CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert McCall, of Pallas-Kenry, in the County of
Limerick, Ireland, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL."
Sealed the 3rd July 1855, and dated the 8th January 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert McCall at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 8th
January 1855.
I, ROBERT MCALL, of Pallas-Kenry, in the County of Limerick, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL" to be as follows:-.
.This Invention is applicable to the smelting of iron ores, to the smelting and
puddling of pig, iron, and to the manufacture of bar, plate,. rod, and sheet. iron
and steel. The principal means employed for these purposes, and which
constitute this Invention, are as follows:-
Firstly, a closed...smelting furnace, for smelting iron ores and pig, iron,
instead of the open furnaces ordinarily employed.
Secondly, a regulating valve, to be adapted to such smelting furnaces, in
order to regulate the proper degree of heat required for smelting the said ores.
therein, and to allow of the escape of the smoke and gases...
Thirdly, the application of air chambers to such furnaces, for the purpose of..

page_text: creating the necessary draught, instead of employing a mechanical blast, as
heretofore practised in such manufactures.
And, fourthly, the application to smelting iron ores, smelting and puddling
pig iron, and manufacturing bar, plate, rod, and sheet iron, and steel, of the
following fuels, not hitherto used or employed for such purposes; viz., firstly,
peat or turf in its natural state; secondly, compressed peat; and, thirdly, pre-
pared peat, formed by mixing together about equal proportions of peat and
small anthracite coal, and compressing the same together into a solid mass, by
means of mechanical pressure.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert McCall in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
7th July 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
MCCALL, of Pallas-Kenry, in the County of Limerick, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Robert McCall, Her special licence that I, the said Robert McCall,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Robert
McCall, 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Robert McCall, 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 Robert McCall, 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) :—

page_text: My Invention is applicable to the reduction or smelting of the ores of iron,
to the smelting and puddling of pig and plate iron, and to the manufacture of
bar, plate, rod, and sheet iron, and iron intended to be afterwards converted
into steel, and the manner in which I perform the same is as follows:-I
employ a closed furnace for the reduction or smelting of the ores of iron, and
for the smelting of pig iron, and the manufacture of bar, rod, plate, and sheet
iron, instead of the open furnaces hitherto employed in such manufacture; to
which furnace valves are adapted or applied for regulating the proper degree
of heat required for smelting the ores therein, and employing the smoke and
gases from the furnace for drying purposes (such as the drying of the fuel), by
conducting the same through a pipe inserted into the side of the furnace near
the top thereof, and through which said pipe the said smoke and gases pass
and escape. I also employ in connection with such said closed furnace air
chambers, in combination with either hot or cold blast, for the purpose of
creating the necessary draught in the furnace, instead of employing a
mechanical blast only when such furnaces are used for "roasting" or " torre-
fying "the ores of iron; and when the furnace is not required to be used for
this purpose, but only for the smelting of the ores of iron, the above chambers
may then be closed by dampers, suitably placed and connected therewith. The
fuel which I employ for the reduction or smelting of the ores of iron, the
smelting and puddling of pig and plate iron, and the manufacture of bar, plate,
rod, and sheet iron, and steel, is peat or vegetable carbon; either peat in its
natural state, or compressed peat, or prepared peat, formed by mixing together
about equal proportions of peat and small anthracite coal, and compressing the
same together into a solid mass by means of mechanical pressure; or a com-
pound of the refuse turf or peat fuel, heretofore considered as waste, dissolved
in a pit into a pulp, and then moulded into "peats" or blocks.
In order to explain my said Invention as completely as possible, I now
proceed to describe the best means I am acquainted with for carrying the same
into practical effect, reference being had to the illustrative Drawing hereunto
annexed, and to the numeral figures and letters of reference marked thereon
respectively, as follows:-
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is a transverse and vertical section of the furnace I employ for the
reduction or smelting of ores of iron, and bar, plate, rod; and sheet iron, and
steel; Figure 2 is a transverse and vertical section of the furnace, shewing the
mode of arranging the air chambers when the furnace is intended to be used
for roasting or torrefying the ores of iron.

page_text: At each of the foregoing Figures I employ similar letters of reference to
denote corresponding parts, in so far as such parts appear or can be seen at
each of the said Figures respectively.
At Figures 1 and 2, A, A, represents the hearth of the furnace; B, the body
thereof; C, the crown, formed of the same quality 'of materials as the body;
C', a sliding door or mouth for feeding the furnace. In large furnaces there
may be several of these doors. D is an iron pipe through which the smoke
and gases pass. One end of this pipe is inserted or built into the side of 'the
furnace near the top thereof, and the other end communicates with the chamber
or receptacle containing the fuel to be dried. The pipe D is furnished with an
adjusting valve or damper, as at d, Figure 1, for regulating the quantity of
heat which passes through the pipe D; E is one of the ordinary "tuyère "
pipes, of which there may be two or more, as commonly practised. With the
exception of the crown C and pipe D, the furnace is in all other respects similar
in its construction to that of other furnaces employed for sinelting iron. The
furnace exhibited at Figure 2 I have found to answer well for roasting
or torrefying the ores of iron; it is similar to that before described and
represented at Figure 1, and I adapt such said furnace to the roasting or
"forrefying" process by arranging chambers G of brickwork (only one. of
which is shewn by the Drawing) at those parts of the furnace where the
tuyères" are usually situated, by which I induce a current of atmospheric
air to pass into the furnace. 9 is a damper, for closing the chamber G when
not required to be used for roasting, &c. as above stated. By these means I
create a draught in the furnace instead of employing a mechanical blast only,
as heretofore practised; or if necessary I employ the said air chambers in com-
bination with the ordinary "tuyère" pipes and mechanical blast, either hot or
cold in either case; I am thus enabled to effect considerable economy in the
manufacture of iron. And as regards the mode practised by me of operating
with a furnace constructed as above for smelting the ores of iron, smelting and
puddling pig and plate iron," and for manufacturing bar, plate, rod, and sheet
iron, and steel, it is precisely similar to that usually practised in such manufac-
tures, excepting that instead of placing the ores of iron into the furnace in
lumps, as heretofore practised, I have found it desirable in practice to crush
or pulverize the said ores, and also the limestone employed for fluxing the
said ores (which may be effected by passing them between a pair of suitable
revolving rollers), previously to charging the furnace therewith:
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention of
"Certain Improvements in the Manufacture of Iron and Steel," and in what

page_text: manner the same is to be and may be performed, I would remark, in con-
clusion, that I claim as my Invention, the manufacture of iron and steel by
the use of peat fuel, or its, combinations, in closed furnaces, constructed and
arranged as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert McCall, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventh day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
ROBERT MCCALL. (L.S.)
Witness,
P
ALEX PRINCE, Patent Agent,
4. Trafalgar Square, Charing Cross.