IMPROVEMENTS IN SMELTING-FURNACES AND IN THE MANU- FACTURE OF CARBONIC OXIDE FOR HEATING THE SAME AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Herbert John Haddan of Kensington, Middlesex for an
invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN SMELTING-FURNACES AND IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF CARBONIC OXIDE FOR HEATING THE SAME AND FOR OTHER
PURPOSES A communication from abroad by Louis de Soulages, of Paris,
France
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Herbert John Haddan at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 2nd May 1882.
HERBERT JOHN HADDAN, of Kensington, Middlesex, "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SMELTING-FURNACES AND IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CARBONIC OXIDE FOR HEATING
THE SAME AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES," a communication from abroad by Louis de
Soulages, of Paris, France,
This invention relates first to the manufacture of carbonic oxide, and second to
its application for smelting ores. The apparatus for the manufacture of carbonic
oxide consists chiefly of a furnace containing four small retorts and two large ones,
each retort having the shape of a vertical cylinder divided into two compartments
by a horizontal partition. The two large retorts serve for the decomposition of
carbonates, while the small retorts transform the carbonic acid admitted from the
smelting furnace into carbonic oxide. The upper compartments contain the incan-
descent charcoal, while the lower compartments of the large retorts contain a
mixture of coal and carbonates and those of the smaller retorts the carbonic acid
coming from the smelting furnace. The retorts are provided with hoppers for
charging them; with outlets for discharging lime and the excess of charcoal; and
outlets for the escape of the vapors and gases formed in the retorts. A large tank
is placed over the furnace, partly filled with water and receives the gases and
vapors from the retorts, after having passed through hydraulic valves.
number of hydraulic valves placed over the tank is equal to half the number of
retorts. An exhauster is used for extracting the gases from the water tank, after
having left in it nearly their whole contents of water, and forcing them into a
gasholder. The latter consists of a tank of masonry and a cylindrical vessel of
sheet iron, having at its lower part an annular air-chamber which is hermetically
The

page_text: closed, and serves to keep the weight of the vessel and accessories in equilibrium.
The inlet and outlet pipes are curved so as to form syphon tubes, the outer part of
which dip in cylinders filled with water for preventing any escape of gas. The
smelting furnace to be heated by carbonic oxide is, as regards its shape, a com-
bination of a reverberatory with a blast furnace. The fusion of the ore is effected on
the sole of the hearth by the combination of the carbonic oxide with the oxygen of
the ore at a temperature depending on the nature of the ore. The furnace is
formed by a closed casing of strong sheet metal, extending upward at one end in
the shape of a chimney and provided at the other end with an aperture for the
admission of gas and air. This casing is internally lined with refractory bricks,
and the sole of the hearth with a mixture of clay, refractory sand, graphite, and
asbestos. The shaft of the casing which may be about 5-2 metres high, is
surmounted by a distributing cylinder serving to discharge predetermined quantities
of ore-dust into the furnace. The sole of the hearth forms two inclined planes
converging towards a central depression, where the metal accumulates before
passing into the melting pan. The admission of air and carbonic oxide into the
blast pipes in the front of the furnace may be regulated by valves. The gases
escaping from the shaft of the furnace are led through a hydraulic valve and pass
to a bifurcated chimney, one branch of which serves to discharge the gases of
combustion formed while lighting the furnace, while the other leads the carbonic
acid formed during the melting of the ores, to the carbonic oxide generator, the
first branch being closed while the furnace is in full operation. The hydraulic
valve is formed by a sheet iron tank partly filled with water, into which dips a
cylindrical casing open at the bottom and having a vertical partition. By raising
or lowering the cylindrical casing, the space allowed for the passage of the gas
from the inlet to the outlet pipe is increased or diminished and thereby the velocity
of the gas altered. As the pressure of gas in the furnace depends on the speed of
its escape, the pressure may thus be regulated at will.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Herbert John Haddan in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
2nd November 1882.
HERBERT JOHN HADDAN, of Kensington, Middlesex, "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SMELTING-FURNACES AND IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CARBONIC OXIDE FOR HEATING
THE SAME AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES," a communication from abroad by Louis de
Soulages, of Paris, France,
The apparatus for producing carbonic oxide consists of the following principal
parts:
1. A double furnace constructed of brickwork and fire proof bricks, having a
special form, and containing two retorts for the reduction of carbonates, (see
Figs. 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings) besides four other retorts for the
conversion of carbonic acid gas, generated in the smelting furnace, into carbonic
oxide gas.
