IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND CAST IRON, AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREFOR
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jules Nicolas Fournel, of Faubourg St. Pierre,
Nancy, in the Empire of France, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND CAST IRON, AND IN THE
APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREFOR."
Sealed the 11th January 1867, and dated the 11th July 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jules Nicolas Fournel
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 11th July 1866.
I, JULES NICOLAS FOURNEL, of Faubourg St. Pierre, Nancy, in the
Empire of France, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND CAST IRON,
AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREFOB," to be as follows, that is to say :-
The Invention consists in improvements in the process and apparatus for
the manufacture of iron, and is as follows:-The fuel in a crude state (that
is to say, not carbonized) is fed into a separate furnace, which may be of the
form of a small blast furnace. The mouth or opening for feeding is closed
during the intervals of the charges. The furnace receives near the lower
part a current of air by one or several tuyeres, and the gas formed is collected
towards the upper part in a pipe and conducted to the tuyere or tuyeres of
the ore furnace (which is also of the form of a small blast furnace); just before
it reaches the tuyere the gas pipe can be flattened and widened at the
extremity, and the pipe for the compressed air by which the combustion is

page_text: effected is passed into the interior of the gas pipe and is subdivided at the
extremity into a certain number of small jets, so as to cause the combustion
of the gas in a manner somewhat similar to the laboratory blow pipe.
Several other arrangements may be employed according to the nature of the
fuel and the gas produced. By the herein-before stated means the oxide of
carbon of the gas burned and the carbon of the carbonated hydrogen are
converted by combustion into carbonic acid, which in rising in the furnace
and by its contact with the small proportion of fuel which has been added to
the charge of ore in the manner before described again produces oxide of
carbon, a gas which effects the deoxidation of the ore by absorbing oxygen
and being again converted into carbonic acid. The hydrogen contained in
the gas fed to the tuyere is converted by the combustion into water steam.
Thus by employing gas charged with a certain proportion of hydrogen I cau
use a little above the air and gas tuyere another tuyere by which air would
be left in the furnace so as to effect by the elevation of the temperature the
decomposition of the water steam by converting it into hydrogen and oxygen,
thus producing a useful effect therefrom. The ore can also be reduced by
the hydrogen, and it is no longer necessary_to_add_coke to the charge, or the
proportion could be still further reduced but the metal obtained would not be
so pure, for in leaving an excess of hydrogen in the burned gas the tempera-
ture of the fire would be less elevated. Instead of introducing air in an
upper tuyere hydrogen could be injected without a curient of air or with a
current of air insufficient to completely burn it, the excess of hydrogen will
serve for the reduction. The metal obtained in the crucible by the high
temperature resulting from the combustion of the gases will be pure iron, or
a metal approaching the quality of iron, which will give less waste than cast
iron in the immediate or subsequent processes of purification or refining.
1 thus obtain by the employment of gases a temperature high enough to obtain
liquid iron whilst a current of air acting on the solid fuel cannot produce a
higher temperature than that necessary to melt the cast iron or steel.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Jules Nicolas Fournel in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 11th January 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JULES
NICOLAS FOURNEL, of Faubourg St. Piene, Nancy, in the Empue of Fiance, 3
Civil Engineer, send greeting

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of July, in the year of our Loid
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and giant unto me,
the said Jules Nicolas Fournel, Her special licence that I, the said Jules
Nicolas Fournel, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such otheis as
I, the said Jules Nicolas Fournel, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, fiom time to time and at all
times the cafter 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 AND CAST IRON, AND IN THE
APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREFOR," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Jules Nicolas Fournel, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Jules Nicolas Fournel, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the saine is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereto annexed,
and to the figures aud letters marked thereon, that is to say.―
The Invention consists in improvements in the process and apparatus for
the manufacture of iron and cast iron, and is as follows.-The fuel in a
crude state (that is to say, not carbonized) is fed into a separate furnace,
which may be of the form of a small blast furnace. The mouth or opening
for feeding is closed during the intervals of charging. The furnace icceives
near the lower part a current of air by one or several tuyetes, and the gas
formed is collected towards the upper part in a pipe and conducted to the
tuyere or tuyeres of the ore furnace (which is also of the form of a small
blast furnace). Just before it reaches the tuyeie the gas pipe can be flattened
and widened at the extremity, and the pipe for the compressed air by which
the combustion is effected is passed into the interior of the gas pipe, and 15
subdivided at the extremity into a number of small jets, so as to cause the
combustion of the gas in a manner somewhat similar to the laboratory blowpipe.
Several other arrangements may be employed according to the nature of the fuel
and the gas produced. By the herein-before stated means the oxyde of carbon of

