IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Arthur Warner, of Lee, in the County of Kent,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND
STEEL, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN.”
Sealed the 10th May 1872, and dated the 20th January 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Arthur Warner at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 20th January 1872.
I, ARTHUR WARNER, of Lee, in the County of Kent, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," to be
as follows:-
My present Invention has for its object the blowing or forcing certain
gases and ingredients through molten iron by the Bessemer or other
similar process, for the purpose of refining and making malleable
iron or steel. The said gases and ingredients are to be used alone or
mixed with air, and my Invention also relates to improved means or

page_text: These gases when introduced without air may be forced through the
molten iron by means of a force pump, or by means of the expansive
force obtained in generating them. In the latter case, the vessels
must be of sufficient strength to resist the pressure, and a blowing
engine should be in connection with the apparatus, so that if when
the iron is in the converter the pressure guage shows too low a
pressure air may be introduced to prevent the iron from running back
through the tuyers.
When introducing the gases mixed with air into the converter, I
either draw the gases out of the generators in the manner just detailed,
with the addition of air that can be made to pass through the generators
or not, as may be found most convenient, and according to the description
of gas used. In the manufacture of hydrogen gas, for instance, by the
action of steam upon iron scrap, the air must not pass through the
apparatus, or it would hinder the formation of the hydrogen and wasto
the iron, but in the making of chlorine or hydrochloric acid gas or
fluorine gas this does not matter, or in making hydrogen gas by the
action of acid upon iron or zinc. But whereas the passage of chlorine,
hydrochloric acid, or hydrofluoric acid through the pumping apparatus
is likely considerably to damage it, I prefer to force the air through the
generators where these gases are produced and not to draw it
through. When forcing the air through the apparatus a certain modi-
fication is necessary in order to enable the liquids and acids used for
generating the gases to overcome the pressure of the blast and enter the
generators.
The apparatus I am about to describe is the one I prefer to usc in
generating the gases I employ for the purposes of my Invention. In
making hydrofluoric acid gas, for instance, I use a shallow round or
square tank constructed of iron plates or otherwise, with a flange on the
top to which the lid may be fixed with nuts and bolts or otherwise. This
lid may be removed altogether, or it may have one or more man-holes
constructed in it for the removal of the sulphate of lime (there should
also be a man-hole at the side or bottom for the same purpose). This
whole apparatus is lined with lead or other material capable of resisting.
the action of the gases, and may be either heated on the outside or not
as may be found most desirable. The blast enters at one side and leaves
at the other, and the acid enters either at the sides or top by one or
more pipes of lead or other material, which may be closed by stop-cocks.

page_text: The acid is contained in a wrought-iron or other vessel lined with lead
or other material and which can be hermetically closed. The top of this
vessel communicates with the blast pipe or inside of the generator by a
small pipe that can be closed with a stop-cock. This arrangement is
necessary to equalize the pressure and enable the acid to run into the
vessel containing the fluor spar. By having a graduated guage glass at
the side of the acid vessel it can be ascertained how much acid is run
into the generator, and thus the elimination of the bydrofluoric acid or
other gas can be regulated at will.
The chlorine may be made in an apparatus similar to the one just 1
described, only lined with earthenware or hard burnt bricks instead of
lead, or in a tall cylinder or tower with a perforated bottom, causing
the air to enter at top and leave at the bottom, and the hydrochloric acid
to enter at the top. The cylinder should be constructed of cast or
wrought iron and lined with earthenware or brickwork to withstand the
action of the acid. A good way to line it is to use bricks made of
common pipe-clay and set them with the same material in place of lime,
wash the whole over with a common glaze such as is used in making
drain pipes, and bring the whole to a red heat by means of a coke fire
inside. The cylinder is filled with lumps of oxide of manganese and the a
hydrochloric acid added according to the quantity of chlorine wanted, or
When a
distilled over from a mixture of sulphuric acid and salt.
certain quantity of chloride of manganese has been formed, it can be
washed out by means of water into the receptacle below the perforated
bottom, and thence run off by a tap. The small pieces of oxide of
manganese should be used in an apparatus like that employed for
fluorine, as they would choke the tower or cylinder and stop the

page_text: This or similar forms of apparatus can be used for the purpose of
charging the air with tar or other cheap hydrocarbonss for purifying the
iron, and which tar or hydrocarbons may be refined by mixing them with
caustic lime, soda, or potash, to retain any sulphurous or phosphoretted
compounds. The refuse can be removed by the man-hole at the bottom,

