OPEN-HEARTH FURNACES

To make steel from pig iron, 10 open-hearth furnaces enclosed in a long brick-sided building were reported to be in operation, but photos show, by counting the stacks, that only seven were in use. Fueling the open-hearths were 36 Wellman mechanical gas producers which supplied a flammable gas made from the partial combustion of coal through which air and steam were blown. Judging by production tonnage, following the shutdown of the second blast furnace, would point to increased output from the Joliet Works blast furnace. In 1930, 540,000 tons of steel were produced with two blast furnaces, while the 1970 tonnage reached 970,000 tons with one. This level of production was the downfall of the hot-side since only 20% of the raw steel output was used in the plant, with the rest shipped out to other facilities, particularly USS Joliet and Waukegan Works.

Wellman Gas Producers