IMPROVED PROCESSES FOR MANUFACTURING PROVISIONAL SPFICATION
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Paul Aube, of Paris, in the Department of the Seine, in
the Republic of France, late Russian Consul at Toulon, Department of Le Var,
in France for an Invention of "IMPROVED PROCESSES FOR MANUFACTURING
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Paul Aube at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 19th August 1880.
24
PAUL AUBE, of Paris, in the Department of the Seine, in the Republic of France,
IMPROVED
late Russian Consul at Toulon, Department of Le Var, in France.
PROCESSES FOR MANUFACTURING STEEL AND LIGHTING GAS, AND IMPROVED
APPARATUS IN CONNECTION THEREWITH."
It is known that steel is an iron containing more carbon than iron itself, and
that when iron is united with a certain part of carbon it acquires greater hardness.
Having laid down this principle, I will now proceed to set forth my processes of
changing or transforming iron into steel, and of simultaneously producing lighting
gas.
First Means. In a retort of any suitable kind I place a layer of charcoal or of
coke, upon which I put a layer of iron or of articles composed of iron, then a layer
of charcoal or of coke, and again a layer of iron articles or of iron, and so on.
I heat the retort to a cherry red heat.
The retort being at a red heat, I cause to penetrate either through these layers
or perpendicularly thereupon steam as dry as possible, and at the same time I
introduce upon the red hot bottom of the retort a fatty body or substance of any
kind, mineral, animal, or vegetable.
The iron, the charcoal, or the coke which are in ignition decompose the steam,
and will absorb the oxygen, but the iron, the pores of which are open, will not only
absorb the oxygen, but will also absorb the carbon emanating from the charcoal or
the coke, and a part of that arising from the vapors of the decomposition of the
fatty body introduced, which is in fact the fundamental principle of the manu-
facture of steel.

page_text: There will therefore be in the retort hydrogen and vapours of carbon, which
being free, will combine under the influence of the heat of the retort, and form
carbonated hydrogen.
The retort having cooled it will be opened, and the iron will be withdrawn at a
red heat and hardened. From this moment it is changed into steel.
Without in any way altering the interior arrangement of the retort I may use
water instead of steam and a fat body. In this case I introduce it upon the red
hot bottom of the retort, at one or several points, and I thereby also obtain steel
and carbonated hydrogen.
Observation.-
I may also use two retorts.
The first in which I place iron, charcoal, or coke, and into which I introduce
steam. The iron after having absorbed the oxygen of the steam will be hardened
or tempered, and placed in another retort which will be heated to a cherry red
heat, and into which will be introduced a fatty body of any kind. But in the case
now referred to, while obtaining steel, there will also be obtained as residuum
bydrogen gas, and gas resulting from the decomposition of the carbon vapors; these
two gases not having combined together under the influence of the heat of the retort,
will not readily mix, and it is then preferable to gather or collect them separately.
Second Means. Iron is placed in a retort; the retort being at a red heat, a fatty
body of any kind is introduced on to its bottom.
The red hot iron will absorb the vapors arising from the decomposition of the
fatty body.
After a certain time the operation will be arrested, the iron will be tempered or
hardened, and steel and a rich gas will have been obtained.
The same result will be obtained if I use coal, boghead, or schist as fatty body,
instead of tars, resin, petroleum, of schist or others, in short, of any fat body or
substance. The iron placed in the retort will be changed into steel, and the residue
of the operation will be coal, schist, boghead, or other gas. This system of manu-
facture may therefore be easily applied to existing coal gas works.
Process for Reheating or Tempering the Steel.-It is sufficient, according to the
fineness of grain which it is desired to obtain, to pass it again in the retorts, as in
the two methods above set forth, but mixing it with fresh iron, whether the first
or the second method is used.
The steel may also be reheated by means of the lighting gas produced, because it
represents the residuum of the operation; the working thereof will be easy and
inexpensive.
Observation. In the first and second methods the fatty body may also be mixed
with water, as the fatty body may always be liquified.
The use of the charcoal or of the coke will then be optional, but not compulsory.