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Arthur Warner in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 20th July 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ARTHUR
WARNER, of Lec, in the County of Kent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Arthur Warner, Her special licence that
I, the said Arthur Warner, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Arthur Warner, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 MANU-
FACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Arthur Warner, my exe-
cutors or administrators, 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 Scal Patent Office within six calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
"
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Arthur Warner, 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, that is to say :-
My present Invention has for its object the blowing or forcing, in the
manner herein-after described, gases and ingredients, such as are herein-
after mentioned, through molten iron by the Bessemer or other similar
process for the purpose of refining and making iron and steel. The said
gases and ingredients are to be used alone or mixed with air. And my
Invention relates to improved means and modes or arrangements of

page_text: apparatus for manufacturing and employing these gases when used for
this purpose, and introducing them into the "converter."
In the Specification of former Letters Patent, dated 14th December
1871, No. 3386, I described my Invention relating to improved methods
of treating iron, by means of which impurities are removed by successive
regulated operations, and my present Invention relates to further im-
provements in practically carrying out those methods.
In preparing hydrochloric acid gas I either act upon salt with strong
sulphuric acid (which is the usual mode of preparing it) or I boil the
crude hydrochloric acid of commerce in carthenware stills or pans, so
that the gaseous hydrochloric acid passes off, and when the strength has
been so reduced that water distills over, I run out the liquor and add a
fresh quantity of acid.
I prepare chlorine gas for the purpose of my Invention by acting
upon oxide of manganese with hydrochloric acid, or by acting upon
a mixture of oxide of manganese and salt with sulphuric acid, or by
passing hydrochloric acid gas through or over towers or cylinders
filled with porous materials soaked in sulphate of copper or other
active reagent, as described in the Specification of Patents granted
to H. Deacon, dated 29th April 1868, No. 1403, and 13th September
1870, No. 2469.
I prepare ammonia by acting upon lime, soda, or potash with salts of
ammonia or the ammoniacal liquor from gas works.
I prepare bydrofluoric acid gas for this purpose by acting upon fluor
spar in iron pans or still, either protected with lead or not as may be
most desirable, with strong sulphuric acid and applying a moderate heat.
The hydrogen gas is prepared for the purposes of this Invention by
acting upon scrap iron or zinc with sulphuric acid in the usual manner,
or by the means described in the Specification of a Patent granted to me
and dated 24th January 1859, No. 217, viz., by acting upon iron scrap
heated in a retort with water or steam. When the iron is spent or
changed into oxide it may be removed or reduced to metallic iron by
passing over it a current of carbonic oxide, when it will again be
available for the manufacture of hydrogen.
Carbonic oxide can be obtained in this way in addition to the
hydrogen by substituting coke for the scaap iron, or by passing carbonic

page_text: acid gas resulting from the combustion of fuel through red-hot coke by
any well-known means.
These gases when introduced without air may be forced through the
molten iron by means of a force pump or by means of the expansive
force obtained in generating them. In the latter case the vessels must
be of sufficient strength to resist the pressure, and a blowing engine
should be in connection with the apparatus, so that if when the iron is
in the converter the pressure gauge shows to low a pressure air may be
introduced to prevent the iron from running back through the twyercs.
The mode of preparation are above described in order to make my
operations readily intelligible, but they are not claimed as themselves.
forming part of my present Invention.
I will now describe the improved still and apparatus (shown in the
Drawing hereunto annexed) which I use for the purposes of my
Invention. It may be used for generating the chlorine, hydrochloric
acid, hydrofluoric acid, ammonia, or hydrogen, and the number of stills
may be multiplied according to the quantity of gas or gases required to
be employed.
A is a stout cast-iron vessel lined with lead which is turned over the
flanges, so that the cast-iron plate P, also lined with lead, can be bolted
down and form an air-tight vessel. Thiss plate P can be removed when
required to clean out the still. B is a steam jacket for heating the
vessel; C is an opening having a shoot G lined with lead and fitted with
a cover for the introduction of solid ingredients; D is the pipe with a
valve or cock for carrying the gases into the blast pipe; E is a stirrer
covered with lead for moving the ingredients, occasionally it works in
the stuffing box F; H is a strong cast or wrought iron vessel lined with
lead, of sufficient capacity to hold the whole charge of liquid; it is
surmounted by a funnel I, which communicates with it by means of the
pipe and stop-cock M, and by which the liquid is poured into the
vessel H. A small pipe and stop-cock N effects a communication
between the top of H and the large vessel A. A lead pipe and stop-
cock L communicates between the bottom of the vessel H and the side
of the vessel A about 9 inches from the bottom. H may be supported
on a bracket K cast on to the vessel A.
Let us suppose the manganese and salt or other solid ingredient to be
charged in the vessel A and the acid in the vessel H. The iron is in

