AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE AND MELTING OF IRON AND STEEL
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Henry Fryer, of Coleford, in the County of
Gloucester, Mining Engineer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT OR
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE AND MELTING OF IRON AND STEEL."
Sealed the 10th October 1879, and dated the 30th April 1879.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Henry Fryer at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 30th April 1879.
"
WILLIAM HENRY FRYER, of Coleford, in the County of Gloucester, Mining
Engineer. AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE AND
MELTING OF IRON AND STEEL."
In the ordinary method of manufacturing iron the blast furnace in which the
iron ore is reduced is urged by a blast of atmospheric air. A blast of atmospheric
air is also employed in the treating of iron by the Bessemer process for the produc-
tion of steel, as well as in cupolas and refineries in which iron is melted for casting
and for refining.
The blast employed is drawn direct from the atmosphere, and contains a greater or
less amount of the vapour of water varying with the hygrometrical condition of the
atmosphere from time to time. This vapour of water undergoes decomposition in
the furnace, causing an absorption and loss of heat therein, varying from time to
time in proportion to the greater or less amount of vapour thus introduced in the
blast. The hydrogen evolved by the decomposition referred to gives a porosity to
the iron or steel under treatment which is very injurious in castings.
My Invention consists in the desiccation of the blast or current of air used in the
manufacture and melting of iron and steel so as thereby to prevent the loss of heat
herein before referred to, and thus to economise the fuel employed and promote
rapidity of fusion and a regular working of the furnace, and also to prevent to a
greater or less extent the porosity produced in the iron or steel made or melted
with air containing vapour of water.
In carrying my Invention into effect I pass the air to be forced into the furnace,
cupola, or refinery, or Bessemer converter, through or over sulphuric acid, or chloride
of calcium, or other desiccating material, so as to deprive the said air wholly or in
great part of the vapour of water contained in it. The desiccating material may

page_text: be disposed in various ways in a chamber or receptacle through which the air is
passed, the particular arrangement depending upon the nature of the material
employed (whether solid or liquid) and its desiccating and other properties, the
essential conditions of the arrangement of the said material and chamber or recep-
tacle being that the desiccating material shall expose a larger surface to the air,
and that the capacity of the chamber or receptacle shall be such that the air will
travel through it a sufficiently slow rate to ensure the thorough action of the
desiccating material upon it.
The desiccating material may be either supplied continuously or renewed from time
to time as occasion requires, the particular arrangement for supplying and renewing
the same depending upon the nature of the material (whether solid or liquid) and
its desiccating and other properties, and the mode of restoring its efficiency when
lost by use.
Although my Invention is principally applicable to furnaces used in the manufac-
ture and melting of iron and steel, and through which air is urged by a blast, yet my
said Invention may also be applied to furnaces through which the current of air for
maintaining combustion is drawn by an exhaustion, whether the said exhaustion
be produced by a steam or other motive power engine, or by the draught of the
heated and rarefied air in the chimney stack.
1-
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Henry Fryer in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 29th
October 1879.
WILLIAM HENRY FRYER, of Coleford, in the County of Gloucester, Mining.
Engineer.
"AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE AND
MELTING OF IRON AND STEEL."
In the ordinary method of manufacturing iron the blast furnace in which the
iron ore is reduced is urged by a blast of atmospheric air. A blast of atmospheric
air is also employed in the treatment of iron by the Bessemer process for the
production of steel, as well as in cupolas and refineries in which iron is melted for
casting and for refining.
The blast employed is drawn direct from the atmosphere, and contains a greater
or less amount of the vapour of water varying with the hygrometrical condition of
the atmosphere from time to time. This vapour of water undergoes decomposition
in the furnace, causing an absorption and loss of heat therein, varying from time to
time in proportion to the greater or less amount of vapour of water contained
in the blast. The hydrogen evolved by the decomposition referred to also tends
to give to the iron or steel under treatment a porosity which is very prejudicial
in castings.
