Bogalusa

"The Timberman", 1921

4th Page

Index to story:

Bogalusa Start Page

Paper Plant to Rise

Civic Improvement a Source of Pride

The Great Sawmill at Bogalusa

The Logging Railroad System

Dipping Lumber to Prevent Stain

How Second Stream is Handled

The Power Plant

New Civic Enterprises Planned

Pulp Mill Supplants Waste Burner

Sulphate Process Used

Other Pulp Plants in South

Waste Paper Provides Tonnage

Links

Bogalusa, Washington Parish, Louisiana

Bogalusa Story by C. W. Goodyear

At the end of the mill the stream of lumber is diverted at right angles into two opposite courses, one going to truck loaders for transmission to the stockyards for open air drying. On the way every piece is sent through a mechanical dipping machine, where the lumber, carried transversely on the conveyor chains, is depressed by rollers into a solution tank, and then sent on to the trucks, There is thus a continuous stream of lumber being Immersed in the tank without stoppage of the conveyor chains, The object of dipping is to coat the lumber with alkali that will prevent sap staining and bluing, which ordinarily happen to lumber stacked in the open for air-drying. The effect is extra ordinary. Lumber stored In the open for months remains brilliantly yellow and lustrous, apparently even brighter than when fresh from the saw. Formerly a solution of plain soda ash (carbonate of soda, Na was used, but recently a better mixture has been adopted, consisting of 45 per cent sodium bicarbonate (HNaCO3) and 55 per cent sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) the formula being to dissolve one pound of the mixture, in the proportion given, in one gallon of water. The covering strength per 1000 feet board measure is five gallons of the solution. The soda compounds used are what is known as the “Zenith Brand,” put up by Church & Dwight, New York.
The dipped lumber Is loaded upon trucks, which are taken to the loading terminal of the monorail system previously mentioned, operated by two men, an engineer and a clutch man, and the whole car with Its load is taken and de posited on any desired track in the stockyard. There are now 20,000,000 feet of lumber on hand in these yards, which is below the average. The total stock now carried, both in yards and sheds, is 35,000,000 feet, which is 10,000,000 below normal. (Written December 1920.—Editor.)

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How Second Stream is Handled.

The second stream of lumber diverted by the sorters at the end of the mill is sent to drying kilns. It goes first to a single sorter, who sorts as to length and thickness only, tumbling each board into its appropriate slot in the edge conveyor, a sorter takes it to the proper side conveyor, which delivers it to the stacking machine, that loads the trucks for carrying it into the kiln. There are three batteries of eight kilns each, making 24 in all, ea.ch holding 15 truck loads, the truckload being 3500 feet. The kilns are steam heated, with steam at 110 to 120 pounds. The lumber is dried 72 hours, bringing it down from a green weight of 4400 pounds to a dry weight of 3400 pounds. From the kilns the dry lumber is transported to the stock sheds. which occupy an area of five acres.

There is some waste, as well as all of the saw dust, going to the boiler room from the sawmill proper, but the larger part - comes from the planning mill, consisting of shavings, dust and “hog material” from a half-Inch to two inches long. The planning mill is nearly a comes from the planning mill, consisting of shavings, dust and “hog material” from a half-inch to two inches long. The planning mill is nearly a half a mile from the boiler room, so the pneumatic transmission of all this material, averaging as high as 21 tons per hour, is of special interest. The refuse is collected by a group of ordinary cyclone exhausters, which deliver it to a feed bin above the pulsator. It comes to this bin in a 36- inch galvanized steel pipe; it leaves the pulsator on its long journey to the boiler plant in a 11-inch steel pipe. The pulsator is a mechanism that automatically feeds the refuse rythmically into the path of air puffs into which the apparatus converts the steady stream of air that is delivered under a pressure of four pounds per square inch. The blower and pulsator together consume 500 horsepower belted from an electric motor. The capacity of this equipment is 700 pounds of refuse per minute. The amount actually delivered is variable, ranging from 400 pounds per minute upward.

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The Power Plant

The power plant offers no novel features, but is ably managed by J.H. Friend, the mechanical engineer of the plant. It contains 14 boilers, mostly of the Heine type with a combined rating of 4800 horsepower, but 7000 horsepower are actually developed. The power to all parts of the plant is transmitted electrically, and all machines except the four main band saws, two resaws and one gang saw, including the machinery in the planing mill and box factory, are driven by in dependent electric motors. Electric power is developed by two 28x48-inch Corliss engines, direct connected to 500-kilowatt 2300 3-phase alternators; one 18x36-inch Corliss engine, direct connected to a 250-kilowatt 2300 3-phase alternator; one 1000-kilowatt low-pressure steam turbine, and one 2000-kilowatt low-pressure steam turbine. The exhaust steam for operating the low-pressure turbines comes from the Corliss engines and from all steam-using appliances in the sawmill.

The sawmill proper is operated from a 40x60- inch Corliss engine, with steam at 140 pounds, by a unique reverse-drive leather belt that passes first over a weighted tension pulley, laps back over the first lineshaft with 180 degrees of contact; thence around the second lineshaft with 180 degrees of contact, and thence over a tightener idler to the flywheel of the engine. The diameter of the flywheel pulley is 264 inches with a 74-inch face, making 14 revolutions per minute. The driven pulleys on the two line shafts are each 60 inches diameter by 77 inches face, making 325 revolutions per minute. The belt itself is 3-ply, 72 inches wide, 238 feet long, travels 5114 feet per minute and transmits from 1890 to 2000 horsepower. The belt is inspected daily during the two hours of rest in the mill, and is thoroughly overhauled once each week.

The belt was originally made by E. A. Usina, a belt expert of New Orleans, and has given great satisfaction. The construction of a belt of such proportions that will show uniform tension across its width and cover the full number of degrees of contact on both sides uniformly while driven at full speed is an achievement in power transmission that merits attention. Two belts were manufactured, one being held in reserve in case of emergency. The choicest cuts from 540 hides were required for each belt, the leather being tanned in the South. The amount of cement used in each belt was 380 pounds. The company maintains a special belt shop, under the direction of E. R. Belton, for repair work and the manufacture of narrower widths. It is fully equipped, including a toggle belt press. On the 72-inch belt the top ply is made of two pieces, the bottom ply of three pieces and the middle of seven pieces. Only the highest grade of leather is employed, and all stock with defects or knife cuts is rejected.

The sawmill plant employs 1750 men, and 1100 men are needed at the logging camps, of which there are five, to keep the supply of timber coming forward. The superintendent of the sawmill Is L. F. Guerre.

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