THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN

AND

JOURNAL OF THE COAL AND IRON TRADES.

Vol. CX.

FRIDAY, JULY 2, 1915.

No. 2844.

Interesting Improvement Scheme at an Important Group of
Collieries in Northumberland.

NEW COKE-OVEN AND BY-PRODUCT INSTALLATION, AND EXHAUST STEAM TURBINE PLANT,
AT THE WEST WYLAM COLLIERY OF THE MICKLEY COAL COMPANY LIMITED.

By FREDERICK C. COLEMAN.

The Mickley Coal Company Limited has recently
completed, and put into service at its West Wylam
colliery, an interesting improvement scheme, which
includes the provision of a new battery of 30 “ Otto ”
type waste heat ovens, with complete by-product
recovery apparatus, and an exhaust steam turbine plant.
The Mickley group of collieries—one of the oldest and
best known in the northern coal field—comprises

registered office is at Newcastle-on-Tyne, with Mr. R.
Lishman as fitter; whilst the agent for the group of
collieries is Mr. Sidney Bates, mining engineer, of The
Grange, Prudhoe-on-Tyne. For a great many years
there have been 307 beehive coke ovens in operation at
the Mickley Colliery, and 228 beehive ovens at the West
Wylam Colliery, no coke having been manufactured at
Prudhoe. Some time ago, the company decided to

an exhaust steam turbine plant. Nowadays, a battery of
30 patent by-product ovens may be considered a some-
what small plant, and, when compared with many of
the very much larger installations which have recently
been described and illustrated in these pages, the
Mickley Coal Company’s enterprise may probably not
be considered of first importance. The general arrange-
ment and design of the plant is, however, of more than
ordinary interest, and very well lend themselves to
detailed description and illustration. It may be said
that so successful has this installation proved, that the
Mickley Coal Company has now under consideration
the question of replacing the 307 beehive ovens at the
Mickley Colliery by patent by-product ovens and
recovery plant.

Coke Oven Plant.

The battery at West Wylam consists of 30 “ Otto ”
waste-heat ovens, and is so arranged that it may con-

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G 1

#6

General View, showing Ovens, Crushed Coal Storage Bunker, and By-product Plant.









A—Crushed coal storage bunker.
B—Battery of 30 waste heat ovens.
C—Ramming and levelling machine.
D—Coke bench.

E—Breeze settling tank.

F—Steam boilers.

X —Water filter and storage tank.

Y —Tar and liquor deposit tanks.

Z —Tar loading tanks over pump house.

A'—Acid storage tank.

B '—Steam main.

G—Hydraulic main.	N—Sulphate store.	S —Benzol plant.
H—Gas suction main.	O - Naphthalene scrubber.	T—Benzol storage tanks.
J —Tar catch tank.	P—Gas exhausters.	U—Wash oil storage tank.
K—Air cooler.	Q—Benzol scrubbers.	V —Wash oil cooler.
L—Tar spray.  M—Saturators.	R—Return gas main.	W—Naphthalene scum tank.
Plan	showing General Arrangement	of Plant.

Mickley Pit, sunk in 1840; Prudhoe Pit, sunk in 1853;
and West Wylam, sunk in 1866. These three collieries
have a total annual output of about 600,000 tons of
household, manufacturing, steam, gas and coking coal.
The board of directorate is composed of Mr. Matthew
Liddell (chairman), Mr. Clive Cookson (managing
director), and Mr. Charles Liddell. The company’s

replace 183 of the beehive ovens at the West Wylam
Colliery by a battery of by-product coke ovens; and a
contract for these, as also for a complete recovery plant,
was accordingly placed with the Otto Coke Oven Com-
pany Limited, of Post Office House, Leeds; whilst
Messrs. C. A. Parsons and Company Limited, of Heaton,
Newcastle-on-Tyne, were entrusted with the provision of

veniently be extended by the addition of a further 10
ovens. Each of the 30 ovens is capable of taking a
charge of approximately 8J tons of coal. At present,
the capacity of the battery is equal to dealing with
66,000 tons of coal per annum; but with the extension
mentioned above, the plant will then be capable of
coking 88,000 tons of ooal per annum. The ovens are