page_text: the gas burned and the carbon of the carbonated hydrogen are converted by com-
bustion into carbonic acid, which in rising in the furnace and by its contact with
the small proportion of fuel which has been added to the charge of ore in the
manner before described again produces oxyde of carbon, a gas which effects
the deoxydation of the ore by absorbing oxygen and being again converted
into carbonic acid. The hydrogen contained in the gas fed to the tuyere is
Thus by employing gas
converted by the combustion into water steam.
charged with a certain proportion of hydrogen I can use a little above
the air and gas tuyere another tuyere by which air would be left in the
furnace, so as to effect by the elevation of the temperature the decomposition
of the water steam by converting it into hydrogen and oxygen, thus producing
a useful effect therefrom The ore can also be reduced by the hydrogen,
and it is no longer necessary to add coke to the charge, or the proportion
could be still further reduced, but the metal obtained would not be so pure,
for in leaving an excess of bydrogen in the burned gas the temperature of the
fire would be less elevated. Instead of introducing air in an upper tuyere
hydrogen could be injected without a current of air or with a current of air
insufficient to completely burn it; the excess of hydrogen will serve for the
reduction. The metal obtained in the crucible by the high temperature resulang
from the combustion of the gases will be pure iron, or a metal approaching
the quality of iron, which will give less waste than cast iron in the immediate
I thus obtain by the
or subsequent process of purification or refining.
employment of gases a temperature high enough to obtain liquid iron, whilst
a current of air acting on the solid fuel cannot produce a higher temperature
than that necessary to melt the cast iron or steel.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, I will now describe the
best manner I am acquainted with for carrying the same into effect
The improved process presents the following advantages.-
First, the avoiding the loss of combustible gases which are disengaged by
carbonization.
Secondly, the avoiding the great loss of combustible gases which are dis
engaged from blast furnaces notwithstanding the use of carbonized fuel, which
gases by the present processes are only partly utilized, and do not give all the
calorific effect which they are able to give were they not mixed with injuriou
gases.
Thirdly, the permitting the employment, without injuring the quality of th
products, of impure coals, turf, or other earthy fuel.
Fourthly, the permitting the employment as fuel, not until now s
utilized, of calcareous earths or bituminous schists by effecting the complet

page_text: combustion of the hydrogenous gases which these abundant minerals can
produce
Fifthly, the permitting as a consequence of the high temperature obtained
by the combustion of the gases combined with a peculiar arrangement of
apparatus the direct production, instead of cast iron, of steel, liquid iron,
or at least refined metal of an intermediate quality between cast iron and
ii on The painful operation of puddling would be thus, if not superseded,
at least rendered easier, and at the same time the great loss of iron which takes
place by the ordinary process of decarburating cast iron would be avoided.
Sixthly, to the above advantages may be added those of allowing the pro-
duction of a larger quantity of metal with a given quantity of fuel, and
obtaining on and steel of a superior quality without being obliged to have
recourse to choice ore and fuel.
I employ two furnaces, one for treating the ore and the mixtures, the
other for converting the fuel into gas. The one furnace receives at the
upper part the crude or roasted one at will, to which I add the necessary
solvents and a proportion of coke or coal necessary for converting the
carbonic acid produced near the blast pipes into oxyde of carbon or reducing
gas. To avoid carbonizing specially a fuel for this purpose, which would cause
a loss of gas, it may be obtained from the gas furnace, as herein-after described.
The gases produced in the special furnace are conveyed to the blast pipes of
the ore furnace, where they are burned by culents of hot or cold an, but
preferably hot, which may be divided at their extremity into a great number
of small jets, so as to mix as completely as possible the air and the gas, and
effect a rapid combustion Before its arrival at the blast pipes the pipe
conducting the air may be introduced into the gas pipe. It is expedient to
render these pipes moveable and independent of each other, so that the gases
may be introduced into the furnace at the most convenient distance for the
effect to be produced for regulating the necossary quantity of air. Each pipe
must be provided with cocks or registers. The arrangement of the blast pipes
and of the openings of the gas and air pipes must be such as to distribute as
uniformly as possible at their level the heat and the gases produced. Blast
pipes superposed at distances varying according to the nature of the ores to
be treated and the composition of the gases allow of obtaining iron or steel, or
at least a metal more refined than cast iron; thus in burning in the lower
blast pipes gases chiefly containing hydrogen obtained from a separate furnace
and fuel, or at the upper part of a furnace from which gases charged with
oxyde of carbon have been collected at a certain height by a conduct placed
for this purpose, a very high temperature would be produced which would

