The Iron Age

The Iron Age was an American industry magasine. It featured an article about the Carnforth Hematite Ironworks in Vol 15:No 3 January 21 1875

The Carnforth Hematite Iron Works.

We condense the following from the Liverpool Express :

These works occupy fully 28 acres of land. They are situated very advantageously on an angular point, bounded by the London & North Western, by the Midland, and by the Furness railway systems, branches from all of which are introduced into the works, and for the more efficient and successful utilisation of these, the company has had constructed for their own purposes, a number of small tank locomotives, which convey the varied materials used in the works in hopper bottomed wagons, which are drawn up a railway having an incline of one in thirty, and which passes along the top of the bunkers, into which the coke is dropped at once. The limestone used as a flux, and also the ore to be smelted, are likewise deposited in convenient proximity to the coke and to the furnaces. From these repositories the insatiable demands of the furnaces are readily supplied in barrows, which, filled and wheeled from the bunkers and the heaps, are placed on steam worked hoists, by which they are instantly raised to the level of the galley which surrounds the tops of all the furnaces, and into these they are at once discharged.

The materials used are for fuel, the best South Durham coke, of which about 25 cwt. are required for the ton of iron produced, for the production of which about 38 cwt. of uncalcined ore are required, and about from 9 to 10 cwt. of limestone. The ore, which is very rich in metalliferous ingredients, is obtained in any required quantity from the Whitehaven and Furness district, whose metallurgic wealth is proverbial and almost boundless; the limestone, of admirable suitable quality, is obtained from quarries belonging to the company, and situated within a mile of the works; and the coke from the fertile coal district of South Durham, with all of which points the Carnforth Works are in direct railway communication, and they have also direct railway communication with Morecambe, where shipping accommodation is readily obtained.

The smelting furnaces in this establishment are six in number, that they are all of recent construction, and embrace all the most recent improvements for facilitating working. They are each 65 feet in height, and are 20 feet in diameter at the boshes. Each of these furnaces is capable or running from 18 to 22 tons of iron at one cast; and when producing Bessemer iron, which at present they are entirely engaged in the production of, they are tapped three times each 24 hours, or every eight hours, so that of this iron they can make from 60 to 66 tons daily. For the production of forge or foundry iron they are tapped every six hours, or four times in 24 hours, making an average of from 80 to 88 tons daily. When in full operation this would give an aggregate product of about 14,000 tons per month. At the present time only three of the furnaces are in constant blast, and these are employed entirely in the making of Bessemer iron, which is principally used in the Sheffield district for the manufacture of steel rails. All of these furnaces are worked on what is known as the close top principle, which is one of the recently introduced improvements in the construction and working of iron smelting furnaces. It consists in fitting a conical bell, suspended by a powerful lever which here is worked by hydraulic power and which fits close to the mouth of the furnace. The coke, limestone and ore are emptied from the barrows in successive layers, regulated as they are to be in the furnace. When this hopper, as it may be called, is filled, the bell is lowered into the mouth of the pit, and the superincumbent materials slide gradually off and are dropped into the fiery abyss below. This process is repeated from time to time throughout the day and night, and when the fusion has been completed to the required extent, the furnace is tapped at the bottom of the hearth by which process the metal is run out, and being caught in a prepared channel is distributed over a large bed of sand, previously moulded into forms, which in the reverse represents the pig iron of commerce. The sand for this purpose, of which large quantities are required, is obtained to any extent from the adjoining sands of Morecambe Bay.

The close top system as applied to iron smelting is of comparatively recent introduction, and, like many other improvements, it has not been received with universal approbation. Its advocates, however, claim for it several important advantages, conspicuous among which is the saving and utilization of the combustible gases generated in the furnaces during the combustion of the coke and the fusion of the other materials used. A great convenience secured by the use of the close top system of working is found in the greater regularity and method by which the materials are deposited in the furnaces, and the comparatively greater comfort of the men employed in feeding the blast. By far, however, the most deserving of consideration is the immense saving effected in the general working of the establishment by the economical application of the saved gas, which under the old system was literally wasted. The gas saved by the process now under consideration is applied in supplying heat in the various departments which require that in large abundance. To comprehend this, in some measure, it may be stated that the whole of the furnaces are worked by hot blast, and each one has four hot blast stoves, fitted with a series of convoluted tubes, through which the air is forced by steam-power, acquiring as it passes an augmentation of temperature, which on its passing out of the stove into the blast furnace has acquired a temperature of 800" to 1100' of Fahrenheit, an amount of heat which instantly melts lead, and even fuses zinc! Under these circumstances, to say that the air is red hot is only a very feeble way of stating the case. Yet, singular though it may appear the whole amount of this intense heat is produced entirely by the combustion of the saved gases, no fuel whatever of any kind beyond those gases being used in the operation! In addition to this, however, these gases supply also sufficient heat to generate all the steam required by the numerous and powerful steam engines employed in the different operations connected with the works, and these are, indeed, both extensive and powerful.

