IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON;
Year: 1842

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
PALMER BUDD, of Ystalifera Iron Works, Swansea, Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Twentieth day of October, in the sixth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said James
Palmer Budd, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said James Palmer Budd, my exors, adñors, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said James Palmer Budd, my exors, adññors, or assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON;" in
which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said James
Palmer Budd, shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled
in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent,
as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at
large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
James Palmer Budd, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,

page_text: and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof (that is to say):-
In the manufacture of iron from ironstone, mine, ore, or other materials
holding iron, it has before been proposed to employ anthracite or stone coal,
together with a blast of atmospheric air in the cold or natural state, and various
attempts have been made to employ such fuel with cold blast but without suc-
cess, although, with a heated blast of atmospheric air called hot blast, anthracite
or stone coal has been brought into practical use in the blast furnace. Now
it has been generally found, and it is the opinion of most persons practically
acquainted with iron, as is shewn by the lower market value of hot-blast iron,
that, when produced by the aid of hot blast with raw coal or coke, it is much
weaker than iron made from the same classes of ores and materials by the aid
of a blast of atmospheric air in its natural and unheated state; and although
iron made with anthracite or stone coal and hot blast is much superior to
other hot-blast iron made with raw bituminous coal or coke, yet I have found,
as I had expected, that anthracite iron, when made by the aid of a blast of
atmospheric air in the natural and unheated state, according to my Invention,
has considerably greater strength than iron made when using the same fuel
and the same classes of mines and ores combined with heated air.
And my Invention relates,―
First, to the manufacturing of iron from ironstone, mine or ore, or other
materials containing iron, by the application of anthracite or stone coal in
combination with a blast of atmospheric air in the natural and unheated
state, maintained at a pillar of upwards of two pounds and a half on the
square inch.
Secondly, my Invention relates to the manufacture of iron from ironstone,
mine or ore, or other materials containing iron, by the application of anthra-
cite or stone coal, in combination with the use of water tuyeres with a blast
of atmospheric air in the natural and unheated state. And
Thirdly, my Invention relates to the manufacture of iron from ironstone,
mine, ore, or other materials containing iron, by the application of anthracite
or stone coal, with a blast of atmospheric air in the natural and unheated
state, in combination with the use of four or more tuyeres.
And in order that my Invention may be more fully understood and readily
carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the means pursued by me; and
as it is considered by many persons that the figure or internal shape and
size of the furnaces used influences the result of manufacturing iron, whatever
be the process or materials used, I have (in order that the workmen may
have the fullest information I am possessed of), in the margin hereof, or

page_text: At
annexed hereto, given sketches of two of the furnaces employed by me.
the same time I wish it to be understood that the same are not new, and they
constitute no part of my Invention; and I do not confine myself to any
particular construction of furnace, but recommend that the furnace to be
employed should be larger or smaller in proportion to the quantity and density
of the blast intended to be employed; but whatever be the size of the furnace,
anthracite or stone coal cannot be advantageously used with a less pillar than
two and a half pounds to the square inch. In former attempts to use anthracite
or stone coal in the blast furnace in the manufacture of iron, with a blast of
atmospheric air in the natural and unheated state, a comparatively low pillar
of blast has been employed, which failed to penetrate the mass of materials
in the furnace, and did not cause the perfect and entire combustion of the said
fuel. The anthracite fuel in the furnace being thus only partially supplied
with atmospheric air, from the blast not reaching and penetrating the whole
of the materials, the result of imperfect combustion followed, the anthracite
splintered into small pieces, filling the furnace with dust, whereby the passage
of the blast was more and more impeded, the temperature lowered, and a
"gob" or cooling of the material in the furnace resulted.
Now, I have discovered that a much greater pillar of blast of unheated air
than has been heretofore used with anthracite or stone coal is necessary to the
well consuming of that fuel, when manufacturing iron thereby; and in carrying
out my Invention, I employ a pillar of blast above two and a half pounds on
the square inch, preferring it to be considerably higher, and I employ much
smaller nozels to the blowpipes than were used when anthracite has
been heretofore attempted to be employed; and I encrease the number
of nozles, in order that the blast may be more subdivided and diffused
in the furnace, and also, by means of such smaller nozles, I am enabled
to keep the tuyeres cool by means of the rapid passage of cold atmo-
spheric air through them. The numbers of tuyeres should be in proportion
to the size of the furnace and the compression of the blast, but at least
four should be used. In the largest of the three furnaces now in blast at the
Ystalyfera Iron Works (shewn in the margin or affixed hereto) I employ
six tuyeres, two being introduced through the back arch and two through each
of the side arches. On the two smaller furnaces I employ five tuyeres, one
being introduced through the back arch and two through each of the side
arches. I prefer employing more tuyeres where the size and construction of
the furnaces will allow of it. I am now using the back tuyères of one and
three quarters of an inch in diameter; and the two nearest the front of the
furnace, one being on each side, are each one inch diameter, and the two

