IMPROVEMENTS IN ACCUMULATING, CONDUCTING, AND TREATING GASES OF COMBUSTION, AND ALSO IN GENERATING PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Claude Bernard Adrien Chenot, of Paris, 29,
Boulevart St. Martin (France), and of 16, Castle Street, Holborn
(City), London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ACCUMULATING,
CONDUCTING, AND TREATING GASES OF COMBUSTION, AND ALSO IN GENERATING
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Claude Bernard Adrien
Chenot at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 1st February 1854.
I, CLAUDE BERNARD ADRIEN CHENOT, of Paris, 29, Boulevart St. Martin
(France), and of 16, Castle St., Holborn (City), London, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ACCUMULATING, CON-
DUCTING, AND TREATING GASES OF COMBUSTION, AND ALSO IN GENERATING AND
APPLYING THE SAME TO METALLURGIC AND OTHER PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
In all metallurgic apparatus, or apparatus for combustion generally, a
greater or less quantity of gases is developed by combustion. There are some
apparatus in which the production of gas is remarkable, on account of the
richness & quantity of the gas produced; such are the smelting furnaces,
cupolas, smith's fires, &c. These apparatus working by means of a forced
current of air are necessarily very powerful generators of gas, because in them
A

page_text: the fuel is heaped on the burning surface in piles of considerable height, &
in which carbonic acid arising from the combustion is changed into carbonic
oxyd. There is also another class of apparatus which does not differ so much
by being worked with a natural current of air than by the fact of the pile of
fuel being much less in height, the consequence of which is, that a great portion
of the carbonic acid escapes without being changed into oxyd, and thus not so
rich a gas is produced. These gases have been used for heating boilers, and
for puddling and heating iron and other metals; but in most cases the trials
that were made turned out unsuccessful for the following reasons. It may be
possible to heat an apparatus of vaporization by means of a poor and hetero-
geneous gas, at least by using it in a great quantity. But for melting iron,
copper, & steel, for manipulating metals in a fluid state and for welding them,
the gases being applied in the state in which they are produced by the above
apparatus, have hitherto given very unsatisfactory results. These failures are
easily explained by the poor quality of gases obtained as above; besides which,
this quality varies constantly, in proportion to the variations that take place in
the working of the generating apparatus. It is a fact, that when a furnace is
charged, the coke, charcoal, & flux of the charge give off a certain quantity
of water, whose admixture reduces the combustible power of the gas to such an
extent as to stop any operation that may have been going on with gas produced
at the end of the smelting operation, i. e., when the gas is dryest. The metal.
which is under treatment is thus exposed to a very powerful and obnoxious
oxydation. Another inconvenience arises from the circumstance of the gas
being consumed whilst it is generated. If therefore the work for which the
gas is used stops, the gas produced during the stoppage will be wasted.
These considerations have led me to look out for means of, firstly, reducing
the gases arising from combustion to the greatest possible degree of richness;
secondly, converting them to a mean standard of pressure and composition; at
the same time improving, purifying, & accumulating the same, so that they
may be used with economy, and when required.
As to the first head of my Invention, it will be evident from what has been
said on the irregular production of gas, that the gases that are to be converted
must be conducted into receivers, whose capacity corresponds with the quantity
of gas produced in several hours. By means of this accumulation in receiving
vessels a mean standard quality is obtained which gives constant results. I use
gas meters as receiving vessels, into which the gases are conducted after having
been cooled, if required, by passing a long distance above or under ground or
water. In leaving the generating furnaces the gases may pass through a
vessel at a red heat, and containing small coal for reducing the carbonic acid;

page_text: and decompose the water which they carry; the water which is not decom-
posed will then be condensed either in the piping or in the gas meters, which
require no alteration for the purpose of holding these gases in the state in
which the furnaces produce then.
The blast furnaces have to be closed for the above purpose by means of a
closing apparatus, which I have patented in France on the 11th November
1853.
gas
The charge is introduced into the furnace by means of valves or slides .with-
out opening the furnace. In the use of so called hydraulic shutting apparatus
there is a loss of time equivalent to the time required for charging. In case
these shutting apparatus are used, the pipe which conveys the.
gases to the
meter must be provided with a regulator cock or valve, which is shut when the
furnace is opened. The pressure produced by the blowing engines will suffice
to fill the gas meter; however, if required, the gas may be driven into the meter
by pumping engines. The gases have to be led off at the most suitable point.
1 should, however, prefer to take them nearest to the charge.
For the case of a furnace with bars the gas meters themselves by rising
produce a sucking action, or else other sucking apparatus are employed, such
as bells, bellows, &c.
The gases, as collected in the previous operations described, are already
considerably improved and purified, inasmuch as they contain very little car-
bonic acid, and the water has been condensed either in the piping or in the
gas meters. The operation of refining the gases to a desired or standard
quality may be terminated by using partially or totally a fuel which is either
in a raw or in an intermediate state; what I call intermediate is either, 1°, half
carbonized coal, which has got rid of its pitchy ingredients; 2°, peat or turf,
roasted at 200° about; 3°, for the blast furnaces, roasted wood. The com-
position of the gases thus obtained is well known; they may be purified,
if required, in the usual way, but in general the purifying process will be
superfluous if charcoal or the normalized fuel above described is used.
A supplementary improvement of the quality of gas may also be obtained by
the addition of other gases introduced into the gas meter, so as to add to the
standard quality of the gas therein contained. The gases added may be
derived from any source whatever; but these additional gases may especially
be generated in the way indicated herein-after.
The researches of several metallurgists, for instance, Bezin & Ebelman, have
shewn that by combustion, fuel or combustible substances may be advan-
tageously converted into gas. As the combustion, however, only takes place by
means of atmospheric oxygen, the gases thus produced contain 5 or 6 volumes
A

page_text: of nitrogen, not to take into account other volatile matters evolved during
combustion. In order to generate a gas which contains a greater quantity of
carbonic acid than usual, I carry on the combustion with two or three volunies
of chalk or calcareous matter. The apparatus which I use consists, generally
speaking, of two furnaces that communicate with each other at the bottom.
One of them, the larger of the two, contains a mixture of calcareous stone and
charcoal; the other contains only charcoal. Thus in the former is formed carbonic
acid gas by combustion and decomposition of the calcareous matter. This car-
bonic acid gas is converted into oxyd of carbon by the charcoal, which is heated
expressly for that purpose, or else by the waste heat of the second furnace.
These two furnaces are closed at the top and bottom by double sliding plates
or drawers, by means of which the charges are introduced and the ashes and
calcareous matter taken out. The blast is introduced in the first furnace a
little above the communication between the two furnaces, so that all the gases
produced have to pass before the tuyer or blast pipe, and then pass through the
second furnace from bottom to top. The whole of the gases furnished by the
first furnace after having been decomposed by this passage escape as carbonic
oxyd through the upper part of the furnace a little below the upper closing
apparatus; since this carbonic oxyd is chiefly formed by the carbonic acid of
the calcareous matter, the nitrogen contained is reduced to the least possible
volume, and this result is due to the application of apparatus which allow the
evacuation and introduction of two solid substances, and hence of carbonates or
other economical sources of carbonic acid. The lime which is produced by
this generation of gases may not only be sold as such, but it can also be re-
generated by exposing it to the atmospheric air, to the smoke of chimneys, or
any other source of carbonic acid.
Having thus described my system of improving gases of combustion, I wish
to enumerate the uses to which they may be applied. These are the metallurgic,
industrial, and domestic operations where the gases may be applied with or
without gas meters; they may be used in heating locomotives, marine engines,
and in those cases no gas meters are required, and in general the gas may
be generated on travelling apparatus, by which it is conveyed and distributed
in the localities or on the machines, where it is required through more or less
extensive piping.
The gases generated, improved, purified as above, and brought under a
suitable pressure, are used in the different furnaces; they are also applicable
to all industrial and domestic heating purposes, as they may be conducted every
where & to great distances. The gas meters will take the place of solid
fuel stores. From these meters the gas is let off through suitable pipes like

