February 9, 1917. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN 279 Mr. E. B. Hollingworth, of Birchenwood, who pro- posed the toast of “ The City and Trades of Leeds,” mentioned that Leeds was the first city to hold out a helping hand, through its university, to their allies of the gas industry. He hoped it would not be long before his own profession had its chair at Leeds or some other university in the district. The toast was responded to by Sir William Middle- brook, M.P., Leeds, who stated that the trade of Leeds was devoted to peaceful pursuits, but it was really remarkable how its energies had been turned to the production of shells and machinery of war. Mr. J. W. Lee (Grassmoor) gave the toast of “ The Kindred Societies,” which was responded to by Prof. Burstall. “The Press ” was given by Mr. J. A. Wilson (Staveley), and responded to by Mr. E. R. Phillips. __________________ THE COKE INDUSTRY OF NEW SOUTH WALES * By L. F. Harper and J. C. H. Mingaye. (Continued from page 229.) The Federal Coke Works. These works are adjacent to the Il’lawarra Railway line, about half a mile north of Wollongong Station, 48 miles from Sydney, and about six miles from Port Kembla. The coal used is obtained from the Osborne- Waillsend Company’s Colliery at Mount Keira, distant about half a mile from the coke works. Slack coal only is used, but analyses of average samples of coal from this colliery are as follow, and should approximate the average chemical composition of the slack used, the ash in both instances being buff- coloured and semi-granular, whilst the coke is fairly swollen, firm, and lustrous :— Per cent. Per cent. Hygroscopic moisture ... 0’88 ... 0'78 Volatile matter ......... 25'09 ... 26'18 Fixed carbon............. 6189 ... 61'38 Ash ..................... 9'14 ... 8'66 100'00 ... 100'00 Sulphur ................. 0'394 ... 0'451 Specific gravity ......... 1'377... 1'393 Coke.____.................... 74'03 ... 73'04 Calorific power (lb.) _____ 13'0 ... 13'2 The slack is not washed, but passed directly tnrough a Carr type of disintegrator. Mechanical conveyors transfer the coal from the delivery bins to the disinte- Fig. 2.—Bird's Eye View of Coking Plant. The Corrimal-Balgownie Collieries Limited, Corrimal. grater, and thence to the main storage receptacle, from which it is charged to the ovens by overhead trucks operated by manual labour, and discharging into two ports in the crown of each oven. The ovens, 45 in number, and known as the McLanahan type, are vertical flued, and rectangular in shape, the dimensions being 30 ft. long, 8 ft. wide, and 5 ft. 11 in. high to the crown of the arch, the ends taper- ing from 3ft. to 2 ft. 9 in., so that the thickness of the charge very seldom exceeds 2 ft. 6 in. The time occupied in burning is 72 hours and 96 hours alternately, this arrangement tiding the ovens over a Sunday. For the 72 hours burning a charge of 12 tons 10 cwt. of coal is placed in the ovens, whilst for the longer period the ovens are charged with 15 tons. The oven doors are raised and lowered by hydraulic power; internal quenching is adopted, and the coke is discharged by a steam ram. The percentage of loss due to spongy coke, “ breeze,” and burnt coke is estimated at 2 per cent. The output is 850 tons per week as a maximum, but the average is slightly less. The generated gases are allowed to go to waste at present, the excess of tar over that required in the coking process being insufficient to justify a by-product plant. About 65,000 tons of slack coal are used per annum, producing about 44,000 tons of coke, or 67'69 per cent. Samples of the coke produced gave the following results :—Hygroscopic moisture, 1'38 per cent.; volatile matter, 1'59; fixed carbon, 82-63; ash, 14-08; sulphur, 0-32 per cent. Specific gravity, 1-816. Ash, buff- coloured, semi-granular. Coke, dark grey in colour, dense, hard, and compact; should readily stand handling without breaking, and the weight of a heavy burden for * New South Wales Department of Mines, Mineral liesources. No. 23. metallurgical purposes. The ash contained : Moisture, 0'05 per cent.; silica, 52'94; alumina, 34'49; ferric oxide, 4'10; and lime, 2'32 per cent. Mount Pleasant Coke Works. The ovens (started in 1910) are situated alongside the Hlawarra Railway line, about 1| miles north of Wollon- gong Station. They are only seven miles from Port Kembla, and 47 miles from the port of Sydney, but prac- tically all the coke made is shipped at the latter place. Slack coal only is used, and is obtained from the Bull! seam at Mount Pleasant Colliery, distant 3| miles from the coking plant. Analyses of average samples of coal from this colliery are as follow :— Per cent. Per cent. Hygroscopic moisture .... 