· Web: www.fundacioportdesagunt.com Photo: Mariela Apollonio
Blast Furnace No.2
Email: info@fundacioportdesagunt.com
Blast Furnace No.2
·
Collaborate:
Avenida Hornos Altos, 86. 46520 Puerto de Sagunto
The FCV Patrimonio Industrial y Memoria Obrera de Puerto de Sagunto is a non-profit cultural institution with the mission of studying, preserving and disseminating knowledge, memories, sounds, material objects, images and any other element that shaped the iron and steel origin activities taking place in Sagunto in the 20th century. Furthermore, we work to promote the protection, conservation and social projection of the Industrial Heritage of the Valencian Community.
Blast Furnace No. 2 is the most significant element of the industrial heritage of Puerto de Sagunto. This heritage was founded by the activity of a coalmining-metallurgical industry which starting in 1900 determined the urban and social fabric of this new settlement. Terms like mineral, iron, slag, rolling, furnaces or “reconversión” (industrial restructuring) marked the history of this company town, thereby defining the municipality’s idiosyncrasy and development, that was truncated in October 1984 with the closure of the company Altos Hornos del Mediterráneo. Today, Blast Furnace No. 2 has turned into a contemporary witness of this industrial past and collective memory. Blast Furnace No. 2 is 64.20 metres high and from its original structure, we can still see the preserved foundations, hearth, cooling boxes, footbridges leading to the mouth of the throat, ring pipe of hot air, tuyeres and waste gas vent for evacuating fumes and gases. The skip hoist and the bridge cranes were reconstructed in the restoration. The construction of Blast Furnace No. 2 began in 1922, and it rendered its first pig iron casting on 26 June 1926. Its functioning was interrupted several times due to historical and entrepreneurial circumstances. The economic crisis of 1929 led to its shutdown from 1930 to 1941. In 1961 it was demolished and rebuilt from the foundations, and it came back into operation in 1963. Its productive life ended on 24 March 1984 with the last casting and its definite shutdown, being the only one of the three blast furnaces that survived the iron and steel factory dismantling and demolition.
· Web: www.fundacioportdesagunt.com Photo: Mariela Apollonio
Blast Furnace No.2
Email: info@fundacioportdesagunt.com
Blast Furnace No.2
·
Collaborate:
Avenida Hornos Altos, 86. 46520 Puerto de Sagunto
The FCV Patrimonio Industrial y Memoria Obrera de Puerto de Sagunto is a non-profit cultural institution with the mission of studying, preserving and disseminating knowledge, memories, sounds, material objects, images and any other element that shaped the iron and steel origin activities taking place in Sagunto in the 20th century. Furthermore, we work to promote the protection, conservation and social projection of the Industrial Heritage of the Valencian Community.
Blast Furnace No. 2 is the most significant element of the industrial heritage of Puerto de Sagunto. This heritage was founded by the activity of a coalmining-metallurgical industry which starting in 1900 determined the urban and social fabric of this new settlement. Terms like mineral, iron, slag, rolling, furnaces or “reconversión” (industrial restructuring) marked the history of this company town, thereby defining the municipality’s idiosyncrasy and development, that was truncated in October 1984 with the closure of the company Altos Hornos del Mediterráneo. Today, Blast Furnace No. 2 has turned into a contemporary witness of this industrial past and collective memory. Blast Furnace No. 2 is 64.20 metres high and from its original structure, we can still see the preserved foundations, hearth, cooling boxes, footbridges leading to the mouth of the throat, ring pipe of hot air, tuyeres and waste gas vent for evacuating fumes and gases. The skip hoist and the bridge cranes were reconstructed in the restoration. The construction of Blast Furnace No. 2 began in 1922, and it rendered its first pig iron casting on 26 June 1926. Its functioning was interrupted several times due to historical and entrepreneurial circumstances. The economic crisis of 1929 led to its shutdown from 1930 to 1941. In 1961 it was demolished and rebuilt from the foundations, and it came back into operation in 1963. Its productive life ended on 24 March 1984 with the last casting and its definite shutdown, being the only one of the three blast furnaces that survived the iron and steel factory dismantling and demolition.