My Improved Apparatus.-Amongst the apparatuses which may be manufactured
by the aid of the preceding theories, there is one which, while manufacturing steel,
also gives a large quantity of gas, which may be collected and used for lighting.
It is composed (see Fig. 1, Sheet 1 of the accompanying 2 Sheets of Drawing)
of a generating boiler with double casing A placed upon a furnace. This boiler is
provided at its lower part with two tubes BC, DE, continually filled with water
from the boiler.
I would here observe that any other desired generator may be placed on the
furnace without any modification of the principle of my Invention.
The steam enters through the steam port at the point F, descends by the
pipe FG, becomes superheated in the worm H, and rejoins the pipe IJ, at the
point I, Fig. 5.
It is evident that this superheating worm, instead of being placed in the space
left free within the belly of the boiler may encircle the said boiler, be in a space
left free in the furnace or on the top of the retorts, or in any other part of the
furnace where it will naturally become superheated by the heat of the retorts.
Upon examining the furnace shown, Fig. 1, it will be seen that the gases

page_text: coming from the fuel placed upon the gratings L, L, after having licked the surface
of the retorts, pass up by the openings M, M, placed in the furnace, and go into the
bottom or belly of the boiler. Consequently the retorts, the worm, and the boiler
are heated together, and by the gases arising from the fuel placed upon the gratings,
whereby great economy is obtained.
When the boiler is hot enough, as indicated by the gauge with which it is
provided, the damper N, Fig. 2, is closed and the damper O is opened.
All communication between the retorts and the inside or belly of the boiler is
intercepted, and the heat passes into a flue P provided at the back of the furnace,
from whence it goes into a branch chimney Q, Q, which joins the chimney R with
which the boiler is provided. It is therefore plain that in this case the retorts are
heated while the boiler is not.
Upon reference to Fig. 1, two openings will be seen, in which I place slides or
slide-valves S, S. The object of these slides, which may be, if required, of the same
shape as the retorts, is (if the boiler is not hot enough and the retorts are too hot),
to screen the retorts from the heat of the fuel on the grates. In this case the
slides S, S, are placed, the damper N (Fig. 2) is opened, that O is closed, and the
boiler heats without any fear of danger to the retorts.
Thus it will be seen that the retorts and the boiler heat together, and that the
boiler and the retorts may be heated independently of each other by means of
the slides S, S.
These slides may be of any material capable of resisting great heat.
Referring to Fig. 5; the steam descending the pipe B, B¹, passes through the
worm and descends by the pipes T, I, J; it then rises into the retort, Fig. 2, by
the pipe UV, which enters the retort at the point U.
The tube VX is provided with small tubes having very narrow orifices by
which the steam escapes, and strikes or is projected perpendicularly upon the
layers of charcoal and of iron, as explained in the first means or method; Y, Z, are
small bottomless boxes made of sheet or other iron, of steatite or of fire-clay, in
which the fatty body flowing through the tube A', B', falls upon the red hot bottom
of the retort to there become decomposed.
In Fig. 5 the apparatus is seen in front view; over the furnace is the boiler A
provided with its steam and its water gauge, and on the left with its feed pump
which draws water from the reservoir or receiver C². The two receivers D and E¹
are divided vertically into two parts; in one part is the fatty body, and in the
other the water; F, F¹, Fig. 1, are two small interior chimneys or flues provided
with dampers; they communicate with the vaults or arches of the oven or furnace,
and act as air holes for heating the receivers D¹, E¹, Fig. 5. It is the same with
the inner chimney or flue G¹, which is intended to heat the water in the reservoir
or receiver C¹, intended to feed the boiler.
The pipe H', I', is a double or twin pipe composed of two juxtaposed pipes,
which at its entrance into the receiver E¹ divides into two parts, one of which
rises into the part containing water, and the other into that containing the fatty
body; it is the same with the receiver D¹. These two pipes, as shown at Fig. 5,
empty themselves into the receivers J', J¹, placed on the heads of the retorts.
These receivers J, J, are divided into two parts; they let the water and the fatty
body run into the pipe A¹, B', Fig. 2, which is a double or twin pipe, so that the
water runs into the bottomless box Z, and the fatty body into the bottomless
box Y, which are in the retort.
