IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANTEA CRUDE
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Clay, of Liverpool, in the County of
Lancaster, Iron and Steel Manufacturer, and Edmund Leopold Benzon,
of Sheffield, in the County of York, Steel Manufacturer, for the Invention
of IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANTEA CRUDE
Sealed the 26th October 1858, and dated the 20th August 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Clay and Edmund
Leopold Benzon at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 20th August 1858.
I, WILLIAM CLAY, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Iron and Steel
Manufacturer, and I, EDMUND LEOPOLD BENZON, of Sheffield, in the County of
York, Steel Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL," to be as
follows:
Our Invention of improvements in the manufacture of iron and steel consists
in an improved method of treating or working crude pig iron in a puddling or
reverberatory furnace. In a puddling furnace of the ordinary construction is
placed a charge of pig iron in the usual manner, together with an equal weight
of hammer slag, or cinder, or other vitreous material, and when these
ingredients are melted together they are worked in the manner in which iron
is usually puddled, taking care to melt and boil the iron at as great a heat as

page_text: possible; the iron after boiling and working for a considerable time com-
mences to thicken, and grains of steel begin to appear through the cinder
which covers the iron; the damper must then be shut down, and the metal
balled up in the usual manner, and as quickly as possible, and then it must be
withdrawn from the furnace and hammered and rolled in the usual manner,
according to the purpose for which the steel or metal is required or intended
to be used.
The metal produced by the above described process will be found to be a
peculiar description of steel, and combines with great cheapness of production
all the advantages which ordinary steel has over iron, the most important of
which are increased strength, ductability, closeness of grain, smoothness of
surface, and decreased liability to oxidation, and the advantages resulting
from all of these properties. The cheapness with which this metal can be
produced by the above process will render its application commercially
practicable for many or all the purposes for which wrought iron has been
heretofore used, and from which steel, manufactured in the ordinary manner,
has been hitherto excluded on account of its high price..
.
If instead of closing the damper at the point indicated above, when the
grains of steel commence to rise and break through the cinder, or begin to
adhere to the tool used for working the metal, the damper is only partially
closed or kept entirely open for a few minutes longer, the steel will pass from
its harder or more crystalline state to a milder-form; and if the process be
carried still further, the steel will be converted into iron. From this it will be
seen that 'the time of closing or keeping open the dampers can be so regulated
that the workman can produce from the hardest to the softest steel, as may be
required, and by prolonging the period of keeping the dampers open, after the
grains of steel have appeared, as described, a steel of so soft a nature, i. e.,
with so little carbon can be produced, that it may be called iron, and this iron
will have all the superior properties which the best English, Swedish,. and
Norwegian charcoal irons possess; it will work equally sound, be tough and
strong, and may therefore be used for the manufacture of wire, scythes, shovels,
and various other purposes for which charcoal iron is now employed. It may
also be worked into sheet iron of the same finish and quality as the celebrated
Russian sheet iron; in short the metal produced as above as steel or iron may
be applied for every purpose for which steel and iron have heretofore been
applied.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Clay and Edmund Leopold Benzon in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 19th February 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
CLAY, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Iron and Steel Manu-
facturer, and EDMUND LEOPOLD BENZON, of Sheffield, in the County York,
Steel Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs, and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
William Clay and Edmund Leopold Benzon, Her special license that, we, the
said William Clay and Edmund, Leopold Benzon, our executors, adminis-
trators,, and assigns, or such others as we, the said William Clay and
Edmund Leopold Benzon, our 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 we, the said William Clay and Edmund Leopold
Benzon, by an instrument in writing under our hands and seals, or under the
hand and seal of one of us, 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 Clay, on behalf of myself and:
of the said Edmund Leopold Benzon, do hereby declare the nature of our:
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be par-
ticularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement (that, is
to say):-
Our Invention of "Improvements in the Manufacture of Iron and Steel,"
consists in an improved method of treating or working crude, pig iron, or refined
or plate metal, in a puddling or reverberatory furnace. In the manufacture of
steel in the puddling or reverberatory furnace, it has heretofore been the
practice to charge the pig iron, the slag or cylinder, and other materials, at
different times; for which purpose it has been necessary to open the door of
the furnace, whereby the heat has been lowered, and the operation in the