These retorts are cylindrical in shape, are 3 metres high inside the walls, and
measure 0.90 metres in diameter as to the retorts for the carbonates, and 0.70 metres
in diameter as to the four retorts for the conversion of the carbonic acid gas (see
Fig 2 Nos. 3, 4, 5 and 6).
They are made of cast iron and studded with knobs of same material cast on,
the intervening spaces between said knobs being filled in with fire proof cement.
They are divided transversely into two unequal compartments. The upper com-
partments contain glowing coal in quantity sufficient for the conversion of carbonic
acid gas into carbonic oxide gas; (see A. A. fig 1) while the lower compartments
(see B B fig 1) hold, as to those of the retorts for the carbonates, the needful
supply of carbonates and coal mixed together to produce the carbonic acid gas,
while the retorts destined for the decomposition of carbonic acid gas, receive the
carbonic acid gas as it comes from the smelting furnace.
All these retorts are provided with hoppers for the proper feeding of the com-
partments; with pipes to remove the lime as it forms, and to take away any
coal put in, in excess; and with pipes to carry off steam and gases when required.
The single furnace containing the six retorts is divided into two independent
furnaces; one for the retorts containing the carbonates, and the other for the
retorts which receive the carbonic acid gas from the smelting furnace.
2. A tank of large dimension, placed over the retorts and filled two thirds with
water; into which tank penetrate, through the medium of hydraulic valves, the
steam and the gases rising from the retorts, and in which also the major portion
of the steam proper is condensed.
3. This tank is fitted with as many double hydraulic valves, as there are pairs
of retorts in the furnace. These valves are small gas-holders of special form, and
serve the purpose of intercepting if need be, the cominunication between the retorts
and the tank. When opened, they receive the steam and the gases coming from
the retorts, sending them into the tank; when closed, while the retorts are being
charged or cleared out, these valves prevent the intrusion of air into the interior.
4. An extractor of any required power, to draw the gas-off from the tank and
force it into the gas-holder under the action of a pressure that shall be in excess of
the amount which the gas-holder will require to drive this same gas into the
smelting furnace,
5. A gas-holder of a new design, and which I have designated by the name of
compensation gas-holder, having a cubic capacity of 300 metres, will suffice for the
stowage of such a store of gas as will be needed for the smelting down of 20 tons
of iron within a period of 24 hours; a ratio of yield at which the furnace can be
worked most profitably.

page_text: The charge of the retorts for the carbonates is executed in the following manner.
The first charge for each retort should consist of 1000 kilos of carbonate of lime
(or other suitable carbonate) broken into pieces of from 3 to centimetres diameter,
and of 300 kilos of small coal, well mixed together and fed into the lower compart-
ment by means of the hopper I; while the hopper H is made to deliver 151 154
kilos of charcoal into the upper compartment.
Out of this supply of 151 154 kilos which is the needful quantity to secure the
requisite contact surface for the conversion of carbonic acid gas into carbonic oxide
gas, the carbonic acid gas, in order to transform itself into carbonic oxide gas, will
abstract only 53-697 kilos of carbon.
Three hours after the first charge has been fed in, when the furnace will have
heated up to about 800°. (this time will never be required for the reduction of the
carbonates) let the lime formed be withdrawn, by means of an excess opening
through the neck at the bottom of the lower compartment, as also any excess of
coal which may exist in the upper compartment.
Let the carbonate retorts be filled once again, if necessary, that is to say, if the
furnaces have not yet commenced giving off carbonic acid gas.
As soon as operation has proceeded so far that the furnace gives off carbonic
acid gas, the working of the retorts which reduce the carbonates should be stopped,
and the carbonic acid-gas issuing from the smelting furnace should be directed, as
fast as it is being supplied, into the lower compartments of the four retorts devoted
to its conversion into carbonic oxide gas.
The carbonic acid gas, in its passage through the glowing coal that fills the upper
compartments, takes up an equivalent of carbon (CO + C 2 CO) and thus yields
two equivalents of carbonic oxide gas. Thence the carbonic oxide gas, passing
through the hydraulic valve and the tank, finds its way into the extractor which,
after having drawn it in, forces it into the gasholder.
The temperature of the retorts will be kept up to from 800° to 1000° by means
of the requisite amount of gas, which will burn in the fire tubes by means of the
outer air penetrating into said tubes through their lower parts.
