IMPROVEMENTS IN REDUCING OXIDES, AND IN OBTAINING IRON, SODIUM, POTASSIUM, PHOSPHORUS, CHLORINE OR THEIR COMPOUNDS. AND TH ADDADA MITO AFTED EDAD
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Anderson, of Newbuildings, in the County
of Londonderry, Ireland, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
REDUCING OXIDES, AND IN OBTAINING IRON, SODIUM, POTASSIUM, PHOSPHORUS,
CHLORINE OR THEIR COMPOUNDS. AND TH ADDADA MITO
AFTED EDAD
"
Sealed the 25th June 1872, and dated the 27th December 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Anderson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th December 1871.
I, JAMES ANDERSON, of Newbuildings, in the County of Londonderry,
Ireland, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN REDUCING OXIDES, AND IN OBTAINING IRON, SODIUM,
POTASSIUM, PHOSPHORUS, CHLORINE, OR THEIR COMPOUNDS, AND IN APPARATUS
THEREFOR," to be as follows, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to further developments of the improvements
for which I have obtained the several Letters Patent dated 5 October
1867 (2801), 17 March 1871 (No. 718), 14 August 1871 (No. 2134),

page_text: and 23 August 1871 (No. 2216), and consists principally in fusing or
liquefying the oxides and flux apart from the coal or coke, and then
causing the fused oxides to percolate down through the coke or
carbon, whereby their reduction will be effected in a more economical
monnos
The Invention is to be carried out in a furnace constructed with lower
and upper compartments, the coal being supplied to the lower one by
valved inlets at its upper part, whilst the oxides, ores, minerals, or
prepared silicates are introduced at the top of the upper compartment.
The ores are fused in the upper compartment by means of heated gases
passing up from below, but on leaving that compartment the fused
mixture first passes through elongated channels or reverberatory spaces,
wherein the gases and flame act on its surface in order to render it
sufficiently hot and fluid prior to its admission into the lower com-
partment. The gases from the lower compartment pass up by the same
passages that the fused oxides descend by, and air is admitted for their
combustion at various points. The waste gases are drawn off by exhaust-
ing apparatus from the top of the upper compartment in preference to
employing a blast. At the bottom of the lower compartment a separate
outlet is provided for the residuary slag by elongated passages, and the
air enters by these passages so as to take up and utilise the heat of the
slag. The air or some of it entering at the bottom of the lower com-
partment forms carbonic oxide with part of the coke, and the heated
carbonic oxide and nitrogen passing up assist to drive off the volatile
hydrocarbons from and coke the coal above. In this modification of the
improved processes, the introduction along with the ores of granite or
other rock or mineral containing silicates and alkalies, will have the
advantage of combining with the oxide of iron and neutralising its
tendency to induce fusion of the furnace walls, as well as of increasing
the quantities of the alkalies. The vaporised alkalies, phosphorus,
sulphur, or their compounds, are to be separated by providing passages
for the egress of the gases from the lower compartment, and the gases
are led through tubes or spaces in a steam boiler, and are afterwards
returned to the furnace. The gases give up some of their sensible heat
to the water in the boiler, and thereby become so far cooled as to deposit
their vaporised saline matters in the boiler tubes or spaces, from which
last such matters can be periodically removed. On the return of the
gases from the boiler to the furnace they may if necessary be reheated

page_text: by means of the waste gases from the top of the furnace or in any
convenient way.
The improved processes can be carried out in furnaces or apparatus
differing more or less from what is herein-before described or referred to.
Thus, for example, a furnace may be employed having its upper part
divided by walls into separate vertical channels or spaces, the ores, flux,
and silicates being put into some channels and the coal or carbonaceous
matter into others, the ore channels being made sufficiently long, and
sufficient heat being applied to the materials to effect their fusion before
they mix with the coke or carbon in the lower part of the furnace. Or
the furnace may be made with lower and upper sections communicating
with each other by apertures so small or so inclined that the materials
will not pass through in the solid state, but only on becoming fused.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Anderson in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 25th June 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
ANDERSON, of Newbuildings, in the County of Londonderry, Ireland,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said James Anderson, Her special licence that
I, the said James Anderson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said James Anderson, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN REDUCING OXIDES,
AND IN OBTAINING IRON, SODIUM, POTASSIUM, PHOSPHORUS, CHLORINE, OR THEIR
COMPOUNDS, AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOR," upon the condition (amongst

