IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF MALLEABLE IRON AND STEEL, IN THE HEATING AND MELTING OF METALS, AND IN THE. MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED FOR SUCH PURPOSES."
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Bessemer, of Queen Street Place, Cannon
Street, in the City of London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF MALLEABLE IRON AND STEEL, IN THE HEATING AND
MELTING OF METALS, AND IN THE. MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED FOR
SUCH PURPOSES.""
Sealed the 21st July 1868, and dated the 31st March 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Bessemer at the
Office of the Commissioners of. Patents, with his Petition, on the
31st March 1868.
I, HENRY BESSEMER, of Queen Street Place, Cannon Street, in the
City of London, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF MALLEABLE IRON AND STEEL, IN
THE HEATING AND MELTING OF METALS, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS
EMPLOYED FOR SUCH PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
It is well known to engineers and others that malleable iron and
steel that has been rendered homogeneous in structure by fusion is
much better adapted for a variety of purposes in the arts than iron
Pine 811

page_text: or steel that has not been so treated. It is also well known that the
process of puddling iron and some other processes in which the metal
passes into a granular or more or less solid state are found to remove
so much of the phosphorus and other impurities usually found in com-
bination with the cheap and inferior qualities of pig iron as greatly to
improve the quality of the metal whilst rendering such iron malleable.
The extremely high temperature, however, which is necessary to bring
decarbonized or malleable iron or steel into a state of complete fusion
has hitherto been a great bar to the conversion of such puddled or
malleable metal into homogeneous iron or steel.
Now, therefore, one important object sought to be accomplished by
means of my present Invention is a more ready and less expensive
means of fusing decarbonized or partially decarbonized iron or malleable
iron or steel by means of the combustion of solid gaseous or liquid
fuel, in such manner that the heat generated by their combustion shall
be applied in numerous powerful jets or streams as from a number of
blow pipes, such jets or streams of fire or gaseous or fluid combustible
matter in combination with atmospheric air being forced or driven in
between or among the solid pieces of metal to be fused, and into
and among the particles of fluid metal derived from their fusion, and
into and among the particles of any fluid carburet of iron that may
be added to the charge of malleable metal, for the purpose of facilitating
its fusion or of adding the necessary quantity of carbon thereto; the
flame or matters employed to produce flame being forced upwards
into the metal through tuyeres in a manner similar to that by which
atmospheric air is now forced into fluid iron in the Bessemer process;
or the metal may be fused by forcing jets of air and jets of com-
bustible gases or liquid fuel either separately or combined in among
the pieces of metal to be fused, and into any fused portion thereof,
or into any carburet of iron that may be added thereto, and form part
of the charge. The metal to be fused may be put cold into the vessel
or furnace where its fusion is to take place, or it may be previously
heated to a red or white heat in any other suitable furnace, and which
preliminary heating is in most cases to be preferred. The fusion how-
ever of the metal may be effected in a gas or other reverberatory
furnace, in which it may have been puddled or otherwise more or less
decarbonized or rendered malleable by employing in combination with
the heat of such furnaces my improved mode or modes of heating and

page_text: fusing malleable metal by jets or streams of fire or jets of the gaseous or
fluid combustible matters before referred to.
But although I have shewn how my Invention may be used in
conjunction with other furnace heat, I nevertheless desire it to be
understood that I prefer to employ for the purposes of my Invention a
vessel or converter mounted on axes, the chamber for burning solid
fuel or the chamber in which the gaseous or liquid fuel is ignited form-
ing part of the apparatus moving on trunnions, through or around which
trunnions the air and the gas or liquid fuel are conveyed by pipes from
suitable reservoirs. Not only may such vessel or converter be employed
for the purposes of fusing decarbonized or partially decarbonized iron
or steel made in other furnaces or apparatus, but it may be advan-
tageously employed to decarbonize and purify the crude or impure metal
which is afterwards to be fused therein by employing any of the methods
now known or practised whereby impure or inferior pig iron may
be rendered more or less malleable or converted into malleable iron
or steel, and in which process the metal assumes a more or less
granulated or solid condition, and hence requires the after process of
fusion.
When the vessel for melting the malleable metal is also employed
to decarbonize or purify the metal to be melted therein, I prefer to
construct the vessel with two hearths or divisions as described in a
Provisional Specification already filed by me, and dated the 21st day of
March 1868 (No. 967). When furnace heat is necessary in any such
preliminary process of purifying pig iron and rendering it malleable
the same may be applied by means of jets of fire or combustible
gases, as herein-before described, the final fusion of the metal also
being effected by these jets of flame or gases or fluids capable of pro-
ducing them.
The materials to be fused by my improved means and thereby con-
verted into homogeneous iron or steel alone or in combination with a
portion of any carburets of iron may consist of puddled iron or steel in
its early or granular or loose state, or in a more advanced state of
manufacture, such as puddled balls, blooms, or puddled bars cut into
convenient pieces. The materials may also consist of any semi-fluid,
granular, or more or less concrete malleable metal that has been obtained
by the action of nitrate of soda or nitrate of potash, or by analogous or
other substances containing or capable of yielding oxygen on coming

