IMPROVEMENTS IN THE STRUcture of FURNACES AND THE APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH FOR MANUFACTURING IRON AND OTHER METALS BY THE USE OF HYDROCARBON VAPOUR OR GAS COMBINED WITH OR WITHOUT SUPERHEATED STEAM FOR HEATING PURPOSES
Year: 1874

page_text: ETTERS PATENT to Martin Benson, of No. 9, Southampton Buildings,
London, for the Invention of “IMPROVEMENTS IN THE STRUcture of
FURNACES AND THE APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH FOR MANUFACTURING
IRON AND OTHER METALS BY THE USE OF HYDROCARBON VAPOUR OR GAS
COMBINED WITH OR WITHOUT SUPERHEATED STEAM FOR HEATING PURPOSES."-
A communication from abroad by George Washington Morris,
John Seilor Robinson, George Norbury Mackenzie, and Perry Espey
Brocchus, all of the City of Baltimore, in the State of Maryland,
United States of North America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Martin Benson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
6th January 1874.
I, MARTIN BENSON, of No. 9, Southampton Buildings, London, do
5 hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
STRUCTURE OF FURNACES AND THE APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH FOR MANU-

page_text: FACTURING IRON AND OTHER METALS BY THE USE OF HYDROCARBON VAPOUR Or Gas
COMBINED WITH OR WITHOUT SUPERHEATED STEAM FOR HEATING PURPOSES," a
communication to me from abroad by George Washington Morris, John
Seilor Robinson, George Norbury Mackenzie, and. Perry Espey Brocchus,
all of the City of Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, United States of
North America, to be as follows:-
My improvement is applicable to all purposes requiring intense heat,
but more particularly to smelting, puddling, and other forms or kinds of
furnaces employed for manufacturing iron and other metal, owing to the
intense and pure heat produced by means of using hydrocarbon vapour
or gas combined with air or superheated steam, as may be required.
The improvement consists in combining suitable shaped combustion
chambers or cells with smelting or puddling furnaces, or with any other
kind of furnace requiring intense heat for first mixing or combining the
hydrocarbon vapour or gas or air with superheated steam in required
proportions, and then igniting the same in the combustion chambers or
cells preparatory to applying the heat obtained therefrom to use; the
heat thus produced in the combustion chamber is made pure and of any
intensity that may be required for the use to which it is applied. The
steam employed for this purpose may be first generated in any known
form of boiler, and then superheated by passing it through a series of
pipes arranged in or around the combustion chambers or cells connected
with the smelting or puddling furnaces as the case may be.
The pipes for supplying the hydrocarbon vapour, gas, air, and super-
heated steam will be provided with valves to regulate the supply of gas,
air, and steam, to produce the required dogree of heat in the combustion
chamber for the purpose required.
The various vapour, gas, air, and steam pipes terminating in the com-
bustion chamber will be constructed and arranged in relation to each
other, and supplied with jets for properly distributing and mixing the
vapour, gas, air, and superheated steam in the body of the combustion
chamber in such a manner as to ensure perfect combustion.
In puddling furnaces the air combined with the hydrocarbon vapour in
the combination chamber will be heated; this is done by causing the
external air to pass through flues constructed in the heated portion of
the sides or top of the furnace, and from thence into the combustion

page_text: chamber where it mixes with the hydrocarbon vapour or gas. This
improvent as before stated more particularly relates to the reduction
of iron ore and other metalliferous substances in a blast furnace, by the
novel arrangement and construction of which the vapour of petroleum
or fixed carbon gas either alone or in combination with hydrogen (or
superheated steam) is applied as fuel, and also to an apparatus for
reheating and puddling iron, the latter consisting of the construction
and novel arrangement of the flame passages, hearth, and flues of the
furnace, whereby the application of carbon gas generated from petroleum
or other oleaginous substance in combination with superheated steam as
fuel is accomplished.
The object of this part of the improvement represented by Figs. 1 and
2 is to facilitate the smelting of iron ore by diminishing the cost of fuel
and time required for manufacturing, also the cost of the furnace by its
less dimensions compared with the ordinary furnaces, and to prevent at
all times scaffolding or chilling, and allowing the operation of the
furnace to cease at will.
By the use of petroleum vapours and the gases used as fuel before
described, the iron is more perfectly freed from sulphur or other impurities
and rendered superior in quality.
It is well known that ordinary blast furnaces, using as a reducing
agent stone coal or charcoal are at all times liable to chill from the
imperfect combustion of the fuel, and thus prevent the blast from passing
through the mass of ore, flux, and fuel, and render the furnace useless
until the charge is removed. By the use of this petroleum vapour as
fuel the operation can at any time cease without detriment to the
furnace, owing to the fact that the perfect combustion of the reducing
agent takes place at the bottom of the furnace and in direct contact
with the ore and flux.
4
Fig. 1 represents a vertical section of the blast furnace, showing the
interior arrangements of furnace connections; Fig. 2 is a plan section
showing the combustion chamber, burners, superheated steam pipes,
together with the sole or hearth. Similar letters of reference in Figs. 1
and 2 indicate corresponding parts.
A, Fig. 1 is the wall of the furnace; B, the stack or ore chamber;
C is the hearth or receptacle for the melted orc communicating with the
combustion chambers or flues D, as represented, which extends upwards
and inwards in curve form through the lower and thicker portion of the

