Improvements in the Manufacture of Aluminium and Alloys thereof.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 26th Apr., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 27th Sept., 1889-Accepted, 9th Nov., 1889
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Aluminium and Alloys
thereof.
I, LOUIS PETIT-DEVAUCELLE, of 35 rue de la Condamine, Paris, France, Engineer,
& Chemist do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of pure aluminium
and its alloy which hitherto have not been obtainable except at a very high price.
Consequently the metallurgy of aluminium and its alloys has not been allowed the
developments which it is destined to take.
My improvements consist in smelting and purifying the metal with which the
aluminium is to be alloyed, then introducing therein a suitable salt of aluminium and
stirring the whole energetically in order to facilitate both the decomposition of the
salt and the combination of the aluminium therein with the metal with which it forms
an alloy in any suitable proportions. The alloy thus obtained after being cast into
an ingot or other mould
thoroughly homogeneous and immediately fit for industrial
applications.
From this alloy I separate the pure aluminium either by liquation or by distillation
or by the oxidation of the metal used to form the alloy according to the nature of this
metal,the aluminium being absolutely fixed, remaining as a residuum. The aluminium
thus obtained is subsequently smelted and cast into an ingot.
In order to obtain a larger yield of metal it is advantageous to dessicate the
aluminium compounds previously reduced into powder; used in the preparation of the
aluminium alloys, then to subject them to a very high pressure in suitable moulds.
The smelting may be effected in a crucible or in a furnace provided with a hearth
or bed such as is used for ordinary metallurgical purposes and preferably in a furnace
having a rotary hearth such as a Dank's furnace as shewn in the accompanying
drawing which is a vertical section of such a furnace. To obtain an aluminium alloy
the metal to be alloyed with the aluminium placed in this rotary furnace A which is
heated by a fire in the fire-place F that is supplied with a forced draught. This fire-
place is lined with refractory bricks. As soon as the metal is melted and the dirt
or dross floating thereon is removed, I introduce therein the aluminium salt or
The mixture will be
compound used and set the furnace hearth in rotation.
effected all the more intimately if to the rotary motion resulting from the rotation of
the furnace there be added an endwise motion due to a helical rib or flange B arranged
within the furnace. The double action resulting from the rotary motion and the
motion in the direction of the axis of the furnace produces an energetic stirring or
agitation, which favors the decomposition of the aluminium salt or compound and the
combination with the molten metal of the aluminium disengaged.
The helical rib or flange B which only extends as shewn in the drawing along a
portion of the length of the rotating furnace is or may be made of pure iron; if how-
ever, the temperature at which the metal to be alloyed melts, is higher than the melting
point of pure soft iron, this helix helical rib or flange may be made of refractory bricks
having a sufficient projection. There may be several helical ribs or branches with a
very long pitch. When the mixing and stirring is terminated, the casting is effected
in the ordinary manner through the neck of the man hole T.
Dated this 26th day of April 1889

page_text: Improvements in the Manufacture of Aluminium and Alloys
thereof.
I, LOCIS PETIT-DEVAUCELLE, of 15, Rue des Halles, Paris, France, Engineer, and
Chemist do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
My invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of aluminium and
its alloys, which hitherto have not been obtainable except at a very high price. Con-
sequently the development of the metallurgy of aluminium and its alloys has been
retarded.
My improvements consist in melting and purifying the metal for example copper
with which the aluminium is to be alloyed, then introducing therein a suitable salt or
compound of aluminium, for example a silicate of aluminium and stirring the whole
energetically in order to facilitate both the decomposition of the salt, and the combina-
tion of the aluminium therein with the metal with which it is to form an alloy in any
suitable proportion. The alloy thus obtained after being cast into an ingot or other
mould is thoroughly homogeneous and immediately fit for industrial applications.
From this alloy I separate the pure aluminiumn (when this metal is required and
not the alloy thereof) either by liquation, or by distillation, or by oxidation of the
metal used to form the alloy, according to the nature of this metal, the aluminium,
being a fixed metal, or not readily volatile remains as a residuum. The aluminium
thus obtained is subsequently remelted and cast into an ingot.
In order to obtain a largeyield of metal, it is advantageous to dessicate the aluminium
compounds (previously reduced to powder), used in the preparation of the aluminium
alloys and then to subject them to a very high pressure (the higher the better) in
suitable moulds. The smelting may be effected in a crucible, or in a furnace provided
with a hearth or bed such as is used for ordinary metallurgical purposes, and pre-
ferably in a furnace having a rotary hearth such as a Dank's furnace as shewn in the
drawing filed with my Provisional Specification and which is a vertical section of such
a furnace.