page_text: the lighting gas, and the consumption is regulated by valves, etc. placed at
each orifice. The gas, as produced, cannot burn without atmospheric air,
which has therefore to be admitted in admixture with the gas. It is also
necessary that the mixture be complete, and capable of containing, as desired,
a greater or less proportion of air, so as to produce an oxydizing or de-oxydizing
action.
I will only specify two out of a great number of means for operating this
admixture.
1°. The point of admission of the gases, representing as it were the fire bars,
may be made to consist of one or several conical orifices, such as the tuyers
of blast furnaces and smithics, and in which a circulation of cold water takes
place. The blast pipe by which the gases are conveyed is placed concentrically
in the opening of the tuyer. The gas is taken from the gas pipe or from the
meter by a blowing engine, which forces the gas through the blast pipe with a
certain pressure, so that it carries along with it a certain portion of air which
mixes with the gas. This portion will be greater or less according as the tuyer
and blast pipe are at a greater or less distance from each other.
2°. A ventilator or fan has two suction pipes attached to it; one of them is
in communication with the atmosphere, the other with the gas; and the ven-
tilator will thus force a mixed current into the apparatus through tuyers fixed
air-tight on the fan, and cooled as usual by a current of cold water. Care
must be taken before stopping the ventilator to let it run for some moments
with air or gas only, i. c., to shut the air pipe or gas pipe a little before the
other, so that no explosive mixture remains in the apparatus. The gas pro-
duced by the means of improvement above described generally only contains 2
volumes of nitrogen on the whole of the gases, instead of 4 or 5 volumes, like
the gases generated in the ordinary way, besides the carbonic acid and water;
it is therefore capable of producing a heat more than double that produced by
the latter, or about 1800°. This temperature is more than sufficient for the
most refractory substances, whilst in most cases only half of this temperature
is not sufficient. But the novelty of my Invention chiefly consists in the
regular supply of gas obtained by storing and condensing in gas meters the gas
produced.
These gases may also be used for lighting at the same time as heating. In
that case they are improved by different means, and particularly by passing
hydro-carburets, such as resin oil, into the apparatus in which the carbonic acid
is decomposed. It is easy to see that whatever may be the fuel employed, the
gas which is produced will be of a standard quality, and thus my system has
the advantage of affording a useful application for inferior combustibles.

page_text: The gases of combustion produced as above described may be used in
melting, refining, and welding metals in the following ways:-
I have explained above how in the combustion of gases oxydizing and
reducing currents may be obtained: the former by an excess of air, the latter
by an excess of gas. In order to explain my new system of applying the gas
to the melting, refining, and welding operations, I shall take refined pig iron as
an example. By means of my system the refining process changes its nature
completely by becoming a purely chemical process, instead of being as before a
mechanical operation chiefly. To distinguish this process of refining from the
ordinary one, I call it the latent or precipitation process. For melting cast
iron a kind of neutral current is employed, which is neither oxydizing nor
de-oxidizing. After the iron has been melted the current is made powerfully
oxydizing, and the blast pipe is placed and inclined in such manner as to
impinge on the centre of the metallic bath, and to make the undulations of
metal and metallic oxyd radiate from the centre to the circumference with an
equal speed. To obtain this result the gas has to act by heating, oxydizing,
and agitating. The two first actions are owing to the composition of the gas,
and depend on the greater or less quantity of air it contains. The third action
is due to the mean pressure, which ought to be equivalent to a column of water
of from 12 to 20 inches, which pressure corresponds to a maximum insuflation
of gas, as has been seen above.
In proportion as a certain quantity of iron
oxyd is formed, a corresponding quantity of carbon burns away, and malleable
iron is precipitated at the bottom of the carburetted iron, the latter being more
fusible and less dense. Starting from this stage of the process, there are two
ways of continuing the operation:-
1°. A reducing current may be applied by lowering the pressure a little; the
gas thus reduces the oxyd which has been formed, and the reduced metal being
precipitated acts in the same manner as the iron precipitated at the first stage
of the process. At the same time this formed wrought iron reduces and pre-
cipitates the oxyd with which it gets into contact. Here then is a threefold
reducing effect produced; the first is the reduction of the upper surface of the
oxyd by the reducing gas; the second, of the lower portions of the oxyd by
the carbon of the carburetted iron yielding its carbon to the lower portion of
the oxyd with which it is in contact.
This operation of alternate reductions and oxydations is repeated three or
four times until all the cast iron is solidified or leaves only poor scoriae. If
whilst a certain quantity of cast iron is being refined, the bottom portions are
thoroughly mixed with the upper ones, by stirring the mass steel or strong iron
is produced.

page_text: 2°. It is also possible to operate by a single oxydation followed by a single
reduction. This method is particularly applicable to shallow baths, and consists
in oxydizing by the first stage of the process 12 to 15 per cent. of the cast
metal, and then producing all the oxyd to obtain an iron deposit at the bottom,
which is formed before the iron at the top. By stirring the mass during one
third of the operation steel may be obtained. The iron obtained by the two
methods, is in solid compact plates, instead of blooms or balls; it is then sub-
mitted to a suitable mechanical action.
These operations are evidently analogous to a cupellation operated upon a
metal containing carbon, and which is carried on by alternately reducing and
oxydizing. In this process the carbon has been burnt principally by an oxyd,
but this oxyd might have been reduced as well by sulphur, phosphorus, arsenic ;
hence it is possible to refine metals containing these substances, such as copper,
lead, and also to separate the volatile or more oxydable metals by reducing or
oxydizing then by the gases.
In welding and melting the great advantages of these gases appear from the
high degree of temperature which they are capable of producing. These gases
can be employed for the processes of welding in all possible shapes, such as
jets, sheets, etc., to weld articles either in the open air or in crucibles. They
are burnt in this as well as in previous applications by admixture of air
furnished by any suitable means.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed by
the said Claude Bernard Adrien Chenot in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 1st August 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CLAUDE
BERNARD ADRIEN CHENOT, of Paris, 29, Boulevart St. Martin (France), and
of 16, Castle Street, Holborn (City), London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Claude Bernard Adrien Chenot, Her special licence that I, the said
Claude Bernard Adrien Chenot, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Claude Bernard Adrien Chenot, my executors, ad-
ministrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressel,

page_text: 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,
ån Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ACCUMULATING, CONDUCTING, AND TREATING
GASES OF COMBUSTION, AND ALSO IN GENERATING AND APPLYING THE SAME TO METAL-
LURGIC AND OTHER PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Claude Bernard Adrien Chenot, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the
said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, 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 Claude Bernard Adrien Chenot, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say) :-
This Invention relates to what I call the normalization and enrichment of
gases, and also to their generation and use for metallurgic and other industrial
or manufacturing and also domestic purposes, such as heating, lighting,
smelting, refining, welding, moulding, or casting, tinning, and galvanizing.
In order to set forth with distinctness the nature of the said improvements,
it will be necessary to enter upon the following general considerations before
treating each detail of the Invention :-
In all metallurgic apparatus, or apparatus for combustion generally, a greater
or less quantity of gases is developed by combustion. There are some apparatus,
however, in which the production of gas is particularly remarkable on account
of the richness and quantity of the gases generated; these are the smelting
furnaces, cupolas, smith's fires, &c. &c. Most of these apparatus, working by
means of a forced current of air, are necessarily very powerful generators of
rich gases; the fuel is heaped on the burning, surface in piles of considerable
height; the carbonic acid arising from combustion is turned into carbonic oxyd,
or oxyd of carbon, or else the fuel is distilled. There is also another class of
apparatus, which does not differ so much from the preceding ones by being
worked with a natural current of air, as by the fact of the layer of fuel above
the burning point being much less in height; the consequence of which is, that
a great portion of the carbonic acid escapes without being changed into oxyd,
and thus not so rich a gas is produced. This kind of apparatus comprises
furnaces with grates, these producing a great deal of smoke, which is both a
source of loss and of nuisance. I am fully aware that the gases thus obtained
have already been applied to heating boilers, puddling and heating iron, and
other metals; but in most cases the trials that were made turned out unsuc-