My Invention consists in the desiccation of the blast or current of air used in
the manufacture and melting of iron and steel so as to prevent the absorption and

page_text: loss of heat herein before referred to, and thus to economise the fuel employed, and
promote rapidity of fusion and a regular working of the furnace, and also to prevent
to a greater or less extent the porosity of iron or steel made or melted with air
containing vapour of water.
In carrying my Invention into effect I pass the air to be forced into the furnace,
cupola, or refinery, or Bessemer converter, through or over sulphuric acid, or chloride
of calcium, or other desiccating material, so as to deprive the said air wholly or in
great part of the vapour of water contained in it. The desiccating material may
be disposed in various ways, in a chamber, or tower, or other receptacle through
which the air is passed, the particular arrangement depending upon the nature of
the material employed (whether solid or liquid) and its desiccating and other
properties, the essential conditions of the arrangement of the said material and
chamber, or tower, or other receptacle, being that the desiccating material shall
expose a large surface to the air, and that the capacity of the chamber, or tower, or
other receptacle shall be such that the air will travel through it at a sufficiently
slow rate to ensure the thorough action of the desiccating material upon it.
The desiccating material may be either supplied continuously or renewed from
time to time as occasion requires; the particular arrangement for supplying and
renewing the same depending upon the nature of the material (whether solid or
liquid), and its desiccating and other properties.
Although my Invention is principally applicable to furnaces used in the manu-
facture and melting of iron and steel, and into or through which the air is urged by
a blast, yet my said Invention may also be applied to furnaces through which the
current of air for maintaining combustion is drawn by an exhaustion, whether the
said exhaustion be produced by a steam or other motive power engine, or by the
draught of the heated and rarified air in the chimney stack.
Having described the nature of my Invention I will now more particularly
describe the manner or manners in which it may be performed, reference being had
to the accompanying Drawings and to the letters and figures marked thereon.
Besides sulphuric acid and chloride of calcium other desiccating materials may be
employed, such for example as quick lime or any material capable of drying air,
and obtainable and capable of renewal at a sufficiently moderate cost.
The particular arrangement of the apparatus employed will depend upon the
nature and other properties of the desiccating material used, and the mode of
withdrawing it after its efficiency has been impaired or lost.
The desiccating material which under most circumstances I prefer to employ is
chloride of calcium (or calcium chloride).
An apparatus suited for the employment of chloride of calcium as the desiccating
material is represented in the accompanying Drawings.
Figure 1 represents the said apparatus in elevation partly in section; Figure 2
represents a vertical section of the same taken in a plane at right angles to that
in which the sectional part of Figure 1 is taken (the weights and apparatus for
lowering and raising the cones being shewn thereon in elevation); Figure 3 is a
plan of the top of the apparatus; Figure 4 is a horizontal section of the same
taken on the line A, in Figure 2. The same letters indicate the same parts in the
several Figures. The said apparatus consists of a tower or towers containing the
desiccating material, and through which the air is passed, either by being fixed or
drawn as the circumstances and construction of the blast engines and furnaces may
determine.
The towers may be constructed of cast iron rings or hollow cylinders, as shewn
in the Drawings. The chloride of calcium having been previously fused and
broken, or cast into lumps of convenient size, say three inches cube, is introduced at
the top of the tower by means of the cup and cone apparatus represented. A.
sufficient charge of say 1 cwt. is from time to time put into the cup (a) sur-
rounding the upper cone (b) to which cone a wrought iron tube (c) is attached. To
the said tube two light wire ropes are attached. These ropes pass over the the
pullies (b, b, b', b¹,) and carry the balance weight (w). The weight (w) should be

page_text: so adjusted as to be capable when the cone a is charged of being easily raised by
pulling the cord (d) which passes over the pulley (61), and is also attached to the
weight (w). Then, when the said cord (d) is pulled the cone (b) descends, and the
contents of the cup (a) are discharged upon the lower cone (e). When the cord (d)
is loosed the weight (w) descends, raising the cone (b) and keeping the cup (a)
effectually closed. The cone (c) is suspended by a light wire rope passing through
the tube (c) and the stuffing box at the top of the said tube, and thence over the
pulley (e), and round the barrel of the winch (f) to which the said rope is
attached. A fourth rope also attached to the barrel of the winch (f) but working in
an opposite direction to the other rope passes over the pulleys (ell, e¹¹) and carries
the balance weight (w). By a quarter harn of the winch barrel the weight (w') is
raised and the cone (c) lowered, discharging the chloride of calcium into the
interior of the tower. The weight (w) is then allowed to descend, drawing up
the cone (e) against its seat on the inner cylinder (g), and keeping the said
cylinder closed. Thus the chloride of calcium is introduced from time to time
into the tower, without interruption of its working or practical waste of the blast or
draught of air. The tower may be filled with chloride of calcium as high as
convenient and practicable, without interfering with the working of the cones
(b) and (e).