page_text: surface wall A, in such a manner that while the lower ends are vertical
or nearly so the upper ends are directly upwards and inward towards the
opening E in the base of the ore chamber. Each combustion chamber
is thus divided from the hearth C by a partition of the furnace wall A,
as represented in Fig. 2. a, a, are twyers for the introduction of the air
blast at the lower and outer portion of the combustion chamber. Above
each blast opening the gas pipe 6 extends through the wall of the furnace,
and is furnished with a cross pipe c provided with a suitable number of
jets or burners e.
Hydrogen in the form of superheated steam is designed to be united
with the petroleum or hydrocarbon vapour at the point of ignition in the
following manner: -A steam pipe n is passed through the furnace wall
to the partition A between said combustion chamber and the hearth C;
after reaching this partition wall it is made to traverse the same back
and forth, forming a number of longitudinal folds or convolutions, as
at n¹, extending upwards upon the partition wall for some distance,
when it is passed back through the furnace wall and again returned to
the combustion chamber D in a superheated state and discharged in a
series of jets z just above the vapour burners.
The operation of the furnace is as follows:-The orc and flux are first
broken into convenient sizes and fed into the furnace in the usual
manner until it is nearly full, and when thus charged the hydrocarbon
vapour is admited to the furnace by suitable valves attached to the
pipes and the vapour or gas ignited. The air is likewise admitted to
the twyers. The hydrocarbon vapours and the air combine or mix in
the combustion chambers D, thence passing into the upper part of the
hearth C and coming directly into contact with the ore in the lower part
of the ore chamber E, the effect of which is to reduce the ore contained in
the furnace, and when in a molten state pass down to the hearth.
In some cases it is necessary to use a jet of superheated steam to aid
in the reduction of some classes of ore, and when this becomes desirable
the ordinary steam is allowed to pass into the superheater and thence
into the furnace, regulating the supply of it by a valve. By the use of
this hydrocarbon vapour an intense heat is generated, and in such a
state of purity as to entirely decompose and eliminate from the ore
nearly all impurities which are carried off in the form of vapour, the slag
containing but a trace of the impurities origionally contained in the
ore.

page_text: The hydrocarbon vapour generated from petroleum or any other
hydrocarbon by the use of superheated steam in any apparatus used for
that purpose and conveyed to the furnace in a suitable manner is the
heating agent to be employed in this improvement. The steam may be
taken from any ordinary boiler, and the air used may be supplied by any
known apparatus.
Fig. 3 represents a vertical longitudinal section of a puddling furnace
showing the improved apparatus for heating applied to it; and Fig. 4 is
a horizontal section of the same.
A is the boiling or reheating oven where the iron is placed for the
process of puddling, which may be constructed of such width and length
as may be required.
The combustion chambers B at their upper parts are constructed in
curved form, as represented in Fig. 3. These chambers or flues enter
upward vertically for some distance or about level with the hearth, as
represented in Fig. 3, and from this point they curve upward and inward
towards the oven A into which they open by horizontal passages a.
These flues taper in the upper or curved portions from the lower part of
the curve to the openings a, in these chambers the gases are mingled
and ignited in connection with the proper quantity of cold or heated air
producing an intense and pure heat which rapidly reduces pig iron.
The gas pipes 6 are introduced into each flue B at about the middle
thereof or before it takes the bend; these pipes terminate in transverse
extensions c provided with burners d. C represents the blast pipes
which are introduced into the combustion chambers below the gas pipes,
and are also provided with transverse extensions or cylinders e at the end
slitted along the top for the emission of the air in a uniform sheet, in
such volume as may be desired, suitable means being provided to regu-
late the size of the transverse slot or to close it entirely when necessary
in the shape of a moveable grate, damper, or any other known device.
H represents the chimney or stack located in a central position, with
reference to the combustion chamber, and provided with the ordinary.
means for regulating the draught. The portion of the furnace exposed to
the action of the heat will be lined with fire-brick as usual. M is an iron
frame encasing the brickwork of the furnace to secure it to its place.
N is a doorway for obtaining access to the interior of the furnace. Z is
an air flue or space in the top of the oven runing paralell, or nearly so,
with the same, and designed for supplying a current of hot air to the