page_text: cessful, for the following reasons:-It is readily conceived that a steam
generator may be heated even by means of a very poor and impure gas, at least
by using it in excessive quantities and losing a great portion of the quantity
employed. But for melting iron, copper, and steel, for manipulating metals in
a fluid state, and for welding metals such as iron, the gases being applied in
the state in which they are produced by the kind of apparatus last-mentioned
have hitherto been found to act very irregularly, and give very unsatisfactory
results. These failures are easily explained by the poor quality of gases
obtained as above, besides which the same gas constantly varies in quality
according to the variations that take place in the working of the generating
apparatus. It is a fact that when a smelting furnace receives a fresh charge
the coke, charcoal, and flux give off a certain quantity of water, whose admix-
ture reduces the heating power of the gas to such an extent as to stop any
operation that may have been carried on with gas produced at the end of the
smelting process, or at the running down of the charge, that is to say, when
the gas generated is dryest. The metal which is being treated with the gas
at the time of the furnace being charged, is thus exposed to a very powerful
and injurious oxydation. Another inconvenience arises from the gas being con-
sumed whilst it is generated; if, therefore, the work for which the is used
gas
stops for a short time, the gas produced during the stoppage will be wasted.
These considerations have led me to look out for suitable means of, firstly,
reducing the gases arising from combustion to the greatest possible degree of
richness; secondly, converting them to a mean standard of pressure and com-
position, or what I call normalizing them, at the same time improving, purifying,
and accumulating these gases or smoke, or gas and smoke, so that they may be
used with all possible economy.
I shall now enter upon the incans by which the several parts of my improve-
ments as set forth in the beginning may be carried into effect. First, as to
norinalization. It will be evident from what has been said above on the
irregular production of gases, that in order to be normalized they have to be
conducted into holders or receivers capable of holding the quantity of gas pro-
duced in several hours. By means of this accumulation in receiving vessels or
recipients a mean standard quality is obtained which gives constant results.
The principal feature of the normalizing process is the use of gas meters, into
which the gases are conducted after having been cooled, if required, by passing
a long distance above or under ground or water. In leaving the generating
furnace the gases may be made to pass through a red hot vessel containing
small charcoal for reducing the carbonic acid, and decomposing the water which
they carry the water which is not decomposed will be condensed either in the

page_text: piping or in the gas meters, the latter being at once applicable to holding
these gases even in the state in which they are produced by the furnaces.
The blast furnaces are to be closed for the above purpose by means of
shutting or closing apparatus. The closing apparatus applied may either be those
termed hydraulic, or double slide-valves, or else large cocks, the same as used
for introducing bodies into air pumps. By means of these valves or slides the
charge is introduced into the furnace without opening the furnace. In using
the so-called hydraulic shutting apparatus, there is a loss of time equivalent to
the time required for charging; in case these shutting apparatus are used, the
pipe which conveys the gases to the meter must have a regulator cock or valve,
which is kept shut whilst the furnace is opened. For blast furnaces the
pressure produced by the blowing engines will be sufficient to fill the gas
meter, which besides will exert a sucking action by rising; however, if required,
the gas may be driven into the meter by pumping engines. The gases have
to be led off at the most suitable point of the charge. For the case of furnaces
with
grates, the gas meters themselves will by rising produce a sucking action,
or else other sucking apparatus may be used, such bells, bellows, &c. &c.
As another means of drawing or propelling the gas, I particularly mention the
steam blast, as used in locomotive and steam engines generally, and which will
be spoken of hereafter in this Specification.
I shall now enter upon the particular description of the second head of my
improvements, viz., the enrichment and purification of gases generated by
combustion. The gases, as collected in the previous operations described, are
already considerably improved and purified, inasmuch as they contain very little
carbonic acid, and the water having been condensed either in the piping or in
the gas meter, in short they constitute a gas of a mean standard, or what I call
normalized quality. They may be still further enriched or refined by the
following means. The first of these methods consists in using, partially or
totally, fuel or a combustible matter which is either in a raw or in an inter-
mediate state; what I call fuel in an intermediate state is either coal half
carbonized in such manner as to be longer sticky, or peat, turf, &c. dried in
the open air or torrefied, or roasted at about 400 degrees Fahrenheit, or else
for blast furnaces, roasted or torrefied wood, or rubescent charcoal. The second
method consists in a supplementary improvement of the quality of the gas, by
means of an addition of other gases, which are sent into the meter so as to
enrich the gases therein contained. The gases added may be derived from any
source whatever, but they may especially be generated by combustion in the
way specified herein-after.
The composition of all these gases being well known, they may be purified,

page_text: if required, in the usual way; but in general the purifying process will be
superfluous, if charcoal or the normalized fuel above described is used.
Previous to specifying the before-mentioned way of generating gases by-
combustion, I shall set forth some introductory remarks. The researches of
several metallurgists, for instance, Beuzin and Ebelmen, have shewn that by
combustion, fuel or combustible substances may be advantageously converted
into gas. The following practical objections to this method were partly raised
and in part overlooked. Firstly, if the combustion only takes place by means
of atmospheric oxygen, the gases produced contain five or six volumes of
nitrogen. Secondly, in ordinary apparatus for burning or combustion, it is
assumed that in the furnace the non-carbonic matters will liquefy and leave the
furnace in a liquid state. Thirdly, the combustion of the carbon has to be
carried on with a large quantity of waste matter, apparently so at least, this
matter preserving the apparatus used from wear, it having been fully ascertained
that a blast furnace could not work or remain in good working order longer
than a few days if the fuel was not mixed with ore. Fourthly, the transforma-
tion of carbonic acid into carbonic oxyd is more difficult in proportion as the
said acid contains other gases, especially nitrogen. This consideration is, how-
ever, of the greatest importance, and shews the utility, and almost the necessity,
of enriching the carbonic acid to a considerable extent; it bears upon the
important part played by calcareous matter, as herein-after set forth, and also
upon my method of forming pure carbonic acid gas by decantation.
The four introductory remarks preceding constitute essential features of my
system of converting combustible matter into gas; they form a new theory
which I wish to secure amongst others by these Letters Patent, by whatever
apparatus they may be applied, as I attach to my apparatus only a very
secondary importance when compared with respect to the principles above set
forth. I consider these principles to be applied whenever calcareous matter or
any other source of carbonic acid is employed in the first system of generating
gas, viz., with combustible matter which is not in a state of dust or powder.
The characteristic feature in my second system is, as will be seen, the use of
dusty matter converted into gas by means of steam or carbonic acid obtained
chiefly in the manner which I am going to specify, or in any other suitable
way.
Pursuant then to the four principles or introductory remarks set forth above
I shall now describe what I consider to be the most suitable means of gene-
rating rich gases by combustion without limiting myself to these means.
The first result of combustion is always the formation of carbonic acid, mixed
with nitrogen in case air is used for burning, and it is but subsequently and in

