CHAPTER III.PLANT DESIGN.

Description of Plants — Plant No. 1 — Plant No. 2 — Plant No. 3 — Plant No. 4 — Type of Plant — Loading Facilities — Producing Department — Abbatoir Building — Rendering Building — Live Stock — Icing Department — Cooler Building — Pork House — Manufacturing Building — Salt Spaces — Power Department — Gravity System — How to Build — Fireproof Design — Advantages — Slow Burning Construction — Approval of Plans.

—This chapter is devoted to a description of several types of plants.

—A moderate sized beef, mutton, and pork producing plant capable of slaughtering six hundred cattle, fifteen hundred sheep and fifteen hundred hogs daily, and taking care of the products of manufacture resulting therefrom. This design was developed upon the principle of gravity for movement of products with as little use of elevators as possible; the avoidance of excessive use of mechanical conveyors and contrivances; the grouping of buildings intended for hot or cold temperatures; economy of operation, and for minimum car movement.

—The general arrangement provides for wagon and dray loading facilities fronting the main thoroughfare. The garage and office are at the left and right sides of the court. Three tracks are situated between the two groups of buildings to take care of the car loading. Usually the refrigerated products are loaded upon the east track, and non-refrigerated products, such as hides and bones, and the oleo department products, upon the west track. The intermediate track is used for the storing of cars. By use of the connectingplatform at the south end either kind of cars can be loaded on either track. A separate non-interfering railroad spur is provided for unloading coal, and cotton seed oil, and for loading tallow, while a distinct track is provided for loading cars of dry salt meats from the pork warehouse.

FIG. 5.—PLANT NO. 1, MODERATE SIZE PACKING HOUSE.

—The abattoir is made the center of distribution, with the refrigerated buildings and departments directly communicative, situated nearby. The rendering and manufacturing departments—users of steam and power—are grouped near to the abattoir and to the power plant, while the buildings requiring refrigeration are grouped together and isolated from the manufacturing buildings. The stock pens connected with the plant are to the left of the manufacturing groups, but are not shown on the plan.

—This building, six stories high, is given over to the following uses: Fourth floor, slaughtering; third floor, treatment, separation and cooking of by-products and manufacture of casings; second floor, oleo oil manufacturing; first floor, oleo oil storage, and shipping purposes; basement and sub-basement, storage of tallow and curing of hides.

FIG. 6.—EXTERIOR VIEW BEEF, SHEEP AND PORK PLANT.

—Divided into two sections and separated by partitions, one side is used for the refining of cotton seed oil and the manufacture of edible tallows; the other side for cooking blood and rendering inedible tallows. The floors are used as follows: Second floor, level with viscera separating floor in abattoir, from whence raw stock is trucked to the filling floor without requiring use of elevators for filling of tanks; first floor, tank bodies and receptacles for collection of tallow. The skimming vats to which the tank residue, after drawing off the tallows, is passed, are level with this floor, enabling the separation and floating of the tallow and its collection; basement for press room, and sub-basement for drying tankage. The tank water to be evaporated is collected and passed to a separate building for treatment and evaporation.

—The live stock pens are situated to the left of the rendering department extending north of the oil storage tanks from which position leads an incline, delivering the live stock into an elevated storage pen covering the area between the rendering house and the abattoir, and over the dressing room.

—Facilities for manufacturing ice for cooling cars are provided in the space directly north of the abattoir building. The three railroad tracks between the two groups of buildings are covered with a protecting shed, and from the bottom member of the trusses are suspended trolley rails for handling buckets of ice to be dumped into the tanks of the refrigerator cars.

—The dressed beef, mutton and pork is transferred via bridge with chain conveyors, carrying the carcasses from the slaughtering house floor to the cooling rooms situated upon the third floor of the cooler building. From this floor the carcasses are conveyed for storage purposes to the second and first floor, and from there they are passed to the cutting room, city sales department, or cars. The basement and sub-basement are used for curing beef and pork joints. The fourth floor of this building is set aside for freezing products which, after being frozen, are shipped for storage to other premises owned by the same company.

