IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL, AND IN FURNACES AND APPARATUS USED IN THE SAID MANUFACTURE
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George James Hinde, of Wolverhampton, in the
County of Stafford, Manager of Works, and Thomas Callender Hinde,
of Ynispenllwch, near Swansea, in the County of Glamorgan, Colliery
Proprietor, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF IRON AND STEEL, AND IN FURNACES AND APPARATUS USED IN THE SAID
MANUFACTURE."
Sealed the 19th June 1868, and dated the 24th December 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George James Hinde
and Thomas Callender Hinde at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 24th December 1867.
We, GEORGE JAMES HINDE, of Wolverhampton, in the County of Stafford,
Manager of Works, and TномAS CALLENDER HINDE, of Ynispenllwch, near
Swansea, in the County of Glamorgan, Colliery Proprietor, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF IRON AND STEEL, AND IN FURNACES AND APPARATUS USED IN THE SAID MANU-
FACTURE," to be as follows:-
Our Invention consists of the improvements herein-after described in
smelting iron ores and producing therefrom as required either wrought iron,
steel, or cast iron, and in furnaces and apparatus used for that purpose.

page_text: In smelting iron ores according to our Invention we construct blast
furnaces having chambers for the fuel for generating the requisite heat and
forming the reducing agent, which chambers we term the gas chambers, and
other chambers for the reduction and carbonization of the iron ores, which
latter chambers we term the smelting chambers. The gas chambers are
constructed of different sizes according to the scale on which it is proposed to
operate, and the number and size of the tuyeres through which the blast is to
be forced into them; they may be square or circular, the shape not being ma-
terial, but they should be of such depth that a stratum of burning fuel of about
three feet in thickness may be constantly maintained. A suitable opening in
each chamber through which the fuel is charged from an adjoining hopper is
made and kept closed by a fire-brick door or slide, except when opened for
supplying fuel. The blast is blown in near the bottom; no grates or bars are
requisite, the ashes of the fuel being fluxed by putting a little lime amongst
the fuel from time to time, and the cinder formed by the melting of the ashes
and flux together is allowed to flow out through a small aperture made for
the purpose; closely adjoining to and communicating with these gas chambers
by suitable openings near the top of them we construct the smelting chambers.
The construction of these chambers varies according to whether it is intended
to pass the heated reducing gases through and amongst the iron ores or
over them only. In the former case we construct the smelting chambers
with sides inclined at a considerable angle, widening upwards, and with a
hearth or crucible part having upright or nearly upright sides. The com-
munication of these smelting chambers with the gas chambers before
described is made through suitable openings in the smelting chambers near
the top of the crucible or hearth part of them. When it is intended to pass
the heated reducing gases over the iron ores the smelting chamber is con-
structed with a hearth part somewhat similar to that of a reverberatory or
air furnace, and the heat is reflected from the roof into the iron ores placed
beneath. A preparatory portion or extension of this chamber is formed in
which the ores may be gradually operated on before being placed in the full
heat of the bearth part. For the more convenient removal or descent of the
ores from this portion of the smelting chamber to the hearth the floor of it
.may be formed with one or more steps, or at an angle rising from the bearth
part upwards. If it should be desirable in smelting refractory. ores to
increase the heat of the reducing gases by external means this may be done
by interposing a system of fire-clay pipes between the outlet of the gas
chanbers and the inlet of the smelting chambers. The reducing gases in
passing from the gas chambers through this system of fire-clay pipes may then

