AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN MANUFACTURE OF IRON
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick Levick, of Blaina Cwm Celyn and
Coalbrook Vale Iron Works, in the County of Monmouth, Iron Master,
for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN
MANUFACTURE OF IRON."
Sealed the 2nd March 1860, and dated the 14th October 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick Levick at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 14th
October 1859.
I, FREDERICK LEVICK, of Blaina Cwm Celyn and Coalbrook Vale Iron
Works, in the County of Monmouth, Iron Master, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF IRON," to be as follows:-
My said Invention consists of the method herein-after explained of applying
to the manufacture of iron the gases generated by passing steam over
carbonaceous matter sufficiently beated to effect the decomposition of the said
steam, the said gases being used either separately or in conjunction with the

page_text: gases evolved from the blast furnace, or with the combustible gases produced
the action of atmospheric air on incandescent carbonaceous fuel. I apply
the said gases or mixtures of gases in the processes of refining pig iron,
the puddling of either pig or refined iron, and in the balling or reheating of
iron. Or I apply the said gases or mixtures of gases to iron remelted in a
cupola, or at any stage of the manufacture of iron, between the smelting and
the conversion of the cast iron into wrought iron. When carbonaceous fuel
containing sulphur is employed to decompose the steam, the gases resulting
therefrom may, when necessary, be purified by passing them through water
containing lime, either dissolved in water or in suspension, or through slaked
lime or bydrated oxide of iron. I prefer to superheat the steam before passing
it through or over the heated carbonaceous matter.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Frederick Levick in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
28th March 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERICK
LEVICK, of Blaina Cwm Celyn and Coalbrook Vale Iron Works, in the
County of Monmouth, Iron Master, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Frederick Levick, Her special licence that I, the said
Frederick Levick, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Frederick Levick, 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
"AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Frederick Levick, 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,

page_text: 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 Levick, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the fol-
lowing statement thereof, that is to say :-
My said Invention consists of the method or methods herein-after explained
of applying to the manufacture of iron the gases or mixture of gases produced
by passing steam over coke or other carbonaceous matter sufficiently heated to
effect the complete decomposition of the said steam. The said gases or
mixture of gases consists of hydrogen and carbonic oxide, and in using the
same I either employ the mixture by itself or mix or use in conjunction
therewith the gas evolved from the blast or iron smelting furnace, which said
gas from the blast furnace consists mainly of nitrogen and carbonic oxide.
Instead of the gas evolved from the blast furnace, I sometimes substitute
therefor the mixture of nitrogen and carbonic oxide obtained by passing
atmospheric air over incandescent carbonaceous fuel. In using the mixture
of hydrogen and carbonic oxide, according to my Invention, I apply the said
mixture to the processes of refining pig iron, of puddling either pig or refined
iron, and to the balling or reheating of iron. I also apply the said gaseous
mixture to iron remelted in a cupola, or I apply the said gaseous mixture at
any stage of the manufacture of iron between the smelting process and the
conversion of the cast iron produced by the said smelting process into wrought
or malleable iron. In all cases I use either the gaseous mixture of hydrogen
and carbonic oxide produced by passing steam over incandescent carbonaceous
matter by itself, or the said mixture in conjunction with the gases evolved.
from blast furnaces, or obtained by passing atmospheric air over incandescent
carbonaceous matter.
For convenience of description I will herein-after use the expression gaseous.
mixture to indicate either the mixture of hydrogen and carbonic oxide used.
alone or used in connection with the gases evolved from blast furnaces or
obtained by passing atmospheric air over incandescent carbonaceous matter.
In applying my Invention to the puddling of iron or to puddling furnaces,
or to other reverberatory furnaces used in the conversion of cast iron into
wrought or malleable iron, such as balling and reheating furnaces, I introduce
the gaseous mixture at or near the bridge of the furnace, and by preference
on the fire side of the said bridge, the said gaseous mixture being introduced

page_text: in jets by metallic pipes or passed through a slit or opening in or near the
bridge.
My Invention is applicable to all kinds of puddling furnaces, that is, to
puddling furnaces in which coal gas or other gaseous fuel is employed, as well
as to puddling furnaces in which solid fuel is employed.
In applying my Invention to the refining and remelting of iron, or to such
furnaces as the refinery and the cupola, I prefer to introduce the gaseous
mixture in a jet or jets delivered at or near the point where the blast of air is
delivered by the tuyere or tuyeres that is at or near that part of the furnace
where the combustion is most intense.
I do not think it necessary to represent or to describe the apparatus by
which I decompose the steam in order to produce the mixture of hydrogen
and carbonic oxide further than by remarking that the said decomposition of
the steam is effected by passing steam from a steam boiler or generator
through a retort or closed vessel containing coke or other carbonaceous matter,
the said retort or vessel being situated in a furnace by which it is heated to
bright redness. The said steam is decomposed by passing over the heated
carbon, and a mixture of hydrogen and carbonic oxide is produced, which is
conducted by pipes to the furnace in which it is to be used. I prefer to
superheat the steam before passing it over the heated carbonaceous matter.
When coke or carbonaceous matter containing sulphur is employed to
decompose the steam, the gases produced may contain a small quantity of
sulphuretted hydrogen. In such cases I prefer to purify the gases by passing
them through water containing lime, either dissolved or suspended therein, or
pass the said gases through slaked lime or hydrated oxide of iron.
I
Neither do I think it necessary to explain the method or methods by which
the gases from the blast furnace may be collected, as many methods of
collecting the said gases are well known and commonly practised, and the
collecting of the said gases constitutes no part of my Invention.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described, as the same may be varied
without departing from the nature of my Invention; but I claim as my
Invention the improvement or improvements in the manufacture of iron
herein-before described, that is to say, applying the gaseous mixture obtained
by passing steam over heated coke or other carbonaceous matter to the
puddling or refining of iron, or to iron reheated or melted in a cupola, or to
iron in any stage between the smelting and the complete conversion of the

page_text: cast iron into wrought or malleable iron, whether the said gaseous mixture
obtained by passing steam over heated carbonaceous matter be used alone or
in conjunction with the gases evolved from the blast or smelting furnace or
produced by passing atmospheric air over incandescent charcoal or other
carbonaceous matter.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick Levick, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
MARIANNE CRUTTWELL.
FRED. LEVICK. (L.B.)