OUR FROZEN MEAT INDUSTRY.

Press, Volume LIII, Issue 9862, 11 March 1896, Page 5

OUR FROZEN MEAT INDUSTRY.

AN ONWARD STEP. The Canterbury Frozen Meat Company have recently added to their already complete plaut of machinery at Belfast a Hercules triple expansion machine, the first of the kiud ever introduced in the colony. Yesterday, at the invitation of Mr F. Waymouth, the Secretary of the Frozen Meat Company, several gentlemen paid a visit to the factory to see the first starting of the new machine. In order to arrange for the accommodation of the new machine, and also to give more room for the extensive machinery of the Company, an annexe has besn fitted, comprising the old fitting j shop and boiler house, 60 x 20. A vow iron roof has been put on this, and skylights and moveable side lights in the lantern of the roof arranged for. After a pleasant drive the visitors reached the factory and were welcomed by Mr Glass (the eogiaeer) and Mr Goodmauaou, the Hercules Company expert, who has come from America to superintend the erection of the machine. The machine itself comprises a triple expansion steam cylinder of the newest type, and a separate steam vacuum pump. Tho compressors are two single, acting independently of eich other or combined. A new Thomson and Hunt governor is fitted on the engine. It acts on the cut-off valve from a loose eccentric on the crank shaft. The high-pressure cylinder has a pistou valve, the intermediate and low pressure cylinders haring a new typo of valve, whioh has been designed by the Buckeye Engine Coinpauy of Chicago. The valves consist of oue for each steam-port, and the cut-off valve is worked inoide the union valve. The ammonia iB charged into the cistern of tho machine through a 5-Bth inch pipe into the liquid ammonia pipe. It is then forced through the coils and the compressor pump throws it through and compresses it ut 1701b,t0 the square iuch. The ammonia compressor pumps are water jacketed, and, they cool the compressed ammonia to the same temperature as the circulating water. From theße it is tnkeu to the condenser coils. These have been placed in a building 50 x 16 in the rear of the engine-house. The room is iouvred at both ends so as to admit of the free circulation of the air. The ammonia is still further cooled by the oiroulation of water from a separate" steam pump. The water is forced over the coils through which the ammonia passes, and then is conducted to a catch tr*p, whenoe it passes away. From the time the ammonia leaves the cooling in a liquid state it passes along a 3.pipe to the brine tank, the size of which is 16 xl26x 12 6. This tank is placed between the brine tanks of the Hall machine aud the first compound Haslam machine which was acquired by the Company. The brine is circulated through the tank by means of on 3 of Deaue's compound duplex pumps. A 7iu suction pipe connects the brine tauk with the Deane duplex pump, and this ia also connected with the Hall system in use in the factory. Either of the pumps are large enough to. take the whole of the brine system for the works. The brine circulates through the freezing chambers by means of hollow walls.

The whole of the machinery is worked by a boiler of 1701b pressure, designed by Mr Glass, ■ the engineer of the works, and manufactured at the Canterbury Foundry. The machinery, considering it had only just been put together, and had not been tried before, worked splendidly, and the visitors expressed themselves as highly pleased with the manner in which it did its work.

. The addition of the Hercules will greatly add to the freezing capacity of the Company, and the enterprise displayed by them should commend itself to the community. *