IMPROVEMENTS IN UTILIZING CERTAIN MATERIALS OR PRODUCTS OBTAINED DURING THE MANUFACTURE OF STEEL AND IRON
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Hargreaves, of Appleton-within-Widnes, in
the County of Lancaster, Analytical Chemist, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN UTILIZING CERTAIN MATERIALS OR PRODUCTS OBTAINED
DURING THE MANUFACTURE OF STEEL AND IRON."
Sealed the 17th January 1868, and dated the 19th July 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Hargreaves at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th July 1867.
I, JAMES HARGREAVES, of Appleton-within-Widnes, in the County of
Lancaster, Analytical Chemist, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN UTILIZING CERTAIN MATERIALS OR PRODUCTS
OBTAINED DURING THE MANUFACTURE OF STEEL AND IRON," to be as follows:-
The objects of my Invention are (a) to utilize that waste material or
product which rises to the surface of molten iron during its conversion into
steel when salts which yield oxygen on the application of heat are the agents
employed, and which said material or product, for brevity, I call "steel slag,"
and (b) to utilize another waste material or product, called by me "steel
cinder," obtained during the manufacture of steel and soft iron when "steel
slag" is used therein according to an Invention for which my application for
Provisional Protection was recorded on the Twelfth day of July, A.D. 1867,

page_text: No. 2046. The said steel slag consists principally of carbonate, silicate,
phosphate, sulphate, sulphite, sulphide, chloride, cyanide, and ferrocyanide
of sodium or potassium, together with oxide of iron and oxide of manganese,
and when chromate of soda or potassa are the oxydising salts used in the manu-
facture of steel and soft iron from cast iron there is also oxide of chromium
present. The steel cinder has a similar composition except that it contains more
silica, oxide of iron, and oxide of manganese. I utilize the said waste products
as follows:-
First, in the manufacture of glass by the addition of silica, lime, and
oxides of lead and zinc or other substance tending to render the glass
insoluble in water and unaffected by atmospheric influences.
Secondly, by dissolving the soluble portions of the steel slag or steel cinder
by lixiviation or boiling in water. I prefer to allow the insoluble impurities
in suspension to settle to the bottom, and then to drain off the clear solution
and concentrate it to dryness, adding nitrate of soda, nitrate of potassa, or other
oxidising salt to oxidise any sulphide of sodium or sulphide of potassium that
may be present. The material thus produced I use as a detergent in washing,
and also for other purposes to which alkalies are applied.
Thirdly, I obtain carbonate of soda and carbonate of potassa or bicar-
bonate of soda or potassa by passing carbonic acid through the solution
obtained from steel slag and steel cinder, as mentioned under the above second
head of my Invention, or I add bicarbonate of soda or bicarbonate of potassa
to the said solution to precipitate the silica and other impurities present; I
then concentrate, and if the steel slag or steel cinder was produced when a
salt of soda was used, I obtain crystals of soda or make bicarbonate of soda in
the ordinary manner, or I concentrate to dryness and obtain soda ash, and if
a salt of potassa was used in producing the steel slag or steel cinder, I obtain
the ordinary potash or pearlash of commerce, or I still further expose the
potash or pearlash to the action of carbonic acid and obtain bicarbonate of
potassa.
And, fourthly, I obtain caustic soda or caustic potassa by boiling or other-
wise treating the solution obtained from steel slag and steel cinder, as afore-
said, with caustic or quicklime and adding nitrate of soda or nitrate of potassa
or other oxidising salt to the solution to oxidise any sulphide of sodium or
sulphide of potassum that may be present in the caustic solution.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Hargreaves in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
17th January 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
HARGREAVES, of Appleton-within-Widnes, in the County of Lancaster,
Analytical Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her
reign, did for Herself, Her heirs, and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said James Hargreaves, Her special license that I, the said James
Hargreaves, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said James Hargreaves, 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 UTILIZING CERTAIN MATERIALS OR PRODUCTS OBTAINED
DURING THE MANUFACTURE OF STEEL AND IRON," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said James Hargreaves, 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 Inven-
tion, 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 James Hargreaves, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
The objects of my Invention are (a) to utilize that waste material or
product which rises to the surface of molten iron during its conversion into
steel or soft iron when salts which yield oxygen on the application of heat are
the agents employed, and which said material or product, for brevity, I call
"steel slag," and (b) to utilize another waste material or product, called by
me "steel cinder," obtained during the manufacture of steel and soft iron
when steel slag is used therein according to an Invention for which I obtained
Letters Patent, dated the Twelfth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, and bearing the serial number 2046.

