IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREFOR
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Haseltine, of the Firm of Haseltine,
Lake, & Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND
STEEL, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREFOR."-A communication
from abroad by John Ware Middleton, of Philadelphia, Pennsyl-
vania, United States of America.
Sealed the 6th August 1872, and dated the 14th June 1872.
5
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said George Haseltine at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 14th June 1872, pursuant to the 9th Section
of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
HASELTINE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting.

page_text: and
have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, executors,
administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the same,
and have made solemn Declaration that it has been communicated to
me from abroad by John Ware Middleton, of Philadelphia, Pennsyl-
vania, United States of America.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Haseltine, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and
seal, fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawing forming
a part of this Specification.
The first part of my Invention relates to a process herein-after
described whereby either malleable iron, steel, or cast iron can be pro-
duced with certainty and facility directly from the ore either in a small
or large way, or in quantities from one to one hundred tons daily; the
object of this part of my Invention being to greatly reduce the cost of
producing malleable iron and steel, and to enable a chemist in his
laboratory or the owners of mines who cannot command the capital
necessary to erect and carry on ordinary ore-reducing furnaces to reduce
the ore to either malleable iron, steel, or cast iron in quantities of from
one to one hundred tons daily, and with certainty and facility at about
equal cost and in accordance with their pecuniary circumstances.
Another part of this Invention relates to the peculiar construction
and arrangement of the hearth of a furnace stack, kiln, or a curb wall
on any open plane in its relation to the blast, the surrounding wall or 2
curb, and any suitable run-out opening or channel for the passage of
the fluid metal and slag from the same as herein-after described, whereby
either the malleable iron, steel, or cast iron produced may be immediately
disposed of in making castings, or run into pigs as cast iron, or if
malleable iron into any suitable gravity or chemically refining vessel if
necessary, or if steel into ingots, as may be desired.
Another part of this Invention relates to the peculiar construction as
herein-after described of the water tuyere for an intensified hot blast in
ore-reducing furnaces, whereby a copious and effective supply of cool
water can be maintained at the fire end of the said tuyere, and con-
sequently its durability proportionately increased.
"

page_text: Another part of this Invention relates to the combination of a partition
or division and a special blast pipe with the gravity vessel or deepened
pool, the exit portion of which is open to the main blast channel that
communicates with the stack in such a manner that a very powerful
special blast of atmospheric air can at any time be driven through the
liquid metal and slag in the gravity vessel of the said main blast channel.
The said powerful special blast of air passes downward on one side of the
partition or division, thence under its lower edge, and upward on the
opposite side of the same into the main blast channel, where provision is
made for its escape through an adjustable opening in the roof of the
said main blast channel. When it is not desirable that the said rising
blast shall accompany the main blast into the stack the object of this
part of the said Invention is to enable the manager or workman at any
time to decarbonize the liquid iron in the gravity vessel, and thus to
produce steel or malleable iron when desirable, and at the same time to
utilize the intensified heat produced by the decarbonization of the iron
in the gravity vessel as the said blast passes with the main blast into
Figure 1 is a vertical central section representing an inclined hearth
with steps or ledges and tuyere openings for the entrance of a slightly
inclined blast from the outside; Figure 2 is a front elevation of the
right-hand side of Figure 1.
Figure 3 is a section illustrating a modification wherein I use a hori-
zontal and an inclined hearth with both vertical and inclined tuyere
holes for a cold, hot, or an intensified hot blast; Figure 4 is a horizontal
section taken below the dotted line v, v, of Figure 3.
Figure 5 is a longitudinal central section drawn to an enlarged scale
of the water tuyere for the hot or intensified hot blast.
Figure 6 is a vertical longitudinal section, also drawn to an enlarged
scale, of the main blast channel, and the gravity vessel with its partition,
and the special blast pipe communicating therewith. It also shews one
of a pair of parallel perforated pipes which discharge atmospheric air
into the liquid iron under the scoria as the same flows down the gutter
of the channel into the gravity vessel.
Figure 7 is a transverse section of the pair of parallel pipes protected

