Improvements in the Treatment or Preparation of Pulverised or Finely Divided Ores, or the like Material containing Iron, for Use in the Blast Furnace for the Production of Iron.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 15th July, 1893
Complete Specification Left, 15th May, 1894-Accepted, 14th July, 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Treatment or Preparation of Pulverised or
Finely Divided Ores, or the like Material containing Iron, for
Use in the Blast Furnace for the Production of Iron.
1, WILLIAM THOMLINSON of West Hartlepool, in the County of Durham, Iron
Master, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to the treatment or preparation of pulverised or finely
divided materials containing iron such as iron ores, purple ores, blue billy pyrites
residues cinder, ironstone dust, scale or other like materials, the object in view
being to consolidate these materials into lumps or blocks of a suitable size and
degree of hardness for use in the blast furnace for the extraction of the iron they
contain.
Such materials have hitherto usually been rendered suitable for use in the blast
furnace by incorporating them with clay or lime and forming them into a plastic
state after which they are burnt in kilns in separate lumps or blocks of suitable size
and cohesion for this purpose.
The object of my invention is to dispense with the use of clay or lime in this
manner and also to do away with the use of the kiln in which the lumps or blocks
of clay or the like are burnt and to substitute therefor ordinary slag such as blast
furnace slag the setting property of which dispenses with the costly process of
burning.
In carrying out my invention I take blast furnace slag (or converter or open
hearth furnace slag may be used) of the requisite quality (that is containing a
sufficient proportion of lime, or if too poor in lime this may be separately added to
these slags) and mix it with the materials under treatment either in a pulverised or
rough state; this mixture is then reduced to a plastic mass by grinding and pulping
in the wet state and whilst in this condition it is moulded by any suitable means
into bricks, briquettes, lumps, or blocks suitable for charging into a blast furnace.
These are then allowed to dry with or without the aid of artificial heat, that is
to say the application of artificial heat would accelerate the process of expelling
the moisture from the material which is all that is required to cause it to set hard
in the manner required for the purposes of my invention.
TI
1000
G. J. CLARKSON,
Chartered Patent Agent, Stockton-on-Tees,
Agent for the Applicant.
G. J. CLARKSON,
Chartered Patent Agent, Stockton-on-Tees,
Agent for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Treatment or Preparation of Pulverised or
Finely Divided Ores, or the like Material containing Iron, for
Use in the Blast Furnace for the Production of Iron.
I, WILLIAM THOMLINSON, of West Hartlepool, in the County of Durham, Iron
Master do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement :―
My invention relates to the treatment or preparation of finely divided materials
containing iron such as pulverised iron ores, purple ores, blue billy, pyrites,

page_text: residues, cinder, ironstone dust, scale or the like materials the object in view being
to effect improvements in the process of consolidating these materials into lumps or
blocks of a suitable size and degree of hardness and cohesion for use as charging
inaterials in the blast, furnace for the extraction of the iron which they contain.
Such materials have hitherto usually been rendered suitable for use as charging
material in the blast furnace (where the charge must be kept sufficiently open to
enable the air and the gases generated in the furnace to penetrate the mass) by
mechanically incorporating them with clay or lime and forming or reducing the
resulting mixture to the plastic state in which condition it is moulded into separate
lumps or blocks of suitable size and form for this purpose which lumps or blocks
are generally burnt or calcined to the requisite condition of cohesion and hardness
in kilns the clay or lime merely forming a matrix in which the materials under
treatment are mechanically but not chemically incorporated.
The essential feature of my invention consists in incorporating the materials
containing the iron with slag such as blast furnace or the like slag with or without
the addition of free lime or alumina for setting hard from the plastic condition
after the well known manner of cement : or in other words, I avail myself of the
hard setting properties of slag, supplemented if desirable with the addition of lime
and alumina or either of them for consolidating finely divided materials containing
iron into lumps, blocks or the like for charging into a blast furnace, which lumps,
blocks or the like are naturally hardened by drying as distinguished from the
attainment of the like result by the costly process of baking and calcining in
a kiln.
In carrying out my invention I take the slag and when desirable the added
ingredients such as lime or alumina or both and mix these with the materials under
treatment either in a pulverised or rough state from which they are reduced to a
plastic mass by grinding and pulping or mixing in the wet state and whilst in this
condition are moulded by any suitable means into bricks, briquettes, lumps or
blocks suitable for charging into a blast furnace.
These bricks, lumps, or blocks are then allowed to dry with or without the aid
of artificial heat, that is to say that the application of artificial heat without
otherwise affecting the process will accelerate the expulsion of the moisture from
the mixture which is all that is required to cause it to attain the requisite degree
of hardness and cohesion and in this way the necessity of large storage room is
. avoided.
But in order to obtain practical and economical results from the use of my
invention it must be understood that whilst the mixture of the material under
treatment with the slag will contain the requisite ingredients in suitable proportions
to form a cement in process of time these ingredients may and will of necessity
vary in their relative or proportionate quantities according to circumstances. As
for instance where the mixture as a whole is poor both in lime and alumina, such
as when pyrites residues, purple ore, and slag poor in lime constitute the mixture
then if rapid results are desired free lime may be added, or alumina in the
form of aluminous ores or even ordinary yellow clay may be added to enhance the
requisite hard setting properties but where the ores are rich in alumina, or
the slag and treated material is rich in lime, no such addition of either material will
be requisite.
The following is to be taken as a criterion of suitability as to what ingredients
with their proportionate quantities should be used in certain cases to obtain good
results from which it will be generally understood how the requisite ingredients
and their proportionate quantities should be selected, modified or varied according
to the circumstances under which my invention is to be applied. Thus for instance
where an aluminous mixture like ironstone dust is treated an admixture of 10% of
powdered blast furnace slag will produce a hard block when eventually dried...
With non aluminous materials such as pyrites residues, purple ore or the like
aluminous ores may be employed with advantage or suitable aluminous matter
may be added in the form of yellow clay which may be for better mixing, dried

page_text: and powdered but where no aluminous matter is incorporated into the mixture
beyond what may be contained in the slag, the mixture for prompt and speedy
setting and hand..ng should be enriched with free aluminous matter or with lime,
the proportions to be aimed at being, say for pyrites residues 10% to 20% of slag
with 5% to 10% of lime or aluminous matter, these materials may be said to some
extent to answer as the equivalents of each other in results except that the.
alumina imparts a tenacity to the plastic mass which holds the blocks or lumps
better together for handling when the expulsion of the moisture is urged on by
the application of artificial heat and the employment of lime is generally more
costly than the employment of clay, but it must be understood that neither of the
ingredients are a necessity with an ordinary slag but are simply adopted as
expedients to ensure under certain circumstances quicker results and to prevent
undue handling and storage.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
Firstly. In the treatment or preparation of pulverised or finely divided materials
containing iron for use in the blast furnace the consolidation of such materials into
blocks or lumps by incorporating them with blast furnace or the like slag,
constituting a mixture the hard setting properties of which form a cement,
substantially as and for the purpose as hereinbefore described.
Secondly. In the treatment or preparation of pulverised or finely divided
materials containing iron for use in the blast furnace, the consolidation of such
materials into blocks or lumps by incorporating them with blast furnace or the like
slag, supplemented by or in combination with, when desirable added lime or
alumina or both constituting a mixture the hard setting properties of which form a
cement substantially as and for the purpose as hereinbefore described.
Dated 12th day or may 1094.
G. J. CLARKSON,
Chartered Patent Agent, Stockton-on-Tees,
Agent for the Applicant.