IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND ARRANGEMENT OF FURNACES SUITED FOR SMELTING & FUSING EVERY DESCRIPTION OF ORES, AND METALS, AND GLASS, FOR HEATING GAB AND OTHER RETORTS, AND FOR OTHER USEFUL PURPOSES, AND IN THE MEANS AND APPLIANCES NECESSARY THERETO.”
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Henry Cradock Monckton, of Fineshade,
Wansford, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION
AND ARRANGEMENT OF FURNACES SUITED FOR SMELTING & FUSING EVERY
DESCRIPTION OF ORES, AND METALS, AND GLASS, FOR HEATING GAB AND OTHER
RETORTS, AND FOR OTHER USEFUL PURPOSES, AND IN THE MEANS AND
APPLIANCES NECESSARY THERETO.”
"
Sealed the 23rd August 1872, and dated the 14th May 1872.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Edward Henry Cradock
Monckton at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition and Declaration, on the 14th May 1872, pursuant to the
9th Section of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
HENRY CRADOCK MONCKTON, of Fineshade, Wansford, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE CONSTRUCTION AND ARRANGEMENT OF FURNACES SUITED FOR SMELTING AND
FUSING EVERY DESCRIPTION OF ORES, AND METALS, AND GLASS, FOR HEATING GAB

page_text: AND OTHER RETORTS, AND FOR OTHER USEFUL PURPOSES, AND IN THE MEANS AND
APPLIANCES NECESSARY THERETO," and have petitioned 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 am the
true and first Inventor thereof.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edward Henry Cradock Monckton,
do hereby declare that the following Complete Specification, under my
hand and scal, fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said In-
vention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, in and by the
following statement :-
My improvements consist in constructing furnaces of a novel de-
scription, either under or above ground, by means of which metals and
ores and glass are fused and smelted by means of concentrated flame
from fuel placed in small furnaces on their outside. The fire and flame
being actuated by means either of a blast of hot or cold air, or of steam
and air combined, is concentrated so as to produce a similar effect on a
large scalo as that produced by a blow pipe on a small one; by applying
a number of such concentrated flames round a circular, oval, or along
the sides and end of a lengthened channel with parallel walls, so as to
reverberate or impinge directly on metals or ores previously prepared
and mixed, the heat becomes cumulative and very greatly increased. . I
call a furnace so constructed “a cumulative concentrated heat one";
such furnaces may be constructed cither upright or longitudinally along
the ground; the upright ones may also be sunk into the ground. In
thesc I place the proper mixtures of ore and fuel packed as is now done
in blast furnaces, only making them much higher and placing ranges of
tuyeres in succession one above the other, by which means the blast is
caused to play on various parts of the lighted mass simultaneously. It is
obvious that as the flame and heat rise from below, each successive layer
of the mixture above it will receive the heat rising from below, in
addition to the heat generated by the blast above it, and so on till at last
the top of the furnace will be as hot, if not actually hotter than the
bottom; this will be reversing the present order of things, so that it will
be seen that the great heat above will effectually perform the office of
roasting, and will expel most of the volatile matters long before the
incandescent mass can descend below to be fused, and it is obvious also
that fusion in such a furnace will take place far quicker than in one of
the ordinary sort.

