pa1778data.pdf

U.S. STEEL DUQUESNE WORKS
HAER No. PA-115
(Page 169)
1951, each of the furnaces at Open Hearth Number One had a
capacity of 90 tons, while those at Open Hearth Number Two each
had a capacity of 145 tons. Finally, between 1951 and 1954,
changes with respect to improved furnace design and fuel usage
resulted in a significant reduction of heat times. Among the
most important design improvements was the replacement of acid by
basic refractory brick-lined furnace roofs and ends. Acid-lined
furnace roofs and ends limited the temperature at which the
furnace could be fired because of their inability to withstand
high temperatures without decomposing. The construction of two
4,000,000 gallon capacity storage tanks, moreover, made it
possible to regularly augment whatever fuel was being burned in
the furnaces with number six fuel oil. By atomizing the fuel oil
with steam at the furnace burners, operators were able to adjust
the character of the flame in such a manner as to increase its
emissivity (or radiation intensity) while decreasing total fuel
consumption at the same time. As a result, heat times were
reduced from an average of 12.6 hours in 1950 to 10 hours in
1954, while fuel consumption was reduced by 9 percent. 4
ENDNOTES:
l.J. M. Camp and C. B. Francis, The Making, Shaping, and
Treating of Steel, Fourth Edition, (Pittsburgh, 1924), 200;
United States Steel Corporation, The Making, Shaping,, and
Treating of Steel, Sixth Edition, (Pittsburgh, 1951), 401; United
States Steel Corporation, "Duquesne Works - Steel Production
Conference," Tms, 1951, 41.
2."The Open Hearth Plant and 40-Inch Blooming Mill of the
Carnegie Steel Co., at Duquesne, Pa.," The Iron Trade Review 36
(January 1, 1903): 84, 85; "The Duquesne Works of the Carnegie
Steel Company: The Open Hearth Plant and the Blooming and 14-Inch
Morgan Continuous Mills," The Iron Age 71 (January 1, 1903): 12-
14; Camp and Francis, 290-93; and The Making, Sixth Edition, 401,
448-49.
3.Carnegie Steel Company, "Duquesne Works: Plant Description
Book," (Duquesne, 1925), 47, 50, 51, 58, 59; "Open Hearth
Installation at Duquesne Completed - Bessemer Converters
Replaced," The Iron Trade Review 45 (August 5, 1909): 242;
Carnegie Steel Company, "Section Through 60 Ton Open Hearth
Furnaces, Stock Yard No. One, & Gas Producer Building: Drawing
#8793, August 1, 1911."; "Section Through Mould & Cinder Yard
Number Two, Open Hearth Plant Number Two, Stock Yard, and Gas
Producer Plant: Drawing #9050, December 15, 1912."; "Upper Works
- Duquesne, PA - Tracks and Equipment: Drawing #12960, April 20,
1923"; and Camp and Francis, 73, 74, 293.