IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Onions, of Wellington Place, Blackfriars Road,
Southwark, in the County of Surrey, Engineer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON."
Scaled the 23rd January 1857, and dated the 23rd July 1856.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said John Onions at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and Declaration,
on the 23rd July 1856, pursuant to the 9th Section of tho Patent Law
Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, Jonn
ONIONS, of Wellington Place, Blackfriars Road, Southwark, County of Surrey,
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF IRON," and have petetioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the same,
and have made solemn declaration that I verily believe myself to be the first
and true Inventor thercof.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Onions, do hereby declare that
the following Complete Specification, under my hand and seal, fully describes
the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be
performed (that is to say) :-
I propose to apply at the tuyere or other suitable part or parts of the blast or
other furnace, the smoke, heated air, and other inflammable gases produced

page_text: from fires of any kind whatever, one, or more, or all of them, so that they
shall be consumed in passing through the fuzed mass of ore or iron in the said
furnace; also to prepare fuel of any combustible kind whatever, so as to apply
it at a high temperature in the shape of smoke with heated air and other
inflammable gases, or in finely pulverized particles, at the tuyere or other suit-
able part or parts of the blast or other furnace, so as to come into immediate
contact with the ores or iron in a state of fusion or cementation in the said
furnace; also to introduce fuel generally into the said furnace somewhere at
or near the junction of the boshes and shaft, or anywhere in the shaft, preferably
near the bottom.
I propose to effect these as follows:-I collect all the heated air, smoke, and
other gases in a large covered reservoir, holder, or purifier, immediately upon
leaving the flues connected with the boiler, furnace, or other fires, and force
them through pipes, tubes, or other covered channels, by means of a forcing or
other pump, or by a piston and cylinder, or by a fan or wheel, or any other
suitable means, so that they shall be injected, one or all, or each of them,
with sufficient force into the said furnace, so as to come in contact with the
fuzed mass of ore or iron, and be perfectly consumed. I purpose also to
prepare fuel in the shape of smoke, or as finely pulverized particles, and to force
it in in a similar manner either at the tuyere of the furnace or between the
crucible and boshes, or anywhere in the shaft of the said furnace, so as to
meet the mass of roasted iron or ore at a place where the temperature is most
suitable for inducing chemical combination between the oxygen of the ore and
the carbon of the fuel. I further arrange that, if necessary, the smoke, gas,
or pulverized fuel, one, or more, or all of them, shall be admitted at one or
more of the various parts of the furnace before mentioned, in different pipes
from those used to supply the air, which is purposely heated, or with the heated
air and other volatile products from the boiler furnace and other fires; never-
theless, the same pipes may be used for both. When smoke or pulverized fuel
is to be admitted below the shaft of the furnace into the boshes or crucible, I
convey it into the blast pipe at a suitable distance from the nozzle of the
tuyere, falling through a hopper from its own gravity, or assisted by means of a
draft caused by a cone rotating on an axis within the said hopper, or by any
other suitable means for creating a current; upon reaching the blast pipe it is
forced into the furnace by means of the blast with heated air and other gases.
Morcover I purpose to admit fuel generally into the lower parts of the shaft
by means of a sloping shaft or opening, or several of them, leading from the
exterior of the furnace, and terminating in the interior, somewhere in the shaft,
preferably near the bottom of it.

page_text: The objects I have in view and intend to effect by supplying the fuel in the
various before-mentioned states, and at the different parts of the furnace before
described, are,
First, for the purpose of better deoxidizing the iron ores than heretofore, by
introducing the fuel or carbon in the most advantageous form for combining
chemically with the oxygen of the iron, which is at the same time in the best
state, with regard to temperature, for giving off its oxygen.
Second, by supplying the fuel in this advantageous form a great saving is
effected, since all of it is made available for the purpose it is required.
Third, by making use of the heated air, gases, smoke, and other volatile pro-
ducts proceeding from the boiler furnace and other fires, it is supposed that
the necessity for an apparatus for heating air purposely, or the heating appa-
ratus for what is called the hot blast, will entirely, or at least in a great
mensure, be dispensed with.
So as to make the foregoing description clear and intelligible, the following
statement of the appended Drawings is given. I wish it understood, however,
that I do not mean that I bind myself or claim any of the particular forms
there given, being only intended to shew more clearly the principles of the
improvements in the manufacture of iron claimed as my Invention, and
generally the way in which these principles or processes may be applied.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a plan of the boiler and engine made use of for forcing the air
through tubes into the tuyere of the blast furnace, being previously raised to a
high temperature by the beating apparatus. In making use of the heated air
and other products of the boiler and other fires, and dispensing either wholly
or partially with the afore-mentioned heating apparatus, the following is my
process: The heated air, smoke, and other gases, after passing from the
furnace through the boiler flues, is received at the bottom of the shaft of the
chimney h, and conveyed by the pipe i into a large holder or purifier k; in
some cases this holder or purifier may be omitted. From thence it is drawn
by means of the forcing cylinder 9 (which is worked by the steam cylinder
and the beam f) through pipes m, m, and expelled from them into the regu-
lating cylinder a (in many cases this last-mentioned cylinder may either be
used or not), and from thence it is supplied in proper quantities to the tuyere
of the furnace by means of other pipes or tubes, as shewn at 8, 8, in Figure 2,
which is a section of a blast furnace for reducing iron ores. The heated air
and other gaseous products are conveyed along and through the tubes 8, 8, into
the smaller nozzle tubes, and through them into the tuyere of the furnace r in

page_text: the part A, called the crucible. A portion also is forced upwards into the
tube c, where it meets the pulverized fuel, which is forced through the hopper
d, and into that part of the furnace B called the boshes at t. Within the
hopper is a rotating and crushing cone b, driven by the wheel and pinion p
connected by a shaft or otherwise with the engine; a is a small sloping shaft
leading into the main shaft of the furnace C near its bottom, being for the
purpose of introducing fuel there, having an iron-framed brick door, which
is raized and lowered by the chain over the pully w; v, being a stage for dis-
charging the fuel into the shaft x.
Having now described my improvements, and the way in which I propose
generally to carry them into effect, I now state that what I wish to claim as
my Invention is,―
First, making use of the heated air, gas, smoke, and other volatile products
passing from the boiler furnace and other fires, by applying them at the tuycre
of the furnace for reducing iron ores.
Second, the application of smoke pulverized or ordinary sized fuel of any
kind whatever in those parts of the furnace known as the crucible, the boshes,
or near the bottom of the shaft.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Onions, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-third day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
JAMES WRIGHT,
(Signed)
JOHN ONIONS. (L.S.)
Witness.
10, Alfred Place,
Newington Causeway, London.