IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU- .FACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Mushet, of Coleford, in the County of Glou-
cester, Metallurgist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
.FACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL."
Sealed the 2nd October 1868, and dated 26th June 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Mushet at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 26th
June 1863.
I, ROBERT MUSHET, of Coleford, in the County of Gloucester, Metallurgist,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL," to be as follows:-
When pig iron or cast iron has been decarbonized by subjecting it in a
melted state to the pneumatic process, the said pig iron or cast iron is
reduced to the state of soft iron or steel, according to the degree of decarboni-
zation which the said pig iron or cast iron has undergone, and when to this
soft iron or steel, whilst still in a melted state, a small quantity of melted
spiegel eisen or other melted manganesic pig iron is added, either homogeneous
iron or cast steel is produced. The quantity of the homogeneous iron or cast!
steel produced may be improved by the addition to the melted soft iron or
steel of other alloys of iron with other metals, such for instance, as an alloy of
iron and titanium, or of iron, tungsten, and manganese, or of iron, manganese,
and titanium.

page_text: The process, as at present practised of adding the alloys referred to, is as
follows: When the melted pig or cast iron has been sufficiently decarbonized,
the converting vessel is turned about its axis so as to cause the melted iron or
steel to flow away from over the blast orifices, and the blast is then withdrawn.
The melted spiegel eisen, or other melted alloy, is then introduced through the
mouth of the converting vessel, and in order to mix the said melted spiegel
eisen with the said melted iron or steel, the blast is again turned on and the
vessel is turned back on its axis, so that the melted contents again flow over
the blast orifices, and by the violent commotion produced by the action of the
blast the mixture is effected, but at the loss of much of the metallic manga-
nese contained in the spiegel eisen, which manganese is oxidized by the blast
and carried off in the slag. After the melted spiegel eisen, and the melted
iron or steel, have been thus mixed by the action of the blast, the converting
wessel is again turned upon its axis, and its contents aro poured into a ladle
from whence they are run off into moulds arranged to receive the iron or
steel.
My Invention consists in the improved methods, herein-after described, of
adding the particular alloy employed to the decarbonized pig iron or cast iron,
and mixing the said alloy therewith, when the said pig.iron or cast iron is de-
carbonized so as to be in the state of melted soft iron or melted steel. The
object of my Invention is to avoid wholly the use of a blast of air in effecting
the mixture of the melted alloy with the melted soft iron or steel produced
from melted pig.iron, or cast iron, by the pneumatic process; and in order to
effect this I proceed as follows:-I melt the spiegel eisen or other alloy,
which it is intended to use in an air furnace or cupola, or in melting pots,
the said furnace, cupola, or melting pots, being so arranged that the spiegel
eisen when melted can be run off along a gutter, or can be otherwise con-
veyed, so as to fall or so as to be poured into the heated ladle intended to
receive the melted iron or steel from the pneumatic converting vessel, simul-
taneouly with the said; melted iron or steel.. When the melted iron or steel.
in the pneumatic converting vessel or furnace is ready to be poured into the
heated ladle, I turn the said converting vessel on its axis and commence pour-
ing its contents into the heated ladle: prepared to receive it; at the same
time I commence pouring, the melted spiegel eisen; or other. melted alloy,
from a ladle or from melting pots, or I run the, said melted alloy along a
gutter, so that the stream of iron or steel from the converting vessel and the
stream or streams of the melted alloy may commingle and fall simultaneously
into the ladle prepared to receive them. When the mixture of the melted
spiegel eisen or other alloy and the melted iron or steel, effected in the