page_text: refine the metal produced by the action of the upper tuyeres or blast pipes.
This temperature could be graduated by the composition of the gases, or by
a more or less rapid or complete combustion, or even by an excess of air, so
as to produce at will by means of a high temperature iron, and by a lower
temperature steel, or a metal intermediate between steel and cast iron The
upper blast pipes in which gas charged with oxyde of carbon would be burned
would effect besides the fusion of the ores and slags the decomposition of the
water steam produced at a high temperature by the hydrogen burned in the
lower blast pipes so that a part of the hydrogen set free would take up not
only carbon from the cast iron but especially the sulphur, phosphorous, and
other injurious matters contained in the ore and in the gases, and that the
surplus, in default of a sufficient quantity of oxyde of carbon, would contribute
to the oxydation of the ore; other currents of air and gas could be superposed.
In shutting externally the blast pipes I can produce by means of the sweeping
action of the gases a draught of air in the gas furnace which would dispense,
at least in certain cases, with the use of a blowing machine for the conversion
of fuel into gas. It is essential that the metal produced in the crucible should
be kept at a high-temperature. To assist this effect a semicircular space may
be made underneath and at each side of the crucible, in which space a current
of air and gas in combustion would be caused to pass.
This space may be
employed for heating the air, or other heating purpose. The refined metal
produced by this process may be run into sand, and for articles which require
to be obtained more pure I can make use of moulds made of lime, magnesia,
or other material capable of resisting the high temperature of the metal without
impairing its quality In some of the cases described the volatile products
disengaged from the ore furnace would still contain combustible gases, which
may be utilized in the following manner Thus by the combustion in the
furnaces of the azote with hydrogen in excess (forming ammonia), and also
by reactions produced chiefly by carbonic acid on this ammonia, I can by
condensation and by the contact of acids that are added obtain ammoniacal
waters in a continuous manner, and by evaporation ammoniacal salts. The
gas furnace or generator may be constructed in the ordinary manner, either
near the ore fuinace or at a distance fiom it; it receives either crude, died,
or aerated fuel through an opening, which is kept shut during the interval
between the charges. To the currents of air serving to effect the combustion
may be added near the lower part jets of water steam to effect its decomposition
in a proportion varying with the temperature of the an It may be well to
observe that in a part of the means described for utilizing the inner heat the
consumption is increased to obtain the desired heating, but it must be noticed