page_text: others) that I, the said James Anderson, 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,
and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within 5
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Anderson, 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 1
following statement in writing, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, that is to say:-
:―
My said Invention relates to further developments of the improve-
ments for which I have obtained the several Letters Patent dated
5 October 1867 (No. 2801), 17 March 1871 (No. 718), 14 August 1
1871 (No. 2134), and consists principally in fusing or liquefying the
oxides and flux apart from the coal or coke, and then causing the
fused oxides to percolate down through the coke or carbon, whereby
their reduction will be effected in a more economical manner than
heretofore..
My present Invention is to be carried out according to one modifica-
tion in a furnace such as is shown in vertical section in the explanatory
Drawing hereunto appended.
The furnace is divided into two parts, an upper and a lower one. The
ironstone and limestone are introduced into the upper section by the s
valved openings d, d. The fuel is introduced into the lower section by
the openings c, c, The waste gases are exhausted out of the furnace, at
the top of the upper section, by the passage g, causing the air to be
drawn in at the bottom of the lower section. Arrangements are made
for the air to pass over the surface of the hot slag, whereby it becomes
heated before entering the furnace, as described in the Provisional
Specification of an earlier Patent applied for by me on 23 August 1871
(No. 2216). The oxygen of the air entering at e comes in contact
with the carbon of the fuel in the lower section, converting it into
carbonic oxide, which passes up through the material contained in the
lower section until it arrives at the space n, where it meets the hot air
which ascends from the slag by the pipe t, the air entering the top of

page_text: the lower section by the passages n¹, n¹. In this space the combustion
of the gases is wholly or partially completed, according to the proportion
of air admitted. The heat radiated from the hot gases and top of the
furnace cokes the coal, expelling the volatile gases and heating the solid
carbon. The gases then proceed by the passages k, k, to the upper
section, where they meet the ore and lime, as much air being admitted
here as will complete the combustion of the gases. The heat resulting
from the combustion of the gases will fuse the ore and lime, and as they
fuse they will descend by the passages k, k, to the lower section, and fall
among the hot carbon of the fuel. The fused material will be imbibed
by the coke something like as water is by a sponge, and the oxide of
iron contained in it will be reduced by contact with its carbon. The
carbonic oxide formed will effervesce and boil out of the fused material,
just as takes place in the puddling furnace when oxide of iron is
introduced. The frothy effervescence will continue as the fused material
passes down from one piece of coke to another, until the oxide of iron is
all reduced. The reduced iron collecting into pellets will, on account of
its greater gravity, leave the fused mass and descend quickly to the
bottom. The progress of the slag will be much slower on account of
the cellular condition in which it is maintained by the escaping carbonic
oxide. The iron is collected at the bottom in the usual manner. The
slag, on leaving the furnace, is made to flow in winding currents u, over
which the air drawn in to the furnace is made to pass, and from which
it takes up heat. The hot gaseous products of combustion in the upper
section ascend to the zone, containing the ironstone and limestone. As
much air has been admitted over and above that necessary for the com-
bustion of the gases, as will convert the Fe O of the ore into Fe, O,,
and oxidise the sulphur. A certain amount of heat results from this
action, some of which is carried up by the gases, and will assist in
expelling the carbonic acid from the ironstone and limestone. The
remainder is carried down by the material to the lower part of the
furnace. Sufficient depth of ironstone and limestone is maintained in
the upper portion of the upper section to abstract most of the heat
from the gases before they are exhausted out of the furnace by the
passage g. The passages k, k, by which the fused oxides pass from the
upper section to the lower one are made somewhat circuitous by being
extended outwards and then inwards again in curved forms in plan, and
are slightly inclined horizontally to facilitate the flow of the fused
oxides. The passages k, k, act as reverberatory chambers, wherein the

