IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON
Year: 1846

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
HINTON BOVILL, of Millwall, Poplar, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Thirty-first day of January, in the ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said George Hinton Bovill, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said George
Hinton Bovill, my exors, adñors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
George Hinton Bovill, my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the term
of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my.
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON;" in which said
Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said George Hinton Bovill,
shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her said
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in
and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.

page_text: and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being had
to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, that is to say:-
My Invention relates,―
First, to an arrangement of apparatus for heating the blast from the flames
passing off from the top or tunnel head of blast furnaces.
Second, to an improved mode of heating the air or blast by blowing the
same partly through and partly over a fire in a closed retort or fireproof
chamber.
Third, to the working of blast furnaces by exhaustion or suction in contra-
distinction to the present method of blowing air into them at a greater pressure
than the atmosphere.
Fourth, to the introduction of steam above the boshes of blast furnaces.
Fifth, to an improved method of puddling iron by the application of the
water furnace, commonly known as Kymer and Leighton's furnace, the same
being worked by air blown into a closed ashpit, and the introduction of air
over the fire to consume the gases generated.
Sixth, to a preparation to assist the working of iron in the puddling furnace,
and its further application to facilitate the combination of steel with iron.
Seventh, to a mode of calcining iron ore by combining the use of furnaces
with heaps of ore.
Eighth, to a mode of constructing furnaces for heating or for reheating
iron.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood, I now proceed to
describe the Drawings hereunto annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Drawing A. Figures 1, 2, and 3 represent side elevation, elevational section,
and plan of apparatus placed at the top or tunnel head of a blast furnace; the
cold air from the blast main passing through the same, and being heated by
the gaseous flame passing off from the furnace top, is blown in at the tnyeres
of the furnace in the ordinary manner. A, A, Figures 1 and 2, represent
the top or stage of a blast furnace. B, B, the brick tunnel head of the furnace,
shewing the doorway c, c, c, c, through which the furnace is charged, and to
which doors are hung confining the gaseous flame to pass through the heating
cells. I, D, D, D, the cold air main and branches from the blowing, engine

page_text: provided with doors or bonnets
The object of these doors is to
sconnected to the three chambers E, E, E,
F, F, F, secured by bolts and nuts air-tight.
get access to the socket joints by which the connection is made with G,,G, G,
flat cells or chambers (shewn in enlarged section, Figure 4) extending across
the tunnel head B, B, and connected as above mentioned to the cold air
-chambers E, E, E, on one side, and to H, H, H, three similar chambers on
the other side, from which the heated air is conveyed by the three pipes I, I, I,
to their respective tuyres, and blown in at the bottom of the furnace. J, J, J,
spaces between the air cells G, G, G, through which all the gaseous flames
from the furnace ascend; the cold air being divided into thin currents absorbs
heat in its passage through the cells G, G, G, from the flame of the furnace,
and obtains sufficient temperature to be blown into the furnace. By this
arrangement the air being divided into thin currents is brought into contact
with greater heating surface, and consequently absorbs the heat therefrom
more rapidly than when pipes of considerable diameter are employed. It is
important to keep the heating cells for each tuyere distinct, and by the
arrangement here shewn it is clear either of the sections may be repaired
without any interference or stoppage of the others. The arrows indicate the
direction of the currents. And I would here state that I prefer casting the
cells G, G, G, with their openings alternately at the top and bottom to facilitate
the jointing them to their chambers E, E, E, and H, H, H.
The great
object of this part of the Invention is to use apparatus at the tunnel head of
a blast furnace of such a description that the heated compartments through
which the air passes shall offer considerable depth as compared with the width,
and so that the air may be said to be in a series of very thin sheets or currents
of considerable depth. I would state that I am aware that it has before been
proposed to use apparatus consisting of pipes at the tunnel head of a blast
furnace, but, I believe, without success.
Drawing B. Figure 2 represents a sectional elevation of my improved hot
air stove for heating the air used for the blast. H, H, is a tight iron case or
box of suitable size lined with fire brick, and provided with I, I, a Kymer's
and Leighton's patent water grate supplied with fuel by means of J, a hopper
provided with a horizontal sliding door at the end near the furnace, and at the
opposite end with a piston door L, that will move freely along the hopper. M,
ashpit closed by the door N, and supplied with air from the blowing engine. O,
air pipe furnished with a regulating valve to regulate the quantity of air to be
admitted from P, the cold air main, to which also the nozzles Q to admit the
cold air into the space above the fire on the water grate, where it mixes with
the products of combustion and vapour of water supplied from the water