page_text: in contact with fluid pig iron, and of decarbonizing or rendering such
metal more or less malleable. Or the materials may consist of any semi-
fluid, granular, or more or less concrete malleable metal that has been
obtained from crude or pig iron by the action thereon of jets of air or
steam used in such quantities only as to cause the metal to loose its
fluidity during the process, whether such metal shall have been produced
either with or without manipulation and the use of mill scales or other
matters used in puddling iron. Or the materials may consist of any
partially or wholly decarbonized iron or steel in the state of a metallic
sponge saturated by hydrocarbons or otherwise protected from oxydiza-
tion, and obtained by the deoxydization of iron ore or otherwise, or
which metallic substance is the result of any purifying or decarbonizing
processes that may render the metal more or less malleable and difficult
of fusion in ordinary furnaces where crucibles are not used.
I desire it also to be understood that my improved modes of heating
and fusing malleable iron or steel are suitable for the fusion or con-
version into malleable iron and steel of blistered steel or uncemented
Swedish or other iron bars, and any wrought or scrap iron or scrap
steel such as bar ends or crop ends of iron or steel rails, also old or
worn out rails of iron or steel, and skulls or scraps and crop ends of
Bessemer steel, and all scrap or refuse pieces of malleable metal
obtained in working metal fused or converted by the means herein
described.
The charge of metal to be melted down by my improved means may
be put into the vessel all at once with or without a portion of pig or
other carburet of iron or it may be added in several successive portions,
depending on the nature of the materials employed and the products
to be obtained. The charge of metal to be fused may also for like
reasons consist either of one kind or quality of metal only, or it may
consist of such a mixture of the materials before named as may best
suit the convenience or requirements of the manufacturer. In some
cases a carburet of iron rich in carbon, such as grey hematite or
spiegel-eisen may first be put into the vessel and by its heat raised either
by forcing flame or combustible gases therein mixed with atmospheric
air or by the use of air alone, after which the malleable metal to be
fused may be added from time to time, or the malleable metal may be
first put into the vessel and highly heated by the jets of flame or
combustible gas or fluid hydrocarbons with atmospheric air, and the

page_text: pig metal, if any be used, be added from time to time as required.
Suitable valves under the control of the workman will regulate from
time to time the relative quantities of fluid hydrocarbons or combustible
gases and atmospheric air to be admitted so as to produce an oxydizing
or a reducing flame as desired, the movement of the vessel on its axes
This
allowing the process to be suspended and resumed at pleasure.
movement will also facilitate the introduction of the metal to be operated
upon as well as to discharge the metal after the process is completed.
The addition of spiegel-eisen or ferro-manganese may be made previous
to the discharge of the metal from the vessel, or it may be mixed
with the metal in the blasting ladle prior to its being passed into
moulds.
The fuel
When solid fuel is to be employed for the purposes of my present
Invention, I prefer to use good hard coke or anthracite coal, although
common coal, charcoal, or other fuel may be employed.
chamber is formed below the converter, the upper part communicating
direct with the tuyeres leading into the metal; at its lower part are
also other tuyeres through which a blast of air is driven for the com-
bustion of the fuel. The door for introducing the fuel is well fitted
and capable of being secured against the pressure of the blast. I prefer
to use a double door or valve so that the fire chamber may be fed with-
out stopping the blast. The fire chamber is made of stout iron plates
and lined with fire-bricks or "ganister," which latter material is also
employed to line the converter or melting vessel. When, however,
gaseous or liquid fuel is to be employed for the purposes of my present
Invention, the combustion chamber or tuyere box may be much smaller
and the pipes or tuyeres which convey the gases or fluids therein may
be so directed or arranged as to facilitate the union of these matters
with the blast of air. There also are tuyeres at the upper part of the
combustion chamber or tuyere box for conveying the flame and heated
matters into the melting vessel. In this chamber I employ carbonic
oxide, pure hydrogen, or carburetted hydrogen gas, or I use the gaseous
products obtained from the vaporization or from the destructive dis-
tillation of creosote, petroleum, naphtha, coal oil, or other hydrocarbons
or matters capable of yielding combustible gases, or I inject the creosote,
petroleum, or other hydrocarbons in the fluid state, and along with any
or all of which combustible matters I force in sufficient air to cause
combustion and to prevent the fluid metal from entering the tuyeres.