The air enters the tower through the valve (h) passing upwards between the
lumps of chloride and escaping through the valve (j); or it may travel in the
reverse direction. As the air comes into contact with the chloride of calcium,
the watery vapour contained in the air is absorbed by the said chloride. The
air on first entering acts rapidly on the surface of the fragments of chloride which
gradually dissolve in the absorbed water, and descend in the tower, gradually
decreasing in size, and finally escaping in the form of a liquid solution through
the tap () into the pipe (7) leading to a closed receptacle (m). From the
receptacle the solution may be conveyed to an evaporating apparatus and
evaporated to dryness. It is then re-fused, cast, or broken into lumps, and again
introduced at the top of the tower. When atmospheric air enters at (j) the
desiccated air escapes through the valve (h).
The interior of the tower is divided horizontally as represented by a series of
gratings which may be made of wood or of toughened glass. The object of these
gratings is to facilitate the separation of the smaller from the larger lumps of
chloride of calcium as the lumps become gradually reduced in size, and thus to
afford a more free passage of the air through the tower. The gratings are formed
of bars supported by a girder, and at the ends they are let into an inner ring or
rings somewhat smaller in diameter than the tower; these rings rest one upon
another from the base of the tower as seen in Figure 2. The dimensions and
distances apart of the bars of the several gratings diminish in descending order, and
the depths of the several spaces above and below each grating are adjusted nearly
in proportion to the relative maximum sizes of the lamps, as they would first fall
upon and subsequently pass through it.
After passing through the lowest grating the remaining undissolved fragments
of the chloride of calcium fall upon a sieve or perforated plate (n) with apertures
of about one eighth of an inch wide, placed below the level of the inlet neck, and
fixed to or supported by the lowest ring. This perforated plate or sieve is
indicated in the Drawing by a plain line.
Through the inner ring or rings, immediately opposite the inlet neck, an opening
of corresponding size is made for the free entrance of the air.
On the top of the tower a wrought iron branch pipe (0) with two stop cocks is
shewn. By the use of these the tendency of the pressure of the air below either
cone to prevent its descent may be obviated. This portion of the apparatus is
shewn in the position indicated on Figure 2, in order that its mode of action may
be the more clearly seen. Its actual position may with convenience be varied.
The cast iron pillar (p) carries an arm (g) which forms a guide for the tube c.
Glazed sight holes may be made at opposite points in the tower for the purpose

page_text: of permitting an inspection of the material in the tower, corresponding openings
being also made in the inner rings. Should any crystals of chloride of calcium be
deposited in the pipe l, or in the adjoining parts of the apparatus, they may be
speedily removed by passing a jet of steam into and through the said pipe, which
for this purpose may be connected with one of the steam boilers employed on the
works.
The joints of the tower may be set with packing of asbestos or other packing
material. By lowering the cones the tower may be entered for any required
purpose. The weights (w) and (w¹) may consist of single blocks of iron, or they
may be made up of separate slotted plates or discs, so as to admit of being easily
regulated.
The interior of the tower and all parts of the apparatus which come into contact
with the chloride of calcium, if made of cast iron should be protected from corrosion
by a coating of a protecting composition. Finely grooved Portland cement, or a
solution of alkaline silicate made into a thick paint with very fine sand, or other
similar material may be employed for this purpose.