page_text: manner I have herein-before described, is found to be imperfect and the
ingots produced are consequently unsound and not sufficiently. homogeneous, I
promote the proper and intimate mixture of the said melted substances in the
following manner :-I introduce poles or pieces of wood, preferably dry, thrust
down to the bottom of the ladle and held there during the operation of pour-
ing the melted alloy and the melted iron or steel into the ladle. The dis-
engagement of gases from the wood occasions a violent ebullition of the melted
metal beneath the surface of which the poles or pieces of wood are thrust and
forcibly held down.
When the form and construction of the converting vessel will admit of it,
the mixture of the melted spiegal eisen or other alloy with the melted iron or
steel may be effected in the said converting vessel without the agency of the
blast, by introducing bent or crooked poles or pieces of wood into the con-
verting vessel, and holding them forcibly down under the surface of the melted
metal therein, thereby causing a violent ebullition of the said metal. I wish
it to be distinctly understood that I do not seek to recarbonise decarbonised
melted pig iron, or cast iron, by forcing pieces of wood beneath the surface of
the said melted decarbonised pig iron or cast iron; as the recarbonization of
melted decarbonized pig iron or cast iron cannot be effected in this way,
neither have I any such object in view. The mixture of the melted spiegel
eisen or other alloy with the melted iron or steel in the pneumatic converting
vessel or furnace may also be effected by means of a blast of carbonic.acid, or
carbonic oxide, or coal gas, forced through the orifices of the blast holes, after
the blast of air has been turned off.
The essence of my Invention consists in thoroughly mixing melted
spiegel eisen or other melted alloys of iron and other metals, with melted iron
or steel, prepared by decarbonizing melted pig iron or cast iron by the pneu-
matic process, by causing the streams of melted alloy, and of the melted iron
or steel to commingle and fall simultaneously into a heated ladle prepared to
receive the said melted substances, and further to effect the said mixture, and
render it more homogeneous, by means of the commotion and ebullition caused
by forcing poles or pieces of wood beneath the surface of the said mixtures of
melted alloy and iron or steel, or caused by forcing a blast of carbonic oxide,
Carbonic acid, or coal gas, through the said mixtures of melted alloy and iron.
or steel, whether contained in a heated ladle or in the pneumatic converting
furnace employed.

page_text: ´SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Mushet in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
24th December 1863.
:
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
MUSHET, of Coleford, in the County of Gloucester, Metallurgist, send
.greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of Her
.reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Robert Mushet, Her special licence that I, the said Robert Mushet,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Robert Mushet, 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,
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
I, the said Robert Mushet, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Robert Mushet, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention; and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say :-
When pig iron or cast iron has been decarbonized, by subjecting it in a
melted state to the process commonly called the pneumatic process, that is, by
forcing air through the said iron while it is in a melted state, the said pig iron
or cast iron is reduced to the state of soft iron or steel, according to the degree
of decarbonization which the said pig iron or cast iron has undergone; and
when to this soft iron or steel, whilst still in a melted state, a small quantity
of the manganesic cast iron known in commerce as spiegel eisen, or other
melted manganesic pig iron, is added in a melted state to the said decarbonized
pig iron or cast iron, either homogeneous iron or cast steel is produced. The
quality of the homogeneous iron or cast steel produced may be improved by

page_text: the addition to the melted soft iron or steel of other alloys of iron with other
metals, such, for instance, as an alloy of iron and titanium, or of iron, tungsten,
and manganese, or of iron, manganese, and titanium.
The process as at present practised of adding the alloys referred to is usually
as follows:-When the melted pig or cast iron has been sufficiently decar-
bonized, the converting vessel containing the said iron is turned about its
axis, so as to cause the melted iron or steel to flow away from over the blast
orifices, and the blast is then withdrawn. The melted spiegel eisen or other
melted alloy is then introduced through the mouth of the converting vessel,
and in order to mix the said melted spiegel eisen or other alloy with the said
melted iron or steel, the blast is again turned on; and the vessel is turned back
on its axis, so that the melted contents again flow over the blast orifices, and
-by the violent commotion produced by the action of the blast the mixture of
the alloy with the melted decarbonized iron is effected, but at the loss of much
of the metallic manganese contained in the spiegel eisen, which manganese is
oxidized by the blast, and carried off in the slag. When other alloys are
used in place of or in addition to the spiegel eisen, portions of the said alloys
are lost in a similar manner. After the melted spiegel eisen, or other alloy
employed, and the melted iron or steel have been thus mixed by the action of
the blast, the converting vessel is again turned upon its axis, and its contents
are poured into a ladle, from whence they are run off into moulds arranged to
receive the iron or steel.
::
My Invention consists in the improved methods herein-after described of
adding the particular alloy employed to the decarbonized pig iron or cast iron,
and mixing the said alloy therewith when the said pig iron or cast iron is
decarbonized, so as to be in the state of melted homogeneous iron or melted
steel. The object of my Invention is to avoid wholly the use of a blast of air
in effecting the mixture of the melted alloy with the melted homogeneous iron
or steel produced from melted pig iron or cast iron by the pneumatic process;
and in order to effect this I proceed as follows:-I melt the spiegel eisen, or
other alloy which it is intended to use, in an air furnace or cupola or in melting
pots; the said furnace, cupola, or melting pots, being so arranged that the
spiegel eisen or other alloy, when melted, can be run off along a gutter, or
can be otherwise conveyed, so as to fall or so as to be poured into a heated
receptacle or ladle intended to receive the melted iron or steel from the
pneumatic converting vessel simultaneously with the said melted iron or steel.
When the melted iron or steel in the pneumatic converting vessel or furnace is
ready to be poured into the heated ladle, I turn the said converting vessel on it's
axis and commence pouring its contents into the heated ladle prepared to receive