page_text: combustion chamber B; the air enters at the opening V at the base of the
stack and courses along the flue or space Z, and is made to pass out
in a thin uniform sheet at W just below the row of gas burners.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Martin Benson in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 3rd July 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MARTIN
BENSON, of No. 9, Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Martin Benson, Her special licence that
I, the said Martin Benson, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Martin Benson, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 STRUCTURE
OF FURNACES AND THE APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH FOR MANUFACTURING IRON
AND OTHER METALS BY THE USE OF HYDROCARBON VAPOUR OR GAS COMBINED WITH
OR WITHOUT SUPERHEATED STEAM FOR HEATING PURPOSES," a communication to
me from abroad by George Washington Morris, John Seilor Robinson,
George Norbury Mackenzie, and Perry Espey Brocchus, all of the City
of Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, United States of North America,
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Martin Benson, 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 Martin Benson, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be

page_text: performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement:―
My improvement is applicable to all purposes requiring intense heat,
but more particularly to smelting, puddling, and other form or kinds of
furnaces employed for manufacturing iron and other metal owing to the
intense and pure heat produced by means of using hydrocarbon vapour,
or gas combined with air, or superheated steam, as may be required.
The improvement consists in combining suitable shaped combustion
chambers or cells with smelting or puddling furnaces, or with
any other
kind of furnace requiring intense heat, for first mixing or combining the
hydrocarbon vapour or gas or air with superheated steam in required
proportions and then igniting the same in the combustion chambers or
cells preparatory to applying the heat obtained therefrom to use, the
heat thus produced in the combustion chamber is made pure, and of any
intensety that may be required for the use to which it is applied. The
steam employed for this purpose may be first generated in any known
form of boiler and then superheated by passing it through a series of
pipes arranged in or around the combustion chambers or cells connected
with the smelting or puddling furnaces, as the case may be.
The pipes for supplying the hydrocarbon vapour, gas, air, and super-
heated steam will be provided with valves to regulate the supply of gas,
air, and steam to produce the required degree of heat in the combustion
chamber for the purposes required.
The various vapour, gas, air, and steam pipes terminating in the
combustion chamber will be constructed and arranged in relation to each
other, and supplied with jets for properly distributing and mixing the
vapour, gas, air, and superheated steam in the body of the combustion
chamber in such a manner as to secure perfect combustion.
In puddling furnaces the air combined with the hydrocarbon vapour
in the combustion chamber will be heated; this is done by causing the
external air to pass through flues constructed in the heated portion of
the sides or top of the furnace, and from thence into the combustion
chamber, where it mixes with the hydrocarbon vapour or gas. This
improvement as before stated more particularly relates to the reduction
of iron ore and other metalliferious substances in a blast furnace, by the
.novel arrangement and construction of which the vapour of petroleum
or fixed carbon gas, either alone or in combination with hydrogen (or

page_text: superheated steam), is applied as fuel, and also to an apparatus for
reheating and puddling iron, the latter consisting of the, construction
and novel arrangement of the flame passages, hearth and flues of the
furnace, whereby the application of carbon gas generated from petroleum
or other oleaginous substances in combination with superheated steam as
fuel is accomplished.
The object of this part of the improvement, represented by Figs. 1
and 2, is to facilitate the smelting of iron ore by diminishing the cost of
fuel and time required for manufacturing; also the cost of the furnace
by its less dimensions compared with the ordinary furnaces, and to
prevent at all times "scaffolding" or chilling, and allowing the operation
of the furnace to ceas at will.
By the use of the petroleum vapours and the gases used as fuel before
described the iron is more perfectly freed from sulphur or other
impurities and rendered superior in quality.
It is well known that the ordinary blast furnaces using as a reducing
agent stone coal or charcoal are at all times liable to chill from the
imperfect combustion of the fuel, and thus prevents the blast from
passing through the mass of ore, flux, and fuel, and renders the furnace
useless until the charge is removed. By the use of this petroleum
vapour as fuel, the operation can at any time cease without deteriment to
the furnace owing to the fact that the perfect combustion of the
reducing agent takes place at the bottom of the furnace, and in direct
contact with the ore and flux.
Fig. 1 represents a vertical section of the blast furnace showing the
interior arrangements of furnace connections; Fig. 2 is a plan section
showing the combustion chamber, burners, superheated steam pipes,
together with the sole or hearth. Similar letters of reference in Figs. 1
and 2 indicate corresponding parts.
A, Fig. 1, is the wall of the furnace; B, the stack or ore chamber;
C is the hearth or receptacle for the melted ore communicating with the
combustion chambers or flues D, as represented, which extends upwards
and inwards in curve form through the lower and thicker portion of the
surface wall A in such a manner that while the lower ends are vertical,
or nearly so, the upper ends are directly upward and inward towards the
opening E in the base of the ore chamber. Each combustion chamber
is thus divided from the hearth C by a partition of the furnace wall A,

