Mining for Souls
Page 48a =73
Standish Furnace page 3
The blast furnace consisted of four parts. The
stack, which is the top part of the furnace; the bosh, which is the fusion
zone; the tuyere breast, which is the melting part of the furnace; and the
hearth, where the molten slag and iron is stored. The Standish stack which
was cone shaped had a 19 foot diameter at the top and had a 21 foot diameter
at the base. The shell of the stack was constructed of 5/8 inch
steel plates riveted together. Riveted to the base was a large ring, prefabricated
out of 3/4 inch steel plates with an outside diameter of 17 feet. The stack
was supported by four 15 feet columns imbedded in the furnace foundation.
On this ring was the brickwork which was three feet thick and extended to
the top with almost the same thickness. Figure 1 shows a charcoal furnace
quite similar to the one in Standish. The first part of the blast furnace
constructed was the foundation. This consisted of 10 feet of solid
concrete below ground level, 30 feet in diameter; an annular foundation of
brickwork and on this was the bases for the supporting columns. The stack
which was described earlier, came next resting on these huge columns. The
hearth consisted of 8 to 10 feet of solid firebricks. The reason a
furnace has such a sturdy bottom is because just before cast time the hearth
contains normally 60 to 80 tons of iron and 25 to 30 tons of slag.
There would be a depth of 6 to 8 feet of molten material laying over it,
exerting a pressure of three pounds per square inch for each foot of iron
and one pound for each foot of slag. So there could easily have been a liquid
pressure of 25 pounds in the bottom of the furnace in addition to 15 of blast
pressure so that the total pressure in the hearth could exceed 40 pounds.
The metal parts enclosing the hearth consisted of a series of steel staves
with coils of cooling pipes cast in them which extended from about 4 feet
above t«e bottom level of the furnace to about 6 feet below it. These
staves were not fastened to one another, but were surrounded by an outside
jacket riveted together with internal and external butt straps. This
jacket was separated from the staves by a small expansion space filled with
yielding material. The tuyere zone is between the top of the hearth jacket
and the bottom of the sloping bosh. This was constructed of steel plates rolled
to the dimensions of the furnace with eight evenly spaced holes in them to
receive the cooling plates. These were hollow plates which were made of an
alloy of copper and approximately two percent tin with a taper in the vertical
plane as shown in figure 2 and also in the horizontal plane. There were 15
of these plates encircling the tuyere zone. The sloping bosh was made up
only after the hearth and tuyere zone was completed. It consisted of
several rows of cooling plates, those in one horizontal row alternating in
vertical location with those in the rows above and below it. The cooling
plates were protected from the weight of the brickwork above them by an arch
of bricks. Circumferential strength was supplied by very heavy bonds
of steel running around the bosh between the rows of plates. At the top
of the stack was a series of steel brackets bolted inside to the shell
to support the hopper ring, and brackets on the outside to support the wheelway
for the filling barrows. The furnace, when first built, was operated as
a cold blast furnace. It had a large bricklined pipe connected to the furnace
just below the filling platform extending above the furnace top to carry
off the waste gase& The air for the furnace blast was supplied by a 1500
cubic foot blowing engine. The steam for the blowing engine was supplied
by three large hand fired boilers. From 1886 to 1903 the furnace was operated
as a cold blast furnace. The air from the blowing engine went directly
to the distribution pipe called the ~'bustle pipe" to the eight tuyeres.
See figure 2. Note that the cooler just came even with the furnace
wall, but the tuyere extended nine inches into the furnace. The blowpipe
was held tightly to the tuyere by the leg pipe. The water cool tuyeres and
coolers could be easily changed by this type of connection. In 1903 four hot
blast stoves were added to the blast furnace. The waste gases were
brought down from the top of the furnace by two large pipes called '~downcomers",
then in turn were connected to a common pipe called the gas main. This waste
gas was burned in stoves similar to the one shown in figure 3 and the brickwork
as in figure 4. This type of stove was called a two past side combustion
hot blast stove. The gases were burned in the combustion well, the lemon-shaped
opening in figure 4. The heated air would be drawn by a dratt through the
checker work of the stoves by a large stack In Standish the draft for the
four stoves was furnished by one large stack. There were always three
stoves being heated, and one on the furnace. That meant that the stove
was taken off gas, all the openings closed, then the cold air from the blowing
engine was passed through the checkers work of the stove, to the blast furnace
bustle pipe and then into the furnace through the tuyeres. Other changes
that were made at that time were: the enlargement of the furnace from the
stack to the furnace bottom; a new blowing engine, another steam boiler,
and the construction of a dam (Ex. 5), the first made out of wood, then
later constructed of concrete. Before .....
Sources:
Adirondack Museum photos, Blue Mountain Lake, NY;
History of Clinton County, New York;
from History of Mining of Chateaugay
Ore and Iron Company.
Go to Page 1 of The History of Lyon
Mountain.
Go to Page 3 of The History of Lyon
Mountain.
Go to Mining History for The History
of Mining in the North Country.
Go to Page 5 of The History of Lyon
Mountain.(for article on Lyon Mt. and Mineville)
Go to Page 49 of Mining for Souls.
Back to Page 47 of Mining for
Souls.
Go to Page 1 of Mining for Souls.(cover
page)
Rod Bigelow
Box 13 Chazy Lake
Dannemora, N.Y. 12929
rodbigelow@netzero.net 
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