Download the Full Version of the Ebook with Added Features ebookname.

com

Practical Science for Gardeners Mary M. Pratt

https://ebookname.com/product/practical-science-for-
gardeners-mary-m-pratt/

OR CLICK HERE

DOWLOAD NOW

Download more ebook instantly today at https://ebookname.com

Instant digital products (PDF, ePub, MOBI) available
Download now and explore formats that suit you...

Practical Cardiovascular Pathology 3rd Edition Mary N.

Sheppard

https://ebookname.com/product/practical-cardiovascular-pathology-3rd-
edition-mary-n-sheppard/

ebookname.com

Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley Writing Lives 1st

Edition Helen M. Buss

https://ebookname.com/product/mary-wollstonecraft-and-mary-shelley-
writing-lives-1st-edition-helen-m-buss/

ebookname.com

Essential Biochemistry 4th Edition Pratt

https://ebookname.com/product/essential-biochemistry-4th-edition-
pratt/

ebookname.com

Equity and Index Options Explained 1st Edition W. A.

Beagles

https://ebookname.com/product/equity-and-index-options-explained-1st-
edition-w-a-beagles/

ebookname.com
Chinese tourism Taoism 1st ed. Edition Yin Zhihua

https://ebookname.com/product/chinese-tourism-taoism-1st-ed-edition-
yin-zhihua/

ebookname.com

Delmar s Standard Textbook of Electricity Third Edition

Stephen L. Herman

https://ebookname.com/product/delmar-s-standard-textbook-of-
electricity-third-edition-stephen-l-herman/

ebookname.com

Thermal Remote Sensing of Active Volcanoes A User s Manual

1st Edition Andrew Harris

https://ebookname.com/product/thermal-remote-sensing-of-active-
volcanoes-a-user-s-manual-1st-edition-andrew-harris/

ebookname.com

CSAT _ Logical Reasoning Analytical Ability 1st Edition

M.B. Lal

https://ebookname.com/product/csat-_-logical-reasoning-analytical-
ability-1st-edition-m-b-lal/

ebookname.com

Africa s World War Congo the Rwandan Genocide and the

Making of a Continental Catastrophe Gérard Prunier

https://ebookname.com/product/africa-s-world-war-congo-the-rwandan-
genocide-and-the-making-of-a-continental-catastrophe-gerard-prunier/

ebookname.com
School Culture Improvement 1st Edition Zhang Dongjiao

https://ebookname.com/product/school-culture-improvement-1st-edition-
zhang-dongjiao/

ebookname.com
 Practical
$24.95

A basic understanding of science can teach us

Science
much about our plants and gardens and turn

Practical Science PracticalScience us into better gardeners. Once we know how

plants are constructed, it is easier to work out
how they will grow and flourish. An

Mary Pratt graduated in zoology from Oxford

FOR
Gardeners FOR
Gardeners understanding of the structure of a good soil
gives clues as to how to improve our own.
Mary Pratt’s compelling explanations breathe
life into scientific principles and illustrate the

FOR
University and went on to gain a Master’s effects of their application in the garden.
degree in biology at Keele University. She

Gardeners
lectured on adult education programmes and
worked in nature conservation, including a
Gardening is ‘chemistry’ – but don’t panic! ... Mary Pratt Practical Science for Gardeners begins by
looking at what plants need to survive and
stint for the Wildlife Trusts. Following this she the growth of plants is all to do with the way how these fundamental scientific facts are at
taught biology at secondary school level before the heart of good plant care. A chapter on
retiring to Devon with her musician husband. in which chemical substances maintain and
seeds and germination encourages keen
control life. If we start with an understanding propagators to refine their techniques while
further discussion of soil, pests and diseases
of this, we’re well on the way to meeting the adds to the skills of all gardeners. The final
needs of plants and creating a flourishing, section of the book takes a close look at
biodiversity and unravels the mysteries of
beautiful and productive garden. genetic engineering and plant naming.

From the Introduction Packed full of tips about how to apply science

Mary Pratt
to achieve healthier plants and better gardens,
this informative and entertaining book will
stimulate experimentation and encourage
Author photograph: George Pratt gardeners to review their gardening practices
in the light of their new-found knowledge.
For details on other Timber Press books
or to receive our catalog, please visit our Web site,
www.timberpress.com.

In the United States and Canada you may also reach

us at 1-800-327-5680, and in the United Kingdom at
[email protected]. TIMBER £17.99
UPC EAN PRESS
Practical Science
for Gardeners

Mary M. Pratt
Practical Science
for Gardeners

Mary M. Pratt

Timber Press
Contents

Preface 6

1. Muck, Magic and Molecules 8

The building blocks 11
Staying alive and growing – food and energy 12
Water works 19

2. The Parts of a Plant – and Looking After Them 20

Roots 20
Stems 26
Leaves 32
Flowers and seeds 35

3. From Seed to Senescence 43

Seeds and germination 43
Old wives’ tales – true or false? 49
Growing up 51
Control of growth – plant hormones 51
Propagation without sex but with hormones to help – vegetative propagation 56
Slowing down and senescence 58
Common growth problems 60

4. Looking After the Soil – the Balanced Approach

to its Care and Maintenance 61
Managing soil structure and texture 64
‘Feeding’ – fertilizing 65
Fertilizing using man-made chemicals 67
Using organic fertilizers 72
Acidity and alkalinity – pH 79
The combined approach to encouraging good growth 80
5. Nature’s Arms Race and How to Negotiate a Peace Deal 81
Controlling animal pests without artificial chemicals 84
Biological control of weeds 89
Diseases 91
Successes and failures of biological control 95
Using man-made chemicals 96

6. Biodiversity in the Garden – Encouraging Wildlife 100

Ecological succession 102
Present-day habitats – the results of succession held back 106
Types of habitat which can be created in gardens 108
Woodland 109
Grassland 115
Wetlands 119
Encouraging biodiversity in a conventional garden 126
Hazards of which to beware when encouraging biodiversity 127

7. Genes, GM and the Brave New World of Designer Plants 129

Introduction to DNA and genes 129
Simple plant genetics 135
Recombinant DNA technology – genetic modification 140
Ethical and safety considerations 144

8. Plant Classification and Naming 146

Appendices 1–7 152

Glossary 159
Further reading 166
Useful addresses 169
Metric conversion chart 171
Index 172
6

I Preface

This book aims to be a little different from other gardening books. It might be
best described as the ‘appliance of science for gardeners’ – but simple science,
which I hope you’ll find easy to understand. You won’t discover in it the month-
by-month calendar of essential tasks found in many other books and magazines;
it isn’t a guide to garden design or garden history; nor is it a technical horticul-
tural textbook. It explains, in a straightforward way, what science can tell us
about how plants are constructed and how they grow and flourish. It then applies
this knowledge to everyday gardening tasks, to some of the common problems
gardeners face, and to accepted practices, whether they be so-called ‘organic’ or
otherwise. Equipped with a better knowledge of the structure of delicate plant tis-
sues, and the way plants function and interact with their environment, we might
have second thoughts about some of our gardening techniques. Perhaps I’ll
explode some myths. Above all I hope that I may challenge and entertain. As I
will explain later, conclusive understanding of life processes is elusive, and there
is a great deal we still don’t know for certain. My gardening suggestions are
therefore not to be swallowed whole as dogma – they might, instead, be pointers
to your own observations and experiments.
Gardening is ‘chemistry’ – but don’t panic! It’s just that I believe such a
notion aptly encompasses my philosophy of gardening as a perfect collaboration
between emotion and rationality, between the feeling and reasoning parts of our
psyches. We talk about the ‘chemistry’ of human relationships – of feeling ‘on
net’ with someone, of ‘falling in love’ or of experiencing irritation or antagonism.
In this sense, the proverbial green-fingered gardener is someone whose relation-
ship with plants achieves the right ‘chemistry’ in an instinctive,
‘seat-of-the-pants’ sort of way. But there is another sense in which it is chemistry
– for the growth of plants is all to do with the way in which chemical substances
maintain and control life. If we start with an understanding of this, we’re well on
the way to meeting the needs of plants and creating a flourishing, beautiful and
productive garden.
Artistic creativity and that instinctive feeling for the plant world are gifts of
personality which I believe defy analysis. Maybe psychology will one day
 PREFACE 7

explain them but, since I am not a psychologist, I’m concerned largely with the
other kind of chemistry and its close cousins, biology (the study of living organ-
isms) and ecology (the study of living things in relation to their environment). If
you’re already naturally gifted, I hope this will add to your skills: if you despair
of ever possessing ‘green fingers’, it may even help to generate more creativity.
Rest assured that it will be simple science. What’s more, I make no claim that sci-
ence has all the answers – indeed, in the first chapter I suggest that science is
largely misunderstood, and that rather than providing incontrovertible proof of
anything it is, at best, only giving us provisional knowledge. I hope you’ll agree,
though, that it is knowledge worth having.
I am very grateful for help of various kinds from the following: Dr. Ken
Thompson, Katharine Swift, Dr. Tony Polwart, Valerie Brooke (RHS – Royal
Horticultural Society – Wisley Library), Norman Day (Forest Research),
Blackwell Publishing, Hodder & Stoughton, Cambridge University Press, Oxford
University Press, Faber and Faber, The Wildfowl Trust; Gwen Leighton and John
Fulcher for illustrations; and Dr Keith Goodway and Professor Michael Page who
kindly read sections in draft. I do, of course, nonetheless take full responsibility
for all errors and omissions.
Last but not least I must thank my husband – for moral support, for technical
assistance, and for many hours of help with the final editing.