DIAGRAM OF THE ANCILLARY INSTALLATIONS OF THE FURNACE
WASTE GAS VENT
1
SKIP HOIST
2
THROAT
3
STACK
4
BOSH
5
COOLING BOXES
6
HOT AIR RING PIPE
7
TUYERES
8
HEARTH
9
SLAG HOLE:
10
TAPHOLE
11
TAPHOLE DRILLING MACHINE
12
Tubes conducting the exhaust gases to the gas cleaning installations
Two-way structure transporting the hoppers loaded with iron ore, coke and flux. Part where the hoppers are dumped. It has a double-bell hydraulic closing system, preventing the escape of gases into the atmosphere and the loss of pressure
GAS
17
16
Area where the reduction of the ore to molten iron begins
Part where the complete reduction of the ore forming pig iron and slag takes place, dripping towards the hearth
HOT AIR
Steel and copper boxes embedded in the inner lining of the refractory, cooling the outer part of the furnace with seawater
19
GAS
STEAM
Corrector tube for conducting hot air from the stoves
Nozzles that inject air from the ring pipe into the hearth
18
EXTERNAL AIR
20
Area for accumulating pig iron and slag, and where slag hole and taphole are placed
A hole in the furnace for running off the slag
16 17 18
HOT-BLAST STOVES
Cylindrical elements made of steel plate, 27 metres high and 6.4 metres in diameter reaching a temperature of up to 1000º C.
CHIMNEY
Chimney of the stoves
GAS CLEANING INSTALLATION
Devices where waste gases are treated for use in stoves and other steelworks installations
19
STEAM BOILERS
20
AIR PREHEATER
Steam boilers to move the air preheaters
Machines which produce air for the reduction of minerals in the blast furnace
A hole in the furnace for running off molten pig metal
Machine that drills the clay plug of the taphole to start the casting
CLAY GUN
13
SILOS
14
SLAB ANCHOR
15
Device that plugs the taphole with clay balls after the end of the casting Storage depots for iron ore, coking coal and fluxes
Foundations built in steel rod and concrete
TIMELINE OF THE COALMINING-METALLURGICAL INDUSTRY SAGUNTO
14
1900 Constitution Compañía Minera Sierra Menera. Management: Ramón de la Sota and Eduardo Aznar 1902 Concession of the railway Ojos Negros-Sagunto. Authorisation for the construction of a wharf for ore 1907 First Compañía Minera Sierra Menera train 1909 Inauguration of the wharf 1917 Constitution Compañía Siderúrgica del Mediterráneo. Same management 1929 Great Depression 1930 First great strikes Compañía S. del Mediteráneo 1936 Spanish Civil War Government of the II Republic seizes Compañía Siderúrgica del Mediterráneo and turns it into “Fábrica número 15 de la Subsecretaría de Armamento”. 1939 Burgos Government fines and seizes assets to Ramon de la Sota for his political convictions. 1940 Absorption of Compañía Siderúrgica del Mediterráneo by Altos Hornos de Vizcaya 1961 Collective Bargaining Agreement Altos Hornos de Vizcaya-Fábrica de Sagunto 1971 Creation of Altos Hornos del Mediterráneo and Project of the IV Planta Siderúrgica Integral 1973 Fuel crisis 1978 Nationalisation Altos Hornos del Mediterráneo 1983 “Reconversión”. Industrial restructuring. Workers’ struggle against the closure of the factory 1984 Closure of Altos Hornos del Mediterráneo 1986 Closure of Compañía Minera Sierra Menera
DIAGRAM OF THE ANCILLARY INSTALLATIONS OF THE FURNACE
WASTE GAS VENT
1
SKIP HOIST
2
THROAT
3
STACK
4
BOSH
5
COOLING BOXES
6
HOT AIR RING PIPE
7
TUYERES
8
HEARTH
9
SLAG HOLE:
10
TAPHOLE
11
TAPHOLE DRILLING MACHINE
12
Tubes conducting the exhaust gases to the gas cleaning installations
