IMPROVEMENTS IN REDUCING METALLIC ORES, AND APPARATUS THEREFOR."
Year: 1876

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Jonathan Ireland at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 21st November 1876. A communication
from abroad by Thomas Schoenberger Blair, of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, in the
United States of America.
JONATHAN IRELAND, of Edward Street, Broughton Lane, Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster. IMPROVEMENTS IN REDUCING METALLIC ORES, AND
APPARATUS THEREFOR."
"
In the Specification of a Patent granted to John Imray on the 14th June, 1872,
No. 1795, for an Invention communicated to him from abroad by T. S. Blair, were
described a process and apparatus for reducing iron ore and producing iron there-
from in a spongy condition. The present Invention consists in improvements in
the method of conducting the said process, and in the apparatus employed therefor,
the improved process and apparatus being applicable to the reduction of oxide ores
of other metals as well as those of iron.
For the sake of simplicity the following description is confined to the method and
apparatus for the reduction of iron ore, and the production of iron iu spongy
condition.
The apparatus consists of a vertical retort or reducing furnace combined with a
gas producer, and with circulating pipes for the gas fitted with suitable valves. The
producer may be of any known construction, but I prefer to make it as a chamber
closed at the bottom, provided at the top with a fuel hopper and shoot that can be
closed by a valve so as to prevent access of air. On one side close up to the roof of
the chamber is an inlet aperture, and opposite to it on the other side is an outlet
aperture. On the two other sides of the chamber are formed vertical recesses or
projecting ribs which prevent the passage of air from the one side to the other
except through the body of fuel with which the producer is charged. The outlet
aperture communicates by a passage with the interior of the vertical retort or
reducing furnace at a point just under an overhanging shoulder formed in the retort
by constructing it of larger diameter below than it is above the said shoulder.
the top of the retort is a feed hopper by which the materials to be operated on are
introduced, the feeding aperture being provided with a valve to prevent access of
air. At the bottom of the retort is a moveable slide or platform containing vessels
which can be successively brought under the discharging mouth of the retort so as
At

page_text: to receive a portion of its contents without exposing them to the air. From the top of
the retort a pipe leads down to one side of the producer, where it is provided with a
valve by which it can be made to communicate with either the inlet or the outlet
aperture of the producer. An air passage is also provided at the inlet side of the
producer provided with a valve for regulating the supply of air. In the pipe
leading from the top of the retort is arranged a fanner or other suitable apparatus
for creating a current, and for this may be substituted a steam jet, in which case
a water shower is arranged in the descending limb of the pipe to condense the
steam.
The apparatus operates in the following manner :-The retort is charged nearly
to the top with the ore mingled with carbonaceous matter, the producer is kindled,
and as soon as its action is established so that no free oxygen can pass from it into
the retort its feed valve is closed, and the fan or other draught-creating apparatus
is put in action so as to send a current of the gas from the producer into the retort.
The gas thus supplied finding an annular space under the overhanging shoulder of
the retort can pass into and through the contents of the upper part of the retort
which it heats, becoming itself cooled. It then descends by the pipe and may be
conveyed away to be used for heating purposes elsewhere. When the heat thus
delivered to the retort tends to become too great a portion, greater or less, of the
return gas is admitted to the inlet of the producer, and the air supply thereto is
more or less checked, so that the combustion in the producer is retarded, and the
production of gas is proportionally reduced without diminishing the volume of gas
transmitted through the contents of the retort. Or the return gas may be directed
to a greater or less extent into the outlet passage of the producer so as to effect
cooling without reduction of volume. By the passage of the hot gas through the
materials in the upper part of the retort the ore becomes reduced as it descends, the
reduction being completed at or near the overhanging shoulder, below which the
contents of the retort consist of a mixture of spongy iron with carbonaceous matter
and ash. This as it descends becomes somewhat cooled before it is withdrawn at
the bottom mouth, and the cooling may be aided by providing the lower part of
the retort with a water jacket.
The reducing action in the retort may be accelerated by mixing with the ore and
carbonaceous matter a proportion of lime or other alkaline material, as described in
a Provisional Specification filed by me on the 29th June, 1876, No. 2677.
Although the circulation of the gas through the retort has been described as
being from below upwards it is obvious that it might be caused to flow in the
opposite direction, that is to say, from above downwards.