I may also without inconvenience mix certain certain liquid fatty bodies or matters
directly with water, and let them run together by the same pipe into a box without
a bottom, upon the red hot bottom of the retort; or then make them flow into
the boxes Y, Z. The openings or sight holes K, K¹, serve to ascertain the colour of
the retort.
Figure 4 represents the tube UV X. It divides as it enters the retort into
four tubes connected together by other cross tubes. All these tubes are pierced
with holes

page_text: I use this tube with one or more branches, because the steam arriving in a
continuous state has just time to decompose into oxygen and hydrogen, without
giving to the carbonic acid, which generally accompanies the hydrogen, time to
decompose into oxide of carbon. By this means the carburetted hydrogen gas
which forms in the retort will be purer than if it were produced by any other
process. Nevertheless, I may use any other means for the introduction of steam
into the retort, as I have already explained in the first means or method of
manufacturing steel and lighting gas.
Referring to Fig. 6; it represents a purifier A 1 with hydraulic closures B1, B1,
C1, C1. This purifier has an inner column D 1, E 1, F 1, G 1. The plates H 1, H1,
are solid. The gas arriving in the retorts passes through the pipe I 1, and goes into
the lower part J 1 of the purifier.
E1, F1, is a perforated plate holding lime. The gas cools in J 1, which contains
water and soda, and rises in the cylinder D1, E1, F 1, G1. Upon the points K 1,
L1, rests a cylinder K. 1, L1, M 1, containing coke, the gas passes through it, purifies
itself, and spreads through the rest of the purifier furnished with small hurdles or
screens N 1, N 1, 01, 01, P1, P1, Q1, Q1, containing lime, soda, etc.
This part of the purifier is provided interiorly with a worm containing cold
water, and cooling the water and the soda. The purified gas issues by the orifice R 1,
and goes to S1 in the gasometer or holder; T1 is a funnel by which the case J 1 is
filled, and U a valve by which it is emptied.
Figure 3 is a horizontal section through the furnace.
It will have been seen that, according to the means employed to manufacture the
steel, there are certain parts of the complete apparatus which do not act, the boiler,
for example, and the pipe which introduces steam into the retort; from whence it
follows that the apparatus may be simplified according to the means which it is
intended to use for manufacturing steel and lighting gas.
It is evident that if the second means is used, the apparatus becomes quite small
according to the quantity of steel and of gas which it is desired to produce. Thus
this little apparatus may be introduced into a kitchen stove, using the heat which
heats the retort by reversing the flames to heat the remainder of the stove or
fireplace, without in any way changing the principle of this Invention.
I may at pleasure use the steam from the generator to give any kind of
movement either on land or on board of a ship without departure from the principle
of my Invention.
An apparatus may also be placed upon a locomotive, and the steam therefrom be
employed to use the first means above set forth, and the locomotive might also
be heated with the gas produced by using the steam therefrom.
It will also be evident that the second means only might be used, by arranging
on the sides of the locomotive a retort and the necessary piping or tubes for
producing steel and gas.
A consideration of the services which my system may render to ships will make
it evident that they are multitudinous.
In fact the same result may be obtained upon a ship or locomotive. If
gas engines are used it will be admitted that the use of gas produced by my system
is greatly superior to that of coal gas, because it contains much more hydrogen,
and it is easy on board of a ship to fit up one or more gas engines capable of
driving one or more screw shafts. There will be the advantage of making steel
and gas, of lighting and heating the ship, and of continuing to produce, by
means of the gas already made, the gas necessary to continue the manufacture.
In short, whether on land or sea, the advantages of my system are incontestable.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Paul Aube in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 18th
February 1881.
PAUL AUBE, of Paris, in the Department of the Seine, in the Republic of France,
late Russian Consul at Toulon, Department of Le Var, in France. " IMPROVED
PROCESSES FOR MANUFACTURING STEEL AND LIGHTING GAS, AND IMPROVED
APPARATUS IN CONNECTION THEREWITH."
