IMPROVEMENTS IN PROCESSES AND APPARATUS FOR CONVERTING IRON OR MAKING STEEL
Year: 1884

page_text: I, THOMAS WILLIAMSON, of 32 Herriet Street, Pollokshields, in the County of
Renfrew; North Britain, Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declaro the naturo of
my said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PROCESSES AND APPARATUS FOR
CONVERTING IRON OR MAKING STEEL," to be as follows:-
My said Invention has for its objects,-to treat iron in an improved manner for
the purpose of converting it into steel or metal of any of the qualities obtainable
by the well known Bessemer or Siemens processes; to diminish the loss of metal or
other material and the waste of heat; and to reduce the time and labour required
for the production of a given quantity of steel or finished metal.
The improved apparatus forming the subject of my Invention can be used for
treating iron entirely according to a modification of the Bessemer system in which
case a great saving in material and heat will be effected; or the apparatus or a
part of it may be used for treating iron according to the Siemens system; an
important feature of my Invention, however, consists in treating the iron partly by
the Bessemer process and partly by the Siemens process, and my improved
apparatus is specially designed for carrying out this combination of processes.
My improved apparatus comprises a converter of novel design and construction
but made as usual with an iron or steel casing lined with suitable refractory
materials. The converter is constructed with hollow trunnions, and is capable of
turning to a certain extent about a horizontal axis, being supported by rollers on
which the trunnions bear. The bottom of the converter is fitted with a blast box
and combination of tuyeres or jet orifices of the kind used in Bessemer converters
but placed to ono side or so that the directions of the jets of air do not pass across
the axis of the converter but are tangential to circles having their centres in the
axis. The aperture for introducing the crude metal or materials into the converter
and for running off the finished metal is diagonally opposite to the tuyeres but it is
closed by a cover and the cover luted whilst the metal is being subjected to the
Bessemer process, the air and gases passing off by the hollow trunnions instead of
in the ordinary manner. Owing to the position and direction of the tuyeres and
the internal shape of the converter the gases do not pass directly to the trunnions
but revolve or pass spirally round the axis, this motion favoring the deposition of
particles of metal thrown up mechanically by the blast and thereby preventing
much of the waste which takes place in working the Bessemer process in the
ordinary way

page_text: The hollow trunnions connect with blocks having in them passages or flues
which, like the gas and air ports and passages of a Siemens steel-making furnace
communicate with regenerative chambers containing checker or open brickwork,
and whilst the Bessemer process is in operation the heated gases instead of being
discharged into the atmosphere in the ordinary way are led through the
regenerative chambers for the purpose of storing and saving their heat. The
blocks containing the passages between the hollow trunnions and the regenerative
chambers are made portable to facilitate examination and repairs.
The converter may be turned into its various positions by means of wormwheel
.or spurwheel teeth on one of its trunnions gearing with a worm or pinion on a
shaft driven by steam or hydraulic motor details; and to accomodate this turning
motion the blast is led to the tuyere box by a pipe fixed on the outside of the
converter and connected by jointed pipe lengths to a stationary pipe which last is
connected to the blowing engine or machine. With my improved construction of
converter the pressure of the blast will not require to be so great as that necessary
with ordinary Bessemer converters, and there will in consequence be not only
economy in the power required but also less tendency to throw up and waste the
metal.
In working with my improved apparatus a charge of molten pig or crude iron
obtained either directly from a blast furnace or from a cupola furnace is introduced
into the converter, and after the inlet has been closed, the converter is turned into a
suitable position and the blast is turned on. The charge having been blown
during ten to fifteen minutes and the carbon and silicon in the metal sufficiently
reduced, the converter is turned so as to lower the inlet on one side and raise the
tuyeres above the metal on the other side; and the blast having been turned off
the air and gas are turned on, and the operations are carried on and completed as
in a Siemens furnace, ore or-spiegeleisen-being added if necessary for reducing the
carbon to the proper proportion. The inlet aperture serves as a door for intro-
ducing material or stirring instruments or for extracting samples for testing.
When the process is finished the converter is turned to lower its inlet aperture into
a position for teeming or pouring the metal into a ladle for distribution amongst
the ingot moulds. The ladle and its moving gear may be such as is used with
Bessemer apparatus; and when ferro-manganese is added at the time of pouring it
may be placed in the mouth or aperture of the converter to become heated, and so
that the molten metal in flowing over it may carry it into the ladle and thereby
insure a proper mixture and a suitable addition of the carbon and manganese to
restore the decarbonised metal to the temper or quality required.
The converter may be prepared for working with either the basic or acid process,
I prefer however to use the acid process with my improved apparatus.
After the metal has been poured out the converter is turned to place its mouth
or aperture in a still lower position for the purpose of pouring out the slag into a
wagon placed below to receive it or into a pit
Dated this Seventh day of April 1884.

