IMPROVEMENTS IN REPAIRING OR RESTORING THE LOWER PARTS OF THE LININGS AND TUYERES OF CONVERTING VESSELS EMPLOYED FOR THE PRODUCTION OF MALLEABLE IBON AND STEEL, AND ALSO IN MAKING AND SETTING THE TUYERES, AND IN APPARATUS TO BE USED FOR THESE PURPOSES
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Bessemer, of Queen Street Place, Cannon
Street, in the City of London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN REPAIRING OR RESTORING THE LOWER PARTS OF THE LININGS AND TUYERES
OF CONVERTING VESSELS EMPLOYED FOR THE PRODUCTION OF MALLEABLE IBON
AND STEEL, AND ALSO IN MAKING AND SETTING THE TUYERES, AND IN
APPARATUS TO BE USED FOR THESE PURPOSES."
Sealed the 18th April 1871, and dated the 15th February 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Bessemer at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 15th February 1871.
I, HENRY BESSEMER, of Queen Street Place, Cannon Street, in the
City of London, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN REPAIRING OR RESTORING THE LOWER PARTS OF THE LININGS
AND TUYERES OF CONVERTING VESSELS EMPLOYED FOR THE PRODUCTION OF MALLEABLE
IRON AND STEEL, AND ALSO IN MAKING AND SETTING THE TUYERES, AND IN APPA-
RATUS TO BE USED FOR THESE PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
'
These improvements relate to the converting vessels employed for the
production of malleable iron or steel by what is now generally known
A

page_text: as the Bessemer process. In these converting vessels numerous streams
of air are forced upwards through fire-clay tuyercs of a nearly cylin-
drical form, the lower end being slightly tapered in order that they may
more firmly resist the pressure of air tending to drive them out of the
tuyere box. In the usual practice from five to twelve holes are made
in each tuyere, and from seven to twelve such tuyeres are placed in a
group clustered about the central part of the bottom of the vessel.
"
The mode most commonly practised of "setting" these tuyeres is to
fix their conical ends into a cast-iron tuyere box, from which the tuyeres
project to a distance of a foot or more, the box is then secured to the
lower part of the converting vessel into which the tuyeres project.
When this is done several pails full of "sherry (which is a kind of
thick batter made by mixing in water ground granite stone and a small
quantity of fire-clay) is poured into the converting vessel to fill the
space between and around the tuyeres up as high as their top ends, thus
forming a flat bottom or lining to the vessel through which the tuyere
holes open. This mode has the great disadvantage of requiring a long
time for the materials to become dry, throwing the whole apparatus
out of use until this is effected.
A mode of greatly diminishing this inconvenience was secured to me
by Letters Patent dated the fifth day of November one thousand eight
hundred and sixty-three, No. 2746. In the Specification of this Patent
I have shewn how the space around and between the tuyeres may be
filled in with ganister or other suitable material and be baked dry before
connecting the tuyere box or the plate in which the tuyeres are set with
the vessel so that only the small annular space left between the
truncated conical dried mass of materials around the tuyeres and the
lining of the vessel has to be filled to completely restore the lining and
bottom of the vessel to a workable condition. This space being filled
cither with the semi-fluid matter before referred to or preferably with
dry sand or other material put into the vessel through the mouth or
through a suitable opening in the side of the vessel made for that
purpose.
Now my present Invention consists in part of certain modifications of
this plan, and also in the construction and use of apparatus employed to
facilitate the setting of tuyeres in converting vessels while the vessels
are still in a highly heated state, and with such rapidity as to enable the
converting process to be resumed with but little delay.

page_text: When a set of tuyeres have become so much worn as to render a new
set necessary, the vessel is turned into a horizontal position, the tuyere
box or tuyere plate is then removed and the old tuyeres and the matter
occupying the space between them is also removed from the vessel as
rapidly as possible. The vessel is then turned upside down, that is, with
the tuyere end of the vessel upwards, and a workman then inserts a
jointed pipe (having a cap or curved end) into the mouth of the vessel.
A blast of air or steam issuing from the cap or curved end of this pipe
will blow out of the mouth of the vessel and an induced current of
heated air will issue with it, causing cold air to enter the large opening
formed by the removal of the tuyere box, otherwise the current of hot
air flowing upward from this opening would prevent the workmen from
having access to it. The next step is to lower down into the vessel
with a pulley, the frame and leg of an iron table, the leg of this table
has a jointed lever at its lower end which passes out through the mouth
of the converter, and is employed for adjusting and supporting the lower
end of the leg, the top of the table is fitted to this leg with a ball
joint so as to allow the top of the table to adjust itself to any small
inequalities in the form of the lining of the vessel. The top of the table
I prefer to make hexagonal with deep sockets formed on each side. I
also provide six cast-iron plates which are segments of a circle having
projecting parts fitting into the sockets before named. When the table
is placed in the vessel the segmental plates are added to its edges, thus
enlarging the flat top of the table to a size several inches in diameter
in excess of the diameter of the opening by which the table was intro-
duced. By means of the joint below the table is forced upwards
against the inverted bottom of the converter lining, thus closing the
rough broken aperture left after the removal of the old tuyeres. In
some cases I make the opening at the lower part of the vessel and the
tuyere box of an oval or more or less oblong form for the purpose of
introducing a table or plate of sufficient size without the employment of
the segmental pieces before named, the plate entering the opening
end-wise, and being then turned round in a manner similar to that in
which man-hole plates of steam boilers are inserted, and made to close
the opening. The workman will in either case next proceed to cool
that portion of the ganister lining which is accessible above the table,
this cooling is most easily effected by a small fine rose head jet pipe
affixed to a length of elastic pipe pendant from a cistern of water over-
head. A little clay diffused through this water will best prepare the
A 2

