A NEW OR IMPROVED MANU- FACTURE OF TITANIC PIG METAL, OR ALLOY OF TITANIUM AND IRON
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Mushet, of Coleford, in the County of Glou-
cester, Metallurgist, for the Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED MANU-
FACTURE OF TITANIC PIG METAL, OR ALLOY OF TITANIUM AND IRON."
Sealed the 11th April 1862, and dated the 19th October 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Mushet at the.
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 19th
October 1861.
I, ROBERT MUSHET, of Coleford, in the County of Gloucester, Metallurgist,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED
MANUFACTURE OF TITANIC PIG METAL, OR ALLOY OF TITANIUM AND IRON," to be
as follows:-
The mineral called ilmenite is a compound ore of titanium and iron,
composed, according to published analyses, of from twenty to fifty-nine per
centum of titanic acid, the residue being either wholly or for the great part
oxide of iron. Ilmenite is a titanate of iron, and it is found in great abun-
dance in Norway and in other districts in the north of Europe and elsewhere.
It is frequently termed titaniferous iron ore, or iron ore rich in titanium, and
it is distinguished from other titaniferous iron ores by its richness in titanium
and its comparative infusibility.
My Invention consists in smelting in a blast furnace, heated by means of
coal, coke, or charcoal fuel, a mixture of ilmenite with the red hematite iron
ores of Cumberland and Lancashire, so celebrated for the excellence of the

page_text: iron which they produce. The ilmenite which I prefer to employ is that
which is rich in titanic acid and oxide of iron, and as free as possible from
veinstone and impurities, such as pyrites, tin, cobalt, arsenic, and copper. I
prefer to prepare the ilmenite for my purpose, by breaking it into pieces of
the size of a hen's egg and under. It may, however, be employed in larger
pieces, or it may be crushed or pulverized and reduced to a powder. When
the crushing or pulverizing can be done economically, it will facilitate the
reduction of the ilmenite to the metallic state when introduced into the blast
furnace, because the ore when in large pieces is extremely refractory and
difficult of reduction to the metallic state. The ilmenite thus broken or
crushed is ready for my purpose. The fuel I prefer to employ is good pure
coke; that which is known in the market as Pease's West affords excellent
results, being very pure.
Coal or charcoal, or mixtures of coal and coke, may
be used, but I find that a good pure coke, such as "Pease's West," answers
exceedingly well.
"
In carrying my Invention into operation, I proceed in the following
manner: When the blast furnace is working in the usual manner, and smelting
the red hematite iron ores of Lancashire or Cumberland into pig iron, I add
to the working burden of the blast furnace a quantity of the prepared ilmenite,
and when the quantity of ilmenite thus added is considerable, I reduce the
burden of the red hematite iron ore to a corresponding extent, in order to
avoid over burdening the blast furnace and thereby disordering its working.
The quantity of the ilmenite added to the working burden of the blast furnace
may be varied at pleasure, namely, from one to thirty per centum or even
more of the whole working ore burden of the said blast furnace. But it must
be observed that the greater the proportion of ilmenite added to the working.
burden of red hematite, Lancashire or Cumberland iron ore, the richer will
the pig metal obtained by smelting those ores be in titanium. After the
ilmenite has been introduced along with the red hematite iron ore into the blast
furnace, the smelting operations are conducted as in the ordinary manufacture,
of pig iron, and the same fluxes may be employed, such as limestone, or blast.
furnace cinders. When the ilmenite and the red hematite iron ore is smelted,
and reduced, and the metal has collected in the hearth of the blast furnace, the,
furnace is tapped in the usual manner, and the metal is run off into any:
suitable moulds prepared to receive it. The metal thus smelted is the im-
proved titanic pig metal, the manufacture of which is the object of my.
Invention. Ilmenite being an ore of a refractory nature and difficult to
reduce to the metallic state, I prefer to employ heated blast, but cold blast
may nevertheless be employed to urge the combustion of the fuel in the blast