It is well known that steel is an iron containing more carbon than iron itself,
and that when iron is united with a certain part of carbon it acquires greater
hardness.
Having laid down this principle, I will now proceed to set forth my processes
of changing or transforming iron into steel, and of simultaneously producing
lighting gas.
First Means. In a retort of any suitable kind I place a layer of charcoal or of
coke, upon which I put a layer of iron or of articles composed of iron, then a layer
of charcoal or of coke, and again a layer of iron articles or of iron, and so on.
I heat the retort to a cherry red heat.
The retort being at a red heat, I cause to penetrate either through these layers
or perpendicularly thereupon steam as dry as possible, and at the same time I
introduce upon the red hot bottom of the retort a fatty body or substance of any
kind, mineral, animal, or vegetable.
The iron, the charcoal, or the coke which are in ignition decompose the steam,
and will absorb the oxygen, but the iron, the pores of which are open, will not only
absorb the oxygen, but will also absorb the carbon emanating from the charcoal or
the coke, and a part of that arising from the vapours of the decomposition of the
fatty body introduced, which is in fact the fundamental principle of the manu-
facture of steel.
There will therefore be in the retort, hydrogen and vapors of carbon, which
being free, will combine under the influence of the heat of the retort, and form
carbonated hydrogen.
The retort having cooled, it will be opened and the iron will be withdrawn at a
red heat and hardened. From this moment it is changed into steel.
Without in any way altering the interior arrangement of the retort, I may use
water instead of steam and a fat body. In this case I introduce it upon a red
hot bottom of the retort, at one or several points, and I thereby also obtain steel
and carbonated hydrogen.
Observation.-
I may also use two retorts.
The first, in which I place iron, charcoal, or coke, and into which I introduce
steam. The iron after having absorbed the oxygen of the steam will be hardened
or tempered and placed in another retort, which will be heated to a cherry red heat,
and into which will be introduced a fatty body of any kind. But, in the case now
referred to, while obtaining steel there will also be obtained as residuum hydrogen
gas and gas resulting from the decomposition of the carbon vapors; these two gases
not having combined together, under the influence of the heat of the retort, will
not readily mix, and it is then preferable to gather or collect them separately.
Second Means.-Iron is placed in a retort. The retort being at a red heat, a
fatty body of any kind is introduced on to its bottom.
The red hot iron will absorb the vapors arising from the decomposition of the
fatty body.
After a certain time the operation will be arrested, the iron will be tempered
or hardened, and steel and a rich gas will have been obtained.

page_text: The same result will be obtained if I use coal, boghead, or schist as fatty body,
instead of tars, resin, petroleum, of schist or others, in short of any fat body or
substance. The iron placed in the retort will be changed into steel, and the residue
of the operation will be coal, schist, boghead or other gas. This system of manu-
facture may therefore be easily applied to existing coal gas works.
Process for Reheating or Tempering the Steel.-It is sufficient, according to the
fineness of grain which it is desired to obtain, to pass it again in the retorts, as in
the two methods above set forth, but mixing it with fresh iron, whether the first
or the second method is used.
The steel may also be reheated by means of the lighting gas produced, because it
represents the residuum of the operation; the working thereof will be easy and
inexpensive.
Observation. In the first and second methods the fatty body may also be mixed
with water, as the fatty body may always be liquified.
The use of the charcoal or of the coke will then be optional but not compulsory.
My Improved Apparatus.-Amongst the apparatuses which may be manufactured
by the aid of the preceding theories, there is one which, while manufacturing steel,
also gives a large quantity of gas, which may be collected and used for lighting.
It is composed (see Figure 1 of the accompanying Sheet of Drawings) of a
generating boiler with double casing A placed upon a furnace. This boiler is
provided at its lower part with two tubes B C, DE, continually filled with water
from the boiler.
I would here observe that any other desired generator may be placed on the
furnace, without any modification of the principle of my Invention.
The steam enters through the steam port at the point F, descends by the
pipe FG, becomes superheated in the worm H, and rejoins the pipe I J K at the
point I, Figure 5.
