AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OP IRON
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Henry Dawes, of Bromford Iron Works,
West Bromwich, in the County of Stafford, Iron Master, for the Invention
111
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"
Sealed the 30th December 1859, and dated the 8th July 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Henry Dawes
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
8th July 1859.
I, WILLIAM HENRY DAWES, of Bromford Iron Works, West Bromwich, in
the County of Stafford, Iron Master, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OP IRON,"
to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of the improvement or improvements herein-after
described in applying bydrogen to the manufacture of iron by introducing
the said hydrogen into the blast furnace during the smelting of the iron ore..
I prefer to make the hydrogen I employ by directing a jet or jets of high-
pressure steam upon charcoal or coke heated to redness in close vessels, but
the said hydrogen may be obtained from any other convenient source. I collect
and store the hydrogen in a gasholder, similar to those commonly employed
for holding the coal gas used for illumination. In introducing the hydrogen
into the blast furnace during the sinelting process, I employ one or more
force pumps, worked from cranks, or otherwise worked so that a continuous

page_text: steam of hydrogen of uniform density and of any desired pressure may be
delivered into the blast furnace from the gasholder. I work the said force
pumps by steam or other power, and I place valves between the gas holder
and the force pumps, to prevent the accidental introduction of atmospheric air
iuto the said gasholder.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Henry Dawes in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 5th January 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HENRY DAWES, of Bromford Iron Works, West Bromwich, in the County of
Stafford, Iron Master, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of July, 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 unto me, the said
William Henry Dawes, Her special licence that I, the said William Henry
Dawes, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said William Henry Dawes, 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
Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
IRON," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Henry
Dawes, 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 William Henry Dawes, 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 of the improvement or improvements herein-after
described in producing and applying compressed or condensed hydrogen or

page_text: gaseous mixtures, consisting mainly of hydrogen, to the manufacture of iron,
the said compressed or condensed hydrogen or gaseous mixture being intro-
duced in the manner herein-after described into the blast furnace during the
smelting of the iron ore. I make the said hydrogen or gaseous mixture
I employ in carrying my Invention into effect in the following manner, that is
to say I pass high pressure steam or superheated steam over coke or
charcoal, or other carbonaceous matter heated to redness or other suitable
temperature in close vessels or retorts. The steam is decomposed by the
heated carbonaceous matter, and a mixture of hydrogen and carbonic oxide is
thereby produced. The said gaseous mixture is collected and stored in a
gasholder, similar to the gasholders commonly employed for holding the coal
gas used for illumination. Between the retorts containing the heated
carbonaceous matter and the gasholder I place a condenser, similar to the
condenser employed in the manufacture of coal gas, by which said condenser
the gas is cooled, and any undecomposed steam condensed. In order to
introduce the said bydrogen or gaseous mixture into the blast furnace, I employ
one or more force pumps, worked by steam or other power. I place valves
between the gasholder and the force pumps to prevent the accidental intro-
duction of atmospheric air into the said gasholder. Between the force pumps
and the tuyeres or jets which convey the gas to the furnace I place a regulator,
consisting of a chest or receptacle, into which the condensed gas is delivered
by the pumps, and from which it is conveyed to the tuyeres, the said regulator
being provided with a safety valve.
I introduce the gas into the blast furnace either with the ordinary blast or
by means of separate tuyeres or jets, the said gas being introduced at the lower
part of the furnace, but above the hearth containing the iron and slag, so that
it may act upon the materials in the furnace before the iron is reduced, and
upon the particles of reduced iron before they reach the hearth. The con-
densed or compressed bydrogen, or the bydrogen contained in the gaseous
mixture employed by being brought into contact with the materials in the
furnace during the reduction of the iron ore, and with the reduced iron, while
the said iron is in a finely divided state, effects the removal or partial removal
of sulphur and phosphorus contained in the materials and small particles of
cast iron, the said hydrogen combining with the said sulphur and phosphorus,
and forming therewith volatile compounds, which escape from the furnace
with the gaseous products of the combustion.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described, as the same may be varied

page_text: without departing from the nature of my Invention; but I claim as my
Invention,―
Firstly, the improvement, or improvements herein-before described in the
manufacture of hydrogen gas, or gaseous mixtures consisting mainly of
bydrogen to be used in blast furnaces employed in the smelting of iron ores.
Secondly, introducing the said gaseous mixtures into the blast or smelting
furnace in a compressed or condensed form, as herein-before described,
whereby the sulphur and phosphorus contained in the materials used in the
manufacture of pig or cast iron are nearly all (if not wholly) carried off with
the volatile gaseous compounds which escape from the furnace, and thereby
producing pig iron of much purer and very superior quality.
-
In witness whereof, I, the said William Henry Dawes, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fourth day of January; in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
.
WILLIAM HENRY DAWES. (L.S.)