In 1899 a copper plant opened on this site. It closed in the early 1970s. The steel plant opened in 1979 and Gerdau Ameristeel took over the plant in the 1990s. "Gerdau Ameristeel is the second-largest mini-mill steel producer in North America, and has been around for more than 100 years." [nj.com] Actually, Gerdau purchased the steel mill in 2002. [MyCentralJersey (This article talks about the Sayreville mill and the history of steel in the US.)]
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| Craig Laughlin posted 180T Electtric Arc Furnace at Raritan River Steel Perth Ambly NJ 1980-2006. I worked there 1983-2009. Melt Shop was shut down in 2006. Craig Laughlin: It was Gerdau from 2002 to 2009. |
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| George Frigm commented on Craig's post Then you will remember doing this (taking a steel sample from the slag door). I spent a lot of time in that shop 1981-1990. Eventually hired a RRS employee Mike Munck to work for our company. Craig Laughlin: George Frigm yes, we used to take temps and samples from the slag door. In later years we installed a robotic arm for those tasks to keep furnace helpers away from the molten steel. Max Ali: Nice furnace with good control room position.cant recall whether you could charge materials automatically to furnace and ladle. Bill Lages: Max Ali furnace was charged by swinging water cooled roof and charge crane opening clam shell on scrap bucket Craig Laughlin: Max Ali the alloys and fluxes were either dumped into the scrap buckets or into the furnace using fork trucks with a dump bucket attachment. The ladle refining furnace installed years later had automated bins and conveyor to feed them into the ladle. |
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| csengineermag The site has been repurposed as a Home Depot warehouse. |
I'm saving this image because the satellite view will be changing.
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| 3D Satellite |
In fact, it has already changed since I wrote the draft. Now that I'm getting ready to publish, the link provides this image. The land now has a Home Depot warehouse.
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| 3D Satellite |
Did Perth Amboy have more than one steel mill or is Pardee another name in the corporate history of this site?
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| Postcard |
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| 1947 Perth Amboy Quad @ 24,000 |
I didn't realize that such major maintenance has to be done rather frequently. Although, according to some comments, the frequency varies quite a bit.
Ryan L Stone posted three photos with the comment: "EAF bottom changes happened about once every 90 days at our meltshop in Perth Amboy. Pulling the roof and the cage was a fact of life for a bottom change. Everyone in the Maintenance Dept. was on 16 hour shifts during turnaround. It made for interesting paychecks...and lots of OT."
Chris Dudley: We’re you changing it because you had another one ready to go?
Ryan L Stone: Yup. We had a Refractory Dept that did nothing but line bottoms and ladles. Two bottoms and six ladles in rotation.
RicknDebbie Nichols: I worked there almost 20 year. At one point the meltshop superintendent had that bottom being changed every 2 weeks.
Lloyd Hanning: RicknDebbie Nichols Hey Rick: what was the reason for replacing the bottom that often? I’ve worked in meltshops all my life and never heard of something like that. I’d be embarrassed to be a superintendent in a shop like that! Crazy.
RicknDebbie Nichols: Lloyd Hanning we burned through a couple of times and the super was paranoid it would happen again. I was at the caster and we could see when they knocked the brick out that they were like new. We all thought it was nuts.
John Shaw: We just dig it out then re brick and ram refractory every 6 weeks. No dismantling required. Bezle ring and roof stay on. 12 hr turn around.
Adam Keye: At our meltshop they try to go 120 days before a reline.......lol
Roy Scragg: When Irish Steel was operational we would have a weekly maintenance shutdown day every Thursday which involved changing out the shell of the 120t EAF.
Pretty awesome seeing that happen with all the heavy machinery involved and some great work done by very experienced people.
Ed Skuchas: And they have to remove the shell for Relining?
Andy Watkins: I remember when our company bought that mill along with the one at Sayerville. We split the shell and replace bottom once a year at our mill.
Michael Harley: John Braun we do our every 8 years.
Michael Boley: How many tons can that furnace hold. Anyone know?
Ryan L Stone: Michael Boley 300T.
Brandon Klinedinst: 90 days doesn’t seem too bad, how many heats is the question. Luckily we have a big enough crane to not have to split the shell we just swap the whole furnace with our spare. Cool stuff though.
Keith Wilburn: Hell once a year.
Caleb Gilmore: Yep now we do shel/hearth every 8 weeks.
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| Peter Skelton commented on John's comment |
Ryan L Stone posted four photos with the comment:
The Perth Amboy Mill had a direct 230KVA line that went into the ground at the power plant in Sewaren, NJ and came out of the ground inside our substation four miles away.At full power, only the New Jersey Transit train system used more power in the state; JCP&L actually paid us not to strike an arc during peak summer hours.This substation was the largest in Middlesex County, and was larger than anything south of it except Camden. Make a mistake inside this fence, and you might not have made it home.
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| 2 Bob Featherstone: When we purchased this transformer we bought it from Westinghouse. By the time it was manufactured, the division had been sold to ABB. I believe it was manufactured in St. Louis. James Torgeson: Bob Featherstone The former Westinghouse Large Power Transformer plant in Muncie now builds locomotives for Progress Rail, a subsidiary of Caterpillar. Ryan L Stone: Bob Featherstone You are correct. When the transformer oil was changed, the nameplates were switched to ABB. The vault secondary was, as well. |
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A 2:05 video of the electric arc furnace in operation and some other interior shots.
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