99 sq ft of heati n g surface a n d 1 3 5 sq ft of grate A coal . . .

fire was mai ntai n ed upo n the grate an d the po w dered coal
fed in above it a fire arch bei n g used to mai n tai n the fur
,

n ace temperature whe n the powdered coal was used but n o t ,

whe n the grate fire was employed alo ne .

1 38
1 40 P OWD E RE D C OA L AS A FUE L

FI GS . 47 , 48 and 49
.
—He ine o
B il e rs Ar ran ged for Pu l veriz e d C o al .
 P OWD E RE D C O A L UND E R B O I L E RS 1 41

a volume of about /1 cu ft for each 3 lb of coal bur ned per

. . .

hour .

I n F ig 48 B are w ater tubes which protect the furn ace

.
,
-

w alls from smelti n g ; C is the bed of ashes or floor of the com ,

b u stio n chamber D is the slot through which the li quid

,

ash may d rip E are the headers a n d F are the tuyeres

, .

The ash pit should be 3 ft deep to allo w the liquid ash .

to cool whi le falli n g All j oi n ts shoul d be protected from the

.

direct actio n of the flames .

A t the 1 9 1 4 spri n g meeti n g O f the Mr F R . . .

L ow prese nted a paper e n titled P ulverized Coal for S team

”
Maki n g which described the followi n g forms of apparatus
used for powdered coal .

There have bee n three ge n eral types of apparatus pro

du c e d : F ig 5 0 sho w s the P in th e r in which the powdered
.
,

FIG . 50 .
—Pin th er A pp a r a tu s .

coal is emptied i nto a hopper above a feed controlli n g -

mechanism a n d is the n carried i nto a fur nace by n atural

draft ; the seco n d type is that havi n g a mechani cal feed ,
 ‘
1 42 P OWD E RE D C oA L As A .

FU E L

like t h e re vo lv mg brush of the S chwartzkopf apparatus ,

Fig 5 1 ; a nd the third form is that in which the co al is

.

blown i nto the furn ac e as in the D a y or I deal apparatus

, .

With the first type boiler efficien cies of from 75 to 80,

per ce n t were obtai n ed but the capacity was limited Wh en

, .

su fficie n t draft was applied to i ntroduce a co nsiderable

amou n t of coal the velocity was such as to carry un co n sumed
,

particles of coal i nto the bac k co nn ectio n an d tubes Wh en .

fuel was i ntroduced i nto the powdered fuel furnace at a rate

which gave the full rated capacity of the boiler a particle ,

FIG . 51 .
—S ch w a r tz kop f A pp a r a tu s .

remai ned in the combustio n zo n e of a n ordi n ary furn ace

less than half a seco n d .

In 1 9 1 0 Mr J E B lake i n stalled u n der a 300 h orse

,
. . .
-

power water tube boiler at the H e nr y P hi pps power plant

-

the arran geme n t sho w n in F ig 5 2 The pulverizer served . .

as its o w n blower sen di ng the po w dered coal mi xed Wi th

, ,

air to the furn ace ; where in this i nstall atio n it was in tro
, , ,

d u c e d by a series of n ozzle s exten di n g across the width of

the furn ace A little less than the rated horse power of
.

the boiler was obtai ned with an e fli c ie nc y of about 79 per ,

ce n t .

A later form of the B lak e apparatus was i n stalled in t h e

wi n ter of 1 9 1 3 at the P eter D oelger brewery in N ew Y ork .

The powdered coal was delivered i nto the top of a n exte n

1 44 P OWD E RE D C OAL A s A F UE L

sio n furn ace or D utch ove n S mokeless comb ustio n a nd .

hi gh efficie n cy were obtai ned the pri n cipal trouble bein g ,

from slag w hi c h ac c u mu l a te d o n the roof a n d side of the

,

fur nace a nd piled up in such masses upo n the floor that fr e

quen t shut down s were required for its removal A s much
-
.

water was evaporated with 1 000 lb of the powdered coal

as had form
.

erly been evaporated with 1 400 lb of ordi nary .

coal but the cost of furn ace mai nte n an ce the freque n t
, ,

—
layi ng o ff of the boiler for the removal of slag a n d the cos t ,

of pulverizi n g counteracted thi s advan tage a n d the system

,

was aban do n ed after a trial of about eight w eeks .

Mr Claude B e ttin g do n of Johann esburg S outh Af ric a

.
,

( located i n a sectio n where the price of coal is hi gh ) attac k ed ,

the problem by desig ni n g a boiler especially for use with

powdered coal H e took out his fir st pate n t in the United
.

S tates but the boiler was first commercially exploited in

,

E n glan d In this boiler the feed is upward as show n in

.
, ,

F ig 5 3 through a water j ac k eted n ozzle in the cen ter of a

.
,
-

vertical furn ace The pulverizer acts as a blower a n d the

.
,

air supply is preheated F rom the pulverizer the coal passe s .

to a separator where the larger particles settle out a nd retur n

,

agai n to be treated the fi ner passi n g o n as coal in suspe n sio n

, .

A s a particle has to pass twice the le n gth of the fur n ace

( upward a n d dow n ward ) to escape there is n o di ffi culty i n ,

O btai ni n g complete combustio n .

T he inner row of tubes of the circular fur n ace are covered

with a special refractory coveri n g to withi n a short distan c e
of the bottom header maki n g a brick li n ed combustio n ,
-

chamber S peci al bricks are placed lo osely arou n d th e

.

tu be s but they soo n become coated with molten ash a n d

,

slag which weld them i nto a solid wall a nd close the Crevices
,

between the lini n g an d the top header The ash which is .

n o t so slagged to the furnace surfaces or carried out by the ,

draft drips i n to the ash pit below the lower header The
,
.

destructive e ffect of a n impi n gi n g flame upo n the bric k

work is avoided b y receivi n g the flame upo n the lower head
o f the central drum or upo n the accumulatio n of g as in
,
PO WD E RE D C OA L U N D E R B O I LE R S 1 45

fi le r
Air /

Ho riz o n t a l S e ct io n
A B .

FIG . 53.
— o
B e tting to n B ile r .
1 46 P OWD E RE D C O A L AS A FU E L

the upper e n d of the chamber The regio n of greatest heat .

i nte n sity is in the core while the tubes a n d S hell are sub
,

j e c te d to the lesser temperatures of the somewhat cooled

gases which have n o t yet passed away The radiant
,
.

heat is very e ffective upo n tubes a nd shell a n d the metal ,

surfaces must be kept perfectly clean P articular care must .

be take n as to the w ater level O ne of these boilers havi n g .

2 60 6 sq ft of heati n g surf ace has bee n ru nni n g for over

. .

fo ur years at the work s of the builders It evaporates .

regularly lb a n d has been worked up to

. lb .

of water per hour These rates however

. and lb ,
.

per square foot of heati n g S tuf a c e ) are attai n ed with stoker

fired boilers usi n g ordi n ary coal .

A co ntributor to P ower who has had two of these boilers

in charge says that the steel head of the upper drum bur n ed
thr ough at o ne time probably because dirt collected upo n
,

it ; a n d that in S pite of the cooli n g e ffect of the tubes the

special bricks formi ng the furn ace quickly burn away ,

a n d freque n t re n ewals are n ecessary Care must be take n .

lest the li ni n g burn through an d the gas be short circuited -

.

A lthough this boiler will bur n low grade coals successfully -

,

a n d while u n der steam is easily ma n aged o n e firema n bei n g

’

able to look after several boilers these advan tages are largely ,

o ffset in his opi nio n b y high cleani n g a n d mai nten an ce

, ,

charges .

The makers say their experie n ce has b ee n t h at a li ni n g

will last about two years a n d that eve n large holes will ,

automatically seal up The parts w hich require most fr e

.

que nt re n ewals are the beaters a n d li ners of the pulverizer .

These are of man gan e se steel , a n d c an be replaced in about

two hours The makers claim a n a pproximate life for the
.

beaters correspo n di n g with 1 500 a nd for the li n ers with ,

2 000 to n s of coal han dl ed A user after te n mo n ths of

“

.
,

experie nce says that the set of blades ru n s from 1 000 to

,

1 2 00 hours The use of heated air in the pulverizer allows

.

coal havi n g 1 5 per ce n t or more of moisture to be han dled

successfully ; a separate heater or dryer is recomme n ded with
 t

P OWD E RE D C OA L AS A FUE L

coal dust It w a s a si ngle 474 horse power ( 1 0 sq ft

.
-
. .

rati n g ) un it that had formerly bee n fitted with a n exte nsio n

fro n t maki ng a 4 ft D utch oven for burni n g oil H e used
,
-
.
,
.

th e s ame ove n an d the same fro n t for the coal furnace but ,

FIG . 55 —P wd e re d C
. o o al in B . W . o
B ile r .

the i ntern al arra n geme nts w ere altered F ig 5 4 shows a . .

lo ngitudi n al sectio n of this fur n ace F ig 55 is a photograph,

.

of the fro nt a n d F ig 5 6 is a diagram of the fro n t

,
. .

The same feeders a n d the same drivi n g gear are used as

those sho w n in F igs 34 a nd 40 In order to perfect the
. .
 P OWD E RE D C O A L U ND E R B O I L E RS 149

mixture and to supply b ot h air and coal in small quantities

six b ur ners a nd six feeders were used Air is admi tted .

at six separate port s ; that is each particle of coal e ncou nters ,

Si x ai r curre nts before it passes o n to the heati n g surface ;

a nd every air curre n t is poi nted across or at a n a n gle with , ,

the b ur ni ng curre nt thus maki n g the stirri n g actio n perfect

,
.

In co n seque n ce combu stio n is virtually complete i n 8 ft

,
.

of travel eve n whe n carryi ng 2 00 per ce n t of n ormal load .

Five hun dred a n d twen ty pou n ds per fro nt foot of furn ace
have bee n burned with o nly 7 ft b etwee n header a n d floor .

li ne The boiler has carried 2 65 per ce n t load lo n g e n ough

.

to S how that such loads are possible and 2 2 0 p er c ent or ,

ma te r
Pr e f- an

F lo o r

F IG . 56 .
—
Fr o n t of Bo il e r .
—G e ne ra l c c Co
E l e tri .

more c an b e carried i n definitely for there are no cleani ng ,

periods .

The six burn ers across the furn ace fro nt are so arranged
that the air curre n ts iss ui ng from them revolve in cou nter
di rectio n s with respect to each pair The diagram of .

F ig 5 7 show s this relatio n ship The air cur re n ts act like a

. .

train of toothed gears at the tuyere mouth an d so te n d to

preserve a path of travel n ormal to the ge n eral gas curre n t .

These swirli ng masses proceed a little way o nly when they

‘
,

meet with air from the arch ports F ig 5 8 shows this . .

moveme nt The swirls move o nward in a cork screw path

.
,

a n d are met with hot air from A The result is the curve D .
.
1 50 P OWD E RE D C OA L A S A FUE L

The whole volume follo w s thi s path a n d c a n be plai nly

seen at light loads maki n g its turn ben eath the arch There .

are six curve s like D o n e for each burn er a n d each curve

, ,

F IG . 57 —
.A r r a n g e me n t of Bu r n e rs —B . W . o
B il e r .

is a cork screw at least part way The side wall curre n ts help
.

to prolo n g the mixi n g actio n .

O n e di fficulty prese nts itself in bur ni n g powdered coal

that is n o t met in burn i n g coal by the u sual processes .

P owdered coal is burn ed in su spe n sio n a n d as it travels at ,

—
40 or 5 0 ft p e r seco n d it mu st be co n sumed in o ne sixth
.

F IG . 58 —
. Ai r C u rr e n ts in B o ile r F ur na c e .

seco n d or so If it is n o t it will n o t be completely oxidized

.
,
.

D uri n g this brief time i nterval there is o nl y o n e fifth of a -

pou n d bur nin g in this boiler eve n at heaviest loads A t n o

,
.
1 52 P OWD E RE D C OA L A S A FUE L

S i n ce t h e last and
best trial the b oiler has given as good
or better efficie n cie s for a week at a time i n cludi n g coal for ,

all purpose s an d usi ng railroad weights for coal the fire

, ,

bein g put out at 5 P M and ki n dled fresh at . . AM every .

d ay .

T h e earlier experime nts showed n othi ng remarkable in

e co n omy but i n the begi nn i ng it was n o t k n own h o w much
,

air to use or where best to admit it After experiment N O 5 . .

,

observatio n s began to co ordi nate N os 7 an d 8 were in . .

s tructive but some mi stakes were made before reachi ng

,

N O 1 1 a n d this was n o t fin al
.
,
B etter wor k c an be do n e .

with less air though perhaps there are many fires n o t

,

givi n g per ce n t efficie n cy at 2 05 per cent load .