0'90 ... 0'65 Volatile hydrocarbons .... 25'35 ... 24'30 Fixed carbon.............. 63'93 ... 65'30 Ash*...................... 10'02 ... 9 75 100'00 ... 100'00 Sulphur ......................... 0 325 ... 0 347 Specific gravity .......... 1'377 ... 1'368 ......... Coke...................... 73'951 ... 75'051 Calorific value (lb )........ 13'0 ... 13'0 * Grey in colour, granular. + Fairly swollen, firm and lustrous. J Well swollen, firm and lustrous. The slack coal is not washed, but passed through a Carr disintegrator, and mechanically conveyed into the storage bin, from which it is fed into the ovens by canisters running on two sets of rails, and discharging into 'two ports in the crown of each oven. The ovens are built, on the longitudinal beehive pattern (McLanahan type), and are 40 in number, with the following dimensions : 30 ft. long, 5 ft. 10 in. to crown of arch, and tapering from 4 ft. to 2 ft. 10 in. at the doors. The charge's are adjusted to suit the 72 hours or 96 hours burning, 15 tons of duff being used for the former, and 18 tons for the latter. Overhead feed is ■adopted, operated by gravity, the empties being returned to the storage bin by manual labour. After the coking process is completed, the charges are pushed out by a steam ram, the doors of the oven being raised by hydraulic power. Internal watering is adopted, thus minimising the inconvenience on the coke bench, but final quenching takes place there. The loss after with- drawal from the oven is estimated by the management at 2 per cent. The generated gases are not used, either for by-product extraction or heating the boilers, the view being held that they are negligible from an economic standioint. Twenty-two men are employed, and during 1915 50,350 tons of slack coal were used, yielding 35,294 tons of coke, or 70-09 per cent. An average sample of coke obtained from these works was analysed, with the following result :—Hygroscopic moisture, 1-33 per cent.; volatile matter, 0-70; fixed carbon, 83-29; ash, 14-35; sulphur, 0-33 per cent. Specific gravity, 1-809. Ash, grey in colour, semi- granular. Coke, dark grey, firm and compact, and capable of standing a heavy burden for smelting purposes. The ash contained : Moisture, 0-07 per cent.; silica, 50-94; alumina, 3'2-01; feme oxide, 3-30; lime, 5-72; and sulphur trioxide, 2-34 per cent. The Corrimal Coke Works. The new coking plant of the Corrimal-Balgownie Collieries Limited (fig. 2) was erected in 1912, and adjoins th© Illawarra Railway at Corrimal. At the pre- sent time, apart from the Broken Hill Proprietary Steel Works, these are the only coke works in the State at which all the steam power required is obtained by burn- ing the waste gases generated in the coke ovens under the boilers. Sufficient horse-power is produced to pro- vide for the coke works requirements, and a complete electrical installation at the company’s colliery, distant about 11 miles from the ovens. The coal is obtained from No. 1, or the Bulli seam, and has given the following average analyses :■—• Per cent. Per cent. Hygroscopic moisture ... 0’58 ... 0'40 Volatile hydrocarbons... 22'38 ... 24'55 Fixed carbon............ 67’64 ... 66’38 Ash*.................... 9'40 ... 8'67 100'90 ... 100'09 Sulphur ................ 0'361 ... 0'320 Specific gravity........... 1'388 ... 1'349 Coke.................... 77 04f... 75 051 Calorific value (lb.)....... 13'2 ... 13'60 * Grey, granular. .+ Fairly swollen, firm, dull lustre. I Well swollen, firm and lustrous. Slack coal only is used at the coke works, and washing is not considered necessary, the slack being fed direct to a Carr disintegrator by a scraper elevator. Canisters, electrically driven, charge the duff to the ovens, which are of the “ Thomas ” type, with the following dimen- sicnis : 30 ft. long, 6 ft. 7|in. wide, and 6ft. 6 in. high. Forty ovens are in use, and the burning periods are 72 hours and 96 hours, the charge for the former being 12 tons'and for the latter 14 torus. The coke is pushed out by an electrically-worked ram, and then quenched on the landing bench. The works have a maximum capa- city of 760 tons of.coke per week. The following analyses show the composition of the product:—Hygroscopic moisture, 0'53 per cent.; vola- tile matter, 0'17; fixed carbon, 83-60; ash, 15’25; sulphur, 0-45. Specific gravity, 1-850. Ash, bufi- colouned. loose, containing: Moisture, 0-04 per cent.: silica, 52'38; alumina, 33’53; ferric oxide, 6-50; and lime, 2-58 per cent. Bellambi Coke Works. These works were started by the Broken Hill Proprie- tary Company in 1901, and were taken over by the Broken Hill Associated Smelters in 1915. The ovens are situated about half a mile north of Bellambi Station, 43 miles from Sydney, and eight miles from Port Kembla, the coke being shipped in about equal propor- tions from both places. The coal used, all in the form of slack, is obtained from the Bulli seam as worked at the South Bulli Colliery, the quality of which is indicated by the follow- ing analyses, the coke in both cases being fairly swollen, fir-m, and lustrous, whilst the ash is light grey and semi- granular :— Per cent. Per cent. 0'17 ... 