page_text: be superbeated by external means to any required degree. This superheating
may be effected either by ordinary furnaces or by the combustion of the
waste gases which are evolved from the smelting chambers. The waste gases
may be either utilized in this manner or in generating steam, or used for any
other suitable purpose. The fuel to be supplied to the gas chambers may be
charcoal, coke, coal, peat, or other suitable material.
ores.
In order to facilitate the smelting of the iron ores we prefer to crush or grind
them to such degree of fineness as may be economically practicable; generally
speaking the finer they can be ground or crushed the better. This crushing or
grinding operation affords at the same time a convenient means with inferior orės
of separating much of the earthy and pyritous impurities from them by dressing
and washing them in any of the well-known ways of dressing and washing metallic
The ground or crushed ores are now to be mixed with such a proportion
of lime or other flux as their chemical composition shows to be needed, and
we prefer to mix with them a proportion of pulverized carbonaceous matter,
such as charcoal, coke, or coal dust, taking care to select these materials as
free from sulpbur or other impurities as practicable. When it is intended to
smelt the ores in the smelting chambers first described it will be requisite in
order to enable the gases to pass freely. through to incorporate the iron ores,
flux, and carbonaceous matter together with water or other suitable medium
into bricks or blocks, and dry these bricks or blocks sufficiently to make them
so far coherent that they will bear handling and moving about without
disintegration. This mixing with water or other medium and incorporation
into bricks or blocks will not be needed when smelting chambers of the
second description are employed, as the heated reducing gases having merely
to pass over the mixture of ores, flux, and carbonaceous matter these
materials may be charged into the smelting chamber in their dry
pulverised condition. The gas chambers being properly charged with their
complement of fuel and the smelting chambers with the mixture of ores, flux,
and carbonaceous matter either incorporated into bricks or blocks or in the
pulverized state as before described, and a new supply of fuel to the gas
chambers and of ore and materials to the smelting chambers being constantly
kept up, operations now proceed thus:-Currents of atmospheric air either
cold or
heated by any of the well-known apparatus for that purpose are forced
by any of the usual blowing machines through the ignited fuel in the gas
chambers and intense combustion thereby produced. The oxygen of the
atmospheric air by its passage through the stratum of burning fuel is converted
into carbonic oxide. This carbonic oxide and the nitrogen of the air pass at
A very high temperature from the outlets of the gas chambers either directly

page_text: through the smelting chambers or intermediately through the series of fire-clay
pipes already described as being in some cases interposed between the gas
chambers and the smelting chambers. In the latter case the gases are
superheated by external means to any required degree and then passed through
the smelting chambers. By the passage of these highly heated gases through
the smelting chambers the mixture of ores, flux, and carbonaceous matter is
raised to a correspondingly high temperature, and partly from the action of the
intensely beated reducing gases and partly from the action of the carbon
contained in the mixture the reduction of the iron ores commences immediately
and they are converted into malleable iron. By continuing the operation
carbon is taken up by the malleable iron so produced and it becomes steel.
A still further prolonged operation results in a greater absorption of carbon,
and cast iron is the result of the process.
When smelting chambers of the first described construction are employed
and wrought iron is required as the product the masses of malleable iron
formed as first described are removed by mechanical means from the smelting
chambers through a doorway or breast formed in the hearth part for the
purpose. These masses, either with or without being reheated in ordinary
heating furnaces, are hammered, squeezed, or rolled in the ordinary manner
into the shapes and sizes required. The void caused by the removal of each
successive portion of malleable iron from the hearth or hottest portion of the
smelting chambers is filled by the descent of the already heated and partially
reduced ores from above into the hearth, where their reduction is fully com-
pleted and the temperature of the resulting malleable iron raised to the
welding heat requisite for the hammering, squeezing, or rolling processes.
When steel or cast iron is intended to be the product from smelting chambers
of the first described construction, the mixture of ore and materials having
been subjected to a proportionately longer exposure to the action of the heated
gases as before mentioned, the molten steel or cast iron resulting from the
operation runs into the hearth or crucible part of the smelting chambers, and
is tapped therefrom through an aperture made for the purpose. The molten
cinder formed by the union of the flux with any earthy matter associated
with the ores flows from the smelting chamber through an orifice formed at a
suitable height therein. The descent of the mixture of ores and materials
from above proceeds as the portions contained in the hearth are smelted and
removed. Fresh supplies of the mixture of ores and materials are constantly
fed in at the top of the smelting chamber, and the smelting of the ores and
the production of the metal proceed without intermission. When smelting
chambers of the second described construction are employed and wrought iron

