Fig. 48.—End View of Blast Furnace,
showing Tilting of Charge Car,
Anaconda.
Fig. 49.—Hodge’s Charging Car.
The method of working is to bring the charger under the bins and to drop the various materials for the charge—weighing 2 tons—on to the belt. By deflectors on the ore chutes, the charge can be directed to any desired position across the belt, and material is thus deposited near the outer or inner side as desired—in falling into the furnace it is found to take the same position that it had on the plates. The charger moves forward and reaches the furnace top, the catch is fastened, and as the charger now advances the cover is pushed back, the conveyor thus taking its place until in its turn it covers the top of the furnace. The motion is now reversed, the conveyor gradually recedes, bringing the cover along with it; meantime the chargeman has set the belt-conveyor gearing working independently, and the belt thus travelling round and over the end pulleys, discharges its burden into the furnace. The disposition of the charge along the length of the furnace can be altered at will by increasing or reducing the speed of the frame. When the conveyor has at last traversed the furnace, the cover is in its place—the charger is now disconnected, and goes back for a fresh load. The furnaces are charged eight times per hour with 2 tons of material. The operations are fascinating to observe, and the control over the disposal of the charge is quite complete, whilst the conditions for the operator are not exceptionally arduous. Many other suitable devices are in use at different works.
At the Cananea smelter is operated an ore-bedding system, the store-bins feeding the charge down hoppers through which it falls directly into the furnace. A similar feeding system is in use at Garfield, Utah.
The lay-out of the plant to allow of the most efficient charging is so arranged as to locate the stock-bins at a high level, so that ore is fed directly from the discharge chutes into the cars of the charge trains which run on tracks underneath, and these tracks are situated at such a level that the trains are readily and conveniently hauled to the charging platforms of the blast furnaces.