Once the smelting furnace has started yielding carbonic acid gas, as already stated
the decomposition of said acid will continue, and so will the continuous supply of
carbonic oxide gas, while the ore will be smelted at the cost merely of the coal
absorbed in the conversion of carbonic acid gas into carbonic oxide gas.
The quantity of gas required for a continuous operation of 24 hours in the
4 retorts devoted to the conversion of carbonic acid gas into carbonic oxide gas,
may be estimated at 6000 kilos of gas.
The apparatus for smelting the ore is composed of the following parts :--
1. The Smelting Furnace

page_text: hearth in furnaces of special form, partaking of the character of a reverberating
furnace and of a blast furnace, by the agency of carbonic oxide gas which is burnt
either by the metalloid itself or by the oxide of the ore at such a temperature as
the particular description of ore operated upon may demand.
This furnace is constructed of strong metal plates forming a frame or box
completely shut, and prolonged into a chimney at one of its extremities. At the
opposite extremity there is an opening into which are fitted the tuyères for the
supply of air and gas. This frame is lined internally with fire bricks L L (see
accompanying drawings Figs. 4-6) while the bearth K is faced with a mixture of
fire clay and sand together with grit or graphite amalgamated with a small quantity
of asbestos, the whole being well rammed down into hardness.
The following dimensions for this furnace have been found most suitable.
Internally 0-50 metres wide; 0.40 metres high under the arched roof; and
1 metre 80 centimetres from its front as far as the centre of its bend at the points
where the gas is introduced, beyond the bend it rises upward to a height of
5.20 metres, keeping to the same dimensions, and forming a chimney.
At this altitude it terminates in a distributing apparatus (colander) which
serves the purpose of feeding into the furnace the powdered ore in a continuous
and properly regulated downpour.
The hearth K, is formed by two slopes inclining towards a depression B, where
the molten mass collects hefore its discharge from the furnace. The furnace is
fitted in front with a tuyère pipe of the same diameter as the furnace and divided
into 3 compartments. The compartments D D communicate with the air pipes,
while the Ċ compartment communicates with the pipe that supplies the carbonic
oxide gas.
Graduated keys or taps are fitted on these pipes, wherewith to regulate the
admission of air and gas.
This tuyère is 0.50 metres in width, and has a hole of 0.015 metres, giving a
section of 75 square centimetres, but in certain cases its mouth is 0.02 metres
giving a section of 0.1 metre.
At the upper portion of the furnace 0.40 metres below the distributing colander E,
there is the escape pipe for the gases of combustion F, and this is 0.50 metres
in diameter with a section of 0.1962 square metres. This pipe after making a
bend, runs through the trough or box of a hydraulic valve at G, when the gases
pass up beneath the bell H of said valve, and are then taken up by the second
pipe F, which is continued upwards to form the chimney at J. The chimney may
be bifurcated at the bottom into two pipes fitted with valves, one of which serves
to carry off the gases of combustion produced by the firing, and the other the
carbonic acid gas generated by the smelting of the ore. The first named branch
pipe will open only when the firing is put in, while the second branch pipe will
open up as soon as the first closes. The smelting furnace is hooped externally
with iron rods XX which prevent any possible motion and bind together the
various parts that compose the structure.
2. The hydraulic valve.
This valve consists of a metal tank G, being two thirds filled with water. It is
0.70 metres in width, 3.20 metres in length, and 2.30 metres in height. A bell H
dips into the tank, which bell is 150 metres wide, 3 metres long and 2.25 metres
deep. It is divided into two separate and equal compartments by means of a
metal partition I, which measures 0.75 metres in length. By raising or lowering
this bell, the space may be increased or lessened through which the gases on their
way from the pipe F on one side to the pipe F on the other side, have to pass; so
that the rate at which the gases escape may be augmented or diminished, and the
strain inside the furnace can be adjusted as required.
3. To these two apparatus there are joined a small gas-holder to act as a
regulator and also a ventilator, the only use for which is to facilitate matters when.

page_text: firing the furnace. Besides these, there is also the requisite number of pipes and
taps throughout.
The smelting. This operation comprises :-
1. The firing of the furnace (taking as an example for purposes of calculation,
the case of ironstone) and heating up to 1500° of temperature.
2. The melting of the metal contained in the ore by converting carbonic oxide
gas into carbonic acid gas by the absorption of the oxygen of the ore.