Mr Mann experime nted in a compre h e n sive way with

.

air dampers n oti n g air volumes flue temperatures a n d color

, ,

of smoke E ach air supply had its damper a n d these were

.
,

a dj usted i n depe n de n tly With a given coal feed if it was

.

fou n d that chan gi n g the poi n ts of applicatio n of air permitted

a reductio n in air volume with an accompan yi n g rise in flue ,

temperature a n d with n o smo k e it was co n cluded that an ,

improvemen t was bei n g made .

In this way it was fou n d best to admit as little air at

A an d B as possible a great deal at C some at D a n d a little
, , ,

a t E ( F is used o n ly o n heaviest loads that is above 2 1 0 ,

p er ce n t ) I n ge n eral
. it may be stated that as the air ,

supply departs from 2 00 c u ft per pou n d of coal e ffi cie n cy . .

,

fal ls .

T h e operator is supplied wit h gauges whi c h gave hi m

the heights of water column correspo n di n g with defin ite
air volumes E ach gauge is mar ked w ith its correspo n ding
.

n umber of coal n otches o n feeder rheostats The fireman .

thus makes the water column fix his coal fee d D ampers .

ar e mar k ed a n d results are defi nite .

It is to be observed that in meas ur i ng air th e volume

is much better than measurin g the C O 2 in c him ney gases .

Two hu n dred feet of air gives C 0 2 of about per cent ;

2 08 ft gives . per ce n t ; a n d this small change ( which
 P OWD E RE D C O A L U ND E R B O I L E RS 1 53

no C 0 2 apparatus be sure of ) g ives a mark ed c h an ge in

c an

evaporatio n The same chan ge in air volume mak es the

.

water colum n move z in F urthermore the fireman knows

}
.

.
,

of a n y change i nstantly H e measures it a nd he measures .

a l l of the air : w hile the C 0 2 co n te n t is j udged from a

n ute sample a n d is half a n hour behi n d the time .

It will pay so to arra n ge the air pipi n g o n a ny boiler that

air volumes c a n be measured i nstantly ; a nd this is true
whether a chimn ey or a fa n produces the draft A n ozzle .

plug is used in the pipe though perhaps a P itot tube migh t

,

do ; however the n ozzle plug acts well a n d it is li k ed

,
.

If a fireman sees his water colum n go up he kn ows that a

hole is comi n g in his fire a n d he k n ows it right away This .

kn owledge is of more value to him t h an any other i nforma

tio n of the sort he coul d have .

B oiler trials already made poi n t t h e way to improveme n t .

There is en ough heat in the flue gases to warran t the placi n g

of heati n g surface in its path E verythi n g in the shape of .

tar has been burned out of the fuel a n d it is plann ed to put ,

about 600 ft of l i i h tub i n g in the breechi n g a n d se n d

.
-
.

feed water through it The stack is clear All soot drops

. .

in the gas chambers lo n g before reachi n g the stack so t h at ,

all troubles commo nly met with o n this accou nt are abse nt .

More trials will be co n ducted whe n this ad di tio n is ready .

O ther losses are n o t great Radiatio n from the fur n ace .

is small for the furn ace is virtually surr ou n ded with air
,

passages and heat that gets i nto them is retur ned to the
,

fur n ace These air passages a n d the deflecti n g ai r c u rre nts

.
, ,

C D E a nd F do m iIc h toward protecti n g th e furn ace walls

, , , , .

O n e arch has bee n bur n ed out It melted down from 9 in . .

to 4 in whe n it fell but it has stood up n early six mo nths

.
, , .

It did n o t r u n every day with heavy load a n d did n o t r u n

n ights at all ; but it was made of commo n fire b ricks which

are n o t i nten ded for high temperatures The new arc h is of .

better material the bricks costi n g , per thousan d .

It may pay to use carb orun dum .

A s to how much it costs to fire b oilers with powdered coal ,

 1 54 P OWD E RE D C O A L A S A FU E L

th at depe n ds upo n how much is made Coal h as to be .

crushed elevated dried a n d distributed wh a te ve r b ur ni ng

, , ,

syste mis used There are two elevatio ns and the additio n al
.

pulverizi n g for powdered coal The questio n of real i n terest .

is how much more does it cost to prepare a nd burn coal than

,

by the usual process In this plan t the pulverizer is small

.
, ,

a n d the first cos t with motor i n stalled w a s about $ 1 000

p e r te n pulverized per day I f it were to ru n o nly five hours

.

a day leavi n g ample time for repairs fixed charges w ould

, ,

amou nt to ab out 7 cents p e r to n allowi ng 1 0 per ce nt per ,

year .

E lectric curre nt costs in ce n ts per to n are as follo w s :

, ,

D rivi n g dryer two elevatio n s

,
pulverizi n g , ,

which makes ce n ts per short to n for curre n t a n d

‘

cents total cost i n cludi n g fixed charges This total .

is reduced by about o n e third with large pulverizers -

.

The pulverizer calls for some atte n tio n but it is in the , -

coal house with other machi n ery a n d whatever labor it

n eeds is more tha n made up in decreased labor of firi n g The .

blo w er at the furn ace gives a pressure of 3 o z w hich is .

,

ampl e so that 2 5 ce nts addition al per to n is all that c an be

,

charged ag ai n st pulverized coal The plan t has n o t r u n .

lo n g e n ough to say what the cost of repairs w ill be but tw o ,

years of experie n ce have shown that it is n omi n al or at ,

least n o greater than is met with in all coal han dli n g ma -

chi n ery .

Figs 5 9 an d 60 S how th e plan of a powdered coal plant

.

w hich the F uller E n gin eeri n g Company have recen tly

i nstalled for the Miss o uri K an sas Texas Railroad at
, ,

P arso n s K a n sas,
This plant will whe n completed co n tain
.
, ,

te n 2 5 0 horse power H ein e boilers ; although at the prese n t

-

time o nly eight boilers are in stalled .

Fig 6 1 gives a cross sectio n through t h e boiler setti n g

.
-

a nd shows j ust how the powdered coal is h andl ed i nto the

combustio n chambers .

The e ngi n eers of thi s plant made th e followin g replies

to questio ns submitted b y th e author :
P OWD E RE D C OA L As A FUE L
P OWD E RE D C OA L U ND E R B O ILE RS
 ‘
1 58 P OWD E RE D C OA L AS A FUE L

1 The amou nt of coal burn ed per horse power depen ds

.

strictly upo n the quality of coal burn ed It is safe to assume .

that a boiler efli c ie nc y of n o t less than 75 per ce n t c a n

readily be obtai n ed with powdered coal as a fuel In .

o ur practice we base our calculatio n s o n usi n g 1 2 93 heat

uni ts per pou n d of w ater from a n d at The equivale nt

evaporatio n obtai n ed per poun d of coal burn ed should equal
the heat value of the coal used divided by 1 2 93 .

2 The steam pressure will be 1 50 l b

. a n d wi th feed .
,
0
w ater at a temperature of 2 00 the factor of evaporatio n will
be
3 A s to feed co n trol there will be loc ated directly b elow
.
, ,

a n d attached to the powdered co al storage b in a feed scre w

, ,
-

operati n g i n side of a bored cast pipe with very little clear

an ce ( to preven t the co al from rushi n g aroun d the screw
or passi n g the screw whe n in operatio n) The feed screw is .
-

drive n by mean s of a mot or drivi ng directly to a speed

,

regulator a n d the n through the speed regulator to the feed

,

screw Ai r supply for carryi n g the coal i nto the furnace

.

a n d for combustio n will be fur nished b y a fa n drive n by a

direct co nn ected motor There will be o ne fan for eac h

-
.

two boilers There are gates located in each blast pipe

.

leadi n g to the combustio n chambers a nd also a regulati ng ,

co n e for varyi n g the e ffective area bet w ee n the blast pipe

a n d the outside pipe at the e ntra n ce poi n t in the fro n t wall
,

of combustio n chamber The regulati ng co ne co ntrols the

.

percen tage of excess air i n duced B y mean s of the equip .

me nt outli ned positive co n trol of the amoun t of coal as well

,

as of the amou nt of air supplied will be attai ned a n d also the

pressur e of air admitte d to the furn ace will be u n der co n trol .

4 The firema n will be govern ed in maki n g adj ustme nts

.

by co n dition s an d by the deman d for steam With proper .

apparatus at han d he will be able to regulate the supply

,

at all tim es F ireme n havi n g had some experie n ce with

.

powdered coal b ur ni n g should be able to j udge by the appear

ance of the furn ace whether proper combustio n is bei n g
obtain ed .
1 60 P OWD E RE D C OAL As A FUE L

the work s of the American L ocomotive C o S c h ene ctady .

, ,

N Y S ome data o n this plant are given by Mr C L

. . . . .

H eisler in the Journ al of the for D ecember 1 9 1 6 ,

.

The perce ntage of C 0 2 by a recordi n g chart checked b y the, ,

O r sa t apparatus is rarely un der 1 6 a n d is O ften er above 1 7

, .

The boiler is o ne of a battery of F rankli n water tub e boilers -

,

the rest of whi ch employ mechani cal sto k ers It was fitted .

wi th a deep hopper shaped fur n ace exte n di n g the whole

-

len gth of the boiler an d taperi n g down to a S lag pit at the

bottom without vertical walls or arches The coal e nters
,
.

the fro nt e n d at a n an gle of ab out 45 wi th th e vertical °

.

The 9 i h fro nt slopi n g fur n ace wall is supported b y a row

-
.

of scrap boiler tubes The lower row of water tub es is .

shielded at the rear half of its le n gth by the or di nary tili n g

of a H ei n e setti n g .

Coal is fed by a screw feeder from a hopper i nto the air

blast at a poi n t about 3 ft away from the furn ace tuyeres . .

Three tuyeres are used co n sisti ng of wrought iro n pipe ,

-

nipples 1 0 by 2 4 in
,
T h e air b last pressure is from
. to
1 % oz .atmospheric pressur e is mai ntain ed in the furn ace
, ,

a n d there i s a slight suctio n i n ward at the slag hole at the

base of the furn ace .

The slopi ng side walls of the furnace are coated with 1 to

3 in of slag a n d are in perfect co n ditio n
. N o trouble is .

experie n ced from coke or Ci n ders cloggi n g t h e spaces betwee n

the water tubes Repairs have bee n trifli n g E vapora
. .

tive tests have shown a materially higher e fficie n cy than

could be obtai n ed from a duplicate b oiler with ordi n ary
coal fired by mechanical stokers a nd a much quic ker r e ,

sp o nse is made to sudde n deman ds for steam A n ordi n ary .

fir e r o o m helper was ab le to give the fur n ace all the atte n tio n
required .
 C HAP TE R IX

P O W D E RE D C O AL F O R L O C O M O TIVE S

MR J E M U H L F E LD in a paper read b efore t h e N ew

. . .
,

Y ork Railroad Club at its F ebruary 1 9 1 6 meeti n g a n d in a , , ,

subseque nt paper prese nted to the at its meeti ng

of D ecember 1 9 1 6 has presented data o n t h e application
, ,

of powdered coal to locomotives from whi c h th e follo wi n g

is largely abstracted .

The presen t annual co nsumptio n of powdered coal in t h e

U ni ted S tates is over to ns The ge n eral use of t hi s
.

fuel in i n dustrial kil ns a nd fur n aces has demo nstrated its

e ffectiven ess a n d eco n omy .

The expen diture for locomotive fuel ( whi c h t h e Inter

state Co mmerce Commi ssi o n reports as or
about 2 3 per ce nt of the transportatio n expe n ses of
operated mi les of steam railway in t h e United S tates for the ,

fisc al year en di ng Jun e 30 1 9 1 5 ) is next to lab or t h e largest

, , ,

S in gle item of cost in steam railway operatio n .

T h e n ecessity for co nservi ng t h e limited supply of oil

i n t h e rapidl y exh austi n g fields for other t h an locomotive
purposes will s h ortly eli min ate it from railway motive power
u se .

T h e large q uantity of steam used b y the modern loco

motive n ecessitates high rates of evaporatio n and these ,

c a n be eco n omically o b tai n ed o nl y b y some mea n s for b urn

in g soli d fuel ot h er t h an o n grates ; in order to reduce th e

waste due to the loss of combusti b le dust and that from
imperfect comb ustio n .

S team locomotives must b e equipped to approximate

more n early the electric locomotive wit h regard to the ,

e limi n atio n of smo k e soot Ci n ders a n d spar k s the reductio

, , ; n
o f n oise time for dispatchi n g at terminals and stand by
,
-
,

1 61
1 62 P OWD E RE D C O A L AS A FUE L

los se s ; and th e i n creasing of the daily mileage by lo n ger

ru n s and more n early conti nuous service betwee n gen eral
repair periods .

