AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Mushet, of Coleford, in the County of Glou-
cester, Metallurgist, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Mushet at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 22nd
November 1859.
I, ROBERT MUSHET, of Coleford, in the County of Gloucester, Metallurgist,
do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT OR
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in blowing or forcing pulverized ore of titanium, or
pulverized titanic acid, or pulverized titaniferous iron ore into melted cast iron
or steel contained in any of the various furnaces which are or may be employed
for smelting or decarbonizing cast iron, or for melting steel, that is to say,
furnaces of the kind called blast furnaces, cupolas, refineries, air furnaces, and
such furnaces as are employed for decarbonizing cast iron by means of air
forced through the said cast iron, whilst the said cast ron is in a melted state.
The said substances are to be blown or forced into the melted iron or steel
contained in the said furnaces through the air pipes, by which the said fur-
naces are supplied with blast in order that the said pulverized ore of titanium,
titanic acid, or titaniferous iron ore may be carried by the blast against or
amongst the particles of the melted iron or steel contained in any of the
furnaces herein-before enumerated.

page_text: I prefer to use such ores of titanium and such titaniferous iron ores as are
most abundantly found in nature. Ilmenite and rutile are suitable ores of
titanium for my process, and iserine is a titaniferous iron ore found in
abundance, and also well suited for my process. But other ores of titanium
and other titaniferous iron ores, which, though abundant, have not been
classified by mineralogists, may also be employed, as may also titanic acid
obtained or prepared by any convenient process. I prepare the ores of
titanium or titaniferous iron ores for my process by crushing or pulverizing
the said ores, so as to reduce them to the state of fine powder, titanic acid may
be employed in the state of powder, in which it is obtained by the ordinary
methods of manufacturing it. I introduce the pulverized titanium ore or
titanic acid into the blast pipes of the blast furnace, cupola, or other furnace
by placing the said pulverized substances in a receptacle attached to the main
blast pipe, and communicating freely therewith, the said receptacle being closely
shut up and rendered air-tight, except where it communicates with the blast
pipe to which it is attached. The pulverized ore is forced gradually from the
receptacle into the blast pipe by means of a piston made accurately to fit the
inside of the receptacle, and which piston may be gradually forced forward by
means of a screw or other mechanical agent. The said pulverized titanium
ore or titanic acid is carried by the blast or current of air along the blast pipe
into the furnace. Or the pulverized titanium ore or titanic acid may be
introduced into the blast pipe by any other convenient method, so that it may
gradually pass into the blast pipe, and be carried by the blast into the iron or
steel in the furnace. The quantity or proportion of pulverized titanium ore or
titaniferous iron ore which I employ may be, varied at pleasure. But for the
blast furnace I prefer to employ from five pounds to twenty pounds of
pulverized ore of titanium or titaniferous iron ore forced in along with the
blast to every hundredweight of pig or cast iron smelted in the said furnace.
For a cupola furnace I employ similar quantities or proportions of the pul-
verized ore of titanium or titaniferous iron ore to those which I employ when s
operating with the blast furnace. When I employ titanic acid from one to
five pounds of the said acid may be used for every hundredweight of cast iron.
When a refinery is employed, I blow in, during the operation of refining the
pig or cast iron, from five pounds to twenty pounds of pulverized ore of
titanium or titaniferous iron ore to every hundredweight of pig or cast iron
charged upon the said refinery, and I prefer to blow in the said pulverized ore
at that stage of the refining process when the pig or cast iron has been all, or
nearly all, melted down, and is being decarbonized in the hearth of the
refinery. When I employ titanic acid; from one to five pounds of the said

page_text: acid may be used for every hundredweight of cast iron charged upon the
refinery.
When a furnace is employed for decarbonizing melted cast iron by passing
air through the said melted cast iron, I blow into the melted iron through the
tuyeres, and during the process of decarbonizing the said cast iron a quantity
of the pulverized ore of titanium, titanic acid, or titaniferous iron ore
amounting to from five pounds to twenty pounds for every hundred pounds of
melted cast iron charged into the decarbonizing furnace or vessel. When I
employ titanic acid, from one to five pounds of the said acid may be used for
every hundredweight of the cast iron charged into the furnace, but I do not
confine myself to these proportions, as the proportion may be varied without
departing from the nature of my Invention. Manganese and other fluxes may
be added to the pulverized ore of titanium, titaniferous iron ore or titanic acid,
and may be blown into the iron or steel operated upon along with the said
pulverized ore; but I do not claim the use of such fluxes as of my Invention,
neither are they essential to its success. My Invention consists essentially in
blowing or forcing pulverized titanium ore or titaniferous iron ore or
titaniferous iron ore or titanic acid into melted cast iron or steel contained in
furnaces employed either for smelting or decarbonizing pig or cast iron, or
for melting steel, the said titaniferous compounds being gradually introduced
into the blast pipes of the smelting, melting, refining, or decarbonizing
furnace, and carried by the blast or current of air into the furnace and amongst
the particles of melted cast iron or steel contained in the furnace, in order that
the oxide of titanium or titanic acid may be brought into contact with the
particles of melted cast iron or steel for the purpose of improving the products
obtained, whether the said products be iron or steel.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Mushet in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
. 12th May 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
MUSHET, of Coleford, in the County of Gloucester, Metallurgist, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant

