APPLICATION OF ELECTRICITY IN REFINING CAST IRON, FOR THE PURPOSE OF CONVERTING IT INTO WROUGHT IRON OR STEEL, WITH OR WITHOUT THE ADDITION OF OTHER AGENTS
Year: 1861

page_text: APPLICATION OF ELECTRICITY IN REFINING CAST IRON, FOR THE PURPOSE OF
CONVERTING IT INTO WROUGHT IRON OR STEEL, WITH OR WITHOUT THE ADDITION
OF OTHER AGENTS."-A communication from abroad by Francois Alphonse
Adeodat Dufournel, of 29, Boulevart St. Martin, Paris, Ironmaster.
Sealed the 25th April 1862, and dated the 13th November 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
left by the said William Clark at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 13th
November 1861.
I, WILLIAM CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer & Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "THE APPLICATION OF ELECTRICITY IN REFINING CAST IRON. FOR THE PURPOSE
OF CONVERTING IT INTO WROUGHT IRON OR STEEL, WITH OR WITHOUT THE ADDITION
OF OTHER AGENTS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to an improved method of refining cast iron for con-
verting it into wrought iron or steel, which process consists in the application
of electricity by means of a pile or other electrical apparatus to the metal in a
state of fusion, combined with substances capable of powerfully acting on the
bodies constituting the principal impurities of the iron, for the purpose of
Price S1

page_text: extracting them therefrom. I may employ in this manner as re-agents, either
solid or fluid, gaseous or non-gaseous bodies in a state of vapour, by causing
gas or vapours to penetrate into the metal in fusion, either by means of a tube
conducting them separately thereinto, or by employing a tube which answers
the double purpose of conveying both said gases or vapours and the electricity
at the same time.
The electricity may be employed for refining iron as manufactured in the
ordinary apparatus, by applying it at a given moment while the iron is in a
state of fustion. The Invention may also be applied for refining other metals
besides iron.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 13th.
May 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL. COME, I, . WILLIAM
CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer and
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Clark, Her special licence that I, the said William
Clark my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William Clark, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "THE
APPLICATION OF ELECTRICITY IN REFINING CAST IRON, FOR THE PURPOSE OF CON-
VERTING IT INTO WROUGHT IRON OR STEEL, WITH OR WITHOUT THE ADDITION OF
OTHER AGENTS," a com" from abroad by Francois Alphonse Adeodat Dufournel,
of 29, Boulevart St. Martin, Paris, Ironmaster, upon the condition, (amongst
others) that I, the said William Clark, my executors or. administrators, by
an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands 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

page_text: 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 William Clark, 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, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
In some cases, as in chemistry, when certain bodies are brought in presence
of each other, and their temperature is but slightly elevated, no change will
result from the juxtaposition, but if. on the contrary, the temperature be
raised to any extent, the bodies will become decomposed, or combine with
more or less rapidity, while, by the intervention of electricity in the majority of
instances, these results will be produced instantaneously, thence arises the
question, why has not electricity been employed in metalurgical operations for
producing certain reactions. Take, for example, cast iron in a fusible state,
in it will be found all the conditions suitable for the employment of electricity,
thus. there is the principal element, iron, which possesses great power of con-
duction, next the charcoal raised to white heat, and, consequently, having very
considerable conducting power, lastly, there is the raw metal in a fluid
state, in which its molecular mobility is as great as possible. It is only neces-
sary to submit this bath to the action of a pile, when the refining process may
be quickly effected, especially if at the same time a reactive agent be employed
capable of removing the carbon, silicium, and other substances which injure
the quality of the iron.
Having thus stated the object of the Invention, I will add that the process
may be applied either to a bath of cast iron contained in a crucible heated to
a certain degree throughout the operation from the exterior, or to a bath of
cast iron in a cupola, blast, or reverberatory furnace, or in other similar appa-
ratus, the heat of which may be maintained at a given point for an hour or
more: or, lastly, in a bath of cast iron contained in a melter's ladle, the heat
of which while diminishing rapidly by radiation and contact with the heated
air, may be still maintained for at least a quarter of an hour at a sufficient
degree of heat for the metal to remain in a fluid state. The most economical
reactive I employ, consists of a mixture of lime, ferruginous clay, and natural
oxides, especially those of iron, manganese, or lead. With these agents 1
make a paste, with which I coat a plate of sheet iron which is filled with holes.
I place this plate in communication, by means of a metal wire of sufficient
size, the pile, and plunge it into the bath of cast iron, and by means of another
metal wire I place the bath in communication with the other pole of the pile,