page_text: from the intense heat of the channel by the brickwork, and
with downwardly inclined inlets to conduct the air into the liquid iron
as the latter passes along the gutter of the channel into the gravity
vessel.
The leading results sought and attained by the present Invention
are, first, a systematic and infallible process whereby as herein-after
described either malleable iron, steel, or cast iron can be produced in any
quantities, say from one ton to one hundred tons or more daily, and
either of the said products at about the same cost; second, the best
construction and arrangement of the hearth and blast entrances of a
furnace stack, kiln, or curb for the purpose of producing either malleable
iron, stecl, or cast iron direct from the ore at the will of the manager,
and at about the same cost as before stated; third, the best construction
of a water tuyere for either a hot or an intensified hot blast.
The efforts heretofore made to produce and run either malleable iron
or steel directly from the sloping boshes and contracted hearths of ore
reducing furnaces in use have resulted in failures as to certainty,
quantity, and qualities in relation to the products, and not only has
this been the case in respect to malleable iron and steel but even the
cast iron produced from the same stock and under the same conditions
of the weather often varies in quantity unaccountably, and therefore
beyond the ability of the manager to correct with certainty, because
although he may vary the quantity of his cast iron by varying the
burden in the stack he cannot govern the working of the furnace with
certainty, and the products are therefore not generally what he hopes or
expects.
Without
The best malleable iron should be as free from carbon as possible, and
also entirely free from either sulphur or phosphorus, and unless the
carbon (which is always present in the reducing furnace) and the
sulphur or phosphorous (either of which and sometimes both are often
present also) are volatilized and driven off by the blast they will combine
with the iron and the result will be an inferior cast iron.
referring to other volatile impurities which will combine with the iron
when not driven off during the process of reducing the ores, it will be
evident that as the partially fused and agglomerated portion of the stock
is pressed upon and confined by the compacted burden in the tall
furnace stack now in general use, the volatile impurities referred to
cannot escape upward and must under the intense heat and pressure

page_text: combine with the melting iron and produce the objectionable result
named. If in such furnaces it be desired to produce steel direct from
ore free of any sulphur or phosphorous, the specific quantity of carbon
necessary to be combined with the iron to produce the steel cannot be
properly apportioned in such furnaces, and therefore the result must be
a failure unless otherwise by chance. If any particular grade or quality
of cast iron be desired, however suitable the ore may be, it cannot be
obtained either with certainty or continuously in such furnaces because
the particular quantity of carbon necessary to be combined with the iron
to produce the said particular quality or grade of cast iron cannot be
commanded.
I will now proceed to describe my improved process in connection
with the apparatus therefor. The interior of the furnace is formed by
walls A, made vertical on the inside, and a step-like hearth a¹ equal in
its flat or nearly horizontal area to the area of the lower end of the in-
terior of the furnace. It is made sloping downward at about ten degrees
from the vertical interior of the wall to the run-out opening or channel
B, and the risers of the steps are perforated with blast pipe or tuyere
holes 2, 2, opening about a foot apart from each other. They are inclined |
slightly downward through the wall A and hearth a¹ to prevent the
running back of the fluid iron into the pipes, and so that the blast of the
tuyere will be driven across the horizontal portions of the steps, and
together produce a blast over nearly every square foot of the surface
area of the said hearth. If the interior form of the said furnace be
rectangular the stepped hearth may be constructed in two step-like
inclines sloping toward each other to the same channel leading to the
run-out.
As a modification of the step-like inclined hearth just described for a
horizontally driven blast the combination of a horizontal and an.
inclined hearth may be arranged with the one immediately below the
other, as represented by Figures 3 and 4. The horizontal hearth a" is
equal in surface area to the horizontal area of the lower part of the in-
terior of the furnace. It has several vertical run-out or blast holes 3, 3,
through it and is supported by any suitable walls or piers, which rest
upon the inclined hearth a¹ in such a manner that while an intensified
hot blast can be driven through the main run-out channel or opening B.
over the surface of the lower hearth a¹ and up through the vertical
holes 3, 3, into direct contact with nearly every square foot of the

page_text: bottom area of the fusing stock upon the said horizontal hearth a", the
fluid metal will at the same time be permitted to run down through the
said holes 3, 3, to the lower hearth a, and thence to the outlet B.
:
The channel which conducts the hot blast is extended around through
the base walls of the furnace, and communicates with tuyere pipes or
openings 4, whereby the blast is driven in slightly downward inclined
directions over nearly every square foot of the area of the upper hearth a",
and thus the vertical and horizontal blasts operating simultaneously the
whole bottom portion of the stock will be rapidly reduced and run out
through the opening B into any suitable gravity vessel for subsequent
treatment and disposal as described in the Specification of former
Letters Patent bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, No. 3087.
The dotted lines in Figure 1 are intended to indicate the relative positions.
of the channel B and gravity vessel in one of the forms of a furnace :
described in the said Specification.
The gravity vessel L has a partition & which permits the high-pressure
blast to be driven down at one side and upward at the other through the
liquid iron in the vessel, as indicated by the arrows 1, 1, and out either
through the adjustable opening J or into the main blast to the stack,
as may be desired. The pipe m opens into the gravity vessel L at m²,
and passing upward through the wall of the stack is intended to
communicate with the blast power apparatus (not shewn). The two
perforated parallel pipes n, n, are so arranged in the brickwork as to be
protected from the intense heat, and discharge atmospheric air, driven by
any outside pressure or apparatus, into the liquid iron under the slag in
the gutter p of the channel for the purpose of decarbonizing the iron to
some extent, and sometimes sufficiently, before it reaches the gravity
vessel L.
The water tuyere, Figure 5, consists of two hollow cylinders, an outer