Two-way structure transporting the hoppers loaded with iron ore, coke and flux. Part where the hoppers are dumped. It has a double-bell hydraulic closing system, preventing the escape of gases into the atmosphere and the loss of pressure
GAS
17
16
Area where the reduction of the ore to molten iron begins
Part where the complete reduction of the ore forming pig iron and slag takes place, dripping towards the hearth
HOT AIR
Steel and copper boxes embedded in the inner lining of the refractory, cooling the outer part of the furnace with seawater
19
GAS
STEAM
Corrector tube for conducting hot air from the stoves
Nozzles that inject air from the ring pipe into the hearth
18
EXTERNAL AIR
20
Area for accumulating pig iron and slag, and where slag hole and taphole are placed
A hole in the furnace for running off the slag
16
HOT-BLAST STOVES
17
CHIMNEY
18
GAS CLEANING INSTALLATION
19 20
Cylindrical elements made of steel plate, 27 metres high and 6.4 metres in diameter reaching a temperature of up to 1000º C. Chimney of the stoves
A hole in the furnace for running off molten pig metal
Machine that drills the clay plug of the taphole to start the casting
CLAY GUN
13
STEAM BOILERS
SILOS
14
AIR PREHEATER
SLAB ANCHOR
15
Devices where waste gases are treated for use in stoves and other steelworks installations
Steam boilers to move the air preheaters
Machines which produce air for the reduction of minerals in the blast furnace
Device that plugs the taphole with clay balls after the end of the casting
Storage depots for iron ore, coking coal and fluxes
Foundations built in steel rod and concrete
TIMELINE OF THE COALMINING-METALLURGICAL INDUSTRY SAGUNTO
14
1900 Constitution Compañía Minera Sierra Menera. Management: Ramón de la Sota and Eduardo Aznar 1902 Concession of the railway Ojos Negros-Sagunto. Authorisation for the construction of a wharf for ore 1907 First Compañía Minera Sierra Menera train 1909 Inauguration of the wharf 1917 Constitution Compañía Siderúrgica del Mediterráneo. Same management 1929 Great Depression 1930 First great strikes Compañía S. del Mediteráneo 1936 Spanish Civil War Government of the II Republic seizes Compañía Siderúrgica del Mediterráneo and turns it into “Fábrica número 15 de la Subsecretaría de Armamento”. 1939 Burgos Government fines and seizes assets to Ramon de la Sota for his political convictions. 1940 Absorption of Compañía Siderúrgica del Mediterráneo by Altos Hornos de Vizcaya 1961 Collective Bargaining Agreement Altos Hornos de Vizcaya-Fábrica de Sagunto 1971 Creation of Altos Hornos del Mediterráneo and Project of the IV Planta Siderúrgica Integral 1973 Fuel crisis 1978 Nationalisation Altos Hornos del Mediterráneo 1983 “Reconversión”. Industrial restructuring. Workers’ struggle against the closure of the factory 1984 Closure of Altos Hornos del Mediterráneo 1986 Closure of Compañía Minera Sierra Menera
1
3
2
STEEL PLATE
REFRACTORY
4
300ºC
6
6 5
7
7 8 10
9
2000ºC
15
31 Ø 6068 t.
8 11 12 13
Blast Furnace No. 1 (1949)
Blast Furnace No. 2 is a type of metallurgical furnace for the production of pig iron (cast iron), an intermediate material used in the manufacturing of steel. In order to obtain a casting of pig iron, three raw materials are needed: iron ore, coking coal and fluxes.
Blast Furnaces No. 2 and No. 3. In the foreground, coal conveyor belt of Blast Furnace No. 3 (1955)
The charges of these materials are introduced into hoppers, which ascend alternately through the skip hoist until they reach the mouth of the throat, where the discharge takes place.