page_text: is required as the product the masses of malleable iron produced as before
described by the 'action of the gases on the mixture of ores and materials are
removed by ordinary mechanical means from the hearth through a doorway
for the purpose, and either with or without being reheated in ordinary beating
furnaces, hammered, squeezed, or rolled into the shapes and sizes required!:
When steel or cast iron is required as the product of this second described
smelting chamber, the mixture of ores and materials having been subjected to
a proportionately longer exposure to the heated gases as before described, the
molten steel or cast iron resulting from the operation runs down into the
hearth, and is tapped therefrom through a suitable aperture for the purpose.
The molten cinder formed by the union of the flux of any earthy matter
associated with the ores flows from the smelting chamber through an orifice
formed at a suitable height therein. The descent or removal of the mixture-
of ores and materials from the extension or preparatory part of the smelting
chamber proceeds as the portions contained in the hearth are smelted and
removed. Fresh supplies of the mixture of ores and materials are; constantly
fed into the extension or preparatory part of the smelting chamber, and
the smelting of the ores and production of the metal proceed without
intermission...
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George James Hinde and Thomas Callender Hinde in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 24th June 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, GEORGE
JAMES HINDE, of Wolverhampton, in the County of Stafford, Manager of
Works, and THOMAS CALLENDER HINDE, of Ynispenllwch, near Swansea, in
the County of Glamorgan, Colliery Proprietor, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight' hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs; and successors, give and grant-
unto us, the said George James Hinde and Thomas Callender Hinde, Her,
special licence that we, the said George James Hinde and Thomas Callender
Hinde, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the
said George James Hinde and Thomas Callender Hinde, our 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
'

page_text: 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 THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND
STEEL, AND IN FURNACES AND APPARATUS USED IN THE SAID MANUFACTURE," upon
the condition (aniongst others) that we, the said George James Hinde and
Thomas Callender Hinde, our executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under our or their hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of
one of us or them, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the
said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause
the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Callender Hinde, on behalf
of myself and the said George James Hinde, 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 :-
Our Invention consists of the improvements herein-after described in
smelting iron ores and producing therefrom as required either wrought iron,
steel, or cast iron, and in furnaces and apparatus used for these purposes.
In smelting iron ores according to our Invention we construct blast furnaces
having chambers for the fuel for generating the requisite heat and forming
the reducing agent, which chambers we term the gas chambers, and other
chambers for the reduction of the ores and carbonization of the iron, which
latter chambers we term the smelting chambers. The gas chambers are
constructed of different sizes according to the scale on which it is proposed
to operate and the number and size of the tuyeres through which the blast
is to be forced into them; they may be square or circular, the shape not
Leing material. The depth may vary somewhat according to the character
of the fuel used, but it should in all cases be sufficient in thickness to convert
the fuel into carbonic oxide. A suitable opening in each chamber through
which the fuel is charged from an adjoining hopper is made and kept closed
by a fire-brick door or slide, except when opened for supplying fuel. The
blast is blown in near the bottom; no grates or bars are requisite, the ashes of
the fuel being fluxed by putting a little lime amongst the fuel from time.to
time, and the cinder formed by the melting of the ashes and flux together is
allowed to flow out through small aperture made for the purpose; or the
ash and clinker may be removed through a door near the bottom in the
ordinary way of clearing a blacksmith's fire; closely adjoining to and communi-
cating with these gas chambers by suitable openings we construct the smelting

