CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON
Year: 1840

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
NEALE CLAY, of. Flimby, in the County of Cumberland, Gentleman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Thirty-first day of March, in the third year of Her reign, did,.
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Neale. Clay, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said William Neale Clay, my exors, admors, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Neale Clay, my exors, adñiors,
or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and. lawfully
might make, use, excrcise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town
of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF IRON;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso
that I, the said William Neale Clay, shall cause particular description of the
i nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six
calendar months next and immediately, after the date of the said in part
recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had,
will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Neale Clay, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof (that is to say :)-

page_text: In manufacturing iron from iron ore, as at present generally practised, the
ores are roasted or calcined, smelted in blast furnaces, refined and puddled,
in order to make malleable iron. It has, however, been proposed to manufac-
ture wrought or malleable iron from iron ores without the aid of the blast
furnace, and, amongst others, I did obtain Letters Patent for a mode of
treating rich iron ores by means of a certain process in closed vessels, which
I have found fully to answer. And it has also been proposed to manufacture
wrought or malleable iron from iron ores without smelting in blast furnaces, by
submitting them to heat, with carbonaceous matters, in open or reverberatory
furnaces; and I am informed and believe that some attempts have been
made practically to carry out such propositions, but the same have failed.
Now my Invention relates to a mode of manufacturing wrought or malleable
iron from iron ores by means of reverberatory furnaces, when combined with
certain proportions of carbonaceous matters, whereby I am enabled, in a very
short space of time, to manufacture wought or malleable iron from the rich
iron ores, such as are found in Cumberland, Lancashire, and other places, and
also from other iron ores which have been calcined, contain forty-five per cent.
of iron; for it should be remarked that I do not consider it advantageous to
work, according to my Invention, with ores or calcined iron stones having
a less per centage of iron.
And secondly, my Invention relates to combining with such process, wherein
carbonaceous matters are used in certain proportions as herein-after described,
the making of malleable iron from ore, pig iron, and scrap iron; but my Inven-
tion does not relate to any process of combining pig iron in a puddling or
reverberatory furnace with iron ore when the carbonaceous matter employed
does not exceed twenty-eight per cent. by weight of the weight of iron ore put
into the furnace.
And in order to give the best information in my power of the means of per-
forming my Invention, I will proceed to explain the process pursued by me, and
which I have found fully to answer. I would, however, first remark that the
Invention herein described is the result of a series of experiments, by which
I have ascertained that the attempts heretofore made for converting iron ores
into malleable iron by means of carbonaceous matters in reverberatory
furnaces have failed from a want of knowledge of the effects of carbonaceous
matters when so employed, from which circumstance the quantities of carbona-
ceous matters heretofore attempted to be used could have little if any effect
in converting iron ore into malleable iron, and the means heretofore attempted
were not such as would practically prevent such small quantities which might
be converted from being reoxidized by the working of the reverberatory

page_text: furnace; I wish it therefore to be understood that I do not, in this my Specifi-
cation, claim to be the first to propose manufacturing malleable iron from iron
ore in reverberatory furnaces, but my Invention is confined to combining
carbonaceous matters in quantities not less than twenty-eight per cent. by
weight of the iron ores when worked in reverberatory furnaces; but as the
actual quantity will generally exceed twenty-eight per cent., and as the extent
beyond that amount will vary from a variety of causes, I will hereafter give
such information as will readily enable the workman to judge when he is using
the proper relative quantity for the iron ore under operation. I take any of
the rich ores of iron, or such as may contain forty-five per cent. or upwards of
that metal, or any of the earthy stones, carbonates of iron, or other ores, which,
when calcined or roasted, may contain the quantity named, and by means of
millstones, rollers, or otherwise, break the lumps to such a size as that they
may pass through a riddle or screen of thirty-six meshes to the square inch. To
one hundred parts of such ore or calcined ironstone by weight I add from thirty
to forty parts of coal slack, coke, wood, charcoal, peat, anthracite, or other
suitable carbonaceous matter, reduced and riddled to the same size; and aftér
well mixing together I throw the same into a puddling or balling furnace of
the customary construction, and in a state suitable for receiving pig iron, to be
puddled every five minutes or thereabouts; the mixture should be moderately
stirred up, until at the termination of some time, and dependent in a great
degree on the heat of the furnace, it exhibits appearances of becoming
'metallic by the hottest parts adhering or welding together; the furnace should
then be brought to its greatest heat, and the charge balled, taken to the
hammer or squeezers, and treated as "puddled iron," in the customary mode.
I would remark, that the definite quantity of coal or other carbonaceous
matter cannot be named without taking into the account the exact quantity of
iron contained in the ore or calcined stone, and the quantity of carbon,
carburetted hydrogen, or other decomposing property in the coal, anthracite,
or other material employed; but as a general rule I recommend that where
one hundred parts of ore or calcined stone may contain fifty of metallic iron,
then I would add thirty parts of carbonaceous matter; and for every additional
two parts of iron in one hundred of the ore I would add one part of the
carbonaceous matter, and, where it can be cheaply procured, I give the pre-
ference to bituminous coal for mixing with the ore or calcined ironstone. In
place of an ordinary puddling furnace I prefer to have the flue from the
puddling furnace carried into a chamber formed over or at the end or side of
an ordinary puddling furnace, so that a charge of the mixture placed in the
upper chamber may be getting heated during the time of operating

page_text: on the charge in the-puddling furnace, and, when that charge is drawn, be
removed into the puddling furnace. I have found, in addition to the advan-
tages derivable from the simple conversion of iron ore into malleable iron,
that there is a further benefit in respect to weight of product to be derived
from applying pig iron or "scrap iron in the 'puddling furnace when working
iron ore às above explained; and the best time for so applying pig'or scrap iron
is when the ore and carbon are well heated if a single-bedded furnace be used,
but if a double furnace be employed I then beat the oil and carbonaceous
matter in the preparatory bed, and add the pig or scrap iron when the charge
is transferred into the working bed, and I find that an equal weight with the
ore may be added with advantage. I do not, however, confine myself to such
quantities or time of applying pig or scrap iron; so long as the proportion of
carbonaceous matter applied is equal to the proportion above stated in respect
of the ore. The workman will, after a short experience; with care, soon be
able to judge of the requisite quantity of carbonaceous matters required most
advantageously to work any particular class of iron ores by paying-attention to
the following particulars:-
:
First, if in the working of the first charge of a particular description of 'ore
the return of iron be deficient in yield with reference to the known analysis of
the ore; say less than two thirds to three fourths of the iron therein, and that
a larger proportion of cinder or slag runs from it than might be expected, and
if all appearance of carbon or coke vanish at an early stage of the process; then
there is a deficiency of carbon, and it must be increased in working subsequent
charges.
Secondly, if the return be good, but do not ball up readily, or stand thé
hammer well, and if large quantities of coke be seen floating on the molten
cinder at the close of the operation, then there is 'too much carbonaceous
matter in the mixture, and in future charges 'it must be reduced.
Thirdly, if the cinder be moderate in quantity, if the iron ball up readily, if
the coke 'disappear about the time of balling up, and the 'bloom stand the
hammer well, then may the proportions be deemed "correct.
"Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that what I claim as the
Invention secured by the present Letters Patent is;-
First, the mode of manufacturing wrought or malleable iron in reverberatory
furnaces from iron ore, by combining 'therewith twenty-eight per cent.or
upwards of carbonaceous matters, as herein described.
Secondly, I claim the mode of manufacturing wrought or malleable iron
from iron ore in reverberatory furnaces, by combining therewith twenty-eight