Update On Snow Shed

The humid weather we have been having lately is causing adverse effects on the urethane casting resin. I have ordered some new types of resin from Smooth-On to see how they work. Have added a dehumidifier in the work shop unfortunately it raises the ambient temperature causing the resin to catalyze to rapidly. New resin has a longer pot life and slower set time.

David

1897 Niter Storage Building

The final building associated with the sulfuric acid plant is the salt peter storage shed. It is a single story building with 9 foot eaves and is 15' x 12' in size. It should be noted that this building is set apart form other buildings in this complex. This is due to the explosive nature of the product being stored.

A Google Book Reference

http://books.google.com/books?id=uRJDAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=a+treatise+on+chemistry&hl=en&ei=HZhXTKbEMNC2ngfK54CcBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA

The above link is to a Google book (A Treatise On Chemistry) that gives a very good review of the chamber process for creating sulfuric acid. The description begins on PDF page 440. It is contemporary to the time period and has several illustrations of the manufacturing facilities. I have reviewed several other period references and they are essentially the same in there descriptions of the manufacturing process. My continued discussion will utilized the information learned to make educated guesses as to how these buildings looked as I have not been able to locate any photographs of the Carbon Works.

David

1897 Chamber Building

The acid chamber building is 190 feet long and 72 feet wide with eaves 32 feet above the ground. There is a raised roof 8 feet wide and 3 feet high at the peak and it is indicated that the structure is 3 stories tall with the first story empty. A single story 18' x 50' office and engine room with eaves at 12 feet is on the end of the chamber building.

The acid chambers are voluminous lead walled rooms built on wooden frames and supported above the ground, in this case about 12 feet to match the single story eave height. If we assume that there are 10 foot walk ways around the entire interior of the chamber building for inspection purposes and that this is a three chamber process then the size of an individual cell could be 15 feet wide by 170 feet long. The height of the chamber can be estimated as 15 feet; 20 foot height of walls less 5 feet for the support frames. This calculates to be about 38,000 cubic feet per chamber which is well within the established specifications for these types of facilities.

As the acid collects in the bottom of each chamber it flows by gravity to storage tanks under the chambers. It is then pumped from the tanks to the Glover tower for concentration. The usual means employed for pumping the acid is compressed air, I speculate that the engine room has a steam driven compressor to provide this air for the entire acid facility.