I learned about the AK Steel Works in this town from a crane posting. They are assembling a Manitowoc 18000 and 3800 demag for a blast furnace project. I assume the project is to improve something rather than tear down something because AK Steel turned off their blast furnace in Ashland, KY in 2015.
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| "Armco Works" by V. Cremeans, which hangs in the Middletown Public Library, from ArmcoSteel-home |
Looking at the satellite image, this integrated mill is huge. And I see from Annie's comment below that this is just a fraction of the works.
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| Satellite |
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| 3D Satellite of blast furnace |
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| Annie Mounts commented on a post 10 square miles of AK Steel in Middletown Ohio. |
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| David Ashley posted Cleveland Cliffs — Middletown Works. Formerly ARMCO and AK Steel. North end of the hot strip mill, green coil storage building and outdoor coil storage. Bradley Post: We are the number 2 producer for the company I think we are in good shape. They are saying they are going to invest around 10 billion into our facility. We produce some of the best grades in the steel business and soon we will be producing glass from our slag we were told. Rob Edwards: Building 600 hot strip to the right, green coil and aluminizing is to the left. |
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| Lance Cyr commented on David's post [From what I can gather from various comments, this was built for "Project 600," which was a new hot strip mill. Soaking pits are at the far end.] |
Richard Allison: The last time I was on Armco Middletown No. 3, it was a single taphole furnace back in the late 70s. No. 1 and No. 2 at Hamilton were running and sending by rail iron to Middletown. Amanda and Bellefonte were running too. I furnished taphole clay, trough gunning material and ladle gunning mixes back then when Armco had 5 blast furnaces.
[Several comments provide photos of McKee designed furnaces in other countries.]
[Several comments provide photos of McKee designed furnaces in other countries.]
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| Todd Branch posted I believe a picture of Armco-Middletown #3 BF upon completion. McKee designed furnace. Photo from Arthur G. McKee Co. Israel McIntosh: I have had the pleasure of working on this furnace a lot. I worked in the top change crew around 2002 and also we replaced the large bell around 2014 then did another top change in 2017 and replaced the large bell rod in 2021. Along with many other projects over a 20 year span it’s definitely an impressive blast furnace. Todd Branch: I spent quite a bit of time at that furnace also. Was also there in 2002 but mostly involved with skip bridge repairs that were also going on. Not there in 2014 but there a couple days in 2017 when involved in the installation of an isolation goggle valve off the dustcatcher. Always enjoyed visiting that furnace. Roger Hercutt: And she is still up and running. Jason Newman: She aint just up and running shes running better than she ever has lol |
I was amazed that a blast furnace would be built, let alone still exist, far from a river or lake that could supply ore and/or coal by boats or barges. And the blast furnace is a small part of this complex. So I dug into the history of AK Steel to learn why a steel plant would be landlocked.
When Middletown and Zanesville was competing in 1900 for the plant to be built in their town by offering land and money, the land Middletown was offering was on the Erie and Miami Canal. So by the standards of its day, it was not land locked.
The Pennsy tracks ran diagonally through the complex and the Big Four ran along the west side. IORY now has the Pennsy route, but Norfolk Southern shares the Pennsy route in and near the steel works. NS and IORY both operate on the Big Four route. CSX has a branch that comes over from their route through New Miami.
I wonder when the plant was modernized to use continuous casting. Not adopting the technology of continuous casting in a timely fashion was the downfall of many American steel companies, including the companies that made machinery for steel production. In addition to having the companies headquarters at the beginning and now, in 1910 it organized the first department in the steel industry devoted exclusively to research. [armcosteel-timeline] "In 2017, AK Steel opened a world class research and innovation center in Middletown, Ohio." [Wikipedia]
The Pennsy tracks ran diagonally through the complex and the Big Four ran along the west side. IORY now has the Pennsy route, but Norfolk Southern shares the Pennsy route in and near the steel works. NS and IORY both operate on the Big Four route. CSX has a branch that comes over from their route through New Miami.
