Improvements relating to the Extraction of Metals by Means of Electricity, and to Apparatus therefor.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Feb., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 16th Dec., 1893-Accepted, 10th Feb., 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements relating to the Extraction of Metals by Means of
Electricity, and to Apparatus therefor.
I, EDUARD TAUSSIG, of Bahrenfeld, Holstein, in the Empire of Germany,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to the extraction of metals by means of electricity and to
apparatus therefor.
For extracting metals by means of electricity from their ores and oxides, and
also from slag and other waste and compounds containing metal, I use a process for
melting and casting in a chamber from which the air has been withdrawn, the
electric current being conducted directly through the granular or pulverulent
materials placed between metallic electrodes having large surfaces, and the heat
for the melting being produced in consequence of the great resistances to the
passage of the current within the disintegrated material to be melted.
In carrying my improved process into practice 1 employ apparatus in which
metallic electrodes presenting large surfaces are arranged side by side at the front
side of the branches of a horse-shoe shaped melting chamber. The electric current
is introduced through two rods secured in the electrodes and shut off by means of
stuffing-boxes from an iron box surrounding the furnace space, to the said rods
being joined the conductors proper leading to the poles of the source of electricity.
From the melting chamber a channel, which is ordinarily shut off by a slide from
the melting chamber, leaps from the melting chamber to a mould. The said slide
is actuated from the outside by means of a double armed lever and a screw spindle
extending through the cover of the before-mentioned box and through the internally
screw threaded nave of a hand wheel. When the slide is opened the molten
material passes from the melting chamber through the said channel first into the
trough, from which the metal can then .flow through a short pipe into the mould.
The latter rests upon a plate which is rendered movable in the vertical direction by
means of a right and left handed screw adapted to be turned by a hand wheel, oue
end of the screw engaging with the nave on the plate and the other engaging with
a fixed nut. In this mauner I obtain an air-tight joint between the mould and the
box or short pipe provided with a peep-hole and having an air suction pipe joined
to it. The latter is a branch of a pipe joined in proximity to the melting chamber
to the box and put in connection with the air pump or other evacuating device.
The materials to be melted, reduced or extracted are introduced into the melting
chamber through a lid adapted to be hermetically closed and provided on the cover
of the said box. In this lid is a second peep-hole through which the operation in
the melting chamber can be observed.
The disintegrated ores or oxides or slag containing metal may either be thrown
into a metallic bath previously prepared in the melting chamber or subjected to the
direct action of the electric current. One or the other method is used according as
the tension of the current at disposal is more or less high.
If the metal obtained from ores, oxides or slag is not to be poured directly into
a mould it is expedient to close the passage leading to the latter by a chamotte
plug and to run out the molten material into the trough made of chamotte, in
which the metal of greater specific gravity will be deposited at the bottom, while
the waste carried away from the melting chamber will remain at the surface.
The above described extraction of metals from their compounds differs from the
processes heretofore carried out by means of electricity essentially in the greater
purity of the metals obtained, inasmuch as the impurities replaced by heating and

page_text: converted into the form of gas are continually sucked off by the air pump during
the melting process, and the addition of fluxes, carbon and the like is in most cases
rendered superfluous.
Dated this 17th day of February 1893.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.
Improvements relating to the Extraction of Metals by Means of
Electricity, and to Apparatus therefor.
I, EDUARD TAUSSIG, of Bahrenfeld, Holstein, in the Empire of Germany,
Manufacturer, 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 extraction of metals by means of electricity and to
apparatus therefor.
For extracting metals by means of electricity from their ores and oxides, and also
from slag and other waste and compounds containing metal, I use a process for
melting and casting in a chamber or chambers from which the air has been with-
drawn, the electric current being conducted directly through the granular or
pulverulent materials placed between metallic electrodes having large surfaces and
the heat for the melting being produced in consequence of the great resistances to
the passage of the current within the disintegrated material to be melted.
