IMPROVEMENTS IN THE SMELTING OF IRON AND OTHER ORES
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Frederick Smith, of 15, Golden Square, in
the County of Middlesex, Solicitor, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE SMELTING OF IRON AND OTHER ORES."-A communication from
abroad by Robert William Sievier, late of Upper Holloway, in the
County of Middlesex, but now residing in the City of Hamburgh.
Sealed the 12th February 1861, and dated the 17th September 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Frederick Smith
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 17th September 1860.
I, GEORGE FREDERICK SMITH, of 15, Golden Square, in the County of
Middlesex, Solicitor, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE SMELTING OF IRON AND OTHER ORES," a communica-
tion to him from abroad by Robert William Sievier, of Upper Holloway,
in the County of Middlesex, but now residing in the City of Hamburg,
to be as follows:-
The Invention consists, first, in the means I take to prevent the rapid
destruction of the lower part of the furnace by reason of the intense heat
produced by adopting the exhaust principle; and, secondly, by making
the crucible revolve or oscillate in various ways as well as move in a
perpendicular direction, in order to expose different surfaces of the
crude metal and half wrought iron to the action of the air or gases as it
falls and collects on the crucible, which deoxydizes it more equally, and

page_text: produces a more malleable metal from the ore than is produced by any
other known process; thirdly, in employing, in addition to the exhaust
principle, a blast in certain parts of the apparatus, combining the
exhaust and the blast together when such combination is applicable
and useful.
I place a moveable metal casing at the bottom of the furnace where
the heat is very intense; this metal casing has cold water passing into
it continually, which circulates round it, its inner surface being in con-
tact with the smelting metal, and the quantity of water so circulating
must be regulated so as not to materially chill the metal, & yet so as
to be sufficient to prevent a rapid destruction of that part of the casing
exposed to the heat. This furnace has no boshes, such as are now in use,
but I make the outer casing of such a shape that the ore and materials
form themselves into what may be termed the boshes where the ore is
reducing. By these means I preserve the lower part of the furnace, as
these boshes are composed of the materials used, some of them being so
far distant as not to be consumed or altered much in their form or
quality. Should the moveable metal casing at any time require renew-
ing, it can by my Invention be removed and replaced by a new one while
the furnace is at work. The crucible is so arranged as to rotate or move
in horizontal directions as well as vertically, whereby the materials at
the bottom of the furnace are made to change their positions, and
thereby the air which enters into the lower part (caused by the exhaust
or the exhaust and blast combined) takes different directions as new
surfaces are exposed to it; this operation causes the metal to be more
equally decarbonized and purified, and produces a much better loup or
ball from iron ore, the metal produced being iron or steel, according to
the degree of decarbonization.
I not only use an exhaust, but at the same time, when I require it, a
blast or blasts in different parts of the furnace, which blast is common
air or gases, whichever may be most suitable to the metals operated
upon.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Frederick Smith in the Great Scal Patent Office
on the 13th March 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
FREDERICK SMITH, of 15, Golden Square, in the County of Middlesex,
Solicitor, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of September, Eighteen
hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third and twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said George Frederick Smith, Her special license that I, the
said George Frederick Smith, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said George Frederick Smith, 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 THE SMELTING OF IRON AND OTHER ORES," being a communication from
abroad by Robert William Sievier, late of Upper Holloway, in the County
of Middlesex, but now residing in the City of Hamburgh, upon the con-
ditions (amongst others) that I, the said George Frederick Smith, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Office, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane,
London, within six calender months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Frederick Smith, 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 (that is to say):-
The description described as below is for the smelting of iron
particularly.
In the accompanying Drawings or Plans Fig. 1 represents a sectional
view of a small furnace, according to the scale of one-quarter of an inch
to the foot; Fig. 2, an enlarged view of the outside of the lower part,
and Fig. 3, a cross horizontal section of that part taken in the line of the
dots 4; Fig. 4 is the exhausting apparatus; Fig. 5 and 6 are parts of the
same on an enlarged scale to shew it more distinctly.
Fig. 1, the outer part b, b, b, is made of sheet or cast metal, which
I prefer to bricks or stone, as the furnace is more safely made air-tight
a is a filling tube, which has a cover upon it y; this cover is raised by
the chain z when the ore, coals, and lime are put in by the workmen in
the usual way of charging an iron furnace; these materials fall into the