page_text: that only the quantity of heat strictly necessary is absorbed, as the excess
serves for the distillation of the fuel, whilst in producing the same heat in a
separate oven the heat, which must always be given in excess, is disengaged
and lost.
To Obtain the Carbonized Fuel. As it necessary to charge the ore
furnace with a small quantity of fuel to effect the conversion of the gas near
the lower part I can collect the carbonized or partly burned fuel from the gas
furnace to serve for feeding the ore furnace or a separate gas furnace. In
this case there is no need to utilize the inner beat of the generator. To
obtain this fuel one or several openings are made at the lower part of the
furnace, which slope towards the outside to facilitate the egress of the carbonized
fuel, these openings may be shut by doors while the drawing out of the
oven takes place, or have their outlet in closed receivers In charging the
gas furnace with bituminous schists or other fuel leaving a large proportion
of solid residue an analogous arrangement to the one before described for
collecting the carbonized fuel may be adapted to the lower part. In using
smiths' coal (or fatty and agglomerating coal) it is better to have the layer
of fuel only about the thickness necessary for the conversion of carbonic
acid produced by the current of air into oxyde of carbon. The temperature
above the layer of solid fuel would then be raised, and the smiths' coal could
then be caused to fall into this medium in small quantities and in a continuous
manner; the tar would thus suddenly be converted into gas. It would be
better, however, for these kinds of coal to place the gas furnace near the
blast pipes, so as to render available the latent heat of the gas which would be
high. The gas obtained from the fuel which does not agglomerate may be
conveyed direct to the blast pipes of the ore furnace, or it may be caused to
pass previously in a condenser to collect the tar, water, and other liquids from
it. I can also purify the gas by known means. It is then necessary to heat
it, which may be effected by causing it to circulate in a separate oven heated
by the gas, or in certain cases by the heat also disengaged from the ore furnace.
The ordinary refractory materials may not resist sufficiently a protracted
working, and their refractory quality may be increased or at least their affinity
be destroyed for the earth in excess with which they may be in contact by
previously exposing their surface to a sufficient temperature to vitrify it,
and even by producing refractory brick or materials melted and moulded.
The first result may be obtained after the construction of the interior of the
furnace; in this case to better concentrate the heat in the crucible, in the
work, and even in the part of the layers to be vitrified, a provisional vault of
refractory material is made at the height where the limit of the effect to be

page_text: produced is deemed necessary. In forming in this vault an opening for the
disengagement of the buined gases the fore parts of the hearths are covered
in the same manner; I heat progressively with a mixture of gas and hot air
introduced through the blast pipe or through the fore parts of the hearths.
The gases which are used in this case must be highly charged with hydrogen,
they may be obtained by distillation of schist or coal, by the decomposition of
water, or by other suitable means. When the effect is obtained the heat is
gradually lessened, and after the cooling the vaults which had been constructed
to concentrate the heat are demolished. For the sake of economy a vault in the
inside could be dispensed with, the temperature would be less concentrated but
then there would be no need of cooling, and the heat produced could be used to
begin the working of the furnace The second means consists in obtaining before-
hand the fusion of the refractory materials by a temperature above that which is
to be produced in the ore furnace, and in moulding bricks therefrom of a form
suitable for lining the lower part of the furnace. Silica might thus be melted,
or at least silica mixed with a small quantity of alumina in too small a
proportion to form with the lime a fusible silicate
-Although the application of the process of manufacture which I have
described may be effected in different ways, and the apparatus may vary-in-
form to effect the same result, I annca a Diawing to render my description

page_text: combustion of the fuel is effected, Figure 5, vertical section of the same in the
opposite duection.
G, blast pipe in which a current of compressed air may be introduced if the
suction is not sufficient, H, crucible receiving the slags produced by the
ashes and the solvent; I, opening for the egress of the gases; there may be
several; J, pipes in which the gas circulates to be heated; the air may be
heated in the same manner; K, cylinder receiving the charge. The charge
may be made first in a moveable hopper with a double register carried on 1ails
to the top of the cylinder or in a fixed hopper.
Figure 6, vertical section of a gas furnace from which carbonized or partly
burnt fuel may be obtained, and which may also seive for the distillation of
earthy fuel.
L, openings for drawing out the fuel or the residues; as many openings
are made round the oven as are necessary. These openings provided with
egisters M may also give access to the air when earthy fuel is used; but for
collecting carbonized fuel, as it is desirable to avoid combustion in the lower
part, air may be introduced through special openings at N, for instance, by
shutting the registers M between each drawing out of the oven. The charging
of this furnace may be effected in the same way as that of the furnaces before
described.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the best means
I am acquainted with for carrying the same into effect, what I claim is,
Firstly, the improved means and apparatus for obtaining iron and cast iron
by the employment of gases obtained from fuel of a rich or poor quality, as
herein-before described and shewn in the accompanying Diawing.
Secondly, the improved processes and apparatus for producing the said
gases, as herein-before described and represented in the accompanying
Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jules Nicolas Fournel, have hereto set
my hand and scal, this Fifth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
J N. FOURNEL. (L.S)