A NEW OR IMPROVED MODE OF RAPIDLY REDUCING, CEMENTING, AND MELTING IRON AND OTHER ORES. ALSO IRON SLAG OR CINDERS, DROSS, AND SCALES OR CRUST TO PRODUCE DIRECTLY THEREFROM STEEL OR MALLEABLE OR CAST IRON
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Brookes, of 62, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer and Patent Agent, for the Invention
of "A NEW OR IMPROVED MODE OF RAPIDLY REDUCING, CEMENTING, AND
MELTING IRON AND OTHER ORES. ALSO IRON SLAG OR CINDERS, DROSS, AND
SCALES OR CRUST TO PRODUCE DIRECTLY THEREFROM STEEL OR MALLEABLE OR
CAST IRON." A communication from abroad by Jean Baptiste Helson, of
Hautmont, France, Metallurgist.
Sealed the 26th September 1865, and dated the 30th March 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Brookes at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 30th
March 1865.
I, WILLIAM BROOKES, of 62, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Civil Engineer and Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED MODE OF RAPIDLY REDUCING, CEMENTING, AND
MELTING IRON AND OTHER ORES, ALSO IRON SLAG OR CINDERS, DROSS, AND SCALES OR
CRUST, TO PRODUCE DIRECTLY THEREFROM STEEL OR MALLEABLE OR CAST IRON," (a
communication to me from abroad by Jean Baptiste Helson, of Hautmont,
France, Metallurgist,) to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to produce malleable iron or steel, or cast
iron' directly from any kind of pulverized iron or other ore, and also from iron
slag, cinders, scorice, crust, scales, oxidized, cast, or malleable iron turnings,
or'the-residuum of pyrites.

page_text: According to this Invention the said iron ore, or slag, or cinders, or other
matter is first pulverized fine, and is then mixed with lime or other suitable
flux; to this mixture is added pulverized coal or charcoal tar, or other car-
bonaceous matter, and when well mixed together the mixture produced is
reduced in a reducing or cementing furnace, and when reduced is introduced
into a heating or melting furnace containing melted neutral or furnace slag or
cinders, or slag obtained from the matters above mentioned already melted by
this process aud in a liquid state. The cementing or reducing furnaces in
which the reduction takes place are situated on the side of the heating or
melting furnace, the said cementing furnaces containing retorts heated
externally, and inclined towards the heating furnaces, so that the contents of
the said cementing furnaces may readily pass into the heating or melting
furnace, or the cementing furnaces may be formed with several compartments,
one above the other, and heated both above and below the soles.
The melting or heating furnace is of ordinary construction, the sole thereof
being divided into a series of crucibles ór cavities arranged beside the reducing
or cementing furnaces, so that one of the said crucibles or cavities may receive
the reduced matter from two or more of the cementing furnaces. The said
crucibles or cavities contain melted neutral slag, or slag obtained from furnaces
or from matters already melted according to this Invention in a melted state.
The pulverized iron ore or slag, or cinders mixed with a suitable flux, and
charcoal or other carbonaceous matter, as above described, is charged either
into retorts or into the upper part of the cementing furnace, and is spread upon
the sole thereof; it is left in this said furnace for one or two hours, and is
then made to pass into the lower compartment of the said furnace, and is
spread over the sole of the said lower compartment, and when sufficiently
reduced it is pushed through a suitable aperture into the heating or melting
furnace, where it falls into the crucibles containing neutral or furnace slag in
a melted state, the said neutral or furnace slag preserving the reduced or
cemented metal from oxidation or decarbonization, and aiding to melt the
gangue. In the space of from six to twelve hours malleable or cast iron or
steel will be produced, and may be removed from the heating or melting
furnace for use. When it is required to produce hard steel or cast iron, the
matter to be reduced may be covered with a layer of coal or charcoal in the
cementing furnace, and when introduced into the heating or melting furnace it
may also be covered with a layer of charcoal or coke. When it is wished to
produce malleable iron or soft steel, no more charcoal or coal is used in the
reducing furnace than is necessary for the reduction of the matters used, and
in the heating or melting furnace the reduced matter is covered with pulverized

page_text: lime or slag, or other vitrifying substance, in order to protect the iron from
the oxidizing effect of the flames.
