IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jonathan Ireland, junior, of Edward Street,
1
Broughton Lane, Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION. left by the said Jonathan Ireland at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his. Petition, on
the 8th July 1874.
I, JONATHAN IRELAND, junior, of Edward Street, Broughton Lane,
Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS
FOR REDUCING ORES OF MANGANESE AND OTHER METALLIC OXIDES," to be as.
follows:-

page_text: No. 1795, were described a process of and apparatus for reducing oxides
of iron, and furnishing as a product iron in a spongy condition.
My Invention relates to improvements in the mode of conducting
this process, and in the construction of the apparatus employed therein,
whereby they are rendered applicable to the reduction of other metallic
oxides besides iron, and in particular to the reduction of manganese
ores. For this purpose I provide a vertical cylindrical furnace or
reducing vessel, the upper part of which is constructed of fire-brick,
or other refractory material, with an internal refractory lining built
in rings dowelled into one another, these rings being so much smaller
than the interior of the structure as to leave an annular flue all round
them for heating flame. At the upper part of the furnace I insert
a still smaller cylinder of refractory material supporting it on brackets
formed on the inner lining, and this cylinder is of such size as to leave
round it between it and the lining an annular space for the passage
of the material to be operated on.
The annular flue above mentioned is supplied with gas led into it
by branches from a main gas supply pipe, and immediately over the
mouth of cach such branch is an aperture for the admission of air,
so that the gas on entering the annular fluc and being ignited meets
with the supply of air necessary for its combustion. I prefer to arrange
these gas branches and air apertures in two or more tiers so as to
give a nearly uniform heat throughout the height of the annular flue.
The lower part of the reducing vessel consists of an iron cylinder sur-
rounded by a water jacket, and terminating in a conical or sloping bottom
provided with a door which can be closed air-tight.
Although I have described above a single reducing vessel of circular
shape in horizontal section, it may be readily understood that such
a vessel may be made of square or polygonal section, and that two,
three, or more may be grouped together within one external structure.
In operating with this apparatus I first. mix the ore to be reduced
with carbonaceous matter sufficient in quantity to take up the oxygen
in the orc. I introduce this mixture into the upper annular passage
above described between the lining and the inner cylinder, where it is
heated on the outside by the gas flame in the flue surrounding the
lining, and on the inside by the hot gases passing up the internal

page_text: cylinder from the material undergoing reduction in the lower part of
the vessel. The material thus heated descends into the part of the
vessel below the internal cylinder where it continues to receive heat
from the flue surrounding the lining, and in its progress through this
portion of the vessel the ore becomes reduced, its oxygen uniting with
the carbonaceous matter to form carbonic oxide which ascends through
the internal cylinder, while the reduced metal remains in a spongy
condition in the vessel. In its farther descent the spongy metal passes
along the lower iron portion of the vessel where it is cooled, water for
that purpose being caused to circulate in the surrounding jacket. From
time to time a portion of the cooled spongy metal is drawn off by
opening the door at the bottom, and the contents of the vessel thereupon
descend by gravity, and a fresh portion of the mixture to be reduced is
supplied at the top. .
The metallic sponge produced as above described may be melted in
crucibles, or may be added to other metals in a state of fusion to produce
alloys.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Jonathan Ireland in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 6th January 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JONATHAN
IRELAND, junior, of Edward Street, Broughton Lane, Manchester, in the.
County of Lancaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Jonathan Ireland, junior, Her special
license that I, the said Jonathan Ireland, junior, my executors, admini-.
strators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Jonathan Ireland,
junior, my executors, administrators, or 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,
.
་
1

page_text: 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 PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR REDUCING ORES OF
MANGANESE AND OTHER METALLIC OXIDES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Jonathan Ireland, junior, my executors or ad-
ministrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one
of their hands and seals, 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 Jonathan Ireland, junior, 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, reference being had to the accom-
panying Sheet of Drawings, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say-
In the Specification of a Patent granted to John Imray for a com-
munication from Thomas Schoenberger Blair, on the 14th June 1872,
No. 1795, were described a process of and apparatus for reducing oxides
of iron, and furnishing as a product iron in a spongy condition.
My Invention relates to improvements in the mode of conducting
this process, and in the construction of the apparatus employed therein,
whereby they are rendered applicable to the reduction of other metallic
oxides besides iron, and in particular to the reduction of manganese
ores. For this purpose I provide a vertical cylindrical furnace or
reducing vessel, the upper part of which is, constructed of fire-brick,
or other refractory material, with an internal refractory lining built.
in rings dowelled into one another, these rings being so much smaller
than the interior of the structure as to leave an annular flue all round
them for heating flame. At the upper part of the furnace I insert
a still smaller cylinder of refractory material supporting it on brackets
formed on the inner lining, and this cylinder is of such size as to leave
round it between it and the lining an annular space for the passage of
the material to be operated on..
.J.
The annular flue above mentioned is supplied with gas led into it