Simultaneously to this process, hot air is injected into the interior of the furnace, thus ensuring mineral reduction and coke combustion. The air is produced in the air preheaters, then led to the stoves and finally injected into the interior section via the hot air ring pipe and tuyeres. The temperature is variable and inversely proportional to the height, from 2000º C in the hearth to 300º C in the upper part of the stack, which makes the system of cooling boxes essential for reducing furnace walls temperature.
Blast Furnaces (1947)
Simultaneously to this process, hot air is injected into the interior of the furnace, thus ensuring mineral reduction and coke combustion. The air is produced in the air preheaters, then led to the stoves and finally injected into the interior section via the hot air ring pipe and tuyeres. The temperature is variable and inversely proportional to the height, from 2000º C in the hearth to 300º C in the upper part of the stack, which makes the system of cooling boxes essential for reducing furnace walls temperature.
Blast Furnaces (1947)
The last phase takes place in the hearth, where the liquid metal deposits while waiting for the opening of the furnace, an operation that is repeated every four hours and consists of drilling the clay plugs which obstruct the casting holes.
Temperature measurement of pig iron (1970)
The pig iron is extracted from the hearth through the taphole, collected in ladles and transported to the steel mill or moulded into ingots. The slag, made up of the unexploitable elements in the raw materials, is extracted through the slag hole and used in cement manufacturing.
Steel furnaces loading ingot moulds (1950)
Construction of the slab anchor of Blast Furnace No 2. 1962
The restoration of Blast Furnace No. 2 started in 1998 under the direction of architects Carmel Gradolí, Arturo Sanz and Luis Francisco Herrero, in order to understand its design and functioning. In 2012, it received the Europa Nostra Award in the category of Conservation. Its value as a cultural and educational element has the responsibility to restore the past in order to create a link with the present and the future. The restoration includes the following aspects: The structural consolidation of a 64.20 metre high metal tower abandoned for more than thirteen years in an aggressive marine environment. The recovery of its image, with an intervention that restores the appearance it used to have after one of its periodic reconstructions. Its didactic functional habilitation, with a visitable route interpreting the role of a blast furnace in the iron and steel process as a machine producing pig iron.
DIAGRAM OF THE ANCILLARY INSTALLATIONS OF THE FURNACE
WASTE GAS VENT
1
SKIP HOIST
2
THROAT
3
STACK
4
BOSH
5
COOLING BOXES
6
HOT AIR RING PIPE
7
TUYERES
8
HEARTH
9
SLAG HOLE:
10
TAPHOLE
11
TAPHOLE DRILLING MACHINE
12
Tubes conducting the exhaust gases to the gas cleaning installations
Two-way structure transporting the hoppers loaded with iron ore, coke and flux. Part where the hoppers are dumped. It has a double-bell hydraulic closing system, preventing the escape of gases into the atmosphere and the loss of pressure
GAS
17
16
Area where the reduction of the ore to molten iron begins
Part where the complete reduction of the ore forming pig iron and slag takes place, dripping towards the hearth
HOT AIR
Steel and copper boxes embedded in the inner lining of the refractory, cooling the outer part of the furnace with seawater
19
GAS
STEAM
Corrector tube for conducting hot air from the stoves
Nozzles that inject air from the ring pipe into the hearth
18
EXTERNAL AIR
20
Area for accumulating pig iron and slag, and where slag hole and taphole are placed
A hole in the furnace for running off the slag
16 17 18
HOT-BLAST STOVES
Cylindrical elements made of steel plate, 27 metres high and 6.4 metres in diameter reaching a temperature of up to 1000º C.