0'46 25'41 ... 24'64 61'38 ... 66'07 9'44 ... 8'83 Hygroscopic moisture ... Volatile hydrocarbons ... Fixed carbon .......... Ash ................... 100'00 ... 100'00 Sulphur '............... 0'388 ... 0'501 Specific gravity .......... 1'372 ... 1'371 Coke.................... 73'82 ... 74 90 Calorific value (lb.)....... 13'5 ... 13 3 The slack is mechanically delivered from the main storage bin, without washing, to a Stedman type of dis- integrator, and conveyed to the. duff hopper, from which it passes into three sets of overhead skips for discharge into the oven ports. The ovens are of the rectangular beehive type, the generated gases not being used, each provided with six horizontal flues, and arranged in two benches of 50 each, in addition to which 15 ovens are now being constructed. The dimensions are : Length, 30 ft.; width, 2 ft. 11 in., tapering to 2 ft. 7 in.; and 6 ft. high. The burning periods are 72 hours and 96 hours alternately, the- charge for the former being 4 tons 15 cwt., and for the latter 6 tons 13 cwt., the coke per- centage working out at 72-16. The coke is pushed out by a hydraulic ram, external quenching being adopted, and it is estimated that tue loss from breeze, burnt coke, etc., approximates 4 per cent. The past 12 months’ output from these- works was 53,102 tons of coke, from 73,581 tons of slack; 71 men are employed, and the output is entirely absorbed by 'the company. An average sample of coke gave the following result on analysis:—Hygroscopic moisture, 0’49 per cent.; volatile matter, 0-73; fixed carbon, 82-49; ash, 15'99; sulphur, 0-39 per cent. Specific gravity, 1-851. Ash, light reddish tinge, semi-granular. Coke, dark grey in colour, dense, and hard; not readily broken in handling, and should stand a heavy burden for smelting purposes. The ash contains : Moisture, 0-08 per cent.; silica, 50’38; alumina, 33-80; ferric oxide, 5-65; lime, 3-80; and sulphur trioxide, 1'37 per cent. The Bulli Coke Works. These works were established in 1889 by the Bulli Coke Company Limited, and have subsequently been acquired by the Bulli Colliery Coke Works Limited. The ovens are adjacent to the Illawarra Railway line, one mile from the colliery, to which they are connected by a private line of railway. Port Kembla is distant 14 miles, and Sydney 41 miles, and coke is shipped in about equal quantities from either port. Only slack coal is used, and is obtained from the Bulli Colliery, where both No. 1, or the Bulli seam, and No. 2, or the Four-foot seam, are being worked, and a blend of coal from both is occasionally coked with very satisfac- tory results. The slack is not washed, but passed through a Carr disintegrator direct, fro-m which it is raised to the main stora-ge bin by a mechanical elevator. It is conveyed from the bin to the ovens in canisters running on two sets of rails, and discharged into two ports set in the crown of the oven, gravity and hand power only being used. The duff as charged to the ovens was analysed, with 'the following result :—Hygroscopic moisture, 0’49 per cent.; volatile matter, 2443; fixed carbon, 61-31; ash, 13-77 per cent. Coke equals 75-08 per cent. Sulphur in coal, 0-343 per cent. Ash, light buff-coloured, granular. The ovens, of the W.’sh type, and 54 in number in two sets of 15 and 39 e ch, are about 21 ft. long, and tapering from 4 ft. 6 in. o 4 ft. in width. The original height of the ovens was 4 ft., but this is gradually being raised to 5 ft. 6 in. The flue system is horizontal, the generated gases being conveyed in a vertical flue at the ram end into the floor flues, and then into the main- discharge passage leading to the stacks, one at either end of the sets of ovens. The time for burning is divided into two periods of 48 hours and 72 hours respectively, the charge for the former being 4 tons 12 cwt. of slack, yielding 3 tons 10 cwt. of coke, and the latter 6 tons of slack, yielding 4 tons of coke. After the coking process is completed, the doors of the ovens are raised, and the charge pushed