THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN AND ' JOURNAL OF THE COAL AND IRON TRADES. Vol. CXI. FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 1916. No. 2882. Coal Washery Plant at Normanby Park Steel Works.* The new plant at the Normanby Park steel works of Messrs. John Lysaght Limited (a general plan of which is shown in fig. 1) comprises a large coal washery of the Meguin type in a building constructed entirely of ferro- concrete on the Mouchel-Hennebique system; two batteries of 48 regenerative coke ovens of the Semet- Solvay type, capable of turning out 3,000 tons of coal per week from a mixture of South Yorkshire and other coals; and plant for the recovery of tar, ammonia and' benzol. Power for operating the plant is supplied by gas engines using blast furnace gas; and surplus gas from the coke ovens is utilised in the steel ’works. The coal washery was designed and installed by Messrs. ‘ Franz Meguin and Company to the special requirements of the owners, and the building was con- structed by ■ the Yorkshire Hennebique Contracting Company Limited, of Leeds, in accordance with work- provided with mechanical feed arrangements, designed so as to draw in the slack from the four hoppers in such proportions as may be required, and to deliver it con- tinuously upon a band conveyor, whence the slack, thoroughly mixed in the correct proportions, is dis- charged into the main elevator at the rate of 120 tons per hour. From this elevator, which, as may be seen in fig. 3, ascends from a ferro-concrete sump, measuring 18 ft. square at the top by 17 ft.. deep inside, to the upper part of the coal washery, the slack passes into a recipro- cating screen, dividing the material into particles of two degrees of fineness, under and over 4 in. gauge, respectively. The fine coal passes, through apparatus, by means of which coal dust is drawn away and carried to a special chamber where it is collected, and afterwards added to the washed coal. The dustless coal falls into a channel, includes the main elevator sump at the north end, this measuring 31 ft. by 28 ft. at the top by 20 ft. deep inside. The sump projects 15 ft. 6 in. above ground level, and is supported by ferro-concrete columns 18 in. square in cross section. It is divided by a partition wall into two compartments, one for each elevator. The main building measures 65 ft. long by 40 ft. wide, two-thirds of it being 77 ft. high, and the remaining third rising in the form of a tower 94 ft. high, sur- mounted by a 'ferro-concrete water tank with a storing capacity of 62,000 gals. Designed on the skeleton system, the building is supported entirely on a series of ferro-concrete columns with extended bases distributing the entire load of the structure and its contents at the rate of 1| tons per square foot. Slack is delivered by .the elevator on the upper floor beneath which are the main bins with a capacity of 1,500 tons. These bins, 24 in number, are fed from hatchways formed in the floor above, and each has a hopper bottom whence coal can be drawn as required by means of valves. The floors, beneath the bins are Normanby Park Steel Works. km! uni hi! !a! Fig. 1.—Plan of Coal Washery Plant and Coke Ovens. ing drawings prepared by Messrs. L. G. Mouchel and Partners Limited, of Westminster. The,northern end of the building, whiclj rises to a height of 94ft. above foundation level, is illustrated in fig. 2. The washery plant has a capacity of 100. tons per hour, and.to enable the coking slacks, derived from a number of sources, to' be properly mixed, the raw coal is delivered into a series of four ferro-concrete hoppers situated beneath four of the sidings shown in fig. 1. The hoppers form part of an underground ferro- concrete structure measuring 62 ft. long by 14 ft. wide by 21 ft. high inside. Across the top are beams which carry five of the sidings represented in the plan. The sides consist of retaining wyalls of the usual Mouchel-. Hennebique type; part of the interior being occupied by the hoppers, while the remainder provides accom- modation for the appliances described below. Under, each hopper there is a rotatory feed table, * Ferro-Concrete. and is carried off to jigs in a stream of water. The washed slack is delivered, together with the wash water, into a large elevator sump constructed in ferro-concrete, whence it is raised by two Meguin elevators with perforated and hinged backs, permitting most of the water to escape before the. coal reaches the ferro-concrete drainage chamber, which is of 1,000 tons capacity, and is divided into two compartments, beneath each of these being a rotatory table—with scraper arm for drawing the slack on to collecting conveyors for removal to an installation of Carr’s disintegrators. After treatment, in the washery, the coal is removed for transmission to other parts of the plant by means of an elevator picking up the material from a ferro-concrete sump in the basement of the washery building. The ferro-concrete work also includes the underground structure containing the hoppers and elevator sump, at the south-west corner of the washery, employed in the operations of receiving, mixing, , and conveying coal for subsequent treatment in the washery building. It also devoted to coal washing apparatus, in connection with this being a series of conical ferro-concrete compart- ments partly below ground level. The building is monolithic throughout and reinforced in accordance with Mouchel-Hennebique standard practice. Although the various structural elements are of apparently slender proportions, the strength and rigidity of the building are very remarkable, and the operation of the heavy mechanical appliances employed causes no perceptible vibration. Washed coal is supplied to the coking ovens, at any ■required rate, up to 100 tons per hour, by means of conveyor banks connected to an independent stamp runway, under which charging machines receive and stamp the slack into the compression boxes. Each of the 96 Semet-Solvay regenerative ovens carbonises 50 tons’of washed coal per week, the stamped slack being fed into the ovens by charging machines. There are two of these and two coke-ramming machines, each with independent electric motors for the several