page_text: the converter and has had the silicon removed by simply blowing air
through it in the ordinary manner, and now towards the end of the
process it is desired to introduce the chlorine or other purifying gas.
By opening the tap N the pressure will be equallized in the two
vessels H and A, and when the tap in the pipe L is opened the acid
will enter the vessel A and the gas come off at once.
This may bo
expedited by using the stirrer E. The pressure in the vessel A and the
blast pipe being equal the gas will at once enter the latter and be
carried into the converter. When the operation of blowing is over it
will be necessary to stop the evolution of gas. This may be done
almost entirely by opening the taps L and M and closing N, when the
pressure in A being greater than in H, the liquid will be forced up into
the latter away from the solids. By having a rose at the end of the
pipe L any solid matters will be prevented from getting up. The pipe O
is for cleaning and washing out.
A tall tower or cylinder may be substituted for this form of still; it
should be made of iron to resist the pressure and lined with lead or
carthenware. The lumps of manganese or other matters are placed in
the tower, the acid enters from the top by the means just descibed, and
thic blast entering at the top of the tower passes through it and leaves at
the bottom. There is a perforated false bottom into which any spent
liquid made in the process can drain and be afterwards drawn off.
When using this form of apparatus the blast should be by preference
heated to about 250° or 280° Fahrenheit. When lined with earthenware
sand should be packed in between the outer case and the lining to
prevent the pressure from breaking the lining. No fine powders should
be used in the tower as they would be liable to choke it and so stop the
draught.
When it is desired to draw the air through the blowing apparatus and
so force it into the metal the ordinary form of chlorine still now in
general use may be adopted by simply connecting it by means of a pipe
and valve with the side of the blowing cylinder where the air enters,
when the suction will draw in all the chlorine generated, and if this is
not enough to supply the converter the surplus will be made up by air
entering through the valves in the usual manner.
In order to introduce the vapor of tar or other cheap hydrocarbon
into the blast, I use an iron vessel similar to that shewn in the Drawings
for making the chlorine and other gases, but not lined with lead. The

page_text: water or steam jacket must be replaced by a sand bath or the direct
action of the fire. The hydrocarbons may be purified from any sul-
phurous or phosphoretted compounds by admixture with caustic lime,
soda, or potash which are introduced by the shoot G.
Volatile salts of ammonia may be introduced into the converter by
passing hot or cold air over them in retorts or pipes which can be heated
externally.
For the further protection of the pipes and other parts of the apparatus
for conveying these gases they should be by preference lined with lead,
or plaster of Paris, or other cement not liable to be attacked by the
gases employed.
In some cases I introduce purifying salts, such as the chlorides of the
alkalies, iron, manganese, prussiate of potash, and carbonate or oxide of
manganese separately or combined into the blast before it enters the
converter. This may be done in many ways, but the one I prefer is by
means of a screw working in a tube which communicates with the blast
pipe. The periphery of the screw and the inside of the tube must be
turned so as to fit air tight. The ground materials can be fed on to the
screw by a hopper and by a proper regulation of the speed of the screw
more or less of the materials can be introduced at will. This is the
mode I prefer to adopt for the introduction of the chlorides of the
alkalies, chloride of iron, chloride of zinc, chloride of manganese,
chloride of lime, prussiate of potash, or iodide of potassium, carbonate
of manganese, and oxide of manganese, or any of them. Or they may
be placed in or retained at the bottom of the vessels or moulds into
which the steel is run from the converter.
I am aware that many attempts have been made to introduce in
various ways various gases and powders into the Bessemer converter,
and I do not make any claim to the exclusive use of such gases or
powders; but I am not aware that any plan has been successfully
adopted for the introduction of gases that injuriously corrode the
blowing machinery, nor am I aware that any apparatus has been used
or described whereby these gases can be generated in a regulated
manner as required, and be introduced and shut off at any stage of the
process which I consider to be most necessary.
The action of the atmospheric air applied in the usual manner in the
Bessemer process will burn and so remove the silicon without any

page_text: additional agency, and this is done during the first part of the process,
but it will not remove the sulphur and phosphorus, which require to
be attacked by a powerful agent, such as chlorine gas. This if intro-
duced while the silicon is present will be wasted, as it will act upon tho
silicon, which is equally as well and more economically done by pure
atmospheric air. But if the operation of removing the silicon by the
action of atmospheric air be followed in succession by the introduction
of chlorine gas in the manner proposed by me, the impurities that in-
juriously affect the iron are removed in proper order with efficiency and
economy.
I claim as my Invention the combination of parts forming improved
apparatus for introducing purifying gases into molten metal, constructed
and arranged substantially as above described.
I also claim the use of apparatus such as is above described for
generating purifying gases, and introducing them into molten metal in
the manner and for the purposes above mentioned.
In witness whercof, I, the said Arthur Warner, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
Witness,
J. G. TONGUE,
Patent Agent,
ARTHUR WARNER. (L.S.)
34, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane, London.