AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF AN ALLOY OR ALLOYS OF TITANIUM AND IRON
Year: 1860

page_text: Sealed the 1st March 1861, and dated the 10th December 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Mushet at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 10th
December 1860.
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 AN ALLOY OR ALLOYS OF TITANIUM AND
IRON," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in manufacturing an alloy or alloys of titanium and
iron, containing also carbon, from the ore of titanium, called ilmenite by
mineralogists, and commonly termed titaniferous iron ore or iron ore rich in
titanium. I prefer to carry my Invention into effect in the manner herein-
after explained, but I do not limit myself to the details described, for the
method of carrying my Invention into effect may be varied without departing
from the nature of my Invention.
Compound ores of titanium and iron are found in various countries existing

page_text: in great abundance, either massive or in the state of sand, and these ores are
composed essentially of titanic acid and oxide of iron, more or less mixed with
silica and other substances. The proportion of titanic acid or oxide of titanium
contained in these titanium ores varies from eight to fifty per centum by weight
of the entire weight of the said ores, the residue being, when the ores are nearly
pure, principally oxide of iron. These ores are generally classed by mineralo-
gists as ilmenites, and they are essentially double or compound ores of titanium
and iron.
In order to prepare these compound ores of titanium and iron for my process
when they are massive and not already in the state of sand or gravel, I break
them up with hammers, or I crush them or stamp them in any convenient
manner, so as to reduce the said ores to pieces of about one pound weight
each, and under that weight, observing that the smaller the fragments of the
said ore are made the more readily will the reduction of the said ore be effected
when they are introduced into the blast furnace or cupola for smelting iron
ores, in which I propose to smelt the said compound ores of titanium and iron.
I introduce the broken or crushed ilmenite or compound ore of titanium and
iron into a blast furnace or cupola supplied with coke-or-charcoal fuel,_and_I_
smelt and reduce the said compound ore of titanium and iron in the said blast
furnace or cupola, and in the manner in which ores of iron are ordinarily
smelted, and when the alloy reduced from the said compound ore of titanium
and iron has collected in the bearth of the blast furnace I tap the blast furnace
or cupola, and run the metal into sand or iron pig moulds. The metal thus
obtained is an alloy of titanium and iron containing also carbon, which said
alloy may either be used in the manufacture of steel, or be puddled so as to
obtain malleable iron therefrom. The kind of blast furnace or cupola I employ
is an ordinary coke or charcoal blast furnace or cupola, such as is commonly
used for the smelting of coke or charcoal iron.
I prefer to supply the blast furnace or cupola in which I smelt the ilmenite
or compound ore of titanium and iron from which I obtain my alloy with a
blast of heated air in place of employing cold blast, as I find that a larger
quantity of titanium may be reduced from the ilmenite or compound ore of
titanium and iron when a heated blast is used than when a cold blast is em-
ployed, and in order to render the said blast fully effective, I. heat it to a
temperature of not less than six hundred degrees of Fahrenheit's scale; but,:
nevertheless, cold blast may be employed when heated air cannot be conveniently
obtained. I prefer to work a light burden of the compound ore of titanium
and iron upon the blast furnace or cupola, in order to carbonize the alloy of

page_text: titanium and iron as much as possible, and for this purpose I find that one ton
and a half of the compound ore of titanium and iron to every ton of coke or
charcoal fuel charged upon the blast furnace or cupola, produces a good result,
but I do not limit myself to these proportions of ore to coke or charcoal fuel,
for the proportions may be varied, according to circumstances, without depart-
ing from the nature of iny Invention; I prefer, however, to employ for the
purpose of smelting the compound ores of titanium and iron, when the alloy
obtained from these ores is intended for the manufacture of steel, charcoal fuel
rather than coke fuel, as the latter is more or less contaminated with sulphur,
silica, and other earthy matters which are injurious to the quality of my alloy.
When it is intended subsequently to convert the said alloy of titanium and iron
into malleable iron, the said alloy may be smelted with coal or coke fuc!; but
when the alloy is intended to be used in the manufacture of steel I prefer to
sielt it in a blast furnace or cupola with charcoal fuel. Various fluxes may
be added to the burden of the blast furnace or cupola, such as blast furnace
cinders, lime, and clay, and also manganese or iron ore, but I do not claim the
addition of these fluxes, or of other fluxes, as forming any part of my Invention.
When the blast furnace or cupola is filled with ignited coke or charcoal fuel
ready for commencing the operation of smelting, I introduce at the filling place
of the said blast furnace or cupola four hundredweights of the crushed or
broken ilmenite or compound ore of titanium and iron; over this charge of ore
I lay two hundredweights of charcoal, and on this I place a second charge of
ore, and so on as the fuel burns away, and the charges work down in the blast
furnace or cupola.
When a sufficient quantity of metal has been reduced from the compound
ore of titanium and iron, and is collected in the hearth of the blast furnace or
cupola, I tap the furnace in the ordinary manner, and run off the metal into
pig moulds of iron or sand. The metal thus obtained is an alloy of titanium
and iron containing carbon, the manufacture of which alloy is the object of my
Invention.
To facilitate the reduction of the ilmenite or compound ore of titanium and
iron I sometimes crush or stamp the said ilmenite or compound ore of titanium
to a fine powder, and I mix this powdered ore of titanium and iron with
carbonaceous matter of a bituminous nature, such as pitch, resin, bitumen, or
tar, in order to agglutinate the fine particles of the ore, and to bring them in
contact with the pure carbonaceous matter of the pitch, resin, bitumen, or tar,
but when the alloy of titanium and iron is intended to be subsequently used
for the manufacture of steel, I am careful neither to mix the pulverised ore with