page_text: presence of an excess of coal that oxyd of carbon is formed. The presence of
nitrogen in gases resulting from combustion with air renders these gases poor to
such an extent as to at least reduce their heating power to one-sixth of that of
pure gas. By combustion only pure oxygen can yield pure carbonic acid, which
carbonic acid again may be used to form pure carbonic oxyd; but as oxygen
cannot be manufactured cheap in the present state of science, it would be of
the greatest importance for metallurgy as well as for manufactures generally,
such as those of sugar, seltz water, &c. &c., to devise means for obtaining car-
bonic acid in a pure state by using the oxygen of atmospheric air only. In
order to obtain this result I have contrived the following process of precipitating
and decanting gas:-
If, whilst burning any fuel in a furnace, the gases are collected at a very
small distance from the burning point, they will be found to be exclusively
composed of carbonic acid and nitrogen. If these gases are conducted under
a tall receiver or bell the carbonic acid will soon precipitate, and the nitrogen
occupy the upper portion of the receiver. The precipitating process may be
furthered by three different means which I shall specify, since the principle
on which they are founded, although well known in science by the name of
en losmose, has not been applied to industry hitherto. The first of these micans
consists in sending into the upper of the above said bell a jet of steam or mizzling
vapours; the second means is establishing an electric current through the
column of gas; and thirdly, vibratory shocks or an oscillating motion, like that
of a riddle or sieve, may be given to the receiving bell. The precipitating pro-
cess having been accomplished, either by leaving the gases to themselves or by
employing one or the other of the abovesaid means, and the state of the precipi-
tated gas having been tested by reactive papers or any other suitable means,
the next process will be decanting them. For this purpose the receivers in
which the precipitation has been carried on have pistons mounted on them;
these pistons need not fit tight the same as those of blowing engines, and they
are made to perform a slow reciprocating motion so as to displace the gas by
parallel strata. If the piston works downwards, it is made to expel the car-
bonic acid through an orifice, until the nitrogen comes on; reciprocally if it is
made to work upwards, the nitrogen will be expelled first. Also a receiver of
a given contents, being filled with carbonic acid got by combustion, and pre-
cipitation having taken place, it is easy to ascertain to what height the pare
carbonic acid occupies the receiver; a slide is then placed in the said receiver
so as to isolate the two gases, which may be drawn off by a pump or any other
suitable means, especially by a jet of steam, which will be spoken of hereafter.
The carbonic acid and nitrogen thus obtained are applicable to all manufac

page_text: turing purposes, and I wish it to be understood that my claim for thus
obtaining the said two gases by combustion is quite a general one. The system
of precipitation and of decantation as described is also applicable to separating
carbonic acid from any other gas, inasmuch as the density of the former is
greater than that of any other, viz., twenty times that of hydrogen, and twice
the average density of any mixture of gas. It is obvious that in order to con-
vert the carbonic acid thus obtained into carbonic oxyd or combustible gas it
has to be passed over incandescent charcoal.
The following is the method which I use for obtaining rich gases by means
of oxygenated or acid salts. In the preceding system I obtain by means of
decantation pure carbonic acid by burning coal; the present plan is for obtain-
ing pure carbonic acid and also carbonic acid mixed with nitrogen, but the
quantity of nitrogen will be much less than in ordinary combustion; and also
after the mixture of carbonic acid has been converted into oxyd of carbon,
this latter gas will possess a much greater heating power than if the coal had
been burnt without the admixture of a carbonate or other oxygenated salt,
such as, for instance, oxalic acid.
sball detail
The apparatus which may be used for this purpose are of two kinds, one of
which is only a modification of the following general system of apparatus.
Two furnaces (cupolas for instance) are placed one by the side of the other,
the first of them being charged with a mixture of coal and of calcareous
matter, carbonate or acid salt, in the proportion of two-fifths of the former to
three-fifths of the latter; the second being charged with coal only, and both
communicating with each other at the bottom in such manner that the gases
from the first of them pass into the second furnace. The two furnaces will
work in the following way-The air enters the first furnace a little above the
communicating channel between the two furnaces, and both of them being
stopped or shut tightly below and above by the means which
hereafter, both the mixture of impure carbonic acid arising from the com-
bustion of two-fifths weight of coal, and the pure carbonic acid arising from
the calcination of the calcarcous matter or equivalent, pass at a very high
temperature into the second furnace and there raise to and keep the charcoal
at such a temperature as will allow converting into oxyd of carbon by means
of this charcoal; this oxyd of carbon is then made to escape at a point near
the top of the furnace, and passes from thence to the gas meters or to the
furnaces directly. In case the second furnace has not received through the
gases from the first a sufficient temperature for the converting process, it must
be fired for the purpose. This is particularly necessary if the carbonic acid
from the first furnace is decanted, as above set forth, for in that case the second

page_text: furnace would act as a retort for converting the cold carbonic acid into oxyd
of carbon, and this retort has to be heated on purpose by a portion of the
produced.
gases
This apparatus may be modified in the following manner, which is preferable
to the previous plans when it is desired to obtain very clean lime. A furnace
is placed between the two above mentioned, and in such manner as to com-
municate with each of them at the lower part. The whole or part of
calcareous matter is charged in this middle or intermediate furnace. In case
only part is charged the proportion which I prefer is to put one-third of the
calcareous matter into the furnace of combustion, and the remaining two-
thirds into the intermediate furnace. If very fusible carbonates or salts are
operated upon, such as alkalis or oxalic acid, the first furnace is stopped at the
sole in the same manner as a common cupola, so as to let the molten matter
run out now and then; but at the upper part this furnace is stopped in the
manner I shall describe hereafter. The case of fusible matter, however, is an
exceptional one, as generally speaking lime will be preferred. In most cases,
therefore, the two or three furnaces above described are closed or shut at top
and bottom by means of the double slides, sliding plates, drawers or cocks which
I mentioned when speaking of the normalization of gases hercin-before. By
means of these slides, &c., or other fit contrivance the charges are introduced,
and the ashes and calcareous matter taken out without loss of gas, and so as
to prevent the atmospheric air entering to any appreciable amount. The oxyd
of carbon which is obtained by the reactions just described is made to contain
the least possible quantity of nitrogen, by means of the apparatus described,
which allow introducing and taking out solid matter, and hence also using
carbonates. In this reaction any economic sources of carbonic acid may be
made available, such as decantation; the carbonic acid is either introduced
into the furnace in which combustion is carried on, or only at the bottom of
the furnace for reducing the carbonic acid. If required, matters wetted or
damped with water, oil, tar, &c., or else vapours of water, oil, tar, may be
introduced into the furnace for the purpose of improving and increasing the
volume of the gas, and also in order to diminish the local heat which the
calcareous matter produces in the first apparatus, this diminution being neces-
sary for preserving it, as explained.
The following final observations relate to the revivification of calcareous
matter and of carbonate in general. The lime which has been produced by
generating gas may not only be sold and applied to building, &c., but it may
also be regenerated by exposure to atmospheric air, to smoke of furnaces, or
any other source of carbonic acid, and it is thus made capable of acting for an

page_text: indefinite length of time, as a kind of spring as it were for the carbonic acid.
For this purpose, after it has been carbonated, it may be worked or kneaded
and moulded, and in this operation I use pitch or resinous substances instead
in preference to water, which ought to be employed in as small a quantity as
possible, cohesion-being-produced-by-strong pressure. The lime may also be
used without moulding. Having thus fully described my improved system of
converting more or less combustible fuel into rich gases, by burning the said
fuel with atmospheric air only, I shall now enter upon a method of genera-
ting gases by a fuel or combustible matter in powder or dust, with the co-
operation of steam or of a compressed gas. This method consists in driving
or carrying away the fuel (which is previously reduced to dust or powder), by
a jet of steam, or by a compressed gas into a pipe which acts as a retort; this
pipe is heated to a high degree of temperature, in such manner that the steam
is decomposed whilst passing through this retort, or through several more
parallel pipes which follow after the first, and are bent like siphon tubes, at
the same time the produce of distillation is converted into gas, both through
the steam and the heat of the retort pipes. Hence if even the fuel should be
carried away by the carbonic acid, the latter cannot help being converted into
oxyd of carbon by its presence with the dust. It will be readily understood
that any retort-like contrivance is equally applicable to carrying into effect the
principles just stated. The jet is obtained in the same manner as those sent
through the chimneys of locomotive engines or of steamers. The steam or
carrying gas is to work with a great pressure, and its quantity has to be in
proportion to the coal dust to be acted upon in such manner that the oxygen
contained in the steam or in the gas corresponds with the quantity of coal to
be burnt or saturated. Although by the principles set forth air has to be
excluded from the process, to prevent the gases from containing nitrogen, yet
if it is thought proper to do so, atmospheric air may be let in both with the
steam and with the carbonic acid. In order that the fuel dust may be carried
away, the steam or gas jet must necessarily set in motion a column of steam
or of gas, which at the time is possessed of a less speed than the jet. For
this purpose the carrying pipes are made to communicate before the point
where the coal dust is carried away with a chamber or chambers containing
gases or vapours; in case air is admitted no such chambers are needed, but
the atmosphere acts as a reservoir. The fuel to be injected is distributed in
the conducting or carrying pipe a little behind the point where the mouth of
the gas or steam injecting pipe ends in the carrying pipe. For the distributing
process I use an apparatus which consists, for instance, of cylinders set at such
a distance that with a given speed they let pass a certain quantity of coal,