page_text: "
Attached in a water-tight manner to the inner side of the plate f
is another hollow cylinder g which extends along in an isolated manner
between the cylinder c and the cylinder d, and to the same length, thus
dividing the annular space between the two cylinders c and d into two
separate and distinct annular spaces 1 and 2, which communicate with
each other through the annular channel-like end e. At one side of the
outer end of the tuyere a water pipe H passes. steam-tight through both
the outer cylinder c and the partition cylinder g, and opens into the
inner annular space 1, which is left as before stated between the cylin-
ders d and g, and directly opposite to the water pipe h; in a like steam-
tight manner I pass through the outer cylinder c another water pipe i,
which opens directly into the space 2 left as before stated between the
cylinders c and g.
The central opening in the tuyere conducts the blast into the furnace ;
the pipe h introduces the cold water, which under a sufficient head
pressure passes through the annular space 1 to the annular channel e
at the fire end of the tuyore, keeping it cool by a continual supply of
cold water from the pipe h and absorbing the heat. It becomes slightly
warmed as it passes the annular chamber, enters the outer annular
space 2, and passes out through the pipe i, thus keeping the said tuyere
from becoming injured by the extreme heat of the interior of the furnace
in a more reliable and certain manner than any water tuyere heretofore
employed for the purpose. The outer cylinder c and inner cylinder d,
together with the annular channel e, may be produced together of solid
metal by boring the blast channel and the annular water space so as to
avoid any joints near the fire end of the tuyere, and then inserting the
dividing channel g and plate with the pipes h and i.
In charging a furnace of the usual capacity with a view of producing
malleable iron direct from the ore by this process the depth of the stock
from its surface to the hearth should be from four to six feet, for
producing steel the stock should be from six to twelve feet deep, and for
producing cast iron the depth of the stock may be from twelve to fifty
feet or more. The proper depth in either case will be governed by the
fragments of the materials constituting the stock, that is to say, if the
fragments be large the depth should be increased, and if small or very
fine diminished accordingly.
. In charging the furnace stack, kiln, or hearth surrounded by a low
curb on a plane to make malleable iron uniform in quantity, the iron-

page_text: :
stone (and slag if needed) should be uniform in size, and the same with
respect to the fuel, that there may be a similar porosity throughout every
portion of the stock for the upward passage of the carbon and any other
volatile impurities to be eliminated, and if the hearth is either inclined
or concave the upper surface of the stock from which the iron is to be
produced should be correspondingly inclined or concave; otherwise the
hearth being wide and horizontal, and the depth of stock shallow and
either concave, sloped, or convex at its upper surface, the resistance to
the escape of the carbon through the stock would be proportionately
greater in one part than in another, the thicker portion producing steel
or steely iron, while the thinner portion would be liquified nearly free
from carbon, that is to say, it would be entirely malleable iron; but
when the two different products eventually become mingled together
under the high heat the carbon will be uniformly combined with the
mass and a steely iron will be obtained. Therefore whatever angle
the hearth may have the blast should have access alike to every portion'
of the said hearth or bottom of the furnace, kiln, or curb of the plane
upon which the reduction takes place, and the blast should be driven
upward alike through every part of the stock under either a light or
strong pressure. The blast is arranged to be changed from atmospheric
air to superheated steam or other gaseous substances, either cold or hot,
and when desirable with some aereform fluids made intensely hot to
meet the numerous other metals, minerals, or impurities and the like
that are combined with many of the iron ores. The temperature of the
blast should be under entire control, even to the melting of malleable
iron, and so as to be either concentrated or diffused readily, as circum-
stances may arise for its use, either in part or for the whole surface of
the hearth. And there must be an inclined heated outlet passage for
the liquid iron and scoria to pass off as speedily as practicable into the
aforesaid gravity vessel that the iron may be separated from the scoria
for further manufacture, as described in my said former-Specification, or
decarbonized as herein-before described.
The metallic ore to be reduced should be either porous or compact as
may best be suited either to expel the different impurities or to retain
the carbon or substances wanted. Most of the disintegration can be

