AN IMPROVEMENT OR IM- *PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF A CERTAIN METALLIC ALL
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Mushet, of Coleford, in the County of
Gloucester, Metallurgist, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IM-
*PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF A CERTAIN METALLIC ALL
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Mushet at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 22nd
October 1861.
I, ROBERT MUSHET, of Coleford, in the County of Gloucester, Metallurgist,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT OR
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF A CERTAIN METALLIC ALLOY," to be as
follows:-
I prefer to carry my Invention into effect by smelting in a blast furnace
titanium ore, called ilmenite, and spathose iron ores, called also sparry car-
bonates of iron. Ilmenite is an ore of titanium containing, by published
analysis, from twenty to fifty-nine per centum of titanic acid, the residue
consisting essentially of oxide of iron. Spathose iron ore, called chalybite by
mineralogists, consists essentially of the oxides of iron and manganese.com-
bined with carbonic acid, and contains also more or less admixture of lime,
magnesia, and silica. Spathose iron ore, when smelted in a blast furnace,
produces an alloy of iron and manganese, termed in Prussia spiegel eisen.

page_text: Spathose iron ore abounds in the counties of Durham and Somerset, as like-
wise in Cornwall. Ilmenite is found in immense quantities in Norway and in
other parts of the north of Europe. I prefer to prepare the ilminite for my
purpose by breaking it into pieces of the size of a hen's egg and under, for
this ore, being refractory, is more readily smelted when broken small than
when put into the blast furnace in large lumps. The ilminite may also be
crushed or stamped when this can be done economically. The spathose iron
ore is prepared in the ordinary manner of preparing iron ore, and may be
employed either in the raw or in the calcined state. Limestone and other
fluxes may be employed in addition to the ilmenite and spathose iron ore for
the blast furnace burden, but I find that the spathose iron ore, which is of
easy reduction, acts as a flux to the ilmenite, which is refractory, and both
ores are together readily reduced. The blast furnace I employ is that which
is usually employed for the smelting of iron. Coal, coke, or charcoal, or
mixtures of these, may be employed as fuel, but I find that a good and very
pure coke, such as that known in the market by the name of "Pease's west,"
answers quite well. I prefer to blow the furnace with a blast of heated air,
but cold blast may nevertheless be employed. The proportions of ilmenite and
spathose iron ore which I introduce into the blast furnace may be varied at
pleasure, but a working burden consisting of one part by weight of ilmenite to
two parts by weight of spathose iron ore, or a working burden consisting of
equal parts by weight of ilmenite and spathose iron ore, affords very good
results; but I do not confine myself to any specific proportions of ilmenite to
spathose iron ore, for they may be varied without departing from the nature of
my Invention. The burdening of the blast furnace with the ilmenite and
spathose iron ore is performed in the usual manner of burdening a blast
furnace, as are also the subsequent operations of the blast furnace, after the
said ores are introduced into the furnace. When a sufficient quantity of metal
has been reduced and has collected in the hearth of the blast furnace, I tap
the furnace in the usual manner, and I run the metal off into pig beds or into
any suitable moulds prepared to receive the said metal. The metal thus
obtained is a triple compound or alloy of titanium, manganese, and iron, con-
taining also carbon, and it is the product, the new or improved manufacture of
which I herein claim. I prefer to use the richest and purest ilmenite con-
taining a large per-centage of titanic acid; and when my alloy is intended-to
be subsequently employed in the manufacture of steel, I prefer to select the
purest spathose iron ores rich in oxide of manganese. When the alloy is to
be subsequently employed only for iron manufacture, ores of titanium and
spathose iron ore of lesser purity may be employed advantageously. For