page_text: as represented in Fig. 2. a, a, are twyers for the introduction of the air
blast at the lower and outer portion of the combustion chamber. Above
each blast opening the gas pipe 6 extends through the wall of the
furnace, and is furnished with a cross pipe c provided with a suitable
number of jets or burners e.
Hydrogen in the form of superheated steam is designed to be united
with the petroleum or hydrocarbon vapour at the point of ignition in
the following manner:-A steam pipe n is passed through the furnace
wall to the partition A between said combustion chamber and the
hearth C. After reaching this partition wall it is made to traverse the
same back and forth, forming a number of longitudinal folds or con-
volutions as at n¹ extending upwards upon the partition wall for some
distance, when it is passed back through the furnace wall and again
returned to the combustion chamber D in a superheated state, and
discharged in a series of jets z just above the vapour burners..
The operation of the furnace is as follows:-The ore and flux are
first broken into convenient sizes and fed into the furnace in the
usual manner until it is nearly full, and when thus charged the hydro-
carbon vapour is admitted to the furnace by suitable valves attached to
the pipes, and the vapour or gas ignited. The air is likewise admitted
to the twyers. The hydrocarbon vapours and the air combine or mix in
the combustion chambers D, thence passing into the upper part of the
hearth C, and coming directly into contact with the ore in the lower
part of the ore chamber E, the effect of which is to reduce the ore
contained in the furnace, and when in a molten state pass down to the
hearth.
In some cases it is necessary to use a jet of superheated steam to aid
in the reduction of some classes of ore, and when this becomes desirable
the ordinary steam is allowed to pass into the. superheater and thence
into the furnace, regulating the supply of it by a valve. By the use of
this hydrocarbon vapour an intense heat is generated, and in such a
state of purity as to entirely decompose and eliminate from the ore
nearly all impurities, which are carried off in the form of vapour, the
slag containing but a trace of the impurities origionally contained in
the ore.
The hydrocarbon conosconorated from notiolaum

page_text: agent to be employed in this improvement. The steam may be taken
from any ordinary boiler, and the air used may be supplied by any known
apparatus.
Fig. 3 represents a vertical longitudinal section of a puddling furnace,
showing the improved apparatus for heating applied to it, and Fig. 4 is a
horizontal section of the same.
A is the boiling or reheating oven where the iron is placed for the
process of puddling, which may be constructed of such width and
length as may be required.
The combustion chambers B at their upper part are constructed in
curved form as represented in Fig. 3. These chambers or flues enter
upward vertically for some distance, or about level with the hearth as
represented in Fig. 3, and from this point they curve upward and inward
towards the oven A, into which they open by horizontal passages a. These
flues taper in the upper or curved portions from the lower part of the
curve to the openings a. In these chambers the gases are mingled and
ignited in connection with the proper quantity of cold or heated air,
producing an intense and pure heat, which rapidly reduces pig iron.
The gas pipes are introduced into each flue B at about the middle
thereof or before it takes the bend. These pipes terminate in transvers
extensions c provided with burners d. C represents the blast pipes
which are introduced into the combustion chambers below the gas pipes,
and are also provided with transverse extensions or cylinders e at the
end, slitted along the top for the emission of the air in a uniform sheet
in such volume as may be desired, suitable means being provided to
regulate the size of the transverse slot, or to close it entirely when
necessary in the shape of a movable gate, damper, or any other known
device. H represents the chimney or stack located in a centeral position
with reference to the combustion chamber, and provided with the
ordinary means for regulating the draught. The portion of the furnace
exposed to the action of the heat will be lined with fire-brick as usual.
M is an iron frame encasing the brickwork of the furnace to secure it to its
place. N is a doorway for obtaining access to the interior of the furnace.
Z is an air flue or space in the top of the oven, running parralell or
nearly so with the same, and designed for supplying a current of hot
air to the combustion chamber B. The air enters the opening V at

page_text: the base of stack, and-courses along the flue or space Z, and is made to
pass into the combustion chamber B, B, in a thin uniform sheet at W
just below the row of gas burners.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and manner of con-
structing and working the same, I would have it understood that I do
not confine my Invention to the precise form and detail of constructing
the furnace or furnaces, as represented by the accompanying Drawings
herein-before described, as they must be varied to suit the size and uses
to which they are applied, nor do I confine my Invention to the precise
arrangements of pipes and jets in the combustion chambers for mixing
the gases, air, and superheated steam in the manner and for the purposes
herein-before described, as such may be varied to suit the size and pur-
poses to which the improvements are applicable without departing from
the principle of constructing the improvement, but what I claim is the
combustion chambers B, B, when furnished with pipes and jets for mixing
and igniting the gases therein for obtaining a pure and intense heat
before applying the same to use for purposes before mentioned, and in
the manner described in the foregoing Specification.
In witness whereof, I, the said Martin Benson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of June, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
four.