FIG. 7.—SECTIONAL VIEW INDICATING LEVELS AND COMPARATIVE LEVELS OF DEPARTMENT FLOORS.

—The fourth floor of the pork house is utilized for chilling hogs; the third for cutting them, and all floors below for curing purposes. Note, the arrangement whereby the pork house and the cooler building are each connected with the team-loading platform and also closely arranged for car loading.

—A manufacturing building given over to the production of sausage, smoked meats, lard and the packing and shipping of same is immediately north of the cooler and pork buildings, and connected thereto at all floors where necessary. The city shipping department has its allotted space on the ground floor of the cooler building and the products finished in the manufacturing building move south toward the team loading platforms.

—In this instance, but which rarely occurs, the city’s main sewer system is located at a deep level, which affords proper drainage and permitted the construction of two cellars. There are, therefore, two stories practically under ground. This is a decided advantage from the standpoint of radiation exposure, and it also affords an opportunity to provide salt storage and cooperage stowing spaces on two levels adjacent to the railroad tracks. It further provides a means for securing a connecting tunnel below the track level, thus providing facilities for a perfect interchange from all cellar departments. Of equal consequence is the opportunity to pass all pipes for water, steam and refrigeration, power and lighting wires, as well as products, from one department to another. This makes for a low upkeep cost, little exposure, less radiation and greatly reduces the annual upkeep.

—The boilers were placed on a floor level with the basement. The coal pocket into which coal is dropped extends to the sub-basement level, providing a comparatively large coal storage. At the sub-basement level are the ash collecting bins. From this level are provided elevators of the continuous bucket type for raising the coal and ashes to tanks provided for storage, from which the coal and ashes gravitate to the furnaces and disposal cars respectively.

The engine foundations extend to the sub-basement level, with the main engine situated upon the basement level. The pumps are located in part on the lower level. All pipes and wires leading tothe operating department are carried through the sub-basement, permitting the arrangement of all exhaust and steam piping beneath the engine room floor.

—Attention is called to the fact that in the rendering department, for example, the products in their steps of manufacture are handled by gravity entirely until the finished dried fertilizer is produced, which has to be elevated to the ground level for car shipment, or for wagon delivery. The same features are true of the abattoir, hides and tallow in casks only, requiring the use of elevators for shipment.

FIG. 8.—PLANT NO. 2, GROUND PLAN FOR COUNTRY PACKING HOUSE.

—This plant was designed for a country point where the shipping by local freight cars or the city delivery was quite limited; where the major part of the product would be shipped by car, and where provision was made for quite an extensive growth. The capacity as designed being four hundred hogs and fifty cattle daily, with a complementary quantity of calves and sheep.

—Again the three railways are provided for convenience in loading and for facilitating switching and icing.

FIG. 9.—PLANT NO. 2, SECTION THROUGH SLAUGHTERING AND RENDERING BUILDING.

FIG. 10.—PLANT NO. 2, SECTION THROUGH MANUFACTURING BUILDING.

FIG. 11.—PLANT NO. 2, SECTION THROUGH COOLER BUILDING.

—In this plant the slaughter of hogs is the predominant business. The hog killing department was consequently designed amply large and for a growth to upwards of fifteen hundred hogs daily, while the rendering department provides for additional tanking facilities to be added as required. In this building, near to the source of production is placed a small air blast type of meat and leaf lard cooling space.

—Owing to abattoir being isolated it was possible to set aside a portion of the building for the rendering department, and make the construction comply with the sanitary requirements as to light, air and ventilation. These features are illustrated by the sectional views.

—The live stock receiving pens for cars and wagons are located on the ground as shown on plans, and a long ramp is arranged for the slow driving of hogs. Again, all products are passed downward in the process of manufacture.

—Facilities are provided for harvesting ice from a stream situated north of the premises. The railroad tracks extend to the ice storage houses where facilities are provided for icing cars.