I wonder when the plant was modernized to use continuous casting. Not adopting the technology of continuous casting in a timely fashion was the downfall of many American steel companies, including the companies that made machinery for steel production. In addition to having the companies headquarters at the beginning and now, in 1910 it organized the first department in the steel industry devoted exclusively to research. [armcosteel-timeline] "In 2017, AK Steel opened a world class research and innovation center in Middletown, Ohio." [Wikipedia]
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| AKsteel |
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| Max Fultz posted Annealing Building at AkSteel (crane view) [According to the comments, they have two annealing buildings and this is the south one.] |
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| safe_image for Union president: AK Steel to change its name [The video is drone shots of the plant.] Journal-News AK Steel announcement surprised many in Butler County Cleveland-Cliffs, North America’s largest producer of iron ore pellets, will acquire AK Steel, a leading producer of flat-rolled carbon, stainless and electrical steel products, for $1.1 billion. [I've seen several comments on Facebook that AK Steel's management was "toxic" and that C-C is a significant improvement.] |
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| Brian Wade posted Middletown Ohio |
Allan Cochran added two photos to Brian's post with the comment: "Burp..." and Annie Mounts added the comment: "That's the year it melted all the lights and flag off the top lol."
[I believe these flares are caused by the bleeder valves popping open to relieve excess pressure in the blast furnace. One cause of the pressure is bridged material in the furnace collapsing. The furnace contains a delicate balance between the weight of the iron, coke and limestone vs. the upward blast of preheated air.]
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| Richard Allison posted This is No.3 BF Middletown when it had one casthouse. I took this picture in '78. I wish I took a photo of the Hamilton furnaces before they were closed. I just got off Google Earth and I see two casthouses. One on the east and the other on the west side of the furnace. They are 90 deg from each other. I was thinking it was done before 2000 but maybe it was after. I was last there in the late 70s but my brother does ladle maintenance there now. |
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| Raymond Boothe posted Cliffs Middletown Blast Furnace No. 3 (unln/Dr. Raymond Boothe collection). |
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| Mort Brandon posted Steel, Middletown, Ohio - photo Edward Weston, 1922 Stephen Wolstenholme shared Ron N Kay Brewer: The old open hearth. Got to see it run in I think 1985. Didn't do well. They turned it into mold car storage. |
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| Anonymous Participant posted, cropped #3 Blast Furnace Cleveland Cliffs Middletown works rebuilding #1 stove [A later comment added the date of 2022.] |
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| Matthew Gardner commented on the above post |
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| Raymond Boothe posted Cliffs Steel: Working a runner at CC Middletown blast furnace No. 3 (Cliffs photo). |
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| SierraClub Stop AK Steel's Harmful Air Pollution in Southwest Ohio |
Bard Steele posted four photos with the comment: "The heartbeat of the finishing mill."
Brad Steele: Oldie but runs like a champ.
Rob Edwards: Looks like middletown for F1 thru F7 roughing motors are at the south end of the room. I think that is crane 309 in the corner of the picture.
Ron Church: Brad Steele same as inland east in Indiana. Wiped em down after blowing em out and changing brushes many times. Black booger job.
Justin Anderson: That's wild you would think that much hp and amps you would wanna run it at more than 700volts.
Adam Ciaschini: Justin Anderson the 106" mill motors are also 700 VDC so maybe it's common for motors that big.
Cory Lewis: Adam Ciaschini 166 motors have the same volt rating and they draw approx 15000A during normal operation.
Adam Ciaschini: Cory Lewis I wasn't sure about the 166. Thought it was 1000.
Bob Hughes: Very standard DC mill dive motor.
Michael Watchorn: Looks identical to our motor room in lorain.
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| Chuck Half posted Inside Middletown American Rolling Mill factory 1921. Photo from "Armco in Pictures and Fact," published by the American Rolling Mill Co. |
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| Darrell Land posted CSXT Slab Car’s , For Cliff Steel In Middletown , Ohio Going by Trenton , Ohio Southbound , This Week |
CSX evidently has to hand the slabs over to a shortline around Cincinnati.
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| CSX Map |
In Sept 2020, I got hit with a Double Doomsday. Both Facebook and Google changed their software. I said "changed" instead of "updated" because the new software is not better. In fact, Google's Blogger software is far worse except for a search function that works. For example, it has three bugs concerning photos and their captions. So I'm no longer copying photos and interesting comments from Facebook. I'm just saving the link. Unfortunately, some of the links are to private groups
26 photos of a vessel replacement I'm guessing the vessel is the bowl of an Electric Arc Furnace.
Scott Woods: I see the CBI logo on this --Chicago Bridge and Iron. I was involved in fabricating and welding a number of these trunnion rings in our Kankakee Ill shop in the 90s You can't appreciate how big they are until you stand next to one. The trunnion rings are mostly 4" plate.
Dan Kleinhenz: We’ve bought tons of that after it’s been crushed and graded into aggregate. Much of I-75 in Cincinati is built on it here recently.
A post with a lot of informative comments
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