The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1890-10-16

Ore NJ.
Iron, 31.31 1887 $50
Silica, oOa5 S3.oO
Manganese, - a.2O LIS
The surprisingly small amount of fer
rous oxide in the magnctized ore leaves
the question, whether augmentation is
wholly due to its presence, very unccr-
tain. In the list of ores given, &, carry
ing 60 per cent. of iron, which would he
presumably high in ferrous oxide, con-
tains but 3.07 per cent. of ferrous oxide.
In some cases the raw ore contains near
~ this amount. If the reduction caused
by roasting were the sole cause. it would
be reasonable to expect the exterior of
the particle to be the magnitized portion.
But Jumps of the roasted orc having
been broken, small pieces, carefully
selected from the inside of the humps.
showed III some cases even more strongly
marked magnetic properties.
y number of trials with the ami ydrous
oxide. both rcd and spocular hcmatitcs.
conducted i'll pre- ciScly the same manner,
gave no evidence whatever of result
ing magnetiZa ton. CrystalliZcd speci-
mems remained likewise Unaffected
While the porous charac ter of the brown
hematite would permit pcrmeation by
reducing the gases. it is difficult to un-
derstand how such minute dcoXidization
could magnetic it SO strongly. More
over, the magne tization appears to be
permanent. Samples which have kept
| for over year i'll contact with air have
| preserved the quality unimpaired
! Cooling the red-hot oxide in water af-
fccts it somewhat. but it is still capable
of responding through that medium to
the attraction of a magnetic field.
The phenomenon seems to be connect
cd with the expulsion of the combined
water. and think is largely depend
cnt on its physical separation from the
ore. During the processes some of the
oxides glow quito strongly. The raw
oxide, when heated 10 redncss in n
closed glass tulc, gives off small
amount of carbonic acid with its water.
but is only fccbly magnetic. There is
no apparent evidence that ferrous oxide
is produced by decomposition of the
water. The OILY statement now posi-
Bile is that the hydratcd oxides of iron
become magnetiztd at Il red heat in con
tact with carbon or carbon dioXidc.
1t may be worth noting that the
idea of employing magnetic
separator in process for manu-
featuring cast steel and malleablc
iron of 81 superior and uniform quality
directly from ores" was Il lnourcCd some
years ago. he curious SuppoSltion on
which it was based was, that when i'm
pure ores are brought to white heat
in Il furnace (thcreby pro lucng metallic
spongc), they can Dc separated from
pure ores ly the simple mechanism
of revolving magnets Some of the
"noXious elements thus to be climinat-
cd were Titanic acid, vanadic acid,
chronic acid. sulphuric acid. sulphur
phosphorus, phosphoric acid, sill ic acid,
silicates.' 1 he resulting product was to
be simply melted.
1t is OF course IL logical deduction, that
all hydrons ores OF iron bcconp, magnetic
in tne blast-furnace, and that at the
proper zone even anhydrous hematitc
does SO. Orc concentrated as above de-
scribcd is peculiarly adapted to use in
the blast-furnacc. Before the ore parti-
clcs reach a red heat in the process OF
roasting. violent dccrepitation takes
place, thus breaking or splitting up
into small fragments all Jumps of ore
This state is most desirable for rapid
reduction in the bast-furnacc, and,
aided by the easy Instability of the ore,
offers the most favorable conditions fol
driving" and regularity OF work.
Tho subjoct-mattcr outlined in this
paper is embraced in IL process on which
application for lettcrs-patcnt has been
made.