page_text: chambers. The construction of these chambers varies according to whether it
is intended to pass the heated reducing gases through and amongst the iron
ores or over them only. In the former case we construct the smelting
chambers with sides inclined at a considerable angle widening upwards, and
with a hearth or crucible part having upright or nearly upright sides. The
communication of these smelting chambers with the gas chambers before
described is made through suitable openings in the smelting chambers near
the top of crucible or hearth part of them. When it is intended to pass the
heated reducing gases over the iron ores the smelting chamber is constructed
with a hearth and a reverberating arch; the heat is reflected from the arch
on to the iron ores placed beneath. A preparatory portion or extension
of this chamber is formed in which the ores may be gradually operated on
before being placed in the full heat of the hearth part. For the more con-
venient removal or descent of the ores from this portion of the smelting
chamber to the hearth the bottom of it may be formed with one or more
steps or at an angle rising from the hearth part upwards. If it should be.
desirable in smelting refractory ores to increase the heat of the reducing
gases by external means this may be done by interposing a system of fire-
clay pipes between the gas chambers and the smelting chambers. The
reducing gases in passing from the gas chambers through this system of fire-
clay pipes may then be superheated by external means to any required degree.
This superheating may be effected either by ordinary furnaces or by the
combustion of the waste gases which are evolved from the smelting chambers.
The waste gases may either be utilized in this manner or in generating steam,
or used for any other suitable purpose. The fuel to be supplied to the gas
chambers may be charcoal, coke, coal, or peat.
ways
}
In order to facilitate the smelting of the iron ores we prefer to crush or
grind them to such a degree of fineness as may be economically practicable;
generally speaking the finer they can be ground or crushed the better. This
érushing or grinding operation affords at the same time a convenient opportunity
with inferior ores of separating much of the earthy and pyritous impurities
from them by dressing and washing them in any of the well-known of
dressing and washing metallic ores. The ground or crushed ores are now to
be mixed with such a proportion of lime or other flux as their chemical
composition shows to be needed, and we prefer to mix with them a portion
of pulverized carbonaceous matter, such as charcoal, coke, or coal dust, taking
care to select these materials as free from sulphur or other impurities as
possible. When it is intended to smelt the ores in the smelting chambers
first described it will be requisite in order to enable the gases to pass freely

page_text: through to incorporate the iron ores, flux, and carbonaceous matter together
with water, pitch, a small portion of pure bituminous coal, or other suitable
medium into bricks or blocks and dry or heat these bricks or blocks sufficiently
to make them so far coherent that they will bear handling and moving about
without disintegration. This incorporation into bricks or blocks will not be
needed when smelting chambers of the second' description are employed, as
the heated reducing gases having merely. to pass over the mixture of ores;
flux, and carbonaceous matter these materials may be charged into the smelting
chamber in their dry pulverized condition either simultaneously or separately,
and at such intervals as may be desirable during the progress of the
operation. The gas chambers being properly charged with their complement of
fuel and the smelting chambers with the mixture of ores, flux, and carbonaceous
matter either incorporated into bricks' or blocks or in the pulverized state as
before described, and a due supply of fuel to the gas chambers' and of ore and
materials to the smelting chambers being constantly kept up, operations now
proceed thus:-Currents of atmospheric air either cold or heated by any of
the well-known apparatus for that purpose are forced by any of the usual
blowing machines through the ignited fuel in the gas chambers and intense
combustion thereby produced. The oxygen of the atmospheric air by its
passage through the stratum of burning fuel is converted into carbonic oxide.
This carbonic oxide and the nitrogen of the air pass at a very high temperature.
from. the. gas chambers. either directly through the smelting chambers or
intermediately through the series of fire-clay pipes already, described as being
in some cases. interposed between the gas chambers and the smelting
chambers; in the latter case the gases. are superheated by external means
to any required degree, and then pass through the smelting chambers. By
the passage of these highly heated gases through the smelting chambers the
mixture of ores, flux, and carbonaceous matter is raised to a correspondingly
high temperature, and partly from the action of the intensely heated reducing
gases and partly from the action, of the carbon contained in the mixture the
iron contained in the ores is reduced to the metallic state. By continuing the
operation more carbon is taken up, by the metallic iron, and according to the
proportion of carbon thus combined with the iron the product is either steel or
cast iron, as may be.required..
When smelting chambers of the first described construction are employed
and wrought iron or welding steel is required as the product the malleable
iron or welding steel formed as first described is removed in masses or blooms
by mechanical, means from the smelting chambers through a doorway or breast
formed in the hearth part for the purpose. These masses or blooms either with