It is evident that this superheating worm, instead of being placed in the space
left free within the belly of the boiler, may encircle the said boiler, be in a space
left free in the furnace or on the top of the retorts, or in any other part of the
furnace, where it will naturally become superheated by the heat of the retorts.
Upon examining the furnace, shown Figure 1, it will be observed that the gases
coming from the fuel placed upon the gratings L, L, after having licked the surface
of the retorts, pass up by the openings M, M, placed in the furnace, and go into
the bottom or belly of the boiler. Consequently, the retorts, the worm, and the
boiler are heated together and by the gases arising from the fuel placed upon the
gratings whereby great economy is obtained.
When the boiler is hot enough, as indicated by the gauge with which it is
provided, the damper N, Figure 2, is closed and the damper O opened.
All communication between the retorts and the inside or belly of the boiler is
intercepted, and the heat passes into a flue P provided at the back of the furnace,
from whence it goes into a branch chimney QQ, which joins the chimney R with
which the boiler is provided. It is therefore plain that in this case the retorts are
heated while the boiler is not.
Upon reference to Figure 1 two openings will be seen in which I place slides or
slide-valves S, S. The objects of these slides, which may if required be of the same
shape as the retorts, is (if the boiler is not hot enough and the retorts are too hot)
to screen the retorts from the heat of the fuel on the grates. In this case the
the slides S, S, are placed, the damper N (Figure 2) is opened, that O is closed, and
the boiler heats without any fear of danger to the retorts:
Thus it will be seen that the retorts and the boiler heat together, and that the
boiler and the retorts may be heated independently of each other by means of the
sllides S, S.
These slides may be of any material capable of resisting great heat.
Referring to Figure 5; the steam descending the pipe B, B', passes through the
worm, and descends by the pipes T, I, J, K; it then rises into the retort, Figure 2,
by the pipe UV, which enters the retort at the point U.

page_text: The tube V X is provided with small tubes having very narrow orifices by
which the steam escapes, and strikes or is projected perpendicularly upon the layers
of charcoal and of iron, as explained in the first means or method. Y, Z, are small
bottomless boxes made of sheet or other iron, of steatite, or of fire-clay, in which
the fatty body flowing through the tube A', B¹, falls upon the red hot bottom of
the retort to there become decomposed.
In Figure 5 the apparatus is seen in front view; over the furnaces is the
boiler A provided with its steam and its water gauge, and on the left with its feed
pump, which draws water from the reservoir or receiver C¹. The two receivers D¹
and E¹ are divided vertically into two parts; in one part is the fatty body, and in
the other the water; F, F1, Figure 1, are two small interior chimneys or flues
provided with dampers; they communicate with the vaults or arches of the oven
or furnace, and act as air holes for heating the receivers D¹, E', Figure 1. It is
the same with the inner chimney or flue G', which is intended to heat the water
in the reservoir or receiver C¹ intended to feed the boiler.
The pipe H, I, is a double or twin pipe composed of two juxtaposed pipes,
which at its entrance into the receiver E' divides into two parts, one of which rises
into the part containing water, and the other into that containing the fatty body;
it is the same with the receiver D¹. These two pipes, as shown at Figure 5, empty
themselves into the receivers J, J¹, placed on the heads of the retorts. These
receivers J, J, are divided into two parts; they let the water and fatty body run
into the pipe A¹, B', Figure 2, which is a double or twin pipe, so that the water
runs into the bottomless box Z, and the fatty body into the bottomless box Y which
are in the retort.
I may also without convenience mix certain liquid fatty bodies or matters
directly with water, and let them run together by the same pipe into a box without
a bottom upon the red hot bottom of the retort, or then make them flow into the
boxes Y, Z. The openings or sight-holes K, K', serve to ascertain the colour of the
retort.
Figure 4 represents the tube UV X. It divides as it enters the retort into
four tubes, connected together by other cross tubes. All these tubes are pierced
with holes.
I use this tube with one or more branches, because the steam arriving in a
continuous state has just time to decompose into oxygen and hydrogen without
giving to the carbonic acid which generally accompanies the hydrogen time to
decompose into oxide of carbon. By this means the carburetted hydrogen gas
which forms in the retort will be purer than if it were produced by any other
process. Nevertheless, I may use any other means for the introduction of steam
into the retort, as I have already explained, in the first means or method of manu-
facturing steel and lighting gas.