page_text: the quantity of air and combustible gases or fluids being however so
apportioned as to produce a reducing or oxidizing flame as may be
desirable from time to time.
Any of the gaseous or fluid combustible matters herein lastly named
or referred to may be used as compound jets with atmospheric air, or
may be used as separate jets so directed as to unite at a point not far
distant from their orifices, and be thus driven in among the pieces of
metal to be fused and into and among the particles of fluid metal result-
ing from such fusion, or into and among the particles of any carburet of
iron that may be added thereto.
may
When gaseous fluid or solid fuel is employed for the purposes of my
Invention I prefer to use the atmospheric air necessary to support their
combustion in a highly heated state. The gaseous fuel also be
highly heated by any of the methods known and in use for heating air
or gases, but if it be preferred the gas and air may both be used at the
ordinary temperature.
Part of my Invention also consists in using such jets of flame from
solid fuel or jets of flame from the several gaseous matters or fluid fuels
before named or compound jets or separate jets of combustible matters
and air as herein-before named or referred to for the purpose of fusing
pig or cast iron for the several purposes for which such metal may be
used either alone or with such quantities of partially refined or of malie-
able metal as may improve in quality the castings made therefrom or
which may render such molten iron better suited for the purposes for
which it may be employed. In some cases it may be found desirable
when melting pig iron in the manner herein-before described to further
carbonize the metal by employing carbonic oxide or other gas in excess
during or after the fusion of the metal.
I also desire it to be understood that air alone may be passed through
the tuyeres at any stage of the operation if found desirable either as a
heating or decarburizing agent, and although I have herein described
my Invention as consisting in the employment of jets or streams of fire
or jets of gases or fluid hydrocarbons and air, producing combustion by
their union in or below the surface of the metal, I nevertheless do not
confine myself to this mode of introducing fire into the fluid metal
in the form of jets, as the same or similar results may be obtained by
dividing a furnace or vessel into two or more parts separated by an
inverted bridge or partition, the metal to be fused occupying one part

page_text: and the combustible matters and air being forced into the others, from
the lower part of which the fluid portion of the metal will be displaced
by the force of the injected matters, the flame and heat passing up from
beneath the partition through the fluid and among the solid portions of
the metal in the other chamber. In some cases two fire bridges in
close proximity may be employed, air escaping from beneath one of
them and gas from beneath the other, so as to unite, and by producing
flame operate direct upon the metal. In some cases also it may be
found desirable to introduce flame or combustible matters in jets or
streams horizontally or downward upon the mass of metal to be heated
or fused in addition to the jets forced up through the metal from
below.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Bessemer in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 30th September 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
BESSEMER, of Queen Street Place, Cannon Street, in the City of London,
send greeting.
year
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of March, in the of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Henry Bessemer, Her special licence
that I, the said Henry Bessemer, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Bessemer, my exécutors,
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 MALLEABLE IRON AND STEEL, IN THE HEATING AND MELTING OF
METALS, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED FOR SUCH PURPOSES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry Bessemer,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my;
or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and

page_text: 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 Henry Bessemer, 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 :-
It is well known to engineers and others that malleable iron and steel
that has been rendered homogeneous in structure by fusion is much
better adapted for a variety of purposes in the arts than iron or steel
that has not been so treated. It is also well known that the process of
puddling iron and some other processes in which the metal
into
passes
a granular or more or less solid state are found to remove so much of
the phosphorus and other impurities usually found in combination with
the cheap and inferior qualities of pig iron as greatly to improve the
The
quality of the metal whilst rendering such iron malleable.
extremely high temperature however which is necessary to bring
decarbonized or malleable iron or steel into a state of complete fusion
has hitherto been a great bar to the conversion of such puddled or
malleable metal into homogeneous iron or steel.
Now, therefore, one important object sought to be accomplished by
means of my present Invention is a more ready and less expensive means
.of fusing decarbonized or partially decarbonized iron or malleable iron
or steel by means of the combustion of solid gaseous or liquid fuel in
such manner that the heat generated by their combustion shall be
applied in numerous powerful jets or streams as from a number of blow
pipes, such jets or streams of fire or gaseous or fluid combustible matter
in combination with atmospheric air being forced or driven in between
or among the solid pieces of metal to be fused, and into and among the
particles of fluid metal derived from their fusion, and into and among
the particles of any fluid carburet of iron that may be added to the
charge of malleable metal for the purpose of facilitating its fusion
or of adding the necessary quantity of carbon thereto, the flame or
matters. employed to produce flame being forced upward into the metal
through tuyeres in a manner similar to that by which atmospheric
air is now forced into fluid iron in the Bessemer process; or the metal
may be fused by forcing jets of air and jets of combustible gases or