page_text: furnace somewhat interfered with; in practice, however, we have found it to
be more convenient to charge the furnace with the iron and cinder or
vitreous material at the same time, so as to obviate the necessity of frequently
opening the furnace door and lowering the heat.
In carrying out our Invention in a puddling furnace of the ordinary con-
struction a charge of pig iron, or refined iron, or plate metal, or a combination
of these materials is introduced into the furnace in the usual manner, together
with about an equal quantity of hammer slag, or cinder, or some vitreous
material; and when these ingredients are melted together they are worked in
a somewhat similar manner to that usually adopted in puddling iron, taking
care to melt and boil the iron at as great a heat as possible. With some kinds
of crude or refined iron, this treatment must be modified to some extent, and
at this stage of the process it may sometimes be found desirable to wholly or
partially close the damper for a short time. With some descriptions of iron
we find it desirable in charging the iron and cinder into the furnace, to arrange
a portion of the charge of iron, say from twenty to sixty pounds, in such a
manner, that it shall be covered by the cinder, and thereby protected from the
action of the heat, until the remainder of the charge is thoroughly melted.
When this occurs we uncover the reserved portion of the charge, which, by
being protected, will be found comparatively cool, and we then draw it forward
into the molten mass. This will have the effect of producing a more perfect
rising and boiling of the charge. Sometimes also it is found advantageous to
throw into the furnace a quantity of water, which, when decomposed by the
heat, will be resolved into its elements of oxygen and hydrogen, which are
found to act beneficially on the cinder. The iron after boiling for a con-
siderable time, the length of which depends upon the quantity of carbon
originally contained therein, commences to thicken, and grains of steel begin to
appear upon the puddling tool, or to rise through the covering layer of cinder
or vitreous material; the damper must then be shut down, and as soon as
the ebullition subsides the metal must be gathered together and balled up
quickly, taking care to keep the mass as compact as possible, and protect it
from the influence of the atmosphere. The ball, when withdrawn from the
furnace, may be hammered, squeezed, and rolled, in the usual manner,
according to the purpose for which the steel or metal is required or is intended
to be used.
For some purposes, instead of hammering and rolling the metal at the same
heat, we propose to hammer or squeeze the puddled ball into shape, and
afterwards return it to the same or other suitable furnace, and work it about
in the melted cinder. After the blooms have been operated upon in this

page_text: manner for a few minutes, they are again withdrawn from the furnace and
hammered and rolled, or simply rolled in the usual manner. By this means
puddled bars of a sounder and better quality than heretofore are produced.
The metal produced by either of the above described processes will be found
to be a peculiar description of steel, and combines with great cheapness of
production most of the advantages which ordinary steel has over iron, the
most important of which are increased strength, ductibility, closeness of grain,
smoothness of surface, and decreased liability to oxidation, and the advantages
resulting from these properties. The cheapness with which this metal may be
produced by the above processes will render its application commercially
practicable for many or all of the purposes for which wrought iron has been
heretofore used and from which steel manufactured in the ordinary manner
has been hitherto excluded on account of its high price.
If, instead of closing the damper at the point indicated above, when the
grains of steel begin to adhere to the puddling tool, or commence to rise and
break through the covering layer of cinder, the damper is only partially closed
or kept entirely open for a few minutes longer, the steel will pass from its
harder or more crystalline state to a milder form; and if the process be carried
still further, the steel will be more highly decarbonized and will be converted
into a material possessing more of the properties of iron.
There are certain qualities of pig iron which, if worked in the ordinary way,
will only produce bars of iron of inferior quality, but which, if operated upon
in the manner above set forth, will give very satisfactory results, and will
produce bar iron of good quality.
Although the most convenient mode of stopping the decarbonization of the
metal is by closing the dampers, and thereby excluding the atmospheric air
and preventing the access of oxygen to the metal, the same object may be
effected by other means, such as by the introduction into the furnace of
carbonaceous substances, or other materials, which by having a stronger
affinity for oxygen than that possessed by iron or steel will protect the latter
from the action of the oxygen contained in the air.
It will be understood from the foregoing description, that the decarboni-
zation of the metal can be so regulated either by closing or keeping open the
dampers, or by preventing the access of oxygen to the metal by other means,
that the workman can produce varieties of steel from the hardest to the softest
description, as may be repuired; and by continuing the process of decarboni-
zation, either by keeping the dampers open, or otherwise, after the grains of
steel have appeared, as described, a steel of so soft a nature (that is to say),
with so little carbon can be produced that it may be called iron, and this iron

page_text: will have all the superior properties which the best English, Swedish, and
Norwegian charcoal irons possess. The iron so produced will also work
equally sound, will be tough and strong, and may therefore be used for the
manufacture of wire, scythes, shovels, and various other purposes for which
charcoal irons are now employed.. It may also be worked into sheet iron of
the same finish and quality as the celebrated Russian sheet iron; in short, the
metal produced as above, as steel or iron, may be applied for every purpose for
which steel and iron have heretofore been applied.
Having now described our Invention of improvements in the manufacture
of iron and steel, and having explained the manner of carrying the same into
effect, we claim, as the Invention secured to us by Letters Patent as afore-
said, the mode or modes herein set forth of producing iron and steel in the
puddling furnace.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Clay, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Nineteenth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
WILLIAM CLAY. (L.S.)