The
Referring to Figure 6, it represents a purifier A with hydraulic closures
B1, B1, C1, C1. This purifier has an inner column D 1, E 1, F 1, G 1.
plates H1, H1, are solid. The gas arriving in the retorts passes through the
pipe I, and goes into the lower part J 1 of the purifier.
E1, E1, is a perforated plate holding lime. The gas cools in J1, which contains
water and soda, and rises in the cylinder D1, E1, F 1, G 1. Upon the points
K 1, L1, rests a cylinder K 1, L 1, M 1, containing coke; the gas passes through it,
purifies itself, and spreads through the rest of the purifier, furnished with small
hurdles or screens N 1, N 1, 01, 01, P1, P1, Q1, Q1, containing lime,
soda, etc.
This part of the purifier is provided interiorly with a worm containing cold
water, and cooling the water and the soda. The purified gas issues by the orifice R1
and goes to S1 in the gasometer or holder. T1 is a funnel by which the case J 1
is filled, and U a valve by which it is emptied.
Figure 3 is a horizontal section through the furnace.
It will have been seen that according to the means employed to manufacture the
steel there are certain parts of the complete apparatus which do not act; the

page_text: boiler, for example, and the pipe which introduces steam into the retort. From
whence it follows that the 'apparatus may be simplified according to the means
which it is intended to use for manufacturing steel and lighting gas.
It is evident that if the second means is used the apparatus becomes quite small,
according to the quantity of steel and of gas which it is desired to produce. Thus
this little apparatus may be introduced into a kitchen stove, using the heat which
heats the retort, by reversing the flames to heat the remainder of the stove or fire
place without in any way changing the principle of this Invention.
I may at pleasure use the steam from the generator to give any kind of move-
ment either on land or on board of a ship without departure from the principle of
my Invention.
An apparatus may also be placed upon a locomotive, and the steam therefrom
be employed to use the first means above set forth, and the locomotive might also
be heated with the gas produced by using the steam therefrom.
It will also be evident that the second means only might be used by arranging
in the sides of locomotive a retort, and the necessary piping or tubes for producing
steel and gas.
A consideration of the services which my system may render to ships will make
it evident that they are multitudinous.
In fact the same result may be obtained upon a ship as upon a locomotive. If
gas engines are used it will be admitted that the use of gas produced by my system
is greatly superior to that of coal gas, because it contains much more hydrogen,
and it is easy on board of a ship to fit up one or more gas engines capable of driving
one or more screw shafts. There will be the advantage of making steel and gas,
of lighting and heating the ship, and of continuing to produce by means of the gas
already made the gas necessary to continue the manufacture.
In short, whether on land or sea the advantages of my system are incontestable.
Having now described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is or may be performed, what
I claim as secured to me by the herein before in part recited Letters Patent
is,-
Firstly. The means which I have set forth, both in detail and in their combi-
nation or entirety, for the simultaneous manufacture of steel and of lighting gas,
substantially as herein before described.
Secondly. The apparatus, substantially as described and shown on the annexed
Drawings, both in its entirety and in its separate parts.
Thirdly. The apparatus simplified according to the means which I use for the
simultaneous manufacture of steel and of lighting gas, as herein before described.
Fourthly. All apparatuses which might be made by the aid of the means herein-
before set forth, and having for object to obtain the same effects, that is to say, to
manufacture steel and lighting gas simultaneously.
Fifthly. The means of making, by the aid of my apparatus, only steel and
hydrogen gas, if I only use water or steam, charcoal and iron, the iron in this
case cementating by the absorption of the carbon emanating from the charcoal, as
set forth.
Sixthly. The means, by the aid of my apparatus, of making carburetted hydrogen
gas only, by means of water, or of steam, of charcoal, and of a fatty body.
In witness whereof, I, the said Paul Aube, have hereunto set my hand and
seal, this Seventeenth day of February, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty one.
PAUL AUBE.
(L.S.)