page_text: ganister surface to receive the materials to be united to it, the quality
and consistency of which will differ according to the mode of tuyere
setting preferred.
When a large truncated conical mass consisting of baked ganister
with fire-clay tuyeres passing through it such as is described in the
Specification of my Patent, No. 2746, before referred to is to be set, I
commence by ramming moistened ground ganister alone or mixed with
a little fire-clay, or lime, this may be used in a plastic state and may be
put on with a trowel, but I prefer it to be moistened like moulding sand
or loam, and to ram it well into all the irregularities of the cooled
surface of the lining. The space is to be so moulded and shaped by
hand or by a ring pattern, or tramel as to fit the shape of the dried
mass of tuyeres which project from the tuyere box; the conical sides of
the dried mass may then be smeared with a more or less plastic
mixture of clay and ganister, or a thin soft coating of such materials
may be added around the hollow conical space into which the mass of
tuyeres are to enter. The tuyere box is then put in place and cottered or
screwed up tight while the table is still supporting the rammed material
which will come in close contact with the mass inserted and form a
sound joint, the small amount of moisture employed will soon be
evaporated when the table is removed through the mouth of the vessel,
in doing which the six segmental pieces will slide out of their sockets
and will fall out of the vessel.
When a tuyere plate fitting into the tuyere box is used for holding
the tuyeres the tuyere box need not be removed from the vessel, the
tuyere plate and its conical mass of tuyeres and ganister only will be
taken out and be replaced by a similarly dried mass in another tuyero
plate. The ramming in of materials and the pouring in of cement in
that case will take place from the inside of the tuyere box.
In order to make a sound air-tight joint with the tuyere plate I use
plaster of Paris, Roman, Portland, or other cement capable of quickly
hardening.
The employment of a table or support in the interior of the vessel
enables me if I so desire to set the tuycres at once in ganister, sand,
crushed quartz, or other material moistened with water, and with or
without an admixture of lime or clay as may be desired.
Having fixed in the table and cooled the surrounding surface as
before described the workman will proceed to ram the material tightly

page_text: all around the space left above the table, he will then lower into its
proper seat a set of tuyers previously fitted or luted into a skeleton
frame in which there are large openings for the purpose of ramming
more of the materials in between and around the tuyers until the
whole cavity left in the lining of the vessel by the removal of the old
set of tuyeres is entirely and solidly filled up. The tuyers are made
with a double cone at one end, or with an additional cylindrical piece.
An iron plate through which the additional conical or cylindrical parts
of the tuyeres project is then screwed on and thus encloses the rammed
up ganister on all sides, the workman will then key on the tuyere box
which is provided with conical or cylindrical openings into which the
projecting ends of the tuyeres fit and are rendered air-tight by a lute
as usual or by plaster of Paris or other quickly hardening cement, which
may be used for this purpose because the heat of the vessel will not
be sufficient at this part to destroy the cement. In this arrangement
a clear space is left between the tuyere box and the metal plate to
allow of the escape of any air leaking from the tuyere box beside
the tuyere ends. The conical or cylindrical openings in the tuyere
box may be made in moveable rings instead of being formed in the
solid metal of the tuyere box, when iron rings are used I make the joint
by preference with plaster of Paris or other cement, but a flanged
ring of india-rubber or other elastic material may be employed, in
which case a sufficiently air-tight joint may be obtained without the use
of cement.
When tuyere plates are employed in which the conical ends of the
tuyeres are embedded, I make a deep groove or channel in the metal
round the small end of each cone in the tuyere plate, and I connect
these grooves with cored passages or pipes so as to allow any air that
may leak from the tuyere box to find a ready escape into the atmosphere
instead of passing upward into the converter or lifting the lining.
Instead of screwing down the covering plate and leaving a vacant
space between it and the tuyere box, I sometimes use a thin plate not
screwed down and in that case I corrugate or groove the tuyere box
on that side next the thin plate so that the tuyere box will firmly
retain this plate in position while the grooves will allow any air to
escape outward that may leak beside the tuyeres. When tuyeres are
set in tuyere plates instead of tuyere boxes, and are put in place from
the inside of the tuyere box, I hold these tuyere plates firmly in

