IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL
Year: 1871

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
12th September 1871.-A communication from [abroad by Richard
Eaton, of Montreal, Canada, Mechanical Engineer.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
IRON AND STEEL," a communication, to be as follows:-
This Invention has reference in the first instance to the manufacture
of iron and steel from magnetic iron ore of the class found naturally
mixed with sand at the Moisic River in Canada, and in many other
places. This iron and sand found thus naturally mixed are divided in
any suitable manner, and after the sand and non-magnetic portions are
separated from the iron ore the residuum of pure peroxide of iron is
operated on in the following manner :— ·
Firstly. To any given amount of ore I add about 20 per cent. of chloride
of sodium (i.e., common salt), together with 5 to 10 per cent. of petro-
leum or other hydrocarbon. The ore thus prepared is subjected to the
action of heat, either enclosed in crucibles or placed in the "pit" of a

page_text: reverberatory furnace having either a neutral or carbonizing flame.
From there it is taken and subjected to hammering or rolling, as desired,
to produce blooms, bars, or plates. When iron or iron sponge is desired
the heat required is lower and the time shorter than when steel is the
object of manufacture. In the former case the ore is deoxidized by the
action of the chloride and hydrocarbon, and in the latter it is carbonized
also to form steel. The iron "sponge" may also be either welded up
into blooms suitable for axles, bars, or plates, or it may be used for
mixing with and tempering the steel to produce steel of any required
degree of softness.
-The
Secondly. In some cases I vary the above process as follows:-
peroxide of iron and chloride of sodium only being mixed together and
subjected to heat, the resulting mass of wholly or partially deoxidized
iron is broken up and mixed with any suitable hydrocarbon, or with any
carbonaceous matter, and then treated by heat and otherwise, as pre-
viously described.
Thirdly. The process may also be varied as follows:-I take the iron
ore containing both magnetic and non-magnetic peroxide of iron, the
latter having a portion of titanic acid contained therein, and treat it in
the same manner as the pure magnetic ore. The steel produced by
these processes may be run at once into ingots of suitable size for rails,
tires, axles, bars, or plates, or it may be remelted when required for fine
tools and other purposes.
1
Fourthly. I take other and more ordinary ores of iron, and after
calcining them and when necessary using any of the well-known fluxes
or reagents in common use to wholly or partially free the ore from
earthy matters, I treat the ore so. prepared in the manner described
under the first and second heads..
$
Fifthly. I take any iron ore or metal which is being produced there-
from, and during such time of production add to it such an excess of
carbon by means of mixing carbonaceous material therewith as will
cause the product to be a steely cast iron, suitable for many important
purposes.
Sixthly. I use chloride of sodium mixed with the magnetic and other
ores, and charcoal or other fuel in the "Catalan forge and in the
ordinary cupolas or "stacks" used for the reduction of ores, producing
iron or steel.

page_text: In the foregoing description of my Invention chloride of sodium (or
common salt) alone has been mentioned; this is because of the abundance
and cheapness of that article, but any of the other deoxidizing agents,
such as chlorate of ammonia (sal ammoniac) or chloride of calcium, the
nitrates of which are free or nearly so from oxygen, either alone or in
combination with chloride of sodium may
be used.