page_text: I, THOMAS WILLIAMSON, recently of 32 Herriet Street, Pollokshields, in tho
County of Renfrew, but now of Netherton House, Wishaw, in the County of
Lanark, North Britain, Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
my said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PROCESSES AND APPARATUS FOR
CONVERTING IRON OR MAKING STEEL," and in what manner the saine is to bo
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
My said Invention has for its objects, to treat iron in an improved manner for
the purpose of converting into steel or metal of any of the qualities obtainable by
the well known Bessemer or Siemens processes; to diminish the loss of motal or
other material and the waste of heat; and to reduce the time and labor required
for the production of a given quantity of steel or finished metal.
The improved apparatus forming the subject of my Invention can be used for
treating iron entirely according to a modification of the Bessemer system; in which
case a great saving in material and heat will be effected; or the apparatus or a
part of it may be used for treating iron according to the Siemens system; an
important feature of my Invention, however, consists in treating the iron partly by
the Bessemer process, and partly by the Siemens process, and my improved
apparatus is specially designed for carrying out this combination of processes.
My improved apparatus comprises a converter of novel design and construction
but made as usual with an iron or steel casing lined with suitable refractory
materials. The converter is constructed with hollow trunnions, and is capable of
turning to a certain extent about a horizontal axis, being supported. by rollers on
which the trunnions bear. The bottom of the converter is fitted with a blast box
and combination of tuyeres or jet orifices of the kind used in Bessemer converters;
but placed to one side or so that the directions of the jets of air do not pass across
the axis of the converter but are tangential to circles having their centres in the
axis. The aperture for introducing the crude metal or materials into the converter.
and for running off the finished metal is diagonally opposite to the tuyeres but it
is closed by a cover and the cover luted whilst the metal is being subjected to the
Bessemer process, the air and gases passing off by the hollow trunnions instead of
in the ordinary manner.
The form of my improved converter and the construction and arrangement of the
parts connected with it will be understood from the accompanying explanatory
Drawings of which there are three Sheets. Figure, 1, on Sheet, 1, is a plan of the
apparatus; Figure; 2, on Sheet, 2, is a longitudinal vertical section, Figure, 3;.
being an enlarged section of a detail; Figure, 4; on Sheet, 3, is a transverse vertical
section; and Figure, 5, is a sectional elevation. In these Drawings the same.
reference numerals are used to mark the same or like parts wherever they are
repeated.
In Figure, 4, the converter, G, is shown in the position in which it is placed
whilst air, is being blown up through the molten metal from the blast box; 7, and.
through the tuyeres, 8. From the position and direction of the tuyeres, 8; and, the
internal shape of the converter the gases do not pass directly to the hollow
trunnions, 9, but revolve or pass spirally round the axis, this motion favoring the
deposition of particles of metal thrown up mechanically by the blast; and thereby
preventing much of the waste which takes place in working the Bessemer process:
in the ordinary way.