page_text: position by a frame consisting of three or more arms bolted to the plate
and to the surrounding metal of the vessel or to the inside of the
tuyere box, and in some cases I further insure its solid attachment
by driving steel wedges into the annular space left around the edges
of the tuyere plate. I however sometimes make the tuyere plate
sufficiently large to extend outwardly as far as the outer edge of
the tuyere box flange, and thus covering entirely the opening left in
the lower part of the vessel. In setting tuyeres in this mode I fit each
tuyere in place with plaster or cement, and then ram around and
between them ganister or other material and bake or dry the mass as
set forth in the Specification of the Patent, No. 2746, before referred
to. I also employ the table inside the vessel as before described and ram
in as much ganister or other slightly moistened material as will fit
tightly up against the dried, truncated, conical mass of tuyeres when
put in place. The tuyere plate and tuyere box is then screwed firmly
down, a row of round holes is let around the plate, which holes are
accessible from the inside of the tuyere box and through them plaster
of Paris or other quick hardening cement is passed to prevent the blast
from forcing its way into the joint and lifting the rammed ganister.
The filling in of plaster or other matter through these holes may if
desired take place before the tuyere box is cottered on, in which case I
prefer to hold the tuyere plate firmly in place by screws or cotters and
after the joint has been made good with cement I put on the tuyere box
which in this case I prefer to be a domed piece of iron plate made as
light as the pressure it has to sustain will admit.
The tendency which the weight of the metal has to force the tuycres,
and tuyere plate out of the vessel, may be effectually counteracted by
making the conical edge of the tuyere plate and of the mass of dried
materials in the reverse direction to that hitherto used so that the largest
part may be put into the vessel and the small end be next the tuyere
box. For this purpose the tuyere plate must be oval or of some other
elongated form instead of being circular as heretofore, its edges may be
smeared with clay and ganister or other more or less plastic matter, and
it is put endwise into the vessel and then turned round and drawn
firmly downward by screwed studs which pass through lugs formed on
the inside of the tuyere box or on the inside of the ring of metal
forming the bottom of the vessel. The ring in this case may be so
formed as to leave a sufficiently large recess in the bottom of the vessel

page_text: not to require a tuyere box. I then prefer to make a communication
with the blast pipe through the lower part of the vessel or I elongate
the ring of the vessel downward so as to allow the blast pipe to be
connected to the side of such elongated part, in either case dispensing
with the tuyere box and using only a plate or domed cover.
When a single tuyere has to be replaced I employ a small sheet iron
vessel of cylindrical form and of a diameter not exceeding that of the
tuyere; in using this cylinder I first make a mound or cone of plastic
clay on the top end of the tuyere, I then put the sharp edge of the sheet
iron cylinder on to it, making a joint, and push a slender rod through
the central hole in the tuyere (the rod must be long enough to reach to
a small boss formed on two cross arms on the inside of the sheet metal
cylinder into which boss it enters) I then fill the cylinder with dry sand
or with the semi-fluid matter in which the tuyere is to be set. All
being thus prepared and the converting vessel being in an erect position,
the tuyeres smeared round with plastic clay, and having the cylinder on
its top is inserted vertically into the cavity and firmly pressed upward
and secured by a screw in the usual way. The slender rod is then
pushed upward which will lift the sheet metal cylinder a short distance
and allow the sand or semi-fluid matter to escape all around the tuyere
and fill up the space between it and the surrounding lining, in a short
time the water, if fluid matter be used, will have been evaporated when
the converting vessel may be turned upside down and the sheet metal
cylinder will roll out of its mouth. In a similar manner a dried mass
of tuyeres may have the joint around it made up, or this filling in of the
joint may be effected by introducing the matter through an opening in
the side of the vessel either in a dry or more or less fluid state, as
set forth in the Specification (No. 2746 and herein-before referred to.
I would however remark that instead of securing such openings in
the sides of the vessel in the ordinary way in which the metal is
prevented from flowing from the opening in the lower part of a cupola
furnace, I prefer to make a moulded hollow cylinder or other shaped
fire lump having an opening therein of the required size, and to embed
this cylindrical piece in the lining of the vessel, I also make a fire-clay
stopper to this opening with a sufficient space around it in the outer
part to allow it to be rammed with moist sand, I thus quickly close the
opening with hard and dry materials on the inside. An iron plate

page_text: how a large truncated cone may be made by the employment of fire-
clay tuyeres, the intermediate and surrounding parts consisting of ganister
rammed in and baked dry.
Now one of my present improvements in making tuyeres consists in
forming the large truncated cone in a single piece having therein such
groups of openings as may be necessary for the proper distribution of
the air, I prefer to mould the mass with a dovetailed or undercut part
so as to fix it readily with plaster or cement into an iron ring, or I
mould the mass in a tuyere plate in which as many tubular iron pieces
are screwed as there are to be holes in the tuyere block; a rod inserted
in each of these projecting tubes will determine the size of the holes;
the iron pieces are to have rings or projections formed on the outside
the better to retain the material around them. A moveable cone is put
on to the tuyere plate to determine the size and form of the moulded
mass and may be again removed after the moulding operation. In this
way ground ganister, quartz, sand, or other analagous refractory material
may be used alone or mixed with fire-clay, or lime, and in a plastic state
or nearly dry, like moulders' sand, and dried before use, or the whole
mass may be moulded in fire-clay mixed with old burned clay or silicious
matters and be well burned before putting it into the iron ring, or
quartz, sand, or similar matter may be caused to cohere by admixture
of silicate of soda or potash and other materials, as in the manufacture
of Ransome's "Patent Concrete Stone."
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Bessemer in the Great Scal Patent Office
on the 15th August 1871.
'
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY 30
BESSEMER, of Queen Street Place, Cannon Street, in the City of London,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the 35

page_text: thirty-fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Henry Bessemer, Her special
license that I, the said Henry Bessemer, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Bessemer, 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
REPAIRING OR RESTORING THE LOWER PARTS OF THE LININGS AND TUYERES OF
CONVERTING VESSELS EMPLOYED FOR THE PRODUCTION OF MALLEABLE IRON AND
STEEL, AND ALSO IN MAKING AND SETTING THE TUYERES, AND IN APPARATUS TO BE
USED FOR THESE PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Henry Bessemer, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment 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 Henry Bessemer, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement thereof, that is to say:-
These improvements relate to the converting vessels employed for
the production of malleable iron or steel by what is now generally
known as the Bessemer process. In these converting vessels numerous
streams of air are forced upwards through fire-clay tuyeres of a nearly
cylindrical form, the lower end being slightly tapered in order that they
may more firmly resist the pressure of air tending to drive them out of
the tuyere box. In the usual practice from five to twelve holes are
made in each tuyere, and from seven to twelve such tuyeres are placed
in a group clustered about the central part of the bottom of the vessel.
The mode most commonly practised of setting these tuyeres is to fix
their conical ends into a cast-iron tuyere box, from which the tuyeres
project to a distance of a foot or more, the box is then secured to the
lower part of the converting vessel into which the tuyeres project.
When this is done several pails full of "slurry" (which is a kind of
thick batter made by mixing in water ground granite stone and a small