W or kmen of a hi gher average quality should be i nduced

to e n ter the service as firemen eligible for promotio n as ,

e n gi n eers by reduci n g the arduous work n o w required to

,

shovel ahead a n d supply coarse coal to grates a n d to rake ,

a n d clean fires a n d ash pa n s -

.

The future steam locomotive will be required to produce

maximum haulin g capacity per u ni t of total weight at the ,

mi nimum cost per pou n d of draw bar pull and with the -
,

least liability to delay because of m echanical failures .

In meeti n g the co n ditio n s outli n ed above powdered ,

coal has succeeded b e c ause of the followi ng advantages :

1 It o ffers opportu nity for eve n greater accomplish
.

men ts in the steam railway field than have heretofore b ee n

obtain ed through its use in ceme nt kiln s and in metallurgical
furn aces .

2 I t produces a savi n g of from 1 5 to 2 5 per ce nt in coal

.

of equivalen t heat value as compared wi th han d firi ng of

,

coarse coal o n grates P owdered coal may r u n as high

.

as 1 0 per ce n t in sulphur a n d 35 per cent in ash and still

produce maximum steam heatin g capacity ; so that other-

wise u n suitable an d u n salable or refuse grades of coal may

be utilized a n d he n ce the savi n g in cost per u ni t of heat
,

evolve d wil l be a co n siderable item .

3 I t e n ables us to mai n tai n fir e b ox temperatures an d

.
-

sustai ned boiler capacities equivalent to and exceedin g

those obtai n able from crude or fuel O il .

4 I t mai ntai n s the steam locomotive o n its presen t

.

relatively low first cost a n d expense for fix e d charge basis - - -

,

a n d further reduces the cost for mai n te n a n ce a n d operatio n

of large u ni ts .

5 I t elimin ates the wast e products of combustio n an d

.

fire hazards a n d permits the e nlargemen t of exhaust steam

,

passages an d thus produces i n creased efficien cy at the c ylin

ders .
1 64 P OWD E RE D C OAL As A FUE L

railway s in t he Uni ted S tates an d elsewhere b ut so far as is , ,

kn own they have n o t u ntil rece ntly resulted in regular trai n

,

operatio n .

The first steam railway locomotive of any co nsiderable

size to be fitted up in the Uni ted S tates or Canada ( or ,

so far as is k n own in the world ) with a successful self

,

co ntai ned equipme nt for th e b urni n g of powdered coal in

suspe n sio n was a te n w heel type e ngi ne o n the N ew Y ork
-

Ce ntral Railroad This locomotive has 2 2 b y 2 6 in

.
-
.

cyli n ders ; 69 i h diameter drivers ; 2 00 l b boiler pressure ;

-
.
-
.

5 5 sq ft of grate surface ; is equipped with S c h mi dt super

. .

heater a n d a W al sc h a er ts valve gear ; has l b trac .

tive power a n d was first co n verted i nto a powdered coal

bur n er in the early part of 1 9 14 .

S i n ce the developme n t of that applicatio n similar i n stal

l atio n s have bee n made o n a Chicago N orthwester n
Railway A tlantic type locomotive a n d also o n a ne w ,

co n solidatio n type of locomotive rece ntly b uilt for the

D elaware H udso n Compan y This latter locomotive .

is probably the largest of its type in the world It has .

63 in diameter drivers a n d about

-
. l b of tractive .

force havi n g been designed for com b inatio n fast a nd

,

to nn age freight service .

This latest e ffort toward the b urni ng of powdered coal

in steam locomotives has n o w passed the experimen tal
stage a nd arrangements have been made for proceedi ng
,

with commercial applicatio n s as rapidly as th e equipment

c an be produced .

Any solid fuel whic h In a dry pulverized form will have ,

two thirds of its co ntents combustible is suitable for steam

-
,

gen eratin g purposes .

The generally recognized waste u nsalable an d other ,

wise low value coal mi ne an d strip pit products such as

- -
,

dust sweepi ngs culm slack a nd screeni ngs as well as

, , , ,

lignite a n d peat are suitable as are the larger sizes and better
,

grades for dryi n g an d pulverizin g with a view to use for

,

steam ge n erati n g purposes

-
.
 P OWD E RE D C OAL F O R L O C O M O TIVE S 1 65

R eferen ce to
62 a n d 63 will co
a ge n eral idea of t h e
equ ipmen t found
esse ntial for t h e b ur n
in g of powdered co al
in a steam locomotive .

The partic ul ar factors

that have b een k ept in
mi n d in the develop
me n t of this apparatus
have b een :
1 To pr o duc e
.

equi pme nt that will

b e readily applicab le
to either new or exist
in g steam locomotives
of standard design .

2 To simplify a nd
.

standardize t h e vari
ous details and mak e
them i nterchangeable
for the di fferen t types
a n d sizes of l o c o mo
tive s
.

3 To
. apply all pos
sible operatin g equip
me n t in a self c o n
,

tain e d mann er to the

,

ten der fuel tank ; elim

i n a t i n g complicated
mechanism for c o n
v e yin g fuel from the

ten der to t h e e n gi n e ,

a n d removi n g from the

cab all spe cial appara

tus except fuel a n d air
supply co n trol levers .
 P OWD E RE D C O A L AS A FUE L

4. To elimi n ate the n ecessity for a ny manual han dli ng

of fuel fire or ashes i n the operatio n
,
.

5 To m sur e positive co n trol over the fuel fee d in order

.
,

to meet quickly all co n ditio n s of road or termi n al operatio n ,

a n d to provide for quick fir in g u p

-
free steami n g good
, ,

combustio n regularity of b oil er pressure uniform fire b ox

, ,
-
1 68 P OWD E RE D C OA L A S A FU E L

Cr us b e d Coa /

made
in fi e /d

Pal /ve r in
g g

F IG .
—
64 S ingl e u ni t
- Gr avi ty M illin g P l a nt , Hudson C o al C o . C ap a c ity
2 T ons p er H ou r
 P OWD E RE D C O A L F O R L O C O M O TIVE S 1 69

E ngi ne an d Ten der Conn ec ti ons

These are made by .

the use of o ne or more sectio n s of hose which co n n ect the ,

fuel a n d pressure air outlets o n the te n der with the fuel ,

a n d pressure air n oz z les o n the e n gi n e Metallic flexible .

F IG . 65
.
—Double u ni t
-
Pl a n t and S ingle -b in Locomo tive C o alin g S tatio n .

C ap a city 8 Tons p e r H our

.

co n duits are employed for co nveyi n g the fan blast and fuel
feedi n g motive power .

O perati o n F or firi ng up a locomotive th e usual steam

.
,

blower is turn ed On in the stack a piece of lighted waste ,

is the n passed thr ough the fir e box door ope ni n g an d placed

-

o n the furn ace floor j ust ahead of the primary arch after
, ,

which the pressure fa n and o ne each of the fuel a n d pressur e:

air feeders are started .
 ‘
P OWD E RE D C O A L A s A FUE L
1 72 P OWD E RE D C OAJS As A FUE L

From forty five to sixty mi n utes is ordi n arily sufficie nt

-

to get up 2 00 lb of steam pressure from boiler water at

.

40
°
F .

A fter firi n g up the regulatio n of the fuel a n d air supply

,

is adj usted to suit the stan di ng drifti n g or worki n g co n di

,

tio ns the stack blower bei ng used o nly whe n the locomotive
,

is no t usi ng steam .

The process of feedi n g an d b urni ng powdered coal may b e

briefly stated as follows : the prepared fuel havi ng bee n ,

supplied to the e n closed fuel tan k gravitates to the co nveyor ,

screws which carry it to the fuel a n d pressure air feeders

, ,

where it is thoroughly commi ngled with a nd carried by the

pressure air thr ough the co nn ecti ng hose to the fuel a n d
pressure air n ozzles a n d blown i n to the fuel a n d air mixers .

A dditio n al air is supplied in the fuel a n d air mixers ;

a n d this mixture n o w in combustible form is drawn i nto t h e
, ,

furnace b y the smoke box draft -

.

T he flame produced when the combustible mixture e n ters

the furn ace obt ai n s its average maximum temperature
) b
°
( from 25 0 0 to 2 9 00 F at the forward com
. ustio n zo n e
u n der the mai n arch ; a n d at this poi nt auxiliary air i n duced ,

by the smoke box draft fin ally completes t h e com b ustio n

-
,

process .

The smoke box gas an alysis wil l show betwee n 1 3 a nd

-

1 4 per c e n t of C 0 2 w he n coal is fired at the rate of 3000 lb

,
.

p e r hour ; betwee n 1 4 a n d 1 5 per ce n t a t the rate of 3 5 00\

lb .

per hour ; an d betwee n 1 5 a n d 1 6 per ce nt at the rate of

4000 lb per hour ; so that as the rate of combustio n i n creases
.
,

there is n o falli n g o ff in the e fficie n cy of combustio n as whe n ,

coarse coal is fired o n the grates .

The waste of fuel from the stac k where or di nary coal ,

havi ng a large perce ntage of dust an d slac k is used ; the

loweri ng of the fir e b ox temperatures an d draft by the ope n
-

ing of the fire door ; an d the resultan t variatio n s in stan di n g

a n d ge n eral results u n der high rates of combustio n are ,

e ntirely elimi n ated with powdered coal .

The u niformity with which locomotives c an be fire d

 P OWD E RE D C O A L F O R L O C O M O TIVE S 1 73

is i ndicated b y the fact that re g ularly assigned fireme n c an

maintai n steam withi n two pou n ds of the maxi um allow m
a b le pressure without poppi n g o fl
,
.

A s each of t h e fuel a n d pressure air feeders has a ran ge

in capacity from 5 00 up to 4000 l b of powdered coal per .

hour a n d as from o n e to five of these may be easily applied

,

to the ordi nary locomotive te n der there is n o di fficulty in ,

meeti n g a ny desired boiler a n d superheater capacity .

As in the case of electric locomotives b ut little actual ,

operating data are as yet available .

The first complete i n stallatio n s of a fuel dryi n g a nd pul -

ve ri z in g plan t a n d locomotive coali n g statio n in combi n a ,

tio n with locomotives equipped for bur ni n g powdered coal ,

will b e made b y the D elaware H udso n Company a n d the

Missouri K an sas ,
Texas Railway a n d these are n o t yet ,

ready for operatio n The locomotives so far equipped o n .

other railways are still depen di ng upo n the outside or

in adequately equipped sources for the ir supply of powdered
coal whic h makes the h an dli n g somewhat difficult
, .

Mr Mu hlfeld gives the followi n g record from tests of a n

.

Atlan tic type passe n ger locomotive fir ed with K e n tucky ,

u nwashed screen in gs 83 per ce nt of w hic h ra n 1 00 mesh ,

-

or fin er

L O C O M O TIVE PE RFO RMANCE

Miles run
Runnin g tim e , h o u r s
Tra in , nu mb e r o f c a rs
Train , to nnag e
S p ee d ,
mile s pe r h o ur
D rawb ar pul l po unds ,

H o rse po wer .

F ue l used tons ,
.

Wa ter u sed g all ons,

Fuel pe r h o rse po we r h ou r po unds

- -
,

Water pe r h o rse po we r h o ur po unds - -

,

E va po r atio n wa te r pe r po un d of c oa l po u nd s
, ,
.

E va po ra tio n fr om a nd a t 2 1 2 F po un ds
°
.
,

Boiler effic iency p e r c ent ,

1 74 POWD E RE D C O AL AS A FUE L
1 76 P OWD E RE D C O A L AS A FU E L

ash coal ( N o 3) there was less than 1 c u ft of slag in the slag

. . .

box at the e n d of each ru n a n d practically n o collectio n of

,

ash or soot o n the flue or fir e box sheets In fact with the

-
.
,

F I G 69
.
—Do
. Fee d er E q u ipme nt for Locomotive Fe nde r
ub le- ,

N Y C R R
. . . . .

N o 3 fuel there were less than two han dfuls of slag ash a n d
.
,

soot collected o n each trip .

D ema n ds upo n steam railway motive power to produce

i n creased horse power per ho ur are becomi n g more exact
in g a n d there is but little doubt that through the use of
, ,

powdered coal in combin atio n with correlated improvemen ts

in locomotive design the steam locomotive c a n b e made to
,
 L O C O M O T IV E S 1 77

ive power for prese n t and

by reaso n of its gen eral
e n ess
, a n d eco n omy and
,

ee t pu b lic deman ds for the

sparks a nd n oise .
 C H AP TE R X

E XP LO S I O N S

M U C H h as b ee n said of the danger of explosio ns ac c o m

pan yi n g the use of powdered coal This is partly due to .

co n fusio n with dust explosio n s in coal mi n es The latter .

are due to the floati n g of dust in the air in a c o nfined space .

