IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Palmer Budd, of Ystalyfera, near Swansea,
in the County of Glamorgan, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL."
Sealed the 27th July 1869, and dated the 8th March 1869.
. .
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Palmer Budd
at the Office of the. Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 8th March 1869.
I, JAMES PALMER BUDD, of Ystalyfera, near Swansea, in the County
of Glamorgan, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL," to be as follows:-
i
Heretofore it has been proposed to refine and decarbonize cast iron by
stirring in therewith nitrate of soda, or as in what is known by the
Heaton process by running it in a molten state into a deep vessel, at the
bottom of which a cake or block of nitrate of soda is placed, and such.

page_text: placed above it.
Now according to my Invention I subject fluid cast iron to the
action of nitrate of soda in flat shallow pans or vessels of cast iron
(similar to the moulds used with refinery furnaces only without a water
bosh beneath them) capable of holding from 4 to 5 inches in depth
of melted metal, and which are by preference about 16 feet long and
from 2 to 3 feet wide. The nitrate of soda I employ together with
soft hæmatite iron ore, which if not sufficiently free from grit I pass
through a pair of clay rolls so as to bring it into a plastic state, the
two being mixed together and moistened with water to form a paste,
and with this paste I coat the bottom and sides of the converting
vessel or pan, and the vessel being hot from previous use quickly dries
up the paste and is then ready to have molten iron run into it from
a blast or remelting cupola or refining furnace. The converting vessel
or pan should be placed as near as practicable to the blast or other
furnace used to supply the molten iron in order that the iron may not
become cooled in its passage from one to the other. When the metal
is poured into the vessel the nitrate of soda or potash is vaporized
but being mixed with the soft hæmatite ore not suddenly or explosively
and by passing through the thin stratum of iron removes from it any
phosphorus or sulphur it may contain; it also largely decarbonizes the
iron. I would state that other substances, such as loam and clay,
might be mixed with the nitrate of soda or potash to form a paste
with it and to retard its vaporization when acted upon by heat, but I
prefer to employ soft hæmatite ore as it will part with its oxygen to
combine with the carbon of the iron, whilst the iron contained in the
hæmatite will become incorporated with the general mass. Oxide of
manganese, iron scale, or other substances capable of yielding oxygen
when exposed to heat might be used with loam or clay in place of
the soft hæmatite ore, or these substances might be used together with
the hæmatite ore. The extent to which the decarbonizing process is
carried on will mainly depend on the thickness of the coating of nitrate
of soda and Lancashire ore; and the metal may thus be brought into the
state of refined metal; or it may be carried on until the metal is brought
into a semi-converted iron or crude steel in a honeycombed slab or mass.
When I want only to remove the phosphorus and sulphur in the molten

page_text: iron without much decarbonization I only put a thin coating of nitrate
of soda, soft hæmatite ore, clay, or other retarding substance and spread
the nitrate loosely on the surface, taking care not to employ so much as
to become explosive, as in that case the iron gets dispersed and it is
dangerous for the workpeople. This slab or mass I afterwards break up
when cold and remove it to the puddling furnace, where it is gathered
together in a pasty state into balls. That part of the puddling process
which consists of melting the pig and rabbling it for decarbonization is
saved if the process of decarbonization has been carried sufficiently far
in the converting vessel or pan. A greater amount of work can thus be
done in a puddling furnace whilst less coal will be consumed and the
sides and bottom of the furnace will be but little acted on, a much
better yield will also be obtained, and the quality of the malleable irou
improved to a great extent. If the decarbonization has been carried
sufficiently far in the converting vessel or pan I remelt it in a Siemens'
or other suitable furnace together with scrap iron if necessary to obtain
cast steel.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Palmer Budd in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 1st September 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
PALMER BUDD, of Ystalyfera, near Swansea, in the County of
Glamorgan, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the
thirty-second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc--
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said James Palmer Budd, Her
special licence that I, the said James Palmer Budd, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James Palmier
Budd, 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 lawfully might make, use,

page_text: exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL," upon the condition.
(amongst others) that I, the said James Palmer Budd, 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 James Palmer Budd, 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 :-
This Invention has for its object to subject molten cast iron to the
action of nitrate of soda and soft hematite iron ore or other oxide of
iron previous to its being subjected to the puddling process. For this
purpose I run the molten cast iron into shallow pans capable of holding
from 3 to 5 inches in depth of melted metal and lined with a paste
composed of a mixture of the materials above mentioned or of either of
them separately. When the fluid metal is poured into the
pans a violent
ebullition takes place and a large proportion of the silica together with
some of the carbon, phosphorus, and sulphur contained in the iron is
carried off in the slag, so that when the slabs of purified metal are sub-
sequently worked in the puddling furnace the puddling operations are
effected much more rapidly than with ordinary pig iron, as when
puddling ordinary pig iron in a puddling furnace but a very small
proportion of carbon is separated from the iron before the greater pro-
portion of the silica is eliminated. Cast iron if of a suitable quality for
steel making may advantageously be acted on by a paste containing
nitrate of soda or hematite ore, or both combined, in shallow pans, as
above described, previous to being decarbonized to convert it into steel.
When my object is to produce bars of wrought iron which are to be
rolled into black plate or thin sheet iron to be afterwards converted into
tin plate I line the shallow pans into which the cast iron is run previous
to puddling with a composition composed of hematite iron ore and

