IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU- FACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederic Yates, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL." -A communication from abroad by Dr.
Adolph Gurlt, of Bonn, in the Kingdom of Prussia.
Sealed the 28th February 1865, and dated the 17th September 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederic Yates at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 17th
September 1864.
I, FREDERIC YATES, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL," to be as follows:-
The said Invention consists, firstly, of the introduction into iron or steel of
a quantity of metallic lead, or oxides or carbonates of lead, or either of them,
for the purpose of purifying the said iron or steel.
This part of the said Invention may be applied to iron which is to be
puddled either before or during the puddling process, in order to produce wrought
or malleable iron or puddled steel, or to iron which is to be refined or in pro-
cess of being refined, or to pig iron for castings, or to iron to be treated by the

page_text: pneumatic process for the production of homogeneous iron or steel, or
to the materials used in making cast steel by the pot or other process of
melting.
In applying the said Invention during the puddling of iron, I add or intro-
duce into the iron the lead or oxides, or carbonates of lead, or either of them,
by preference when the iron is in a melted state, and at that stage of the pro-
cess just before the stirring of the iron begins. The quantity of lead introduced
is about one pound. more or less. to the usual charge of iron. The puddling
process is then proceeded with in the usual or other convenient way. In ap-
plying the said Invention to iron to be used for castings or to improve cast
iron, it is preferred to introduce the metallic lead, or oxides or carbonates of
lead, or either of them, into the iron when it is in a melted state, and to bring
the said material or materials as much as possible into contact with the whole
of the melted iron, in order to effect as great a degree of purification as
possible.
In applying the said Invention to the manufacture of iron and steel by the
pneumatic process, it is preferred to add the metallic lead, or oxides or car-
bonates of lead, or either of them, to the iron when in a molten state, either in
or when run from the reverberatory, furnace or other melting furnace or
cupola, or add it in the converting vessel or furnace before or at any stage of
the process, as may be most desirable. The product is then treated in the
usual or other convenient way.
31
In applying the said Invention to the manufacture of cast steel by the pro-
cess of melting in pots or in-a-reverberatory-or other steel melting furnace, the
metallic lead, or oxides or carbonates of lead, or either of them, is added to the
materials when they are in a molten state.
In all, the before-mentioned cases the mode or time of the addition of the
metallic lead, or oxides or carbonates of lead, or either of them, to, the iron to
be operated or being operated on may be varied without departing from the
nature of this part of the said Invention.
The said Invention consists, secondly, in improving the quality of iron by
neutralizing the injurious effects of the phosphorous contained in the iron by
converting or transforming the said phosphorous from a crystalline to an
mophous state by the addition into the blast furnace of such an extra
amount of silex or silica as will produce a very acid or siliceous slag: It is
well known that silica is an essential part of every blast furnace cinder, but
when silica is in marked quantity or excess in iron ores, such iron ores have
up to the present time been considered objectionable, and consequently iron'
ores containing a large amount of silica have been carfully avoided. I have

page_text: discovered that by the use or introduction of silica in excess either in its
natural state or in combination or mixture with other inocuous materials in the
blast furnace, in order to produce a very acid or silicious slag or cinder, the;
said silica is found to transform or convert the phosphorous originally contained.
in the iron ore from a crystalline to an amorphous state, in which latter con-
dition the phosphorous is readily eliminated from, the iron, either in. the pro-,
eess of puddling or refining or other mode of melting, as well as in the
pneumatic process in which iron so treated may be used.. ::
The exact proportions of silica introduced or mode of treatment employed
will vary very considerably, according to the character of the ores used and
other circumstances.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Frederic Yates in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
17th March 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERIC
YATES, of Birmingham; in the County of Warwick, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Frederic Yates, Her special licence that I, the said Frederic
Yates, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Frederic Yates, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times. there-
after 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 "IMPROVE.
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL," a communication to me from
abroad by Dr. Adolph Gurlt, of Bonn, in the Kingdom of Prussia, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Frederic Yates, my execu-
tors 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 per-
formed, 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.
L

