IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT AND PREPARATION OF COMPOUNDS CONTAINING IRON SO AS TO RENDER THEM AVAILABLE FOR THE PRODUCTION OF IRON
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn
Fields, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT AND PREPARATION OF COMPOUNDS
CONTAINING IRON SO AS TO RENDER THEM AVAILABLE FOR THE PRODUCTION
OF IRON." -A communication from abroad by Jules Cahen, of Paris,
in the Republic of France.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 10th June 1875.
.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County
of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT AND PREPARATION OF COM-
POUNDS CONTAINING IRON SO AS TO RENDER THEM AVAILABLE FOR THE PRODUCTION
OF IRON," a communication to me from abroad by Jules Cahen, of Paris,
in the Republic of France, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the manufacture of an artificial iron ore,

page_text: and it consists in the conglomeration of the residuum of roasted iron
pyrites with various substances, such for example as tar, dry or liquid
pitch, coal, peat, ochreous or aluminous clays, marls, carbonates of lime,
manganese, and other elements adapted for promoting the fusion or
improving the quality of the cast iron, which ore thus conglomerated |
and improved may be used either for consumption in blast furnaces or
for other metallurgical purposes.
In carrying out this Invention the burnt or calcined pyrites are
mixed in a pug mill with any of the before-mentioned substances, and
the mixture is formed into blocks or cakes by means of any suitable
apparatus, such for example as that employed in the manufacture of
artificial fuel.
The substances mixed with the residuum are varied according to the
nature of the ore which it is required to obtain. For example, the
residuum may be mixed with coal tar or with common black pitch,
either liquid or dry, and softened by heat, or ochreous or aluminous
clays, marls, and carbonates of lime mixed with water may be wholly or
partially substituted for these substances, by which means an ore is
obtained containing a flux.
The use of the lime contributes also to the elimination of any sulphur
which may remain in the pyrites.
.
By adding to the mixtures a proportion of coal or peat, or of
pulverized peat and coal, an ore is obtained combining in itself the
combustible or a portion of the combustible necessary for the fusion.
The use of peat produces moreover a very useful reaction, since by
evolving hydrogen it contributes to the formation of phosphoretted
hydrogen, thus volatilizing the traces of phosphorus which might be
found in the residuum of the pyrites.
Cast iron of a superior quality may also be obtained from the residuum
by the addition to these various mixtures of a proportion of bioxide of
manganese..

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 9th December 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the 38th
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said John Henry Johnson, Her special license that
I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors,
administrators, or 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 TREATMENT AND PREPARATION OF COMPOUNDS CONTAINING IRON SO AS TO
RENDER THEM AVAILABLE FOF THE PRODUCTION OF IRON," a communication
to me from abroad by Jules Cahen, of Paris, in the Republic
of France, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John
Henry Johnson, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, 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 John Henry Johnson, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement, that is to say :-
The said Invention relates to the manufacture of an artificial iron ore,.
and consists in the conglomeration of the residuum of roasted iron
pyrites with various substances, such for example as tar, dry or liquid
pitch, coal, peat, ochreous or aluminous clays, marls, carbonates of lime,

page_text: manganese, and other elements adapted for promoting the fusion or
improving the quality of the cast iron, which ore thus conglomerated
and improved may be used either for consumption in blast furnaces or
for other metallurgical purposes.
In the manufacture of sulphuric acid by the employment of iron
pyrites there remains after the burning off of the sulphur by roasting the
pyrites a residuum, the value of which may be estimated when it is con-
sidered that iron pyrites generally employed seldom contains more than
45 per cent. of sulphur. This residuum, which represents more than half
the weight of the burnt pyrites, and which contains a considerable
proportion of iron, it has been sought to utilize for the manufacture of
wrought iron or cast iron, but the attempts which have been made have
failed for the following reasons, videlicet:-The pulverulent condition of
the residuum does not admit of its being utilized in a blast furnace for
the manufacture of cast iron, as by obstructing the furnace it prevents
combustion or the working of the furnace. Moreover the residuum
usually contains extraneous substances, which render it unsuitable
except at great expense for direct conversion into iron or for being
treated in puddling furnaces.
Now according to this Invention in order to enable the residuum to
be utilized an artificial iron ore is formed by the conglomeration with
the residuum f any of the before-mentioned substances in the manner
herein-after described.
The pyrites are mixed in a pug mill with any of the before-mentioned
substances, and the mixture is formed into blocks or cakes of various
shapes and dimensions by means of any suitable apparatus, such for
example as that employed in the manufacture of artificial fuel.
The substances mixed with the residuum are varied according to the
nature of the ore which it is desired to obtain. For example, the
residuum may be mixed with coal tar, common black or liquid pitch, a
dry pitch, or colophony softened by heat; or there may be wholly or
partially substituted for these substances ochreous or aluminous clays,
red clays, marls, and carbonates of lime, quicklime, silicates of potash
and of soda, and other substances, these materials being mixed with
water, by which means an ore is obtained containing the flux.
The use of the lime contributes also to the elimination of any sulphur
which may remain in the pyrites.
3

page_text: By adding to the mixtures a proportion of coal or peat, or of
pulverized peat and coal, an ore is obtained combining in itself the
combustible or a portion of the combustible necessary for the fusion.
The use of peat produces moreover a very useful reaction, since by
evolving hydrogen it contributes to the formation of phosphoretted
hydrogen, thus volatilizing the traces of phosphorus which might be
found in the residuum of the pyrites.
An ore of a superior quality may also be obtained by the addition to
these various mixtures of a proportion of binoxide of manganese.
By the combination of these various elements or of any others
adapted to promote the fusion, or to improve the quality of the cast iron,
the necessity of mixing this artificial ore with other ores is obviated.
This method of producing an artificial iron ore containing as its base the
residuum of roasted pyrites comprehends the following:-
First. Conglomeration by the employment of cementing or binding
materials, consisting of quicklime, ochreous or aluminous clays, silicates,
and any other analogous substances adapted for the purpose.
Second. Effecting the conglomeration of the before-mentioned materials
in the manner before described, and then subjecting the same to the
action of heat.
Third. Effecting the conglomeration at an elevated temperature by
the employment of tar, common or black pitch, or colophony softened
by heat, and any other analogous substances capable of effecting such
conglomeration.
The system which it is preferred to employ in most cases consists in
mixing with the residuum of the pyrites a proportion of lime (or of
carbonate of lime).
When lime is employed it is by preference used in the form of milk
or otherwise in a quantity sufficient to form a fusible silicate with the
silex, which the residuum of pyrites may contain, and in submitting the
product to the action of heat.
By means of this Invention there is economically obtained a product
of great value, and the properties of which are susceptible of modification
to suit the requirements of the user, whilst a great service is rendered

page_text: to the manufacture of chemical products by the utilization of a residuum
which is a permanent cause of incumbrance.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider
to be novel and original and therefore claim as the Invention secured
to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the pro-
duction of an artificial iron ore obtained by effecting the agglomeration
of the residue from the burning of pyrites by means of the agglomerating
materials, or of mixtures of the same, either alone or in conjunction
with other materials capable of improving the production and quality of
the cast iron obtained from such residues in the manner herein-before
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have
to this my Specification set my hand and seal, the Ninth
day of December, One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)