CHIMNEY
Chimney of the stoves
GAS CLEANING INSTALLATION
Devices where waste gases are treated for use in stoves and other steelworks installations
19
STEAM BOILERS
20
AIR PREHEATER
Steam boilers to move the air preheaters
Machines which produce air for the reduction of minerals in the blast furnace
A hole in the furnace for running off molten pig metal
Machine that drills the clay plug of the taphole to start the casting
CLAY GUN
13
SILOS
14
SLAB ANCHOR
15
Device that plugs the taphole with clay balls after the end of the casting Storage depots for iron ore, coking coal and fluxes
Foundations built in steel rod and concrete
TIMELINE OF THE COALMINING-METALLURGICAL INDUSTRY SAGUNTO
14
1900 Constitution Compañía Minera Sierra Menera Management: Ramón de la Sota and Eduardo Aznar 1902 Concession of the railway Ojos Negros-Sagunto Authorisation for the construction of a wharf for ore 1907 First Compañía Minera Sierra Menera train 1909 Inauguration of the wharf 1917 Constitution Compañía Siderúrgica del Mediterráneo Ramón de la Sota and Luis María Aznar 1929 Great Depression 1930 First great strikes C. Siderúrgica del Mediterráneo 1936 Spanish Civil War Government of the II Republic seizes Compañía Siderúrgica del Mediterráneo and turns it into “Fábrica número 15 de la Subsecretaría de Armamento” 1939 Burgos Government fines and seizes assets to Ramon de la Sota for his political convictions 1940 Absorption of Compañía Siderúrgica del Mediterráneo by Altos Hornos de Vizcaya 1961 Collective Bargaining Agreement Altos Hornos de Vizcaya-Fábrica de Sagunto 1971 Creation of Altos Hornos del Mediterráneo and Project of the IV Planta Siderúrgica Integral 1973 Fuel crisis 1978 Nationalisation Altos Hornos del Mediterráneo 1983 “Reconversión”. Industrial restructuring. Workers’ struggle against the closure of the factory 1984 Closure of Altos Hornos del Mediterráneo 1986 Closure of Compañía Minera Sierra Menera
· Web: www.fundacioportdesagunt.com Photo: Mariela Apollonio
Blast Furnace No.2
Email: info@fundacioportdesagunt.com
Blast Furnace No.2
·
Collaborate:
Avenida Hornos Altos, 86. 46520 Puerto de Sagunto
The FCV Patrimonio Industrial y Memoria Obrera de Puerto de Sagunto is a non-profit cultural institution with the mission of studying, preserving and disseminating knowledge, memories, sounds, material objects, images and any other element that shaped the iron and steel origin activities taking place in Sagunto in the 20th century. Furthermore, we work to promote the protection, conservation and social projection of the Industrial Heritage of the Valencian Community.
Blast Furnace No. 2 is the most significant element of the industrial heritage of Puerto de Sagunto. This heritage was founded by the activity of a coalmining-metallurgical industry which starting in 1900 determined the urban and social fabric of this new settlement. Terms like mineral, iron, slag, rolling, furnaces or “reconversión” (industrial restructuring) marked the history of this company town, thereby defining the municipality’s idiosyncrasy and development, that was truncated in October 1984 with the closure of the company Altos Hornos del Mediterráneo. Today, Blast Furnace No. 2 has turned into a contemporary witness of this industrial past and collective memory. Blast Furnace No. 2 is 64.20 metres high and from its original structure, we can still see the preserved foundations, hearth, cooling boxes, footbridges leading to the mouth of the throat, ring pipe of hot air, tuyeres and waste gas vent for evacuating fumes and gases. The skip hoist and the bridge cranes were reconstructed in the restoration. The construction of Blast Furnace No. 2 began in 1922, and it rendered its first pig iron casting on 26 June 1926. Its functioning was interrupted several times due to historical and entrepreneurial circumstances. The economic crisis of 1929 led to its shutdown from 1930 to 1941. In 1961 it was demolished and rebuilt from the foundations, and it came back into operation in 1963. Its productive life ended on 24 March 1984 with the last casting and its definite shutdown, being the only one of the three blast furnaces that survived the iron and steel factory dismantling and demolition.