IMPROVE- MENTS IN SMELTING, CARBURIZING, AND PURIFYING IRON
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Isham Baggs, of High Holborn, in the County
of Middlesex, Practical Chemist, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN SMELTING, CARBURIZING, AND PURIFYING IRON."
Scaled the 13th April 1869, and dated the 24th October 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Isham Baggs at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th October 1868.
I, ISHAM BAGGS, of High Holborn, in the County of Middlesex,
Practical Chemist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SMELTING, CARBURIZING, AND PURIFYING IRON," to be as
follows:-
In charging the furnace I generally and by preference exclude and
dispense with the coal or coke usually thought necessary for smelting,
and in place thereof I burn in the smelting furnace coal gas, hydrogen,
carbonic oxide, or other combustible gas or gases, and also the vapour of
petroleum, naphtha, and other hydrocarbons under pressure and in com-

page_text: bination with a blast of hot and cold air. The liquid hydrocarbons may
be forced in as inflammable vapours under the pressure of their own
atmospheres or otherwise. The gases and vapours may be previously
mixed with the air furnished by the blast, or may be used in such a way
as only to meet the air in the furnace or at the tuyeres. The proportions
of the mixture when a combination of gas or vapour and air is employed
are subject to constant regulation by valves, taps, or other suitable
means, as the operation of the furnace may require. One very con-
venient mode of obtaining combustible gases under this Invention is to
generate coal gas in the usual way and then carbonic oxide, as well
understood, and to blow air or carbonic acid gas under pressure through
the retort containing the residual coke. For the purpose of carbonizing
the iron, whether in or out of the furnace as may be desirable, coal gas
or other carbides or materials containing carbon is or are blown through
the furnace or brought into contact with the molten metal by blowing the
same through it, or by other convenient and suitable means of effecting
a reaction. Carbon in any suitable form or combination, as coal, coke,
petroleum, or resin, may also be directly introduced into the furnace for
the purposes of carbonization, and although generally for smelting
purposes it is desirable to exclude all solid mineral fuel from the furnace
as part of the charge, yet, where a suspension of operations is necessary
sucli a charge of coal, coke, or other fuel may be introduced into the
furnace as will prevent the materials on renewal of work from falling
through the crucible, or any iron remaining therein or below it from
being permanently solidified. When purification is required hydro-
fluoric acid is blown through the molten metal on its way from the
furnace or otherwise brought into contact therewith, and where blowing
in such cases is employed it is preferable to mix the gases with common
air or with some gaseous dilucnt.
In the operations, to which this Invention relates ordinary apparatus
such as is well known and understood is employed for making and
burning the combustible gas or vapour employed. In cases where the
gas or vapour is mixed with atmospheric air previous to combustion it is
preferable to effect the object in view by means of separate pumps of the
same or different capacity or capable of being worked at different rates of
speed, as will be well understood by persons conversant with similar or
analogous operations.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Isham Baggs in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 23rd April 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ISHAM
BAGGS, of High Holborn, in the County of Middlesex, Practical Chemist,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Isham Baggs, Her special licence
that I, the said Isham Baggs, my executors; administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Isham Baggs, 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
SMELTING, CARBURIZING, AND PURIFYING IRON," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Isham Baggs, my executors or administrators, by
an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
scals, 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 Scal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Isham Baggs, do hereby
declare the nature of my 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 :-
My said Invention consists of certain processes by means of which
the smelting, carburization, and purification of iron are greatly
facilitated.
In charging the furnace I generally and by preference in great
measure exclude and dispense with the coal or coke usually thought
necessary for smelting, and in place thereof I burn in the smelting

page_text: furnace coal gas, hydrogen, carbonic oxide, or other combustible gas or
gases, and also the vapour of petroleum, naphtha, and other hydrocarbons
under pressure and in combination with a blast of hot or cold air. In
the case of the inflammable hydrocarbon vapours the same may be forced
into the furnace under the pressure of their own atmospheres, or by
means of any suitable mechanical appliances. The gases and vapours
which are employed for the purposes of my said Invention may be
previously mixed with the air furnished by the blast or may be caused by
well-known appliances to meet the air in the furnace or at the tuycres.
The proportions of the mixture when a combination of gas or vapour and
air is employed are subject to constant regulation by valves, taps, or
other suitable means as the operation may require. One very convenient
mode of obtaining combustible gases for the purposes of this Invention is
to generate coal gas in the usual way, and then carbonic oxide as well
understood, and to blow air or carbonic oxide gas under pressure through
the retort containing the residual coke. For the purpose of carburizing
the iron, whether in or out of the furnace as may be desirable, coal gas or
other carbides or other materials containing carbon are blown through
the furnace or brought into contact with the molten metal by blowing
the same through it or by other convenient and suitable means for
effecting a reaction. Carbon in any suitable form or combination, as
coal, coke, petroleum, or resin, may also be directly introduced into the
furnace for the purpose of carburization, and although generally for
smelting purposes it is desirable to exclude all solid mineral fuel from
the furnace as part of the charge, yet where a suspension of operations is
necessary such a charge of coal, coke, or other fuel may be introduced
into the furnace as will prevent the materials on renewal of work from
falling through the crucible or any iron remaining therein or below it
from being permanently solidified. When purification is required I blow
hydrofluoric acid through the molten metal on its way from the furnace
or otherwise by suitable means bring it into contact therewith, and in
such cases where blowing is employed it is preferable to mix the gases
with common air or with some gaseous diluent.
In the operations to which my said Invention relates ordinary
apparatus such as is well known and understood is employed for making
and burning the combustible gas or vapour. In cases where the gas or
vapour is mixed with atmospheric air previous to combustion it is
preferable to effect the object in view by means of separate pumps of the

page_text: same or different capacity or capable of being worked at different rates
of speed, as will be well understood by persons conversant with similar
or analogous operations.
Having thus declared and ascertained the nature of my said Invention
and the manner in which it is to be performed, I would observe in con-
clusion that what I consider novel and original, and therefore claim as
constituting the Invention secured to me by the said herein-before in
part recited Letters Patent arc,-
First. The employment of combustible gases or vapours in combi-
nation with a blast of hot or cold air, as and for the purposes herein-before
described and set forth.
Secondly. The methods and processes for carburizing and purifying
iron herein-before described and set forth, or any more modifications
thereof.
And, thirdly. The general system and arrangement of methods and
processes for smelting iron, substantially as herein set forth and
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Isham Baggs, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-ninc.