The reducing or cementing furnaces and the heating or melting furnace may
be heated from the same fire, the flames passing first through the heating or
melting furnaces, and then over and under the soles of the cementing furnaces
or above and below the retorts; or the heating or melting furnace and the
cementing furnaces may each be heated from a separate fire.
The pulverisation of the slag and scoriæ may be facilitated by causing them
as produced to drop in a melted state into water.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Brookes in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
30th September 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
BROOKES, of 62, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer
and Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reigu, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Brookes, Herspecial licence that I, the said William Brookes, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Brookes, 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 "A NEW OR IMPROVED
MODE OF RAPIDLY REDUCING, CEMENTING, AND MELTING IRON AND OTHER ORES, ALSO
IRON SLAG OR CINDERS, DROSS, AND SCALES OR CRUST, TO PRODUCE DIRECTLY THERE.
FROM STEEL OR MALLEABLE OR CAST IRON," a communication to me from abroad
by Jean Baptiste Helson, of Hautmont, France, Metallurgist, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Brookes, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that 1, the said William Brookes, 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:-
The object of this Invention is to produce malleable iron, or steel, or cast
iron directly from any kind of pulverized iron or other ore, and also from iron
slag, cinders, scoria, crust, scales, oxidized, cast, or malleable iron turnings, or
the residuum of pyrites.
According to this Invention the said iron ore, or slag, or cinders, or other
matter is first pulverized fine, and is then mixed with lime or other suitable
flux. To this mixture is added pulverized coal, cr charcoal, tar, or other
carbonaceous matter, and when well mixed together the mixture produced is
reduced in a reducing or cementing furnace, either in a powder or after having
been compressed, and when reduced is introduced into a heating or melting
furnace containing melted, neutral, or furnace slag, or cinders, orslag obtained
from the matters above mentioned already melted by this process and in a
liquid state. The cementing or reducing furnaces in which the reduction
takes place, are situated on the side of the heating or melting furnace, the
said cementing furnaces containing retorts heated externally, and inclined
towards the heating or melting furnace, so that the contents of the said
cementing furnaces may readily pass into the heating or melting furnace, or
the cementing furnaces may be formed with several compartments one above
the other, and heated both above and below the soles.
The melting or heating furnace is of ordinary construction, the sole thereof
being divided into a series of crucibles or cavities arranged beside the reducing
or cementing furnace, so that one of the said crucibles or cavities may receive
the reduced matter from two or more of the cementing furnaces; the said
crucibles or cavities contain melted neutral slag, or slag obtained from
furnaces, or from matter already melted, according to this Invention, in a
melted state. The pulverized iron ore, or cinders, or slag mixed with a
suitable flux and charcoal, or other carbonaceous matter, as above described,
is charged either into retorts or into the upper part of the cementing furnaces
and is spread upon the sole thereof. It is left in the said furnace for one or
twohours, and is then made to pass into the lower compartment of the said
furnace, andis spread over the sole of the said lower compartment, and when
sufficiently reduced it is pushed through a suitable aperture into the heating
or melting furnace, where it falls into the crucibles containing neutral or
furnace slag in a melted state, the said neutral or furnace slag preserving
the reduced or cemented metal from oxidation or decarbonization, and aiding

page_text: to melt the gangue. In the space of from 6 to 12 hours malleable or cast
iron or steel will be produced, and may be removed from the heating or
melting furnace for use. When it is required to produce hard steel or cast
iron, the matter to be reduced may be covered with a layer of coal or charcoal
in the cementing furnace, and when introduced into the heating or melting
furnace it may also be covered with a layer of charcoal or coke. When it is
wished to produce malleable iron or soft steel not much more charcoal or coal
is used in the reducing furnace than is necessary for the reduction of the
matter used, and in the heating or melting furnace, the reduced matter is
covered with pulverized lime or slag, or other vitrifying substance, in order to
protect the iron from the oxidizing effect of the flames.