The departme nt of a powdered coal plant in whi ch the coal

gri ndi n g is do ne is usually a fit place for a n explosio n for ,

it is almost impossible to gri n d coal without havi n g some dust

escape There is o n the other han d ple nty of opportu nity
.
, ,

for chan ge of air which should mi nimize the possibility of

,

explosio n s D ust is sometimes overcome by the use of a

.

gri n di n g system employi n g exhaust fan s With the atmos .

p h e r e saturated with coal dust a n d all crevices a n d ledges

,

filled a n d covered with fine particles there would seem to be ,

every chan ce for an explosio n Ye t the author has n o t .

heard of a n i n stan ce where explosio n s have take n place in

the gri n di ng room There have been cases where a matc h
.

or spark comi ng in co ntact with some of the dust lyi n g o n a

,

ledge has started a fire whi ch has spread rapidl y but this
, ,

scarcely co n stitutes an explosio n T h e dust acts lik e a .

lo ng fuse The remedy seems to b e to k eep the gri ndin g

.

room as clean as possi b le forbiddi n g th e use of any ope n

,

lights or fire .

’
D uri n g o n e of the writer s i nspectio n trips special i n qui ry
was made regardi n g explosio n s N o ne had occurred at .

a n y of the plan ts visited In certai n cases the bi n s over

.

fl o w e d a n d the falli n g sheet of coal too k fire but there was ,

n othi n g that could properly be called a n explosio n .

Mr W D W ood in the Ra i lro a d Ga zette of Jul y 1 8

. . .
, ,

1 9 1 3 says of powdered coal explosio n s :

,

I c an say positively that there is absolutely n o dan ger

1 78
1 80 P OWD E RE D C O A L AS A FUE L
E X P L O SI O NS 1 81
1 82 P OWD E RE D C OA L A S A FU E L

of explosio ns of powdered coal where ordi nary se nsibl e

precautio ns are observed The writer has w orked in ceme n t
.

mills a n d has burn ed powdered coal himself a n d kn ows

, ,

whereof he speaks In the first place po w dered coal whe n

.
,

in storage or in bulk or while bei n g blow n i n to the furn ace

, ,

does n o t explode It may pu ff or flare back slightly whe n

.
, ,

starti ng up a fire i n a furn ace if there is no t en ough draft, ,

fx/mus f P/p e fr om
7ad v/7 ?

FI G . 73.
—Locomotiv F ont E nd fe r or o
P wde re d C oal .

but eve n this is preve ntable There have bee n so calle o .

-

explosio n s of powdered coal several of them but n o t o ne

, ,

perso n in te n has a ny idea of w hat they are like S everal .

of the large ceme n t companies i n cludi n g the A tlas Alpha , , ,

E diso n a n d o thers have had explosio n s but every o n e o f

, , ,

them to my kn owledge has origi n ated in the grin di ng room

w here the coal was pulverized They are sometimes .

caused by a n ail getti n g in the mill a n d causi ng a spark ;

 1 84 P OWD E RE D C OA L A S A FUE L

a fl ash t his traveled the le n gth of the room down a stairway ,

a n d b ack several times in layers j ust like a trai n of powder ,

Onl y there was n o report n o explosio n j ust a hissi ng

, , .

The me n came out they were absolutely den uded yet seemed
, ,

to ret ai n their faculties The foreman said I m do ne for

.
’

”
a n d am goi n g to di e H e was ab le to tell wh at h ad h ap
.

pened b efore he b ecame unco nscious Th ey all died sh ortly .

afterward .

A s terrible as t hi s seems it is en tirely preve ntab le ,I .

have n ever seen a cemen t mi ll yet where you could go n ear

the pul verizing plant much less in it without becomi n g
, ,

covered with coal dust Yet at the American Iro n a nd

.

S teel Manufacturi n g C O work s at L e b an o n t h ey h ave

.
,

used powdered coal for ten years a n d have n ever had an

explosio n I have stood in side of their gri n din g room a n d
.

h ad a whi te h an dk erc hief o n my sleeve a n d it caught n o t a

grai n of dust .

C ement mills seem to thi n k that it is c h eaper to tak e

c h an ces as lo n g as t hi n gs k eep run ni n g rather than to spe n d

e nough mo n ey for safety There are two ways to b e safe

.

use a mill that is tight a n d spe n d e n ough mo n ey for com

,

peten t lab or a n d materials to k eep it in repair As to .

storage a n d b urni n g : coal pulverized a n d stored in tank s is

1 00 per ce nt less liable to explosio n than oil I t sometimes .

catches fir e from spo ntan eous co mbustio n or otherwise ,

a nd n othi n g happen s a ny more than what would happe n

if a pile of slac k coal should catch fire It is n o t even ne c es .

sary to s h ut down Al l that is n ecessary is to k eep right on

.

drawi ng it o ff in its semi burn t state cutti n g O ff the supply

-
,

to the bin that is o n fire a n d burn it u ntil it is all out of

,

the tan k ; when a n e w supply may be put in if the tank has ,

no t b ecome heated Care must be tak e n to see th at no n e

.

of t h e b urnt coal remai n s .

In a l ar ge ceme nt mill where the writer was employed , ,

it was fre quen tly necessary to walk alo n g the iro n gallery
in front of the supply bins T his gallery is practically .

right over the fro nt e nd of th e kilns an d only 8 ft above .

 E XP L O S I O NS 1 85

5 60 11 0 11 611 Ele va t io n

FIG . 75 —
.P ow d e r e d C oa l E q ui pme n t fo r S tir li n g B o il e r . Th e H u dson C oal C o .
 1 86 P OWD E RE D O OAt As A FUE L

them T h e coal dust which has o verfl o w e d t h e bin s is always

.

from 2 to 4 in thick o n this walk E ve n when careful

. .

( which n o o n e is ) a perso n kicks showers of this fin e dust

right down over the open red hot e n d of the kil n s ; it is
-

sometimes kicked down over a n ew m an as a j oke Clouds .

of thi s dust drift down over the kil n s a n d are sucked in by

the dr aft Certainl y n o severer test than t hi s could b e
.

applied .

P owdered coal is as safe as coal in lumps if commo n

“
,

se n se a nd j udgme n t are exercised a n d a ny o ne who believes

,

the co n trary is labori n g u n der a misu n derstan di n g of the

facts in the case .

O pen dryers should n o t b e used that is dr yers in whi c h ,

t h e heat a nd flame come in direct co n tact w ith the coal .

This is dan gerous a n d should n o t be tolerated though some ,

co n cer n s practice it There are ple nty of good compart

.

”
me n t dryers o n the market which are safe .

In 1 9 1 5 Mr Thomas A E diso n in explan atio n of t h e so

. .
,

call ed explosio n that took place in his ceme n t mill some

years ago made the fo ll owi n g stateme n t : The explosio n “

was occasio n ed by fin e coal dust catchin g fire an d b ur ni n g

slowly in a pit thus formi n g a n explosive gas with the air
, .

The explosio n killed five m en P lease let me emphasize .

the fact that it was n o t the dust itself that exploded .

A n other view of explosio n s : With regard to explosio n s ,

po w dered coal is much safer than oil or n atural gas as a ,

leak is at o n ce detected by the eye an d the trouble c an be ,

remedied immediately The e ntire system from the poi n t

.
,

where the coal is dried to the bi n s at the furn aces may b e

, ,

e ntirely e n closed re n deri ng it a bsolutely dust tight The

,
-
.

bi ns a n d co nveyi n g system co ntai n but a small quantity

of air ; and a n explosion there is absolutely impossible in a
”
well design ed plant
-
.

O n e large compan y in the central part of N ew Yor k

S tate in stati ng their experie n ce say
,
We n ever h ad an
,

e xplosio n from the use of powdered coal a n d we have

made extensive experiments with it We do no t co nsider .

 ‘
1 88 P OWD E RE D C OA L As A FUE L

it advi sab le to h ave large quantities of powdered coal

lyi n g arou n d .

S torag e D ifli c ul ti e s S torage di fficulties should n o t exist

.

with dry coal There should be no floati ng dust in the a t

.

m o sph er e .Moist coal should n o t be stored as it does n o t

flow freely but cakes up a n d gives trouble P rovisio n
,
.

should be made for k eepin g the coal movi n g a nd in case of ,

shut down of plan t coal should n o t be left in the storage

-
,

bi n s for much over a wee k These are the o nly precautio n s

.

which it is n ecessary to take N o trouble is experie nced .

from the storage of coal for short peri ods of time It shoul d .

be give n a chan ce to cool b etwee n t h e pulverizi n g mac hin e

an d the storage b in .

The caki ng of coal dust in separate b i ns at each furn ace

was t h e cause of a fir e at t h e B urde n Iro n W ork s about
two years ago The coal persisted in caki ng a n d the me n
.

were in the hab it of usi n g a club to hammer the sides of the

b i n s in order to get the coal dust to fl ow i nto the co n troller ,

until the poi n t was reached where the b in s were getti n g so

damaged that the manager had to forbid hammeri n g .

The n o n e ni ght o ne of the m e n tryi n g to get coal dust , ,

removed the slide at the b ottom of the bin betwee n it a n d the

co n troller thi n kin g n o doub t that the coal would the n move
,

more freely with the result that the coal dust leak ed in
,

small particles down o n to the floor There was a stro n g .

wind b lowi ng at the time a n d j ust at the momen t whe n the

,

operator was taki ng out a heat a puff of wi n d blew some of ,

the coal dust across the heat with the result that it i n stantly
too k fire The co n ditio n s here were ideal for combustio n
. .

It was a coi n ciden ce that j ust above thi s fur n ace the shop
was di vided into two parts the old o ne havi n g a roof of wood
,

trusses an d the ne w part o ne of steel trusses The flame .

shot up i nstan tly to the wood trusses a n d as they were

covered with fin e particles of powdered coal the fire swept
across these trusses a n d i nside of te n mi nutes the roof was a
fur nace a n d the m e n had to fl ee for their lives The fire .

burn ed from 1 0 P M to 2 A M when the roof all caved in

. . . .
,
E XP L O S I O NS 1 89
 ‘
1 90 P OWD E RE D C oAL As FUE L

and fell o n t h e fur naces That part of the buildi n g havi n g

.

the steel trusses did n o t catch fire thanks to the efforts of the
,

fireme n The measuri n g hoppers and screw co nveyors

.
,

with wal kways came do w n w ith the roof but there was n o
, ,

back flash of coal dust through the co nveyors n or was there

,

a n y explosio n of coal dust . It was simply a fire caused by the

exi ste n ce of perfect co n ditio n s for combustio n .
 ‘
1 92 P OWD E RE D C o AL As A FUE L

P O WD E RE D C O A L AS F UE L . I n di a n E ngi ne eri ng, Au g u st 1 6, 1 9 1 3, p . 91 .

B riefly di scusse s its u se as a l ocomo tive fu e l .

P O WD E RE D F UE L F O R LO CO MO TI VE S Wal ter D Woo d Railway Age , . .

Gaze tt e Ju ly 4 1 9 1 3 p 1 —
3 1 5 ; Au g 1 p 1 74
, , ,
. .
, . .

P U LVE RI Z E D C O A L As A C H E A P F UE L A u tomo bi le Ju ne 5 1 9 1 3 p 1 1 77 .
, , ,
. .

Le tter asking qu estions as to the u se of pulveriz e d co al Answers .

are give n .

P R O B LE M BUR NI NG P U LVE RI Z E D F UE L S terling H B unnell I ron

OF ,
. .

A ge, Se p te m be r 1 8 1 9 1 3 p 6 1 8 , ,
. .

US E OF P U LVE RI Z E D C O A L A s F U E L F O R M E TA LL UR GI CA L F UR NACE S ,

H R B arnh urst
. . . A mer ic an I n sti tute o f M i ning E ngi ne ers, B ull ,

O c tob er 1 9 1 3 p , ,
.
—
2 52 3 2 5 32 ; disc u ssio n , D e c emb er ,
1 9 1 3, p . 2 85 6
2 863 .

P U LV E R I Z E D C O A L FUE L A W Raymond Metallurgi cal a nd AS A ,

. . .

Chem a li c E ng i n eer i ng F e b r u a ry 1 9 1 3 p 1 —
08 1 09 O n th e use of , , ,
. .

pul veriz e d co al in metall urgic al furna ce s and in c e ment burni ng .

BURNI NG O F P O W D E RE D C O A L W E P orter I ndu stri al World vol ,

. . .
, .

—
47 p 1 46 1 47 Fe b ru ary 3 1 9 1 3 .
, ,
.
,

P O WD E R E D C O A L A s F UE L W S Quigley Rai lway a nd E ngi neeri ng ,

. . .

,
—
Revi ew N o ve mb er 1 5 1 9 1 3 p 1 067 1 068 P a pe r rea d be fo re th e , ,
. .