page_text: lower part c, and when the furnace has been heated in the manner now
in use these layers of ore, coal, and lime are continued until they reach
the top of the filling tube a; at the lower end of this tube a at g is placed
a conical piece of metal or fire stone, which is held up in the place by
bars r, r; this conical piece spreads the materials more evenly over the
surface of the enlarged space c; this part of the furnace is lined with
fire-bricks or stone, as seen at d, d, d, having sand placed round the
rows of bricks e, e, e, the bricks must be built up with fire-clay, so that
no air or gases may be drawn up between them; at s and s+, are two
tubes, which communicate with the tube 8, 8, by the openings u+ and u
and the pipe t, which passes behind the filling tube (as seen by the
dots) the tube 8 is attached to the tube 8+, Fig. 4 of the exhauster, so
that when the exhauster g is turned round it exhausts out the gases as
generated by the combustion of the materials at the lower part of the
furnace at o+, o+, as seen by the arrows, and the gases pass upwards in
the direction of the arrows and out by the action of the exhauster; v
and v
are two safety tubes; these tubes stand with their open ends in a
trough of water w, w, to prevent any danger in the explosion of the gases;
x, x, are two man-holes, which may be opened as occasion requires.
The furnace stands upon columns f, f. The lower part 3 is an iron
casing in which water is made to circulate by the pipes 5 and 6, the
cooler water going into the lower one, and the warmer passing out at
the higher one; the exterior of this iron casing I expose to the action
of the fire, as I find that no fire-bricks or any such material will with-
stand the great heat produced by using the exhauster in the smelting
of iron ores, and I regulate the quantity of cooler water, which is
passing through the interior of the iron casing in sufficient quantity to
prevent its rapid destruction, or I take a coil or coils of iron tubing to
make the lower part of the furnace in the manner seen in Fig. 7 and 8;
a, a, are the tubes if I use them in separate coils; b, b, fire-clay between
and behind them; c, an outside iron casing, and d sand, I adopt, in case
I use the iron tube or tubes, the same plan as was patented by Mr.
Perkins (which Patent is now expired) "For Certain Improvements in
an Apparatus for Heating the Air in Buildings, and Evaporating Fluids
and Heating Metals," viz., by using the water hermetically sealed, and
when such water has passed along these heated pipes, it may be used
by passing it through a boiler for generating steam, or the heat may
be used for any useful purpose, or the water may be cooled to return it
cooler to the furnace again; this coil or coils of pipes pass into and are

page_text: attached to the outer casing c, and are in the same position at the
bottom of the furnace as the water casing Fig. 1. I adopt the same
method of hermetically closing up the water when I use the iron casing,
letting it at the same time cool itself by pipes passing from it and to it.
The crucible ghas on its upper side a sunken place at g+, and rising
again, as seen in the middle; there are also four slag slots or channels
made for the slag to run; see plan view Fig. 7, 20, 20, 20, 20, this
crucible is arranged so as to rise and fall by an apparatus, as drawn in
the following manner:-On turning round the lever p, Fig. 1, which
moves the bevil wheels o, the shaft m+ is turned, which has fixed upon
it the worms n, n, which worms work into the worm wheels m, m,
which are affixed to the upright screws k, k, the action of which raises
or falls the crucible g; this crucible can be let down upon the rail Z, and
moved away in case a fresh one is necessary; this crucible rests upon a
table i, which table is furnished with a pin j; this pin enters into a
hole at the bottom of the crucible; the table i has fixed upon it (and just
raising above its surface) six or more small rollers or wheels in the same
manner as the turn-tables used by sculptors, upon which rollers the
crucible is made easy to revolve or move on its centre, so as to change
the position of the half made wrought iron as it is being decarbonized,
and by so doing the iron is made much more even than when the crucible
moves only in a vertical direction. If I desire the crucible also to
move horizontally I merely stop the hole where the pin j enters to the
extent of two inches, which will allow of a lateral motion of one inch
in each direction, which is sufficient to alter the position of the materials
in the lower part of the furnace where the air enters. Fig. 2 is an
enlarged view of the outer casing at the bottom of the furnace; the
letters and figures are the same on the same parts. The square frame 21
is hung upon the hooks 23; this frame is hung up when the loup or ball
of metal requires removing, flat bars of iron 22, 22, 22, are passed over
the ball of metal, and also over the lower parts of the square frame,
and over a similar square frame on the opposite side of the furnace;
these bars keep up the superincumbent mass while the crucible is
lowered to remove the ball or loup, after the ball or loup is removed the
crucible is again raised, and the rods 22 are withdrawn, and another
ball is then made; it is better to decrease the speed of the exhauster
during the time the ball is being removed from the crucible. If a new
casing 3 is required, one is easily put there while the furnace is at
work, by first unscrewing the nuts 4, 4, of the bolts far enough to let