The reducing or cementing furnaces and the heating or melting furnace
may be heated from the same fire, the flames passing first through the heating
or melting furnaces, and then over and under the soles of the cementing
furnaces, or above and below the retorts, or the heating or melting furnaces
and the cementing furnaces may each be heated from a separate fire.
The pulverization of the slag and scorice may be facilitated by causing
them as produced to drop in a melted state into water.
Having now explained the nature of the said Invention, as communicated
to me, I will proceed to describe, with reference to the accompanying Drawing,
the manner in which the same is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in section aplan of the furnaces in which it is preferred
that the pulverized iron ore, or slag, cinders, scorice, crust, scales, or oxidized
cast or malleable iron turnings, or the residuum of pyrites be treated, in order
to produce directly therefrom malleable or cast iron or steel, A being the
reducing or cementing furnace, and B the heating or melting furnace.
Figure 2 represents a transverse section of the same, and Figure 3 a
longitudinal section through the heating furnace B.
The same letters are used to indicate the same parts in all these Figures.
The reducing or cementing furnace A is divided into a series of compart-
ments D, D, D, into which the matter to be reduced or cementedisintroduced,.
the said furnaces are heated from the fire-place A¹, the flame and
gases from
which pass above the sole c, Figure 2, and also through suitable flues O, O,
underneath the sole to the chimney where they may be further utilized in
heating a boiler P, or the said reducing or cementing furnace may be formed
in several compartments situated one above the other, and heated above and
beneath the soles, the heating beneath the soles being effected through flues
similar to the flues O, O, Figure 2. Each of the cementing or reducing com-
partments D, D, D, coinmunicates by means of apertures F, F, F, with the

page_text: heating or melting furnace B, B. The said heating or melting furnace B, B,
which is of ordinary construction is divided into a series of crucibles or
cavities to contain with the melted neutral slag the reduced or cemented
matters introduced from the reducing or cementing furnace D, D, D, through
the apertures F, F, F, and between the said crucibles or cavities may be con-
structed a welding furnace L, when such is required for the welding of blooms
obtained from the said heating or melting furnace. A is the fire-place for
heating the heating or melting furnace, the gases produced by combustion
after passing through the said furnace escape into the chimney where they
may aid in heating the boiler P; H, are doors or apertures for working the
heating or melting furnace, their position is indicated in red lines in Figure 3;
E, are doors in the cementing or reducing furnace for working the said
furnace. M is the door of the welding furnace, of which L is the hearth; G
is a water bridge; K, are tap holes for emptying the heating or melting
furnace; J are floss holes or outlets for the slag.
The cementing or reducing furnaces and the heating or melting furnaces
may be heated from the same fire, but it is preferred that each series of fur-
naces should be heated from its own fireplace so as to allow of the temperature
being more readily regulated to suit the different operations, and also to allow
of the furnaces being made of greater length. The iron ore, slag, cinders, crust,
scales, oxydized, cast, or malleable iron turnings, or the residium of pyrites or
any mixture of these substances having been pulverized fine and mixed with
lime or other suitable flux and with pulverized coal or charcoal, tar or other
carbonaceous matter, is introduced into the cementing or reducing furnace
D, D, D, and when sufficiently cemented or reduced it is pushed through the
apertures F, F, and falls without loss of heat into the cavities B, B, of the
heating or melting furnace which contains neutral or furnace slagin a melted
state upon which the cemented or reduced matter floats. When it is intended
to produce hard steel or cast iron the said matter is to be covered with coal,
charcoal, or coke, and when it is required to produce iron or soft steel the
matter should be covered with a vitrifying substance, in order in either case to
protect it from the oxidizing effect of the flames, and in the space of fron six
to twelve hours the metal will be ready for use.