page_text: troughs of the fire bars, and passes away through the pipes R, R, to the
tuyeres of the furnace. The admission of air, and consequent regulation of
heat of the blast, are governed by the slide valve S. The mode of applying
the blast possesses a great advantage in giving a command over the working
of the furnace. When the cinder from the furnace has a glassy appearance, indi-
cating the presence of unreduced oxide of iron, the admission of air over the
fire should be reduced, or the quantity through the fire increased. On the
other hand, should the furnace be working sluggishly, the quantity of air over
the fire should be increased; by the application of the water grate commonly
known as Kymer and Leighton's patent grate the fire-bars of the furnace
are preserved. I would remark, that I am aware that the air for a blast
furnace has before been proposed to be heated by passing through a furnace or
fire, and then, together with the products of combustion, to pass into the
blast furnace; and I mention this circumstance in order to state that I do not
claim that mode of action generally, but only when working with a furnace
having fire-bars working with water as above explained, and also when the
heating apparatus is so arranged that part of the air may pass through the
fire, and part over the fire, in order that the character of the heated air and its
effect in the furnace may be varied as herein explained.
Figure 1, Drawing B, represents a blast furnace, with a double hopper A,
the slides of which B, B, are worked by gear from the handles C, C, on the
top of the furnace; the furnace is charged by the furnace-man opening the
top slide and filling the hopper, which when closed, and the lower one being
opened, the charge descends into the furnace. D, suction pipe from furnace
connected to the exhausting engine by which I work the furnace, in contra-
distinction to the present system of blowing or forcing air into furnaces at a
greater pressure than the atmosphere, by which means I obtain a more perfect
distribution and circulation of air through the red-hot mass of materials in the
body of the furnace with a smaller exertion of power. The unconsumed gases
drawn off from the furnace may be profitably applied to various purposes
connected with the manufacture of iron; either hot or cold blast may be used
with this, as well as the system at present adopted; if the former, the air may
be heated by the plan already described, or otherwise. It is well known iron
is frequently much injured by the presence of sulphur in the materials in the
blast furnace, of which the fuel contains the largest portion; at the point of
fusion this enters into combination with the iron; my object, therefore, from
steam being found in combination with the atmosphere, for that purpose the
most effectual agent for discharging sulphur from its natural combination with
the coal; I apply an injection of it, and distribute it through the mass of

page_text: materials in the furnace above the point where any fusion takes place,
videlicet, at the upper part, or above the boshes of the furnace.
Drawing C. Figure 1 represents a puddling furnace, with one of Kymer
and Leighton's patent water grates (Figure 2 being one of the water-troughs
and bar in larger section). A, hearth of furnace; B, patent water-furnace; C,
double fire-door; D, air-pipe, through which the air is blown. from a blowing
machine between the plates of the fire-door, and distributed over the furnace,
combining with the gases of the furnace more particularly produced from the
decomposition of the water, and producing an intensely hot flame; E, ashpit,
with closed door G, and air-valve F, for regulating the supply of air from the
blast pipe through the fire. In commencing the operation of puddling, I
prefer to introduce a portion of some carbonaceous substance, and mix the
same with the iron.
I will now proceed to describe the sixth part of my Invention, which has
for its object the preparation of what I call a cinder to be used in the
puddling furnace, when puddling iron, and also when piling iron, or iron and
steel, in order to facilitate and improve the welding of these matters. In
preparing this cinder, I take Cumberland ore, or it may be oxide of iron, such
as hammer scale from the iron forge, and I charge the same into a cupola or
other blast furnace, with the slack of anthracite coal, or other suitable fuel,
and I cause the same to be melted by the blast, and tap the furnace from time
to time, and allow the melted cinder to run out, and then become cold,
or it may be used by being conveyed at once to the puddling furnace. In
charging the furnace, I cause the Cumberland ore, or other rich oxides of iron,
to be first mixed with a like quantity by measure of the slack or culm
of anthracite coal, and continue to charge the same into the furnace as the
charge in the furnace descends. In using this cinder for puddling, the same
is to be broken up into small lumps, and when the iron has been brought
to the metallic state in the puddling furnace, I stir in about twenty per cent
by weight of the cinder to the iron in the furnace, and then the balling process
is to be completed as usual. In using the cinder when piling iron, or iron
and steel, I reduce the cinder to powder, and dust it over and amongst the
surfaces to be welded, by which the process will be facilitated and improved.
I would state that although I have been particular in describing the particular
quantities as used by me, I do not confine myself thereto, this part of my
Invention consisting of producing and applying cinder as herein described, not
confining myself to the quantities mentioned.
I will now describe the seventh part of my Invention, which consists of a
mode of calcining iron ore, and consists of combining the use of furnaceś with