page_text: heat of the fused oxides is increased and sufficient fluidity is imparted to
them; and to assist in this action some heated air may be admitted into
them from the pipes t by openings f, to induce the complete com-
bustion of any carbonic oxide gas passing along the passages from the
lower section of the furnace. The furnace walls are prevented from
becoming too highly heated in the neighborhood of the fused oxides by
the introduction of cast-iron casings i, i, through channels in which cold
water is made to flow, and which are supported where necessary by
columns h.
In case the coal should not be sufficiently or properly coked by the
heat inside the upper part of the lower section of the furnace, flues
may be formed part way down the side walls, and portions of the com-
bustible gases may be burned in such flues with the aid of the requisite
air, and so supplement the heat acting on the coal. Minerals or rocks
containing alkalies or prepared silicates may be introduced into the
upper section of the furnace along with the ironstone or limestone, or
the furnace may be used for reducing the natural or prepared silicates
of the alkalies without being at the same time applied for smelting iron.
The introduction along with the iron ores of granite or other rock or
mineral containing silicates and alkalies will have the advantage of
causing a combination of these with the oxide of iron, and neutralising
its tendency to induce fusion of the furnace walls, as well as of in-
creasing the quantities of the alkalies. The vaporised alkalies, phos-
phorus, sulphur or their compounds, are to be separated by providing
passages q for the egress of the gases from the lower section, and the
gases are led through tubes or spaces in a steam boiler p, and are after-
wards returned to the furnace. The gases give up some of their sensible
heat to the water in the boiler p, and thereby become so far cooled as to
deposit their vaporised saline matters in the boiler tubes or spaces, from
which last such matters can be periodically removed. On the return of
the gases from the boiler P to the furnace by the passages 8, they may if
necessary be reheated by means of gases from the top of the lower
section of the furnace, or in any convenient way. Chloride of potassium
and of sodium may be introduced into the furnace, and the hydrochloric
acid or chloride of iron be collected and utilised in making chlorine,
as described in the Specification of my earlier Patent, No. 2134, of
1871.

page_text: advantageously used for separating the iron from the slag or cinder
obtained as a bye product in the ordinary operation of puddling or
refining iron. Lime is introduced into the upper section of the furnace
along with the cinder, both are fused together, and in passing down
through the heated charcoal in the lower section the lime combines with
the silica in the cinder, forming silicate of lime. The oxide of iron
being thus relieved is more readily reduced on coming in contact with
the heated carbon.
Another important application of the furnace is for making spiegel
eisen, for which purpose iron ores containing manganese, or oxide of
manganese and iron ore, or slag or cinder from the puddling and refining
of iron, are introduced into the upper section of the furnace. Both
the oxides will be fused and mixed together, and when they become
simultaneously reduced in the lower section a large proportion of
manganese will combine with the iron.
My improved processes can be carried out in furnaces or apparatus
differing more or less from what I have herein-before described or
referred to. Thus, for example, a furnace may be employed having its
upper part divided by walls into separate vertical channels or spaces, the
ores, flux, and silicates being put into some channels and the coal or
carbonaceous matter into others, the ore channels being made sufficiently
long and sufficient heat being applied to the materials to effect their
fusion before they percolate down through the coke or carbon in the
lower part of the furnace, and become reduced. After the coal is
introduced into a channel the top thereof is closed. The coal is coked
by the heat transmitted through the walls of the channel or by the
admission of as much air as will by its combustion produce just enough
heat to expel the hydrocarbons. The carbonic oxide and carbonaceous
gases or vapors so formed descend to the bottom of the coal channel,
and pass from it to the channel containing the ore and flux up which
they ascend. Air is admitted to effect their complete combustion in the
ore channel so that the heat generated may fuse the material. As the
gases ascend they impart their heat to the materials in the channel, and
if there is depth enough of ore and flux they will leave the furnace
cooled down to nearly the same temperature as that of the recently
introduced cold materials.
According to a further more simplified arrangement the furnace
may be made with upper and lower sections communicating with

page_text: each other by apertures so small or so inclined that the materials
will not pass through in the solid state, but only on becoming
fused.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention, and the manner
of performing the same, I have to state that I do not restrict myself
to the precise details herein described or delineated, but that what I
believe to be novel and original and claim as the Invention secured
to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
1. The obtaining of iron, sodium, potassium, phosphorus, chlorine, or
their compounds, by means of the improved processes and apparatus
herein-before described.
2. The fusing of single or mixed oxides and fluxes by the heat
of the furnace gases apart from the solid fuel, previously to the
reducing of the oxides by the solid carbon, substantially as herein-
before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Anderson, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
Witness,
EDMUND HUNT,
Patent Agent,
Glasgow.
JAMES ANDERSON. (L.S.)