Note: After Mary Pratt was diagnosed with a brain tumour, she worked with
great determination, in various hospitals and then at home, to complete the
text and illustrations for this book. She died in December 2004, delighted to
know that the book had been accepted without question for publication.
She had briefed her husband, Professor George Pratt, about the non-
scientific practical details which remained to be dealt with.
8

1. Muck, magic and

molecules

This chapter is about the chemistry of life and about how scientists unravel the
complex and variable processes that govern the lives of plants. But don’t be
alarmed – it’s going to be a gentle introduction.
All living organisms are made of chemical elements. Plants depend on them
for their survival and growth, whether they come from compost or a packet of
‘Grow-Well’. A recently published book was described on the cover as a ‘guide
to natural and chemical-free gardening’. With due respect to much of the excel-
lent content, gardening is, by definition, not natural, and to describe it as
‘chemical-free’ is misleading. We may choose to avoid using man-made chemi-
cal additives, but plants actually depend on chemistry to sustain the whole
amazing world of their inner workings.

What science can tell us about the chemistry of life

By painstaking observation, then putting forward hypotheses and experimenting to
test these hunches, scientists have discovered that our planet is constructed of
around 100 chemical elements, each occurring in the form of tiny units – atoms –
indivisible by ordinary physical or chemical means. (I say ‘around’ because a few
of them have been created in the laboratory and do not occur naturally.) Atoms
group themselves together into larger units called molecules, and it is molecules
containing the element carbon which make up the structure of living organisms.
Such molecules merit the term ‘organic’, but the only difference between them
and the simpler molecules of a child’s first chemistry set is that they are con-
structed around carbon atoms and tend to be rather large (Figure 1-1).
The architecture of these molecules, and the way in which they interact and
fix themselves together to form a living organism, is truly stupendous. Likewise,
the way in which waste products and dead organisms – in gardening parlance
‘muck’ – become broken down again into their constituents is equally miraculous.
But it is nonetheless chemistry. The living world is a massive and incredibly com-
plex DIY chemical-processing operation, thought to have started up somewhere
between 3.5 and 4 billion years ago, and getting ever more sophisticated since.
 MUCK, MAGIC AND MOLECULES 9

Figure 1-1. The difference between a protein molecule and a molecule of common salt.
The protein molecule is made up of a chain of sub-units (a a) each being an amino acid,
of which there are 20 different kinds. Only a very small part of a protein molecule is
shown here. A complete protein would be many times longer, and the chain is often
twisted or folded into intricate shapes.

sodium atom chlorine atom

molecule of sodium chloride

(common salt)

a a

small part of a protein molecule

carbon atom nitrogen atom oxygen atom

hydrogen atom

Living things are continually taking molecules apart and putting them together in
different ways. When we’re gardening we are truly playing with muck and magic,
but in the form of a gigantic and amazing chemistry set.

Studying plants – the scientific approach and its limitations

Scientists have unravelled the way in which living things operate, and it is there-
fore to science that we should look for help in understanding how plants grow.
Unfortunately living organisms are so complex and so variable (some would say
10 CHAPTER 1

‘bloody minded’) that studying them is no simple matter. Moreover, science doesn’t
claim to give perfect and immutable proof for all time – it simply gives us provi-
sional knowledge (which is better than guesswork or opinion). As in medical
science things change as new information becomes available. Very often there are
no straightforward answers (though gardening ‘experts’ would sometimes have us
believe that there are).
Because of this complexity and variability, and the many interacting factors
in the environment that affect plants, no individual plant will behave in exactly
the same way as its neighbours. Scientific experiments therefore have to depend
on statistics and can only come up with answers which are probabilities.
Consider an experiment to find out if a particular fertilizer is more effective
than another. Two plots are chosen, and an effort made to render all environmen-
tal factors (soil type, exposure to light, drainage and so on) the same. Then 100
seedlings are planted in each plot and one treated with fertilizer A, the second
with fertilizer B.
After an allotted time all the plants are measured for height and dry weight.
(The weight of dried-out plant material gives a more realistic measure of actual
plant tissue because cells contain large amounts of water, which may vary
between individual plants.) To a casual observer the plants in plot A might appear
to have done better, but in neither plot will the plants be uniform. There will be a
range of measurements, due partly to the variability of living processes and part-
ly to the fact that it is very difficult to make other environmental factors identical
throughout each plot. You might suggest taking the average, and the fertilizer
which gives the highest average height/weight can then be said to be the best. But
what if in plot A – although the average is higher – the range of variation is
 MUCK, MAGIC AND MOLECULES 11

greater, so that there are a few very small plants, several enormous ones and lots
of fairly unimpressive middling ones in between? You might be less inclined to
conclude that fertilizer A was the best. To overcome this problem the results will
be analysed using statistical tests to produce an answer which can only say that
there is a certain percentage probability that fertilizer A is better than B.
Statisticians talk about there being a significant difference between them at a
certain level of probability.
If the experiment is repeated, the chances are that the results will be slightly
different even though an attempt has been made to keep the conditions the same.
I recollect an experiment, carried out on a popular TV programme, in which dif-
ferent kinds of hanging basket materials were tested. Though the conditions were
ostensibly the same, only one of each type of basket was planted up. A winner
was chosen by visual examination, but I wonder what the results would have been
had several of each been tried out and the procedure repeated – a much fairer test.
Even then, I suspect that the results would not have been clear-cut.
I use these illustrations to emphasize that biological science – and indeed sci-
ence in general – gives us the best possible answers or explanations, in the
circumstances, and for the time being. But they are only provisional. All it can do
is say that the evidence supports a particular hypothesis and that conclusions are
consistent with other findings – in other words, the story seems to make sense.
Having said that, there are some aspects of the life of plants about which we
can be pretty certain – particularly when considering directly observable internal
structures, and intensively studied universal functions, such as the way plants make
food by photosynthesis and release energy by respiration. Here we come back to
molecules because, whether we are made of ‘sugar and spice and all things nice’
(girls) or ‘frogs and snails and puppy dogs’ tails’ (boys), we are all, in the last resort,
constructed from proteins, fats and carbohydrates, unromantic as that may seem!
The rest of this chapter takes a look inside a plant to see what it is made of
and what goes on there. There is, of course, no such thing as a ‘typical’ plant;
also, because living processes are extremely complex, I have had to simplify and
generalize. But there are things which are relevant to gardeners which are com-
mon to all green plants. Understanding them can only help our gardening.

The building blocks

Most plants and animals are made up of millions of microscopic building blocks
or cells. In plants each cell has a non-living cell wall, typically made of cellulose.
Inside this is a ‘dollop’ of what appears under an ordinary light microscope to be
a jelly-like material, the cytoplasm.
12 CHAPTER 1

Figure 1-2. Generalized diagram of two adjacent plant cells, showing the main features.
(Most plant cells are in the order of hundredths of a millimetre in diameter, so this is
hugely magnified.) The cell wall is made of tough cellulose and, to make communication
between cells easier, there are usually tiny pores through which a strand of cytoplasm
passes. Cells come in many different shapes and sizes according to where they occur in
the plant and the different jobs they have to do.

membrane round cytoplasm cell wall

nucleus
vacuole
(cell sap)

cytoplasm chloroplast

The cytoplasm is covered by a thin ‘skin’ which allows water and certain
other small molecules through, and a similar membrane lines any holes (or vac-
uoles) within the cytoplasm. At certain places in the cell wall there may be strands
of cytoplasm which pass through and connect with a neighbouring cell. On much
closer examination – with a more sophisticated electron microscope – the cyto-
plasm turns out to contain sheets and sheets of membranes lying in a watery
solution of chemicals. We now know that these structures, including the outer cell
membrane, are made up of a double layer of fat (lipid) molecules sandwiched
between two layers of protein molecules. The same applies to animal cells – so
humans and plants are both made largely of protein and fat. Plants are a bit dif-
ferent, in having a ‘skeleton’ of cell walls made of the carbohydrate, cellulose.
The structure labelled the nucleus is the control centre of the cell and it is
here that the genetic material, the chemical compound DNA (deoxyribonucleic
acid), is situated. Its role is to send messages, encoded in a similar chemical sub-
stance RNA (ribonucleic acid), out into the cytoplasm giving instructions for
specific chemical reactions to be carried out (see Chapter 7). These chemical
reactions determine what sort of plant it is and how it germinates, grows and
reproduces.

