IMPROVEMENTS IN BLAST FURNACES FOR MELTING IRON ORES AND OTHER METALS, AND FOR PURIFYING, REFINING, AND CONVERTING THE SAME, AND ALSO IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1874

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Samuel Richard Smyth and
Joseph Simpson at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 11th November 1874.
We, SAMUEL RICHARD SMYTH, Engineer, &c., and JOSEPH SIMPSON,
both of No. 58, Fountain Street, in the City of Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BLAST FURNACES FOR MELTING IRON ORES AND OTHER
METALS, AND FOR PURIFYING, REFINING, AND CONVERTING THE SAME, AND ALSO IN
THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," to be as follows:-
Our Invention consists of a blast vacuum furnace built of strong
bonded brickwork consisting of two side walls supported by buttresses,
between which arches are sprung and the spaces filled in with brickwork.
The said walls rise on an inclined plane to an angle of about 30
degrees. Between these two walls in the interior an arch is sprung
which is properly tied to the side walls of the furnace. Upon this arch
is built six or more hearths or ovens, dome shaped, at a less angle, rising
one after the other, but leading and falling one to the other, over which
again another arch is turned the whole length of the furnace. At the
lowest part of these walls is the furnace dam or hearth; this hearth is

page_text: placed at the bottom so as to receive the metal as it falls over the other
hearths. Over the ovens described above another tunnel shaped one is
also built which extends over three or more of the said hearths as above
described through which are spaces left for the ore, fuel, &c., to fall
through from hearth to hearth below. The ore, fuel, &c., is lifted up by
truck loads and is shot from the trucks into the mouth of the before-
named tunnel at the top. A. descending flue leads down from the
highest part of the furnace and at the bottoms there is built a large
vacuum chamber. From the said chamber the flue continues, first
delivering its heat to a range of steam boilers beyond which and near to
the chimney stack is placed an exhauster driven at a high velocity, which
creates a constant and nearly perfect vacuum over the furnace hearths,
and thence the surplus heat passes to the chimney stack. Slag holes of
proper dimensions are formed at the metal level in the furnace dam,
and holes with covering doors &c. are also formed on each side of the
furnace at the springing level of each hearth, also openings are made
with covering doors at different parts of the upper feeding tunnel. A
relief flue will also be formed over the metal dam or hearth which is
provided with a valve, pedestal, and lever.
The whole furnace will be lined throughout with the fire refractory
material, either as bricks or moulded in segments, or in moulds of the
said refractory material, as set forth and described in our Specification
No. 3840, dated November 7th 1874. The whole furnace is tied with
strong tie bolts, washers, buttress, and circle plates of either cast or
wrought iron and the usual metal tapping apparatus is attached at the
lowest part of the hearth. Pipes of suitable dimensions are also carried
up the side walls of the furnace which have stop valves and inlet pipes
and nozzles at each hearth for the conduction of air, of carburetted
hydrogen, of carbon, monoxide, oxygen, or any of the compounds or
principles either from the heat process or the acid kali and calciums
process, or from the receivers which contain the great forces separate or
combined, and these are applied as the metal treated may require.
These details are more particularly described and set forth in our
Specification No. 3840, dated 7th November 1874. Between the two
side walls of the vacuum furnace a stack of retorts is erected and we
apply the whole principles compounds just before-named, and which are
more fully described and set forth in our Specification No. 3840, dated
7th November 1874.

page_text: For the purification, refining, and conversion of the metal which
is melted either in the aforesaid vacuum furnace, or is melted in any
ordinary blast furnace from the ore, or is melted in a cupola or in any
air furnace by melting the metal from pig or scrap iron we run the
whole charge even up to fifty tons in weight at once into a receiver of
wrought or cast iron or into a dam fixed in any suitable position, so
that the metal may be tapped and run direct into the said receivers or
dams from the said furnaces; but we prefer the said receivers to be
fixed opposite to the said furnaces and sufficient space being left
between them so that a pig bed may be formed in front of the aforesaid
furnace or furnaces on to which the metal may be run in pigs as it is
run from the furnace, or on to the bed on to which it is run from the
receiver after it is purified to any degree in any of its stages, which can
be accomplished under our process to any extent up to pure iron, or to
refined purified carburetted iron of the finest quality. The receiver is
constructed of iron plates of a suitable form, with flanges or of
wrought-iron plates firmly rivetted together; it is set upon a suitable
and firm foundation. Over the top of the receiver is bolted or
rivetted a strong box running the whole length of the receiver. The
box cover is also lined with the refractory material before set forth in
our Specification No. 3840, dated 7th November 1874. Inside this box
and through the top of the receiver are taper descending holes into
and through which are placed descending pipes nearly to the bottom
of the receiver, placed diagonally or in any other suitable position
of the aforesaid refractory material, to which and the box all the
properties, principles, and forces with which it is intended to treat the
metal are passed. At the springing line of the arch of the receiver is
fixed and bolted the outlet through which the gases escape to the chimney
flue above. These outlets will also serve as outlets for the metal from
the furnaces, and their tops are hinged with heavy flap valves properly
weighted so as to hold the gases contained therein under pressure in the
receiver, and the flap valves are open and closed by a quadrant motion
and link joint passing through pedestals with friction rollers in them,
which opening and closing are accomplished by winch gear.
At con-
venient heights are placed the tapping holes back and front so that the
metal may be let out on either side of the receiver. At different heights
are placed slagging holes with plugs having cross bars and screws and
being also provided with flanges for luting. The receivers are also
provided with valves, guages, pyrometers, which will be fixed on them

page_text: at convenient places so as to register the heat and pressure contained
therein. At either end of the box containing the pipes which descend
to the metal is fixed the main inlet flue from the retort process, as is
more fully described and set forth in our Specification No. 3840, dated
7th November 1874, through which the compound properties are forced
either from the retort heat process or from the hot air and acid cylinder
scrubber process, or from the great forces from the high-pressure
receivers, either separate or combined, the whole of which processes are
more fully set forth and described in our Specification, No. 3840, dated
7th November 1874; or we apply all the above-named principles and
forces through an independent main pipe and services through which we
can force all the before-named principles or forces by direct action bodily
into the metal in the receiver, thereby purifying, refining, or converting
the mass. In this receiver we can purify any quality of metal and
refine it to any degree, or convert the same either into soft or hard steel,
either by the direct application of carbon or of spiegel eisen, or we can
by the modes described herein oxidize it or deoxidize it, carbonize it or
decarbonize it in whole blast furnace charges of fifty tons each; or it
may be taken in any stage from the receiver into our trunnion converting
ladles in five ton quantities, as per our Specification No. 3840, dated 7th
November 1874, and there carry on the whole process in any stage up to
the finest cast steel, and with only one melting; or we take it from the
receiver into our ladle truck bottom puddling furnaces and there ball it
in large masses for the finest of wrought iron or steel by the aid of our
mechanical puddler without physical labour, as set forth in our
Specification No. 3840, dated 7th November 1874, thus making one
heat accomplish what four or five does now.