IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE PROCESS OF REDUCING COPPER TO THE METALLIC STATE FROM ORES AND OTHER MATERIALS CONTAINING COPPER, AND IN THE FURNACES EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Keates, of Liverpool, in the County of
Lancaster, Copper and Lead Smelter, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE PROCESS OF REDUCING COPPER TO THE METALLIC STATE FROM
ORES AND OTHER MATERIALS CONTAINING COPPER, AND IN THE FURNACES
EMPLOYED THEREIN."
Sealed the 20th February 1857, and dated the 4th September 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Keates at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th September 1856.
I, WILLIAM KEATES, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Copper and
Lead Smelter, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESS OF REDUCING COPPER TO THE METALLIC STATE FROM
ORES AND OTHER MATERIALS CONTAINING COPPER, AND IN THE FURNACES EMPLOYED
THEREIN," to be as follows:-
The copper ore or other material containing copper is first to be brought
into the state of matt regulus, or impure sulphuret of copper, by any of
the usual processes of smelting applicable thereto. The matt or regulus is
then introduced into a furnace specially constructed to admit of currents of
atmospheric air (either hot or at the natural temperature of the atmosphere,)
at a high pressure, being forced through the mass of melted matt for the
purpose of oxidizing the sulphur and such metals of alloy as are more easily

page_text: oxidized than copper itself, and this in a much more rapid and efficient
manner than by the processes in ordinary use.
My improved furnace is essentially reverberatory, and either circular or
approaching a circular form, having, in addition to the usual openings or
apertures of such furnaces, a number of orifices or tuyeres constructed in the
sides and bottom of the furnace for the introduction of the currents of air
before alluded to.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Keates in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
3rd March 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
KEATES, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Copper and Lead Smelter,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of September, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said William
Keates, Her special license that I, the said William Keates, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Keates, 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 THE PROCESS OF REDUCING
COPPER TO THE METALLIC STATE FROM ORES AND OTHER MATERIALS CONTAINING
COPPER, AND IN THE FURNACES EMPLOYED THEREIN," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Keates, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, 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 William Keates, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement,
(that is to say):
I propel currents of air (either heated by any convenient mode or at the

page_text: temperature of the atmosphere) by a blowing machine at the required
pressure, and either directed upon the surface of the melted regulus or matt of
copper lying on the bottom or sole of the furnace, or forced through the
melted regulus, for the purpose of desulphurizing the same. The tuyeres for
the passage of the air open out into the furnace just above the level of
the bottom or sole; or they may open upwards, either vertically or inclined,
through the bottom of the furnace. These several modes of applying the
currents of air may be used separately or combined, and the number of tuyeres
regulated by the size of the furnace and the quantity of regulus or matt to be
operated upon. The blast of air is conveyed from a blowing engine in an iron
pipe or main, terminating in a branched pipe, from which it is distributed by
descending branches to the tuyeres.
Where the heat of the furnace would render iron pipes inapplicable, I use
pipes or channels made of fire-brick clay, or composition, which may be either
cylindrical tubes, or square or octagon blocks with a cylindrical cavity passing
through them, which cavity may be glazed to prevent the escape of air, and
the tubes or blocks may be joined together by socket joints and luted together
with fine fire clay. The said tubes or blocks are built into the walls and
carried under the bottom of the furnace during the operation of building, thus
forming an integral part of the structure. The junction between the iron pipes
and the fire brick blocks or tubes may be formed in any convenient manner.
The general modus operandi is as follows, but may be varied to meet
the convenience of special circumstances:-The regulus or matt being
introduced into the furnace in any of the usual modes, the apertures are
closed and the fire urged until the regulus has nearly attained the fusing
point the blast is then turned on and the heat of the furnace increased
to effect a perfect fusion of the regulus whilst subject to the operation of
the blast. This process is continued (occasionally removing the slag or
scoriæ formed during the operation) until the whole of the copper becomes
metallic, when it is tapped out of the furnace into sand or other moulds
prepared for its reception. If found more convenient for the purposes
of the smelting works or manufactory, the contents of the furnace may be
tapped out when only partially desulphurized, and again submitted to this
process, or refined in the usual manner.
The manner of carrying my said Invention into practical effect will be more
clearly understood by reference to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, and
the letters of reference thereon, the said letters of reference referring to each
Figure separately.
Fig. 1 is a horizontal section of a reverberatory furnace constructed precisely