Staying alive and growing – food and energy

The main feature distinguishing plants from animals is the ability of the for-
mer to stay rooted to the spot, while animals have to scurry around, searching
for nourishment. Plants make their own food using simple chemicals from air
and soil, whereas animals have to rely on food already made for them, not
 MUCK, MAGIC AND MOLECULES 13

necessarily near at hand. But before this food can be put to use for growing
new parts, energy has to be made available – no factory can operate without
a source of power.
In the human economy a major source has been the burning of fossil fuels; in
the plant economy power comes from burning sugar – the process of respiration
inside cells, actually a very slow kind of combustion (but without fire and smoke).

The source of power – respiration

Respiration has important implications, particularly for greenhouse gardening.
Like houses, all plants are constructed of building blocks or cells. But, unlike
houses, each cell is a miniature factory. It takes in raw materials and churns out
products, which may be destined for growth by making more cells, or may be
waste, which needs to be disposed of. Respiration is the energy-supply process.
It is going on in all cells all the time, making energy available for carrying out the
numerous tasks which keep an organism alive and help it to grow.
Energy is stored in sugar, which in turn can be stored in the form of starch –
often in special storage organs underground (hence starchy potatoes). For the
energy to be released the sugar is very, very slowly ‘burnt’ using oxygen; glucose
is made to react with oxygen inside special ‘power stations’ called mitochondria.
The sugar is broken down, energy is temporarily packed away in an easily acces-
sible form, whilst the by-products – carbon dioxide and water – are disposed of
or used elsewhere. Detailed experiments have shown that the whole business of
respiration is actually a complicated chain of chemical reactions facilitated by
specialist proteins called enzymes. (Enzymes are like the catalysts of test-tube
chemistry – they help reactions along; see Chapter 3 where their role in germina-
tion is explained.)
Another by-product is, of course, heat – very noticeable in our own bodies
when we are frantically active, and in compost heaps where bacteria are busy (see
Chapter 4). Heat production is not so noticeable in plants because, being immo-
bile, they use a lot less energy. Having said that, some plants are able to raise their
temperature by a surprising amount; one example which has been studied recent-
ly is lords and ladies (Arum maculatum). This extra heat comes from respiration.
I have described respiration as a process of slow combustion in the presence of
oxygen, but there are exceptions. Animal muscle cells and some micro-organisms
(bacteria and yeasts) are capable of releasing energy from carbohydrate without
the presence of oxygen and, instead of water, the end product – in addition to car-
bon dioxide – may be either lactic acid or alcohol. This process of anaerobic
respiration is not as efficient, but we have benefited from it by being able to use
yeast to ferment various plant extracts (and enjoy the end result!).
14 CHAPTER 1

Figure 1-3. Simplified diagram of the internal structure of a cell (not to scale), showing
the functions of the different parts. There are generally lots of mitochondria and
chloroplasts in a single cell, but usually only one Golgi body and one nucleus. The
membranes with tiny projections on them – the ribosomes – extend throughout the cell.
All these tiny internal structures (or organelles) have been revealed by the use of the
electron microscope, which gives images magnified hundreds of thousands times (for
example x 250,000) in contrast to the ordinary light microscope which can only give a
maximum magnification of x 1,500. A typical mitochondrion is in the order of one
thousandth of a millimetre in diameter.

mitochondrion
chloroplast (power station)
(sugar factory)
nucleus
(control centre)
Golgi body (waste
disposal unit) membranes with ribosomes
(protein factories)

One important use for the energy which respiration makes available is to
empower the construction of the giant proteins and other large molecules
which are the structural components needed for growth – cellulose for cell
walls, lignin (another kind of strong carbohydrate) for strengthening stems.
They are manufactured on ‘assembly lines’ under instructions from the con-
trol centre, the nucleus, and are transported through the cell along channels
and out to cells in other parts of the plant, particularly the growing points.
Exactly the same thing is happening all the time in our own cells and, of
course, we breathe out the carbon dioxide. For us, the inhalation of oxygen/get-
ting rid of carbon dioxide is called breathing, but scientific studies have shown
that the actual energy-releasing process of respiration is much the same in plants
and animals.
For gardeners, a particularly relevant point is that respiration is very sensitive
to temperature – the higher the temperature the more rapid the reaction. In a heat-
ed greenhouse it may speed up so much that precious glucose is being wasted (see
the discussion of the balance between photosynthesis and respiration, page 15).