page_text: every ton of mixed ores, that is to say, of ilmenite and spathose iron ores.
charged into the blast furnace, I employ for the purpose of smelting the said
ores from seven to ten hundredweights of coke fuel; but I do not confine-
myself to these proportions, which may be varied according to the nature of
the ores and coke fuel and the dimensions of the blast furnace employed. In
place of spathose iron ore, iron ore containing a large per-centage of oxide of
manganese, such for instance as the red manganesic iron ore of the Brendon
Hill mines, in the county of Somerset, may be employed, and may be smelted
with the ilmenite in the blast furnace in the manner I have herein-before
described in order to obtain a triple metallic compound or alloy of titanium,
iron, and manganese, containing also carbon. This red manganesic ore is
supposed by mineralogists to be a decomposed spathose iron ore.
Having thus described my Invention and the methods by which I prefer to
carry it into effect, I declare that my Invention consists in a new or improved
manufacture of a triple metallic compound or alloy of iron, titanium, and
manganese containing also carbon, by smelting in a blast furnace, or cupola
furnace heated with coal, coke, or charcoal fuel, titanium ore and spathose
iron ore, or other manganesic ore of iron containing much oxide of manganese,
so as to reduce the iron, titanium, and manganese in the said ores or a portion
of the said iron,, titanium, and manganese to the metallic and alloyed state..
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Mushet in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 12th
April 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
MUSHET, of Coleford, in the County of Gloucester, Metallurgist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Robert Mushet, Her special licence that I, the said Robert Mushet,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Robert
Mushet, 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 Mau, an Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVE-

page_text: MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF A CERTAIN METALLIC ALLOY," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Robert Mushet, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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 Robert Mushet, 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
thereof, that is to say:-
My Invention consists in manufacturing an alloy of iron, titanium, and
manganese, containing also carbon, in the manner herein-after particularly
explained.
I carry my Invention into effect by smelting in a blast furnace titanium
ore, called ilmenite, together with spathose iron ores, called also sparry
carbonates of iron. Ilmenite is an ore of titanium containing, by published
analysis, from twenty to fifty-nine per centum of titanic acid, the residue
consisting essentially of oxide of iron. Spathose iron ore called chalybite by
mineralogists, consists essentially of the oxides of iron and manganese com-
bined with carbonic acid, and contains also more or less admixture of lime,
magnesia, and silica. Spathose iron ore when smelted in a blast furnace
produces an alloy of iron and manganese, termed in Prussia spiegel eisen.
Spathose iron ore abounds in the counties of Durham and Somerset, as
likewise in Cornwall. Ilmenite is found in immense quantities in Norway,
and in other parts of the north of Europe. I prefer to prepare the ilmenite
for my purpose by breaking it into pieces of the size of a hen's egg, and
under, for this ore being refractory is more readily smelted when broken
small than when put into the blast furnace in large lumps. The ilmenite
may also be crushed or stamped, when this can be done economically. The s
spathose iron ore may be employed either in the raw or in the calcined state,
but I am careful to select the said ore of the purest kind which can be
obtained. Limestone and other fluxes may be employed in addition to the
ilmenite and spathose iron ore for the blast furnace burden, but I find that
the spathose iron ore, which. is of easy reduction, acts as a flux to the
ilmenite, which is refractory, and both ores may be smelted and reduced
together without the addition of limestone or other fluxes, which tend, more
or less, to prevent the reduction of the titanium to the metallic state, and
cause it to pass off in an oxidised state in the furnace slag or ciuder. The

page_text: blast furnace I employ is that which is usually employed for the smelting of
iron. Coal, coke, or charcoal, or mixtures of these, may be employed as fuel,
but I find that a good and very pure coke, such as that well known in the
market by the name of "Pease's west" answers quite well. The blast with.
which I urge the furnace should, preferably, be a blast of heated air, but cold
blast may nevertheless be employed. The proportions of ilmenite and spathose
iron ore which I introduce into the blast furnace may be varied at pleasure,
but a working burden, consisting of one part by weight of ilmenite to two.
parts by weight of spathose iron ore affords very good results. In practice,.
however, I find that when from thirty to fifty pounds of ilmenite are intro-
duced into the blast furnace along with every fifty pounds of spathose iron
ore, and without the addition of limestone or other fluxes, a very excellent
alloy of titanium, manganese, and iron, containing also carbon, is obtained;
but I do not confine myself to any specific proportions of ilmenite to spathose
iron ore, for they may be varied without departing from the nature of my
Invention. I am careful so to burden the blast furnace with spathose iron
ore and ilmenite that no derangement may take place in the working of the.
furnace, such as ensues when a blast furnace is overburdened, that is to say,
when the said furnace has an undue weight of ore introduced into it along
with a given quantity of fuel. When the furnace is thus overburdened, the
whole, or nearly the whole, of the titanium contained in the ilmenite passes
off in an oxidised state in the furnace slag or cinder. The greater the pro-
portion of ilmenite which is added to the spathose iron ore, and introduced
with the latter into the blast furnace, the lighter should be the ore burden
of the said furnace in proportion to the quantity of fuel consumed. The
introduction of the ilmenite and spathose iron ore into the blast furnace is
performed in the usual manner of burdening a blast furnace, and the sub-
sequent operation of smelting is conducted in the manner ordinarily adopted
when spathose iron ores only are smelted in a blast furnace. Where, from
the particular nature of the ilmenite and spathose iron ores, and of the fuel
employed in my process, much of the titanium is found to pass off in an
oxidised state in the slag or cinder of the blast furnace, I prefer to crush,
stamp, or pulverize both the ilmenite and the spathose iron ore, and to mix
these substances intimately before I introduce them into the blast furnace;
and I wish it to be observed that the smaller the said ilmenite and the said
spathose iron ore are crushed, stamped, or pulverized, and the more intimately
these substances are mixed previously to their introduction into the blast
furnace, the more perfect will be the reduction of the iron, titanium, and
manganese of these ores to the metallic state. When a sufficient quantity of