—Advantage was taken of the relative grouping and the space available to provide an open air hanging or drying room for hogs at a level of the killing floor and hog chill rooms. The hogs pass through this space on their way to the cooler. The pork building is arranged with chilling rooms on the upper floor and curing rooms beneath on all floors to and including the basement.

—Adjacent to the cooler building, space is provided for the making of sausage, cutting hogs, and trimming of sausage meat, processing of meats for smoking, packing and shipping.

—This is a minor matter since the electric current is purchased from a municipal lighting corporation, and the plant being in a cold climate, advantage is taken of these conditions.

Note that in this plant every department except the killing department, which was made as large a unit as appeared to be necessary, may be extended without in any manner disturbing the relative situation of the departments. The uses of the several floors are shown in the sectional drawings.

—Type of plant. The diagram (Fig. 12) is illustrative of a small local plant situated in a southwestern city, and built principally for a local mixed business. The plant will properly take care of one hundred hogs and fifty cattle daily, the necessary by-products and the manufacturing departments, therefor. An ice business is operated in conjunction with this plant. The buildings are chiefly two stories in height. The plan and sectional drawings are sufficiently explicit to require no description.

FIG. 12.—PLANT NO. 3, GROUND PLAN OF SMALL LOCAL PACKING HOUSE.

—The accompanyingvignetteandground planare illustrative of an alongside deep water export plant. The photograph of front view illustrates the loading facilities which show ramps or inclines upon which conveyors are operated. These endless chains convey beef in quarter to the wharf at right angles thereto, where it is picked off the rail by ship’s tackle and lowered into the ship’s chambers.

Discussing the plant arrangement, note the position of the slaughter house with relation to the coolers and trace the movement of the products to the coolers, rendering, wool house. Also the further movement of the products to shipment. Particular attention is called to the arrows indicating the direction of growth of every department without disarranging the first intention as to movement, and minimizing the labor on the extended plant.

FIG. 13.—PLANT NO. 4, SHOWING DEEP WATER EXPORT PLANT.

The steam producing department is in close proximity to the steam using buildings, viz: Power Department, Rendering House, Fertilizer and Slaughter House. Preference being given over electricity or refrigeration which can be transmitted longer distances at less loss.

—The question of design being settled the next matter of importance is the one involving the materials to be used in construction. That becomes a matter of investment and permanent size or location of the buildings. Fireproofbuildings are desirable on account of low cost of upkeep and a lower insurance rate. They are permanent in every way, but the difficult question is that of modifying, provided changes become necessary.

FIG. 14.—PLANT NO. 4, GROUND PLAN FOR EXPORT PACKING HOUSE.

—If decision is made for a fireproof building, re-inforced concrete is the first suggestion owing to its universal use as a building material, but there are several points to be given serious consideration before reaching a decision. One of these points being how to insulate so as to prevent losses. This matter will be taken up in a subsequent chapter describing a cold storage warehouse of eminent design. It is one of great importance.

—The fireproof buildings have naturally a very great advantage in permanence from a standpoint of cost of upkeep and insurance charges, and from the greater loss of a cessation of business incident to destruction by fire. In most plants there are sufficient departments of such staple character so unlikely to be changed that it appears judicious to make them fireproof.

—Many people are quite content with buildings of moderate height of slow burning construction; otherwise, a modified type of “mill construction” and with the use of sprinkler systems which minimize the insurance costs.

—There are many points in building construction to take care of in the matter of design, to meet the requirements of the insurance interests and local city building department regulations, which in the main coincide. Before entering into a contract to construct, it is well to have the drawings approved by the insurance boards and the city inspection bureau. It obviates expensive changes and additions. To build in such a manner as to bring the insurance rates to a minimum is certainly desirable. It is an advantage, too, to have the plant divided so that in case of fire the spread of the flames can be retarded and the fire confined to the building where it originated, or if some of the buildings are burned the balance can be saved. Fires invariably represent, to a well managed business, a far greater loss than is collectible on the insurance policies.

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