IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Onions, of 133, Union Street, Southwark, in
the County of Surrey, Engineer and Ironfounder, for the Invention of
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Onions at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
9th June 1864.
I, JOHN ONIONS, of 133, Union Street, Southwark, in the County of Surrey,
Engineer and Ironfounder, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL," to be as follows,
that is to say:-
My Invention consists, 1st, in utilizing the products of combustion, the
unconsumed gases, vapours, and part of the heat from steam engine furnaces,
applying the said products either separately or mixed with similar or other
gaseous products or vapours derived from separately prepared or other fires,
mixing the said products respectively by causing them to pass through a
receiver so placed and arranged as to allow of its being heated sufficiently for
the production of hydrogen gas (by or from iron shavings or other ingredients)
in order that the said gases or gaseous compounds may aid in producing a
better quality of iron or steel or in improving the same.

page_text: From the receiver the above-mentioned products, gases, and vapours
(hydrogenized or not) are passed into and through or partially through a
purifyer which is divided into compartments containing dry, wet, or slacked
lime, and from thence through a regulator for regulating the temperature to
the blowing cylinder. In order to protect the working parts of the blowing
cylinder from the heat, the piston and rods are made hollow, so as to allow
water to pass through the same or to circulate therein.
2ndly, in combining the working of the blast furnace, refining or remelting,
and puddling furnaces. In this combination I place the three furnaces one
above the other, the blast furnace being the higher and the puddling furnace
the lower, with the refining or remelting furnace between them, so as to allow
the molten metal to gravitate through the whole (the said furnaces may,
however, be placed level with each other or otherwise, and the metal be raised
by hand or other means).
The 1st, or blast furnace, into which the products, gases, or vapours heated.
as before-mentioned are blown, may be of any of the usual forms.
The 2nd, or refining furnace, or cupola, I construct in the following
manner:
Upon a suitable base I form a crucible and enclose the same above by an
arch or vault, through the upper part of which the molten metal is admitted,
while the blowing engine at the same time drives a soft blast together with
the gases or volatile products driven from a fire of wood char, anthricite,
plumbago, or other carbonaceous matters, comingled with potash for evolving
cyanides or cyanogen gas suitable for transforming or changing iron into
steel. The metal admitted through the top of the arch or vault falls upon
a disc or wheel which is caused to rotate with great rapidity, so as to
cause the metal to be thereby finely divided into small drops, or the particles
to be disseminated as the metal falls through the gases in the chamber,
thereby affording great facility for the said gases and metal to combine, by
which combination impregnation, and action, the quality of the metal is
considerably, improved, and while in the molten state is run off at the
bottom of the crucible either into shot, moulds, or ingots, or into the
puddling furnace.
The 3rd, or puddling furnace, in which the metal is finally treated, consists
of an arched chamber in which there is a circular crucible which is provided
with a hollow trench or gutter for, receiving the molten metal from the other
furnaces above, described. This crucible when circular has a rotary motion
imparted to it (it may, however, be formed with segmental or straight
trenches and have a reciprocating motion); the troughs have one or more

