A photograph of coal moving through the manufacturing process. 'Island Creek Coal Sales Co., Cincinnati, Ohio; The following cars of Pocahontas coal were shipped today for account of; 4-Point Pocahontas Coal'
A photograph of coal moving along a conveyor belt and over a grate. 'Island Creek Coal Sales Co., Cincinnati, Ohio; The following cars of Pocahontas coal were shipped today for account of; P.C. Pocahontas Coal'
Williams Preparation Plant, Consolidation Coal Company
Date:
ca. 1953
Description:
'An overall view of the new plant at Williams No. 98 Mine of Consolidation Coal Compnay (W. Va.) is shown. Coal comes from the mine on a 558 foot conveyor belt at the left to the top of the plant past the old tipple (shown dark against the new structure) which is now being removed. Through intricate processes it is screened and sized and loaded into railroad cars on four tracks which pass under the tipple (center). Impurities removed from the coal are carried on another long conveyor to a hilltop slate dump shown in the extreme upper right corner. This mine is named for Eugene Williams of Romney, W. Va. Mr. Williams is Chairman of the Board of Western Maryland Railroad. Williams Preparation Plant, convering over three acres of floor space on eight levels is a steel and concrete structure 100 feet high and fully enclosed without a single window. this windowless 'factory' is a mystifying innovation to all who visit the plant. It is equipped with a ventilating system, fluorescent lighting, and a complete vacuum type dust collection system that gather in all air borne particles at their source. All of these measures promote health, safety and good housekeeping. The raw coal is delivered to the preparation plant at a rate of 450 tons per hour by a 558 foot belt which picks up the coal at the rotary mine car dump at the bottom of the slope. After the coal is crushed down to 5 inch top size the raw coal is fed into a 15 foot diameter chance cone yielding 278 tons of 'float-kleen' coal per hour. The washing process operates on the principle of gravity separation, a fluid mass of sand and water being utilized as the density medium. Designed and built by Fairmont Machinery Company placed in operation March 31, 1953; No windows, dust collection system; track storage, 100 empties, 80 loads; Present daily capacity, 8500 tons; potential daily capacity, 15,000 tons; coal reserves, 80,000,000 tones, Pittsburgh seam; slack dried, centrifugal and thermal dryers; oil treating facilities for stoker grades; served by two railroads, WM and B&O; Plant named for Eugene Williams of Romney, W. Va. Board Chairman of the Western Maryland Railroad.'
'The Plus 6" coal will be crushed to minus 1.5" and two 16,6" Chance Cones will wash the 6 x 3/8 coal. Current production of approximately 1800 tons per day is crushed to minus 1.25" then trucked to the storage yard of the new Kammer Power plant.'
'The Georgetown Preparation Plant is the world's largest commercial coal preparation plant, having a capacity of 1,500 tons per hour of raw coal, or 1,275 tons per hour of clean coal. The plant has facilities for dumping bottom-dump tractor-trailer and end-dump trucks, and for rotary and bottom dumping of railroad cars. Coal from these dumps goes into a 1,500 ton bin, from which it is conveyed on a 641 foot belt conveyor to the primary shaker screens. Whereas the conventional coal perparation plant provides only one circuit for all coal washed, the Georgetown plant is unique, in that it provides three separate washing circuites, each of which is designed to most efficiently clean a certain size fraction.'
'A sheltered conveyor brings the Disco product from the carbonizers to this sheltered mechanical cooling wharf. A method of careful cooling in motion prevents spontaneous firing of the fuel and avoids injury to the structure of the product. The wharf is contructed of a series of grates, which are successively raised and lowered in a wavelike manner to keep the Disco product in motion and convey it slowly, while it is being cooled, down to the discharge end of the wharf.