page_text: -it. At the same time 1. commencé pouring the melted spiegel eisen, or other
melted alloy from a ladle or from melting pots, or I run the said. melted alloy
along a gutter, so that the stream of melted iron or steel from the converting
vessel, and the stream or streams of the melted alloy may commingle and fall
-simultaneously into the ladle or receptacle heated to receive them. When
the mixture of the melted spiegel eisen, or other alloy, and the melted iron or
steel effected in the manner. I have. herein-before described is found on trial to
be imperfect, and the ingots produced are consequently unsound and not
.sufficiently homogeneous, I effect the more intimate mixture of the said melted
substances in the following manner: I take poles or pieces of wood, preferably
dry; and thrust them down to the bottom of the ladle and hold them there
during the operation of pouring the melted alloy and the melted iron or steel
into the ladle. The disengagement of gases from the wood occasions a violent
ebullition of the melted metal beneath the surface of which the poles or pieces
of wood are thrust and forcibly held down.
:
.:
...When the form and constructions of the converting vessel will adınit of it,
the mixture of the melted spiegel eisen, or other alloy, with the melted iron
or steel may be effected in the said converting vessel without the agency of the
blast. To effect this I add the melted alloy to the melted decarbonized iron
in the converting vessel, and I afterwards introduce bent or crooked poles or
pieces of wood into the converting vessel, and hold them forcibly down under
the surface of the melted metal therein, thereby there is caused a violent
ebullition of the said metal and thorough admixture of the contents of the
converting vessel, the gaseous matter evolved from the wood by the agency of
the heat consists mainly of hydrocarbons, and the said gaseous matter has not
the same injurious effect as atmospheric air. I wish it to be distinctly under-
stood that I do not seek to recarbonise the decarbonized melted pig iron or
cast iron by forcing pieces of wood. beneath the surface of the said melted
decarbonized pig iron or cast iron, as the recarbonisation of melted decar-
bonised pig iron or cast.iron cannot be effected in this way, neither have I any
such object in view. The mixture of the melted spiegel eisen, or other alloy,
with the melted iron or steel in the pneumatic converting vessel or furnace
may also be effected by means of a blast of carbonic acid or carbonic oxide or
coal gas forced through the orifices of the blast holes after the blast of air has
been turned off, but these methods are less convenient than those herein-before
described. When I carry my Invention into effect by the use of the gases
described, I connect the pipe by which the blast of air is ordinarily supplied to
a condensing or forcing pump; to which pump I supply the gas to be used
from. a reservoir or generator. containing or producing the gas. By working

page_text: the said pump the gas is forced through the melted contents of the converting
vessel by means of the ordinary blast holes. As the furnaces and implements
which I employ in carrying my Invention into effect are of the kind ordinarily
employed in the manufacture of iron and steel, I have not thought it necessary
to describe the same.
The essence of my Invention consists in thoroughly mixing melted spiegel-
eisen, or other melted alloys of iron and other metals, with melted iron or steel,.
prepared by decarbonizing melted pig iron or cast iron by the pneumatic
process, by causing the streams of melted alloy and of the melted iron or steel
to commingle and fall simultaneously into a heated ladle or receptacle prepared
to receive the said melted substances; and, further, to effect the said mixture
and render it more homogeneous by means of the commotion and ebullition
caused by forcing poles or pieces of wood beneath the surface of the said
mixtures of melted alloy and melted iron or steel, or caused by forcing a blast
of carbonic oxide, carbonic acid, or coal gas through the said mixtures of
melted alloy and iron or steel, whether contained in a heated ladle or receptacle,
or in the pneumatic converting furnace employed in decarbonising the pig or
cast iron.
In witness whereof, I; the said Robert Mushet, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Ninth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
Witnesses,
EDWP. M. MUSHET,
Cheltenham,
B. MUSHET,
Coleford,
Gloucestershire.
ROB. MUSHET. (L.S.).