The heating of the furnace, under the circumstances previously detailed, may
easily bring it up to a temperature of 1500°. For this purpose we require 858-762
equivalent parts of caloric, which is equal to 231 409 kilos or expressed in cubic
metres, to 198.975 cubic metres of carbonic oxide gas.
The air required for the combustion of this gas, at the rate of 5.826 kilos to
every kilo of gas, will amount to 1348.719 kilos, or in cubic metres 1042-681
cubic metres.
As each tuyère under a pressure of water equal to 0.017 metres can supply
150 cubic decimetres per second, the furnace can be blown in, within about an
hour's time from first commencing to heat.
As soon as the furnace is heated up to 1500°, let the distributing apparatus at
the top of the furnace be set in motion, so as to supply with perfect regularity
0.231 kilos of powdered ore per second, say 19992 kilos in 24 hours.
This powdered ore delayed in its descent down the throat of the furnace (5 metres
in height) by the pressure of the gases of combustion as these ascend, will take
113 seconds to run down the whole course of the 5 metres, an interval of time
more than sufficient to equalise the temperature, between the said very minute
particles and the gases of combustion, whose temperature varies from 1200°
to 1500°.
As a consequence of the descent, so retarded in the throat of the furnace, which
has a capacity of one cubic metre, the said throat will constantly be holding at any
given moment, a quantity of powdered ore equal to 26.147 kilos in weight. The
powdered ore will thus reach the hearth of the furnace at K, at a temperature of
from 1200° to 1500°, more than amply sufficient to promote the severance of the
oxygen from the iron.
To illustrate the operation of smelting, I will here suppose the case of a hydrated
brown iron ore, constituted as follows, viz.

page_text: brickwork. Y Y iron bars bearing hydraulic valves. Z water supply pipe for tank,
occasionally serving as an overflow.
Fig 3 is a vertical section of a compensation gasholder
A A bell or cylinder of gasholder. BB air chamber. CC lower gallery. D man
hole. E E pipes communicating with air chamber. FF iron frame work bearing
same. G G inlet and outlet pipes for the gases. H H pipes enclosed by pipes G G.
1 I hydraulic cylinders. J J iron rod guides for cylinder of gasholder. K K iron
brackets to hold the guide rods. L L wooden frame. M M taps for ingress and
egress of the gases. N N masonry.
Fig 4 is a vertical section of a smelting furnace along line E' F' of Fig 5. Fig 5
is a horizontal section along line B'C' of Fig 4, and Fig 6 a transverse section
along line A¹ B¹ of Fig 4.
of
ore.
AA interior of furnace. B depressed portion of hearth. C tuyère for the passage
gas. DD tuyères for the passage of air. E feed cylinder delivering the powdered
FF pipes for the escape of gases of combustion. G trough of hydraulic valve.
H bell of hydraulic valve. I partition dividing H into 2 compartments. J chimney,
serving as a vent for the gases. K lined hearth. L fire brick casing. M sand,
placed over hearth (furnace). m¹ mud tap for clearing the pipe F. N N masonry.
O melting pan. O arched roof of melting pan. P fire flue. R small chimney of
melting pan. S entrance of gas into fire flues. UU sheet metal casing. V V tapping
pipes. X X iron rods, binding the furnace. a a hood and accessories for closing
the chimney J. e e cylinder surrounding the top of the chimney J. bc water and
mercury space in cylinder e e.
Having now described this invention as communicated to me by my foreign
correspondent I would remark that the dimensions and shapes of various parts
described and shown in the drawings are those, found most suitable in practice,
but may be varied without departing from the nature of the present invention.
What I claim is:-
1. The direct fusion of ores on the hearth by the sole use of carbonic oxide as a
fuel, with the exclusion of atmospheric air and at the required pressures, the ores
having been previously pulverised and enriched by Soulages' mechanical process
described in the specification of a separate patent.
2. The application of pure carbonic oxide for heating furnaces, kilns, and domestic
stoves, and for driving gas-engines as a substitute for ordinary coal gas.
3. The special form and mode of action of the different apparatus described, such
as the furnace for the manufacture of carbonic oxide, compensating gas-holder and
ore-smelting furnace, substantially as described and illustrated by the drawings.
In witness whereof I the said Herbert John Haddan, have hereunto set my
hand and seal this twentieth day of October A.D. 1882.