page_text: quantity of fire-clay) is poured into the converting vessel to fill the
space between and around the tuyeres up as high as their top ends, thus
forming a flat bottom or lining to the vessel through which the tuyere
holes open.
This mode has the great disadvantage of requiring a long
time for the materials to become dry, throwing the whole apparatus out
of use until this is effected.
A mode of greatly diminishing this inconvenience was secured to me
by Letters Patent, dated the 5th day of November 1863, No. 2746. In
the Specification of this Patent I have shewn how the space around and
between the tuyeres may be filled in with ganister or other suitable
material, and be baked dry before connecting the tuyere box or the
plate in which the tuyeres are set with the vessel, so that only the small
annular space left between the truncated conical dried mass of materials
around the tuyeres and the lining of the vessel has to be filled to com-
pletely restore the lining and bottom of the vessel to a workable
condition, this space being filled either with the semi-fluid matter
before referred to, or preferably with dry sand or other material put
into the vessel through the mouth, or through a suitable opening in the
side of the vessel made for that purpose.
Now my present Invention consists in part of certain modifications of
this plan, and also in the construction and use of apparatus employed to
facilitate the setting of tuyeres in converting vessels while the vessels
are still in a highly heated state, and with such rapidity as to enable the
converting process to be resumed with but little delay.
I proceed as follows: -When a set of tuyeres have become so much
worn as to render a new set necessary, the vessel is to be turned into a
horizontal position, the tuyere box or tuyere plate is then removed, and
the old tuyeres and the matter occupying the space between them is
also removed from the vessel as rapidly as possible. The vessel is then
turned upside down, that is, with the tuyere end of the vessel upwards,
a workman will then insert a jointed pipe (having a cap or curved end)
into the mouth of the vessel. A blast of air or steam issuing from the
cap or curved end of this pipe will blow out of the mouth of the vessel,
and an induced current of heated air will issue with it, causing cold air
to enter the large opening formed by the removal of the tuyere box,
otherwise the current of hot air flowing upward from this opening
would prevent the workman from having access to it, the interior of
the vessel being still red hot.

page_text: The arrangement is shewn at Figure 1, Sheet A, of the annexed
Drawings, where a is the inverted vessel, shewn in section, with its
lining a partly broken away by the removal of a worn out set of
tuyeres; 6 is the air or steam pipe, it is broken off at b*, where it may
be jointed to other pipes in the manner usually employed in jointing gas
brackets, or it may be connected by a piece of vulcanised rubber tube,
so as to allow readily of its insertion into and removal from the mouth
of the vessel. The cap c is placed over the perforated end of the pipe
(to which it is attached), in order to reverse the direction of the current.
The next step is to lower down into the vessel (with a pulley) the frame
and leg of an iron table; this table is shown in position in the interior
of the vessel a in Figure 1, Sheet A, and it is seen separately in plan at
Figure 2. The frame of the table is also shewn in plan in Figure 3.
In its central part of the frame d there is a cup-shaped hollow, into
which the ball e is fitted; this ball forms the upper end of a leg ƒ.
A cup-shaped plate g embraces the lower side of the ball e, and allows
the frame d a small amount of freedom of motion. The leg f of the
table has a lever h jointed to it at its lower end, which passes out
through the mouth of the converter, and is employed for adjusting and
supporting the lower end of the leg. When the adjustment is effected
the lever is secured in any convenient manner to hold it in place.
The top of the table is fitted to the leg with a ball joint, for the purpose
of allowing the top of the table to adjust itself to any small irregularities
in the form of the lining of the vessel. The frame of the table I prefer
to make hexagonal, with deep sockets formed on each side. I also
provide six cast-iron plates, which are segments of a circle, having pro-
jecting parts fitting into the sockets before named. These segments are
shewn in plan at Figure 2, and are marked k, together with a central
covering plate j, which is also shewn in plan at Figure 4; they form
the surface of the table. The segment plates are each provided with
two square projecting parts *, which fit into the sockets d*. The
segmental plates k are also shewn at Figures 5 and 6, and are provided
with brackets or webs to strengthen them. When the table is to be
placed in the vessel a rod is screwed into the ball e; it has an eye at
its top end, to which a rope passing over a pulley is fastened; as soon
as the frame and leg of the table are thus lowered down into the vessel
the segmental plates are added to its edges, thus enlarging the flat top
of the table to a size several inches in diameter in excess of the diameter
of the opening by which the frame of the table was introduced. By