page_text: liquid fuel either separately or combined in among the pieces of metal
to be fused, and into any fused portion thereof, or into any carburet of
iron that may be added thereto and form part of the charge. The metal
to be fused may be put cold into the vessel or furnace where its fusion
is to take place, or it may be previously heated to a red or white heat
in any other suitable furnace, and which preliminary heating is in most
cases to be preferred. The fusion however of the metal may be effected
in a gas or other reverberatory furnace, in which it may have been
puddled or otherwise more or less decarbonized or rendered malleable by
employing in combination with the heat of such furnaces my improved
mode or modes of heating and fusing malleable metal by jets or streams
of fire, or jets of the gaseous or fluid combustible matters before
referred to.
But although I have shown how my Invention may be used in
conjunction with other furnace heat, I nevertheless desire it to be
understood that I prefer to employ for the purposes of my Invention
a vessel or converter mounted on axes, the chamber for burning solid
fuel, or the chamber in which the gaseous or liquid fuel is ignited,
forming part of the apparatus moving on trunnions, through or around
which trunnions the air and the gas or liquid fuel are conveyed by pipes
from suitable reservoirs.
And in order that the mode in which I prefer to employ solid fuel for
the purposes of my Invention may be fully understood, I have shown on
the sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed an elevation of an apparatus
suitable for that purpose at Figure 1, and a vertical section of the same
at Figure 2.
The melting or converting chamber a consists of an outer casing of
plate iron b rivetted together, having a trunnion band c passing around
it from which project the trunnions d, and through which passages are
formed for the purpose of passing air into the fuel chamber below. The
melting chamber a is lined with ganister or other refractory material,
and is similar in construction to the converting vessels now generally
used in the "Bessemer process." Beneath the melting chamber a is
the fire-box e, which is fixed to the melting chamber by means of the
flanges f; the fire-box may also have a lining of ganister or fire-brick g.
In the lower part of the fire-box a space h is formed by a diaphragm of
iron, having several nozzles or tuyere pipes i fitted to it; these tuyerés
extend through the lining g, and convey numerous powerful blasts of

page_text: air (heated or cold) in among the fuel in order to promote an intense
combustion, the air being conducted by a pipe not shown from the
trunnion d down to the flanged opening ; communicating with the
space h. An opening or door on the side of the fire-box is shown by
dots at e* for the admission of fuel, and is secured against the pressure
of the blast by a faced metal joint and plate, or by a feeding valve such
as is employed in cases where fires are made in closed chambers. There
is fitted into the lower part of the melting vessel a tuyere or tuyeres m
made of fire-clay, plumbago, or other refractory material; the tuyere is
to be replaced by a new one as often as required by removing the fire-
box from the melting chamber. When a new tuyere is fixed some luting
of clay is put on the upper surface of the lining g of the fire-box, and
the flanges screwed home, which will secure the joint and retain the
tuyere m in place. When employing this apparatus it is mounted on a
frame, in which it may be moved on its axis in a manner similar to the
ordinary Bessemer converting vessel. A fire of good pure
hard coke may
be made in the fire-box, using by preference a low pressure of blast
until the heat and flame passing through the tuyeres m have heated the
melting chamber a, a fresh charge of fuel is then put in, and the box e
is well filled. The apparatus may then be moved on its axis until the
mouth a* is in a convenient position for the introduction of the metal to
be fused or converted therein, and which may consist of steel or iron in
a solid state which has by some previous process or processes been more
or less purified, decarbonized, or rendered malleable and difficult of
fusion, or the metal may consist of any of the qualities or kinds herein-
after more particularly designated. I prefer to heat such solid metal
to a full red or white heat in any convenient furnace prior to putting
it into the melting chamber (although it will be obvious that it may be
put therein alone or with a portion of pig iron, each being in a cold or
unheated state). When the metal to be fused is put into the chamber a
a powerful blast is turned on (preferably at a pressure of 10 to 20 lbs.
per square inch); the air at this pressure passing through the tuyeres i
will cause an intense combustion of the fuel, and the heat and flame
emitted therefrom will pass up among the pieces of metal to be fused.
As soon as the pieces of metal are heated to whiteness, or show signs
of fusion by the emission of sparks, the vessel may be turned quickly
down and receive a charge of molten pig or other carburet of iron. By
preference I employ grey hæmatite pig iron, or a mixture of it and
white spathose pig iron; the metal so added may, form one-fourth to