Making materials – photosynthesis

So far so good – but where does the sugar come from, together with all the other
chemicals needed to manufacture proteins and other plant materials? Plants can’t
eat other living things to obtain them (insectivorous plants are notable excep-
tions) so they have either to make them, or obtain them from the soil.
They solve the problem by making sugar by the process of photosynthesis.
They subsequently have to make other things, but the food with which every plant
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
solution, there is no polarization from formation of lead peroxide on
the anode, no evaporation of constituents except water, and no
danger in its handling. It is cheaply obtained by diluting hydrofluoric
acid of 35 per cent. HF, which is quoted in New York at 3c. per
pound, with an equal volume of water and saturating it with
pulverized quartz according to the equation:
SiO2 + 6HF = HSiF6 + 2H2O.
According to Mr. Betts, an acid of 20 to 22 per cent. will come to
about $1 per cu. ft., or to $1.25 when the solution has been
standardized with 6 lb. of lead. One per cent. of lead will neutralize
0.7 per cent. H2SiF6. The electrolyte employed at the time of my
inspection of the works contained, I believe, 8 per cent. lead and 11
per cent. excess of fluosilicic acid.
The anodes consist of the lead bullion to be refined, cast into
plates about 2 in. thick and approximately of the same size as
ordinary two-lugged copper anodes. Before being placed in position
in the tanks, they are straightened by hammering over a mold and
their lugs squared. No anode sacks are employed as in the old Keith
process.
The cathode sheets which receive the regular lead deposits are
thin lead plates obtained by electrodeposition upon and stripping
from special cathodes of sheet steel. The latter are prepared for use
by cleaning, flashing with copper, lightly lead-plating in the tanks,
and greasing with a benzine solution of paraffin, dried on, from
which the deposited lead is easily stripped.
The anodes and cathodes are separated by a space of 1½ to 2 in.
in the tank and are electrically connected in multiple, the tanks being
in series circuit. The fall in potential between tanks is only about 0.2
of a volt, which remarkably low voltage is due to the high conducting
power of the electrolyte and to some extent to the system of
contacts used. These contacts are small wells of mercury in the bus-
bars, large enough to accommodate copper pins soldered to the iron
cathodes or clamped to the anodes. Only a small amount of mercury
is required.
Current strengths of from 10 to 25 amperes per sq. ft. have been
used, but at Trail 14 amperes have given the most satisfactory
results as regards economy of working and the physical and
chemical properties of the refined metal produced.
A current of 1 ampere deposits 3.88 grams of lead per hour, or
transports 3¼ times as much lead, in this case, as copper with an
ordinary copper-refining solution. A little over 1000 kg., or 2240 lb.,
requires about 260,000 ampere hours. At 10 amperes per sq. ft. the
cathode (or anode) area should be about 1080 sq. ft. per ton of
daily output. Taking a layer of electrolyte 1.5 in. thick, 135 cu. ft. will
be found to be the amount between the electrodes, and 175 cu. ft.
may be taken as the total quantity of solution necessary, according
to Mr. Betts’ estimate. The inventor states that he has worked
continuously and successfully with a drop of potential of only 0.175
volt per tank, and that therefore 0.25 volt should be an ample
allowance in regular refining. Quoting Mr. Betts; “260,000 ampere
hours at 0.25 volt works out to 87 electrical h.p. hours of 100 h.p.
hours at the engine shaft, in round numbers. Estimating that 1 h.p.
hour requires the burning of 1.5 lb. of coal, and allowing say 60 lb.
for casting the anodes and refined lead, each ton of lead refined
requires the burning of 210 lb. of fuel.” With coal at $6 per ton the
total amount of fuel consumed, therefore, should not cost over 60c.,
which is far below the cost of fire-refining base lead bullion, as we
know.
In the Betts electrolytic process, practically all the impurities in the
base bullion remain as a more or less adherent coating on the
anode, and only the zinc, iron, cobalt and nickel present go into
solution. The anode residue consists practically of all the copper,
antimony, bismuth, arsenic, silver and gold contained in the bullion,
and very nearly 10 per cent. of its weight in lead. Having the
analysis of any bullion, it is easy to calculate with these data the
composition of the anode residue and the rate of pollution of the
electrolyte. Allowing 175 cu. ft. of electrolyte per ton of daily output,
it will be found that in the course of a year these impurities will have
accumulated to the extent of a very few per cent. Estimating that
the electrolyte will have to be purified once a year, the amount to be
purified daily is less than 1 cu. ft. for each ton of output. The
amount of lead not immediately recovered in pure form is about 0.3
per cent., most of which is finally recovered. As compared with the
ordinary fire-refined lead, the electrolytically refined lead is much
purer and contains only mere traces of bismuth, when bismuthy
base bullion is treated. Furthermore, the present loss of silver in fire
refining, amounting, it is claimed, to about 1½ per cent. of the silver
present, and covered by the ordinary loss in assay, is to a large
extent avoided, as the silver in the electrolytic process is
concentrated in the anode residue with a very small loss, and the
loss of silver in refining the slimes is much less than in treating the
zinc crusts and refining the silver residue after distillation. The silver
slimes obtained at Trail, averaging about 8000 oz. of gold and silver
per ton, are now treated at the Seattle Smelting and Refining Works.
There the slimes are boiled with concentrated sulphuric acid and
steam, allowing free access of air, which removes the greater part of
the copper. The washed residue is then dried in pans over steam
coils, and melted down in a magnesia brick-lined reverberatory,
provided with blast tuyeres, and refined. In this reverberatory
furnace the remainder of the copper left in the slimes after boiling is
removed by the addition of niter as a flux, and the antimony with
soda. The doré bars finally obtained are parted in the usual way with
sulphuric acid, making silver 0.999 fine and gold bars at least 0.992
fine.
Mr. Betts treated 2000 grams of bullion, analyzing 98.76 per cent.
Pb, 0.50 Ag, 0.31 Cu, and 0.43 Sb with a current of 25 amp. per
square foot in an experimental way, and obtained products of the
following composition:
Refined Lead: 99.9971 per cent. Pb, 0.0003 Ag, 0.0007 Cu, and
0.0019 Sb.
 Anode Residue: 9.0 per cent. Pb, 36.4 Ag, 25.1 Cu, and 2.95 Sb.
Four hundred and fifty pounds of bullion from the Compania
Metalurgica Mexicana, analyzing 0.75 per cent. Cu, 1.22 Bi, 0.94 As,
0.68 Sb, and assaying 358.9 oz. Ag and 1.71 oz. Au per ton, were
refined with a current of 10 amp. per square foot, and gave a
refined lead of the following analysis: 0.00027 per cent. Cu, 0.0037
Bi, 0.0025 As, 0 Sb, 0.0010 Ag, 0.0022 Fe, 0.0018 Zn and Pb (by
difference) 99.9861 per cent.
Although the present method for recovering the precious metals
and by-products from the anode residue leaves much room for
improvement, the use of the Betts process may be recommended to
our lead refiners, because it is a more economical and efficient
method than the fire-refining process now in common use. I will
state my belief, in conclusion, that the present development of
electrolytic lead refining signalizes as great an advance over zinc
desilverization and the fire methods of refining lead as electrolytic
copper refining does over the old Welsh method of refining that
metal.
 ELECTROLYTIC LEAD-REFINING[50]
By Anson G. Betts
A solution of lead fluosilicate, containing an excess of fluosilicic
acid, has been found to work very satisfactorily as an electrolyte for
refining lead. It conducts the current well, is easily handled and
stored, non-volatile and stable under electrolysis, may be made to
contain a considerable amount of dissolved lead, and is easily
prepared from inexpensive materials. It possesses, however, in
common with other lead electrolytes, the defect of yielding a deposit
of lead lacking in solidity, which grows in crystalline branches toward
the anodes, causing short circuits. But if a reducing action
(practically accomplished by the addition of gelatine or glue) be
given to the solution, a perfectly solid and dense deposit is obtained,
having very nearly the same structure as electrolytically deposited
copper, and a specific gravity of about 11.36, which is that of cast
lead.
Lead fluosilicate may be crystallized in very soluble brilliant
crystals, resembling those of lead nitrate and containing four
molecules of water of crystallization, with the formula PbSiF6,4H2O.
This salt dissolves at 15 deg. C. in 28 per cent. of its weight of
water, making a syrupy solution of 2.38 sp. gr. Heated to 60 deg. C.,
it melts in its water of crystallization. A neutral solution of lead
fluosilicate is partially decomposed on heating, with the formation of
a basic insoluble salt and free fluosilicic acid, which keeps the rest of
the salt in solution. This decomposition ends when the solution
contains perhaps 2 per cent. of free acid; and the solution may then
be evaporated without further decomposition. The solutions desired
for refining are not liable to this decomposition, since they contain
much more than 2 per cent. of free acid. The electrical conductivity
depends mainly on the acidity of the solution.
My first experiments were carried out without the addition of
gelatine to the fluosilicate solution. The lead deposit consisted of
more or less separate crystals that grew toward the anode, and,
finally, caused short circuits. The cathodes, which were sheet-iron
plates, lead-plated and paraffined, had to be removed periodically
from the tanks and passed through rolls, to pack down the lead.
When gelatine has been added in small quantities, the density of the
lead is greater than can be produced by rolling the crystalline
deposit, unless great pressure is used.
The Canadian Smelting Works, Trail, B. C. , have installed a
refinery, making use of this process. There are 28 refining-tanks,
each 86 in. long, 30 in. wide and 42 in. deep, and each receiving 22
anodes of lead bullion with an area of 26 by 33 in. exposed to the
electrolyte on each side, and 23 cathodes of sheet lead, about 1/16
in. thick, prepared by deposition on lead-plated and paraffined iron
cathodes. The cathodes are suspended from 0.5 by 1 in. copper
bars, resting crosswise on the sides of the tanks. The experiment
has been thoroughly tried of using iron sheets to receive a deposit
thicker than 1/16 in.; that is, suitable for direct melting without the
necessity of increasing its weight by further deposition as an
independent cathode; but the iron sheets are expensive, and are
slowly pitted by the action of the acid solution; and the lead deposits
thus obtained are much less smooth and pure than those on lead
sheets.
The smoothness and the purity of the deposited lead are
proportional. Most of the impurity seems to be introduced
mechanically through the attachment of floating particles of slime to
irregularities on the cathodes. The effect of roughness is cumulative;
it is often observed that particles of slime attract an undue amount
of current, resulting in the lumps seen in the cathodes. Samples
taken at the same time showed from 1 to 2.5 oz. silver per ton in
rough pieces from the iron cathodes, 0.25 oz. as an average for the
lead-sheet cathodes, and only 0.04 oz. in samples selected for their
smoothness. The variation in the amount of silver (which is
determined frequently) in the samples of refined lead is attributed
not to the greater or less turbidity of the electrolyte at different
times, but to the employment of new men in the refinery, who
require some experience before they remove cathodes without
detaching some slime from the neighboring anodes.
Each tank is capable of yielding, with a current of 4000 amperes,
750 lb. of refined lead per day. The voltage required to pass this
current was higher than expected, as explained below; and for this
reason, and also because the losses of solution were very heavy
until proper apparatus was put in to wash thoroughly the large
volume of slime produced (resulting in a weakened electrolyte), the
current used has probably averaged about 3000 amperes. The short
circuits were also troublesome, though this difficulty has been
greatly reduced by frequent inspection and careful placing of the
electrodes. At one time, the solution in use had the following
composition in grams per 100 c.c.: Pb, 6.07; Sb, 0.0192; Fe, 0.2490;
SiF6, 6.93, and As, a trace. The current passing was 2800 amperes,
with an average of about 0.44 volts per tank, including bus-bars and
contacts. It is not known what was the loss of efficiency on that
date, due to short circuits; and it is, therefore, impossible to say
what resistance this electrolyte constituted.
Hydrofluoric acid of 35 per cent., used as a starting material for
the preparation of the electrolyte, is run by gravity through a series
of tanks for conversion into lead fluosilicate. In the top tank is a
layer of quartz 2 ft. thick, in passing through which the hydrofluoric
acid dissolves silica, forming fluosilicic acid. White lead (lead
carbonate) in the required quantity is added in the next tank, where
it dissolves readily and completely with effervescence. All sulphuric
acid and any hydrofluoric acid that may not have reacted with silica
settle out in combination with lead as lead sulphate and lead
fluoride. Lead fluosilicate is one of the most soluble of salts; so there
is never any danger of its crystallizing out at any degree of
concentration possible under this method. The lead solution is then
filtered and run by gravity into the refining-tanks.
The solution originally used at Trail contained about 6 per cent. Pb
and 15 per cent. SiF6.
 The electrical resistance in the tanks was found to be greater than
had been calculated for the same solution, plus an allowance for loss
of voltage in the contacts and conductors. This is partly, at least, due
to the resistance to free motion of the electrolyte, in the
neighborhood of the anode, offered by a layer of slime which may
be anything up to ½ in. thick. During electrolysis, the SiF6 ions travel
toward the anodes, and there combine with lead. The lead and
hydrogen travel in the opposite direction and out of the slime; but
there are comparatively few lead ions present, so that the solution in
the neighborhood of the anodes must increase in concentration and
tend to become neutral. This greater concentration causes an e.m.f.
of polarization to act against the e.m.f. of the dynamo. This
amounted to about 0.02 volt for each tank. The greater effect comes
from the greater resistance of the neutral solution with which the
slime is saturated. There is, consequently, an advantage in working
with rather thin anodes, when the bullion is impure enough to leave
slime sticking to the plates. A compensating advantage is found in
the increased ease of removing the slime with the anodes, and
wiping it off the scrap in special tanks, instead of emptying the tanks
and cleaning out, as is done in copper refineries.
It is very necessary to have adequate apparatus for washing
solution out of the slime. The filter first used consisted of a
supported filtering cloth with suction underneath. It was very
difficult to get this to do satisfactory work by reason of the large
amount of fluosilicate to be washed out with only a limited amount
of water. At the present time the slime is first stirred up with the
ordinary electrolyte several times, and allowed to settle, before
starting to wash with water at all. The Trail plant produces daily 8 or
10 cu. ft. of anode residue, of which over 90 per cent. by volume is
solution. The evaporation from the total tank surface of something
like 400 sq. ft. is only about 15 cu. ft. daily; so that only a limited
amount of wash-water is to be used—namely, enough to replace the
evaporated water, plus the volume of the slime taken out.
 The tanks are made of 2 in. cedar, bolted together and thoroughly
painted with rubber paint. Any leakage is caught underneath on
sloping boards. Solution is circulated from one tank to another by
gravity, and is pumped from the lowest to the highest by means of a
wooden pump. The 22 anodes in each tank together weigh about 3
tons, and dissolve in from 8 to 10 days, two sets of cathodes usually
being used with each set of anodes. While 300 lb. cathodes can be
made, the short-circuiting gets so troublesome with the spacing used
that the loss of capacity is more disadvantageous than the extra
work of putting in and taking out more plates. The lead sheets used
for cathodes are made by depositing about 1/16 in. metal on
paraffined steel sheets in four of the tanks, which are different from
the others only in being a little deeper.
The anodes may contain any or all of the elements, gold, silver,
copper, tin, antimony, arsenic, bismuth, cadmium, zinc, iron, nickel,
cobalt and sulphur. It would be expected that gold, silver, copper,
antimony, arsenic and bismuth, being more electronegative than
lead, would remain in the slime in the metallic state, with, perhaps,
tin, while iron, zinc, nickel and cobalt would dissolve. It appears that
tin stands in the same relation to lead that nickel does to iron, that
is, they have about the same electromotive forces of solution, with
the consequence that they can behave as one metal and dissolve
and deposit together. Iron, contrary to expectation, dissolves only
slightly, while the slime will carry about 1 per cent. of it. It appears
from this that the iron exists in the lead in the form of matte.
Arsenic, antimony, bismuth and copper have electromotive forces of
solution more than 0.3 volt below that of lead. As there is no chance
that any particle of one of these impurities will have an electric
potential of 0.3 volt above that of the lead with which it is in metallic
contact, there is no chance that they will be dissolved by the action
of the current. The same is even more certainly true of silver and
gold. The behavior of bismuth is interesting and satisfactory. It is as
completely removed by this process of refining as antimony is. No
other process of refining lead will remove this objectionable impurity
so completely. Tin has been found in the refined lead to the extent
of 0.02 to 0.03 per cent. This we had no difficulty in removing from
the lead by poling before casting. There is always a certain amount
of dross formed in melting down the cathodes; and the lead oxide of
this reacts with the tin in the lead at a comparatively low
temperature.
The extra amount of dross formed in poling is small, and amounts
to less than 1 per cent. of the lead. The dross carries more antimony
and arsenic than the lead, as well as all the tin. The total amount of
dross formed is about 4 per cent. Table I shows its composition.
The electrolyte takes up no impurities, except, possibly, a small
part of the iron and zinc. Estimating that the anodes contain 0.01
per cent. of zinc and soluble iron, and that there are 150 cu. ft. of
the solution in the refinery for every ton of lead turned out daily, in
one year the 150 cu. ft. will have taken up 93 lb. of iron and zinc, or
about 1 per cent. These impurities can accumulate to a much
greater extent than this before their presence will become
objectionable. It is possible to purify the electrolyte in several ways.
For example, the lead can be removed by precipitation with sulphuric
acid, and the fluosilicic acid precipitated with salt as sodium
fluosilicate. By distillation with sulphuric acid the fluosilicic acid could
be recovered, this process, theoretically, requiring but one-third as
much sulphuric acid as the decomposition of fluorspar, in which the
fluorine was originally contained.
The only danger of lead-poisoning to which the workmen are
exposed occurs in melting the lead and casting it. In this respect the
electrolytic process presents a distinct sanitary advance.
For the treatment of slime, the only method in general use
consists in suspending the slime in a solution capable of dissolving
the impurities and supplying, by a jet of steam and air forced into
the solution, the air necessary for its reaction with, and solution of,
such an inactive metal as copper. After the impurities have been
mostly dissolved, the slime is filtered off, dried and melted, under
such fluxes as soda, to a doré bullion.
 The amount of power required is calculated thus: Five amperes in
24 hours make 1 lb. of lead per tank. One ton of lead equals 10,000
ampere-days, and at 0.35 volts per tank, 3500 watt-days, or 4.7
electric h.p. days. Allowing 10 per cent. loss of efficiency in the tanks
(we always get less lead than the current which is passing would
indicate), and of 8 per cent. loss in the generator, increases this to
about 5.6 h.p. days, and a further allowance for the electric lights
and other applications gives from 7 to 8 h.p. days as about the
amount per ton of lead. At $30 per year, this item of cost is
something like 65c. per ton of lead. So this is an electro-chemical
process not especially favored by water-power.
The cost of labor is not greater than in the zinc-desilverization
process. A comparison between this process and the Parkes process,
on the assumption that the costs for labor, interest and general
expenses are about equal, shows that about $1 worth of zinc and a
considerable amount of coal and coke have been done away with, at
the expense of power, equal to about 175 h.p. hours, of the average
value of perhaps 65c., and a small amount of coal for melting the
lead in the electrolytic method.
More important, however, is the greater saving of the metal values
by reason of increased yields of gold, silver, lead, antimony and
bismuth, and the freedom of the refined lead from bismuth.
Tables II, III, and IV show the composition of bullion, slimes and
refined lead.
Tables V, VI, VII, and VIII give the results obtained experimentally
in the laboratory on lots of a few pounds up to a few hundred
pounds. The results in Tables VI and VII were given me by the
companies for which the experiments were made.
TABLE I.—ANALYSES OF DROSS
For analyses of the lead from which this dross was taken, see Table
II