page_text: means of the joint f* the table is forced upwards against the inverted
bottom of the converter lining, thus closing the rough broken aperture
left after the removal of the old tuyeres. Small handles, as shewn by
dots at m, are screwed into the segments / to facilitate the placing of
them into the sockets d*; these handles are afterwards removed, and so
in like manner is the rod / unscrewed from the ball e, and the covering
plate is then placed, thus completing a flat and sufficiently solid table
to support the tuycres and the material to be rammed or poured in
between them. The table also defends the workmen from the radiant
heat of the red-hot lining.
In some cases, in order to avoid the necessity of making the table
with a number of separate segments, I make the opening at the lower
part of the converting vessel and the tuyere box of an oval or more or
less oblong form for the purpose of introducing a table or plate of
sufficient size and in one piece, the plate entering the opening endwise
and being then turned round in a manner similar to that in which man-
hole plates of steam boilers are inserted and made to close the opening
by reversing their position. Such a table or plate is shown at Figure 13,
Sheet B. The workman will in either case next proceed to cool that
portion of the ganister lining which is accessible above the table; this
cooling is most easily effected by a small fine rose head jet pipe affixed
to a length of clastic pipe pendant from a cistern of water overhead.
little clay diffused through this water will best prepare the ganister
surface to receive the materials to be united to it.
A
There are several different ways which I will proceed to describe in
which the tuyeres may now be set:-When a large truncated conical
mass consisting of baked ganister with fire-clay tuyeres passing through
it, such as is described in the Specification of my Patent, No. 2746,
before referred to, and such as is shewn in Figure 10, Sheet B, of the
Drawings is to be set, I commence by ramming moistened ground
ganister, alone or mixed with a little fire-clay or lime all around the
ragged opening in the lining of the vessel; these materials may be used
in a plastic state, and may be put on with a trowel, but I prefer them to
be moistened like moulding sand or loam, and to ram them well into all
the irregularities of the cooled surface of the lining, so moulding and
shaping the material by hand or by a ring pattern or tramel as to fit
the shape of the dried mass of tuyeres projecting from the tuyere box or
tuyere plate which is to be inserted. The conical sides of the dried mass

page_text: may then be smeared with a more or less plastic mixture of clay and
ganister, or a thin soft coating of such materials may be added around
the hollow conical space into which the mass of dried tuyeres are to
enter. The tuyere box is then put in place and cottered or screwed up
tight while the table is still supporting the rammed material, which will
thus be brought into close contact with the mass inserted and form a
sound joint. The table is now removed through the mouth of the vessel.
The six segmental pieces k will slide out of their sockets and will fall
out of the vessel after the leg and frame of the table have been removed.
The small amount of moisture employed in setting tuyeres in this way
quickly evaporates, and the converting vessel is again ready for use.
When a tuyere plate fitting into the tuyere box is used for holding the
tuycres, as is represented at Figure 10, Sheet B, the tuyere box need not
be removed from the vessel; the tuyere plate and its conical mass of
tuyeres and ganister only will be taken out and be replaced by a
similarly dried mass in another tuyere plate.
In order to make a sound air-tight joint with the tuyere plate, I use
plaster of Paris, Roman, Portland, or other cement capable of quickly
hardening; but I do not allow these cements to occupy the joint at any
part to which the fluid metal has access, but having stopped up all the
cavities with the more refractory materials before named, I employ the
cement to secure the joint of the tuyere plate and tuyere box. This
joint does not become highly heated. A flanged ring forming the sides
of the tuyere box is shewn in section at n, Figure 1. The outer flange
of the ring is fitted against the ring r, which forms part of the shell of
the vessel. A series of slotted studs project from this ring, pass through
the flange of the box n, and serve to secure a circular plate which
encloses the tuyere box. A. pipe attached to this covering plate com-
municates with the blast engine in the usual manner.
The employment of a table or support in the interior of the vessel
enables me, if I so desire, to set the tuyeres at once in ganister, sand,
crushed quartz, or other refractory material moistened with water, and
with or without an admixture of lime or clay, as may be desired.
Having fixed in the table and cooled and moistened the surrounding
surface, as before described, the workman will proceed to ram
the material tightly all around the space left above the table, as
represented at Figure 16, Sheet A, of the annexed Drawings, where A
represents the lower portion of an inverted converting vessel from which

page_text: a worn out set of tuyeres and the tuyere box have been removed, leaving
only the flanged ring A', which forms part of the vessel, and the
lining A² with its rough irregular surface caused by the removal of
the tuyeres. B is intended to represent the top surface of a table, such
as that herein-before described and represented in Figure 1 on the same
sheet. C represents in section the newly rammed ganister or other
refractory material supported by the table and in close contact with the
fractured surface of the old lining. The workman having proceeded
thus far will then lower into its proper seat a set of tuyeres previously
fitted or luted into a skeleton frame in which there are large openings
for the purpose of ramming more of the materials in between and around
the tuyeres until the whole cavity left in the lining of the vessel by the
removal of the old set of tuyeres is entirely and solidly filled up.
This stage of the operation of setting tuyeres is represented at
Figure 10, and here I would observe that the same letters of reference
are used to denote a repetition of the several parts in Figures 7, 8, 9, 10,
11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16. In setting tuyeres according to this method
I employ the skeleton frame D, shewn in plan at Figure 9, where E are
the openings for the tuyeres and F are other openings through which
the ground ganister or other materials are put it and rammed tightly
into all the spaces round about the tuyeres. The openings E are conical
as in the ordinary tuyere plate and the tuyeres are fitted into them and
luted with clay in the usual manner, but I make a double cone on the
tuyere, as shewn separately in elevation at Figure 13, where G represents
the body of the tuyere, G¹ the lower cone, and G² the upper cone, in
which last part it differs from the ordinary tuyere, which is represented
at Figure 12. The frame D with its tuyere fitted therein having been
placed within the ring A¹ the workman will proceed to fill in the space
with the damp ganister or other refractory material, ramming it firmly
in place as in moulding articles in sand, and having filled all the
openings F flush with the upper surface of the frame he will screw on a
covering plate H, shewn in plan at Figure 14. It is provided with
openings I, through which the upper cone G² of the tuyeres project.
In Figure 7 the covering plate H is shewn in place, and the tuyere
box K is also fitted on by cottered studs L in the usual way. The tuyere
box K is provided with conical openings, into which the upper cone G² of
the tuyeres enter, being previously smeared over with plastic clay in the
usual manner.
It will be observed that the tuyere box does not come in