page_text: or.without being reheated in ordinary heating furnaces are hammered, squeezed,
or rolled in the ordinary manner into the shapes and sizes required. The void
caused by the removal of these masses or blooms from the hearth of the
smelting chambers is filled by the descent of a further portion of the already
heated and partially reduced ores from above into the hearth, where their
reduction is fully completed and the temperature of the resulting malleable iron or
welding steel raised to the welding heat requisite for the hammering, squeezing,
or rolling processes. When cast steel or cast iron is intended to be the product
from smelting chambers of the first described construction, the mixture of ore
and materials having been subjected to a proportionately longer exposure to
the action of the heated gases as before mentioned, the molten steel or cast
iron resulting from the operation runs into the hearth or crucible part of the
smelting chambers and is tapped therefrom through an aperture made for the
purpose. The molten cinder formed by the union of the flux with any earthy
matter associated with the ores flows from the smelting chamber through an
orifice formed at a suitable height therein. The descent of the mixture of
ores and materials from above proceeds as the portions contained in the hearth
are smelted and removed. Fresh supplies of the mixture of ores and mate-
rials are constantly fed in at the top of the smelting chamber, and the smelting
of the ores and the production of the metal proceed without intermission.
When smelting chambers of the second described construction are employed
and wrought iron or welding steel is required as the product, the welding
steel or malleable iron produced as before described by the action of the gases
on the mixture of ores and materials are removed in masses or blooms by
ordinary mechanical means from the hearth through a doorway for the
purpose, and either with or without being reheated in ordinary heating
furnaces, hammered, squeezed, or rolled into the shapes and sizes required.
When cast steel or cast iron is required as the product of this second described
smelting chamber, the mixture of ores and materials having been subjected to
a proportionately longer exposure to the heated gases, as before described, the
molten steel or cast iron resulting from the operation runs down into the
hearth and is tapped therefrom through a suitable aperture for the purpose.
The molten cinder formed by the union of the flux with any earthy matter
associated with the ores flows from the smelting chamber through an orifice
formed at a suitable height therein. The descent or removal of the mixture
of ores and materials from the extension or preparatory part of the smelting
chamber proceeds as the portions contained in the hearth are smelted. and
removed. Fresh supplies of the mixture of ores and materials are constantly
fed into the extension or preparatory part of the smelting chamber, and

page_text: ihe smelting of the ores and production of the metal proceed without inter-
mission.
Figure 1 represents in plan, Figure 2 in vertical section, and Figure 3 in
horizontal section a furnace and apparatus for the manufacture of iron and
steel arranged according to one of the methods constituting our Invention.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in each Figure of the
Drawings.
: a is the chamber in which the prepared ore and carbonaceous matter and
lime or other flux are introduced and in which the smelting operation takes
place. The lower part 6 of the said chamber a constitutes a crucible or
hearth in which the smelted metal is received, and from which it is removed
by the ordinary method of tapping or otherwise according as malleable iron,
'or steel, or cast iron is produced. The materials are introduced at the top of
the chamber a, which top may be opened or closed at pleasure by raising or
lowering the conical cover c. On either side the smelting chamber a are
gas chambers d, d, communicating with the chamber a by the passages e, e³;
ff, are blast pipes which convey blasts of air either from the hot-air ovens
9, 9, or direct from the blast engine when it is not required that the blast
should be heated. The said blasts of air pass from the pipes f, f, through
the tuyeres h, h³, into the gas chambers d, d³; i, i, are valves for regulating
the blast. The gas chambers d, d², are filled with the fuel by the openings
k, k, at their tops, which openings are after the introduction of the fuel
closed by the covers 1, 1. When the furnace and apparatus are in action the
smelting chamber a is kept filled or nearly filled with the prepared ore,
carbonaceous matter, and flux, and the gas chambers d, d³, are kept filled
with coke. The coke in the gas chambers d, d³, being ignited and blasts of
air from the tuyeres h, h³, passing through the ignited coke a mixture of
heated carbonic oxide and nitrogen gas passes from the gas chambers through
'the passages e, e³, into the smelting chamber a, where by its heat and the
reducing or deoxidizing property of the said carbonic oxide and carbon in the
smelting chamber a the ore in the said chamber a is heated and reduced or
deoxidized. The reduced metal and scoria or cinder fall into the crucible or
hearth b, from whence they are from time to time removed.
Figures 4, 5, and 6 represent another arrangement of furnace and
apparatus constructed according to our Invention for the manufacture of iron
and steel, Figure 4 being an end elevation, Figure 5 a longitudinal vertical
section, and Figure 6 a plan. In this arrangement of our Invention the
smelting chamber is formed with a hearth a and a reverberatory arch a³, the
ore and materials being charged into the hearth of the said chamber, the