No. No. in Cu. As. Sb. Fe. Z n.

 Table II. Per Cent. Per Cent. Per Cent. Per Cent.
1 2 0.0005 0.0003 0.0016 0.0016 none
2 3 0.0010 0.0008 0.0107 0.0011 "

TABLE II.—ANALYSES OF BULLION

Fe. Cu. Sb. Sn. As. Ag. Au. Pb. Ag. Au.
No. Per Per Per Per Per Per Per Per Per Per
Cent. Cent. Cent. Cent. Cent. Cent. Cent. Cent. Cent. Cent.
1 0.0075 0.1700 0.5400 0.0118 0.1460 1.0962 0.0085 98.0200 319.7 2.49
2 0.0115 0.1500 0.6100 0.0158 0.0960 1.2014 0.0086 97.9068 350.4 2.52
3 0.0070 0.1600 0.4000 0.0474 0.1330 1.0738 0.0123 98.1665 313.2 3.6
4 0.0165 0.1400 0.7000 0.0236 0.3120 0.8914 0.0151 97.9014 260.0 4.42
5 0.0120 0.1400 0.8700 0.0432 0.2260 0.6082 0.0124 98.0882 177.4 3.63
6 0.0055 0.1300 0.7300 0.0316 0.1030 0.6600 0.0106 98.2693 192.5 3.10
7 0.0380 0.3600 0.4030 — tr. 0.7230 0.0180 98.4580 210.9 5.25

TABLE III.—ANALYSES OF SLIMES

Fe. Cu. Sb. Sn. As. Pb. Z n. Bi.

Per Cent. Per Cent. Per Cent. Per Cent. Per Cent. Per Cent. Per Cent. Per Cent.
1.27 8.83 27.10 12.42 28.15 17.05 none none
1.12 22.36 21.16 5.40 23.05 10.62 " "

TABLE IV.—ANALYSES OF REFINED LEAD

Cu. As. Sb. Fe. Z n. Sn. Ag. Bi.