page_text: contact with the covering plate H, a washer being placed on the studs L
in between the ring A' and the tuyere box, whereby a narrow space is
kept open, and thus any leakage of compressed air from the tuyere box is
not forced into and among the rammed materials, which would blow
them into the vessel, but escapes freely between the metal surfaces. The
frame D is kept in place by metal wedges J or by running in cement
between the frame D and the ring A¹. The blast is conducted by a pipe
at one side of the tuyere box in the usual way. In lieu of forming the
conical openings for the tuyeres in the tuyere box casting I sometimes
make small separate cone castings with flanges, and they are fitted into
openings made to receive them in the tuyere box, as shewn in Figure 15,
where M represents the tuyere box and N the separate flanged rings.
P in Figure 11 represents a tuyere in elevation differing from that
shewn in Figure 13 only in having its upper part P* cylindrical. The
mode of employing these tuyeres is shewn in section at Figure 8, where
the openings in the tuyere box through which tuycres enter are kept air-
tight by flanged rings Q of vulcanised rubber or other elastic material.
When tuyere plates are employed in which the conical ends of the
tuyeres are embedded, as seen in Figure 7, I make a deep groove or
channel in the metal round the small end of each cone in the tuyere
plate, as shewn at t, and I connect these grooves with cored passages or
pipes so as to allow any air that may leak from the tuyere box to find a
ready escape into the atmosphere instead of passing upward into the con-
verter and lifting or destroying the lining. Instead of screwing down
the covering plate H and leaving a vacant space between it and the
tuycre box I sometimes use a thin plate not screwed down, and in that
case I corrugate or groove the tuyere box on that side next the thin
plate, as shewn in Figure 8, and marked S, so that the tuyere box will
firmly retain this plate in position while the grooves will allow any air
to escape outward that may leak beside the tuyeres. When tuyeres are
set in tuyere plates instead of tuyere boxes and are put in place from
the inside of the tuycre box a very good arrangement is to hold these
tuyere plates firmly in position by a frame consisting of three or more
arms bolted to the plate and to the surrounding metal of the vessel or to
the inside of the tuyere box, and in some cases I further ensure its solid
attachment by driving steel wedges into the annular space left around the
edges of the tuyere plate.

page_text: This mode of setting tuyeres is represented on Sheet B of the annexed
Drawings in Figures 1, 2, and 3, which shew sections of the lower part
of converting vessels in an inverted position. a is the outer shell of the
vessel with a flanged ring 6 bolted to it forming a tuyere box. It will
be seen that the ring at 6* enters some distance into the ganister lining j
of the vessel, thus tending to determine and restrict the size of the
opening made by the removal of the worn out tuyeres; c is intended to
represent the top of a table, such as that herein-before described and
shewn in Figure 1 on Sheet A of the annexed Drawings. The workman
having cooled and moistened the rough fractured surface of the ganister
lining above the table will proceed to ram in ground ganister or other
refractory material, either moistened like moulders' sand, or in a more or
less plastic state, as represented at d in Figure 2, he will then lower
down on to the table the tuyere plate f and its dried conical mass of
tuyeres, as shewn in section at Figure 1, and in elevation in Figure 3,
turning it round a little backward and forward, and forcing it down into
its seat, he will then ram more of the refractory material if need be into
the annular space e until the cavity is filled up to the lower edge of the
flange 6*, he will then place the four-armed frame g on the tuyere plate
and screw it firmly to the tuyere plate f and to the flanged ring 6, as
shewn. Plaster of Paris or other quick setting cement is then poured
into the annular cavity e, entirely filling up the space between the iron
ring 6* and the flange f* of the tuyere plate. The cover / may then be
screwed on and a blast supplied to the tuyere box in the usual way
through the opening i. In some cases I further secure the several parts
by a central belt k, as shewn. When fitting the tuyeres m into the
tuyere plate a little clay lute is used, and they are firmly held in place
by the flange rings n which overlap the larger conical end of the tuyere,
but do not obstruct the holes formed in them for the passage of air into
the vessel. I sometimes make the tuyere plate sufficiently large to
extend outwardly as far as the outer edge of the tuyere box flange, and
thus covering entirely the opening left in the lower part of the vessel;
in setting tuyeres in this mode I fit each tuyere in place with plaster or
cement, and then ram around and between them ganister or other
material, and bake or dry the mass as set forth in the Specification of
the Patent No. 2746 before referred to. I also employ the table inside
the vessel, as before described, and ram in as much ganister or other
slightly moistened material as will fit tightly up against the dried