page_text: which corresponds with the bulk and speed of the jet of vapour or gas, and
of the vapour or gas drawn in simultaneously with the fuel, in order to further
the reaction. The distributing apparatus is to be placed on the pipe which
carries the mixture of gases, vapours, and coal into the retort pipe.
The gases obtained by the method set forth are of an absolute richness, and
are particularly adapted for enriching the gas contained in gas meters; the
gas manufactured by this improved method is applicable to lighting and heat-
ing. I wish it to be understood. that this method differs essentially from the
system proposed some years ago by Mr. Corbin, which is to the effect of
burning fuel in a state of powder, by conveying the same into a furnace along
with a current of air which carries its nitrogen with it, the said current of air
being produced by means of any motive power. I also wish it to be under-
stood, that in this system the retort may be replaced by the very furnace of
any apparatus of combustion; this furnace after being heated will act as a
retort and apparatus for combustion, care being taken to supply it with the
necessary air for combustion.
It may also be useful to mention that my method admits not only of com-
mon fuel for decomposing water, but also if it be desired to obtain pure
hydrogen by carrying away powder or dust obtained from oxydable metals,
the decomposition will be very rapid and a powerful current of pure hydrogen
may be thus procured. If this current is to be applied to lighting purposes it
may be carbonated by any suitable vapours. As to the abovesaid powder or
dust I. prefer to use iron or zinc sponge in a pulverent state, because in this
state of sponge those metals have a very powerful action. The gases produced
by the method last described as well as by the former may be used for all
metallurgic, manufacturing, and domestic purposes, with or without gas meters;
the apparatus & means given in these two methods may be used without gas
meters, for heating locomotive and marine engines; they may be put down for
heating any apparatus, and also be made moveable so as to travel to where it
is required to be distributed through any suitable piping. I have now fully
described my second method, which consists in converting pulverulent fuel
into very
rich gases, and I wish it to be understood respecting the last and the
preceding systems of generating and enriching gas, that they may be combined
with each other in any suitable way.
The following observations relate to the third part of my improvements, viz.,
the generation and general use of gases; the gases generated as above, nor-
malized, enriched, or purified, and brought to a suitable pressure, may be used
in the different furnaces to which they are desired to be applied. They are
applicable to all kinds of manufacturing processes where heat is required, as

page_text: they can be conducted to great distances to where they are required to be
consumed. Gas meters are thus made, substituted for solid fuel stores;
from these meters the gas is let off or distributes through suitable pipes
like lighting gas, and the consumption is regulated by means of valves
or other suitable apparatus for opening more or less each orifice. The gas
as produced cannot burn without atmospheric air, which has therefore to
be admitted in admixture with the gas; it is also indispensable that the
mixture should be perfect, and contain either air or gas in excess, so as to
produce either an oxydizing or a de-oxydizing action, as may be required.
I will only specify two out of a great number of means for effecting the said
admixture. Firstly, by using an apparatus of combustion, and carrying away
the air by the gases. In the apparatus of combustion the point of admis-
sion, representing as it were the fire bars, may be made to consist of one or
several cylindrical or conical orifices, such as the tuyers of blast furnaces
and smithies, and in which also circulation of cold water takes place. The
blast pipe by which the gases are conveyed is placed concentrically in the
opening of the tuyer. In fact, here the gas will act the part of the steam jet
in the carrying tube, as above mentioned. The gas is taken from the gas pipe
or from the gas meter by a double acting blowing engine, which forces the
gas through the blast pipe with a certain pressure, so that it carries along with
it a certain portion of air, which mixes with the gas; this portion will be
greater or less according as the blast pipe is further forward or backward with
respect to the orifice of the tuyer. The second means consists of a ventilator
or fan, which has two suction pipes attached to it; one of these is in commu-
nication with the atmosphere, the other with the gas, and the fan will thus
force a mixed current into the apparatus through tuyers fixed air-tight on the
fan, and cooled as usual by currents of cold water. Care must be taken before
stopping the ventilator, to let it run for some moments with air or gas only,
i. e., to shut the air pipe a little before the other, so that no explosive mixture
remains in the apparatus. From the whole of the above-mentioned improve-
ments it will appear that if the gases produced by the first system still contain
nitrogen, they can be purged of it to a great extent by the methods of
enrichment above described, and be made to contain much less of said gas
than the gases produced by ordinary combustion. The nitrogen contained in
the gas can, generally speaking, be reduced to two volumes, instead of five or
six contained in ordinary gases of combustion, besides carbonic acid and water.
The improved gas is therefore capable of producing a heat more than double
that produced by common gas; hence a temperature which is far superior to
that necessary for those manipulations in which the highest temperature is
B

page_text: required, whilst, on the contrary, the present means are insufficient for pro-
ducing the temperature required. The before-described system of storing in
gas meters, distributing and conducting the gases obtained from any apparatus,
offers great advantages, and is very fertile in applications, as the gases may
thus be applied at great distances, and by it the quantity of gas expended
may be made subject to such control and economy as to at least treble the
intrinsic value of the fuel used, which can thus be made available at very great
distances. The regularity in the supply, which can only be obtained by means
of this system of storing, is an essential feature of the present improvements,
as owing to this regularity, they may be applied to all the operations in which
hitherto the desired result could not be obtained by applying gases directly,
because their action cannot be regular, on account of their nature and quality
varying constantly in such manner that a given effect being produced at a given
time, this effect ceases or even is counteracted the moment after. It is for this
reason that manufacturers were obliged to give up working and refining pig
iron by the waste flames of blast furnaces, which could never be made to
perform two like operations, whilst by the means which I have indicated
above, the escape gases of a furnace will be more than sufficient for refining,
puddling, and drawing iron and heating the boilers for the engines, and there
will also remain a sufficient quantity of the gaseous fuel, which may be use-
fully applied to other purposes in case it is not desired to employ it for
refining another quantity of pig iron.
The following observations relate to the compression of gases, and the im-
portant results that are obtained by the mechanical and chemical action of said
compression. Hitherto the necessity of storing, enriching, and compressing
gases has not been at all appreciated. As to compression, I have already
shewn the important part it acts in combustion, and I shall in the sequel set
forth the mechanical part it acts, together with chemical force, in refining or
producing metals. Compression thus defined forms a principal feature of my
improvements in generally applying any gases whatever.
The following is a short review of different novel, industrial, and domestic
uses to which the above-described principles may be applied:-
As an instance of the manner of using the waste gas of furnaces, a blast
furnace situated in the centre of a large town may not only be made to send
gas to a forge or smithy at a considerable distance, but also be made to heat
various public and private establishments, by supplying to them the gaseous
fuel resulting from the combustion of solid fuel in the furnace. The running
of pig iron will in this case be an accessory to the manufacture of gas, to which
the blast furnace is applied as a generator.