page_text: heated air and gases from the gas chambers 6, 63, playing against the arch a²
and being reverberated or reflected therefrom down upon the ore and materials
in the hearth of the said chamber. The products of combustion pass away by
the flue or chimney x. The blast from the blast pipe f is delivered by the
tuyeres h, h, into the gas chambers 6, 62, and the carbonic oxide produced
mixed with the nitrogen of the air is conducted by the passages c, c³, into the
chamber or furnace a. The ore and materials are introduced into the hearth
a of the smelting chamber, and the reduced metal is removed therefrom by the
door a. Fuel is introduced into the gas chamber 6, 63, by the doors b³, b'.
The blast from the pipe f is conveyed to the tuyere h² by the pipe f³, which
passes under the furnace for the sake of convenience.
Figures 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 represent another arrangement of furnace
and apparatus according to our Invention for the manufacture of iron and
steel, Figure 7 being a plan, Figure 8 a longitudinal vertical section, and
Figure 9 a horizontal section; Figure 10 is an end elevation, and Figure 11
a side elevation.
In this arrangement the smelting chamber a has a reverberatory arch a',
and is provided with only one gas chamber 6 of large size, from which
the mixture of heated carbonic oxide and nitrogen passes through the
passage c into the chamber a at one end only, and after passing over and
operating upon the ore and materials in the said chamber a escapes by the
passage d into the chimney e. f is the blast pipe, and h the tuyere. The
gas chamber b is filled through an opening in its top, which may be opened
and closed at pleasure by the cover i. The ore and materials are introduced
into the chamber a, and iron or steel removed therefrom by the opening a³.
Instead of passing the gases directly from the gas chambers into the smelting
chamber, as described and illustrated, the said gases may be superheated
before being passed into the smelting chamber.
Having now described the nature of our Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, we wish it to be understood that we do
not limit ourselves to the precise details herein described and illustrated, as
the same may be varied without departing from the nature of our Invention;
but we claim as our Invention,―
Firstly. The improvements in the manufacture of iron and steel herein-
before described, that is to say, smelting iron ores and producing therefrom
either malleable iron, steel, or cast iron by subjecting a mixture of the iron
ores and flux either with or without carbonaceous matter to the action of a
mixture of highly heated carbonic oxide and nitrogen gases, such mixture of
Lases being produced by passing atmospheric air through a stratum of ignited

page_text: fuel, the said fuel not being mingled with the ores to be smelted, substantially
as described.
Secondly. The arrangements of furnaces and apparatus to be used in the
manufacture of iron and steel, substantially as herein-before described and
illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Callender Hinde, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
THOMAS CALLENDER HINDE. (L.S.)
Witness,
THOMAS WILLIAM MARTIN,
Fownhope,
Nr. Hereford.