Although I believe cast iron to be on the whole the most suitable and convenient
material for the construction of the towers, yet other materials may be employed
for that purpose. The tower may be made of wood or built of non-porous brick or
silicated cement concrete, and cased or banded externally with iron.
The cup (a) and the cones (b) and (e), and the inner cylinder (g) may be made of
wood or of toughened glass, or stoneware, instead of cast iron, the materials
supposed in the Drawings.
In using for these purposes materials other than cast iron, changes in the method
of construction must be made. But as the required changes will be understood by
persons accustomed to work with the material that may be selected, I do not
consider it necessary to describe the same.
The pipes conveying the solution of the chloride from the tower to the reservoir,
and the taps inserted in them, should be constructed of some material not prac-
tically liable to corrosion or injury by the action of chloride of calcium; lead,
porcelain, and glass are the most suitable materials for this part of the apparatus.
But besides chloride of calcium, other desiccating material as has been stated
may be employed, and in such case a more or less different apparatus will be
required.
If sulphuric acid be employed, the desiccation of the air may be effected in a
tower or cylinder, constructed of lead, strengthened externally with a framing or
shell of timber or iron, or of both, or of non-porous bricks, cased or banded
externally with iron; or it may be constructed of cylinders of stone ware, glass,
or slag glass, or of any other material which would be unaffected by the acid.
The sulphuric acid tower is filled to nearly the top with pieces of clean hard
coke, packed in position and arranged so as to leave a sufficient passage for the
air, which is introduced at the bottom beneath an arch or grating of bricks or
other suitable material, with intervals arranged to leave ample passage for the
air.
Upon the top of the column of coke the sulphuric acid is distributed by a
spreading wheel, or by other line apparatus, and gradually descends in the column
of coke, which becomes thoroughly permeated with the acid. The sulphuric acid
as it thus meets the ascending air, rapidly absorbs the aqueous vapour from it and
finally escapes, diluted with the water it has absorbed through a tap at the bottom
of the tower.
The dilute acid may be re-concentrated for repeated use in the same way. The
air more or less desiccated according to the height of the column of coke, the
velocity of the current, and the original strength of the acid employed, escapes
through an opening in the tower above the column of coke.
In lieu of coke flints or small blocks of siliceous stone or brick, or other similar
material, or an arrangement of leaden or stone ware trays, or shelves, may be
employed.

page_text: A further receptacle_next adjoining the outlet opening lined with lead and fitted
up with baffle plates, also of lead; or its floor covered with leaden trays containing
fragments of caustic lime, may also be employed to arrest any minute particles of
the acid carried off by the air.
The sulphuric acid tower referred to is practically similar in construction and
mode of working to the tower commonly employed in Gay Lussac's process for the
absorbtion by sulphuric acid of the escaping nitrous gas in the manufacture of
sulphuric acid. It also resembles in all essential respects the tower commonly
known as the "Glover tower," used for denitrating the said sulphuric acid.
these towers are in common use I do not consider it necessary to describe them
more particularly.
As
sulphuric
The air may also be desiccated by sulphuric acid by allowing the
acid to trickle slowly down a series of cascades or baffle plates, or screens around
or through which the air is passed, or by injecting sprays of the acid into the
"chamber, or by otherwise exposing the air to a large surface of the acid.
J
Having described the nature of my said Invention and the manner in which the
same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I claim as my said Inven-
tion of an improvement or improvements in the manufacture and melting of iron and
steel, desiccating the blast or current of air employed in the manufacture and
melting of iron and steel by passing the said blast or current of air through a
chamber or tower, or other receptacle charged with chloride of calcium, sulphuric
acid or other desiccating material, the process being conducted and the apparatus
arranged so as wholly, or in great part, to deprive the atmospheric air passing
through the apparatus of the vapour of water contained in it, and supplying to
the furnace in which the iron or steel is manufactured or melted, a blast or current
of air practically free from vapour of water, substantially as herein described and
illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Henry Fryer, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy nine.
W. H. FRYER. (L.S.)