IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Cassels, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark,
North Britain, Iron Manufacturer, and Thomas Morton, of Motherwell,
in the same County, Manager, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON."
Sealed the 15th September 1857, and dated the 25th March 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Cassels and Thomas
Morton at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 25th March 1857.
We, ROBERT CASSELS, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain,
Iron Manufacturer, and THOMAS MORTON, of Motherwell, in the same County,
Manager, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON," to be as follows, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to the primary refining of pig iron by an economical
process, which produces refined iron of uniform and superior quality ready
for the puddling process.
According to this process, the pig iron to be refined is melted down in a
cupola with certain slags used in fluxing the metal, and the melted product
is run from the cupola into a six-tuyere refinery, or into a refinery containing
any other convenient number of tuyeres. This is the whole process necessary
for producing refined iron, and, whilst both iron and coke are economised by
it, it produces refined metal of very superior quality.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Cassels and Thomas Morton in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 24th September 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, ROBERT
CASSELS, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, Iron Manu-
facturer, and THOMAS MORTON, of Motherwell, in the same County, Manager,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Robert Cassels and Thomas Morton, Her special license that we, the
said Robert Cassels and Thomas Morton, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said Robert Cassels and Thomas Morton,
our 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 MANUFACTURE
OF IRON,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Robert
Cassels and Thomas Morton, by an instrument in writing under our 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Robert Cassels and Thomas Morton,
do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement in writing, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
Our said Invention relates to the primary refining of pig iron by an
economical process, which produces refined iron of uniform and superior
quality, ready for the puddling process. According to this process, the pig iron
to be refined is melted down in a cupola with certain slags used in fluxing
the metal, and the melted product is run from the cupola into a six-tuyere
refinery, or into a refinery containing any other convenient number of tuyeres.
This is the whole process necessary for producing refined iron, and whilst
both iron and coke are economised by it, it produces refined metal of very

page_text: superior quality; and, instead of using a cupolia for the primary melting, other
forms of furnace or melting apparatus may be used.
And in order that our said Invention may be properly understood, we shall
now proceed to describe the several illustrative Figures on the explanatory
Sheet of Drawings, which we have hereunto appended, for the purpose of
showing certain modifications under which our said improvements may be
judiciously carried out in practice.
Figure 1, of the accompanying Sheet of illustrative Drawings, is an elevation
or front view of a refinery furnace for effecting the process of refining "pig
iron," or iron in a crude or unpurified state. Figure 2 is an elevation of the
refinery arranged according to our improvements, and taken at right angles to
Figure 1. Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the lower part of the
refinery hearth, that is to say, a section taken parallel to Figure 1. Figue
4 is a half plan view of the hearth, and corresponding to the right-hand
half of Figure 3, is a transverse or horizontal section of the lower portion
of the hearth or refining chamber, and the parts connected therewith.
According to our improvements the refining furnace or hearth, shown in
our illustrative Drawings, is intended to be erected near to the cupola, in
which the crude pig iron or other iron is melted, so that the operation
of refining the metal may immediately succed the melting, and be effected
without loss of time. One of the most serious difficulties attending the
refinery hearths of the ordinary kind, is the sinking of the metal below
the proper or intended working level, so that a portion of the metal may
be within the proper distance of the blast, whilst another portion is too far
away, arising from the unequal burning away of the hearth. And thus the
refining operation becomes to a great extent uncertain and ineffective, and
attended with considerable loss of the metal and time arising from the sinking
of the hearth. In our improvements these difficulties are avoided by making
the hearth in such a manner that it cannot be burnt away in one part more
than another. The improved hearth retains its level surface, the metal is
always kept within the proper distance from the blast, and the whole operation
is expedited whilst the resulting product is greatly improved in purity. The
molten pig iron when tapped from the cupola is allowed to flow into a gutter
or channel A, by means of which it is conveyed to the refinery hearth; this
hearth consists of a square or other suitably shaped recess or chamber B,
formed of iron, covered or lined with slabs of fire clay. Upon a massive
foundation of brick or stone work C is laid the cast-iron base or foundation
plates D, and upon them is placed the hearth plate E, which is covered with
fire-clay slabs F. These sides of the hearth are formed of hollow castings or