page_text: three-fourths of the whole weight of metal treated. As soon as the fluid
carburet is run into the vessel it is again turned up into the position
shown in the Drawings, the flame and heated products of combustion
will be driven through the fluid metal, and also in among the solid
portions of the charge, diffusing itself in numerous fiery bubbles through-
out the metal under treatment, raising the fluid portions thereof to an
intense heat, but without rapidly decarbonizing the metal as in the
ordinary Bessemer process where pure air is used, and hence the
accumulation of heat may go on until the complete fusion of the solid
malleable constituents of the charge has been effected. If a larger
quantity of pig or carburet of iron be employed than is sufficient to pro-
duce steel of the desired quality when united with the malleable metal
which formed part of the charge, and also in those cases where it is
desired to produce soft malleable iron, air may be admitted to the melt-
ing chamber at or near the end of the process by opening a valve and
allowing the air to be forced into the fire-box at n above the level or
upper surface of the fuel, and from thence pass through the tuyeres m
without having first passed through the fuel. The air so admitted will
rapidly deprive the metal of its remaining carbon, and at the same time
give an additional heat to it. When the whole charge is in a fluid state
it may be poured from the chamber a by tipping the chamber on its axis
as is well understood, the metal being received into a casting ladle
when an addition may be made to it of some molten spiegel-eisen or
ferro-manganese previous to running the metal into moulds. It will be
obvious that any substances that are vapourized by intense heat which
it is desired to pass in the gaseouts form through molten iron with a view
to improve or alter its quality may be put into the fire-box before the
commencement. of the melting process, or may be conveyed therein
from time to time, by the blast. It will also be understood that any
substances which may be found useful, or that have hitherto been
employed to purify or alter the quality of iron in other processes, may
also be put into the melting vessel in my improved process, but I desire
it to be understood that I lay no claim to the use or application of such
substances either in the fire-box or melting chamber of this apparatus.
I desire it also to be understood that not only may such melting
vessel or converter be employed for the purposes of fusing decarbonized
or partially decarbonized iron or steel made in other furnaces or
apparatus, but it may be advantageously employed to decarbonize and

page_text: purify the crude or impure metal which is afterwards to be fused therein
by employing any of the methods now known or practised whereby
impure or inferior pig iron may be rendered more or less malleable or
converted into malleable iron or steel, and in which processes the metal
assumes a more or less granulated or solid condition, and hence requires
the after process of fusion.
When the vessel for melting the malleable metal is also employed to de-
carbonize or purify the metal to be melted therein, I prefer to construct
the vessel with two hearths or divisions as described in a Provisional
Specification already filed by me and dated the 21st day of March 1868,
No. 967, and in a Complete Specification to the same which was duly
filed on the 21st day of September, instant, the second hearth of the
vessel described in the aforesaid Specification being provided with a
fire-box below the tuyeres in lieu of the tuyere box there shown, and
which fire-box is similar to that represented in Figures 1 and 2 on
the annexed Drawings so that the fusion of the metal treated with
air and steam on the first hearth of the converting vessel may be
effected by jets of flame and heated products of combustion as
already described in respect to the Figures 1 and 2 in lieu of by
atmospheric air alone. When furnace heat is necessary in any such
preliminary processes of purifying pig iron and rendering it malleable
the same may be applied by means of jets of fire or combustible
gases as herein-before described, the final fusion of the metal also being
effected by these jets of flame or gases or fluids capable of producing
them.
The materials to be fused by my improved means and thereby con-
verted into homogeneous iron or steel alone or in combination with a
portion of any carburets of iron may consist of puddled iron or steel
in its early or granular or loose state or in a more advanced state of
manufacture, such as puddled balls, blooms, or puddled bars cut into
convenient pieces. The materials may also consist of any semi-fluid,
granular, or more or less concrete malleable metal that has been
obtained by the action of nitrate of soda or nitrate of potash, or by
analogous or other substances containing or capable of yielding oxygen
on coming in contact with fluid pig iron and of decarbonizing or
rendering such metal more or less malleable, or the materials may
consist of any semi-fluid, granular, or more or less concrete malleable
metal that has been obtained from crude or pig iron by the action

page_text: iron ore or otherwise or which metallic substance is the result of any
purifying or decarbonizing processes that may render the metal more or
less malleable and difficult of fusion in ordinary furnaces where crucibles
are not used.
I desire it also to be understood that my improved modes of heating
and fusing malleable iron or steel are suitable for the fusion or
conversion into malleable iron and steel of blistered steel, or uncemented
Swedish or other iron bars, and any wrought or scrap iron or scrap
steel such as ends or crop ends of iron or steel rails, also old or worn
out rails of iron, or steel and skulls, or scraps and crop ends of Bessemer
steel, and all scrap or refuse pieces of malleable metal obtained in
working metal fused or converted by the means herein described. The
charge of metal to be melted down by my improved means may be
put into the vessel all at once, with or without a portion of pig or other
carburet of iron, or it may be added in several successive portions
depending on the nature of the materials employed and the products
to be obtained. The charge of metal to be fused may also for like
reasons consist either of one kind or quality of metal only, or it may
consist of such a mixture of the materials before-named as may best
In some
suit the convenience or requirements of the manufacturer.
cases a carburet of iron rich in carbon, such as grey hematite or spiegel-
eisen may first be put into the vessel and its heat raised either by
forcing flame or combustible gases therein mixed with atmospheric air
or by the use of air alone, after which the malleable metal to be fused
may be added from time to time, and its fusion effected by forcing flame
or combustible gases mixed with atmospheric air through the mixed
metals, or the malleable metal may be first put into the vessel and
highly heated by the jets of flame or combustible gas or fluid hydro-
carbons with atmospheric air, and the pig metal if any be used be added
from time to time as required. Suitable valves under the control of