page_text: fire hearths round them or at their sides; the flames from which fires are
caused to pass over or act upon the metal and keep it in a molten state while
the puddling operation is progressing; a chimney, in which there are suitable
openings is placed in the centre, either rising from the crown of the furnace
arch or from the bottom of the furnace.
In the arch, immediately over the moving troughs, suitable apertures are
formed for the puddling and dividing bars to be passed through for puddling.
or dividing the metal into balls or lumps. Suitable doors are provided for
drawing off, and openings provided for regulating the current of air from
below, for preventing the injurious effects of the heat upon the furnace or
its parts.
SPECIFICATION filed in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
and of an Order of the Lord Chancellor, by the said John Onions, in
the Great Seal Patent Office on the 20th December 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
ONIONS, of 133, Union Street, Southwark, in the County of Surrey, Engineer
and Ironfounder, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the. Ninth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh. year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Onions, Her special licence that I, the said John
Onions, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as 1,
the said John Onions, 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 MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said John Onions, my executors or admi-
nistrators, 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 Seal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Onions, do hereby declare the
nature of my said: Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the fol-
lowing statement and accompanying Drawings.
The object of this Invention is the production (from our ordinary English
ores by an improved mode of treating them) of those qualities of iron. and
steel now required for general use, but more especially required for ordnance
and naval purposes, and for which there is a great and constantly increasing
demand.
In the first place it is proposed to economize the consumption of fuel by
utilizing the waste heat from the engine and other fires by collecting the same
into a confluence chamber, were the gases and vapours are further heated if
required and bydrogonized, and afterwards purified before entering the blowing
cylinder; these products are directed upon the ores or iron in the first of a
series of cupolas and furnaces, which are threefold in their operation, and are
placed one above the other.
Secondly, the smelted or remelted metal from the first cupola while in a
molten state is caused to run with a moderated flow into the second or refining
furnace, in which it is subjected to a peculiar combination of natural mechanical
and chemical operations. The metal received at the top of the refining
furnace descends therein through a greater or less space by simple gravitation;
during this descent of liquid metal it is subjected to a mechanical action, by
which it is reduced to a granulated condition, or is divided into and dis-
seminated in minute drops, in which granulated, divided, and disseminated state
it is chemically treated with carbon and cyanogen by a soft blast through a
fire at the bottom of this furnace from the combustion of charcoal, potash,
hoofs of animals, or other matter suitable for the production of such gases,
through which gases the finely divided particles of metal descend, and with
which the metal is thus more perfectly combined. This division of the metal
is effected by causing it as it enters the refining cupola to fall upon a table,
disc, plate, or cone, which is in a state of rapid rotation, so that the metal
falling thereon is thrown off by centrifugal force, and is dashed against the
.side of the cupola or against an outer ring, which may also be caused to rotate
in the same or in the opposite direction to that of the disc before mentioned.
The refined metal, its liquid condition being still maintained by sufficient heat,
is now collected in the crucible at the bottom of this furnace, from whence it
is either run off into ingots, shot, or moulds, or directly into the third furnace
or puddling furnace, in which the already refined metal is finally treated by
being subjected to an improved or machine puddling process.

page_text: The improved puddling furnace is formed with a centre or main furnace
opening into any convenient number of side ovens or puddling furnaces. The
centre compartment or furnace proper is fitted with fire-bars and a door at
each end for feeding and withdrawing the fuel. The roof of the main furnace
is arched and closed at the top, so that the whole body of heat generated
therein is caused to act directly through lateral openings (closed when required
by dampers) upon the metal in the side furnaces or puddling compartments.
The side furnaces are fitted with rotating, rocking, or balanced tipping
"bottoms," in which the molten metal is subjected to a process which is
partly self-acting and partly mechanical, first, by the motion of the bottom the
metal is caused to gravitate from side to side or from end to end; secondly,
is worked by the motion of the puddling bars, which at the same time are
caused to traverse the metal and bottom by mechanism actuated by steam or
other power. The bottoms operate in pairs, and are caused to balance each
other, or nearly so, when at work. By these improvements and combined
action of furnaces iron of a finer texture and with a closer and tougher fibre
than that produced from similar ores by the ordinary process.is obtained.
Having thus stated the nature and object of the said Invention, and
explained generally the proposed means for performing the improvements,
I now proceed to describe the same more particularly, reference being made
to the accompanying Drawings..
EXPLANATION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shows a plan view of a blowing engine with the apparatus added
thereto by which the first of my said improvements may be effected.. a, the
boiler; b, the engine; c, the chimney; d, a side flue, leading to the confluence
chamber, and through which the products of combustion and waste heat from
the boiler furnace are conducted when the chimney c is closed; d¹, a side flue
or pipe, through which the gases and products of combustion from separately
prepared or other fires are conducted; e, the confluence chamber or cylinder
to be heated as required for the production therein of hydrogen gas from iron
turnings or other ingredients which may, be found most beneficial for the
improvement or iron and steel; f, the purifyer, in which the collected gases
are next passed through a series of compartment, into which this vessel is
divided, and charged with lime or lime and water; g, the eduction pipe
leading from the purifyer to the cylinder h, in which the heat of the gases.and
vapours is regulated before passing into the blowing cylinder, the regulator
or and blowing cylinder are made double, a space being left between the inner