For producing alloys of iron and aluminium, any of the ordinary compounds or
substances containing aluminium may be used with the iron, in a melted condition,
with which it is to be alloyed. For alloys of aluminium with other metals, for
example copper, a silicate of alumina only should be used.
According as it is required to produce an alloy of aluminium with iron, copper,
zine, lead, antimony etc., there is employed cast iron; copper; zinc; or lead. The
temperature to which the mixture of the aluminium compound and metal employed is
heated, should in each case equal that of the melting point of the metal employed; and
this temperature will be increased by the chemical reaction that takes place between
the melted metal and the aluminium compound used. The duration of the operation
will vary with the mode of stirring, and the richness of the alloy it is desired to
obtain. After the metal is once melted the operation may last from 15 minutes, to
one hour. The relative quantities of the aluminium compound and the alloying metal
employed will vary according to the required proportion of aluminium to the other
metal of the alloy, and also according to the chemical equivalents and the purity of
the substances used, a further quantity of about 5 per cent. of the calculated quantity
of aluminium compound required, being added to allow for unavoidable loss.
As
To obtain an alloy say of aluminium and copper, a suitable quantity of copper is
placed in the rotary furnace A, which is heated by a fire in the fire-place F and is
supplied with a forced draught. This fire-place is lined with refractory bricks.
soon as the copper is melted, and the dirt or slag floating thereon has been removed, I
introduce therein a suitable quantity of an aluminium salt or compound for example a
silicate of aluminium and set the furnace basin or hearth in rotation. The quantity of
aluminium salt or compound used, will, as before stated, necessarily depend upon the

page_text: percentage of aluminium contained in the salt or compound and upon the proportion
of aluminium to copper required in the alloy. The mixture of the copper with the
aluminium salt or compound will be effected all the more intimately, if to the rotary,
motion resulting from the rotation of the furnace, there be added an endwise motion
due to a
spirally arranged rib or flange B within the furnace. The double action
resulting from the rotary motion and the motion in the direction of the axis of the
furnace, produces an energetic stirring or agitation, which favors the decomposition of
the aluminium salt or compound and the combination with the molten metal of the
aluminium disengaged. The spirally arranged rib or flange B which only extends as
shewn in the drawing, along a portion of the length of the rotating furnace is or may
be made of pure iron; if however, the temperature at which the metal to be alloyed
melts, is higher than the melting point of pure soft iron, this rib or flange may be
made of refractory bricks having a sufficient projection. There may be several
spirally arranged ribs or flanges with a very long pitch. When the mixing and
stirring operation is finished, the casing is effected in the ordinary manner through
the neck of the man-hole T.
Alloys of aluminium with other metals for example lead, antimony, or zine may
he produced in a similar manner to that just described, one or other of these metals
being substituted for the copper according to the alloy desired. From these alloys
the aluminium may when desired be separated as herein before mentioned. Thus
the aluminium may be separated from an alloy of aluminium and lead, or an alloy
of aluminium and antimony by liquation, the aluminium floating upon the top of the
lead, or the antimony, as the case may be, each of which is of greater specific gravity
and has a lower melting point than aluminium. From an alloy of aluminium and
zine the aluminium can be separated by distillation of the zinc which is volatile at
about 500° C., at which temperature aluminium is quite fixed. The aluminium can
also be separated from an alloy of aluminium and zine by strongly beating the alloy
in a suitable vessel such as a crucible, so that the zine is rapidly oxidized, whilst the
aluminium collects at the bottom of the crucible.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1. The herein described manufacture of aluminium alloy which consists in melting
the metal with which the aluminium is to be alloyed, introducing into the molten
metal a suitable salt or compound of aluminium (which has been previously dessicated
and strongly compressed or not), and energetically stirring the mixture before
casting.
2. Subjecting aluminium alloy produced according to the preceding claim, to
liquation, distillation, or oxidation, according to the nature of the alloying metal,
for the purpose of obtaining aluminium alone.
3. In the manufacture of aluminium alloys, as herein described, the use of a rotary
furnace provided internally with one or more spirally arranged ribs or flanges such
as F substantially as hereinbefore described and for the purpose specified.
Dated this 27th day of September 1889
L. PETIT-DEVAUCELLE,
Per L. W.