page_text: the workman will regulate from time to time the relative quantities
of fluid hydrocarbons or combustible gases and atmospheric air to be
admitted so as to produce an oxidizing or a reducing flame as desired,
the movement of the vessel on its axes allowing the process to be sus-
pended and resumed at pleasure; this movement will also facilitate the
introduction of the metal to be operated upon as well as to discharge
the metal after the process is completed. The addition of spiegel-eisen
or ferro-manganese may be made previous to the discharge of the metal
from the vessel or it may be mixed with the metal in the casting ladle
prior to its being poured into moulds.
When solid fuel is to be employed for the purposes of my present
Invention I prefer to use good hard coke or anthracite coal, although
common coal, charcoal, or other fuel may be employed. The fuel
chamber is formed below the converter in the manner already shown
and described. When, however, gaseous or liquid fuel is to be employed
for the purposes of my present Invention, the combustion chamber or
tuyere box may be much smaller, and the pipes or tuyeres which convey
the gases or fluids therein may be so directed or arranged as to facilitate
the-union of these matters with the blast of air. There also are tuyeres
at the upper part of the combustion chamber or tuyere box for conveying
the flame and heated matters into the melting vessel.
o is
In order that the mode which I prefer to employ for conveying liquid
fuel or combustible gases in combination with atmospheric air into the
melting chamber may be fully understood, I have shown at Figure 3 of
the Drawings hereunto annexed a vertical section of a melting or
converting vessel mounted on axes and arranged for that purpose.
a plate-iron vessel lined with ganister p; at the lower part of the melt-
ing vessel a tuyere box q is attached by slotted studs r; a ring of fire-
clays is fitted into this box and serves to support the lower ring of the
tuyere and keep it in place; u is a vértical pipe secured by a flange
the upper
at its lower end to the covering plate q* of the tuyere box
part of the pipe u is furnished with a perforated disc u* from which the
liquid or gaseous fuel is projected in numerous fine streams.
gases are employed these perforations as well as the pipe u-are of much
larger dimensions. The branch pipe v communicates with one of the
hollow trunnions of the melting vessel, and from thence is put into
communication with any convenient apparatus by means of which the
When

page_text: liquid or gaseous fuel is forced under such pressure as to cause it to enter
the tuyere box in sharp jets through the perforations u*, at the same
time a blast of hot or cold air is forced into the lower part of the tuyere
box through the opening w which represents the orifice of a pipe lead-
ing to one of the hollow trunnions of the vessel or chamber and is in
communication with the blast engine, the air from which passes upwards
around the pipe u dashing the jets of liquid fuel into spray, or combin-
ing with the gases emitted therefrom and passing in combination there-
with in numerous powerful jets into and among the red-hot pieces of
malleable metal to be melted, or into and among the particles of any
fluid iron contained in the melting chamber and being diffused through
it in numerous fiery bubbles, whereby the metal becomes highly heated
and the fusion of the solid malleable portions is effected and the whole
becomes united as a fluid malleable.metal containing more or less carbon,
depending in part upon the original proportion of the decarbonized iron
and pig iron employed and upon the proportion which the liquid or
gaseous fuel admitted bears to the quantity of atmospheric air, and which
may be so regulated from time to time by means of suitable valves as to
render the flame oxidizing or deoxidizing as desired.
Another modification of the mode of admitting the liquid or gaseous
fuel and air in compound jets is shown at Figure 4, which is a vertical
section of the apparatus. In this case the tuyere box A is divided into
two parts; into the lower part the liquid or gaseous fuel is admitted at
the orifice B and passes upwards through several small nozzles C, the
orifices of which are inserted a short distance into an enlarged part of
the tuyere passages D. Air is admitted through the orifice E and pass-
ing upwards around the nozzles C enters in the form of a combined
jet into the fluid or among the solid pieces of metal in the melting
chamber, as herein-before described in reference to Figure 3. In the
combustion chamber or tuyere box I sometimes empty carbonic oxide,
hydrogen, or carburetted hydrogen gas, or I use the gaseous products
obtained from the vaporization or from the distillation of creosote,
petroleum, naptha, coal, oil, or other hydrocarbons or matters, capable of
yielding combustible gases, or as above described in respect to Figures 3
and 4, I inject the creosote, petroleum, or other hydrocarbons in the fluid
state. Along with any or all of these combustible matters I force in
sufficient air to cause combustion and to prevent the fluid metal from