page_text: the degree of resistance to the upward passage of the blast uniform
through the stock, and whether for the production of iron or steel the
same parallelism should be carefully maintained. For the purpose of
exactness on this point there should be an apparatus or implement at
hand to readily apply over the surface of the stock to give to it the
parallelism required between the surface and the hearth for steel, and
more especially for malleable iron. As to cast iron the exactness of the
said parallelism is not a necessity. For malleable iron where the outlay
of capital is intended to be small, or so that the iron may be reduced at
the mines on a plane or elsewhere without a regular furnace stack, no
walls are needed except a curb around the lower part of the hearth to
guide the liquid iron and slag into the gravity vessel.
If the ironstone that is being reduced be piled up around the hearth
from two to ten feet thick on the top (and at the proper height for
making the iron) no injurious effects will result from the sides falling
in toward the mass being reduced, as this mass merely contains the
additional quantity of fuel and flux to reduce it advantageously.
I would in conclusion remark that the main features of this Invention
consist in so constructing and arranging the ore reducing furnace and
its appendages that the manager will be able to transmit at will either
a cold, hot, or an intensely heated blast, under either slight or great
pressure, and either diffused or concentrated or in numerous alternate
gunshot-like gushes of air or gas, either alone or accompanied by any
suitable chemical substances of a volatile or diffused nature (the latter to
be driven by outside pressure without any blast) into the furnace either
directly into any particular spot desired or simultaneously into contact
with every cubic foot of the surface area of the hearth and lower portion
of the furnace. In this manner I liquify the contents of the furnace with
rapidity, and cause the liquid to freely flow down into the separating
receiving vessel, and expel or drive off from the furnace the various
objectionable properties or impurities of the ore, or to utilize the same at
will by confining them, so as to produce a smothering effect upon the
material or metallic substances in the furnace. I moreover confine the
carbon in making steel or cast iron directly in the furnace, and in con-
nection therewith effect the preservation of a parallelism between the
hearth and the top surface of the stock or burden in the furnace, so that
the carbon may be retained to the degree required in making steel or

page_text: cast iron, or liberated more freely in making malleable iron. By
preserving parallelism between the top of the burden and the hearth,
and varying the thickness of the burden and also its compactness or
porousness by the relative fineness or coarseness of the material,
whether of sulphurous ores or fuel or phosphorous ores, the carbon will
be either more or less confined or smothered, so as to produce steel or
cast iron, or liberated so as to allow malleable iron to result.
The production of the furnace so managed will always be in accordance
with the stifling or suppression of the impurities, making a very inferior
cast iron; or if carried on to a lesser extent (in a lower furnace merely
confining smaller quantities) an inferior steel. Again, if the process is
reversed by keeping a more porous condition of the stock, all the
phosphorous, sulphurous, and other volatile or rarefiable impurities as
well as the carbon will pass off, producing good malleable iron, and by
adding to the liquid a portion of speigeleisen or carbon sufficient, a first-
class steel will be produced, and if still more carbon be added cast iron
11

page_text: adapted in capacity to produce either malleable iron or steel in quantities
of from one to one hundred tons, less or more, daily, the stock being so
fed that the carbon and other volatile substances will be permitted to
escape freely upward through the said stock, and the fluid malleable
iron will be permitted to run out with the slagged impurities, sub-
stantially as and for the purpose herein-before set forth.
Second. The process of making steel direct from the ore by means of
a blast applied through or over the whole surface of a hearth (either in a
furnace stack, or kiln, or on an open plane), the said hearth supporting
a stock so prepared and fed as to practically smother the carbon, or allow
only any specific portion of the same to remain and combine with the
reduced iron sufficient to produce steel in quantities of from one
to one hundred tons daily, substantially as herein-before set forth and
described.
Third. The inclined step-like hearth a' with the tuyere blast holes 2, and
the vertical inside of the curb or wall A, in combination with any suitable
outlet, channel, or opening for the fluid metal and slag, substantially as
and for the purposes herein-before set forth.
Fourth.. The double hearth, consisting of the horizontal perforated
stock, supporting portion a", pierced with vertical tuyere holes, and
supported upon walls or columns, resting on the bottom of the diffused
blast chamber below, and adapted in size or extent of surface to serve
in the reduction of ore into malleable iron or steel either in a large or
small way (as in the laboratory of a chemist, on an open plane, or
in a furnace) in quantities from one to one hundred tons, less or more,
daily.
Fifth. A water tuyere, consisting of the hollow outer cylinder c and
the hollow inner cylinder d, connected together at the fire end of the
tuyere by the annular channel e and at the opposite end of the said
tuyere by the plate for equivalent contrivance, in combination with the
intervening hollow cylinder g and the pipes h and i, the said parts being
arranged to operate together as and for the purpose herein-before set
forth.
Sixth. The partition in the gravity vessel L of the channel B in
combination with the pipe m, whereby a blast of atmospheric air can
by a powerful pressure be driven down to the bottom of the said vessel,

page_text: and thence upward through the liquid metal, substantially-as and for the
purpose herein-before set forth.
Seventh. The perforated parallel pipes n and their respective blast
pipes o in combination with any outside air-forcing apparatus, the said
pipes being constructed and arranged to operate substantially as and for 5
the purpose herein-before set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Haseltine, have hereunto.
set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
Witness,
CHAS. J. Gooch.
GEORGE HASELTINE. (L.S.). 1