page_text: heaps of ore, in place of combining the ore and fuel in heaps, and igniting the
whole mass.
Drawing D. Figure 1 shows a section of a furnace, and a heap of ore;
and Figure 2 a front view thereof. The furnace is so arranged that a blast of
air may be applied below the fire-bars, as well as over the ignited fuel above,
the ashpit being closed. The flame and products of combustion are thus
forced through the heap of ore, and the same becomes calcined by the passage
of the products from the furnace. And I would state that I prefer the use of
a similar arrangement of fire-bars as above described, and which are known as
Kymer and Leighton's furnaces.
I will now describe the eighth part of my Invention, which relates to a
mode of constructing furnaces for heating or reheating iron, and the improve-
ments consist of so forming a reverberatory furnace, that in place of the flame
and heat passing off at the end of the furnace, it is caused to descend through
the bed of the furnace, which is made open for that purpose.
Drawing E represents a section of a furnace, constructed, according to this
part of my Invention. The general construction thereof is similar to an
ordinary reverberatory furnace, and it is provided with a passage at the end
thereof into the chimney, for the purpose, when first lighting the fire, to get
up the heat to allow the working to take place, in the same way as if it were
an ordinary reverberatory furnace, but on the slide being closed, the bottom
of the furnace is so openly formed that the heat and flame pass through the
bed into the chimney. The bottom of the furnace I prefer to construct of a
series of brick arches a, a, a, leaving a space of about two inches between the
neighbouring arches; or, instead of the brick arches, a water grate may be
used as the hearth, and to facilitate the draft of the chimney, I apply a steam
jet at b, or other convenient means may be used. In working with this
furnace, I cover the bottom with coal or coke of such size that it will not pass
through, and on such bed I place the iron to be heated. By such construction
of furnace it will be found that the reheating of iron will be facilitated, and
the cost reduced. And I would remark, that I prefer to use the fire-place of
Kymer and Leighton's, as above described.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I do not confine myself
.thereto so long as the peculiar character of either part of my Invention be
retained; but what I claim is,-
First, the application to a blast furnace, at the tunnel head, heating apparatus
consisting of flat cells or chambers; as described.

page_text: Secondly, I claim the mode of heating the air of a blast furnace as
described in respect to Drawing B.
Thirdly, I claim the working of blast furnaces by exhaustion or suction in
contradistinction to the present system of forcing air into them at a pressure
above the atmosphere.
Fourthly, I claim the introduction of steam into blast furnaces at the upper
part of or above the boshes, as described.
Fifthly, I claim the mode of puddling iron as herein described.
Sixthly, I claim the production and application of a cinder as herein
described.
Seventhly, I claim the mode of calcining iron ore by combining the use of
furnaces with heaps of ore as above described. And,
Eighthly, I claim the mode herein described of constructing, heating, or
reheating furnaces to be applied in the manufacture of iron.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Hinton Bovill, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-six.