page_text: entering the tuyeres, the quantities of air and combustible gases or
fluids being so apportioned as to produce a reducing or oxidizing flame
as may be desirable from time to time. Any of the gaseous or fluid com-
bustible matters herein lastly named or referred to may be used as
compound jets with atmospheric air or may be used as separate jets
with other separate jets of atmospheric air, such jets being so directed
as to unite at a point not far distant from their orifices and be thus
driven in among the pieces of metal to be fused, and into and among
the particles of fluid metal resulting from such fusion, or into and among
the particles of any carburet of iron that may be added thereto..
The mode of applying two separate jets, one a combustible liquid or
gaseous substance and the other atmospheric air, so as to unite at a short
distance from the orifices from which they are emitted, and thus produce
combustion, is shewn in Figure 6 of the annexed Sheet of Drawings,
which is a cross section of a reverberatory furnace, in the bed of which
an oblong double tuyere block H is fitted. A pipe communicates with the
passage I for the conveyance of gaseous or liquid fuel having several
tuyere passages J pointing upward into the furnace; the passage L is in
communication with the blast apparatus. Jets of air at N are conveyed
"upward at an angle to strike against the jets issuing from the opposite
series of orifices J, so that the issuing matters may unite at a short
distance from the orifices and produce a powerful flame among the
pieces of solid metal to be fused or among any fluid metal that may be
present in the furnace; the matters to be fused may also be heated by a
fire made at one end of the furnace, and passing over the fire-bridge O
and being reverberated down upon the metal to be melted, the fire sa
employed either resulting from the combustion of solid fuel in a fire-
grate behind the bridge O, or from the combustion of heated air and
gases in what is generally known as a gas furnace. I would observe
that when employing in combination with furnace heat jets of air and
jets of gaseous or liquid fuel to unite below the fluid or other metal to be
heated that I prefer to employ such jets towards the conclusion of the
heating process, so as to assist the action of such furnaces and render
them more rapid, and for this purpose I cover over the orifices of the
tuyere block H with some fire-clay and sand mixed together, or with
some other fire-resisting material, previous to putting in the materials
to be fused and when the matters to be melted have acquired a very

page_text: high temperature approaching fusion; I then suddenly turn on the blast
and liquid or gaseous fuel, which will blow off the luting with which
the orifices were covered and commence to further heat the metal by the
As
energetic action produced by their combustion below the metal.
soon as the whole of the materials are fused and blended the 'metal may
be tapped out of the furnace and run into a ladle and mixed with
other metal as before described. I would also remark that the employ-
ment of jets crossing each other or uniting only after having escaped
from their respective orifices is also applicable to the moveable vessels or
chambers herein-before described.
When gaseous fluid or solid fuel is employed for the purposes of my
Invention I prefer to use the atmospheric air necessary to support their
combustion in a highly heated state; the gaseous fuel may also be highly
heated by any of the methods known and in use for heating air or gases,
but if it be preferred the gas and air may both be used at the ordinary
temperature.
Part of my Invention also consists in using such jets of flame from
solid fuel or jets of flame from the several gaseous matters or fluid fuels
before named, or compound jets or separate jets of combustible matters
and air as herein-before named or referred to, for the purpose of fusing
pig or cast iron for the several purposes for which such metal may be
used, either alone or with such quantities of partially refined or of
malleable metal as may improve in quality the castings made therefrom,
or which may render such molten iron better suited for the purposes for
.which it may be employed. In some cases it may be found desirable
when melting pig iron in the manner herein-before described to further
carbonize the metal by employing carbonic oxide or other gas in excess
during or after the fusion of the metal.
I also desire it to be understood that air alone may be passed through
the tuyeres at any stage of the operation if found desirable either as a
heating or decarbonizing agent, and although I have herein described my
Invention as consisting in the employment of jets or streams of fire, or
jets of gases or fluid hydrocarbons and air, producing combustion by
their union in or below the surface of the metal, I nevertheless do not
confine myself to this mode of introducing fire into the fluid metal in
the form of jets, as the same or similar results may be obtained by

page_text: dividing a furnace or vessel into two or more parts separated by an
inverted bridge or partition, the metal to be fused occupying one part
and the combustible matters and air being forced into the other, from
the lower part of which the fluid portion of the metal will be displaced
by the force of the injected matters, the flame and heat passing up from
beneath the partitions through the fluid and among the solid portions of
the metal in the other chamber.
A furnace or chamber suitable for carrying into operation this
modification of my Invention is represented in vertical cross section in
Figure 5 of the annexed Drawings. It consists of a square or rectangular
shell of iron Q lined with brickwork or ganister; a fuel chamber is
formed at R having a door at R* for the supply of fuel, which door
is secured by a faced joint and luting so as to prevent the escape of
gaseous products therefrom; at S, S, are blast pipes which convey air
through two rows of small tuyeres T into the fuel chamber; the melting
or converting chamber U contains the metal to be melted, and which
may be supplied through a door at U*, or it may be put in at the
opening U' through which the sparks and products of combustion
escape; an opening W stopped with loam is also provided for running
off the metal when melted. There is an inverted fire bridge or partition
formed at X, beneath which the flame and heated products of com-
bustion pass from the chamber U up among the pieces of metal to be
fused, and up through the fluid metal contained therein. The fire thus
brought into direct contact with or diffused through the fluid metal
will rapidly bring the metal up to an intense heat, and fuse and unite
the whole, which may be then run off and employed as desired; and
although I have herein shewn the mode by which I cause the flame
and products of combustion from solid fuel to act upon and enter into
the fluid metal without the employment of tuyeres for that purpose, I
desire it to be understood that this modification of my Invention is also
applicable in those cases where liquid or gaseous fuel is employed; and
I would further observe that in some cases two fire bridges in close
proximity may be employed, air escaping from beneath one of them and
gas from beneath the other so as to unite, and by producing flame
operate direct upon the metal. In some cases also it may be found
desirable to introduce flame or combustible matters in jets or streams
horizontally or downward upon the mass of metal to be heated or fused