page_text: "bushes" G, which serve as tanks or cisterns for containing water. The
fourth side of the hearth is made of a cast-iron plate H, through which a
serpentine tubular passage, or water way is made by casting a malleable iron
pipe bent to the form in or with the plate. The tubular passage through the
plate H is shown by dotted lines I, in the front view, Figure 1, of our illus
trative Drawings. The inner sides of the "bushes" or castings G, which
form the vertical inclosing sides of the refining chamber B, are made with a
recess in which fire-clay slabs F¹ are fitted to prevent the iron from being
burnt away by the intense heat. In the brick or stone work C, below the
hearth E, is built a tank or cistern J, which serves for holding water, by means
of which the hearth E is kept at a moderate temperature, as will be hereafter
referred to. The foundation plates D also serve to support the four vertical
standards of the framing K, on which the chimney or shaft L is built; the
shaft L is of brick work, strengthened and bound together at the angles by
light iron bands, the parts of which are connected together by transverse tie
pieces; the lower part of the framing K, below the brickwork L, is enclosed
at the sides of the furnace by iron plates, and at the back and front by means
of the doors M, which afford facility for getting at the interior of the furnace.
In the front of the furnace is a portable platform supported on two light iron
tressels N; this platform prevents the burning fuel from falling about the
tapping hole. Upon the other sides of the furnace the brickwork is built up
level with the platform, and the space all round the furnace is covered with
iron plates. In addition to the four sides which form the sides of the refinery
hearth or chamber B, there are two cheek plates O, which serve to retain the
pile of fuel on the metal, and through these cheek plates the tuyers are entered.
The tuyeres for conveying the blast to the molten metal are by preference
constructed entirely of iron, and are arranged as shown in our illustrative
Drawings, that is to say, there are two tuyeres upon each side of the furnace.
The main blast pipes P convey the air from the blowing engine to the duplex
blowers or tuyeres. The blast pipes P are fitted one upon each side of the
refinery hearth or furnace. At the level of the flooring the pipes P have a
broad flange, which serves as a base or support for the whole of the duplex
tuyeres on each side of the refinery hearth. To the upper flange of the pipe P
is bolted the double brauched pipe Q; to the upper ends of this pipe are bolted
the pipes R, in the valve boxes of which are fitted the valves for controlling
the admission of the blast; to the top of the pipes R are fitted the ball and
socket joints and elbow bends S. At the upper part of the bends is an
aperture, which is closed by means of a plug U; this aperture affords facility
for passing a rod down the tuyere, in order to clear away any obstruction from

page_text: its interior. The valves for regulating the velocity of the blast are moved to
and fro by means of the handles which project through the valve boxes T.
By means of the ball and socket joints the blast pipes may be turned upon
their axes entirely away from the refinery hearth. The arrangement of these
joints is clearly shown in the sectional view of the tuyere, to the left of
Figure 3 of our Sheet of Drawings. The socket is made in two pieces, bolted
together at their flanges; the two pieces embrace the greater portion of the
ball or spherical portion of the joint. The application of the ball and socket
joints to the blast pipes admits of their being moved either vertically or
horizontally without necessitating the use of leather or other easily destructible
material. Beyond the joints S the other portions of the blast pipes are made
telescopic, that is to say, the pipe is made in two or other number of pieces
which slide one within the other, so that the blast pipes may be shortened, and
the whole moved aside out of the workmen's way when required. The upper
piece V of each of the blast pipes is made to slide up on the bend S as far as
the ring in its centre, which ring serves as a stop; and the nose piece W,
which has two handles for the convenience of moving it, slides up within the
pipe V as far as the ring. The tuyeres or nozzles X pass through orifices
made for the purpose in the cheek plates 0; these nozzles are made double,
for the purpose of admitting of a current of water circulating between the
annular space.
The water used for cooling the nozzles X and refinery
chamber B is admitted by the supply pipes Y, there being one supply pipe to
each pair of blast pipes. Taking the arrangement of the water pipes shown
to the right of Figure 3 and in the Plan Figure 4, the water enters by the
pipe Y, at the top of which is fitted a stop valve chest Z. From the valve
chest two pipes branch off laterally; one of these pipes a supplies a current of
water to the serpentine tubular passage I in the frout plate H of the furnace.
The other pipe b conveys a supply of water to the water bush G at the back
of the refinery chamber B. There are two other pipes c which branch from
the valve chest Z, and serve to convey water to the nozzles X; the stream of
water after circulating round the nozzles flows away by the pipes d, and passes
down the conical tubes e into the water bush G at the side of the refinery
chamber B. The surplus water from the water bush at the back of the
refinery chamber flows into the waste cistern f, which is placed parallel
to the water bush G on the left of the refinery chamber B. This cistern
also receives the surplus water from the tubular passage I in the front
plate H in the furnace, and the overflow from the water "bush" G on the
left of Figure 3. The surplus or waste water from the cistern f flows off
through the pipe g to the drain h. The overflow or waste from the right-