Notably among these may be mentioned those employed in blowing the hot blast into the furnace. This blast is driven by two powerful low pressure condensing engines of 100 horse power each, nominal, but capable of working up to a much greater amount of power. The blowing cylinders of these engines are each 100 inches in diameter, and the steam cylinders have each a stroke of 10 feet. These engines were built by Rothwell & Co., of Bolton. Beside the two engines already referred to, there are two auxiliary low pressure condensing direct acting engines with blowing cylinders of 84 inches diameter and 5 feet stroke, made by Galloway & Sons, Manchester. These engines are fitted up in two capacious, well lighted and commodious engine houses; that for the beam engines being 25 yards long by 12 yards wide, and is about 45 feet high; the auxiliary engine house is 23 yards long by 15 yards in width, and about 35 feet in height. This latter house contains also the engines for working the adjoining steel works. Each of these houses is roofed by iron tanks, which contain water for supplying the tuyere coils, and other purposes for which water pressure is required. The water for filling these tank, is supplied by pumps attached to the beams of the blowing engines.

The steam supply for the large blowing engines is generated in twelve simple cylindrical boilers, each 75 feet in length and 4 feet 6 inches in diameter. They are not bedded, but are suspended by saddle girders with T irons, which are attached to them. Beside these twelve boilers, which are laid side by side in an imposing array, is an adjoining compartment of the boiler house, there are also six Galloway's tubular boilers, shorter in length, but much larger in diameter than those already spoken of, the latter being applicable for working the adjoining steel works. All this imposing array of gigantic boilers is located in a substantial boiler house, immediately adjoining the engine houses. The boiler house is well lighted, spacious and so constructed as to insure most perfect ventilation. From what has been said as to the hot blast, the vast engine power, and the immense boiler furnace to be supplied with sustained heat of very high temperature, it must be manifest that a stupendous expenditure of calorie must be incessantly supplied ; and when it is borne in mind that the whole of this-which is worthy of repetition-is furnished by the utilisation of what would otherwise be the waste gases disengaged from the blast furnaces during the process of smelting, the economy of its application cannot fail to strike even the most phlegmatic of observers. Here it may be remarked that the Carnforth Iron Works are the first, if not indeed nearly the only one, at which it has been shown that the highest quality of iron can be produced by the close top furnace, a fact opposed to the opinion of several theorists who occupy a high position among the iron manufacturers of this country.

The water required in this establishment, as may be readily supposed, is of large quantity. It is obtained chiefly from the river Keer, which runs close by the works, and is stored in an artificial pond of considerable size on the premises, whence it is pumped into the tanks and boilers in a never ceasing stream. An additional or auxiliary quantity is also obtained from a deep well sunk on the premises.

The Carnforth Steel Works, in direct connection with the smelting works, and in close contiguity to them, are situated in a newly erected shed of very substantial construction, which measures 450 feet in length by 216 feet in width. These works, which are not yet entirely completed, are intended for the manufacture of steel rails. In the sheds two pits are also constructed, each being fitted with two six ton vessels and the necessary cupola furnaces for the conversion of steel by the Bessemer process. There have likewise been put down four very large reheating furnaces on the Siemens principle for the supply of two powerful rolling mills, with double actioned reversing apparatus, for drawing rails out of the Bessemer ingots. The necessary presses, punches, sawing and planing and other machines for finishing and perfecting the rails, have also been put down, and nearly all the preliminary arrangements and machinery have been completed for the production of a minimum of eight hundred tons of steel rails per week

The Carnforth Iron Works, such as they have just been described, form a very important feature in the history and social and economic condition of the district in which they are situated. A few years ago it was little better than a waste upland, almost uninhabited. It is now the nucleus of a rising town, with a rapidly increasing population. The works at present employ upward of 300 hands, and when the steel works and other contemplated extensions are completed, industrial occupation will be afforded to fully 800 men and lads. Carnforth is already the official centre of an extensive postal district, and there seems every reason to expect a still further development of industrial resources in the neighbourhood. In conclusion, it is but bare justice to state that the selection of the site, the design and plan of the works, and the successful carrying all these into practical operation, have devolved on Mr. Edward Barton, the active and intelligent manager and secretary of the company, upon whom the success of the establishment reflects exceedingly high credit.

Comment

This trade magasine article followed the visit of the Iron and Steel Institute about 3 months earlier. There is an extraordinary amount of priceless detail about the equipment in both reports.

The hoists have elsewhere been described as hydraulic in operation whereas here they are described as worked by steam. Further research is needed, but a hydraulic hoist driven by water would seem to me a safer proposition.

It is interesting that the steel works were included in the article, and are described as under construction. It is reasonable to assume that around January 1875 they were getting close to completion but not yet in service.

For the first time we learn the gradient of the high line, the number and size of the boilers, the typical timespan between tapping the furnace, where the pig beds sand came from........

The limestone quarry mentioned in the opening paragraph, one mile distant, can only be Scout Crag quarry. So we learn that it was already in use by 1875 or earlier. It wasn't until around 1881 that the company laid down their own line to the quarry so the Furness, originally hauling limestone from the Meathop Quarry must have also hauled it from Scout Crag for several years (or gave the Company running rights over their tracks.

It is remarkable that the writer reports some resistance to the adoption of the furnace top bell arrangement. He suggests there were some powerful individuals in the industry that questioned the quality of iron that could be produced this way. Later furnaces went to a small bell plus big bell arrangement which is still in widespread use.

From CARNFORTH, 1840-1900: THE RISE OF A NORTH LANCASHIRE TOWN ALAN HARRIS, M.A

"The steelworks had a curious history. Walduck (who was in a position to know) said in 1881 that up to that time they had never worked. The Mineral Statistics suggest sporadic operation. In 1884 they were reorganized, apparently to produce steel wire, and were working during 1885 and 1886. In 1890 they were "disused" and in 1898 were dismantled and sold by auction ".