IMPROVEMENTS IN FURNACES FOR DEOXYDIZING IRON ORES PREPARATORY TO THEIR BEING WORKED INTO. WROUGHT IRON
Year: 1872

page_text: ETTERS PATENT to George Tomlinson Bousfield, of Sutton, in the
County of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN FURNACES
FOR DEOXYDIZING IRON ORES PREPARATORY TO THEIR BEING WORKED INTO.
WROUGHT IRON." A communication from abroad from Joel Wilson;
residing at Dover, State of New Jersey, in the United States of
America.
ealed the 20th September 1872; and dated the 29th July 1872:
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said George Tomlinson
Bousfield at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition and Declaration; on the 29th July 1872, pursuant to the
9th Section of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME; I; GEORGE.
TOMLINSON BOUSFIELD, of Sutton, in the. County of Surrey, send
greeting.

page_text: INTO WROUGHT IRON," and have petitioned Her most Excellent Majesty
Queen Victoria to grant unto me, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and have made solemn
Declaration that it is a communication to me from abroad from Joel
Wilson, a person resident at Dover, State of New Jersey, in the United
States of America.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention to be as follows :—
This Invention relates to furnaces adapted to accomplish the
dcoxydizing of iron ores by cementation preparatory to their being
worked into wrought iron, and it consists of certain combinations and
arrangements of retorts and flues which are herein-after more fully set
forth by which the said operation is more satisfactorily and economically
accomplished than has heretofore been done.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a furnace constructed according to my
Invention. Figure 2 is a vertical central section of the same upon the
plané indicated by the line x, x, drawn across Figure 4. Figure 3 is a
vertical central section of the same upon the plane indicated by the
line y, y, drawn across Figure 4. Figure 4, is a horizontal section of
the same shewing the parts below the line, z, drawn across Figures 1,
2,'and '3."
A is the shell of the furnace, which shell encloses a circular series of
upright retorts B, B, which are made of fire-clay or some other suitable
refractory material, and the series is so constructed as to form flues C, C,
between the said retorts, as shewn in the Drawings; D is the top or roof
'of the furnace, which roof is made with openings or charging holes a, a,
immediately over the retorts B, B, to allow the carbonic acid gas formed
in the process of cementation to escape and also to allow additional
material to be supplied to the retorts as occasion may require. The
construction of the series of retorts B, B, and intervening flues C, C, is
such as to form and surround an internal chamber E, into which heat
to carry on the process of cementation and reduction of the ore is
received through the flue F from a balling furnace in connection with
which this reducing furnace is designed to be worked, the heat passing
from the flue F into the well hole G, and thence-ascending into the
internal chamber E. To supply this necessary heat for operating this

page_text: furnace the products of combustion which escape, from the balling
furnace and would otherwise pass into the chimney are turned into the
flue ; these rising in the internal chamber impart a portion of their
heat through the inner walls of the retorts B, B, to the materials con-
tained in the said retorts, and as the retorts are arranged in a circle
surrounding the internal chamber the heat is very equally distributed
among all the retorts of the series. The products of combustion from
the internal chamber E are allowed to pass through openings b, b, in
the upper part of the chamber E, into the flues C, C, through which
flues the products of combustion descend into the flues H, H, and
through the latter are discharged into an annular or collecting chamber
whence they pass through the flue J to the chimney. To at least
prevent the escape of the heat through the outer walls of the retorts
B, B, the casing A is lined with a hollow cylindrical wall K, which
should be made of fire-brick or some other material which is a bad
conductor of heat and should be of sufficient internal diameter to leave
a thin annular flue space between it and the outer walls of the retorts
B, B, as shewn in the Drawings, and into this annular flue space openings
c, c, are made from the flues C, C, to allow the heat and products of
combustion to circulate freely between this casing K and the outer
walls of the retorts B, B, and thereby at least prevent the loss of heat
through the outer walls of the said retorts and perhaps add somewhat
through the said outer walls to the heat of the materials contained in
the retorts, L, L, are partitions in the upper ends of the flues C, C, to,
give an immediate downward direction to the products of combustion
as they enter these flues, and prevent too much of the heat from being
expended at the upper ends of the retorts; d, d, are apertures in the
bottoms of the retorts B, B, for the withdrawal of the ore after it has
been subjected to the process of cementation. These apertures may bo
closed when not in use by means of sliding doors, or any other suitable
devices. If deemed expedient the internal chamber may have a grate
fitted to its lower end, and the requisite heat may be obtained by burning
fuel in the said chamber instead of connecting it with a balling furnace..
The ore to be reduced should be pulverised or crushed and intimately
mixed with a sufficient quantity of coal dust or other deoxydizing:
material to remove the oxygen from the ore and the retorts B, B, filled
through the charging holes at a with this mixture. The waste heat
from a balling or other furnace entering by the flue F, is allowed to

page_text: pass continually through this furnace in the manner already described,
and should be sufficient in quantity and intensity to keep the material
in the retorts B, B, at a red heat, or at a sufficient heat to cause the
carbon in the coal dust or other deoxydizing material to combine with
the oxygen in the ore and expel it therefrom. As the ore becomes
sufficiently deoxydized to be worked it may be removed from the retorts
through the apertures d, d, and taken to the balling furnace where it
is worked into balls, and it is afterwards treated in the usual manner.
As the retorts become partially emptied, either from the withdrawal
of the ore as above stated, or from the burning out of the carbonaceous
material, they should be filled up with an additional supply of the
mixture of ore and deoxydizing material, and the process may thus bė
continued indefinitely.
Having thus described a furnace embodying my improvements in the
mode in which they have been practically used, I declare that I am
aware that furnaces with upright retorts for the calcining of bones and
for other purposes have long been known in the arts, and therefore I do
not claim broadly the use of such retorts nor the arrangement of them
in connection with a furnace for heating them; what I claim as the
Invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is, -
The arrangement and combination substantially as above set forth of
the circular series of upright retorts and intervening flues, the internal
chamber within said series for the products of combustion, and the.
collecting chamber for receiving 'said products after they have traversed
the intervening flues.
Also the arrangement and combination substantially as before set
forth of the said internal chamber, the circular series of upright retorts
surrounding that chamber, and the flue for delivering the products of
combustion from the balling furnace.
Also the arrangement and combination substantially as before set
forth of the internal chamber, the circular series of upright retorts
surrounding that chamber, the flues intervening between the said retorts,
and the external annular flue space surrounding said retorts.
Also the arrangement and combination substantially as before set
forth of the internal chamber, the circular series of upright retorts
surrounding said chamber, the flues intervening between said .retorts,

page_text: the annular flue space surrounding said retorts, and the partitions at the
upper ends of said flues.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of July,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
two.