page_text: nitrate of soda. I mix together a quantity of hematite iron ore con-
taining if possible no phosphorus or sulphur and only a moderate
quantity of silica, and mix therewith half. by bulk. or ths by. weight of
nitrate of soda, or 30 lbs. of hematite ore: to 20 lbs. of.nitrate of soda.
Having well mixed these together. mechanically I pass the mixture
through a pair of clay rolls, by which the grit is reduced and it becomes
more plastic. I then form a paste of the mixture which requires about
ths of its weight of water- to-be added; it. is. then sufficiently.liquid
to be filled into a bucket. I place as near as convenient to the tapping
hole of the blast furnace from which the fluid cast iron is to be obtained
a series of shallow moulds of cast iron. Those I use which I find .con-
venient are to the following dimensions: - Length, 7' 9" at top
tapering to 7' 4" at bottom; width, 22" at top tapering to 19".
at bottom; depth 4". The use of the bevilling or tapering in the
mould is that the plate of cast iron shall be more easily removed from
it. These moulds hold about 13 cwt. of cast iron when filled about 3"
deep. I run into these moulds molten cast iron every 4 hours or oftener,
taking care to fill them often enough that they shall retain their heat
or drying power between the casts. As the casts from the furnace must
thus be frequent I pot the iron from the furnace, that is, I take out
what iron I require from an opening into the furnace at the upper part
of the tapping hole without emptying the whole of the iron in the
half. Whilst the moulds are hot from the previous cast I pour into
cach of them a bucket full or about 64 lbs. of the refining mixture before
described and spread it evenly over the bottom and sides. The water
evaporates and the mixture lies at the bottom as an adhering paste. I
then proceed to run the molten iron from the furnace (or from a
remelting cupola or from a refinery or other furnace as the case may
be) until I have filled the moulds about 3½". A great ebullition takes
place, fumes in large quantity are evolved, jets of flame burn from the
surface of the metal for a considerable time, a quantity of scoria is
thrown up violently to the surface and separates from the plate of iron
that fills the mould, and when cold can be stripped therefrom. The
weight of the scoria so thrown up is from 30 lbs. to 40 lbs. from each
plate of metal weighing about 13 cwt. The iron contained in the
hematite ore used in the paste is converted into cast iron and adheres
to the bottom of the plate. The refined iron when broken presents a
honeycomb or cellular appearance throughout and resembles overblown

page_text: refined metal and a large proportion of the silica will have been
removed from it. The iron thus refined is ready for the puddling
process. As advanced refined metal I find it advantageous to use some
pig iron with the iron refined as above described in puddling; about one-
third of pig iron I find to answer best, but a greater or less proportion
may be used. Cast iron thus refined, even if it be what is commercially
known as cinder pig which is produced when iron scoria are largely used
as material in the blast furnace, will make excellent puddle bars and
work to a good yield. The process of puddling is shortened and the
sides and the bottom of the furnace are less acted on than with unrefined
iron. The quantity in proportions of the refining paste which I have
given are suitable for the quality of cast iron known as white iron.
When grey or carburetted iron is used the quantity of nitrate of soda to
be used with the hematite ore should be increased; I prefer to use 30 lbs.
of nitrate of soda (instead of 20 lbs. as in the composition first men-
tioned) with 30 lbs. of hematite ore.
When the malleable iron sought to be made in the puddling furnace
is not to be of the quality suitable for tin bars and similar purposes, but
is required to be a softer working quality suitable for rails and merchant
bars, I do not use nitrate of soda in the refining paste but make it of
hematite ore alone. When used alone a great ebullition takes place when
the molten iron runs over it, the oxide of iron in the hematite is reduced,
jets of white flame burn on the surface for a considerable time, and a
large proportion of the silica is separated from the iron. The refined
iron in this state is much perferred by the puddlers as it lessens and
helps their work. In place of hematite ore other oxide of iron which
can similarly be formed into a paste may be employed in place thereof,
as, for example, the refuse of iron pyrites from which the sulphur has
been extracted for the manufacture of sulphuric acid, and from which
the copper
and other metals contained in it have been extracted.
Oxid:
of manganese, iron scale, or other substances capable of yielding oxygen
when exposed to heat may be incorporated with the paste.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that what I claim is,
running molten cast iron into shallow pans lined with a paste con-
taining nitrate of soda and hematite iron ore or other oxide of iron, or

page_text: either of these materials as herein described, and subsequently puddling
iron so treated.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Palmer Budd, have here-
unto set my hand and scal, this Twentieth day of August,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
nine.