BR Pig Iron Wagons in the early 80s

[Arthur]

Firstly, back, almost, to the original topic

 

Two photographs of the storage bays at the new Pig Iron facility at Workington, opened in 1966 (iron making ceased about ten years later......)

 

 

Above, the pig iron bays served by magnet crane, pig iron from the caster arrived on the left hand track and was despatched either by road or rail, on the right. The works produced a very high quality Haematite pig iron, low in phosphorous.

 

 

Workington was one of just four plants also smelting manganese in their blast furnaces. Manganese, more specifically, iron/manganese alloys are very important in steel making and alloy steel production, and so in high demand. These are the ferro alloy storage bins, non magnetic, so served by a wheeled loader.

 

 

Brian, here’s more about Spray Steelmaking than anyone needs to know.....

 

Spray steelmaking was one of several oxygen steelmaking process’ being developed in the 1950s and 60s, when oxygen had become available in commercial quantities. It was pioneered at the British Iron and Steel Research Associations labs at Sheffield and further developed between 1960 and 1962 with a pilot plant at RTBs Redbourn open hearth shop in Scunthorpe.

 

A basic aim of steelmaking is to burn, oxidise, the excess carbon out of the iron, and the availability of gaseous oxygen in bulk, post WWII, offered great potential. In the LD (Basic Oxygen), Kaldo and Rotor process,’ the oxygen was blown onto the surface of the hot metal. Spray steelmaking attempted to increase the rate at which the oxygen and the liquid iron came together. The key component was a cast brass, spray ring. This was a square section, hollow, brass ring with holes or nozzles on the underside. Liquid iron was poured at a constant rate through the central hole of the ring, whilst oxygen, at pressure, was forced into the ring and out of the nozzles. This atomised the stream of iron into a fine spray, bringing the oxygen rapidly into contact with a massive area of hot metal, resulting in a very rapid burning out of the carbon. The lower inlet was for cooling water. The apparatus was quite simple;

 

 

 

In all the commissioned plants the resultant steel collected in the ladle beneath. Lime was added around the ring to help a slag form, which removed other impurities and other alloying additives could be introduced, mixing readily in the furious reaction. Scrap, up to 40%, would melt in the spray.

 

Its advantages were speed, it was very fast, and very low capital costs.

 

It offered an interesting possibility. Iron could have been run direct from the blast furnace, through a spray ring as a continuous steel making process, and the steel produced run directly from a port in the collecting ladle through to a continuous casting plant. Blast furnace to steel billet in a continuous process, no extra heating, minimal handling,no ingot casting nor rolling.

 

Three production plants were built. Millom ironworks installed a plant at their blast furnace in 1965, running iron straight through it, but within three years Millom had gone out of business.

 

I don’t know much about Sheltons plant, they ran it for a year or so, along with a Kaldo plant. The main production plant was at Lancashire Steels Irlam plant, commissioned in 1966. It stood in their new, No.2, open hearth shop and was able to make use of the existing steel making facilities and the vacuum de-gassing plant. It was still there, unused, in 1973 when I worked there.

 

The process was never fully mastered, the vigorous reaction produced a foaming slag which was difficult to control and consequently the quality of steel produced a bit hit and miss. By this time the improved LD-AC process, which would become the standard oxygen process, had already proven itself viable and economic so further work on spray steel making ceased. I’ve been told more recently that with modern knowledge of metallurgy its problems could probably be overcome.

 

One of Lancashire Steels spray rings used to be on display at the Science Museum.

[Fat Controller]

Thanks for that, Arthur; I'm trying to imagine what that process would be like on an industrial scale..

The ten years for the pig-iron handling facilities was quite a reasonable lifespan for a new investment by BSC standards.

[How about a Dictator Loco Class?]

http://quietwomansrow.com/communities/3/004/006/263/453/images/4535319660.jpg

 

Some useful pig iron pictures.

[br2975]

By the late 1960s and perhaps even later, various BR built Pig iron wagons were employed in the carriage of redundant ingot moulds to Dowlais, where they were shattered and re-cast into new moulds; then returned to the steel works.

.

I have several photos in my collection

 

Captured in a train at Aber Junction, and loaded with four moulds B744716 at least was branded:-

 

"TO WORK BETWEEN /  DOWLAIS FOUNDRY ENGINEERING, DOWLAIS  /  AND GUEST KEEN IRON STEEL, CARDIFF"

.

Also captured at Aber Junction, with others, was B744000.

.

Brian R

[How about a Dictator Loco Class?]

By the late 1960s and perhaps even later, various BR built Pig iron wagons were employed in the carriage of redundant ingot moulds to Dowlais, where they were shattered and re-cast into new moulds; then returned to the steel works.

.

I have several photos in my collection

 

Captured in a train at Aber Junction, and loaded with four moulds B744716 at least was branded:-

 

"TO WORK BETWEEN /  DOWLAIS FOUNDRY ENGINEERING, DOWLAIS  /  AND GUEST KEEN IRON STEEL, CARDIFF"

.

Also captured at Aber Junction, with others, was B744000.

.

Brian R

 

That's very interesting! Would you be able to post some pictures maybe please?