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View looking East at autoclaves and works.
B 10009/3
Description View looking East at autoclaves and works.
Date 17/8/1981
Collection Records of the Scottish Industrial Archaeology Survey at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Sco
Catalogue Number B 10009/3
Category Photographs and Off-line Digital Images
Copies SC 730048
Scope and Content Kirkforthar Brick Works, Fife, from east The Kirkforthar Brick Works began in 1965. Bricks were manufactured using sand from the Ladybank area of Fife blended with lime from Yorkshire. Local lime was not suitable for mixing with the local sand. 500kgs of sand was blended with 35kgs of lime in a Mitchell 'pan mill' installed in 1980 to replace a smaller pan. This shows the brick works, including the autoclaves on the west side. Sand/lime bricks are put into these autoclaves to harden under steam pressure. There were four autoclaves at Kirkforthar, which were 22m long by 2m in diameter. They were manufactured by Robert Jenkins & Co of Rotherham. The processed bricks were stacked in cars which held 1,000 bricks each. The cars were then put into the autoclaves which each held 22 of these cars. Steam pressure was then applied for 12 hours at 180lbs per square inch, before the pressure was turned off and allowed to drop over several hours. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.
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