page_text: For collecting and condensing the smoke and using escape gases from any
apparatus, for instance, of chimneys, they are united or drawn together by
any sucking apparatus, and particularly by the steam jet which I have de-
scribed. By these means the burning gases will not only be made available,
but also the smoke is absorbed, or may be absorbed and condensed, either by
letting it settle spontaneously in large spaces, or by applying vapours or asper-
sions of water, so as to further the condensing process. This smoke may also
be made use of for particular purposes, such as making lamp-black. It may
also be used for burning according to my system of combustion and generation
by means of a jet steam.
Another important application is to unite a certain number of coke ovens
in such manner that their waste gases pass through pipes by a suitable
sucking apparatus, and preferably by the steam jet above mentioned, under a
gas meter, where all the smoke is condensed, and all the gases mix; this
smoke and gaseous mixture may be applied as above described.
I need hardly mention, with regard to fixed apparatus, that by establishing
my specified apparatus for converting fuel into gases in great centres of
population, or of manufactures, those apparatus may be used like the above-
mentioned blast furnace for distributing the gases by means of gas meters in
the different parts of the town or district, there to be used for domestic, manu-
facturing, and metallurgic purposes.
As to moveable apparatus, they are formed by establishing my above-
described apparatus on carts, and as the gas can only be generated whilst the
blowing engine is acting, this apparatus is wheeled to the different places
where rich gas has to be generated and applied. By blowing engine I under-
stand here not only the engines so called, but in particular the steam jet as
applied to generating gas.
As to heating locomotive and marine engines, if the apparatus described
be fixed on the tender or steam boat, a rich gas may be produced, and
which being burnt by the means indicated above acts much more powerfully
than solid fuel.
Both the gases produced by either of the above systems may be carburetted
for the purpose of applying them to heating and lighting as well. This may
be done by passing hydro-carburets, such as oil, resin, &c., into the apparatus
for decomposing the carbonic acid. In all these applications it is evident that
whatever the fuel inay be which is used, the gas will be of a standard quality,
so that by this system bad or poor fuel may be made available.
The following general observations apply to the melting, refining, welding,
moulding, and tinning of metals by the use of gases as above described.
B 2

page_text: By metals I mean all metallic substances, that is to say, the metals or any
of their compounds, such as carburets, sulphurets, arseniurets, phosphurets,
&c. &c.
The sequel is intended to shew that I substitute for the common processes
of metallurgy the calorific, chemical, and mechanical action of gases, whilst
the ordinary methods consist in using solid fuel for producing heat, manual
labour for producing the chemical and mechanical action, and also for
running an article in the mould after the metal has been obtained and
melted.
The improved method offers the following two principal advantages, besides
those which are to be appreciated under a manufacturing point of view.
Firstly, the manipulation of metals is reduced to rational practice, like chemical
operations, thus dispensing with the painful labour required by the old modus
operandi, whose results are always uncertain, as the trouble or bodily exertion
of the work prevents the workman from exerting the full extent of his skill,
as will be the case in a rational system in which he is not subject to any
fatigue. Secondly, it will appear that by the use of my methods the reactions
can be produced with such a degree of accuracy as to allow the execution of such
work as could not attempted to be done in the usual way. Thus it will be
shewn herein-after that in the same apparatus which is used for converting an
impure metal, or a metal combined with oxygen, sulphur, carbon, &c. into a
pure one, this metal will receive any desired form or shape. By these means
the metal may very often be run at once into moulds, even if it is such as in
the usual way cannot be cast on a very large scale.
As in my system, herein-after set forth, the iron is separated from its fusible
alloys or ingredients, and precipitated by the calorific, chemical, and mechanical
actions of the gases, the precipitation taking place quietly and over the whole
surface of fusible ingredients exposed; hence the iron which is infusible sinks
or is precipitated to the bottom of the liquid bath by fusion, and fills a mould
as the precipitated metal of a cold dissolution would fill a mould by the action
of electricity, as applied in galvano-plastics.
Thus by moulding iron by precipitating it in a metallic state, a great diffi-
culty is overcome with respect to metals which are refractory or hard to melt.
Since metals are infusible in proportion to their purity, their refining process
causes them to be precipitated successively in consequence of the relative
infusibility which they acquire in the bath, which holds them in a state of
suspension or floating on account of their impurity. Hence they will sink as
they become infusible, acting thus like metals reduced by electricity; like
these they mould on or take the shape of the surface on which they are pre-

page_text: cipitated with a greater accuracy and solidity even than by galvano-plastics,
since the process is quieter and more methodical.
-It is evidently impossible to enumerate in this Specification all the contri-
vances which may be used in practice for producing pieces of various shapes
and dimensions, by applying the principles of the calorific, chemical, and
mechanical action of gases to obtaining a piece of metal in a desired shape at
once. I shall only say in general that the sole has to represent the principal
sides of the article to be moulded, the same as the sand used in common
casting is impressed with the shape of the pattern.
The following are some plans to be used as regards the form of certain
pieces. For very long pieces, such as bars of iron, for instance, the mould
for it at the bottom of the furnace may be made, for the sake of space, in the
form of a spiral, similar to a large watch spring. The piece after being
moulded in this spiral mould is afterwards uncoiled, straightened, and even, if
required, finished, thus producing a long bar for rails, &c. &c., the upper sur-
face only requiring to be retouched or finished, as it will be readily understood
that this side in rails and other pieces is rather rough or rugged.
It is also to be observed that the gases have to be properly distributed by
applying the jets in number and position as the shape of the piece may
require; on the whole, it is, however, preferable to let the gases enter at the
vault of the furnace.
In case of
As to the composition of the gases, it has to be suited to the nature of the
operation. Thus, instead of gases which are purely oxydizing by excess of
oxygen, or quite reducing, by excess of gas, I use for both reducing and
oxydizing a mixture of gases which are capable of acting very powerfully on
carbon, sulphur, phosphorus, &c., and can also volatilize certain metals, such
as antimony, zinc, lead, &c. Amongst the gases which have to be thus mixed,
I mention particularly chlorine gas or chlorated compounds.
reactions particularly, besides the common fluxes, I use chloride of sodium,
which will act both by its chlorine and by its soda, and consequently accele-
rates the liquefaction of the bath, causing at the same time any sulphur,
arsenic, phosphorus, antimony, carbon, silica, &c. &c. to be volatilized more
completely. It is obvious that for moulding in the manner described the
richest ores ought to be used.
With respect to the furnaces, it is impossible to definitely specify their best
form, as it has to be determined by circumstances. Generally speaking, how-
ever, there is nothing to prevent any kind of furnace being applied, since the
gases may be directed to all points of the apparatus in due proportion for the

page_text: purpose of producing either of the calorific, chemical, and mechanical actions
which they are capable of.
Amongst other contrivances, the furnaces may be composed of moveable
plates, one or more of which may be removed; the sole and vault has gene-
rally to be moveable. Thus by building the vault of the furnace with refractory
materials, supported by a frame, this vault may be removed for the time of
the melting process, so that the furnace may hold more metal, and after the
melting process the vault is lowered down on the bath, so as to diminish
the space and cause the gases to act at a less distance. The gas pipes or the
greater part of them may conveniently be fixed in the vault.
It results from what has been stated that the furnaces used in the improved
metallurgic processes possess rather distinguishing features from the common
ones; they are, in fact, spaces without fire grates or chimneys, as the gaseous
injections are intended to do for grates, and the pressure under which these
gases burn will cause sufficient draught, at the same time keeping out the
external air.
The method of carrying away the air by the gases is here readily applied,
viz., by injecting gases at a strong pressure in an annular opening through
which the air is admitted, the gas pipe being put more forward for obtaining a
reducing current, or putting the same gas pipe backwards for obtaining
an oxydizing current. The jet may have any shape or form whatever; for
instance, the gas or air burner may produce a pointed or a sheet-like jet,
according to the different kinds of injections to be applied.
Before using the air and gas, they may also be heated; and in that case,
the air is raised to a high temperature, first in large quantities or reservoir,
and then caused to communicate its temperature to the gases by surrounding
gas jet.
the
The gas or gases may also be carried away by the compressed air in oppo-
sition to the air being carried away by the compressed gas. On this head
I have already explained the reasons why the air should be carried into the
furnace by compressed gas; but this system may as well be reversed, by
causing the gases to be carried away by air, which enters into the apparatus
with a considerable pressure in the centre of a gas tube communicating with a
gas holder; in this case, the air pipe acts in the same way to what the gas
tube did in the general case specified above whilst speaking of the carrying
away of air by gas.
To conclude these general observations, I wish to add, that as it is possible
by my system to impart to gases a great richness, and consequently a great