page_text: in the same manner as those now in use for smelting copper, but with the
additions necessary for introducing the currents of air into the melted regulus
or matt, as already described. In this Fig. a represents the grate of the
furnace; b, the bottom bed or sole of the furnace, on which the melted regulus
or matt rests; c, the chimney; d, the loading door through which the materials
to be operated upon are introduced into the furnace; e, the front door of the
furnace, through which the slags or scoriæ are withdrawn in the usual manner;
f, the tap hole through which the coarse copper is run off into sand beds at
the end of the operation, or it may also be used to allow the slag and scoria to
flow out; j, the teazing hole or fire door through which the fuel is introduced
into the grate. This furnace is represented with four blast pipes or tuyeres,
the details of which are seen more perfectly in Figs. 3 and 4. k, k, k, k, are
hollow blocks of fire-brick clay, the cavities 1, 1, 1, 1, forming part of the
piping to convey the current of air to the tuyeres n, n, n, n, which open out
into the furnace at the level of the bed or sole, just above it, as seen in Fig. 3.
Fig. 2 is a plan of the top of the furnace, in which c represents the chimney;
g, an aperture in the roof, opening into a flue connected with the chimney (not
shewn in the Drawings); h, a hole or door in the roof for the introduction of
materials into the furnace, or for the admission of air; E, E, E, cast-iron
pipes, connected with the blowing engine by a branch at F, for supplying the
current of air or blast to the four tuyeres at m, m, m, m.
Fig. 3 is a cross vertical section of the furnace on the line A, B, Fig. 2, in
which 6 represents the bottom, and i the roof, of the furnace; E, the pipe for
supplying the blast of air; G, G, descending branches leading to the tuyeres
n, n; k, k, the fire-brick blocks, traversed by the cylindrical cavity 1,1, and
forming pipes terminating in the tuyeres n, n.
The said fire-brick blocks may
be of any suitable shape or dimensions, and connected by a socket joint luted
up with fine clay to prevent the escape of air; the uppermost block has a deep
socket to receive the end of the descending iron branch pipe, which is luted in
with fine fire-clay.
Fig. 4 is a partial cross vertical section, on the line C, D, Fig. 2, shewing
a complete section of the fire-brick blocks and tuyeres, the said tuyeres opening
out into the furnace just above the level of the bottom or sole, as shewn at n,
Fig. 4. The description given of Fig. 3 will also answer for this Figure, the
only difference being that the section is in the plane of the axis of the tuyere,
whilst that in Fig. 3 the section is oblique to the axis of the tuyere.
Having thus fully described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be distinctly
understood that I do not confine myself to any particular shape or construction

page_text: of a furnace, nor to any particular mode of supplying air to the tnyeres, as the
pipes for that purpose may be distributed in any convenient manner, and
introduced into such points in the external walls or foundations of the furnace
as may be found most desirable, or the form of the furnace may necessitate;
but I claim the introduction of atmospheric air (whether artificially heated or
at the ordinary temperature of the surrounding atmosphere) at a pressure
obtained by mechanical means into and through or over the surface of
the mass of melted regulus or matt containing copper.
I also claim the use of furnaces constructed either of the form shewn in the
accompanying Sheet of Drawings, or any other convenient form which com-
bines the necessary apparatus or means for introducing the aforesaid currents
of air for the purpose of desulphurizing regulus or matt of copper.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Keates, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
within-named William Keates, in
the presence of
WM. KEATES. (L.S.)
WM. KEATES. (L.S.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
within-named William Keates, in
the presence of
EDWARD STUTTARD,
Book-keeper to Messrs. Newton, Keates & Co.,
Liverpool.