page_text: bituminous coal, so as to form a compound coke, nor to mix the said pulverised
ore with lime or clay, in order to agglutinate the particles of the said ore
previously to introducing the said pulverised ore into the blast furnace or
cupola in which the said ore is intended to be smelted. When the alloy of
titanium and iron containing carbon is intended to be puddled and wrought
into malleable iron, the pulverised compound ore of iron and titanium may be
mixed with bituminous coal and formed into a coke therewith; but I do not
claim such a mixture or combination as forming any part of my Invention.
The ores which I prefer to smelt in order to obtain an alloy of titanium and
iron, to be subsequently employed in the manufacture of steel, are, the purest
ilmenites or compound ores of titanium and iron, consisting essentially of
titanic acid, or oxide of titanium and oxides of iron, which can be procured, and
which are free or nearly free from silica, sulphur, phosphorus, and tin. When
the alloy of titanium and iron is not intended to be subsequently employed in
the manufacture of steel, ilmenites or compound ores of titanium and iron of
lesser degree of purity may be employed.
my
Having thus described the nature of my Invention and the methods by
which I carry it into practice, I hereby declare that the essence of 1
Invention
consists in smelting the compound ores of titanium, termed by mineralogists
ilmenites, and commonly called titaniferous iron ores, or iron ores rich in
titanium, in a blast furnace or cupola heated with coke or charcoal fuel, in
order to obtain by the smelting or reduction of the said ilmenite or compound
ores of titanium and iron in the said blast furnace or cupola an alloy of
titanium and iron.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Mushet in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 8th
June 1861.
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 Tenth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth 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

page_text: 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 "AN Iм--
PROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF AN ALLOY OR ALLOYS 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
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:-
My Invention consists in manufacturing an alloy or alloys of titanium.
and iron containing also carbon from the ore of titanium, called ilmenite by
mineralogists, and commonly termed titaniferous iron ore, or iron ore rich in
titanium. I prefer to carry my Invention into effect in the manner hereinafter
explained, but I do not limit myself to the precise details described, for the
method of carrying my Invention into effect may be varied without departing
from the nature of my Invention.
Compound ores of titanium and iron are found in various countries, existing
in great abundance, either massive or in the state of sand, and these ores are
composed essentially of titanic acid and oxide of iron, more or less mixed with
silica and other substances. The proportion of titanic acid or oxide of
titanium contained in these titanium ores varies from eight to fifty per centum
by weight of the entire weight of the said ores, the residue being, when the
ores are nearly pure, principally oxide of iron. These ores are generally classed
by mineralogists as ilmenites, and they are essentially double or compound ores
of titanium and iron.
In order to prepare these compound ores of titanium and iron for my pro-
cess, when they are massive and not already in the state of sand or gravel,
I break them up with hammers, or I crush them, or stamp them in any con-
venient manner, so as to reduce the said ores to pieces of about one pound