page_text: heating power, they are particularly adapted for welding and melting very
powerfully and completely by the use of the blow-pipe; they will also be
found very useful_for_melting steel,_cither_in_open_fire_or_in_crucibles
surrounded by jets of gas. The same remark applies to melting glass. By
means of these gases bars of metal may also be heated in the open air for
welding.
Owing to the powerful action of the gases, pieces of iron, copper, &c. may
be tinned or galvanized in the open air, and by proceeding with small surfaces
in succession, large pieces may thus be coated; thus a ship or vessel, after
being sheathed, might have its rivet heads covered with the coating, which
cannot be done in the present mode.
It will be seen that the general observations which precede on the use of
the gases form a commentary or preamble which is indispensable for appre-
ciating the practical means of treating metals, as will be set forth in the
following lines. They are, in fact, the substance of the Patent matter as
regards the use of gases in the improved metallurgic processes; an essential
feature thereof being, besides using the gases in a very rich state, also
the use of a great additional pressure to that produced by the apparatus.
I shall now enter upon the practical means for carrying on melting, refining,
welding, moulding, and tinning processes. For this purpose I must refer to
the above observations, and particularly to what has been said respecting the
means of mixing the gases with air for burning them and producing oxydizing
or reducing currents, by changing the position of the gas jet in the air tube or
orifice. I shall explain my new system by describing the modus operandi for
refining pig iron in order to obtain wrought iron, either moulded or in any
shape whatever. This example will shew how the carbon is burnt, and hence
the manner in which sulphur, phosphorus, or arsenic might be burnt out of
iron or other metal; it will also shew the manner in which a liquid oxyd is
deprived of its oxygen, or how the same is reduced and brought to a metallic,
solid, or liquid state by the action of a reducing gas. Finally, by this example
will be seen the way in which metal is precipitated, which is as follows:-
Whilst being refined, it assumes new properties which are propitious to preci-
pitation; thus, on one hand, its density increases; on the other, metals of the
iron class get less fusible; metals of the lead kind, on the contrary, become
more fusible, especially tin; or else the metal volatilizes, and then precipitation
is replaced by sublimation, as in zine, arsenic, &c. Hence the example chosen
will apply to the generality of cases.
In the following description I have again to refer to the general observa-
tions before set forth as regards particular cases, with respect to the number

page_text: and position of the gas jets & the form of the furnace-sole, for obtaining a
moulded article by precipitation. The furnace may consist of a space like that
of a reverberatory furnace without grate and chimney. This leaves a rect-
angular space, the bottom of which is the sole and top vault, the longitudinal
and end sides being vertical. On one of the longitudinal sides I place a
door, which may also form the whole of said side; on this door are several
smaller working doors, as the large one is only to be opened for taking out the
iron or steel. The vault has one or several openings for the injection of gases
and their combustion by one of the systems set forth; amongst these I prefer,
however, the carrying or forcing process as described, and shall state the
following, in order to cause the said process to be fully understood:-In
carrying out the normalizing process I subject the gases to a pressure of about
thirty inches of a water column. If a jet of gas with this pressure rushes out
in the centre of an annular space which communicates with the atmosphere or
any other medium, the said medium will be carried away or drawn along with
a speed generally proportional to the speed of the gas; but as has been said,
by changing the position of the gas tube, the draught will vary, viz., in the
following manner-Firstly, if the gas tube be forward in the air tube the
afflux of air will be diminished, and the current will become more and more
reducing. Secondly, if the gas tube be further inwards, more air will enter
in proportion to the gas, and the current will thus become more and more
oxydizing, and at the same time its heating power will be increased, both on
account of the complete combustion of the gas and partial combustion of the
metal.
Supposing the furnace to be constructed as above stated, and the sole of the
same to be made of a plate which can be cooled when required, I charge this
sole with pig iron through the little doors made on the large ones. The
operations are then conducted in the following way and order :-
1. The little doors are closed, but like the large one, not luted, as the
pressure of the gas is sufficient for excluding any external action.
2. The most calorific current that can be produced is applied, so that in ten
minutes or a quarter of an hour at most the pig iron will be melted.
3. Next a very oxydizing current is applied, the metal gets burning, and the
bath becomes perfectly liquid in two or three minutes.
4. At the point where the gas impinges the bath is excessively luminous or
brilliant; it simmers or quivers, and by waves radiating from the said point,
throws out, like in a cupel, the oxyds that are being formed. The luminous
point, which has first about four inches diameter for each jet, diminishes gradu-
ally, because the oxyd, as it is formed, opposes an obstacle, and the current

page_text: can only shift or dispel it a short distance; hence after six or twelve minutes
oxydation, the luminous point will be reduced about one-half in diameter. One-
third-of-the-bath-in-thickness-is-now-calculated-to-be-precipitated,-and-for
every seven inches depth of the bath there will be one inch converted into
oxyd. The iron precipitated at this first stage of the process results from the
carbon burnt during the oxydation of the pig iron, which is the only one that
has taken place up to this stage, but by the next following operation two other
actions will be called forth.
5. The oxydizing current is then changed into a very reductive one; the
oxyd, which is very liquid at the surface of the bath, is continually undergoing
the reducing action of the current, which causes à constant precipitation of
iron, at the same time the oxyd which is in contact with the carburet reduces
this carburet, or rather this carburet reduces the oxyd; this reduction causes
iron to be precipitated over the whole extent of the bath, which joins the
precipitate formed in the way last mentioned.
If in the middle of this stage, when the luminous point is reduced to about
five-sixteenths of an inch in diameter, the operation is disturbed by stirring,
steel will be produced.
As matters stand now, the pig iron is not yet as much exposed as it
might be, the slags or scoriae are viscous, lose their iron gradually, and are
deposited on the borders of the bath.
6. Almost all the iron being precipitated, an oxydizing action has to be
applied for some minutes, to be succeeded by another reducing current, lasting
a few minutes also; the result of this latter will ultimately be a complete
refining, as the bath remains undisturbed and covered all over with glass or
dross, which the current of gas only wrinkles without being able to throw it on
the brink of the bath.
7. Next water is thrown upon the bath so as to cause the slags to become
black and the iron plate to cool. After a few minutes time the large door is
lifted, but only as much as will be required to introduce the pokers or stirring
irons under the iron plate formed. This plate is lifted and taken out, and the
process is now finished. The iron thus produced will be found to be made up
of uniform grains throughout the mass, without any lamellated or fibrous
structure, as would be produced by rolling or compression.
In this state the iron is quite finished, just the same as if it had been obtained
by subjecting common iron to an entire fusion, and as run in the shape of a
plate, the iron has all the properties of wrought iron that has been cast. None
of the means used up to the present day for improving iron by reactive agents
and machinery is capable of producing iron so pure and so homogeneous; and

