IMPROVEMENTS IN PURIFYING AND OTHERWISE IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF IRON IN THE PUDDLING PROCESS
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Haythorne, of Park Place, Clifton, in the
City and County of Bristol, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN PURIFYING AND OTHERWISE IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF IRON IN THE
PUDDLING PROCESS."
Sealed the 4th February 1876, and dated the 28th August 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Haythorne at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
28th August 1875.
I, JOHN HAYTHORNE, of Park Place, Clifton, in the City and County
of Bristol, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PURIFYING AND OTHERWISE IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF IRON
IN THE PUDDLING PROCESS," to be as follows:-
My Invention has for its object improved means of producing from
the puddling furnace a superior quality of iron by the use of a certain
composition herein-after described, which is thrown into the puddling
furnace while the metal is in a fluid state "before it comes to nature,"
and by which means I remove the impurities still remaining in the iron
and also improve its quality.

page_text: I find that the iron made by this process, after being made in the
usual manner into bars, possesses increased strength and malleability at
a trifling cost per ton.
The agents I propose to employ have in various ways been used
before, and having been fully described in works on chemistry cannot
be exclusively appropriated by any one.
The novelty of my improvements is the selection and mode of
application of certain chemical agents in the cheapest and most effectual
manner.
:
My Invention consists of improvements in the process described in 1
the Specification of Letters Patent granted to Henry Leachman, dated 6th
April 1853, No. 825, for "Improvements in the Manufacture of Iron."
An important advantage of my improvements is that no alteration of
machinery is necessary, although the use of mechanical micans for
puddling iron is most desirable to insure uniformity in the quality of the
iron produced.
The composition which I find to answer well in practice consists of
the following ingredients and proportions or thereabouts :-
1. Peroxide of manganese -
2. Oxide of tin, zinc, or litharge
3. Saltpetre, quicklime, or salts of potassa, soda, or
ammonia
4. Brick dust or calcined clay
12 ounces
12 ounces
6 ounces
2 ounces
2 pounds,
to be carefully reduced to a fine powder and thoroughly dried.
I would remark that these proportions may be modified or increased
as found desirable, according to the quality of the pig iron used.
The charge used in the puddling furnace consists of 450 pounds of
pig iron, so that the weight of the composition required for the manu-
facture of one ton of iron would be ten pounds or thereabouts.
The pig iron having already been deprived of much of its impurities
in the blast furnace is still found to require cleansing, and this I
maintain is to be effected most cheaply and effectually while in a molten
state in the puddling furnace by the admixture of the ingredients above
described, or others of a like nature, care being taken that at the

page_text: moment at which the compound is introduced the molten mass shall for
the space of some 5 minutes be energetically stirred by the puddler or
other mechanical substitute for him. When the composition is thrown
in the damper should be closed for a few minutes.
filed by the said John Haythorne in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 26th February 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JO̟àn
HAYTHORNE, of Park Place, Clifton, in the City and County of Bristol,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said John Haythorne, Her special
license that I, the said John Haythorne, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Haythorne, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS
IN PURIFYING AND OTHERWISE IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF IRON IN THE PUDDLING
PROCESS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John
Haythorne, 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: be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and-by-
the following statement thereof, that is to say:
-
My Invention has for its object improved means of producing from
the puddling furnace a superior quality of iron by the use of a certain
composition herein-after described, which is thrown into the puddling
furnace while the metal is in a fluid state "before it comes to nature,"
and by which means I remove the impurities still remaining in the iron
and also improve its quality.
I find that the iron made by this process is remarkably free from
red shortness, and after being manufactured in the usual manner into 1
bars possesses increased strength and malleability at a trifling cost per
ton; also that the time required for the heat is materially shortened.
The agents I propose to employ have in various ways been used
before, and having been fully described in works on chemistry cannot
be exclusively appropriated by any one.
The novelty of my improvements is the selection and mode of
application of certain chemical agents in the cheapest and most effectual
manner.
1
My Invention consists of improvements in the process described in
the Specification of Letters Patent granted to Henry Leachman, dated 2
April 6th, 1853, No. 825, for "improvements in the manufacture of
iron."
An important advantage of my improvements is that no alteration of
machinery is necessary, although the use of mechanical means for
puddling iron is most desirable to insure uniformity in the quality of the 2
iron produced.
The composition which I find to answer well in practice consists of
"the following ingredients and proportions:-
1. Peroxide of
manganese
2. Oxide of tin, zinc, or lead (litharge)
3. Saltpetre, quicklime, salts of potassa,
soda, or ammonia
4. Brick dust or calcined clay
10 to 12 oz.
-
10 to 12
1
2
33
4 to 6
"
2 oz.
On account of the high price of oxide of tin (which is often sold
adulterated with litharge) I find it advantageous to use litharge.
3

page_text: The charge used in the puddling furnace consists of 450 pounds of
pig iron, so that the weight of the composition required for the manu-
facture of one ton of iron would be about 10 lbs.
I assume that the furnace has been prepared and fettled in the usual
manner, and that arrangements have been made to ensure that the
blooms shall be at once manipulated by the steam hammer or squeezers
as soon as they are ready.
The pig iron although already deprived of much of its impurities in
the blast furnace still requires cleansing, and this I find is effected most
cheaply and effectually while the iron is in a molten state in the
puddling furnace by the admixture of the ingredients above described,
or others of a like nature, care being taken that at the moment at
which the compound is introduced the molten mass shall for the space
of some five minutes be energetically stirred by the puddler or by some
other mechanical substitute for him. The damper should be closed for
a few minutes when the composition is thrown in.
Care must be taken in manufacturing the composition: first, in pro-
viding the best quality of chemicals; secondly, in thoroughly drying
and pulverizing them; thirdly, in using the agents described- above as
will best suit the description or peculiar manufacture of iron which it
is desired to produce.
I recommend litharge for making sheets for railway iron; oxide of tin
(unless found to be too costly) for nails; and other small articles, oxide
of zinc.
Should mechanical means or blast be used in the puddling furnace it
may be desirable to employ salts of soda, potassa, or ammonia in place
of saltpetre, and in this case a smaller quantity of the compound in
similar proportions will be found effectual.
The best mode of using the composition is to divide the quantity
intended for each heat into two portions and throw it into the furnace
through the door or aperture used for inserting the rabble (which should
be left in ready for immediate use) by means of a scoop of the width of
the door or aperture just before the iron comes to nature at an interval
not exceeding two minutes.
Having thus fully described the nature of my Invention, and the
manner of performing or carrying the same into practice, what I claim

page_text: is, the use of the improved chemical compound herein set forth for
treating molten iron in the puddling process, substantially in the pro-
portions mentioned and in the manner described, so as to purify and
improve its quality at very trifling additional cost.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Haythorne, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of February, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
.six.
JOHN HAYTHORNE. (L.S.)