Ame ri c an F ou ndr ym en s Associatio n

’
.

S MA LL C O A L A N D D U S T : ITS P R O D U CTI O N P R E VE N TI O N TR E A TME NT AND , , ,

UTI LI Z A TI O N WI TH S PE CIA L RE F E RE N CE T o D RY M I NE S J D ru mmond

, ,
.

P ato n I nsti tu ti on of M i ni ng E ngi ne ers Tr an s vol 45 pt 3

— —
. .
, , ,
.
,

p 4 1 4 6; d s u
. 2 4 i c ss i o n p 4 4 6 — 44 9 1 9 1 2 1913 S a m e in Ma nches ,
.
,
.

ter Geologi c a l a nd Mi ni ng S oci ety Tra ns vo l 33 p t 6 p 1 98 22 3 ; , ,

.
,
.
,
.
-

disc u ssio n p 2 3 2 — 22 6 9 1 12 — 1913 ,

Re sul ts of official te sts m ade by
.
,
.

th e S tirling B oiler C o .

FI RI NG S O F T C O A L S CRE E NI NGS John S Le ese Mechanical World ,

. .
,

.
—
vo l 5 1 p 1 60 1 6 1 1 9 1 2 ,
.
,
.

D U S T F UE L B O I LE R AN D ITS US E S H V H art D avis Manchester Geo . .

—
.
,

c
logi a l a n d M i n i ng S o ci e ty T r a n s v o l 22 p 22 4 2 33 ; disc u ssio n , ,
.
,
.
,

.
—
p 2 33 242 1 9 1 2 Ab stra c t in I ron a nd Coal Tra des Review Febru ary .
, ,

2 3 1 9 1 2 p 1 98 9 9 ;
,
2 E n g i n ee
,
r i n g M a. a
g z i ne - —
M ar ch 1 9 1 3 p 9 36 938 , , ,
. .

P U LV E RI Z E D C O A L AN E C O N O M I CA L S TE A M F UE L S team Ma y 1 9 1 2 .
,

p 1 35—
, ,

. 1 38 A tabl e sh o ws r esul ts O b taine d with a Be ttin gto n b oiler

. .

ME TH O D S O F BUR N ING AN TH RA CI TE C O A L D US T Wm Kavanagh E lec , . .

tricc l World D e c e mb e r 7 1 9 1 2 , ,
.

RE CE N T IM P R O V E ME N TS A N D ADDI TI O N S To TH E S ME LTI NG P LA N T O F TH E
C A N AD I A N C O PP E R C O M PA NY D H B r o wne Ca nadian Mi ni ng
—
. .
, .

I nsti tute Tra n s vo l 1 5 p 1 1 5 1 2 2 1 9 1 2

, ,
.
,
.
,
.

C O MB U S TIO N O F P U LV E R I Z E D C O A L L S H u gh es A meri can I nsti tu te ,

. . .

of Chemica l E ngineer s Tr a n s
—
v o l 4 p 347 349 1 9 1 1 , ,
.
,
. .
,
 BI B LI O G RAP HY 1 93

P U L VE R I Z E D C O A L , A NE W F UE L Wm D ,
. . E nnis . A u to mobi le , vo l . 2 5,
p .
—
62 0 62 1 ,
C o ntain s p ar a gr a p h on th e u se o f powdere d coal
u n de r ste a m b oilers .

B E TT I N GT O N B O I LE R S F O R
F UE L Railwa y News vol 9 6 P U LVE R I Z E D .
, .
,

p 1 422 1 423 1 9 1 1 Gives results of te sts

.
-
,
. .

D E L E M P L O I D E S P O U S S I E R S D A N S L E S F O YE R S ME CA N I QU E S J Iz art
’
. .
,
’
1 4—
L E lec tri cie n v o l 4 p 5 5 7 1 9 1 1 ,
.
,
.
,
.

FI RI NG B O I LE RS WI TH P U LVE R I Z E D C O A L W S Wo rth P ower vo l 33 ,

. . .
, .
,

.
—
p 26 2 67 1 9 1 1 Tests were m ad e at the Henry Ph ipps plant
4 ,
.
,

P ittsbu rg .

T H E RO TA R Y KI LN , E llis S ope r A meri can S oci ety of Mecha ni ca l E ngi

.

neers, Journa l O c to b e r , ,
1 9 1 0 ; di sc ussi o n , A p ril , 1 9 1 1 In th e p a pe r .

and in th e di sc u ssio n
c is m ade to th e earliest su cc essful use of f
r e er e n e

pulveriz e d co al for c e me nt m anu fa c ture .

US E O F P U LVE RI Z E D C O A L F O R F O UN D R Y P UR P O S E S Ri c h ar d K Me a de , . .

A me ri ca n F ou n drymen s A ssoci a ti on Tr a ns 1 8 p 39 45
’
vo l , ,
.
,
.
-
,

1 90 9 Ab stra c t in F ou n dry vo l 34 p 1 9 6 1 98 1 909

. Th e au th o r ,
.
,
.
-
, .

g iv es a n e sti m a te of th e co st of p u l ve ri z in g .

C O A L D U S T F I R I N G O F RE VE R B E R A T O R Y F UR NA C E S E dwar d G Th om as , . .

E ngi neeri ng a n d M i ni ng Jou rn a l vo l 85 p 2 69 2 70 1 908 ,

.
,
.
-
,
.

C O A L D U S T F I RI NG F O R RE VE R B E R A T O R Y F UR N A C E S C h arles F Sh el b y , . .

E ngi neeri ng a n d M i ning Jou r na l vo l 85 p 5 41 5 44 1 9 08 ,

.
,
.
-
, .

F E E D I NG P U LVE R I Z E D C O A L T o F UR NA C E S R C e derblo m P ower vo l ,

. .
,
.

2 8 p 2 99 300 1 90 8
,
.
-
,
.

S O ME I N D U S TR IA L APPLI C A TI O N S O F P U LVE R I Z E D C O A L W D E nni s ,

. . .

Br ooklyn E n gi neers Clu b P r os v o l 1 2 p 1 83 2 00 ; di sc u ssio n p

’ -
. .
, , , ,
.

2 0 1 2 1 7 1 908 Th e au th o r d is c u sse s v ario u s m e th o d s of gr in din g

-
,
.

co al and spe cial applic ations su ch as fir ing of stea m b oilers and

in du strial f u rn a c e s .

P U LV E R I Z E D C O A L A N D I T S IN D U S TR I A L A PPLI CA TI O N S W D E nnis , . . .

E ngi neeri ng M a gaz ine vo l 34 p 463 5 77 1 9 07 1 90 8 — C o sts are ,

.
,
.
, , .

give n .

US E OF P U LV E RI Z E D F UE L F OR H E A TI NG ME TAL L UR GI CA L F UR NA C E S ,

Rich ar d K . Meade . A meri c an I nsti tu te f Chemi ca l E ngineers

o ,

vo l p 9 8 1 1 5 1 90 8
. 1, .
-
,
.

U S I NG S O F T C O A L S C RE E NI NG S . P ower , vol . 29, p . 706, 1 908 .

E C O N O M Y O F T H E L O NG K I LN E ,
. C S op e r
. . A meri ca n S oci ety of Mechan
p —
i ca l E ngi neers , ; disc ussio n p 1 49 1 5 8
Tra ns vol 2 9, 1 43 1 48 -
.
,
. .
, ,

1 9 07 I n th e di sc ussio n P r o f Willia m D E nni s give s som e fi gu res

. . .

re l a tive to th e co st of p u l v e r iz in g co al .

S CH W A R TZ K O P F F S Y S TE M O F C O A L D U S T F I R I NG P M P ritc h ar d L i ver . .

—
, .

p o o l E n gi ne eri ng S oci e ty Tr a n s v o l 2 8 p 1 5 4 1 65 ; disc ussi on p , ,

.
,
.
,
.

—
1 66 1 76 1 907 An a cco u nt o f te sts
,
. .
1 94 P OWD E RE D C OAL AS A FUE L

D U S T F U E L S T O CKE R S A ND A U X I L I A R Y P LA N T , W . R . Harriso n . Leeds

Un i ver si ty S oci ety, D e c e mbe r 1 0 1 906 ,
.

B AE N S C H - FE UE RUN G E N ZUR VE R F E UE RU NG V O N TE E R K O HLE N S TA U B , ,

E TC .
,
We ge ner A sphaltkunde u Teer I ndu strie Zei tu ng vo l 6 p 4
. .
,
.
,
.
,

1 906 .

COAL P U LVE RI Z E R AND A UT O MA TI C S T O KE R . A meri c a n E lectri ci a n ,

p 1 96—1 9 7 , 1 906
D escriptio n o f Ideal fuel fee der ”
vo l . 1 4, . . .

P O WD E RE D C O A L FI RI N G F O R S TE A M B O I LE R S Ge o C M c F arl ane ,
. . .

E ngi neeri ng a n d M i ni ng Jo urn a l v o l 81 p 90 1 902 1 906 C om ,

.
,
.
-
, .

pariso n o f co sts o f h and firing a nd p o wde re d c o al firing ~

.

PR O BL E M O F SM O K E A B A TE ME N T Wm H B ryan A meri can M achi ni st ,

. . .
,

—
vo l 2 9
.
p t 2 p 5 54 1 90 6
2
,
P o wdere d co al is comp are d with
.
,
.
,
.

o th er fuels as to co st e fficien cy , ,
.

C O A L D U S T FI R I NG O F RE V E R B E RA T O RY M A TTE F UR NA C E S S S eve rin ,

.

S o rense n E ngi neeri ng a nd M i ni ng Journa l vol 81 p 2 74 2 76

.
,
.
, .
-
.

1 9 06 With diagra ms of smel ting re sults

. .

C O A L D U S T FI R I NG F O R S TE A M B O I LE R S E ngi neer vol 99 . .

,

p 502 503 1 905 Give s results o f te sts m a de with th e S c h wartz ko pff

.
-
,
.

a pp ara tus b y C E S tr omeyer of th e M an c h este r S tea m Users

’
. .
,

Associa tio n .

FI RI NG WI TH C O A L D U S T E usta c e C arey S oci ety of Chemi ca l I ndustry ,

.
,

J ou r v ol 2 4 p 369 37 1 ; disc u ssio n p 37 1 372 1 905

.
,
.
,
Ab stra c t
.
-
,
.
-
,
.

in E ngi neeri ng an d M i ni ng Journ a l v o l 80 p 1 1 1 3 1 1 1 4 1 905 ,

.
,
.
-
,
.

UTI LI Z A TI O N O F L o w GRAD E F UE LS F O R S TE A M GE NE RA TI O N W Fr an cis

-
,
.

Goo dri ch E ngineeri ng M agazi ne v o l 30 p 346 354 1 905

.
,
.
,
.
-
,
.

RO AD TE S TS O F B R O O K S P A S S E NG E R L O C O M O TI VE S E A Hitc h coc k ,
. . .

A meri ca n S oci ety of Mecha ni ca l E ngi n eers Tra n s v o l 2 6 p 290 , ,

.
,
.

—
306 ; disc ussio n p 306 3 1 1 1 9 0 5 In th e disc ussio n o n pp 3 1 0 . . .
, ,

3 1 1 th e u se of p u lveriz e d co al as a fu el fo r l ocomo tive s w as c o n

side re d .

C O A L D U S T FI RI NG As A PPLI E D To A NN E A L I NG F UR NA CE S . I ron a nd Coa l

Tra de s Revi ew, p vol . 70 , . 1 9 9 9 , 1 905 S c h w artz ko pff system
. .

C O M PA R A T I V E B O I LE R T E S T S WI TH O RDI NA RY A N D P U LVE RI ZE D C O A L
FI RI NG E ngineeri ng Record vo l 49 p 342 1 904
.
,
.
,
.
,
.

BUR N I NG P O WD E RE D C O A L H J Travis P ower vol 24 p 1 68 1 96 — ,

. . .
,
.
,
.
,

2 7 1 1 9 04,
Te sts o f v ario us syste m s al so comp arative te sts o f
.
,

h an d fir e d a n d p u lv e riz e d—
-
fu el b oilers .

P O WD E R E D C O A L F O R S TE E L A NN E A LI NG H J Travis A meri can ,

. . .

Mac hi ni st v ol 2 7 pt 1 p 79 1 792 1 904

,
.
,
.
,
.
-
,
.

US E O F P U LVE R I Z E D C O A L F O R F UE L U N D E R S TE A M B O I LE R S J M S wee ,
. .

ne y Western S oc iety of E ngi neers Jour vol 9 p 1 41 1 49 ; dis

.
,
.
,
.
,
.
-

c ussio n p 1 49 1 60 1 904 With table s S h owing e vaporation

,
.
-

,
.
,

se c u r e d fr om p ul ve riz e d f u e l a nd h a nd fir e d co al -
.
1 96 P OWD E RE D C OAL AS A FU E L

KO H LE N S TA U B FE UE RU NGE N , Ruhl —
35 37 1 901 . Kraft, vo l .
pt . 1, p .
, .