page_text: which can thus be used for all manufacturing purposes without any further
treatment.
My improvements therefore, besides the general advantages attendant upon
purely chemical processes, lay the following claims to preference :-
1. Substitution of an easy manipulation for a most troublesome one.
2. Certainty as regards the quality of the work to be produced.
3. Instead of a variable produce, as in the common way, the produce is
of the whole of the iron contained in the pig iron.
made up
Besides these advantages, the construction of the working machines is
considerably simplified, and the apparatus & machinery is very often reduced
to one-tenth of that required by the present methods. Thus the shingling,
rough-rolling, and cutting operations, and their apparatus, and also puddling
and puddling furnaces, are dispensed with.
In some branches of the iron trade all the great tools for preparing iron
may thus be done away with, only keeping the finishing tools. Thus, for
instance, in the manufacture of sheet iron, the only roller gear required will
now be the smoothing or finishing rollers, which receive at once. from the
furnace plates of the thickness desired, and even of such gauges as cannot be
procured by the usual means. Hence these improvements apply particularly
to the making of sheet iron, both as regards the material and the tools
employed.
Lastly, it has to be borne in mind that by the method described metals may
be moulded by precipitating them from solutions of metallic oxyds or salts,
this precipitation being of the utmost importance as an essential feature of the
improved process.
Paragraph 5 of what precedes contains implicitly both theory and practice
of treating ores for reducing its oxyd and obtaining its iron by precipitation.
The following is only a corollary of what has been stated, especially under
paragraphs 5, 6, and 7, also the following directions are applicable in every
respect to iron or any metal obtained from ore.
The sole being charged with ore instead of pig iron, the oxydizing or most
calorific current of the two is used for bringing the oxyd to a completely
liquid state; as mentioned under paragraph 5 and the following ones, when
the iron is quite melted the reducing current is applied for causing the iron
or metal to be precipitated as the reduction proceeds. Hence the following
courses are open to be pursued:-
1. It is preferable to operate with a mixture of ore and of a small quantity
of cast or pig iron, the latter being placed at the bottom of the bath, especially
in moulding, when the sole is of fire-clay and would be attacked by the oxyds

page_text: in fusion. When ore and cast iron are thus used together, the reciprocal
action of the oxygen of the ore and of the carbon of the pig iron shall produce
the desired refining process, not only during the melting or first period of the
operation, but also after fusion; the mixed bath is subject to exactly the same
conditions as the refined pig iron was after fusion, and after the oxydizing
process to which it was subjected for the sake of refining. Hence paragraphs
5 and the following ones fully apply here.
2. The addition of cast iron is not only necessary for producing steel from
an ore, but also for this purpose the bath has to be stirred, as stated before
under paragraph 5.
3. Whatever may be the metal desired to be produced from either pure or
mixed ore, the reducing action of gases may be much furthered if very fine
coal dust be thrown on the bath. This may most conveniently be done by
throwing said dust or powders through the air pipes, the air carrying the dust
or powders along very regularly, and projecting the same with great force on
the bath. This projecting action is used to advantage, particularly when steel
is required to be produced. It will also be noticed that coal dust carried
away as stated acts in the same manner as it did in the apparatus above
described for generating gas by means of coal dust; on one hand it saturates
completely the oxygen, on the other it acts in a reducing or carburizing
manner.
4. Steam may also be used as a means of oxydation.
5. As has been stated in the general observations above, the proper fluxes
or re-agents must be used according to circumstances. I prefer, however,
using common salt or chloride of sodium, both as a flux and for sulphurous,
phosphorous, and analagous ores.
Having thus described my Invention, I claim,-
Firstly, the use of gas meters for collecting the gases evolved by metal-
lurgic apparatus, such as furnaces, coke, ovens, &c., and also of a jet of vapour
for drawing and conducting the said gases under a gas meter.
Secondly, the method of enriching gases, as above set forth, and par-
ticularly by means of precipitation and decantation, for the purpose of first
obtaining pure carbonic acid, and abstracting nitrogen from gases of com-
bustion, so as to obtain subsequently pure oxyd of carbon, the said pre-
cipitation and decantation also serving to obtainpure hydrogen by separating
carbonic acid from a mixture of hydrogen and carbonic acid, and also for
obtaining pure carbonic acid by combustion for different manufacturing
purposes.

page_text: Thirdly, a system of generating gases by combustion, the essential features
of this system being, 1, the use of the apparatus above described; 2, the
special use of carbonates or oxygenated salts, particularly carbonate of lime,
employed with carbon in order to obtain the least possible quantity of nitrogen;
3, the revivification of calcareous matter or carbonates in general.
Fourthly, a system of generating gases by using fuel or combustible matter
in a powder-like or pulverulent state by the help of steam or of a compressed
gas, as above described.
Fifthly, a system of compressing gases for the purpose of better combus-
tion, this compression being effected by pumps connected with the gas meters,
and forcing the gas into the apparatus for combustion.
Sixthly, the above-described methods of burning gases, particularly by
carrying away air by compressed gas, or gas by compressed air, either being
injected into an annular opening by means of an internal tube, thus acting
like steam blast in chimneys.
Seventhly, combining the improvements claimed before for the purpose of
generating, normalizing, enriching, classifying, or sorting and using gases.
Thus, I claim the use of gases from furnaces, coke-ovens, chimneys of con-
densed smoke, and of the carbonic matter resulting therefrom. I claim also
distributing the said gases in the same manner as lighting gases, by means of
piping connected with the gas meters. Under this head, I claim also the
moveable arrangement of my apparatus on locomotives, on steam boats for
heating the boiler, and on vehicles for the purpose of producing gases, which
may be thus distributed or delivered to consumers.
Eighthly, the use of gases for melting, refining, welding, and moulding
metals in the manners described, which differ entirely from the methods
practised hitherto.
The said use is founded upon the threefold calorific,
chemical, and mechanical action, as set forth in my system; viz., this com-
bined action is applied to refining pig iron in a melted or liquid bath by
what I call the precipitation system; this refining process, as shewn, being
applicable to all metals, and being only produced by the action of the gas,
without requiring any tools or manual labour. The same refining process is
also applicable to treating any oxyd, and hence oxyd of iron, which being
brought to a liquid state, sets free the iron to be precipitated by a reducing
action.
As the said refining and reducing actions go on very quietly, and as
the metal is precipitated in perfect order, the same as metal which is reduced
in a solution by an electric current, this treatment yields at once solid metal,
moulded upon the sole of the apparatus in which the operation has been carried

page_text: on.
Hence as a part of this system of refining by precipitation. I claim
also moulding iron by the said system in all possible shapes from pig iron or
ore, whilst it is being refined or melted...
To make the foregoing claims better understood, I think it necessary to
elucidate them by the following observations. The ends of my improvements
are to impart to gases a constant richness, and also a threefold calorific,
chemical, and mechanical action. The first of these ends is attained by sub-
jecting gases to normalization, which produces a constantly rich gas, shut up
under gas meters from whence it is supplied. Next decantation of gas con-
stitutes a novel means of enriching gas, giving rise to a variety of applications
in practice; generating gases under the influence of carbonates doubles their
calorific power; the revivification of carbonates renders said carbonates useful
in every respect; generating gases by pulverulent fuel under the influence of
steam or gases, such as carbonic acid, imparts to the gases generated an abso-
lute richness for burning; hence the above operations form a complete series
of practical means for enriching gas, and producing the highest degrees of
heat, as well as the most energetic oxydizing and reducing actions. . Having
thus obtained the calorific and chemical action, there is only the mechanical
action left. This latter is insured by burning gases, which are being mixed
with the air at the moment of the combustion, without any previous mixture
with air, which would be dangerous and incomplete. This mixture is instan-
taneously accomplished, by moving the tuyer, which changes the oxydizing
action into a reducing one, so that by an easy mechanical action the chemical
one is obtained. The mechanical action is completed by the gases being
projected with a great pressure, and thus acting like the tools which are used
for producing reactions, by stirring or agitating in common practice. The
said pressure also causes the air necessary for combustion to be carried along;
and thus it results from all the preceding elucidations that the final result
obtained by my systems as set forth is to impart to gases the greatest amount
of calorific, chemical, and mechanical power. I also wish it to be understood
that what I further consider to be entirely novel is the theory of and putting
into practice, the precipitation of metals in a bath liquid by fusion, similarly to
precipitating a metal in an acid solution, by the influence of an electric
current; another novelty is applying said precipitating process to moulding in
a melted bath, by reducing the metal through a current of gas, similarly to
the
way in which metal is precipitated in an acid solution, by a reducing or
electric current as termed in galvano-plastics. Thus, an immediate conse-
quence of my system of improvements is the moulding of metals by reducing

page_text: them in their combinations made liquid in the igneous way, this liquidity
corresponding with that produced by acids in common solutions.
In witness whereof, I, the said Claude Bernard Adrien Chenot, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of July, in the
year of our Lord 1854.
C. B. A. CHENOT. (L.S.)