Improvements in Obtaining Alloys of Aluminium with other Metals.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 10th Aug., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 5th May, 1890-Accepted, 7th June, 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Obtaining Alloys of Aluminium with other
Metals.
JOHN CLARK of 80 Great Brook Street, in the City of Birmingham, County of
Warwick, Metallurgist do hereby declare the nature of this invention to bo as
follows:-
-
The object of my invention is to operate upon any silicate of alumina with certain
reagents in such a manner that when the said prepared silicate of alumina is mixed
with the metal or metals intended to be alloyed with aluminium and is melted thero-
with, the intended alloy of aluminium with such metal or metals is produced; or, if
the prepared silicate of alumina is brought into contact in any convenient manner
with such metal or metals while in a melted or plastic condition, the intended alloy
with aluminium is thereby produced in a similar manner.
In carrying my invention into practice I shall describe the process as applied to
silicate of alumina contained in such waste materials as ordinary old building bricks,
burnt clay, furnace ashes, and waste of slate yards, whereby the most economical
results are obtained; but, at the same time other materials containing silicate of
alumina may be used in a similar manner and for the same purpose I take the waste
materials above referred to and grind them to a fine powder and mix them with
ground quick lime, fluor-spar, and salt. The whole is then intimately mixed together.
I then add sufficient water or strong brine and knead the said materials into a stiff
paste. I then press the said paste into balls or form it into bricks and dry them in an
oven or heated chamber till hard and dry. Although the lime tonds to facilitate the
forming of the said paste into hard balls or bricks when dried as described I also, if
required, add ground air-dried bricks or dry brick earth, which, from its plastic
property when moistened with water assists to form such waste materials into the said
balls or bricks.
I then take the said dry balls or bricks and lay them in a hot furnace with alternate
layers of coke or other fuel, such furnace having open fire-bars beneath. In a short
time the said balls or bricks melt into a slag and drop down into an iron tray placed
to receive it, or into a settling tank containing water, wherein any coke or cinders
which fall from said furnace along with the slag are separated by floating on the
water in the tank, while the slag sinks to the bottom. The slag is then collected,
dried and ground to powder, and mixed with the metal or metals intended to be
alloyed with aluminium and charged into any suitable furnace or pot for the mani-
pulation of such metal or metals. For example in alloying aluminium with copper,
steel, or other metal usually melted in pots in a furnace, I prefer to granulate such
copper, steel, or other metal and mix it with the ground slag prepared as above, with
or without the addition of fluor-spar, and by melting such copper, steel, or other
metal in such pots an alloy of aluminium with such motal is produced in the act of
melting the same.
In the manufacture of iron or steel when they are molted in a blast furnace, cupola,
or reverberatory furnace, I may either incorporate the materials above described while
in the state of a stiff paste with the usual lining of such furnace, or with the usual
lining of any vessel or receptacle for holding such metal while in the molten state;
as for example in the process of conveying the molten steel from the Bessemer or
other converter to fill the ingoi moulds or other castings. The ground slag as above
described may also, be introduced along with the air-blast, or otherwise, into such
blast furnace, cupola, or into the Bessemer or other converter in any suitable manner;
or, such prepared slag, with or without grinding, or the materials from which such
slag is made, may be introduced into such furnace, cupola, or reverberatory furnace

page_text: in alternate layers with the fuel and be melted at same time as the metal or metals
intended to be alloyed with aluminium is melted, so that such metal or metals are
alloyed with aluminium from its contact with the prepared slag or the materials
forming such slag.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Obtaining Alloys of Aluminium with other
Metals.
I, JOHN CLARK 80 Great Brook Street Birmingham Metallurgist do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
The object of my invention is to operate upon any silicate of alumina with certain
reagents in such a manner, that when the said prepared silicate of alumina is mixed
with the metal or metals intended to be alloyed with aluminium and is melted there-
with, an alloy of aluminium with such metal or metals is produced; or, if the
prepared silicate of alumina is brought into contact, in any convenient manner, with
such metal or metals in a melted or plastic condition, the intended alloy with
aluminium is thereby produced in a similar manner.
In carrying my invention into practice, I shall describe the process as applied to
any silicate of alumina, but more particularly as it is found in the various kinds of
common clay, either in its natural state, air-dried, or burnt, and further, the process
herein described enables me to use such waste materials, containing silicate of alumina
as ordinary old building bricks, or materials of a like kind, furnace ashes, furnace
slags containing alumina, the waste of slate quarries, and shale, and by using such
waste materials, in the manner described, new and more economical results are
obtained in producing such alloys, than heretofore; but at the same time, more
expensive materials such as bauxite and cryolite, may be used in a similar manner, and
for the same purpose.