page_text: The aforesaid steel slag consists principally of carbonate, silicate, phosphate,
sulphate, sulphite, sulphide, chloride, cyanide, and ferrocyanide of sodium or
potassium, together with oxide of iron and oxide of manganese, and when
chromate of soda or potassa are the oxydising salts used in the manufacture
of steel and soft iron from cast iron, there is also oxide of chromium present.
The steel cinder has a similar composition, except that it contains more silica,
oxide of iron, and oxide of manganese, sulphur, phosphorus, and their acids.
I utilize the said waste product as follows:-
First, in the manufacture of glass, by the addition of and fusion with silica,
lime, and oxides of lead and zine or other substances tending to render the
glass insoluble in water and unaffected by atmospheric influences.
Secondly, by dissolving the soluble portions of the steel slag or steel cinder
by lixiviation or boiling in water. I prefer to allow the insoluble impurities
in suspension to settle to the bottom, and then to drain off the clear solution
and concentrate it to dryness and roast it, adding nitrate of soda, nitrate of
potassa, or other oxidising salt to oxidise any sulphide of sodium or sulphide of
potassium that may be present. The material thus produced I use as a
detergent in washing, and also for other purposes to which alkalies are
applied.
Thirdly, I obtain carbonate of soda and carbonate of potassa or bicarbonate
of soda or bicarbonate of potassa by passing carbonic acid through or in
contact with the solution obtained from steel slag and steel cinder, as men-
tioned under the above second head of my Invention, or I add bicarbonate of
soda or bicarbonate of potassa to the said solution to precipitate the silica
and other impurities present; I then concentrate to dryness and roast the
material, and if the steel slag or steel ciuder was produced when a salt of soda
was used I obtain crystals of soda or make bicarbonate of soda in the ordinary
manner, or I concentrate to dryness and obtain soda ash; and if a salt of
potassa was used in producing the steel slag or steel cinder, I obtain the
ordinary potash or pearlash of commerce, or I still further expose the potash
or pearlash to the action of carbonic acid and obtain bicarbonate of potassa.
And, fourthly, I obtain caustic soda or caustic potassa by boiling or other-
wise treating a solution of specific gravity 1100 or 1090 obtained from steel
slag and steel cinder, as aforesaid, with caustic or quicklime, and adding
nitrate of soda or nitrate of potassa, or other oxidising salt to the solution to
oxidise any sulphide of sodium or sulphide of potassium that may be present
in the caustic solution, or I oxidise the sulphides by the jet processes
invented by me in the years 1864-5, and now in common use for oxidising
crude soda liquors, and then concentrate by boiling until it will solidify on

page_text: cooling, or I use the caustic solution in the manufacture of soap, paper, and
other materials without concentration.
I have further ascertained that by passing the steel slag or steel cinder
through or in contact with incandescent carbon in the form of charcoal or coke
I obtain the steel slag more free from oxide of manganese or oxide of iron,
and the said oxide of iron and oxide of manganese are reduced to the metallic
state, and the salts of soda or potassa contained therein are rendered much
more soluble; I therefore, when making carbonate of soda or potassa, or
when making caustic soda or potassa, prefer to melt the said steel slag or
steel cinder in a blast furnace or other furnace of similar construction; or I
fuse them or either of them in a reverberatory furnace together with coal or
other carbonaceous matter, and then treat, as has been heretofore described,
for the formation of carbonates and bydrates of soda or potassa from steel
slag or steel cinder.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and particularly
ascertained the same, I would have it understood that what I claim is,―
First, the use of steel slag and steel cinder for the manufacture of glass by
means substantially as described herein.
And, second, the use of steel slag for the manufacture of carbonates and
bydrates of soda or potassa by means substantially as described herein.
In witness whereof, 1, the said James Hargreaves, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
In the presence of
JOHN T. KING,
Patent Agent,
Liverpool.
JAMES HARGREAVES. (L.S.)