IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL, AND IN THE RECOVERY OF CERTAIN GASES RESULTING FROM THE OPERATION
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Webster, of Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL, AND IN THE RECOVERY OF CERTAIN GASES
RESULTING FROM THE OPERATION."
Sealed the 7th June 1872, and dated the 6th April 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Webster at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
6th April 1872.
I, JAMES WEBSTER, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE, OF IRON AND STEEL, AND IN THE Recovery of
CERTAIN GASES RESULTING FROM THE OPERATION," to be as follows, that is to
say :-
This Invention consists in carbonizing wrought iron by passing
through it whilst in a heated state carbureted hydrogen or common
coal gas in combination with nitrogen or atmospheric air.

page_text: The mode which I prefer is as follows:-The wrought iron in any
suitable form is heated in a retort or any convenient chamber closed
from the atmosphere to a bright red'heat. Whilst in this state coal gas
mixed with about its own bulk of atmospheric air or nitrogen from any
other source is forced or drawn through the metal; thus carbonizing the
metal to any required degree and producing carbonate of iron or
spiegeleisen or blister steel, according to the extent of the operation.
The gas in its passage through the retort is deprived of the bulk of
its carbon, and the resulting gases remaining are then drawn off and
are forced into molten cast iron for the purpose of refining it previous
to the conversion of the cast iron into steel, or the said gases may be
forced through or over other molten metals for the purpose of purifying
them or recovering them from their oxides.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Webster in the Great Seal Patent Office.
on the 5th October 1872. .
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
WEBSTER, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-.
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said James Webster, Her special
license that I, the said James Webster, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said James Webster, 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 THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL, AND IN THE RECOVERY OF CERTAIN GASES
RESULTING FROM THE OPERATION," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said James Webster, my executors or administrators, by an

page_text: 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
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 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 James Webster, 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 :-
4
This Invention consists in carbonizing or steeling wrought iron by
passing through it whilst in a heated state carburetted hydrogen or
common coal gas in combination with nitrogen or atmospheric air; or a
combination of carbonic oxide or carbonic acid gases mixed with nitrogen
or vapour of carbon may be used so long as the following four gases,
namely, carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, in suitable proportions
and combined or not combined: come into contact with the iron whilst
in a heated or molten state.
The mode in which I prefer to carry out my Invention is as follows :—
The wrought iron in any suitable form is heated in a retort within a
furnace closed from the atmosphere to a bright red heat, whilst in this
state coal gas mixed with about its own bulk of common atmospheric
air or nitrogen from any source is forced or drawn through and amongst
the heated metal, thus carbonizing or steeling the metal to any required
degree or depth and producing carbonate of iron or spiegeleisen or blister
steel; according to the extent of the operation. .
The gas in its passage through the retort is deprived of the bulk of
its carbon, and the remaining gas consisting of hydrogen, nitrogen, and
carbonic oxide is then drawn off into a suitable receiver, and the said gas
may be employed for the purpose of refining cast iron or other like
metals by being forced into them when in a molten state, recovering
such metals from their oxides, or the superfluous gas may be drawn into
the furnace to assist in heating the retorts.
The precise nature of my Invention will be more readily understood
by a description of the accompanying Drawings, reference being had to
the letters and figures marked thereupon....

page_text: Figure 1 is a front elevation, and Figure 2 a transverse section of a
furnace suitably constructed for containing two retorts (A) and (B).
Figure 3 is a sectional plan of the apparatus, and Figure 4 a longitudinal
section; Figure 5 is a side elevation, and Figure 6 an end elevation of
the furnace:
(A) and (B) are the retorts for containing the metal to be operated
upon, these retorts are placed in the furnace and are closed from the
atmosphere; at the back of the retorts (A) and (B) and communicating
therewith by suitable inlet pipes or tuyeres are two of my improved
nozzles (C, D,) Figures 5 and 6, for conducting the gases into the retorts,
these nozzles can be so adjusted that any required mixture of gases
or atmospheric air or nitrogen or carbon may be obtained.
My improved nozzle (for which Letters Patent were granted to me
bearing date September 4th, 1869) is shewn detached from the furnace
and to an enlarged scale in section and elevation, Figures 7 and 8, and
it consists briefly of two cones (E and F), the gas passing through the
inner cone (F) and the atmospheric air being drawn through perfora-
tions (a) in the outer cone (E), and combining or mixing with the gas
at or immediately above the point of discharge from the two cones as
at (G), and thus passing in a combined form into the retorts.
Other means may however be employed for mixing and supplying
the gases into the retorts (A) and (B), such as the Bunsen burner for
admitting gas, or taps to admit air and gas, or pumps, or other suitable
mechanical means.
.
(H) and (I) are the doors of the retorts (A) and (B) suitably fitted to
exclude the atmosphere. (K) is the furnace fire door, (L) being the
ordinary flue; (M) and (N) are funnels or pipes with taps for discharging
the gases recovered from the retorts, such gases passing into a suitable
receiver or holder for subsequent use as herein-after described, or the
said gases if not required for use may be drawn from the retorts into a
junction pipe (o), and from thence into the fire of the furnace.
The remaining parts of the Drawings merely illustrate ordinary details
such as are employed in furnaces similar to that shewn, and require no
further description.
I will now describe the mode of operation, and for the sake of illus-
tration the retort (A) is represcuted as having been filled with scrap.

page_text: '
iron, the retort (B) containing railway rails, but any other form of
wrought iron may be similarly operated upon, such as bars, shafts,
wheels, plates, blooms, piles, chains, or other articles requiring to be
case-hardened or steeled to a certain depth or throughout their entire
substance. The retorts with the articles contained therein having been
heated to a bright red heat, the gas is turned on below the nozzles (C, D,)
by suitable taps, at the same time causing a certain amount of atmo-
spheric air to be drawn through the holes or perforations (a), Figures 7.
and 8, of the nozzles, and such air passing up joins and mixes with the
gas at the point (G), Figure 8, and the combined gas then enters the
retorts, and passes amongst the wrought-iron scrap and railway rails,
when the articles having been in the retorts for a suitable time,
according to the depth of carbonizing or steeling required, may be
withdrawn whilst in a heated state, the railway rails may then be rolled
or finished as steel rails, and the scrap iron being removed may be
melted and cast into ingots of cast steel.
If very hard steel is required to be produced the process of carbonizing
in the retorts is carried on for a longer period than in the case of pro-
ducing soft steel. If spiegeleisen is required for the manufacture of cast
steel, a high temperature will be necessary so that the wrought iron may
be melted and run from the retort which is placed in an inclined position
for such purpose, a tap being provided at the lower end of the same.
Blister or shear steel may also be produced as described from wrought-
iron bars carbonized in the retorts for subsequent tilting or welding for
cutlery or other like uses. Small articles may be similarly carbonized
or steeled, such as wood screws, wire, and chains, and without injury to
their form. The carbonizing gas in its passage through or amongst the
wrought iron will necessarily be deprived of a great portion of its carbon
by its action thereupon, and the remaining gas will consist of hydrogen,
nitrogen, and carbonic oxide; this gas I draw off from the retorts through
the pipes (M) and (N), Figure 1, into a suitable receiver, and such gas
may be used to purify cast iron or other metals whilst in a molten state
and to recover them from their oxides, or the superfluous gas from the
retorts may be drawn through the junction pipe (o), Figure 1, into the
fire of the furnace for assisting in heating the retorts.
· Having thus described the nature and object of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same may be carried out, I claim, car-
'

page_text: bonizing or steeling wrought iron and recovering the gases resulting
therefrom, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Webster, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Ninth day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
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