page_text: unto me, the said Robert Mushet, Her special licence that I, the said
Robert Mushet, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Robert Mushet, 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 law-
fully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Inven-
tion for "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON
AND STEEL," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Robert
Mushet, my executors 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 Seal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Robert Mushet, 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 Invention consists in blowing or forcing pulverized ore of titanium, or
pulverized titanic acid, or pulverized titaniferous iron ore into melted cast iron
contained in any of the various furnaces, which are or may be employed for
smelting or decarbonizing cast iron, or for melting steel, such as blast
furnaces, cupolas, refineries, air furnaces, and such furnaces as are employed
for decarbonizing cast iron, by means of air being forced through the said cast
iron whilst the said cast iron is in a melted state. The said pulverized ore of
titanium, or pulverized titanic acid, or pulverized titaniferous iron ore is to be
blown or forced into the melted iron or steel contained in the said furnaces
through the air pipes by which the said furnaces are supplied with blast, in
order that the said pulverized ore of titanium, titanic acid, or titaniferous iron
ore may be carried against or amongst the particles of the melted iron or
steel contained in any of the furnaces I have herein-before enumerated.
I prefer to use such ores of titanium and such titaniferous iron ores as are
abundant. Ilmenite and rutile are suitable ores of titanium for my process,
and iserine is a titaniferous iron ore found in abundance, and also well suited
for my process. But other ores of titanium and other titaniferous iron ores,
which, though abundant, have not been classified by mineralogists, may also
be employed, as may also titanic acid, obtained or prepared by any convenient
process. I prepare the ores of titanium or titaniferous iron ores for my

page_text: process by crushing or pulverizing the said ores, so as to reduce them to the
state of fine powder, such as will pass through a sieve or riddle of 1600
meshes per square inch. Titanic acid may be employed in the state of powder
in which it is obtained by the ordinary methods of manufacturing it. I intro-
duce the pulverized titanium ore or titanic acid into the blast pipes of the
blast furnace, cupola, or other furnace, by placing the said pulverized sub-
stances in a receptacle attached to the main blast pipe, and communicating
freely therewith, the said receptacle being closely shut up and rendered air-
tight, except where it communicates with the blast pipe to which it is attached.
The pulverized ore is forced gradually from the receptacle into the blast pipe by
means of a piston made accurately to fit the inside of the receptacle, and which
piston may be gradually forced forward by means of a screw or other mecha-
nical agent. The said pulverized titanium ore or titanic acid is carried by the
blast or current of air along the blast pipe into the furnace, or the pulverized
titanium ore, or titanic acid may be introduced into the blast pipe by any other
convenient method, so that it may gradually pass into the blast pipe, and be
carried by the blast into the melted iron or steel contained in the furnace. The
quantity or proportion of pulverized titanium ore or titaniferous iron ore which
I employ may be varied at pleasure. But for the blast furnace I prefer to
employ from five pounds to twenty pounds of pulverized ore of titanium or
titaniferous iron ore forced in along with the blast to every hundredweight of
pig or cast iron, which is smelted in the said furnace. For a cupola furnace I
employ similar quantities or proportions of the pulverized ore of titanium or
titaniferous iron ore to those which I employ when operating with the blast
furnace. When I employ titanic acid, from one to five pounds of the said acid
may be used to every hundredweight of cast iron. When a refinery is em-
ployed I blow in during the operation of refining the pig or cast iron, from five
pounds to twenty pounds of pulverized ore of titanium or titaniferous iron ore to
every hundredweight of pig or cast iron charged upon the said refinery; and
I prefer to blow in the said pulverized ore at that stage of the refining process
when the pig or cast iron has been all or nearly all melted down, and is being
decarbonized in the hearth of the refinery. When I employ titanic acid in
the refinery from one to five pounds of the said acid may be used for every
hundredweight of iron charged upon the refinery.
When a furnace is employed for decarbonizing melted cast iron by forcing
air through the said melted cast iron, I blow into the melted iron through the
tuyeres and during the process of decarbonizing the said cast iron a quantity of
the pulverized ore of titanium, titanic acid, or titaniferous iron ore, amounting
to from five pounds to twenty pounds for every hundredweight of melted cast iron

page_text: charged into the decarbonizing furnace or vessel. When I employ titanic acid
in the decarbonizing furnace I use from one to five pounds of the said acid to
every hundredweight of the cast iron charged into the said furnace, but I do
not confine myself to these proportions which may be varied, so that the
nature of my Invention be not departed from. Manganese and other fluxes
may be added to the pulverized ore of titanium, titaniferous iron ore, or titanic
acid, and may be blown into the iron or steel operated upon along with the
said pulverized ore or acid, but I do not claim the use of such fluxes as of my
Invention, neither are they essential to its success. My Invention consists
essentially in blowing or forcing pulverized titanium ore, or pulverized titanic
acid, or pulverized titaniferous iron ore into melted cast iron or steel contained in
furnaces employed, either for smelting and refining cast iron or for decarboniz-
ing melted pig iron or cast iron by means of air forced through the said melted
pig or cast iron, the said titaniferous compounds being gradually introduced
into the blast pipes of the smelting furnace refinery or the decarbonizing
furnace, and carried by the blast or current of air into the furnace and amongst
the particles of melted iron or steel contained therein, in order that the oxide
of titanium or titanic acid may be brought into contact with the particles of
melted cast iron for the purpose of improving the products obtained, whether
the said products be iron or steel.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Mushet, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Tenth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witnesses,
EDWP. M. MUSHET,
Coleford, Gloucestershire.
BROOKLYN MUSHET,
Coleford, Gloucestershire.
ROBERT (L.s.) MUSHET.