Ni,Co,Cd.
No. Per Per Per Per Per Per Oz. p. Per
Per Cent.
Cent. Cent. Cent. Cent. Cent. Cent. T. Cent.
1 0.0006 0.0008 0.0005 — — — — — —
2 0.0003 0.0002 0.0010 0.0010 none — — — —
3 0.0009 0.0001 0.0009 0.0008 " — 0.24 — —
4 0.0016 — 0.0017 0.0014 — — 0.47 none —
5 0.0003 — 0.0060 0.0003 — — 0.22 — —
6 0.0020 — 0.0010 0.0046 — — 0.22 none —
7 0.0004 none 0.0066 0.0013 none 0.0035 0.14 — —
8 0.0004 — 0.0038 0.0004 " 0.0035 0.25 — —
9 0.0005 — 0.0052 0.0004 " 0.0039 0.28 — —
10 0.0003 none 0.0060 0.0003 " 0.0049 0.43 — —
11 0.0003 " 0.0042 0.0013 " 0.0059 0.32 — —
12 0.0005 " 0.0055 0.0009 " 0.0049 0.22 — —
13 0.0005 " 0.0055 0.0007 " 0.0091 0.11 — —
14 0.0004 " 0.0063 0.0005 " 0.0012 0.14 — —
15 0.0003 " 0.0072 0.0003 " 0.0024 0.24 — —
16 0.0006 " 0.0062 0.0012 " 0.0083 0.22 — —
17 0.0006 " 0.0072 0.0011 — 0.0080 0.23 — —
18 0.0006 " 0.0057 0.0010 — 0.0053 0.34 — —
19 0.0005 " 0.0066 0.0016 — 0.0140 0.38 — —
19 0.0005 " 0.0044 0.0011 — 0.0108 0.35 — —
20 0.0004 " 0.0047 0.0015 — 0.0072 0.22 — —
20 0.0004 " 0.0034 0.0016 — trace 0.23 — —
21 0.0022 " 0.0010 0.0046 none 0.0081 0.38 none none

TABLE V.—ANALYSES OF BULLION AND REFINED LEAD

Ag. Cu. Sb. Pb.
Per Cent. Per Cent. Per Cent. Per Cent.
Bullion 0.50 0.31 0.43 98.76
Refined lead 0.0003 0.0007 0.0019 99.9971

TABLE VI.—ANALYSES OF BULLION AND REFINED LEAD

Cu. Bi. As. Sb. Ag. Ag. Au. Fe. Z n.
Per Per Per Per Per Per Oz. Per Per
Ct. Ct. Ct. Ct. Ct. Ct. p.T. Ct. Ct.
Bullion 0.75 1.22 0.936 0.6832 358.89 — 1.71 — —
Refined
0.0027 0.0037 0.0025 0.0000 — 0.0010 none 0.0022 0.0018
lead

TABLE VII.—ANALYSES OF BULLION, REFINED LEAD AND SLIMES

Pb. Cu. As. Sb. Ag. Bi.
Ag. Fe,Zn,Ni,Co.
Per Per Per Per Per Per
Oz.p.T. Per Cent.
Cent. Cent. Cent. Cent. Cent. Cent.
about
Bullion 96.73 0.096 0.85 1.42 — — —
275[51]
Refined
— 0.0013 0.00506 0.0028 — 0.00068 0.0027 trace
lead
Slimes 9.05 1.9 9.14 29.51 9366.9 — 0.49 trace
(dry
sample)