page_text: metal has been reduced, and has collected in the hearth of the blast furnace,.
I
tap the furnace in the usual manner, and I run the metal off into pig beds,.
or into any suitable moulds prepared to receive the said metal. The metal
thus obtained is a triple compound or alloy of titanium, manganese, and iron,
containing also carbon, and it is the product, the manufacture of which is the
object of my Invention. I prefer to use the richest and purest ilmenite,
containing a large per-centage of titanic acid, and when the alloy of iron,
titanium, and manganese is intended to be subsequently employed in the
manufacture of steel, I prefer to select the purest spȧthose iron, ores, rich in
oxides of manganese.
When the alloy is to be subsequently employed only
for iron manufacture, ores of titanium and spathose iron ores of lesser purity
may be employed advantageously; but it must be observed that when spathose
iron ores containing a large proportion of earthy matter are employed, much
of the titanium will pass off in an oxidised state in the furnace slag or cinder.
For every ton of mixed ores, that is to say, of ilmenite and spathose iron
ores charged into the blast furnace, I employ, for the purpose of smelting the
said ores, from ten to twenty hundredweights of coke fuel, but I do not confine
myself to these proportions, which may be varied according to the nature of
the ores and coke fuel, and the dimensions of the blast furnace employed..
The larger the proportion of ilmenite which is smelted with the spathose iron
ore in the blast furnace, the greater will be the proportion of coke or other
fuel required to be introduced into the blast. furnace along with the said
ilmenite and spathose iron ore, in order that the reduction of these ores may
take place without deranging the working of the blast furnace, and to prevent,
as much as possible, the titanium or the greater part of it from passing off in
an oxidised state in the slag or cinder. In place of spathose iron ore, iron
ore containing a large per-centage of oxide of manganese, such, for instance,
as the red manganesic iron ore of the Brendon Hill mines in the county of
Somerset, may be employed, and may be smelted with the ilmenite in the
blast furnace in the manner I have herein-before described in order to obtain
a triple metallic compound or alloy of titanium, iron, and manganese, con-
taining also carbon. This red manganesic ore is supposed by mineralogists to
be a decomposed spathose ore. Either the ordinary blast furnace or the
cupola blast furnace may be employed in my process.
Having thus described my Invention, and the methods by which I prefer to
carry it into effect, I declare that my Invention consists in manufacturing a
triple metallic compound or alloy of iron, titanium, and manganese, containing
also carbon, by smelting in a blast furnace or cupola furnace, heated with
coal, coke, or charcoal fuel, a mixture or combination of that variety of

page_text: titanium ore called ilmenite and spathose iron ore, or other manganesic ore of
iron containing much oxide of manganese, so as to reduce the iron, titanium,
and manganese in the said ores, or a portion of the said iron, titanium, and
manganese, to the metallic and alloyed state.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Mushet, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
Witness,
EDW. M. MUSHET,
Coleford,
Gloucestershire.
ROB. MUSHET. (L.S.)