P O WD E R E D F UE L F O R B O I LE R F UR NA C E S A T TH E A LPHA C E ME NT C O M
FA NY S W O R KS A LPH A N J E ngi neeri ng News vo l 45 p 452 45 3
’
-
. .
, ,
.
, ,
.
,

1 90 1 .

A NE W ME TH O D OF BURN I NG P O WD E RE D F UE L E ngineeri ng News vo l .

, .

45 , p . 1 78- 1 79 , 1 90 1 D esc ri ption of We stlake syste m with results

.
,

of tests .

THE AE R O S Y S TE M OF P U LVE RI Z E D F UE L C O M B U S TI O N . E ngi neeri ng

Record, vo l . 43, p . 506 , 1 90 1 .

P U LV E R I Z E D F UE L ,
R . A . D ou gl as . A meri ca n E lectri ci a n , vol . 1 3, p .

434
Two RE CE N T S YS TE MS F OR BUR NI NG P O WD E R E D C O A L . E ngi neeri ng
News, vo l . 46, .
—
p 41 5 41 6 ,
1 90 1 . C yc l o n e and Ae r o P ul ve riz er
syste ms .

FR E I TA G S K O HLE N S TA U B FE UE RU N G Kr aft vol 1 7 p 5 6 1 900

’
— -
. . . .
, , ,

B UR N I NG O F P U LV E R I Z E D C O A L E ngi neer ing Recor d vo l 42 p 2 41 .

,
.
,
.

242 1 900 ,
E dito rial n o te o n th e use o f pu l ve riz e d co al in r o tary
.

c ement kilns .

BUR N I NG P U LVE RI Z E D C O A L Rai lway and E ngineeri ng Review vol 40 .

,
.
,

.
—
p 560 5 62 1 900 ,
.

BUR N I NG P O WD E R E D C O A L I N S TA TI O NA RY B O I LE R S E ngineeri ng Recor d .

,

.
—
V o l 42 p 6 1 5 616 1 900 Te sts wi th We stla ke a pp a ratu s
. . .
, ,

E MPL O I D U C HA R B O N P U LV E R I S E DA N S L E S F o Y E R s D E S C HA UD I E R E S E T
D E S F O UR S M E TA L L U R GI Q U E ( systeme S c h wa rtz ko pff) A H alleu x ,
. .

Revue Uni verselle des Mi nes vo l 46 p 2 1 34 1 899 ,

.
,
.
-
,
.

K O HLE N S TA U B F E U E RU NGE N ( Zusa mm en ste l lu n g d er versc h ie denen E rfin d

u nge n u n d P a te n te ) S chweizer ische B au zei tu ng vol 34 p 4 6 1 899 .
,
.
,
.
-
,
.

US E O F C O A L D U S T A S F U E L F O R B O I LE R S C o u nt C ar a c risti I ron a nd ,
.

Coal Trade s Revie w vo l 5 8 p 643 1 899 ,

.
,
.
,
.

D I E F RE I TA GS CH E K O HLE N S TA U B F E UE RU NG L K aufm ann Zeitschrift ,

. .

de s Verei ne s deu tsche r I ngenie u re vo l 43 p 9 88 9 92 1 899 ,

.
,
.
-
, .

TH E U TI LI Z A TI O N O F C O A L S L U D G E AN D C O A L D U S T Colliery Gu ardi a n .
,

vo l 7 7 p 477 1 899
. Ab stra c t from Neues S aarbrueckener Gewerbe
,
.
,
.

blatt .

FR E I TA G A PPA R A TU S F O R C O A L D US T F UE L Colliery Gu a rdi a n vo l 78 .

,
.
,

p 542 543 1 899 Ab stra c t of article by L K auf m ann in Zeitschrift

.
-
,
. .

des Verei ne s deu tscher I ngenieure .

BURNI NG L o w P RI CE D FUE L W H Wake m an A meri can Ma chini st

-
,
. . .
,

vol 2 2 p 1 0 1 1 89 9
.
,
.
, .

UE B E R VE RW E RTH U N G V O N K O HLE N S C HLAMM U N D KO HLE N S TA U B .

—
Oest Zei tschrift fur B erg u H uttenwesen vo l 5 7 p 1 2 7 1 2 9 1 89 9 . . .
, ,
. .
,

A b str a c t in I nsti tu ti on of Ci vi l E ngi neers P ros vol 1 36 p 42 1 42 2 , ,

.
,
.
-
,

1 898 1 899 -
.
 B IB L I O G RAP HY 1 97

C HA U FF A GE D E S C HA U DI E RE S A U CHA RB O N P U LVE RI S E ( systeme F Fo rst) . .

Revue I ndustri elle , vo l 2 9 , p 1 6, 1 898 . . .

NE W C O A L D U S T F UR N A CE S I ron a nd Coa l Trade s Review, vol 47 , p . . .

1 77 1 78, 1 898
-
Pin th er , Russe ll , Le ste r E rnst, P e ck an d P a tterso n
.

syste ms .

VE R S U C H S E R G E BNI S S E D E R D E C AMP S CH E N K O HLE N S TA U B FE UE RUNG E N ,

S c h ne ide r M i ttei lungen a u s der P raxi s des D a mpfkessel u nd D a mpf

.

maschinenbe trie be s vo l 2 0 p 7 6 1 89 7 ,
.
,
.
,
.

NO VE LT I E S I N C O ALD U S T FI R I N G A PPA RA TU S Colli er y Gua rdi a n vol 7 6 .

,
.
,

p 5 1 4 1 898 Ab stra c t from Toni ndustrie Zei tung

.
,
. .

RU H E S APPA RA TU S F O R BURN I NG P O WD E R E D C O A L E ngi neeri ng

’
.

vo l 63 p 72 1 89 7
.
,
.
,
.

BUR N I NG P O WD E RE D C O A L U NDE R S TE AM B O I LE RS E ng ineeri ng News .

,

vo l 38 p 1 89 1 90 1 89 7
.
,
We ge ne r syste m
.
-
,
. .

N E U E RU N G E N A N K O HLE N S TA U B F E U E RU NG E N Di ngler s P olytechn i sche

’
.

Jou rna l vo l 30 5 p 7 2 76 1 89 7
2 2 — . . .
, , ,

C H A U F F A G E A U P U LVE R I N D E C HA R B O N Va c quiers La Vi e S cientifiqu e ,

.
,

1 89 7 p t 1 p 2 53 2 54
,
.
,
.
-
.

C HA U F F A G E D E S C H A UD I E R E S A U C H A R B O N P U LVE R I S E P C h evil l ard ,

. .

Revue I ndu strie lle vo l 2 8 p 1 62 2 9 4 385 1 89 7 , .

,
.
, , ,
.

D I E VE R WE N D U NG D E R KLE I N K O HL E M o ri z C a sp aar Oest Zei tschrift ,

. .

fur B erg u H utten we sen vo l 45 p 373 40 1 1 89 7

.
,
.
,
.
, ,
.

K O HLE N S TA U B FE UE RU NG U N D VE R MA HLU NG D E R K O HLE Warli c h ,

.

D a mpf vol 41 pt 1 p 49—5 1

,
.
,
.
,
.

RU H L S A PPA RA TU S F O R B UR NI NG P O WD E RE D C O A L
’
E ngi neeri ng vol .
, .

63 p 7 1 73 1 89 7
,
.
-
,
.

FO RTS CH RITTE A U F D E M G E B I E T D E R K O H LE N S TA U B FE U E RU NG S c hu tz e ,
.

D ampf v ol 1 3 p 1 2 05 1 89 6
,
.
,
.
,
.

K O H LE N S TA UB F E UE RU NG A PPA RA T S c hu tz e Uhla nds Techni c he Ru nd ,

.

scha u 1 89 6 N o 3 p 55
, ,
.
,
. .

KO HLE N S TA U B F E UE RU NG ( Syste m Unger) Ton industrie Zeit vol 2 0 . .

, .
,

p 861 1 896
.
,
.

K O HLE N S TA U B FE UE RUNG N A C H S Y S TE M C O R N E LI U S ( D eutsc h es Rei c h

’
P a te nt , 7 8, Glaser s A nnalen fur Gewerbe u nd B au wesen ,
v ol . p 1 39 1 40 1 896
39 , .
-
,
.

K O HLE N S TA U B F E U E RUN G E N I M D A MP F K E S S E LH A U S E D E S KO E NI GLI CH E N

OPE R NH A U S E S I N B E R LI N ( Pate nt Ruhl ) Centralblatt der Bauver .

wall u ng vo l 1 6 p 59 1 89 6,
.
,
.
,
.

P O WD E R E D C O A L A s F UE L M a ri ne E ngi neer vo l 1 7 p 433 1 896 .

,
.
,
.
,
.

E CO N O MI C VA L U E O F C O A L D U S T W B lake mo re Ca nadia n M i ni ng ,
. .

Revi e w vo l 1 ,
—
5 p 2 00 2 0 1 1 89 6 P a pe r re a d b efo re O n tari o Mining
.
,
.
,
.

Institu te .

C O MB U S TI O N O F P O WD E R E D C O AL E ngi neeri ng vol 6 1 80 81 . .

,
-
,
 ‘
1 98 P OWD E RE D C OA L AS A FUE L

1 896 . E xperiments m ade by Mr . B ryan D onkin with the We gener

a pp ar atus .

B E R LIN IND U S TR IA L E X H I B ITI O N E ngi neer vo l 82 p 2 55 .

B rief d escription of co al—

. .
, ,

1 896 . d ust firing e xhibit .

WE GE NE R S P O WD E RE D FUE L B O I LE R FURNA CE AND APPA RA TU S E ngi

’
.

neer vo l 81 p 485 486 1 896 A b rief a cco u nt of e xpe ri

.
,
.
-
, .

ments m ade by M r Bryan D o nki n .

-
.

C O A L D U S T FI RI NG I N THE I R O N IN D U S TR Y A meri ca n Ma nufac tu rer 21nd .

I ran Wor ld Au gu st 2 8 1 896 p 300 , Ab stra c t from arti cle by Vi c to r , ,

. .

vo n Ne u m ann in th e Zei t Oesterr I ngen u A rchitekten Verei n vol . . . .

,
.

48 p 342 35 3 1 896
,
. Th e S c hwar tz ko pff apparatus is d e sc ribe d
, ,
.
‘
.

C O A L D U S T F UE L I nsti tution of Ci vil E ngineers P ros vo l 1 2 3 p 5 1 6

.
, ,
.
,
.

5 1 8 1 895 1 896
,
Ab stra c t of p a pe r b y C S ch neider in M i tthei lu ngen
-
. .

aus der P raxi s des D ampflcessel u nd D ampfmaschi nen B etri ebes, 1 895 ,
p 836. .

FI RI NG WI TH C O A L-D U S T AN D C O A L G RI N D I NG P R O CE S S E S I nsti tution .

of Ci vi l E ngi neers, P ros , vo l 1 2 6, p 473- 474, 1 89 5— 1 89 6 Ab stra c t . . .

of article by M essrs Zam iko and PrO pfe in Gesu ndhei ts-I ngenieur, .

1 896, p 210 . .

K O H LE N S TA U B FE U E RU NG E N Fer dinan d ,
Bleic h steiner . Oest . Zei tschrift
fur B er g u nd Huttenwesen , v ol 44, . p .
—
2 37 2 40 , 1 896 .

KO H LE N S TA U B FE UE RUNGE N , F orster . Uhl ands Techni sche Rundschau ,

1 89 6, No 3, p 24 . . .

K O H LE N S TA U B FE UE RU NGE N A UF D E R B E R LI NE R GE WE RB E A U S S TE LL UN G -
,

1 896 S chmidt ,
Gesu ndhei ts— I ngenieu r v ol 1 9 354 1 896
.
, .
, ,
.

NA CH TH E I LE D E R K O H LE N S TA U B F E U E RU NGE N S chn eider A lkohol vo l , .

,
.

6 p 1 1 7 1 89 6
,
.
,
.

K O H LE N S TA U B FE UE R UNGE N Zei t de s Vereines deutscher I ngeni eure vo l . .

,
.

,
—
40 p 432 436 1 896 . Give s re su lts of tests with differe nt system s
,
. .

VE R S U C H E MI T D E N K O HLE N S TA U B FE U E RU NGE N V O N S CHW A RTZ KO P FF U ND

FRIE DE B E R G D ampf vol 1 3 p 502 1 896 .
,
.
,
.
,
.