I take of the common or waste materials above referred to either separately or
mixed in any desired proportion, about 112 pounds, then mix thom with about
56 pounds of freshly burnt quick-lime, about 12 pounds of flour-spar (for flux) and
about 12 pounds of carbon, or carbonaceous matter (with or without the addition of
salt). The relative quantities of these ingredients may however be varied, according
to the purity of the materials used, or the richness of the alloy intended to be
produced. The whole is then intimately mixed and ground into a fine powder in any
suitable mill or otherwise. I then add to the mixture sufficient water or strong brine
to form the whole into a stiff paste and by which the quick lime is converted into a
hydrate of lime, the formation of such hydrate of lime being an essential part of my
process, as hereinafter described, or, the quicklime may be converted into a hydrate
by mixing it with water in the ordinary manner, before it is mixed with the other
materials described. I then knead the said materials into a stiff pasto, and form the
said paste into balls or lumps of convenient size, and dry them in a suitably heated
oven or chamber till hard and dry. I also if required, add ground air-dried bricks
or dried brick earth, to the materials forming the said balls, which, from its plastic
property when moistened with water, assists the formation of the said waste materials
into the said balls or lumps. For the carbon or carbonaceous materials above
mentioned, I prefer to use wet saw-dust, in conjunction with the water or strong
brine, for converting the quick-lime into a bydrate, and the heat generated when such
hydrate is formed, chars the saw-dust, which is thus better adapted for the after stage
of my process. I then take the said dried balls or lumps and lay them in a hot furnace,
such as a brass-founders for example, along with coke or other fuel, such furnace
having open fire bars beneath. In a short time the incandescent coke or other fuel
balls or lumps into a fusible slag, which then drops
of such furnace, melts the said

page_text: through the fire bars, into an iron tray or other suitable receptacle placed underneath
to receive it. The said slag is then collected and ground to a fine powder, with or
without the addition of flour-spar or other fluxing agent, and is then mixed in any
proportion required with the inetal or metals, which I prefer to be in small pieces,
intended to be alloyed with aluminium, and is then charged into any suitable furnace
or into pots for melting metals, and by melting such metal or metals along with the
said prepared slag, the intended alloy of such metal or metals with aluminium is
produced. In another part of my process, and which is more particularly applicable
to alloys of aluminium with iron, steel, or other metals when they are melted in larger
quantities in a blast-furnace, cupola, reverberatory or other furnace, without using
pots as described, I take the same materials previously described and mix them in any
proportion required, with the iron steel or other metals, (in small pieces) before
kneading the said materials into a stiff paste, or forming them into the dried balls or
lumps above described, such balls or lumps being then a compound of the materials
described, and the iron, steel, or other metal intended to be alloyed with aluminium.
Such compound balls or lumps are then charged into the said blast-furnace, cupola,
reverberatory or other furnace, together with coke or other fuel, and are melted
therein in the ordinary manner. The iron steel or other metal in the act of melting,
is alloyed with aluminium, reduced from the said materials, forming such balls or
lumps. The melted metal or metals and the balls or lumps, which melt into a fusible
slag, as previously described, drop through the incandescent coke or other fuel on to
the hearth of such blast-furnace or cupola, and are tapped therefrom in the ordinary
manner.
In the case of a reverberatory furnace the said compound balls or lumps are
melted on the bed of such furnace, and the resulting alloy of aluminium and
residual slag is removed in the usual manner of working such furnace, or, in a similar
manner the materials of which the said compound balls or lumps are composed,
may be spread over the bed of such furnace as a powder without being made up
into balls or lumps, and when melted thereon, an alloy of aluminium will be formed
with the metal or metals mixed in such powder and the same may be removed as
above described. The materials hereinbefore specified, when kneaded into a stiff
paste, may also be incorporated or mixed with the ore from which such iron or
other metal is reduced, and then formed into balls or lumps, so that in the act
of reducing such ore in the blast-furnace, or otherwise, an alloy of aluminium with
the iron or other metal is produced at the same time as the ore of such metal is
reduced. Also the ground slag, or the materials from which such slag is made, as
before described, may be introduced along with the air-blast or otherwise, into any
blast-furnace or cupola, or into the Bessemer or other converter, in any suitable
manner, and an alloy of aluminium with the metal or metals under treatment is
formed thereby.
I am aware that carbon and carbonaceous materials (with or without the addition
of salt) have been used for reducing alumina and the silicate of alumina, to
obtain alloys of aluminium with other metals, and I do not therefore use, nor made
any claim to such method or process per se but I use as a specific part of my reducing
agent the hydrate of lime upon which the carbon or carbonaceous materials act, in the
manner about to be described, instead of acting upon the alumina or silicate of
alumina as hitherto. The novel reaction is as follows; it has been ascertained that
the hydrate of lime (Ca O, H, O) gives up its molecule of combined water (H2O) only
at a high temperature or red heat, and by mixing it with carbon or carbonaceous
matter, and submitting the inixture to the intense heat of a furnace, the molecule of
water combined with the hydrate of lime is first dissociated and is then decomposed,
the carbon uniting with the oxygen and liberating hydrogen in the nascent state.