page_text: furnace. In charging the ilmenite into the blast furnace, I prefer to mix the
said ilmenite intimately with the red hematite iron ore about to be smelted.
with it in the said blast furnace, as I believe that this will facilitate the
reduction of the ilmenite; but the ilmenite may nevertheless be charged into
the blast furnace without mixing the said ilmenite with the said red hematite
iron ores. Should the "titanic pig metal" when puddled produce red short
bar iron, I remedy this defect by introducing into the blast furnace a man-
ganesic flux, such as oxide of manganese or some manganesic iron ore. Other
iron ores or ironestones may be added to the burden of the blast furnace
in mixture with the red hematite iron ores and the ilmenite, but the addition
of such other iron ores or ironstones forms no part of my Invention, neither is
it at all essential to its success.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which I prefer to carry it into effect, I hereby declare that the essence of my.
Invention consists in smelting that particular variety of titanium ore called
ilmenite, and which is a titanate of iron, in mixture with the red hematite
iron ores of Cumberland and Lancashire, or similar red hematite iron ores, in
a blast furnace, heated with coal, coke, or charcoal fuel, in order thereby to
reduce the said ore of titanium called ilmenite and the said red hematite iron
ores to the metallic state, and to produce thereby an "improved titanic pig
metal," consisting essentially of titanium and iron, and containing also carbon;
and I find that the alloy of titanium and iron, containing also carbon, herein-
before described, possesses a specific excellence of quality and a specific
adaptation for the purpose of manufacturing therefrom first-class steel and
iron not possesssed by any other alloy of titanium and iron, containing also
carbon, with which I am at present acquainted manufactured by smelting
ilmenite in mixture with iron ores other than the red hematite iron ores of
Cumberland or Lancashire, or manufactured from other titanium ores than
ilmenites smelted in mixture with the red hematite iron ores of Cumberland or
Lancashire.
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.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth 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 Man, an Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED
MANUFACTURE OF TITANIC PIG METAL, OR ALLOY OF TITANIUM AND IRON," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Robert Mushet, 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 Robert Mushet, do hereby declare the s
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say :-
The mineral called ilmenite is a compound ore of titanium and iron, composed,
according to published analyses, of from twenty to fifty-nine per centum of
Citaninic acid, the residue being either wholly or for the most part oxide of
iron. Ilmenite is a titanate of iron, and it is found in great abundance in
Norway and in other districts in the north of Europe and elsewhere. It is
frequently termed titaniferous iron ore, or iron ore rich in titanium, and it is
distinguished from other titaniferous iron ores by its richness in titanium and
its comparative infusibility.
My Invention consists in smelting in a blast furnace heated by means of coal,
coke, or charcoal fuel, a mixture of ilmenite with the red hematite iron ores of
Cumberland and Lancashire, which said iron ores are celebrated for the
excellence of the iron which they produce. The ilmenite which I prefer to
employ is that which is rich in titanic acid and oxide of iron, and as free as
possible from veinstone and impurities, such as pyrites, tin, cobalt, arsenic and
copper. I prefer to prepare the ilmenite for my purpose by breaking it into
pieces of the size of a hen's egg and under. It may, however, be employed in.

page_text: larger pieces or it may be crushed or pulverised and reduced to a powder. When
the crushing or pulverising can be done economically it will facilitate the reduc-
tion of the titanium and iron of the ilmenite to the metallic state when introduced
into the blast furnace, because the ore when in large pieces is extremely
refractory and the metals contained in it are difficult of reduction to the
metallic state. The ilmenite thus broken or crushed is ready for my purpose.
The fuel I prefer to employ is good pure coke; that which is known in the
market in the north of England and elsewhere as "Pease's West" affords
excellent results, being very pure. Coal or charcoal, or mixtures of coal and
coke, may be used, but I find that a good pure coke such as "Pease's West"
answers exceedingly well.
In carrying my Invention into effect I proceed in the following manner :-
When the blast furnace is working in the usual manner and smelting the
red hematite iron ores of Lancashire or Cumberland into pig iron, I add to
the working burden of the blast furnace a quantity of the prepared ilmenite,
and when the quantity of ilmenite thus added is considerable,. I reduce the
burden of the red hematite iron ore to a corresponding extent, in order to
avoid overburdening the blast furnace and thereby disordering its working.
The quantity of the ilmenite added to the working burden of the blast furnace
may be varied at pleasure, namely, from one to thirty per centum or even more
of the whole working ore burden of the said blast furnace. In practice, however,
I find that it is sufficient to add from five to ten pounds of the ilmenite to
every one hundred pounds of the red hematite iron ore introduced into the
blast furnace, for these proportions produce an excellent alloy of titanium and
iron, and when a much larger proportion of ilmenite to red hematite iron ore
is employed, the extremely refractory nature of the ilmenite renders it necessary
to diminish the ore burden of the blast furnace, and to increase the proportion
of fuel employed, in order to prevent the alloy of titanium and iron from
partially consolidating in the hearth of the blast furnace, filling up the said
bearth more or less, and impeding the working of the furnace. For economical
working, therefore, I prefer to employ from five to ten pounds of ilmenite for
every one hundred pounds of red hematite iron ore introduced into the blast
furnace; but nevertheless a larger proportion of ilmenite to red hematite iron
ore may be employed by reducing the working ore burden and increasing the
proportion of fuel. I am careful to regulate the ore burden of the blast
furnace so that the pig metal produced shall be grey and not white, for I find
that when the furnace ore burden is such as to produce white metal, most of
the titanium passes off in the cinder in the oxidised state, and the white pig
metal contains usually very little titanium.