TABLE VIII.—ANALYSES OF BULLION, REFINED LEAD AND SLIMES

Pb. Cu. Bi. Ag. Sb. As.
Per Cent. Per Cent. Per Cent. Per Cent. Per Cent. Per Cent.
Bullion 87.14 1.40 0.14 0.64 4.0 7.4
Lead — 0.0010 0.0022 — 0.0017 trace
Slimes 10.3 9.3 0.52 4.7 25.32 44.58
 PART X
SMELTING WORKS AND REFINERIES
 THE NEW SMELTER AT EL PASO, TEXAS
(April 19, 1902)
In July, 1901, the El Paso, Texas, plant of the Consolidated Kansas
City Smelting and Refining Company[52] was almost completely
destroyed by fire. The power plant, blast-furnace building and blast
furnaces were entirely destroyed, and portions of the other buildings
were badly damaged. The flames were hardly extinguished before
steps were taken to construct a new, modern and enlarged plant on
the ruins of the old one, and on April 15, 1902, nine months after
the destruction of the former plant, the new furnaces were blown in.
In rebuilding it was decided to locate the new power-house at some
distance from the other buildings. The furnaces have all been
enlarged, each of the new lead furnaces (of which there are seven)
having about 200 tons daily capacity. These and the three large
copper furnaces have been located in a new position in order to
secure a larger building territory. The entire plant is modern and up
to date in every particular. One of the interesting features is the
substitution of crude oil as fuel in the boiler and roasting
departments. It is intended to use Beaumont petroleum for the
generation of power and the roasting of the ores instead of wood,
coal or coke, and it is expected that a considerable economy will be
effected by this means.
Power Plant.—The power plant is complete in all respects. It is a
duplicate plant in every sense of the word, so that it will never be
necessary to shut the works down on account of the failure of any
one piece of machinery. There are seven boilers, having a total of
1250 h.p. The four blowers are unusually large, having a capacity of
30,000 cu. ft. of free air per minute. They are direct-connected to
three tandem compound condensing Corliss engines. No belts are
used in this plant, except for driving a small blower of 10,000 cu. ft.
capacity, which will act as a regulator. A large central electric plant
has been installed in the power-house, consisting of two direct-
connected, direct-current generators, mounted on the shafts of two
cross-compound condensing Nordberg-Corliss engines. The current
from these generators is transmitted through the plant, operating
sampling works, briquetting machinery, pumps, hoists, motors, cars,
etc., displacing all the small steam engines and steam pumps used in
the old plant. The power plant is provided with two systems for
condensing; one being a large Wheeler surface condenser, the other
a Worthington central-elevated jet condenser, the idea being to use
the surface condenser during a short period of the year when the
water is so bad that it cannot be used in the boilers. During the
remainder of the year the jet condenser is in service and the surface
condenser can be cleaned. The condensed steam from the surface
condenser, with the necessary additional water, goes back directly to
the boilers when the surface condenser is in use. The power-house
is absolutely fireproof throughout, being of steel and brick with iron
and cement floors. It is provided with a traveling crane, and no
expense has been spared to make this, as all other parts of the
plant, complete in every respect. The main conductors from the
generators pass out through a tunnel into a brick and steel lightning-
arrester house, from which point the various distributing lines go to
different parts of the plant.
Blast Furnaces.—There are seven large lead furnaces, each having
a capacity of 200 to 250 tons of charge per day, and three large
copper furnaces, each having a capacity of 250 to 300 tons per day.
All of the furnaces are enclosed in one steel fireproof building, the
lead furnaces being at one end and the copper furnaces at the other.
Each of the furnaces has its independent flue system and stack. An
entirely new system of feeding these furnaces has been devised,
consisting of a 6 ton charge car operated by means of a street
railroad motor and controller with third-rail system. The charge cars
collect their charge at the ore beds, lime-rock and coke storage, and
are run on to 15 ton hydraulic elevators. They are then elevated 38
ft. to the top of the furnaces, traveling over them to the charging
doors, through which the loads are dumped directly into the
furnaces. This system permits of two men handling about 1000 tons
per day. The same system and cars are used for charging the copper
furnaces, except that, as these furnaces are much lower than the
lead furnaces, the charge is dropped into a large hopper, from which
it is fed to the copper furnaces by a man on the copper furnace
feed-floor level.
 NEW PLANT OF THE AMERICAN SMELTING
AND REFINING COMPANY AT MURRAY, UTAH
By Walter Renton Ingalls
(June 28, 1902)
Murray is a few miles south of Salt Lake City, with which it is
connected by a trolley line. The new works are situated within a few
hundred yards of the terminus of the latter and in close juxtaposition
to the old Germania plant, which is the only one of the Salt Lake
lead-smelting works in operation at present. The new plant is of
special interest inasmuch as it is the latest construction for silver-
lead smelting in the United States, and may be considered as
embodying the best experience in that industry, the designers having
had access to the results attained at almost all of the previous
installations. It will be perceived, however, that there has been no
radical departure in the methods, and the novelties are rather in
details than in the general scheme.
The new works are built on level ground; there has been no
attempt to seek or utilize a sloping or a terraced surface, save
immediately in front of the blast furnaces, where there is a drop of
several feet from the furnace-house floor to the slag-yard level,
affording room for the large matte settling-boxes to stand under the
slag spouts. A lower terrace beyond the slag yard furnishes
convenient dumping ground. Otherwise the elevations required in
the works are secured by mechanical lifts, the ore, fluxes and coal
being brought in almost entirely by means of inclines and trestles.
The plant consists essentially of two parts, the roasting
department and the smelting department. The former comprises a
crushing mill and two furnace-houses, one equipped with Brückner
furnaces and the other with hand-raked reverberatories. The
reverberatories are of the standard design, but are noteworthy for
the excellence of their construction. Similar praise may be, indeed,
extended to almost all the other parts of the works, in which
obviously no expense has been spared on false grounds of economy.
The roasting furnaces stand in a long steel house; they are set at
right angles to the longer axis of the building, in the usual manner.
At their feed end they communicate with a large dust-settling flue,
which leads to the main chimney of the works. The ore is brought in
on a tramway over the furnaces and is charged into the furnaces
through hoppers. The furnaces have roasting hearths only. The fire-
boxes are arranged with step-grates and closed ash-pits, being fed
through hoppers at the end of the furnace. The coal is dumped close
at hand from the railway cars, which are switched in on a trestle
parallel with the side of the building, which side is not closed in.
This, together with a large opening in the roof for the whole length
of the building, affords good light and ventilation. The floor of the
house is concrete. The roasted ore is dropped into cars, which run
on a sunken tramway passing under the furnaces. At the end of this
tramway there is an incline up which the cars are drawn and
afterward dumped into brick bins. From the latter it is spouted into
standard-gage railway cars, by which it is taken to the smelting
department. The roasted ore from the Brückner furnaces is handled
in a similar manner. The delivery of the coal and ore to the
Brückners and the general installation of the latter are analogous to
the methods employed in connection with the reverberatories.
The central feature of the smelting department is the blast-furnace
house, which comprises eight furnaces, each 48 by 160 in. at the
tuyeres. In their general design they are similar to those at the
Arkansas Valley works at Leadville. There are 10 tuyeres per side, a
tuyere passing through the middle of each jacket, the latter being of
cast iron and 16 in. in width; their length is 6 ft., which is rather
extraordinary. The furnaces are very high and are arranged for
mechanical charging, a rectangular brick down-take leading to the
dust chamber, which extends behind the furnace-house. The
furnace-house is erected entirely of steel, the upper floor being iron
plates laid on steel I-beams, while the upper terrace of the lower
floor is also laid with iron plates. As previously remarked, the lower
floor drops down a step in front of the furnaces, but there is an
extension on each side of every furnace, which affords the necessary
access to the tap-hole. The hight of the latter above the lower
terrace leaves room for the large matte settling-boxes, and the
matte tapped from the latter runs into pots on the ground level,
dispensing with the inconvenient pits that are to be seen at some of
the older works. The construction of the blast furnaces, which were
built by the Denver Engineering Works Company, is admirable in all
respects. The eight furnaces stand in a row, about 30 ft. apart,
center to center. The main air and water pipes are strung along
behind the furnaces. The slag from the matte-settling boxes
overflows into single-bowl Nesmith pots, which are to be handled by
means of small locomotives. The foul slag is returned by means of a
continuous pan-conveyor to a brick-lined, cylindrical steel tank
behind the furnace-house, whence it is drawn off through chutes, as
required for recharging.
The charges are made up on the ground level, immediately behind
the furnace-house. The ore and flux are brought in on trestles,
whence the ore is unloaded into beds and the flux into elevated bins.
These are all in the open, there being only two small sheds where
the charges are made up and dumped into the cars which go to the
furnaces. There are two inclines to the latter. At the top of the
inclines the cars are landed on a transferring carriage by which they
can be moved to any furnace of the series.
The dust-flue extending behind the furnace-house is arranged to
discharge into cars on a tramway in the cut below the ground level.
This flue, which is of brick, connects with the main flues leading to
the chimney. The main flues are built of concrete, laid on a steel
frame in the usual manner, and are very large. For a certain distance
they are installed in triplicate; then they make a turn approximately
at right angles and two flues continue to the chimney. At the proper
points there are large dampers of steel plate, pivoted vertically, for
the purpose of cutting out such section of flue as it may be desired
to clean. Each flue has openings, ordinarily closed by steel doors,
which give access to the interior. The flues are simple tunnels,
without drift-walls or any other interruption than the arched
passages which extend transversely through them at certain places.
The chimney is of brick, circular in section, 20 ft. in diameter and
225 ft. high. This is the only chimney of the works save those of the
boiler-house.
The boiler-house is equipped with eight internally fired corrugated
fire-box boilers. They are arranged in two rows, face to face.
Between the rows there is an overhead coal bin, from which the coal
is drawn directly to the hoppers of the American stokers, with which
the boilers are provided. Adjoining the boiler-house is the engine-
house; the latter is a brick building, very commodious, light and airy.
It contains two cross-compound, horizontal Allis-Chalmers (Dickson)
blowing engines for the blast furnaces, and two direct-connected
electrical generating sets for the development of the power required
in various parts of the works. A traveling crane, built by the Whiting
Foundry Equipment Company, spans the engine-house. In close
proximity to the engine-house there is a well-equipped machine
shop. Other important buildings are the sampling mill and the flue-
dust briquetting mill.
A noteworthy feature of the new plant is the concrete paving, laid
on a bed of broken slag, which is used liberally about the ore-yard
and in other places where tramming is to be done. The roasting-
furnace houses are floored with the same material, which not only
gives an admirably smooth surface, but also is durable. The whole
plant is well laid out with service tramways and standard-gage spur
tracks; the intention has been, obviously, to save manual labor as
much as possible.
 THE MURRAY SMELTER, UTAH[53]
By O. Pufahl
(May 26, 1906)
This plant has been in operation since June, 1902. It gives
employment to 800 men. The monthly production consists of about
4000 tons of work-lead and 700 tons of lead-copper matte (12 per
cent. lead, 45 per cent. copper). The work-lead is sent to the
refinery at Omaha; the matte to Pueblo, Colo. Most of the ores come
from Utah; but in addition some richer lead ores are obtained from
Idaho, and some gold-bearing ores from Nevada.
For sampling the Vezin apparatus is used, cutting out one-fifth in
each of three passes, crushing intervening, the sample from the
third machine being 1/625 of the original ore; after further
comminution of sample in a coffee-mill grinder, it is cut down further
by hand, using a riffle. The final sample is bucked down to pass an
80-mesh sieve, but gold ores are put through a 120-mesh.
The steps in the smelting process are as follows: Roasting the
poorer ores in reverberatory furnaces and in Brückner cylinders.
Smelting raw and roasted ores, mixed, in water-jacketed blast
furnaces, for work-lead and lead-copper matte, the latter containing
15 per cent. lead and 10 to 12 per cent. copper. Roasting the ground
matte, containing 22 per cent. of sulphur, down to ¾ per cent. in
reverberatory furnaces. Smelting the roasted matte together with
acid flux in the blast furnace for a matte with 45 per cent. copper
and 12 per cent. lead.
Only the pyritic ores are roasted in Brückner furnaces, the lead
ores and matte being roasted in reverberatory furnaces. Each of the
20 Brückner furnaces, which constitute one battery, roasts 8 to 12
tons of ore in 24 hours down to 5½ to 6 per cent. sulphur, with a
coal consumption of two tons. The charge weighs 24 tons. The
furnaces make one turn in 40 minutes. To increase the draft and the
output, steam at 40 lb. pressure is blown in through a pipe; this has,
however, resulted in increasing the quantity of flue dust to 10 to 15
per cent. of the ore charged. Ten furnaces are attended by one
workman with one assistant, working in eight-hour shifts. For firing
and withdrawing the charge five men are required.
The gases from the Brückners and reverberatory furnaces pass
into a dust-flue 14 × 14 ft. in section and 600 ft. long, built of
brickwork, with concrete vault; in the stack (225 ft. high, 20 ft.
diameter) they unite with the shaft-furnace gases, the temperature
of which is only 60 deg.
There are 12 reverberatory furnaces with hearths 60 ft. long and
16 ft. broad. They roast 14 tons of ore (or 13 tons of matte) in 24
hours down to 3½ to 4 per cent. sulphur, consuming 32 to 34 per
cent. of coal figured on the weight of the charge. There are 12
working doors on each side. The small coal (from Rock Springs,
Wyoming), which is burnt on flat grates, contains 5 per cent. ash
and 3 to 5 per cent. moisture. The roasted product is dumped
through an opening in the hearth, ordinarily kept closed with an iron
plate, into cars which are raised by electricity on a self-acting
inclined plane. Their content is then tipped over into a chute and
cooled by sprinkling with water. From here the roasted matte is
conveyed to the blast furnace in 30-ton cars. The roasted ore is
tipped into the ore-bins.
There are eight blast furnaces, 48 × 160 in. at the tuyeres, of
which there are 10 on each of the long sides. The hight from the
tuyeres to the gas outlet is 20 ft., thence to the throat 6 ft.; the
distance of the tuyeres from the floor is 4 ft. The base is water-
cooled. The water-jackets of the furnace are 6 ft. high. The tuyeres
(4 in.) are provided with the Eilers automatic arrangement for
preventing the furnace gases entering the blast pipes. The blast
pressure is 34 oz. The furnaces are furnished with the Arents lead
wells; the crucible holds about 30 tons of lead. The slag and the
matte run into a brick-lined forehearth (8 × 3 ft., 4 ft. deep), from
which the slag flows into pots holding 30 cu. ft., while the matte is
tapped off into flat round pans mounted on wheels.
The charge is conveyed to the feed-floor by electricity. The
furnace charge is 8000 lb. and 12 per cent. coke, with 30 per cent,
(figured on the weight of the charge) of “shells” (slag). Occasionally
as much as 230 tons of the (moist) charge, exclusive of coke and
slag, has been handled by one furnace in 24 hours. During one
month (September, 1904) 40,000 tons of charge were worked up,
corresponding to a daily average of 166 tons per furnace.
The lead in the charge runs from 13 to 14 per cent. on an
average. The limestone, which is added as flux, is quarried not far
from the works. The coke used is in part a very ordinary quality from
Utah; in part a better quality from the East, with 9 to 10 per cent.
ash. The matte amounts to 10 per cent. The slag contains 0.6 to 0.7
per cent. lead and 0.1 to 0.15 per cent. copper. The slag has
approximately the following composition: 36 per cent. silica, 23 per
cent. iron (corresponding to 29.57 per cent. FeO), 23 per cent. lime,
3.8 per cent. zinc and 4 per cent. alumina.
The work-lead is transferred while liquid from the furnaces to
kettles of 30 tons capacity, in which it is skimmed, and thence cast in
molds through a Steitz siphon. First, however, a 5.5 lb. sample is
taken out by means of a special ladle, and is cast into a plate. From
this samples of 0.5 a.t. are punched out at four points for the assay
of the precious metals.
For the purpose of precipitating the flue dust, the blast-furnace
gases are passed into brickwork chambers in which a plentiful
deposition of the heavier particles takes place. From here the gases
go through an L pipe of sheet iron, 18 ft. in diameter, to the Monier
flues, which have a cross-section of 256 sq. ft. and a total length of
2000 ft. A small part of the flues is also built of brick. The gases
unite with the hot roaster gases just before entering the 225 ft.
chimney. In the portion of the blast-furnace dust first precipitated
the silver runs 22 oz. per ton, while that recovered nearer the stack
contains only 8 oz. The flue dust is briquetted with a small
proportion of lime, and, after drying, is returned to the blast
furnaces.
 THE PUEBLO LEAD SMELTERS[54]
By O. Pufahl
(May 12, 1906)
At the Pueblo plant, ores containing over 10 per cent. lead are not
roasted, but are added raw to the charge. For such material as
requires roasting there are in use five Brückner furnaces. The charge
is 24 tons for 48 to 60 hours; the furnaces make one revolution per
minute and roast the ore down to 6 per cent. sulphur. There are also
two O’Harra furnaces, each roasting 25 tons daily, and 10
reverberatory furnaces 75 ft. in length, each roasting 15 tons of ore
daily down to 4 per cent. sulphur.
The charge for smelting is prepared from roasted ore, together
with Idaho lead ore, Cripple Creek gold ore, briquetted flue dust,
slag and limestone. There are seven water-jacketed furnaces, which
smelt, each, 150 tons of charge per day. The furnaces have 18
tuyeres, blast pressure 34 oz., cross-section at the tuyeres 48 × 148
in. They are charged mechanically by a car of 4 tons’ capacity.
The output of lead is 11 to 15 tons per furnace. The matte, which
is produced in small quantity, contains 8 to 12 per cent. lead and the
same percentage of copper. It is crushed by rolls, roasted in
reverberatory furnaces, and smelted with ores rich in silica. The
matte resulting at this stage, running 45 to 50 per cent. in copper, is
shipped to be further worked up for blister copper.
The work-lead is purified by remelting in iron kettles, the
cupriferous dross being pressed dry in a Howard press, and sent to
the blast furnaces. The work-lead is sent to the refineries at Omaha,
Neb., or Perth Amboy, N. J.
To collect the flue dust the waste gases are passed through long
brick flues. The chimneys are 150 to 200 ft. high, and 15 ft. in
diameter. They stand 75 ft. above the ground level of the blast
furnaces. The comparatively small proportion of flue dust produced
(0.9 per cent. of the charge) is briquetted, together with fine ore
and 5 per cent. of a thick paste of lime. For this purpose a White
press is used, which makes six briquets at a time, and handles 10
tons per hour.
According to a tabulation of the results of five months’ running,
the proportion of flue dust at several works of the American
Smelting and Refining Company is as follows:
Globe Plant, Denver 0.5% of the charge.
Pueblo Plant, Pueblo 0.9% ”
Eilers’ Plant, Pueblo 0.5% ”
East Helena Plant, Helena 0.3% ”
Arkansas Valley Plant, Leadville 0.2% ”
Murray Plant, Murray, Utah 1.2% ”