page_text: in addition to the jets forced up through the metal from below; but I
desire it to be understood that I lay no claim to the employment of
such jets of flame or gaseous or liquid fuel when applied downwards
or horizontally, or when not employed to fuse or assist in fusing
malleable iron or steel, or other partially decarbonized or more or less
malleable metal or cast or other carburet of iron.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner of performing the same, I would have it understood that I do
not confine myself to the exact details described; but I claim the
fusion of solid pieces of malleable iron or steel, or of iron which has
been more or less decarbonized or rendered partially malleable mixed
with pig or other carburet of iron in a molten or solid state, by means
of a jet or jets of flame and heated products arising from the combustion
of coke, coal, or other solid fuel when such jet or jets of flame and
products of combustion are made to enter amongst the said metal up
through such portion of the metal as is molten or becomes molten
during the operation.
I also claim the fusion of solid pieces of malleable iron or steel, or
of iron which has been more or less decarbonized or rendered partially
malleable mixed with pig or other carburet of iron in a molten or solid
state, by means of a compound or combining jet or jets of gaseous or
fluid fuel and air, or a jet or jets of flame and heated products arising
from the combustion of gaseous or fluid fuel when such jet or jets are
made to enter amongst the said metal up through such portion of the
metal as is molten or becomes molten during the operation.
I also claim the manufacture of cast steel or cast malleable iron by
fusing malleable iron or steel, or iron which has been more or less decar-
bonized or rendered partially malleable mixed with pig or other carburet
of iron, by means of a jet or jets of flame, or of gaseous or fluid fuel and
air when such jets are made to enter amongst the metal up through
such portion of the metal as is molten or becomes molten during the
operation.
I also claim the treating and raising the temperature of molten iron
or steel by means of a jet or jets of flame, or of a compound or com-
bining jet or jets of gaseous or fluid fuel and air when such jet or jets are
forced into the iron or steel at the bottom of the containing vessel and.
rise up through the molten metal.

page_text: I also claim the fusion of solid pieces of malleable iron or steel, or or
iron which has been more or less decarbonized or rendered partially
malleable mixed with pig or other carburet of iron by the use in the
same vessel of a jet or jets of flame or of a compound or combining jet
or jets of gaseous or fluid fuel and air, and a jet or jets of air alone or
without fuel, such jet or jets of air alone or without fuel being applied
either before or after the flame or compound or combining jet or jets, or
simultaneously therewith, and the several jets being made to enter
amongst the metal up through such portion of the metal as is molten
or becomes molten during the operation.
I also claim the melting of pig or other cast iron by means of a jet or
jets of flame and heated products of combustion from solid fuel, or
gaseous fuel and atmospheric air, or by means of compound or com-
bining jets of fluid or gaseous fuel and air, when such jets are forced
up among the pigs or other cast iron so as to rise up through the
molten portions thereof as the fusion progresses.
matters
gaseous
so injected may have an oxidizing, carbonizing, or neutral flame as
desired.
Such
. I also claim the employment of a jet or jets of flame and heated
products of combustion arising from solid, fluid, or gaseous fuel and
atmospheric air, or of compound or combining jets of fluid or gaseous
fuel and air when such jets are forced upward through fluid iron or steel
contained in a gas or other reverberatory furnace.
I also claim the employment of melting or converting vessels mounted
on axes and having a fire or fuel chamber attached thereto, for the
purposes herein-before described.
I also claim the employment of melting or converting vessels having|
a combustion chamber or tuyere box arranged for the combustion or
conveyance into the metal of liquid or gaseous combustible matters and
atmospheric air, as herein-before described.
"
I also claim the fusion of pig iron or other carburet of iron, or of
malleable iron or steel or iron in a more or less decarbonized or
malleable state in furnaces or apparatus in which flame and products of
combustion are passed beneath an inverted fire bridge or partition and
thence upward among the pieces of metal to be fused, or upward and
among the particles of any fluid metal arising from the fusion of such

page_text: pieces of metal, or of any molten pig iron that may be employed in
ddition thereto.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Bessemer, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of September, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
eight
HENRY BESSEMER. (L.S.)