IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Noad, of Richmond Works, Plaistow, in the
County of Essex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF IRON AND STEEL"
Sealed the 24th May 1878, and dated the 19th March 1878.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Noad at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 19th March 1878.
JAMES NOAD, of Richmond Works, Plaistow, in the County of Essex. "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL."
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of iron and
steel.
I prepare from iron a hydrated peroxide of iron by forming heaps or beds of the
metal, and keeping it moist with water or a saline solution, and in some cases I
hasten the oxidation of the iron by the application of a galvanic battery.
I take the hydrated peroxide thus obtained and reduce it to fine powder, and
employ the finely powdered oxide in the following manner :-I place at the bottom
of a crucible a quantity of the oxide, and over it I place cast iron. I heat the crucible
in a furnace until the iron is melted, and as soon as it has been acted upon by the
oxide I cast the metal into ingot moulds. The ingots thus obtained I employ in
the manufacture of steel by remelting them with iron or steel scrap in suitable
proportions, according to the quality of the steel required.
I also employ the hydrated oxide of iron, obtained as above described, in the
refining of iron, and this I do by lining or covering the hearth or bed of the
furnace with the oxide, so that the melted metal may come into contact with it.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said James Noad in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 18th September
1878.
JAMES NOAD, of Richmond Works, Plaistow, in the County of Essex. IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL."
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of iron and
steel.
I prepare from iron a hydrated peroxide of iron by forming heaps or beds of the
metal, and keeping it moist with water or a saline solultion, and in some cases I
hasten the oxidation of the iron by the application of a galvanic battery.
The best way in which to conduct this operation is to take wrought iron and
steel scrap in as small pieces and as thin as it can conveniently be obtained. The
metal should be spread out in a heap of a convenient size, say, for example, forty
feet long, four feet broad at the bottom, and rising to a height of three feet along
the centre. The heap is kept constantly moist with water by sprinkling the heap
from time to time; and if a small quantity of common salt, or, better still, sal-
ammoniac, be added to the water, the oxidation of the iron will take place more
rapidly.
The conversion of the metal into oxide may also be hastened by the use of a
galvanic battery. The conducting wires from the battery are brought to the heap,
and their ends are buried amongst the scrap metal, one at either extremity of the
heap. The power of the battery is not of importance, except that naturally the
greater the power the more the effect in accelerating the oxidation. When the
greater part of the metal has been converted into oxide the pile is allowed to dry,
and then the material is passed between crushing rolls, which has the effect of
separating the oxide from the remaining metal. The metal is used in forming a
new heap.
I take the hydrated peroxide thus obtained and reduce it to fine powder by
passing it between millstones, and I employ the finely powdered oxide in the
following manner :-I place at the bottom of a crucible a quantity of the oxide, and
over it I place cast iron. Suitable proportions, where the cast iron contains one
per cent. of phosphorus, are one ounce of the hydrated oxide to the pound of cast
iron, and the quantity of oxide employed will be varied according to the greater or
less amount of phosphorus which the metal may contain. I heat the crucible in a
furnace until the iron is melted, and as soon as it has been acted upon by the
oxide I cast the metal into ingot moulds. The ingots thus obtained I employ in
the manufacture of steel by remelting them with iron or steel scrap in suitable
proportions, according to the quality of the steel required.
It is not necessary that I should describe in detail this remelting process, for the
operation of producing steel by melting cast iron with wrought iron or steel scrap
is well understood, it is sufficient to say that I carefully regulate the proportions
according to the quality of steel which I desire to obtain, and so that the per-
centage of carbon in the product may be that which is suitable to the purpose for
which the metal is intended.
When I wish to produce at a cheap rate a mild steel suitable for the manu--
facture of railway rails, I vary the process of manufacture in the following
manner: I produce cast ingots in the way already described, except that I add
lime in the crucible in quantity equal in weight to the hydrated oxide of iron, and
I mix the lime and the oxide together. The ingots which I thus obtain are piled
with scrap metal, the ingots are placed in the midst of the pile or bundle, and this
is heated in a furnace, and when at a suitable temperature it is placed under the
hammer and welded together. The slab thus obtained is reheated and is rolled into
rails in the usual way.
In forming the pile the proportion of scrap to ingot metal may be varied; usually

page_text: the proportions which will be found best will be between two parts and four parts
of scrap metal to one part of ingot metal.
I also employ the hydrated oxide of iron, obtained as above described, in the
refining of iron, and this I do by lining or covering the hearth or bed of the
furnace with the oxide, so that the melted metal may come into contact with it.
In this case I employ the hydrated oxide in the proportion of an ounce to the
pound, where the metal to be operated upon contains one per cent. of phosphorus,
and where the per-centage of phosphorus is less or more I decrease or increase the
quantity of hydrated oxide in the same ratio.
The refining hearth or bed is lined with the oxide, as already stated, and the
refining operation is conducted in the usual manner. Afterwards the metal is
puddled, and it is worked as in the ordinary way into rails or bars.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention and the manner of per-
forming the same, I would have it understood that I do not confine myself to the
proportions herein stated, although these are the best with which I am acquainted,
but what I claim is, the use in the manufacture of iron and steel of the hydrated
oxide of irou obtained by the oxidation of the metal, substantially as herein
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Noad, have hereunto set my hand and
seal, this Sixteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-eight.