page_text: weight each, and under that weight, observing that the smaller the fragments
of the said ores are made the more readily will the reduction of the said ores
be effected, when they are introduced into the blast furnace or cupola for
smelting iron ores in which I propose to smelt the said compound ores of
titanium and iron. I introduce the broken or crushed ilmenite or compound
ore of titanium and iron into a blast furnace or cupola supplied with coke or
charcoal fuel, and I smelt and reduce or deoxidise the said compound ore of.
titanium and iron in the said blast furnace or cupola, and in the manner in.
which ores of iron are ordinarily smelted, and when the alloy reduced from
the said compound ore of titanium and iron has collected in the hearth of the
blast furnace I tap the blast furnace or cupola, and run the metal into sand
or iron pig moulds. The metal thus obtained is an alloy of titanium and iron,
containing also carbon, which said alloy may either be used in the manufacture
of steel or be puddled, so as to obtain malleable iron therefrom. The kind of
blast furnace or cupola I employ is an ordinary coke or charcoal blast furnace
or cupola, such as is commonly used for the smelting of coke or charcoal iron.
I prefer to supply the blast furnace or cupola in which I smelt the ilmenite or
compound ore of titanium and iron from which I obtain my alloy with a blast
of heated air in place of employing cold blast, as I find that a larger quantity
of titanium may be reduced from the ilmenite or compound-ore-of-titanium
and iron when a heated blast is used than when a cold blast is employed, and in
order to render the said blast fully effective I heat it to a temperature of not less
than six hundred degrees of Fahrenheit's scale, but nevertheless cold blast may
be employed where heated air cannot be conveniently obtained. I prefer to work
a light burden or charge of the compound ore of titanium and iron upon the
blast furnace or cupola, in order to carbonise the alloy of titanium and iron as
much as possible, and for this purpose I find that one ton and a half of the
compound ore of titanium and iron to every ton of coke or charcoal fuel charged
upon the blast furnace or cupola produces a good result, but I do not limit myself
to these proportions of ore to coke or charcoal fuel, for the proportions may be
varied according to circumstances without departing from the nature of my
Invention. When the alloy obtained from the compound ores of titanium
and iron is intended for the manufacture of steel I prefer to employ char-
coal fuel rather than coke fuel for the smelting of the said compound ores as
coke is more or less contaminated with sulphur, silica, and other earthy
When it is
matters which are injurious to the quality of my alloy...
intended subsequently to convert the said alloy of titanium and iron into
malleable iron, the said alloy may then be smelted with coal or
coke

page_text: fuel. Various fluxes may be added to the burden or charge of the blast
furnace or cupola, such as blast furnace cinders, lime, and clay, and also
manganese or iron ore, but I do not claim the addition of these fluxes or of
other fluxes as forming any part of my Invention. When the blast furnace
or cupola is filled with ignited coke or charcoal fuel ready for commencing
the operation of smelting, I introduce at the filling place of the said blast
furnace or cupola four hundred parts by weight of the crushed or broken
ilmenite or compound ore of titanium and iron; over this charge of ore. I lay
two hundred parts by weight of charcoal, and on this I place a second similar
charge of ore, and so on, as the fuel burns away, and the charges work down
Lin.the, blast furnace or cupola. When a sufficient quantity of metal has been
reduced from the compound ore of titanium and iron, and is. collected in the
hearth of the blast furnace or cupola, I tap the furnace in the ordinary
manner, and run off the metal into pig moulds of iron or sand. The metal
thus obtained is an alloy of titanium and iron, containing carbon, the manu
facture of which alloy is the object of my Invention. To facilitate the
reduction of the ilmenite or compound ore of titanium and iron I sometimes
crush or stamp the said ilmenite or compound ore of titanium to a fine powder,
and I mix this powdered ore of titanium and iron with carbonaceous matter
of a bituminous nature, such as pitch, resin, bitumen, ór tar, in order to
agglutinate the fine particles of the ore, and to bring them in contact with
the pure carbonaceous matter of the pitch, resin, bitumen, or tar; but when
the alloy of titanium and iron is intended to be subsequently used for the
manufacture of steel I am careful neither to mix the pulverised ore with
bituminous coal so as to form a compound coke, nor to mix the said
pulverised ore with lime or clay in order to agglutinate the particles of the
said ore previously to introducing the said pulverised ore into the blast
When
furnace or cupola in which the said ores are intended to be smelted.
the alloy of titanium and iron containing carbon is intended to be puddled
and wrought into malleable iron the pulverised compound ore of titanium
and iron may be mixed with bituminuous coal and formed into a coke
therewith, but I do not claim such a mixture or combination as forming
any part of my Invention. The ores which I prefer to smelt in order to obtain
an alloy of titanium and iron to be subsequently employed in the manufacture
of steel are the purest ilmenites or compound ores of titanium and iron,
consisting essentially of titanic acid or oxide of titanium and oxides of iron,
which can be procured, and which are free or nearly free from silica, sulphur,
phosphorus and tin. When the alloy of titanium and iron is not intended to

page_text: be subsequently employed in the manufacture of steel ilmenites or compound
ores of titanium and iron of a lesser degree of purity may be employed.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the methods by
which I carry it into practice, I hereby declare that the essence of my Inven-
tion consists in smelting the compound ores of titanium, termed by mineralo-
gists ilmenites, and commonly called titaniferous iron ores, or iron ores rich
in titanium, in a blast furnace or cupola heated with coke or charcoal fuel in
order to obtain by the smelting or reduction of the said ilmenites or com-
pound ores of titanium and iron in the said blast furnace or cupola an alloy
or alloys of titanium and iron.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Mushet, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witnesses,
EDW. M. MUSHET,
Coleford, Gloucestershire.
BROOKLYN MUSHET,
Coleford, Gloucestershire.
ROBT. MUSHET. (L.S.)