Process for producing alloy steel product or iron powder by furnacing ground iron or molten iron on a molten lead bath

An iron containing 3% to 6% carbon and small quantities of manganese, silicon, sulfur and phosphorus produced by the blast furnace, electric furnace or other well-known furnaces, requires a relatively low temperature to convert to the molten state. This molten iron can be refined on the surface of molten lead at temperatures from 1000.degree. C. to 1525.degree. C. containing on the surface of the molten lead an oxide of lead or oxides of nickel, cobalt, iron, manganese, copper, zinc, and other metals whose oxides are reducible to the elemental state by carbon resulting in a refined or alloyed steel and/or increasing amount of molten lead. The carbon monoxide formed in this reaction may be combined with hydrogen at temperatures of 400.degree. C. to 1000.degree. C. and 100 atmospheres to 150 atmospheres in the presence of a proper catalyst according to the known Fischer-Tropsch reaction to form a petroleum product. Alternatively a finely ground iron containing 3% carbon to 6% carbon can be furnaced at 1000.degree. C. to 1525.degree. C. to produce either iron powder to fabricate powder metallurgy parts or a steel billet to make steels of any shape or form with rolling equipment. Also the carbides of nickel, cobalt and other elements can be converted to the elemental state by reaction with an oxide on the surface of the molten lead.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Much of the initial work was done at the Jerusalem Institute of Technology 
in Israel. 
This invention relates to the use of molten lead on whose surface a large 
number of chemical reactions occurs at temperatures from 1000.degree. C. 
to 1525.degree. C. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The object of the invention is to provide an alternate method for the 
manufacture of steel alloys of varying compositions, iron powder on a 
molten lead surface forming carbon monoxide which combines with hydrogen 
to form a petroleum product by the known Fischer-Tropsch process. 
Another object of this invention is to reduce an oxide of lead on the 
surface of the molten lead with varying forms of carbon to produce 
increasing amounts of molten lead forming carbon monoxide. 
Another object of this invention is to produce a petroleum product by 
oxidizing the surface of the molten lead with steam and/or carbon dioxide 
forming hydrogen and/or carbon monoxide, reducing the resulting lead oxide 
with elemental carbon or combined carbon to form carbon monoxide. The 
hydrogen and carbon monoxide are mixed together in the presence of a 
catalyst at temperatures from 400.degree. C. to 1000.degree. C. and 100 
atmospheres to 150 atmospheres to form a petroleum product by the 
Fischer-Tropsch process.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
An advantage of this invention in the processing of steel is the 
substantial lower temperature required to melt a 4% to 6% steel. Also all 
by-products of these reactions are used. 
Since molten lead is the central part of this invention, these properties 
of lead allow it to be used: 
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Vapor Pressure at Different Temperatures 
Temp .degree.C. 
Pressure (mm of Hg) 
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808 0.08 
1000 1.77 
1200 23.29 
1365 166 
1525 760 
1870 6.3 atmospheres (6 .times. 760) 
2100 11.7 atmospheres (11 .times. 760) 
Density 11.34 g/cm.sup.3 at 20.degree. C. 
10.686 g/cm.sup.3 at 327.4.degree. C. (Liquid) 
Melting Point 327.4.degree. C. 
Boiling Point 1525.degree. C. 
Specific Heat 0.0306 ca./g .degree.C. at 20.degree. C. 
Latent Heat of Fusion 6.26 cal/g 
Latent Heat of Vaporization 202.0 cal/g 
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These facts are taken from the text: Hansen, Max, "Constitution of Binary 
Alloys", second edition, McGraw, 1958. 
Iron and lead are completely insoluble both in the liquid state and solid 
state. 
There is slight solubility of nickel in lead and slight solubility of lead 
in nickel. 
Cobalt and lead are virtually insoluble in each other. 
Although two melts occur with copper and lead, there appears to be 
appreciable solubility of either into the other at the higher 
temperatures. There appears to be appreciable solubility of manganese in 
lead and lead in manganese at elevated temperatures. 
The compound Co.sub.2 C forms at a composition of 9.25% C. Also the 
compound Co.sub.3 C forms at 6.30% carbon. Nickel carbide (Ni.sub.3 C) 
forms at a composition of 6.39%. 
Iron Carbide (Fe.sub.3 C) forms at a composition of 6.67% C. 
Above 850.degree. C. lead and lead oxide form 2 melts insoluble in each 
other. Since the density of the lead oxide is less than that of lead, the 
lead oxide floats on the lead surface. 
Many oxides are readily reduced with carbon at high temperatures. 
Basically steel is produced by reducing iron ore with coke in a blast 
furnace and refining this molten product by the basic oxygen process of 
the basic open hearth process. Continuous casting and rolling results in a 
final steel product. In these refining processes the carbon ends 
ultimately as carbon dioxide (CO.sub.2) vented into the air. 
In this invention the molten iron from the blast furnace is produced with 
carbon as the only impurity and the other impurity elements manganese, 
silicon, sulfur, and phosphorus in low percentages or electric melting of 
scrap steel with coke broken electrodes, graphite or any other carbon 
source resulting in a 4% to 6% carbon iron is the raw material. When the 
molten iron is poured on the molten lead containing oxygen, a chemical 
reaction occurs according to this equation: 
EQU Fe(C)+Pb(O)--CO+Fe+Pb 
The oxygen is obtained in a number of ways: Iron oxide (FeO) is added to 
the surface of the lead. Lead is oxidized with pure oxygen, oxygen in air, 
steam (H.sub.2 O) or carbon dioxide (CO.sub.2). 
Other oxides like nickel oxide, cobalt oxide, manganese oxide, etc. are 
applied to the surface of the lead resulting in alloying of the steel with 
these elements. 
Alternately these oxides may be mixed with a ground iron (Fe containing 4% 
C to 6% C) applied to the molten lead surface forming ultimately an iron 
powder. 
In all of the possible reactions at the higher temperatures carbon monoxide 
is formed which combined with hydrogen reacts to an oil product by the 
Fischer-Tropsch reaction. The hydrogen is obtained from an outside source 
or from the reaction of steam on lead. 
EQU H.sub.2 O+Pb--PbO+H.sub.2 
The Fischer-Tropsch reaction combines hydrogen and carbon monoxide in a 
proper ratio at temperatures of 400.degree. C. to 500.degree. C., at 
pressures of 100 atmospheres to 150 atmospheres in the presence of a 
catalyst to form a petroleum like product: 
EQU 13H.sub.2 +6CO--C.sub.6 H.sub.14 +6H.sub.2 0 
If 100 grams molten iron containing 4% carbon reacts completely with excess 
oxygen on the molten lead surface, 96 grams of pure iron and 10 grams of 
carbon monoxide yields ideally 5 grams of C.sub.6 H.sub.14. Thus a million 
metric tons of steel extrapolates to 52,000 metric tons of C.sub.6 
H.sub.14. 
The advantage of this process is that no heat is required to produce the 
petroleum like product by the Fischer-Tropsch process.