H E R S TE LLU NG V O N K O H LE N S TA U B F U E R K O H LE N S TA U B FE U E RU NGE N ,

Friedri ch D ampf vo l 1 3 p 7 1 0 1 89 6.
,
.
,
.
,
.

AP PA RA T O S PA R A L A C O MB U S TI O N D E C A RB O N E S ME N UD O S C ol o mer ,
.

Revi sta Mi nera v o l 45 p 1 75 1 895 We gener Frie dberg and

,
.
,
.
, .
,

S c h w artz ko pff syste m s .

D I E N E U E R E N KO H L E N S TA U B F E U E RU N G s APPA R A TE B Ko smann S tahl -

,
. .

u n d E i sen v o l 1 5 p 2 35 2 42 1 89 5 ,
.
,
.
-
,
.

D I E K O HLE N S TA U B F E U E RU NG S ch neider Zeit des Verbande s der D ampf ,

. .

kessel Ueberwachu g Verei n s, vo l

n s-
. 1 8, 336, 1 89 5 .

K O HLE N S TA U B F E UE RUNGE N S c h rey Glaser’s A nnalen fu r Gewerbe u nd ,

.

B au wesen vol 36 p 2 1 —
3 2 1 9 ; disc u ssio n p 2 1 9 2 2 0 1 89 5 Pa p er -
,
. .
.
,
.
, ,

read b e fo re th e Verei n deu tsc he r M aschi nen I ngenieu re .

2 00 P OWD E RE D C OA L AS A FU E L

SO US LE S CHA U DI ER E S DE C HAR B O N PU LVE RI S E . Revue Universelle

de s M i nes ,
vo l 2 4, . p 2 38 2 41 1 893
.
-
,
.

UE B E R EI N E N E UE FE UE RU NG ( PA TE N T KUD LI CZ ) ZUM VE R B R E NN E N
VO N FE IN K O HLE ,
KO H L E N L O E S C H E ,
S CH LA MMKO H L E , KO KS KL E IN ,
B RA U N K O H L E N AB F A E L L E N U ND B E R GL L Glaser ,
. . Glaser
’
s A nna len
fur Gewer be u nd B au wesen , vo l .1 —
33 p 3 37 1 893 ,
. .
,

ON S O ME A PPLI A N C E S D U S T F UE L
F O R TH E UTI LI Z A TI O N O F RE F U S E A ND ,

Wa ter G M c i an S e y of A ts Journa l vol 34 p 52 7 540 ;

l M ll. oc i t r .
— , , .
,
.

—
discu ssio n p 540 542 1 886 Va rio us furna c es are d e scribe d a nd
. .
, , ,

a n d r e su l ts of te sts with P e rr e t s b o ile r f u r n a c e are g ive n

’
.

P O WD E RE D AN TH RA CI TE A N D GA S F UE L E ngineeri ng N ews vo l 1 6 .
,
.
,

3 1 4 —3 1 5 1 88 6 A b str a c t fr om r e po rt of S cr an to n Bo ar d of
p .
,
.

Trade .

P E RRE T F UR NA CE F O R D US T F UE L I ron Age D e cemb er 1 0 1 885 p 35

’
S .
, , ,
. .

O N TH E C O NVE R S I O N O F H E A T I N T O U S E F U L W O R K William Anderso n , .

S ociety of A rts Journal vo l 33 p 643 656 1 885 Th e au th o r

“
-
.
, ,
. .
, ,

d escrib es C r amp to n s syste m of co al dust b u rning fo r a re vol ving

’
-

pu ddling fu rna c e al so th e sam e syste m ad a pte d to m arine b oilers

, .

T H E U T I LI Z A T I O N O F C O A L D U S T A s F U E L E ngi neeri ng News vo l 1 0 .

,
.
,

p 1 63 1 883
—
. .
,

CO A L D U S T F U E L E ngi ne er v o l
. 43 p 3 35 336 1 877 Gives .
,
.
,
.

r e sul ts of e xpe rim e nts wi th S te ve n so n s a pp ar atu s

’
.

O N TH E US E O F P U LV E RI Z E D F UE L B F Ish erw oo d E ngineeri ng a nd ,

. . .

Mi ning Journa l vol 2 1 p 1 2 3 1 5 7 1 04 1 2 9 1 876 An a ccount

,
.
,
.
, , , , ,
.

of e xperime nts m ade at S outh Bo sto n with th e Wh elpley and Storer ,

a pp aratus In a dditio n th e au th o r gives a sketch o f th e hi sto ry of

.
,

pulveriz e d co al burning b eginning with th e E nglish p atent of J S , . .

D awes in 1 831 .

NO TE S S U R L E S D A NGE R S Q U E PA RA I T P RE S E N TE R LA P O U S S IE R E D E
H O UI LLE D A N S L E s MI N E S MEME E N L A B S E NC E D E GRI S O N A nnales ,
’
.

Mi nes M é moi res S er

‘

des , ,
. 7, vo l . 7 , 1 76 1 79 , 1 875 -
.

ON TH E C O M B U S TI O N OF P O WD E RE D F UE L IN RE V O LVI NG F UR NA CE S ,

A ND I T S A PPLI CA TI O N To H E A TI N G A ND P UDD LI NG F UR NA CE S T R ,
. .

C r amp to n . I ron a n d S teel I n sti tu te , Journal ,

1 873 p 9 1 1 0 1 ;
,
.
-

discu ssion , p .
—
1 0 1 1 07 .

ON TH E US E OF P U LV E RI Z E D F UE L Lieu t C E D u tto n F ranklin

, . . . .

I nsti tu te, Journa l , vo l . 81 , p 377 ; V ol 92 p 1 7 1 87 1 Wh elpley

.
‘
.
,
.
,
.

and S to rer
proc ess .

F O UR C RA M P T O N M Lavall e y S oci é té des I ngenieu rs Ci vi ls de France,

’

.
, ,

Mé moi res, 1 875, p 266 272 ; discussion, p 272 278

-
.
-
. .
 B IB LI O GRAP HY 201

BOO S AND K PAMPH LE TS

B ARR WI LLI AM M A Pra c ti c al Tre atise o n the C om bustion of C o al
,
.
,

inclu ding descriptio ns of vario us me ch ani c al de vi c e s for the e conomic

g e n e r a ti o n of h e a t b y t h e com b ustio n of f u e l w h e th e r so l id li qui d o r
—
, ,

g a se o u s I nd i a na p o li s Y o
.hn B ros 1 87 9 C h a p te r 1 4 C o a l d u st , ,
.

fuel An a cco u nt o f e xpe rime nts m ade by th e U S G o vernment in

. . .

1 876 C omp arative e co n omy of po wdere d f uel a s comp are d with

.

ordinary co al S te venso n s a pp aratu s for b urni ng co al du st .

’
.

B E RTI N L E M arine Boilers Translate d and e dite d by Le slie S

—
. . . .
,

o b
R erts n o Ed 2 N e w Y or k V a n N os tr a nd .
1 906 p 1 1 4 1 20
. .
, , , . .

B O UR NE JO H N A Treatise o n the S team E ngine New York A pp leton

,
. .
, ,

1 866 p 358 The au th o r co nside rs th at co al du st b urning in l oco

,
. .
-

mo tive s would be fe asible bu t de tail s h ad n o t b ee n worke d out , .

C LA R K D KI NN E A R e dito r
,
. Fuel : its com bustio n an d e co nomy ,
.
,

co nsisting o f abridgme nts of Tre atise o n the C omb ustio n of C o al

'

and P r e ve n tio n of S mo ke by C W William s an d Th e E co nomy

”
. .
, ,

of Fu el b y T S ymes Pride au x wi th e xte nsive a dditions o n re c ent

,
”
.
, -

pra c tice in the combustio n and e co nomy of fuel co al co ke woo d , , , ,

pe at pe troleu m e tc Lond Crosby Lockwood; New York Van

, ,
. .
, , ,

Nostrand 1 879 —
C h ap te r 2 5 P o wde re d F u el
,
. .

D AMO UR E MI LI O A N D QUE N E A U A L J Industrial Furnac es New

, , ,
. . . .

York E ngi neeri ng and M i ni ng J ou rn a l 1 90 6 p 2 75 2 86

, C o ntains , ,
.
-
.

list of U S P ate nts co ve ri ng th e sto kin g of po w dere d f uel to M ay 1 0

. .
,

1 904 .

FO WLE R WI L LI A M H Ste a m Boile rs and Su pple m entary Applian c es

,
. .

Manc hester S ci entific P ub Co p 49 1 492 p aragr aph o n dust fuel

,
. .
,
.
-
,

sto ke rs .

F U LTO N C H A R LE S H E R MA N Prin cipl es of Metall urgy New York

,
. .
,

McGra w Hill Co 1 9 1 0 p 422 42 4 - .

, ,
.
-
.

G E B H A RD T G F S te am P o wer Pl ant E nginee ring

,
. E d 4 New York . . . .
,
—
Wi ley 1 9 1 3 p 5 8 6 6 . .
, ,

GR O V E S C HA R LE S E D WA R D A N D TH O R P WI LLI AM
, C h e mi c al Te ch , _ , .

nolo gy vo l 1 Fuel and its A pplic atio ns B y E J Mill s and F R

,
. . . . . . .

Ro wan P hi lade lphi a Blaki ston 1 889 p 364 664

.
, , , .
, .

HO F MA N H 0 ,
G e ner al M e tallurg y New York M cGra w Hi ll B ook Co
. . .
,
-
.
,
—
1 9 1 3 p 1 83 1 89 M e ntio n is m a de of the e arly a tte mp ts to utiliz e
. .
,

co al dust as fu el beginni ng wi th Niepc e in 1 81 8 A list of refer , .

e nc e s is give n .

HUTT O N , F R E D E RI C K RE MS E N . Th e Me ch anic al E ngineering of S team

P o wer Pl ants . Ed 3 . . Ne w York Wi ley 1 908 C h ap ter , , .
—
9 Firing
b oilers with g as o r li qu id h ydr oc arb o n o r with p ul veriz e d fuel .

KE N T, WM . S te am Boil er E co nomy New York, Wi ley, 1 90 1 , . p 1 32 .

,
1 83 .
2 02 P OWD E RE D C OAL AS A FUE L

P UE TS CH , AL B E RT Gas and C o al D ust Firing : a c riti c al

. review of the
vario us a pplian c es p ate nte d in Germ any for this purpo se sinc e
1 885 ; tran sl ate d b y C h arle s S alte r L ondon , 1 9 0 1 . .

TH UR S TO N , R H A M anu al of S te a m B o ile rs, th eir design , c o nstruc

. .

tio n an d ope ratio n New York, Wi ley, 1 888, p 1 64—

. 1 65 P ara gr a ph . .

o n p ul veri z e d co al .

TU RI N , A ND R E Le s foyers de c h au di ere s P ari s, D u nod cf: P i nat,

—
. .

1 9 1 3 p 1 56 1 6 1
,
. .

U S S TE A M E NGINE E RI NG BURE A U ( NA VY D E P A RTME NT) Annual

. . .

Re po rt 1 876 ,
Washi ngton Govt 1 876 E xpe riments were m a de
.
,
.
,
.

u nde r th e dire c tio n o f B F Ish e rw oo d with a h o riz o n tal fir e tu b e

. .
,
-

b oil er at E ast B o sto n M ass to test the proc ess of Wh elp ley and
, , ,

S to rer fo r e ffe c ting th e com b u stio n o f co al dust Th e a pp aratus .

fo r grin ding th e co al w as th e o nly p art of th e p roc e ss whi ch was

patente d Th e co al dust was blown u po n a b e d of ignite d lump
.

co al Tables are given sh owin g th e comp arative e conomy of burn

.
,

ing l u mp co al al o ne o r l u mp co al with co al dust,

It was fo und th at .

th e use of po w de re d fue l was mo re e xp e nsive o n a cco unt o f the ,

co st of pul veriz ation .

2 04 I ND E X

C a n adian C opper Co .
,
re po wdered co al ,
84
C e me nt :
A tlas P o rtlan d C e ment C o .
, e xpe riments by 62 ,

c ap a city o f kilns 73 ,

com bustion by E diso n Syste m 68 ,

ch ar a c te r o f in c e ment kilns 66 , ,

E di so n syste m of b urni n g c li nk er 68 ,

e co n omy of dry vs W e t co al 73 .
,

fine l o sse s in r o tary kiln 74 ,

h eat re qu ir e d fo r P o rtl and c e m e nt 74 ,

kiln c al c ul a tio ns 73 ,

m a te rial re quire d for P ortlan d c e ment 74 ,

m e th o d o f m anu f a c ture 63 ,

o il as f u el in m a n u f a c tu r e o f 62 ,

po w dere d co al a s fu el in m a nufa c ture o f 62 ,

r o ta ry c e m e n t kiln 64 ,

te mpe r a tu r e o f kil n b y E diso n S yste m 7 1 ,

u til iz atio n of w aste h e a t in kiln 75 ,

o f waste h e a t of e sc aping g ases 7 6 ,

S ee P o wd er e d C o al .