page_text: It should be observed that the greater the proportion of ilmenite added to the
working burden of red hematite Lancashire or Cumberland iron ore the richer
will the pig metal obtained. by smelting these ores be in titanuim, provided
that a sufficient quantity of fuel is employed to keep the alloy grey. After
the ilmenite has been introduced along with the red hematite iron ore into
the blast furnace, the smelting operations are conducted as in the ordinary
manufacture of pig iron, and the same fluxes may be employed, such as lime-
stone or blast furnace cinders. When the mixture of ilmenite and the red
hematite iron ore is smelted and reduced, and the metal has collected in the
hearth of the blast furnace, the furnace is tapped in the usual manner and
the metal is run off into any suitable moulds prepared to receive it. The
metal thus smelted is the improved titanic pig metal the manufacture of which
is the object of my Invention. Ilmenite being an ore of a refractory nature
and difficult to reduce to the metallic state, I prefer to employ heated blast,
but cold blast may nevertheless be employed to urge the combustion of the
fuel in the blast furnace. In charging the ilmenite into the blast furnace, I
prefer to mix the said ilmenite intimately with the red hematite iron ore
about to be smelted with it in the said blast furnace, as I believe that this will
facilitate the reduction of the ilmenite, but the ilmenite may nevertheless be
charged into the blast furnace without previously mixing the said ilmenite
with the said red hematite iron ores. Other hematite iron ores than those
of Lancashire or Cumberland may be added to the burden of the blast furnace
in mixture with the red hematite iron ores of Lancashire or Cumberland and
the ilmenite, but the addition of such other iron ores or ironstones forms no
part of iny Invention, neither is it at all essential to its success..
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which I prefer to carry it into effect, I hereby declare that the essence of my
Invention. consists in smelting that particular variety of titanium ore called
ilmenite, and which is a titanate of iron, in conjunction with the red hematite
iron ores of Cumberland and Lancashire, or precisely similar red hematite
iron ores found in adjacent districts, in a blast furnace heated with coal, coke,
or charcoal fuel, in order thereby to reduce the metals contained in the said
ore of titanium called ilmenite, and the said red hematite iron ores to the
metallic state, and to produce thereby an "improved titanic pig metal," consisting
essentially of titanium and iron, and containing also carbon; and I find that
the alloy of titanium and iron, containing also carbon, manufactured as herein-
before described, possesses a specific excellence of quality and a specific
adaption for the purpose of manufacturing therefrom first-class steel and iron,
not possessed by any other alloy of titanium and iron containing also carbon with

page_text: which I am at present acquainted, manufactured by smelting ilmenite in
mixture with iron ores other than the red hematite iron ores of Cumberland
and Lancashire, or manufactured from other titanium ores than ilmenites
smelted in mixture with the red hematite iron ores of Cumberland or
Lancashire, or red hematite iron ores of precisely similar nature found in the
adjacent districts.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Mushet, have hereunto set my
band and seal, this Eighth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
Witness,
EDWP. M. MUSHET,
Coleford, Gloucestershire.
ROBT. MUSHET. (L.S.)