IMPROVEMENTS IN SMELTING FURNACES
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Melville Clark of the firm of A. M and W
Clark of 53 Chancery Lane in the County of Middlesex Fellow of the
Institute of Patent Agents for an Invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN SMELTING
FURNACES Communicated to him from abroad by George Henry Nichols,
William Henry Nichols and John Brown Francis Herreshoff, all of Brooklyn
in the County of Kings and State of New York, United States of America,
Manufacturers
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Alexander Melville Clark at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 13th March 1883.
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK of the firm of A. M. and W. Clark of 53 Chancery
Lane in the County of Middlesex, Fellow of the Institute of Patent Agents.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SMELTING FURNACES." Communicated to me from abroad
by George Henry Nichols, William Henry Nichols, and John Brown Francis.
Herreshoff, all of Brooklyn in the County of Kings and State of New York,
United States of America, Manufacturers.
The object of this Invention is to provide a furnace for smelting copper or the
like with means for allowing the proper outflow of the matt and slag into a well
or receiver without risking too rapid destruction of the walls through which said
matt and slag escape, and likewise without unduly chilling the escaping mass.
Another object is to permit due continuity of process by providing for the
removal, when full or worn out, of the well or receiver, and substitution for the
same of another well or receiver instead of making the latter a definite attachment
to the furnace.
The Invention consists in attaching a water jacket composed of an inner metal
frame and an outer plate to the outside of the well or receiver, said water jacket
forming a continuity of the inlet opening of the well. The well is made movable,
being placed ou wheels, and is provided with a spout near its upper end.
Other features of improvement will more fully appear from the following
description.
In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a vertical central section of the
improved copper smelting furnace. Figure 2 is an outer end view, and Figure 3

page_text: an inner end view of the well that is used in connection with said furnace.
Figure 4 is a horizontal section of the furnace on the line c- Figure 1. Figure 5
is an elevation partly in section of the lower part of the furnace, and Figure 6
is a detail vertical section on an enlarged scale through the slag outlet of the
furnace.
A represents a suitable furnace for smelting copper or analogous substances.
The lower part of this furnace is built up of double metal walls B which contain
between them a water chamber C. Through the lower part of this water chamber
is made the aperture a for the discharge of the molten mass from the furnace.
This aperture a is formed by placing a thick iron frame D into the water jacket C,
which frame is bolted or rivetted to the walls of the jacket C and forms the outer
wall of the opening a, and the inner wall to the water jacket C, as clearly shown
in Figure 6. In practice, this frame D should be of such size that the hole a will
measure 6 x 6 inches, and that the iron of which the frame D is composed should
measure about 1 x 2 inches in thickness. These measurements are intended for
a furnace which in its main smelting portion is about 6 to 8 feet high, 4 to 5 feet
in diameter, and made of two iron cylinders B B of which the ends are rivetted
to a 2 x 2 wrought iron ring b. The tuyeres E E entering through the water
jacket C are shown in Figure 4. The discharge opening a of the furnace com-
municates with the receiving opening d of the well or receiver F. This receiver
is a metallic box lined on the inner side with fire brick and placed on wheels or
rollers G. That side of the well which faces the furnace A carries a water jacket
which is formed by two iron frames e and f and by metallic face plates g and h.
This water jacket is bolted or otherwise fastened to the well F on the outer side
thereof in such manner that the space dx bounded by the inner frame e
constitutes a prolongation of the opening d and is likewise in line with the
aperture a as clearly shown in Figure 6. Water is fed into the space between the
frames e and through suitable pipes. The inner frame e is of the thickness
substantially of the frame D.
In practice the molten contents of the furnace will flow through the passage
a d* d into the well F which is placed close to the furnace and anchored to the
same by preference by means of screw bolts H shown in Figure 4, and as the
molten matter passes through the said channel a dx d it will heat the iron
frames D and e. But these frames being in contact on their outer edges with the
water, will not be rapidly destroyed by the heat, and yet they are of such thickness
that where they are in contact with the molten mass, they will not cause the same
to be unduly chilled although they are in contact with water. In other words the
water jackets protect these iron frames D and e from rapid destruction by the heat,
and yet the iron frames are of such thickness that they protect the molten matt
and slag from undue chilling by the water. Whatever greater or less space for
leakage may exist between the frames D and e, will be luted by the matt that
leaks into such space, and thus continuity of the passage to the well will be
established and the well itself protected from rapid destruction by the heated
mass.
When the well is full or is to be repaired, it can readily be moved away from
the furnace on its wheels and its place occupied by another well of like
construction, so that the continuity of the process going on in the furnace need
not be interrupted.
Although the frame D is shown placed into a water jacket that embraces the
entire lower part of the furnace, it is nevertheless clear that the Invention is also
applicable to furnaces which are not entirely surrounded by a water jacket, in
which case the frame D surrounded by a partial water jacket substantially like
that shown on the body of the well F, may be built into the brick furnace. The
well F bas a lower discharge opening i and an upper spout j, which spout is cooled
by a pipe k that carries water through it.
Throughout, the furnace above described is calculated to protect the parts that
would otherwise be exposed to rapid destruction by contact with the heated

page_text: contents from such destruction and it has been found in practice that the arrange-
ment of double water jacket, or interposed water jacket between the well and
jacketted furnace, makes the well last very much longer than does the ordinary
well heretofore used.
Having described the nature of the said Invention and the manner of performing
the same, I declare that what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters
Patent is.
1 The combination of a smelting furnace having water jacket around the
discharge opening a near its lower end, with the removable well or receiver F
having inlet opening d near its upper end, and with a water jacket having
opening dx attached to said well and forming a continuous passage with opening d
so that it will be interposed between the well and the water jacket on said furnace
and continuous therewith when said well is placed against said furnace,
substantially as described.
2nd The combination of a smelting furnace having tap hole a with a movable
well F having inlet opening d which is continuous with said tap hole a when the
well is in position, said well being provided with a vertical water jacket on its
outer side, said water jacket forming a passage d* contiguous to and in line with
the inlet opening d of the well, substantially as described.
In Witness whereof I the said Alexander Melville Clark have hereunto set
my hand and seal this thirteenth day of March, A.D. 1883.