C lin k er a n d sl a g , 16
“
h ard c link er ,
”
14
h o n eycom b
”
( fl u e -sh
ee t) , 14, 1 5

sof t c li nk e r ,
14
C o al :
a n al ysis of th ose giving g oo d re sults 2 1 2 , ,

an th r a c ite a n d se mi b itu mi n o u s vs b itu mino us 1 0 -

.
,

c ru sh e d 1 8 1 9 1 38
, , ,

hi gh vs lo w— .
g ra de 8 1 2 6 , ,

pric e o f 1 ,

r a w vs po w d e re d 1
.
,

sta pl e fue l of m e ta l w o rkin g indu stri e s 1 -

,

su itab l e fo r po w d e r in g 2 8 , ,

su mm a ry 1 2 ,

S ee P o w de r e d C o al .

C omb u stio n 42 45 66 68 82 , , , , ,

S ee C e m ent ; P o w d e re d C o al ; Te mpe ratu re .

C omp ariso n of co sts of po w der e d co al vs fuel o il and .

-

C o st ,

a mo u n t of co al vs q ual ity 1 5 8 .
,

a n al ysis of 1 ,

an el e m en tary f a c to r in c h o i c e of fu el s 1 ,

comparative e ffic ien cie s of fuels 1 ,

 IND E X 2 05

C o st, —
B t u Continued
. . .

in firing un de r b o il e rs, 1 53
inmetall urgic al furna c e s 1 0 1 ,

install a tio n of drye rs 2 1 ,

of fuel in metallurgi c al furna c es 99 ,

pro du ction vs inpu t ope rato r o u tp ut 1 0 1

.
, , ,

to ope rate l ocomo tive s 1 62 ,

S ee Locomo tive s ; Me tallurgic al Furna c es ; P o wdere d C o al .

C ru sh e d co al 1 38 ,

c ru sh ers Jeffrey Single Roll 1 8

,
-
, ,
”
S-A , 1 9
a

c ru shi ng co al , 1 8

D ing magne tic pul ley 2 0 ,

Distribu tion of co al 1 ,

D rying co al :
be fo re po wdering 2 0 2 2 , ,

dry vs W e t, 2 1
.

Ru ggle s C o le s dryer , 2 4
-

th e ory of ,
22

E arly u se of po wdered co al ,
1 63
E diso n syste m 68 ,

E fficien c y:
a sh vs ,
13
clinker 1 4 ,

comparative as by fuels 1 1 0 1 , , ,

d e te r m inatio n of 1 0 1 ,

qu ality of ash as a fa c to r of 1 3 ,

E limin a tio n o f smo k e 1 36 ,

E xpl o sio n s 1 78 ,

co al 1 78
,

confu sion b e twee n co al and du st ,

g r in d in g r oom d
-
a n g e r s 1 7 8 1 82 , ,

p re c a u tio ns aga inst 1 88 ,

S po n tan e o u s com b ustio n 1 84 ,

ways of safe ty 1 84 ,

Ferric oxide in ash 1 4 ,

Ferri c sulphi de in a sh 14 ,

Ferr ous oxi de in ash 1 4 ,

“
Flue shee t cli nker 1 4
-
,
”
2 06 IND E X

F uel
co al the sta ple ,
1
vs . e fli c ien c y, 1 01
Furna c es for b urning powdered co al 49 ,

bush eling fur na ce s 1 05 ,

h e a tin g f u rna ce s 1 05 ,

m eta llurgic al furna c es 99 ,

puddling f u rna c es 1 05 ,

re ver b e r a to ry f urn a c e s 78 ,

air distr ib u ting syste m 58; vs s c r e w co nve yo rs 5 9

-
,
.
,

a pp aratus fo r p r opo r tio nin g f u e l a n d h e a t 1 09 1 1 0 , ,

burners 50 ,

ch anging o il furna c es to co al 1 1 7 ,

comp ariso n o f forging h eats 1 2 2 ,

co nstru c tion of 1 1 7 ,

constru ction fo r u se u nder b oilers 1 39 1 5 9 , ,

co ntrol o f fee d 1 30 ,

co st o f fuel in me tal wo rkin g furna c es 99 1 34 -

, ,

d elive rin g po w d ere d co al into 1 07 ,

d ur ab ility 1 20 ,
"

E diso n p atents o n b u rning and fee din g e qu ipm ent 58 ,

e lim in atio n o f a sh an d smo ke 6 1 ,

h e ats e venn e ss b y pow dere d co al 1 2 5

, ,

maintenan c e at given temperatur e 1 2 2 ,

tre a tm e nt in m e tal wo rking fu rn a c e s 99 -

,

intr o du c tio n o f air into 5 1 ,

tu b e s 52 ,

lini ng of 1 2 0 1 2 1 , ,

o il vs po wder e d co al 1 30
.
,

pre paration of powdered co al for use in 1 07 ,

r e p air s co st of 1 36, ,

sc rew co nve yo r s vs air distrib u tin g syste m 59 .

-
,

tu b e s 5 2 ,

S ee B ush elin g Fu rna c e s ; H ea ting Fu rn a c es ; Metallu rgi c al Fu rn a c es ;

P o wdere d C o al ; P u ddlin g Fu rna c e s ; Reverb er a to ry Fu rn a c es .

Gas, fficien cy co st vs powde re d co al 1

e .
,

G ases u tiliz atio n of waste h eat e sc ap ing fr om 76

, ,

Genera l E le c tric C o re m e tall urgic al furna c e s and po wdere d co al

.
, ,
111
Grinding ri ng , 2 9

Hard clinker 1 4 ,

H eating furnac es 1 05 ,
1 33, 1 34
 ‘
2 08 I ND E X

Pl ants u sing —
po wdere d coal Continued
cost of g as 4 ,

of po wdere d co al with screw conveyors , , 5

of powdere d co al with pneumatic , air-di stri uting b sys

tem, 7
cost of ope ra tion with fuel o il 6 ,

with g a s 6 ,

with po wd e re d co al sc re w co nve yo rs 6 , ,

with po wder e d co al a ir distri b u ting syste m ,

-
, 7
su mm arie s 7 ,

P ne um a tic distrib u tio n 7 5 1 , ,

P n e u m a tic f e e di ng syste m 5 8 ,

Po wde r e d co al a s a fu e l 1 ,

a ir se p ar a tio n 32 ,

an alyse s, 1 , 2, 1 2, 1 5
a nthr a cite vs . se mi bituminou s vs bitu min ous
-
.
,
10
a pp aratus 9 1 93 , ,

a rr a ng e m e n t of a ir p ip in g 1 33 ,

as f u e l 43 ,

a sh q u e stio n 1 3 ,

B e ttin gto n b o ile r 1 44 ,

B lake a pp ara tu s 1 42 ,

Bonno t pulveriz er 37 ; tub e mill 40 ; c a pa cities of tub e , ,

m ill s 41 ,

bu sh eling furn a c e s 1 05 ,

c are by ope rators 45 ,

c ement industry 62 ,

c l ass of co al fo r p u l ve riz atio n 2 8 , ,

coal suitable fo r powde ring 8 ,

combustion 42 82 ; differ en c e in re sults fr om powdered and

, ,

r aw , 44
comp arison of co sts of fu el o il g as an d powdere d co al -
, , 45
constru c tion of furn a c es fo r u se u nder b oil ers 1 39 ,

cost fir st of plant for fu el o il 3

, , ,

fo r g as, 4
for po wde re d co al sc rew conve yo rs 5 , ,

fo r pow dere d co al a ir distrib u tin g syste m 5 ,

-
,

Co st o f op e ra ting pl a n t with f ue l o il 6 ,

with g a s 6 ,

with pow dere d co al sc r ew co nveyo rs 6 , ,

with pow de re d co al air distrib u tin g syste m 7 ,

-
,

summ ari e s 7 ,

S ee C em ent ; C o al ; Furna c es .
 I ND E X 2 09

P o wdered —
co al as a j fuel Continued
cost o n fir in g u nder b oile rs ,
1 53
cost o f lab or a n d ma intenan c e with Raymond crush er ,
18
D a y o r ideal a pp ara tus 1 42 ,

d elive ry to fur n a c e 1 32 ,

diffi c ul ties in op e ra tin g 81 ,

c ir c um ve n tio n o f th e se 81 ,

D ing magneti c pu lley 2 0

“
,
”

dr y vs we t co al fo r po w der in g 2 1 73
.
, ,

drying , 2 0 , 2 2
e xpe r im e n ts b y th e Atl a s P o r tl a n d C e m e n t C o .
,
62
e xpl bsio ns , 1 88 S ee E xp lo sio ns . .

fe edin g and b urnin g 42 ,

fuel o il an d gas vs powdere d co al 1

-
.
,

fuel ra tio and fu rn a c e p ra c ti c e in sm elting 83 ,

furna c es fo r po wdere d co al 49 1 39 , ,

G eneral E le c tri c C o b o iler 1 47 .

, ,

g rin din g rin g 2 9 ,

h eatin g f u rn a c es 1 05 ,

high vs lo w gr a de co al 8
.
-
,

H o lb e ck syste m 5 ,

indire c t fir e d ro tary dryer 2 3

-
,

Jeffrey pulve riz er 35 ,

Jeffrey single r oll c ru sh er 1 8

-
,

locomo tive s ru n by 1 6 1 ,

co st of re du c tio n of m a in te nan c e and ope ratio n 1 62 ,

e lim in a tio n of smo ke soo t wa ste p ro du c ts 1 6 1 1 62 , , ,

,

e qu ipm e n t 1 65 ,

pe rform anc e 1 73 ,

m ainte nan c e of b oiler c ap acities and fir e b ox tempe ra tu re s -

,

1 62
O pe ratio n ,
1 69
sa vin g in co al ,
1 62
cc essful installations 1 64
su ,

su sta in e d b o ile r c a p a c itie s 1 62 ,

metallu rg ic a l fu rna c es 9 9 ,

a s u se d b y Am e ri c a n ir o n a n d stee l p l ants ,
1 30
by Am e ri c an Locomo tive C o 1 2 6 .
,

by Ge ne r al E le c tric C o 1 1 1 .
,

101
cost of fuel vs o utput 9 9 .
,

de te rmin atio n o f e ffic ien cy ,

1 01
e ffic ie n c y vs f uel 1 0 1 .
,
2 10 I ND E X

P owdere d co al as a —
fue Conti nued
l
me tal lurgica l fu rna ce s fa c tors contributing , to profitable use ,

1 04
g as vs pow dere d co al 99
.
,

h ea t trea tme n t 99 ,

l aws of th ermo c h e m istry -

a ne n t oxygen vs
. te mpe rature ,
102
m aintenan c e of h e ats at will 1 2 2 ,

moistu re 1 32 ,

O p e ra to r 1 0 1 ,

pro du c tion co sts de p endent u pon inp u t, operator o utput

, ,

1 01
te mp era tu re s in m etal w ork 1 03 ,
.

S ee M e tallu rg ic al F u rn a c e s .

o il vs po wd e re d co al f u rn a c e s 1 30
.
,

op en h earth work 1 05
-
,

ope ration of pl an t 2 , ,

Pin th er a pp aratu s 2 ,

plants u sin g 2 ,

p re paratio n for and d elivering into furna c es ,

18, 1 07, 1 32
puddling furna c es 1 05 ,

pulveriz ation 1 32 ,

pul veriz er mill 2 7 ,

a e r o p u l ve riz e r 36 ,

Ra ymo n d B r o s imp a c t p ulveriz er 30

’
.
,

tab le of p u l ve r iz er s 34 ,

r aw vs po w d e r e d co a l 44
.
,

re ve rb e r a to ry f u rn a c e s 78 ,

e co n om ic a l in u se 78 ,

Ru ggle s C o l es dr ye r 2 4
-
,

S c h w ar tz kopf a pp a ratu s 1 42 ,

sm e l tin g ( n e w ) p r oc e ss 80 9 3 9 6 , , , ,

su mm ary 1 2 ,

te mp er a tu re s a ttaine d in com b u stio n 45 ,

ten de n c y to c l o g a n d p a ck 1 1 6 , _

vo lu m e s an d we ig h ts o f d ry air 33 ,

S ee C o al ; Fu rn a c e s ; Locomo tive s .

Pre p aratio n of pow dere d co al 1 8 ,

Pric e of co al 1,

P u d dlin g fu rn a c e s 1 0 5 1 32 1 33 1 34
, , , ,

P u lley D in g m a g ne tic 2 0
, ,

P ul veriz er s, 2 7 , 30 , 34, 35 , 36, 37

P yrite s, iro n , in ash , 14