The time necessary for producing the required cast or malleable iron or
steel depends upon the degree of fineness of the pulverization of the materials
and the thickness of the layers in the reducing and melting furnaces. The
finer the pulverization and the thinner the layer in the furnaces the more
speedy will be the operation. Thus cast or malleable iron or steel may be
produced in three hours as well as in six, nine, or twelve hours. Either malleable

page_text: or cast iron or steel may be produced according as the reduced matter is more
or less cemented and the temp erature is more or less high in the melting
furnace, where the reduced materials are still in contact with an excess of
carbon greater or less according as it is required to produce malleable iron,
steel, or cast iron. The metal produced, either natural iron or steel, collects in
a divided statei n the bottom of the crucibles, from whence it may be removed
or it may be agglomerated so as to form "blooms," and may then be heated
in a puddling or welding furnace in order to remove the neutral slag still
coutained in it.
In the accompanying Drawing a welding furnace is shewn attached to the
melting or heating furnace, but when convenient a separate furnace may be
used for puddling or welding the blooms.
When it is intended to use the natural iron or steel in a mixed state, it may
be thrown into water as it is taken from the melting or heating furnace, in
order to separate from it as much as possible the neutral slag. It may then
be mixed either by puddling or by melting the cast iron or steel, or by the
Bessemer process in the converting vessel.
The exact quantity of lime or other flux, and of charcoal or other carbonaceous
matter to be mixed with the powdered iron ore or slag, or cinders, or scoria,
crust, scales, oxydized, cast, or malleable iron turnings, or the residium of
pyrites or mixtures of these substances depends upon the nature of the matters
used, and the metal which it is intended to produce therefrom, whether
malleable or cast iron or steel, and will be readily determined by those
accustomed to the smelting of iron and the manufacture of steel. When it is
required to produce hard steel or cast iron, a greater proportion of carbonaceous
matter must be used in the reducing or cementing furnace, and in the heating
or melting furnace, and when it is required to produce malleable iron or soft
steel, a lesser proportion of carbonaceous matter will suffice. Fine cinders
from heating or puddling furnaces or sinall coke containing no sulphur finely
pulverized,can be used for reduction and cementation by this process, and they
give good and economical results. The said fine cinders when used for covering
the matter in the melting or heating furnace float on the top, and protect the
matter from the oxidizing effect of the flames.
When it is not intended to produce large quantities of metal, the reduction,
cementation, and fusion may be effected in the same heating or melting
furnace. For this purpose it is only necessary to introduce directly into the
said heating or melting furnace through suitable apertures in the arch thereof
the mixture of pulverized ore, scale, and other of the above-mentioned
substances, and coal and lime as above-mentioned, either in a powdered state

page_text: or compressed. The matter will float upon the melted neutral slag, and is
then spread in a regular and thin layer, and covered with a layer of fine
cinders, cr coal, or charcoal, or lime, or vitrifying matter as required, so as to
protect it from the oxydizing effect of the flames. When the first layer is
melted, another may be introduced, and this process continued until there is
sufficient metal produced, when it may be removed from the melting or heating
furnace for use. The matter being held in suspension on the melted neutral
slag and being covered with a layer of coal, charcoal, or coke, or with a layer
of vitrifying matter, as the case may be, is thus in the most favorable position
for its rapid cementation or reduction, the melted neutral slag facilitating the
fusion of the gangue of the ore.
The iron or steel when produced will fall through the melted neutral slag,
and collect at the bottom of the furnace, and is protected from the oxidizing
effect of the flames, and can thus retain its carbon, and in this manner
malleable or cast iron or steel may be produced according to the temperature
of the furnace and the degree of reduction or cementation of the materials.
Having now described the nature of this Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be well understood that I do
not confine myself to the precise details herein-before described and illustrated
in the accompanying Drawing, as the same may be varied without departing
from the nature of the Invention; but what I claim as the Invention is,――
Firstly, the mode of rapidly reducing, cementing, and melting pulverized
iron ore, or iron slag, cinders, scorice, crust, scales, oxidized, cast, or malleable
iron turnings, or the residium of pyrites, so as to produce directly therefrom or
from mixtures thereof malleable or cast iron or steel in substance, as herein-
before described.
Secondly, the construction and adaptation of the cementing or reducing
furnace,and melting or heating furnace herein-before described and illustrated
in Figures 1, 2, and 3, of the accompanying Drawing, for the purposes herein
set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Brookes, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this I hirtieth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
WILLIAM BROOKS. (L.S.)