page_text: truncated conical mass of tuyeres when put in place. The tuyere plate
and tuyere box is then screwed firmly down. A row of round holes is
left around the plate, which holes are accessible from the inside of the
tuyere box, and through them plaster of Paris or other quick hardening
cement is poured to prevent the blast from forcing its way into the joint
and lifting the rammed ganister; the filling in of plaster or other matter
through these holes may take place before the tuyere box is cottered on,
in which case I prefer to hold the tuyere plate firmly in place by screws
or cotters; and after the joint has been made good with cement I put on
the tuyere box, which in this case I prefer to be a domed piece of iron
plate made as light as the pressure it has to sustain will admit.
I have represented this mode of setting tuyeres on Sheet B of the
annexed Drawings, where Figure 4 is a section of the lower part of the
converting vessel with a set of new tuyeres put in and ready to work.
Figure 5 is a plan of the tuyere plate and tuyeres, and Figure 6 a side
elevation of the tuyere plate with the dried set of tuyeres embedded in a
conical mass of ganister. The outer shell of the vessel o has a ring of
iron p rivetted around the lower opening, and an internal flange q
passing upwards into the ganister lining of the vessel; a circular tuyere
plate has also a similar flange * projecting from its upper side,
and several smaller flanges ¹ projecting downward. Their interior is
conical and fits the enlarged ends of the tuyeres. There are holes & in
the tuyere plate through which the ganister or refractory material is
rammed around the tuyere block, and then plaster of paris or other
cement is poured into the annular space u left between the flanges q
and to render the joint air-tight. The tuyere box is held on by
cotters in the usual way, and is provided with a branch or elbow piece
(not shown) by which communication is established with the blast
pipe.
Another arrangement for setting the tuyeres is as follows:-The
tendency which the weight of the metal has to force the tuyeres and
tuyere plate out of the vessel may be effectually counteracted by
making the conical edge of the tuyere plate and of the mass of dried
materials in the reverse direction to that hitherto used, so that the
largest part may be put into the vessel and the small end be next
the tuyere box. For this purpose the tuyere plate must be oval or of
some other elongated form instead of being circular as heretofore. Its
edges may be smeared with clay or ganister or other more or less plastic
12

page_text: matter, and it is put endwise into the vessel and then turned round and
drawn firmly downwards by screwed studs which pass through lugs
formed on the inside of the tuyere box or on the inside of the ring
of metal forming the bottom of the vessel. This mode of setting
tuyeres in an oval tuyere plate is represented on Sheet B where Figure 7
is a section of the lower part of the converting vessel, shewing also the
tuyere plate A in section taken through its longest axis, and Figure 8
is a plan of the tuyere box shewing the tuyere plate A. The tuyeres B
are cemented into conical seats, and the whole are embedded in a mass
of dried ganister or other refractory material. Several screwed studs C
project downward from the oval tuyere plate and pass through lugs D
cast on the inner side of the tuyere box E, by which the conical oval
mass may be drawn downward with considerable force. In setting
these tuyeres the fractured surface of the lining of the vessel having
been cooled and prepared the conical surface is thickly coated with a
stiff mixture of ground ganister and fire-clay; it is then suspended to
a crane or pulley by two ring bolts screwed into the under side of the
tuyere plate, and is then drawn into the vessel when the latter is
inverted; it is then moved into its proper position and drawn forceably
upwards in close contact with the lining of the vessel, by which any
superfluous plastic matter will be extruded from the joint, as shewn
at F, Figure 7; the heated interior of the vessel will rapidly dry the
surface of the plastic matter in the joint sufficiently to allow the process
of conversion to go on.
When a single tuyere has to be replaced I employ a small sheet iron
vessel of cylindrical form and of a diameter not exceeding that of the
tuyere, as represented in section at Figure 9, Sheet B. In using this
cylinder I first make a mound or cone of plastic clay G on the top
end of the tuyere H. I then put the sharp edge of the sheet iron
cylinder I on to it, making a joint with the clay which also stops the
tuyere holes; I then push a slender rod J through the central hole in
the tuyere (the rod must be long enough to reach to a small boss K.
formed on two cross arms on the inside of the sheet-metal cylinder,
into which boss it enters); I then fill the cylinder with dry sand, or
with the semi-fluid matter in which the tuyere is to be set; all being
thus prepared, the converting vessel being in an erect position, the
tuyere smeared round with plastic clay and having the cylinder on its
top, is inserted through the tuyere plate L vertically into the cavity

page_text: formed by the removal of the worn out tuyere, and firmly pressed
upward and secured by a flange, ring, and screws or in the usual way.
The slender rod J is then pushed upward which will lift the sheet
metal cylinder I a short distance and allow the sand or semi-fluid
matter to escape all around the tuyere and fill up the space M between
it and the surrounding lining N of the vessel. In a short time the
water, if fluid matter be used, will have been evaporated, when the
converting vessel may be turned upside down and the sheet metal
cylinder will roll out of its mouth. In a similar manner a dried mass
of tuyeres may have the joint around it made up, or this filling-in of
the joint may be effected by introducing the matter through an opening
in the side of the vessel either in a dry or more or less fluid state, as set
forth in the Specification No. 2746, and herein-before referred to. I
would, however, remark that instead of securing such openings in the
sides of the vessel in the ordinary way in which the metal is prevented
from flowing from the opening in the lower part of a cupola furnace, I
prefer to make a moulded hollow cylinder or other shaped fire-lump
having an opening therein of the required size, and to embed this
cylindrical piece in the lining of the vessel. I also make a fire-clay
stopper to this opening with a sufficient space around it in the outer
part to allow it to be rammed with moist sand, I thus quickly close the
opening with hard and dry materials on the inside. An iron plate
bolted to the vessel secures the stopper from being displaced by the
pressure of the metal. This mode of forming the openings in converting
vessels below the metal level for the purpose of making good the joint
about the tuyeres is represented on Sheet B where Figure 10 is a vertical
section of the lower part of a converting vessel taken through two
openings made for that purpose. A hollow conical piece P of well
burned fire-clay, plumbago, or other refractory material extends through
the ganister lining of the vessel, and a stopper formed of similar
material Q is fitted to it leaving a space R around it to be rammed with
moist ganister. An iron covering plate S is secured by cottered
studs T, and prevents the displacement of the stopper by the internal
pressure of the fluid metal. At U the stopper is shewn removed; a
ladle V is employed to fill the joint with "slurry" or other suitable
matter either in a semi-fluid or powdery state.