When silicate of alumina is present as in the mixture of materials in this invention,
as soon as the hydrate of lime loses its combined water, it is converted into quick-
lime, which being a powerful base, unites with the silica to form a fusible slag,
and at the same time displaces the alumina in the nascent state, so that the nascent
hydrogen already referred to, unites more energetically with the oxygen of the

page_text: alumina and so reduces it. The pressure and influence of the melting metal or metals
to form an alloy with the reduced aluminium, also assists in the reduction and reaction
described. Although for general use I include carbon or carbonaceous matter in the
mixture of the materials described to form the said balls or lumps, it will be under-
stood from the above description of the reaction, that when the said balls or lumps
are melted in a blast-furnace, cupola or other furnace, wherein the said balls or
lumps are mixed with the incandescent. coke or other fuel, in such furnace the
carbon of such coke or other fuel supplies the necessary quantity of carbon for
effecting the decomposition of the H, O or water of the hydrate of lime, without
specially mixing carbon, or carbonaceous materials in the said balls or lumps, for the
same purpose as stated. I also introduce steam (H, 0), in any convenient manner,
into the said furnaces, when required which is also decomposed by the incandescent
coke or other fuel, and acts along with, and assists the reduction caused by the hydrate
of lime in the manner described.
For the purpose of my invention 1. use any kind of quick-lime, known in commorce,
such for example as hydraulic lime, ground lime, cement, and that produced from
magnesian lime stone called dolomite, all of which possess, in a greater or less
degree, the characteristic property of forming a hydrate, in the manner, and for the
purpose herein described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, 1 declare that what I
claim is
(1) The process of obtaining alloys of aluminium with other metal or metals,
which consists in mixing any silicate of alumina, especially the common or wasto
materials, herein before specified, or the flouride, as cryolite, with quick-lime, carbon
or carbonaceous matter, and flour-spar, with or without the addition of salt, then
grinding the whole to a fine powder, then mixing it with sufficient water or strong brine,
to knead the inass into the consistency of a stiff paste, and by which also the quick-
lime is converted into a hydrate of lime, which hydrate of lime effects. an important.
reaction in the process; then forming the said stiff paste into balls or lumps then
drying them till hard in a suitably heated oven or chamber, then laying them in a hot
furnace with incandescent coke, or other fuel, and therein melting them to a fusible
slag, then grinding such slag to a fine powder, and finally, mixing such powder with
the metal or metals, preferably in small pieces-intended to form an alloy with.
aluminium, and melting such metal or metals in ordinary melting pots, or in suitable
furnaces, whereby an alloy of such metal or metals with aluminium is obtained, sub-
stantially as herein specified, and for the purposé set forth.
(2) The process of obtaining alloys of aluminium with other metal or metals,
which consists in the employment of the same materials as described in Claim 1st,
but mixing the metal or metals, at an earlier stage of such process viz., along with
the materials forming the stiff paste described, and incorporating such metal or
metals with the paste, of which the said balls or lumps are made up, then melting
such balls or lumps, and the pieces of metal or metals contained in them, simul-
taneously, in blast-furnaces, cupolas reverberatory or other furnaces, or otherwise, by
mixing the metal or metals along with the same materials as described in Claim 1st,
while in a state of powder, without forming the same into balls or lumps, and then
melting the powder and metal or metals together in pots, or in furnaces whereby an
alloy of aluminium with such metal or metals is obtained, substantially as herein
specified and for the purpose set forth.
(3) The process of obtaining alloys of aluminium with other metal or metals
which consists in employing the same materials as described in Claim 1st, but mixing
the ore of the metal or metals along with the stiff paste, then forming the compound
of ore and paste into balls or lumps as described and in melting such balls or lumps the
metal or metals contained in the said ore is reduced to the metallic state, and is
thereby simultaneously alloyed with the aluminium as it is reduced, which parts of my
process may be carried on in the usual method of reducing such ores in blast-furnaces,

page_text: cupolas reverberatory, or other furnaces, substantially as specified and for the purpose
set forth.
(4) In a process for obtaining alloys of aluminium with other metal or metals, the
employment of hydrate of lime, (with or without steam)-acting in conjunction
with carbon or carbonaceous matter, as a reducing agent for alumina or the silicate
of alumina, which carbon may either constitute a specific part in the preparation or
composition of the stiff paste, balls or lumps herein described; or otherwise, the
necessary amount of carbon for the reaction described, may be obtained from the
incandescent coke or other fuel used in the furnaces employed in the process, such
carbon decomposing the water or H, O of the hydrate of lime, with or without stoam,
substantially as specified and for the purpose set forth herein.
(5) In a process for obtaining alloys of aluminium with other metal or metals, the
employment of such common or waste materials as old building bricks, or materials of
a like kind, burnt clay, furnace ashes, furnace slags containing alumina, the waste of
slate yards or quarries, and shale, since by the use of such inexpensive materials, new
and more economical results are obtained than heretofore, substantially as herein
described and for the purpose set forth.
Dated this 5th day of May 1890.