The fuel used is of very moderate quality. The coke (from beehive
ovens) carries up to 17 per cent. ash, the coal 10 to 18 per cent.
The monthly production is 2300 tons of work-lead and 150 tons of
copper matte (45 to 50 per cent. copper).
At the Eilers plant all sulphide ores, except the rich Idaho ore, are
roasted down to 5 to 7 per cent. S in 15 reverberatory furnaces, 60
to 70 ft. in length, each furnace roasting 15 tons per 24 hours, in six
charges.
The flue dust is briquetted together with fine Cripple Creek ore,
pyrites cinder from Argentine, Kan., Creede ores rich in silica and 10
per cent. lime. The residue from the zinc smeltery (U. S. Zinc
Company), which is brought to this plant (600 tons a month
containing nearly 10 per cent. lead), is taken direct to the blast
furnaces. Of the latter there are six, each with 18 tuyeres, which
handle per 24 hours 160 to 180 tons of charge, containing on an
average 10 per cent. of lead in the ore, with 10 per cent. of coke,
figured on the charge. The average monthly production of a furnace
is about 360 tons of work-lead, which is purified at the Pueblo plant.
The furnaces are charged by hand. Of the slag, 30 per cent., as
shells, etc., is returned to the charge. The monthly production of
work-lead is 2000 tons, carrying 150 oz. of silver and 2 to 6 oz. of
gold per ton.
The matte amounts to about 8.3 per cent., and contains 12 per
cent. copper. It is concentrated up to 45 per cent. Cu, which is
shipped (150 tons a month) for smelting to blister copper.
THE PERTH AMBOY PLANT OF THE AMERICAN
SMELTING AND REFINING COMPANY[55]
By O. Pufahl
(January 27, 1906)
These works were erected in 1895 by the Guggenheim Smelting
Company. They are situated on Raritan Bay, opposite the southern
point of Staten Island, in a position offering excellent facilities for
transportation by land and by water. The materials worked up are
base lead bullion and crude copper, containing silver and gold,
chiefly drawn from the company’s smelteries in the United States
and Mexico. Silver ore is received from South America. The ores and
base metals from Mexico and South America are brought to Perth
Amboy by the company’s steamships (American Smelters Steamship
Company).
Ore Smelting.—The silver ore from South America (containing
antimony and much silver, together with galena, iron and copper
pyrites) is crushed by rolls and is roasted down from 26 per cent. to
3 per cent. S in 11 reverberatory furnaces, 70 ft. long and 15 ft.
wide (inside dimensions). It is then mixed with rich galena from
Idaho, pyrites cinder, litharge, copper skimmings, and residues from
the desilverizing process, together with limestone, and is smelted for
work-lead and lead-copper matte in three water-jacketed furnaces,
using 12 per cent. coke, figured on the ore in the charge. Of these
furnaces one has 12 tuyeres; it measures 42 × 96 in. in cross-
section at the tuyeres, and 6 ft. 3 in. by 8 ft. at the charging level.
The hight of charge is 16 ft. The other two furnaces have 16 tuyeres
each, their cross-section at the tuyeres being 44 in. by 128 in., at
the charging level 6 ft. 6 in. by 12 ft., and hight of charge 16 ft. The
furnaces are operated at a blast pressure of 35 oz. per square inch.
The temperature of the gases at the throat is 140 deg. F. (60 deg.
C.) measured with a Columbia recording thermometer, which works
very well. These furnaces reduce, respectively, 100 to 120 and 130
Welcome to our website – the ideal destination for book lovers and
knowledge seekers. With a mission to inspire endlessly, we offer a
vast collection of books, ranging from classic literary works to
specialized publications, self-development books, and children's
literature. Each book is a new journey of discovery, expanding
knowledge and enriching the soul of the reade

Our website is not just a platform for buying books, but a bridge
connecting readers to the timeless values of culture and wisdom. With
an elegant, user-friendly interface and an intelligent search system,
we are committed to providing a quick and convenient shopping
experience. Additionally, our special promotions and home delivery
services ensure that you save time and fully enjoy the joy of reading.

Let us accompany you on the journey of exploring knowledge and

personal growth!

ebookname.com