page_text: the bars 22 pass through over the upper part of the casing 3, which bars
can be held up by a rod laying upon the hooks 23; the casing then can
be lowered upon the crucible and removed, and a new one supplied in
its place. Fig. 3 shews a plan view of the bottom of the furnace cut
through at the dotted line 4+. I prefer having two divisions in the water
casing, so that the water may enter into the pipes 6 and 6º, and exit at
5 and 5+ by this means the casing is more even in its temperature.
Fig. 7 is only a plan view of the crucible to shew the slag slots 20, 20.
Fig. 5 is a side view of Fig. 6; both 5 and 6 are only enlarged views of
the working parts of Fig. 4, and the same numbers or letters refer to
the same parts of these three Figures. Fig. 4 represents the exhauster 9,
which is fitted upon the shaft 10; the exhauster turns round in the case
9+; the leaves or fans of the exhauster are set at an angle of about 20°
with the shaft 10, and they are curved a little towards the case 9+, so
that when the exhauster is turned round with great velocity the air or
gases which is in the pipe 8* are drawn out, and the air rushes in at
the bottom of the furnace at o+, o+, to supply its place. The shaft 10
is supported upon the plate 14 by the bearings 17 and 10+; the shaft fits
loose in the horizontal direction of the bearing 10+, seen Fig. 5 and 6;
this shaft 10 is moved by a strap 18 which runs upon a pully 11; this
strap pulls the shaft 10 hard against the friction wheel 12, which will
only make about one revolution to six of the shaft; this causes the shaft
to be moved with much less power, removing the friction very con-
siderably. 15 is a brick or stone foundation, and 16 are the rods to
keep the plate 14 in its place. When I assist the smelting of the ore
with a blast, I connect a flexible pipe with the blowing apparatus or
a gasometer if I use gases; this flexible pipe has a nozzle attached to
it, that the air or gases may be applied as desired at the opening o+
at the bottom of the furnace. I prefer the nozzle to be cased over, as
seen, Fig. 10. a represents the nozzle; b, the case, which is open at
both ends, the nozzle being keep'd in its place by supports c, c. The
action of the furnace is easily understood, viz., the fire being lighted and
the furnace charged up to the top, the exhauster is set in motion by
any motive power; this exhausts the air from the upper part of the
furnace o; the air rushes in at o+, and the ore is reduced; as this goes
on the ore and materials fall in the filling tube a, which is kept con-
tinually replenished; as the ore is reduced the slag leaves the metal and
runs off at the slag slots; the metal is decarbonized as it drops to the
bottom of the furnace, and is more so as fresh surfaces are offered to the
action of the air, by moving the crucible in either or all the ways before

page_text: mentioned; when a sufficient quantity has accumulated to form a ball
or loup it is removed in the manner as before named. The iron that
is produced from this furnace is a wrought iron or a steel according to
the quantity of air let in at the lower part of the furnace, and the
surfaces of the metal exposed to its influence for decarbonization. Copper
or other ores reduced by this method require a mere modification in the
form of the furnace.
Having described the Invention, I claim particularly the water casing
and coil of pipes as applied to the lower part of the furnace, without
any protection or covering, having its sides next to the smelting mass
of ores and materials, and also the rotation and lateral motion of the
crucible, as described, whereby I alter and bring fresh surfaces of the
metal to the action of the air to decarbonize it.
Also, I claim the forms of the interior lower part of the furnace,
whereby the ore and materials arrange themselves so as to make their
own form of boshes, which boshes are now made of fire-bricks or fire-
stone, and require renewing.
I do not confine myself to the forms or shapes of the furnace as here
set forth, as they may be varied. I claim the parts named, and the uses
to which they are applied, or any mere modification thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Frederick Smith, have here-
tofore set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of January,
Anno Domini One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
GEO. F. SMITH. (L.S.)
Signed and sealed, in the presence of
WM. HALES,
Clerk to Messrs. Smith & Shepherd,
15, Golden Square, London,
Solicitors.