page_text: by branches from a main gas supply pipe, and immediately over the
mouth of each such branch is an aperture for the admission of air,
so that the gas on entering the annular flue and being ignited meets
with the supply of air necessary for its combustion. I prefer to arrange
these gas branches and air apertures in two or more tiers so as to
give a nearly uniform heat throughout the height of the annular flue.
The lower part of the reducing vessel consists of an inner cylinder sur-
rounded by a water jacket, and terminating in a conical or sloping bottom
provided with a door which can be closed air-tight.
Although I have described above a single reducing vessel of circular
shape in horizontal section, it may be readily understood that such a
vessel may be made of square or polygonal section, and that two, three,
or more may be grouped together within one external structure,
:
In operating with this apparatus I first mix the ore to be reduced
with carbonaceous matter sufficient in quantity to take up the oxygen
in the ore. I introduce this mixture into the upper annular passage
above described between the lining and the inner cylinder, where it is
heated on the outside by the gas flame in the flue surrounding the
lining, and on the inside by the hot gases passing up the internal
cylinder from the material undergoing reduction in the lower part of
the vessel. The material thus heated descends into the part of the
vessel below the internal. cylinder, where it continues to receive heat
from the flue surrounding. the lining, and in its progress through this*
portion of the vessel the ore becomes reduced, its oxygen uniting with¯
the carbonaceous matter to form carbonic oxide which ascends through
the internal cylinder, while the reduced metal remains in a spongy
condition in the vessel. In its farther descent the spongy metal passes.
along the lower iron portion of the vessel where it is cooled, water for
that purpose being caused to circulate in the surrounding jacket. From
time to time a portion of the cooled spongy metal is drawn off by
opening the door at the bottom, and the contents of the vessel thereupon
descend by gravity, and a fresh portion of the mixture to be reduced is
supplied at the top.
The metallic snonce produced es ahora deseribad ww

page_text: Fig.
represents a plan, and Fig. 2, a sectional plan, of..a. group of
three retorts according to my Invention; Fig. 3 represents partly a side
view and partly a longitudinal section thereof; and Fig. 4 represents
à transverse section through one of the retorts.
A is the outer wall within which is built the inner refractory
lining B constructed in rings dowelled into one another, an annular
space C being left between the outer wall A and the lining B. On
one of the upper rings of B are formed brackets 6 which support a
cylinder of refractory material D, leaving an annular space d between
it and the interior of the lining B. The lower part of each retort
consists of an iron cylinder E surrounded by a water jacket F, the
bottom of the cylinder E being made to slope towards a door G
which can be opened from time to time for the withdrawal of material
from the interior of the retort. Gas pipes H are arranged with 1
branches at different levels, which branches pass through the exterior.
wall A and open into the annular space C. Over each branch his
formed an aperture K for admitting air, and a number of other like
apertures are also provided through the outer wall, each such aperture
being fitted with a valve or slide, so that the quantity of air, admitted. 2
at different points may be regulated as desired. A sight hole is also.
made in each slide for the purpose of observing the state of the heat.
within the combustion chamber C.
In operating with this apparatus combustible gas supplied by the
pipes H and branches to the space C is ignited, air entering to 2
support the combustion by the apertures K, and the supply of gas
and air being regulated at the different points so as to maintain a
heat as nearly uniform as possible throughout the space C. The
products of combustion escape by chimneys L. The manganese. ore
or other oxide to be operated on, mingled with the amount of car- 3
bonaceous matter necessary for reduction, is introduced at the top
of the retort into the annular space d in which it descends exposed™
externally to the heat of the products of combustion in C, and internally
to the heat of the gases produced from the reduction of the materials
below, these gases escaping through the central passage of D. The 3

page_text: mixed material thus heated in its descent through d is farther heated
as it descends through the body of the retort and undergoes reduction.
When it arrives at the lower part of the retort where the iron periphery
is cooled by. water, it becomes cool, so that it can be withdrawn from
time to time in a cold condition by the door G. As a portion of the
contents of the retort is thus withdrawn the rest of the contents descend
to supply its place, and a fresh portion of the material is fed at the top
so that the operation is continuous, and air is excluded from the material
undergoing reduction while it is heated.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I hereby declare that I make
no general claim to the process of reducing iron ores by causing
them, mixed with carbonaceous matter, to descend through vertical
retorts where they are heated and subsequently cooled, nor do I claim
generally the use of such vertical retorts for the production of spongy
iron; but I claim,-
First. The process, substantially as herein described, for reducing
ores of manganese and other metallic oxides by mingling them with
carbonaceous material, feeding the mixture by an annular passage
heated both externally and internally into a vertical retort externally
licated by gaseous flame, in which retort the oxides undergo reduction
as the contents descend, and cooling the reduced materials in their
farther descent before withdrawal from the retort, air being excluded
from the materials while they are undergoing reduction..
Second. The use, for the purpose above referred to, of a vertical
retort having its lower part of iron, water jacketted, surmounted by
an internal lining which is surrounded by an annular combustion
chamber supplied with gas and air, and having at its upper part
an internal cylinder for the escape of the gaseous products of reduction,
the annular passage for feeding the materials to be operated on being
thus heated internally as well as externally, substantially as herein
described.
Third. In a retort, such as is above referred to, forming the lower

page_text: Fourth. In a retort, such as is referred to above, constructing the
internal lining of rings of refractory material dowelled into one another,
substantially as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jonathan Ireland, junior, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fourth day of January, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
flvc.