 |
|
History
In 1917, the first coke ovens were put into service at the Tonawanda
facility, located along the Niagara River about a mile north of
Buffalo, New York. The original battery contained 60 ovens of
Semet-Solvay design with horizontal heating flues. In 1926, a second
battery, also containing 60 ovens of comparable design, was put into
operation.
Primary customers for this plant were the Wickwire-Spencer Steel
Company
|
|
| |
and
Tonawanda Iron. Approximately 30 million cubic feet of coke oven gas
was also sold daily to Iroquois Gas Company.
In 1961, #2 Battery (built in 1926) was taken out of service and
dismantled. A new #2 battery was constructed in its place, consisting
of 60 four-meter ovens of Wilputte gun-fired, hairpin,
cross-regenerative design. This new battery was placed on-line in 1962
and is still
|
|
|
|
|
in operation
today. The original 1917 battery (#1 Battery) became inactive in 1972.
Allied Chemical Corporation put the plant up for sale in June 1977.
However, in December of that year, a large tar storage tank collapsed,
igniting a fire that nearly destroyed the entire facility.
In
January 1978, J.D.Crane purchased the 188 acre site, and production
operations resumed under the banner of Tonawanda Coke Corporation in
February, 1978. The facility continues to operate as a merchant
producer of high-quality foundry coke.
 |
|