page_text: The hollow trunnions, 9, connect with blocks, 10, having in them passages or
Blues, 11, 12, which like the gas and air ports and passages of a Siemens steel-
making furnace communicate with regenerative chambers, 13, 14, containing
checker or open brickwork, and whilst the Bessemer process is in operation the
heated gases instead of being discharged into the atmosphere in the ordinary way
are led through the regenerative chambers, 13, 14, for the purpose of storing and
saving their heat. The blocks, 10, containing the passages, 11, 12, between the
hollow trunnions, 9, and the regenerative chambers, 13, 14, are made portable to
facilitate examination and repairs. As the joint between the outer end of each
hollow trunnion, 9, and the block, 10, is subjected internally to considerable heat
which might act injuriously upon the adjacent surfaces of the firebrick linings
I introduce a cooling appliance which is shown on an enlarged scale in Figure, 3,
and which consists of a hollow ring, 15, through which cold water is made to
circulate. This ring, 15, which is of a flat form, is fixed to the stationary part or
block, 10, and to the same part there is also fixed a channel-shaped ring, 16, (put
on in halves or segments) which embracing angle-iron flanges fixed on the
trunnion, 9, and on the block, 10, covers the joint between the two parts; and, if
required, to make the joint sufficiently tight asbestos may be inserted between one
flange of this outer ring, 16, and the angle-iron ring on the trunnion, 9.
On the trunnions, 9, of the converter, 6, there are fixed strong rings, 17, which
rest on rollers, 18, carried by fixed frames, and the converter rests by these
rings, 17, on the rollers, 18; and may be turned into its various positions by means
of wormwheel or spurwheel teeth on one of its trunnions gearing with a worm or
pinion on a shaft driven by steam or hydraulic motor details. The arrangement
shown in the Drawings consists of a ring, 19, of worm wheel teeth on one of the
trunnions, 9, and having in gear-with-it-a-worm, 20, on a shaft receiving motion
from a steam engine, 21. The air is led into the blast box, 7, by a pipe, 22, 6ixed-
on the outside of the converter, 6, and connected by jointed pipe lengths, 23, to a
stationary pipe, 24, which last is connected to the blowing engine or machine, the
jointed parts, 23, accommodating themselves to the movement of the converter
when being turned into its various positions.
With my improved construction of converter the pressure of the blast will not
require to be so great as that necessary with ordinary Bessemer converters, and
there will in consequence be not only economy in the power required, but also less
tendency to throw up and waste the metal.
In working with my improved apparatus a charge of molten pig or crude iron
obtained either directly from a blast furnace or from a cupola is introduced into
the converter, the converter being turned so as to bring its mouth or inlet, 25, into
the position indicated by dotted lines at, 26, in Figure, 4. The inlet, 25, is
provided with a cover, 27, which is closed after the charge has been introduced.
The converter, 6, is then turned into the position in which it is shown in full lines
in Figure, 4, and the blast is turned on. Hot or cold steel scrap is added to the
charge if thought desirable and the charge having been blown during ten to fifteen
minutes and the carbon and silicon in the metal sufficiently reduced, the
converter, 6, is turned so as to lower the inlet, 25, on one side and raise the
tuyeres, 8, above the metal on the other side; and the blast having been turned off
the air and gas are turned on, and the operations are carried on and completed as
in a Siemens furnace, ore or spiegeleisen being added if necessary for reducing the
carbon to the proper proportion. The inlet aperture, 25, serves as a door for
introducing material or stirring instruments, or for extracting samples for testing,
as indicated in Figure, 5, in which Figure the converter is shown in the position in
which it is placed during the time when the operation is being conducted as in a
Siemens furnace. When the process is finished the converter, 6, is turned to lower
its inlet, 25, into a position, indicated by dotted lines at, 28, in Figure, 4, for
teeming or pouring the metal into a ladle, 29, for distribution amongst the ingot
moulds. The ladle, 29, and its moving gear may be such as is used with Bessemer
apparatus; and when ferro-manganese is added at the time of pouring it may bo

page_text: placed in the mouth or aperture, 25, of the converter, 6, to become heated, and so
that the molten metal in flowing over it may carry it into the ladle, and thereby
insure a proper mixture and a suitable addition of the carbon and manganese to
restore the decarbonised metal to the temper or quality required.
The converter may be prepared for working with either the basic or acid process;
I prefer however to use the acid process with my improved apparatus.
After the metal has been poured out the converter, 6, is turned to place its mouth
or inlet, 25, in a still lower position for the purpose of pouring out the slag into a
wagon, 30, placed below to receive it, or into a pit.
I do not restrict myself to the precise details hereinbefore described or shown in
the accompanying Drawings provided that the distinctive features of my Invention
are retained, these being, 1, the combination of the Bessemer and Siemens processes
for converting iron or making steel, 2, the form of converter shown in the
accompanying Drawings, 3, the making of the converter with hollow trunnions for
the passage of air or gases, 4, the arranging of the converter in connection with
regenerative chambers, and 5, the utilisation of the waste gases of the Bessemer
process for heating the regenerative chambers.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I clain is-
1. The combination of the Bessemer and Siemens processes for converting iron.
or making steel substantially as herein before described.
2. The form of converter shown in the accompanying Drawings and hereinbefore
described.
3. The converter made with hollow trunnions for the passage of air or gases
whilst admitting of the converter being turned into different positions substantially
as hereinbefore described.
4. The combination of the converter with regenerative chambers substantially as
and for the purposes hereinbefore described.
5. The utilisation of the waste gases of the Besseiner process for heating the
regenerative chambers substantially as and for the purposes hereiubefore described.
Dated this Thirteenth day of August, 1884.
EDMUND HUNT.
Applicant's Agent.