IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PURIFICATION OF IRON ORES AND OTHER COMPOUNDS CONTAINING IRON, AND IN THE PRODUCTION OF IRON THEREFROM.
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick William Gerhard, of Coseley, in the
County of Stafford, Metallurgical Chemist, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PURIFICATION OF IRON ORES AND OTHER COMPOUNDS
CONTAINING IRON, AND IN THE PRODUCTION OF IRON THEREFROM.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick William
Gerhard at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 29th January 1874.
I, FREDERICK WILLIAM GERHARD, of Coseley, in the County of
Stafford, Metallurgical Chemist, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PURIFICATION OF IRON ORES AND OTHER
COMPOUNDS CONTAINING IRON, AND IN THE PRODUCTION OF IRON THEREFROM," to be
as follows:-
This Invention relates to certain improvements upon the subject
matter of Letters Patent granted to me, the said Frederick William
Gerhard, and James Light, junior, of Bradley, in the County of Stafford,
for "Improvements in the Production of Iron and Steel," dated May 16,
A.D. 1872, No. 801, and consists, firstly, in certain improved means of
extracting the sulphur, phosphorus, or other deleterious ingredients;

page_text: and, secondly, in an improved process for manufacturing iron from such
purified ores or compounds containing iron.
According to my Invention iron ores are firstly roasted or calcined
(by preference) in the open air in kilns or furnaces, or in the ordinary
way, for some days, according to the quantity to be prepared. Tap
and flue cinder (which are silicates or compounds containing iron) are
roasted generally in what are termed "bulldog" kilns.
The calcined or roasted silicates or compounds of iron after removal
from the furnaces or kilns are crushed or powdered, and mixed (by pre-
ference) with from 5 to 10 per cent. of crushed or powdered anthracite
or steam coal, or other suitable fuel, and then placed in a reverberatory
or other convenient furnace, and kept at a red heat with free access of
atmospheric air, and well stirred.
After remaining about two or three hours in the furnace, if not then
sufficiently purified from the sulphur and phosphorus, the mixture or
compound is removed at a red heat, and thrown into a tank or vessel
containing water acidulated with (by preference) hydrochloric acid.
Steam is then conveyed from a steam boiler into the tank or vessel, and
the contents kept boiling (or the tank may be heated in any other way
if preferred) until all the remaining impurities are eliminated, which can
be ascertained by testing. Or the ores or silicates of iron may be heated
to a red heat without calcination, and then thrown into tanks containing
acidulated water, and the steam applied as above mentioned. The
purified ores or silicates of iron are then removed, well washed, and
prepared in the manner described in the Specification of the Letters
Patent herein-before referred to for the production of iron and steel.
Or the purified ores or silicates may be crushed to a size to enable
them to be used in the ordinary blast furnaces after being treated as
above described without being made into an "iron coke." Or the
purified ores or silicates of iron may be mixed with the necessary pro-
portion of ground or pulverized limestone and tar, to which is added
the proper quantity of ground coke to serve as fuel.
The tar may be
collected by utilizing the gases formed in the production of coke in coke
ovens or mounds by means of piping fixed to the apertures, whence the
gases escape, the said pipes being conveyed through cold water into
tanks or receivers to collect the condensed gases or tar for use.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Frederick William Gerhard in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 22nd July 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERICK
5 WILLIAM GERHARD, of Coseley, in the County of Stafford, Metallurgical
Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the
thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Frederick William Gerhard,
Her special license, that I, the said Frederick William Gerhard,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Frederick William Gerhard, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at
all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man,
an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PURIFICATION OF IRON ORES AND OTHER
COMPOUNDS CONTAINING IRON, AND IN THE PRODUCTION OF IRON THEREPROM,”
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Frederick
William Gerhard, my executors, or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same
to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Frederick William Gerhard, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be preformed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement (that is to say) :-
This Invention relates to certain improvements upon the subject
matter of Letters Patent granted to me, the said Frederick William
Gerhard, and James Light, junior, of Bradley, in the County of Stafford,
for "Improvements in the Production of Iron and Steel," dated May 16,
A.D 1872, No. 801, and consist, firstly, in certain improvod means of
extracting the sulphur, phosphorus, or other deleterious ingredients;

page_text: and, secondly, in in improved process for manufacturing iron from such
purified ores or compounds containing iron.
According to my Invention iron ores are firstly roasted or calcined
(by preference) in the open air in kilns or furnaces, or in the ordinary
way, for some days, according to the quantity to be prepared. Tap and
flue cinder (which are silicates or compounds containing iron) are roasted
generally in what are termed "bulldog” kilns.
The calcined or roasted silicates or compounds of iron after removal
from the furnaces or kilns are crushed or powdered, and mixed (by pre-
ference) with from five to ten per cent. of crushed or powdered anthracite
or steam coal, or other suitable fuel, and then placed in a reverberatory
or other convenient furnace, and kept at a red heat with free access of
atmospheric air, and well stirred.
After remaining about two or three hours in the furnace, if not then
sufficiently purified from the sulphur and phosphorus, the mixture or
compound is removed at a red heat, and thrown into a tank or vessel
containing water acidulated with (by preference) hydrochloric acid.
Steam is then conveyed from a steam boiler into the tank or vessel, and
the contents kept boiling (or the tank may be heated in any other way
if preferred) until all the remaining impurities are eliminated, which
can be ascertained by testing. Or the ores or silicates of iron may be
heated to a red heat without calcination, and then thrown into tanks
containing acidulated water, and the steam applied as above mentioned.
The purified ores or silicates of iron are then removed, well washed, and
prepared in the manner described in the Specification of the Letters
Patent herein-before referred to for the production of iron and steel.
Or the purified ores or silicates may be crushed to a size to enable them
to be used in the ordinary blast furnaces after being treated as above
described without being made into an "iron coke." Or the purified
ores or silicates of iron may be mixed with the necessary proportion of
ground or pulverized linestone and tar, to which is added the proper
quantity of ground coke to serve as fuel. The tar may be collected by
utilizing the gases formed in the production of coke in coke ovens or
mounds by means of piping fixed to the apertures, whence the gases
escape, the said pipes being conveyed through cold water into tanks or
receivers to collect the condensed gases or tar for use.
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention,
together with the manner in which the same is to be or may be per-

page_text: formed or carried into practical effect, I wish it to be understood that
I claim as my Invention the purification of iron ores and other com-
pounds containing iron by the methods or processes herein-before
described, that is to say,—
Firstly. By calcining or roasting the ore or other compound, and then
crushing or powdering and mixing the same with from five to ten per
cent. of crushed or powdered anthracite or other suitable fuel, and
afterwards keeping the same at a red heat well stirred, and free access of
atmospheric air.
Secondly. By throwing the same (either before or after calcination)
at a red heat into acidulated water, and boiling the same till all the
impurities have been eliminated.
Thirdly. The production of iron therefrom by converting the resulting
mass into "iron coke" by the method above referred to, or crushing
the same to a size to enable them to be used in the ordinary blast
furnace without being made into iron coke.
Fourthly. By mixing the same with pulverized limestone, tar, and
ground fuel previous to melting the same in the ordinary blast furnace,
all substantially as herein-before more particularly described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick William Gerhard, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of July,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
four.