page_text: The molecular mobility of the elements thus placed in the presence of each
other in the bath would not be sufficient for producing the reaction with the
necessary rapidity, except by the aid of electricity. The oxygen of the natural
oxides employed as the reactives or re-agents, serves to remove the carbon and
silicium, while the silica of the ferruginous clay also acts to a certain degree
on the phosphorous, the lime or the alumina react on the silica disengaged,
and converts it into a fusible silicate which floats on the surface. The fore-
going re-agents are only mentioned as examples, as other agents may be
employed for producing fresh reactions.
In certain cases the action of the pile alone is sufficient, without the aid of
any other agent. The power of the pile is well known in the decomposition of
certain bodies. I thus reserve to myself the right of applying electricity, with
or without the addition of other agents whatever may be their nature. The
metal wires serving as conductors between the bath of metal and the pile
should be of sufficient length and flexibility, to be easily immersed and with-
drawn from the bath. I may also employ as reactions gaseous or non-gaseous
bodies in a state of vapour, in which case the operation will be effected as
followsa, f, in the annexed Drawing, represents a conducting tube for the
gas or other vapour, this tube communicates at its upper part with a generator
or gas reservoir, its lower part dipping into the bath of metal infusion. The
pressure of the vapour should be sufficient to overcome the pressure due to the
depth of the bath of metal.
serves, when using a
If a gas is employed, it should also be maintained at a suitable pressure in
a reservoir sufficient to overcome the resistance of the metal. The glass
tubes c, b, serves as an insulator; g, h, is a wire for conveying the electricity
from one of the piles or for other electrical apparatus. It is connected at g by
means of hooks with the tube for conducting the vapour or gas, thus f. e, c, b, a,
is a tube for conducting the vapour or gas; f, e, g, h, the electrical conductor;
the part f, e, g, may thus be considered as answering the double purpose of
conducting both the vapour and electricity. The cock
body in a state of vapour for emptying previous to the operation such quantity
as may have become condensed on the portion a, c, of the tube. The tube a, f,
should be of sufficient length and flexibility to be easily handled, and capable
of being plunged by its extremity f into the bath of metal and to be again
withdrawn therefrom. Supposing steam to be employed as a re-agent, the
condensed water is discharged by the cock d, which is then closed; the con-
ductor g, h, is connected at g, and the extremity of the tube plunged into the
bath, and the cock opened. The steam then enters the bath, where it will
possess all the conditions required for its decomposition. This is effected by

page_text: employing an ordinary electric apparatus but much more effectually by using
a pile, and if at same time that the pole of said pile plunges into the bath
the other pole be introduced therein. so as to bring the two together, the one
opposite the other. In this manner the elements of the water will be found in
a nascent state in the presence of the impure metal. The same effect. will be
produced with any other re-agent, cither of a gaseous nature or reduced to a
gaseous state, as it is in a nascent state that their elements are attracted to-
wards the poles. If the bath of metal in fusion is contained in a crucible as
first herein mentioned, similar to those used in the manufacture of cast steel
the furnace is opened in order to plunge the poles into the bath, and when
the operation is terminated. the crucible is removed, and the metal then run
off.
If the bath consists of a cupola, blast, or reverberatory furnace, the com
munication with the pile is effected in the first case, by means of the tuyers
of the copula, the nozzles being removed through the front crucible of blast
furnaces and by the doors of reverberatory furnaces. When the operation is
completed the metal should be ruu off quickly.
Lastly, if the bath is contained in a melter's ladle instead of being run off.
it may be left to cool, and the metal afterwards shaken out in mass. I should
here mention that in order to clean out the ladle, the mixture of earth and
oxide above-mentioned may be employed as a reagent. In this case one of the
poles of the pile may be placed in communication with the ladle itself, and the
other pole with the pile.
In all cases the operation may be suspended at a certain point of its progress
and thus produce steel. Atmospheric air and all other mixtures containing a
large proportion of oxygen form inferior agents for refining iron; if pure oxygen
were employed for the purpose, instead of obtaining iron the entire quantity of
metal would be converted into oxide. This is only partially the case when
employing atmospheric air, as the enormous proportion of azote therein con-
tained weakens the reaction, and protects the iron against the too energetic
action of the oxygen. Instead of oxygen or oxygenized gases, I prefer to
employ hydrogen, ammoniacal or other hydrogenized gases or vapours, as also
all the gases or vapour capable themselves of combining with the carbon, - silica.
sulphur, or phosphorous, or other bodies,constituting the impurities of crude
iron as usual as with the iron itself, provided that those combinations shall
not produce a diminished temperature, and that if these gases or vapours are
not capable by the aid of heat alone to realize said combinations, they
may be developed by the aid of electricity.
The essential peculiarities which distinguishes this improved process from

page_text: all others for refining iron, consists in the application of electricity to the cast
iron in a state of fusion. The principles I have fixed very clearly, as also the
means of execution which are simple and easy.
I also reserve to myself the right of applying electricity to all other refining
processes as ordinarily practised.
Another distinguishing feature of the Invention, is the introduction into
the mass of metal in fusion, by means of a tube plunging into the bath of
metal, of gas or vapours produced by heat or chemical re-agents, and raised
by means of heat applied to their generators or reservoirs to a sufficient
pressure to overcome the pressure due to the depth of the bath of metal in
fusion.
I also reserve the right of applying the following process: It is not only by
dipping the tubes for converging the electrified gases into the bath of metal in
fusion, that I intend applying these agents in the refining of crude iron as I
may also apply them by means of tubes, which are not brought in contact with
the metal. but which discharge the gases or vapours in the form of jets over its
surface in refiners, forges, puddling and other furnaces, in all or any of the
operations, or which may be discharged on the metal in fusion, while flowing in
the form of jets or sheets.
I may also add that. I reserve the right of applying in a single operation all
the principal reactions in metallurgical operations including the refining process
by discharging jets of gas or electrified vapours in blast furnaces, cupolas, or
other similar apparatus by means of any suitable number of tuyers placed
above or below the ordinary inyers, or by means of the latter themselves for
projecting these electrified gases or vapours on the metal in a nascent state
that is to say, at the moment when it is presented in the form of small
drops, and disengages itself from any veinstones it may contain.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Clark, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Tenth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.