page_text: farthest back are one and a half inch diameter each. But I vary and alter
the size of the nozles according to the working of the furnace, diminishing the
diameters if the tuyere if working short and hot, and increasing it if the
contrary. And I am employing a blast of atmospheric air in the unheated
and natural state of three pounds and three quarters to the square inch; and.
I find it desirable to place the tuyeres low, so as to be about the level of the
notch of the furnace over which the cinder flows. And although I prefer to
use all anthracite or stone coal as the fuel and in the raw state, I do not
confine myself thereto, as bituminous coal or coke of bituminous coal may be
used therewith; in which case the pillar of blast may be reduced as low as
two pounds and a half to the square inch; but the advantage will be found
to decrease with the decrease of the pillar of blast. I employ water tuyeres
such as are now commonly used with hot blast, but of smaller dimensions,
to correspond with the smaller nozle pipes; and I cause the tuyeres to be
closely packed, so that the tuyere holes are stopped, thus preventing the escape
and waste of blast at the tuyeres; and I am enabled so to do without burning
the tuyeres by the use of the water tuyere and nozles for the entrance of the blast
of such small diameter. When necessary, but not otherwise, I use water breasts to
protect those parts of the furnace from the effects of the high temperature obtained
from the fuel; I also use water tymps, which I find very useful, but I do not
close the furnace at the tymp, but allow the blast to blow out in front, having
found that the cinder does not flow off readily when the contrary is the case.
And it may be remarked, that I have observed that anthracite or stone coal
in the blast furnace has a tendency to work with a bright tuyere when used
with a blast of cold atmospheric air sufficient to penetrate the materials in the
furnace, and that with such bright tuyere only inferior or forge iron is made;
but I have been enabled, by means of a high pillar of- blast projected through
smaller nozles or apertures and assisted by the water tuyere, to form beyond
the mouths of the blowpipes what is known as cinder tuyeres of several
inches in length projecting into the furnace, which drop off when the iron is
tapped out of the furnace, and gradually form again during the next change
or shift; and under such circumstances the furnaces work most advantageously.
I find also that by subdividing the blast, using a high pillar of blast, and
packing the tuyeres, the volume of blast required to produce a given quantity
of iron is greatly below what it is with raw coal or coke.
In charging a furnace, I throw on about seven hundredweight of anthracite
or stone coal (preferring the same to be unbroken, and avoiding the
use of pieces less than the size of a ben's egg) to every seven to eight
hundredweight of ironstone, mine or ore, which I take care shall contain

page_text: the proper proportions of silicious and argellaceous earths, I prefer the iron,
mine or stone, well or highly calcined, and use about two and a half hundred-
weight of limestone to the said charge of iron, mine or ore, when making the
best foundry iron; such charging of the furnace, as well as the general working,
is to be pursued as if working with bituminous coal or coke. At the same time
I would remark, that the quantities above given may be varied according to
the quality of the anthracite or stone coal used, the refractory nature or
otherwise of the ironstone, mine or ore, or other materials containing iron
employed, and the quality of iron it is desired to obtain, as is the case when
working with coke or bituminous coal at the judgment and discretion of the
manager, as heretofore. And I would further state, that the blast may be
increased beyond three pounds and three quarters to the square inch to
advantage, where the blowing machine and apparatus will allow thereof.
Having stated what are the dimensions of the furnaces I have in blast, and
what pillar of blast I employ thereon as a general rule, I would remark, that as
the size of the furnaces is increased so, should the density of blast be encreased,
and as the density of blast is increased so should the blast be subdivided; and
by following this rule furnaces of the largest size, I believe, may be most
beneficially employed to carry out my Invention, whilst where only a pillar
of blast of two pounds and a half to the square inch can be provided smaller
furnaces must be employed, or a proportion of coke used so as to lighten
the weight on the blast. But I would have it understood, that the higher
the pillar of blast the greater will be the advantages to be derived from my
process, as now explained and described.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I would have it understood, that I do not claim
the use of a blast of atmospheric air in the natural or unheated state of a
pressure of upwards of two and a half pounds to the square inch separately in
the smelting and manufacturing of iron as of my Invention; nor do I claim
the use of water tuyercs separately in the manufacturing iron from ironstone,
mine or ore; nor do I claim the use of four or more tuyeres in order to divide
the blast separately, in the manufacture of iron from ironstone, mine or ore;
nor do I claim the application of anthracite or stone coal in the manufacture
of smelting iron from ironstone, mine or ore, when uncombined with some or
all of the means herein described. But what I do claim as my Invention is,-
First, the application of anchracite or stone coal, combined with a blast of
atmospheric air in the natural or unheated state, maintained at a pressure or
pillar of upwards of two and a half pounds on the square inch in the smelting
or manufacture of iron from ironstone, mine or ore.

page_text: Secondly, I claim the application of anthracite or stone coal, combined with
the use of water tuyeres, and with a blast of atmospheric air in the natural or
unheated state in the smelting or manufacturing of iron from ironstone, mine
or ore. And,
Thirdly, I claim the application of anthracite or stone coal in combi-
nation with four or more tuyeres, and a blast of atmospheric air in the
natural or unheated state in the manufacture of iron from ironstone, mine
or ore.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Palmer Budd, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-three.
JAMES PALMER (L.S.) BUDD.
Signed, sealed, and delivered, by the
within-named James Palmer Budd
(being first duly stampt), in the
presence of us,
Enrolled the Twentieth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-three.