page_text: hand water bush G flows down the pipe i into the cistern J beneath the
hearth plate E. The arrangement of the water pipes upon the opposite or
left-hand side of the furnace is somewhat modified from that just described.
The water enters by the pipe Y, passes through the valve chest Z, and by the
pipes c to the nozzles X; thus far the arrangement is the same as that before
described, but instead of the lateral pipes a and there is a pipe k, which
conveys a stream of water beneath the hearth plate E. This pipe k is carried
downwards from the valve chest Z, and then below the hearth plate, at about the
centre of which it branches off to the right and left, forming a T-piece termi-
nation. The upper part of the water pipe k, from the boundary of the refinery
chamber B inwards, is perforated, so that when the water is admitted thereto
it is thrown in a series of jets upon the under side of the hearth plate. The
effect of this is that the temperature of the hearth plate is constantly reduced
by the streams of cold water projected over its under side, so that it cannot be
injuriously affected by the heat of the molten mass of metal above; hence, the
hearth being preserved from burning away, the metal is kept at an uniform
level, and within the effective range of the blast, thereby avoiding loss of time
and metal as occurs in the refinery hearths of the ordinary kind. The cooling
effect is also heightened by the effect of the steam arising from the water
employed as the cooling medium, together with the passage of cold air along
the under side of the hearth. At the back of the furnace, and below the level
of the flooring plates, is a way or passage 1, Figure 2, through which a work-
man is enabled to pass and inspect the cistern J or the under side of the
hearth plate E. This passage also affords access to the lever and rod by which
the valve m is raised, so as to discharge the contents of the cistern J through
the water way, which is shown in dotted lines, and into the drain h. The
surplus water or overflow of the cistern J runs away through the waste
pipen and into the drain h. When a charge of the crude metal from the
cupola is to be run into the refinery furnace, a moveable elbow piece or bend o,
forming a continuation of the gutter A, is put on to allow the charge of metal
to flow into the refinery chamber B. When the charge of metal has been run
in the fuel is heaped up, the blast turned on, and the refining operation
effected; meanwhile the cold water circulates around the furnace and nozzles,
as before described, keeping the whole of the parts sufficiently cool to preserve
them from the injurious action of the heat. When the charge of metal
is ready for removal from the furnace, it is allowed to flow off through the
tapping hole in the front plate H, and into the moulds or troughs q placed
ready for the purpose.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of our sail

page_text: Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, we may observe, in conclusion, that we do not confine or restrict
ourselves to the precise details or arrangements which we have had occasion
to describe or refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without
deviating from the principles or main features of our Invention; but what we
consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured
to us by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
First, the system or mode of manufacturing iron, and the general arrange-
ment and construction of machinery or apparatus connected therewith, as
herein-before described.
Second, the system or mode of manufacturing and refining iron, wherein
crude pig iron or other iron is primarily melted in a cupola, or other furnace
or melting apparatus, and is then run in a melted condition into a refinery.
Third, the adaptation and use of water chambers for the preservation of the
refinery hearth, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, we, the said Robert Cassels and Thomas Morton,
have hereunto set our hands and seal, this Twenty-third day of
September, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.