page_text: •
•
My longitudinal "cumulative concentrated heat furnace" is quite
different, for it consists of a channel formed along, above, or sunk into
the ground, built with fire-brick; the form I prefer for this consists of
two parallel walls covered in by an arch perforated by holes along its
5 crown for the admission of the metal or mixtures of ore, glass, &c., to be
fused, and through which, if necessary, it can be raked or stirred; these
orifices are closed in when not in use with iron slabs. The bottom is
made sloping towards the exit. Outside the furnace walls are built
ranges of smaller furnaces for containing the fuel, which may consist of
slack; each furnace has its steam or air-blowing apparatus attached to
it. The orifices for the passage of the flame inwards are constructed, by
preference, so as to slant sideways as well as downwards, by which
means the flame will be caused to impinge on the metal, ore, glass,
or material for glass making at an angle, by which means the
stream of flame and heat will be driven onwards towards the outlet or
chimney; this alone if lofty will cause a violent draught; at that end are
two orifices; the one higher for the exit of the fused slag, the other lower
for the exit of the fused metal. I prefer to draw off the slag on ono
side, and the metal on the other; the draught is regulated by a slide
placed in the chimney. The flame and hot gases on passing from the
furnace may be used for heating air or steam for the blast boilers and
roasting ores, and may then at pleasure be made to pass into suitable
chambers or receivers in order to be condensed and utilised. As an
example of the latter we will suppose that an impure iron ore is fluxed
with a mixture of coal, common salt, and lime, the slag resulting will
be a compound of silica, soda, and lime; by running this into a reservoir
of cold water it will become reduced to what is termed bean shot, and
be suited either for road making, as has been done already in America,
or for fusing again with more soda so as to make a soluble silicate of
soda and lime, one of the bases of artificial manure; by using an excess
of salt at first, the slag may be made more fusible and more readily
soluble. This, if sold as a bye product, would reduce the cost of smelting.
Again, the gases formed by the absorption by the fuel of the oxygen
from the air and steam, being respectively nitrogen and hydrogen in a
nascent form, these would more or less unite and form ammonia, which
would in turn be taken up by the-chlorine-from-the-salt-and-form-sal.
ammoniac, another valuable commercial article, while the sulphur
arsenic derived from the coal or ores of various sorts could be condensed
in suitable chambers by causing the waste gases, so charged to meet a

page_text: current of steam, or by impinging them into water, or by making them
pass through a shower bath they would be washed and cleansed of every-
thing valuable, and the remainder being of no value would pass into the
air. The longitudinal furnaces are, where so required, further arranged
with a tramway beneath and a long truck or trucks placed on it covered 5
with fire-bricks; the mass of metal or other matter to be fluxed is then
placed on it, and after being reduced the truck is drawn out, and the
metal if malleable is withdrawn from it, either to the rollers or to be
otherwise disposed of.
Fig. 1 represents an upright cumulative heat furnace with four rows 1
of tuyeres for the blast, all one above the other at A, A, A, A, A, A, and
A, A; the letter d represents the continuation of the tuyere holes
continued all round. B is the exit hole for the slag, and C the exit
hole for the fused metal. Fig. 1ª is a plan of Fig. 1.
Fig. 2 represents a longitudinal cumulative concentrated heat furnace. 1
The A's represent eleven outside furnaces; the b's represent eleven
orifices for the flame to pass into the the central furnace P, P, P, and
impinge upon the ore, &c., at the bottom. E is the exit for the flame;
C, the exit for the fused slag; and d, the exit for the fused metal. The
outside furnace A at the end may be made very long with advantage.
Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of Fig. 2, shewing the holes c, c,
in the arch above for the admission of the ores, &c.; B, B, B, shews the
ore below ready to be fluxed; e, the orifice for the exit of the metal;
E, the exit for the flame; and A, the section of the end furnace.
Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view of Fig. 2. A, A, are side furnaces; G,
the sole of the central furnace; O, the hole in the arch for the admission
of the ores, &c.; d, d, are the holes for the flame to pass in by; and b, b,
are the outer holes or doors of the furnaces A, A.
2
Fig. 5 is a cross section similar to Fig. 4, shewing the cross section of
a truck t, t, the top of which is built up with fire-bricks and fire-clay, 3
and the sides of which next the furnace walls at e, e, are either
clayed up with fire-clay prior to heating the ore laid on it, as shewn
at d, or else a flange on each side of the truck is made to enter into
a slot cut in the furnace walls, and upon this between the side of
the truck and the wall sand is run in, which effectually prevents the
heat from descending below, and allows the casy withdrawal of the
truck.
2

page_text: I apply the same principle of "cumulative concentrated heat" to
every description of furnace, such as for the fusion of metals, whether in
crucibles or otherwise, such as cast iron, iron sand, steel, copper, &c., &c.,
also to gas furnaces, and others suited to laboratory purposes, also for
fusing and fritting glass, and glass making, and for baking porcelain,
china, and pottery, where great heat is desirable.
I claim the above improved methods of constructing furnaces, and of
utilising the bye products substantially as described, without limiting
myself to size or shape or to special internal arrangement so long as the
principle is adhered to and carried out.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Henry Cradock Monckton,
have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of
May, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
seventy-two.