In order to make my invention more clearly understood I have represented it in
the accompanying drawing, in which
Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation of an apparatus preferably employed by
me in carrying my improved process into practice, and
Figure 2 is a top view of the same, the cover being removed for the sake of
clearness.
The metallic electrodes E E' presenting large surfaces are preferably arranged
side by side at the front side of the branches of a horse-shoo shaped melting
chamber o. The electric current is introduced through two rods or conductors b
secured in the electrodes and shut off and insulated by means of stuffing boxes a
from an iron box P surrounding the furnace space, the said rods being joined to the
conductors c leading to the poles of the source of electricity.
From the melting chamber o and channel d, which is ordinarily shut off by a
slide e from the melting chamber, leads to a mould G or to a pit or chamber
provided at a convenient distance from the furnace. The said slide may be
actuated from the outside by means of a double armed lever / and a screw
spindle extending through the cover of the before-mentioned box P and through
the internally screw-threaded nave of a hand-wheel . When the slide is opened
the molten material passes from the melting chamber o through the channel d first
into the trough 1) from which the metal can then flow through a pipe R into the
mould G. The latter is preferably arranged contiguous to the furnace and in this
case I am accustomed to place the mould upon a plate which is rendered movable
in the vertical direction by means of a right and left handed screw / adapted to be
turned by a hand-wheel 1, one end of the screw engaging with the nave on the
plate and the other engaging with a fixed nut g.
In this manner I obtain an air-tight joint between the mould G and the box P
or short pipe R provided with a sight-hole g¹ and having an air suction pipe r
joined to it. The latter is a branch of a pipe communicating with the melting
chamber o through the box P the said pipe being in connection with the air-pump
or other evacuating device. The materials to be melted, reduced or extracted are

page_text: introduced into the melting chamber o through a lid T in the top of the said box
which is adapted to be hermetically closed. In this lid is also provided a sight-
hole g through which the operation in the melting chamber can be observed.
The disintegrated ore or oxides or slag containing metal may either be thrown into
a metallic bath previously prepared in the melting chamber or subjected to the
direct action of the electric current. One or the other method is used according
as the tension of the current at disposal is more or less high.
If the metal obtained from ores, oxides or slag is not to be poured directly into a
mould it is expedient to close the passage leading to the latter by a chamotte plug
and to run out the molten material into the trough D made of chamotte, in which
the metal of greater specific gravity will be deposited at the bottom, while the
waste carried away from the melting chamber will remain at the surface.
The above described extraction of metals from their compounds differs from the
processes heretofore carried out by means of electricity essentially in the greater
purity of the metals obtained, inasmuch as the impurities replaced by heating and
converted into the form of gas are continually sucked off by the air-pump during
the melting process, and the addition of fluxes, carbon and the like is in most cases
rendered superfluous.
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:-
1. The process of extracting metals from their ores and oxides or from slag and
other waste and compounds consisting in subjecting the disintegrated materials to
be melted, reduced or extracted to the passage through them of a current of
electricity in a rarefied atmosphere and in casting the so obtained melted metal
while it remains in such atmosphere, substantially as, and for the purpose set forth.
2. An apparatus for extracting metals by means of electricity from their ores
and oxides or from slag and other waste and compounds consisting of a melting
chamber and a trough D communicating therewith both being enclosed by an
air-tight box, which is connected through a pipe or pipes with the mould or
moulds G to be arranged contiguous to or at a certain distance from the furnace,
the latter being provided with electrodes adapted to conduct the electric current
directly through the materials to be melted, reduced or extracted, and of means
for rarefying the air in said furnace and mould or moulds, substantially as and for
the purpose set forth.
1)
3. In combination with the herein described melting furnace, a horse-shoe shaped
melting chamber o to receive the materials to be melted, reduced or extracted, and
metallic electrodes E E' presenting large surfaces and being arranged side by side
of the branches of the said horse-shoe shaped melting chamber, substantially as
and for the purpose set forth.
Dad thin 10th dow of Decembar 1802
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.