page_text: and outer parts for heating and cooling the interiors respectively. For
keeping the blowing cylinder and regulator from being injuriously affected by
the heat, they are made hollow, and water is caused to flow through them
when required, the piston being made hollow and fitted with a hollow rod and
working through each end for that purpose. K, the pressure cylinder, formed
in the usual way; 1, the pipe leading to the first cupola tyre.
Figure 2, the smelting or remelting cupola, which I propose to place at a
sufficient elevation to admit of the second or refining furnace being formed
below it, so that the metal melted in the first may flow directly therefrom into
the latter; where this disposition cannot be conveniently arranged, it may be
dispensed with, and the molten metal be raised to the top of the refining
furnace by hand or otherwise. a (Fig. 2) is the end of the pipe (Figure 1),
through which the gases and vapours collected and heated, as before described,
are driven into this cupola by the tuyere b; c, the interior of the said cupola,
in which the ores may be smelted or metal remelted; d, the outlet through
which the molten metal falls into the refining furnace or is raised thereto, as
the case may be,
Figure 3, the second cupola or furnace, in which the molten metal is
subjected to the refining process, which constitutes the second improvement of
my said Invention. a, the charging door; b, the crucible, in which gases
(carbon and cyanogen) are generated by the combustion of carbonaceous
matters, potash, hoofs of animals, and other ingredients suitable for the purpose,
and acted upon by a soft blast through the tuyere c, and filling the body or
vault of the furnace & therewith in a constantly ascending volumn as the metal
descends through the same; e, the inlet pipe, through which the molten metal
enters; f, the revolving disc, upon which it falls, and by which it is rapidly
spread and thrown off by centrifugal action, and being dashed against the sides
of the vault (or a revolving belt g, g, if prefered) is thus divided into very
minute particles, and into a condition peculiarly adapted for giving off,
absorbing, and combining with the required gases or portions thereof required
in the refining process; the refined metal while still in a molten state descends
and is collected in the crucible b, from whence it may be run into moulds,
bars, ingots, and the like, or may run or be conducted into the puddling
furnace, according to the quality produced or use intender; h, the shaft to which
the rotating disc is affixed; i, driving gear for turning the same; this disc
and shaft may be covered with platinum, or be made or covered with any fire-
resisting material; j is a flue for the escape of the waste gases; k, the damper
for opening and closing the same; and 1, the balance weight.

page_text: Figures 4 and 5 shew a modification of the metal disseminator, which
consists of a hollow main pipe a, and branches b, through which the molten
metal may be poured while the said pipe and branches are in a state of rapid
rotation.
Figure 6 is a front elevation, Figure 7 a plan view, and Figure 8 a sectional
view of the improved puddling furnaces. In these three Figures the same
parts are lettered with similar letters.
a, a, are the doors thro' which the fuel is supplied; b, the furnace proper ;
c, c, the side or puddling furnaces; d, d, side openings, separately closed by
the dampers e, through which, when opened, the heat acts directly upon the
metal in the rocking or rising and falling puddling bottoms f,f,-supported
upon rests at g or h at one end, and upon the eccentric, cams, or cranks i, i,
at the other, and by which latter the said bottoms are raised, tipped, or rocked
by the rotation of the shafts j,j, driven by steam or other power; k, k, puddle
bars, which are caused to traverse the bottoms and meet and divide the metal
as it moves from end to end by the tipping or rocking motion; 1, 1, crank
arms, keyed upon the shaft, which is rocked by being connected with the
crank n on the shaft j. The bottoms are balanced in pairs, so that as one
descends the other ascends, and thus very little power is required to move
them; any number of these bottoms may be joined and balanced in the same
way. The arms work on a feather on the rocking shaft m, and when out of
gear remain motionless, or can be turned up out of the way by drawing the
bolts o, o, when the puddle irons can be changed or worked by hand. p, p,
are the side furnace doors; q, q, the slots therein for the tools to work thro'.
The bottoms I propose to line with platinum for their preservation. The heat
passes from the main furnace in the direction shewn by the arrows. ↑ are
openings in the roof of the side furnaces for the waste heat to escape; 8, 8,
roof flues; t, the furnace roof or main escape flue leading to the chimney u;
v, v, are the cinder plugs for running off the slag. After the metal is suffi-
ciently puddled it may be balled in the usual way, and removed by the door p,
the tipping bottom being brought to a state of rest by throwing the cam out
gear when in the required position; the bottoms are then supported upon
draw bolts fitted at u, v, for that purpose.
of
Figures 9 and 10 show respectively a plan and elevation of a similar
furnace, in which there is a side furnace a and chimney badded to that as
sbewn at Figure 7; in practice, however, I prefer the latter form. In either
case the side walls are held together with plates and binding bars in the
usual way.

page_text: The relative dimensions of the various parts may be varied, and the number
of side furnaces, as well as the capacity of the centre or main furnace, be
increased to any extent required, and I do not confine myself to the precise
forms here shown, as the same may be also varied as desired.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Onions, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Ninth day of December, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-four.
JOHN ONIONS. (L.S.)