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Frederic Yates, 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 said Invention consists, firstly, of the introduction into iron or steel of a
quantity of metallic lead, or oxides or carbonates of lead, or either of them,
for the purpose of purifying the said iron or steel, and thereby improving their
quality. This part of the said Invention may be applied to pig or cast iron
which is to be puddled either before or during the puddling process, in order
to produce wrought or malleable iron or puddled steel, or to iron which is to
be refined or in process of being refined in common refinery fires or in rever-
beratory furnaces, or to pig or cast iron for castings, or to iron to be treated by
the pneumatic process for the production of homogeneous iron or steel, or to the
materials used in making cast steel by the pot or other process of melting.
In applying the said Invention during the puddling of iron, I add or
introduce into the iron the lead, or oxides or carbonates of lead, or either of
them, by preference when the iron is in a melted state, and at that stage of
the process just when the so-called boiling of the iron begins. The quantity
of lead introduced is about one pound more or less to the usual charge of iron
(say about five hundredweight), or an equivalent of it in the shape of oxides
or carbonates of lead. To secure the good effect of the metallic lead, oxides
or carbonates of lead, it is essential that they should be most intimately mixed
with the molten iron, and at a moderate temperature, which may be regulated
by more or less closing the damper of the puddling furnace in the usual way.
The puddling process is then proceeded with in the usual or other convenient
way..
In applying the said Invention to iron to be used for castings or to improve
cast iron, it is preferred to introduce the metallic lead, or oxides or carbonates
of lead, or either of them, into the iron when it is in a melted state, and to
bring the said material or materials by any suitable means as much as possible
into contact with the whole of the melted iron, in order to effect as great a
'degree of purification as possible.
.
In applying the said Invention to the manufacture of iron and steel by the
pneumatic process, it is preferred to add the metallic lead, or oxides or
carbonates of lead; or either of them, to-the iron when in a molten state;
either in or when run from the reverberatory furnace or other melting furnace
or cupola, or it may be added in the converting vessel or furnace before or at
any stage of the process as may be most desirable. It is preferred, however,
to add the said materials to the melted iron when or immediately before the

page_text: said iron begins to boil by the introduction of the blast of air into the con-
verting vessel or pot or other apparatus that may be used for the purpose.
The quantity of metallic lead used is about six pounds per ton of iron, or an
equivalent in the shape of oxides or carbonates of lead according to the
quantity of impurities contained in the said iron. The product is then treated
in the usual or other convenient way.
In applying the said Invention to the manufacture of cast steel by the
process of melting in pots or in a reverberatory or other steel melting furnace,
the metallic lead, or oxides or carbonates of lead, or either of them, is added
to the materials when they are in à molten state, and well mixed with them
in order to free the steel as much as possible from its impurities. The quantity.
of the metallic lead, or its oxides and carbonates, may vary according to the
impurities to be removed, but is generally less than that used in the puddling,
refining, and pneumatic process.
In all the before-mentioned cases the mode or time of the addition of the
metallic lead, or oxides or carbonates of lead, or either of them; to the iron to
be operated or being operated on may be varied without departing from the
nature of this part of the said Invention.
The said Invention consists, secondly, in improving the quality of iron by
neutralizing the injurious effects of the phosphorus contained in the iron by
converting or transforming the said phosphorus from a crystallinė to an
amorphous state by the addition into the blast furnace of such an extra
amount of silex or silica as will produce a very acid or siliceous slag...It
is well known that silica is an essential part of every. blast furnace cinder,
but when silica is in marked quantity or excess in iron ores, such iron ores
have up to the present time been considerd objectionable, and consequently
iron ores containing a large amount of silica have been carefully avoided. I
have discovered that by the use or introduction of silica in excess, either in its
natural state or in combination or mixture with other innocuous materials in
the blast furnace, in order to produce a very acid or siliceous slag or cinder,
the said silica is found to transform or convert the phosphorus originally con-
tained in the iron ore from a crystalline to an amorphous state, in which latter
condition the phosphorus is readily eliminated from the pig or cast iron, when
being converted into malleable iron or steel, either in the process of puddling
or refining or other mode of melting, as well as in the pneumatic process in
which iron so treated may be used.
The exact proportions of silica introduced or mode of treatment employed
will vary very considerably according to the character of the ores used and
other circumstances.

page_text: Having described the nature of the said Invention, and the manner, in
which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not
limit myself to the precise details herein. described; as the same may be varied'
without departing from the nature of the said Invention; but I claim as the
said Invention,
Firstly, the use or application of metallic, lead, and oxides and carbonates:
of lead, or either of them, for the purification of iron and steel by the intro-
duction of these or either of them in the modes and quantities described,
any other convenient mode and quantities.
in.
Secondly, the use of silica in excess in a blast furnace when melting
phosphoriferous iron ores, or iron ores containing an amount of phosphorus,i
which has an injurious effect on the iron so produced, so as to produce a highly
siliceous slag or cinder, in order to convert the phosphorus from the crystalline
state in which it exists in the ores into an amorphous state, in which state it
can be partially or entirely removed in the subsequent processes of manufacture
as aforesaid, but I do not claim the use of silica as a general flux in the blast
furnace, nor for the special purpose of rendering any alumina contained in the
iron ore or other material used in the blast furnace innocuous.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederic Yates, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
Witness,
GOTTLOB LIESKE.
FRED. YATES. (L.S.)