page_text: employment of fire-clay tuyeres, the intermediate and surrounding parts
consisting of ganister rammed in and baked dry. Now one of my present
improvements in making tuyeres consists in forming the large truncated
cone in a single piece, having therein such groups of openings as may
be necessary for the proper distribution of the air; I prefer to mould the
mass with a dovetailed or undercut part, so as to fix it readily with
plaster or cement into an iron ring. This mode of forming a series of
groups of tuyere openings in a single block of refractory material is
shewn on Sheet B, where Figure 12 is a vertical section of the tuyero
and tuyere plate. The lower angle W* of the block W is small
enough to drop into the upper part of the flange X* of the tuyere
plate X, leaving a space Y to be filled in with plaster of Paris or
Portland or other cement. Or in lieu of this method of forming the
mass of tuyeres I mould the mass in a tuyere plate as represented at
Figure 11, Sheet B, in which as many tubular iron pieces are secured
as there are to be holes in the tuyere block; rods ware inserted in each
of these projecting tubes and will determine the size of the holes, the iron
pieces are to have rings or projections formed on the outside the better
to retain the material around them. A moveable cone x is put on to
the tuyere plate to determine the size and form of the moulded mass,
and may be again removed after the moulding operation. In this way
ground ganister, quartz, or sand, or other analogous refractory material
may be used alone or mixed with fire-clay or lime, and in a plastic state
or nearly dry, like moulders' sand, and be dried before use, or the whole
mass may be moulded in fire-clay mixed with old burned clay or siliceous
matters, and be well burned before putting it into the iron ring, or
quartz, sand, or similar matter may be caused to cohere by admixture
of silicate of soda or potash, and other materials, as in the manufacture
of Ransome's patent concrete stone.
Having described the several parts of my Invention and the manner
in which the same may be carried into operation, I desire it to be
understood that I do not confine myself to the precise details herein
described, provided that the character of my Invention be retained.
But, First. I claim the system herein described of protecting the
workmen (and work) from the heat whilst renewing the tuyeres of a
converting vessel when the vessel is in an inverted position by the use
of a shield plate or table, for the most part closing on the inner side
the tuyere opening in the vessel, and by the employment of a steam or,

page_text: air jet to induce an inward current of cold air whenever the closing is
imperfect, substantially as described.
Second. I claim the system herein described of renewing the tuyeres
of converting vessels by inverting the vessel and inserting the new
tuyeres (held in their box or plate) into the tuyere opening in the
vessel, and then ramming ganister or other refractory material down-
wards from the outside into the spaces between the new tuyeres and the
sides of the tuyere opening in the vessel, substantially as described.
Third. I claim the employment of a table or support within the
converting vessel, covering and closing the annular space between the
new tuyeres and the sides of the tuyere opening in the vessel, whilst
such annular space is made good by ramming in ganister or other
refractory material, substantially as described.
Fourth. I claim the mode of constructing the table or support of
several movable parts, in such manner that it may be inserted into the
converting vessel and afterwards withdrawn through the mouth of the
vessel, substantially as described.
Fifth. I claim setting tuyeres in converting vessels by fixing the
tuyeres in a tuyere plate, which is then secured within the tuyere box of
the converting vessel, leaving spaces or openings within the tuyere box,
which are then filled in by ramming ganister or other refractory material
into them from the interior of the tuyere box, substantially as described.
Sixth. I claim setting tuyeres in converting vessels by fixing them
in a skeleton frame, which is secured to the vessel, and then ramming
ganister or other refractory materials through the openings in the
skeleton frame between the tuyeres, and so as to fill and make good the
tuyere opening in the converting vessel, substantially as described.
Seventh. I claim the use of cement, such as plaster of Paris, or
Portland cement poured in a liquid state into the joint between the
tuyere plate and the ring which bounds the tuyere opening in the
converting vessel, substantially as described, so as to render such joint
air-tight, that the compressed air may not force its way from the tuyere
box into the lining of the vessel, and so destroy it.
Eighth. I claim making the tuyere block of a tapering form, larger on
the inner than on the outer side, and oval or oblong, so that it can be
inserted into the converting vessel through the tuyere opening and

page_text: then turned round and drawn back into its seat, substantially as
described.
Ninth. I claim the method of setting tuyeres by mounting upon them
and introducing into the converting vessel with them a vessel con-
taining the refractory material to fill the surrounding coating, and when
the tuyeres are in their places causing such material to be discharged,
substantially as described.
Tenth. I claim the methods of constructing tuyere blocks described
in respect to Figures 11 and 12, Sheet B, of the annexed Drawings.
Eleventh. I claim the method of forming openings in the sides of
converting vessels, which may be placed with facility and again securely
closed without first disturbing the lining of the vessel, substantially
as described in respect to Figure 10, Sheet B, of the annexed Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Bessemer, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.