IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jacob Geoghegan Willans,
of St. Stephen's
Crescent, in the County of Middlesex, for the
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL."
Invention of
Sealed the 1st April 1869, and dated the 6th October 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jacob Geoghegan
Willans at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 6th October 1868.
the
I, JACOB GEOGHEGAN WILLANS, of St. Stephen's Crescent, in
County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL," to be as
follows:-
.
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of
iron and steel." Having observed that the immersion of heated
iron, either crude or refined, in water causes an absorption of the fluid
into the interior of the metal, my first improvement is to supply
chemical salts or other solutions in this manner, not for the purpose
of depriving the metal of carbon, but of such a nature as to combine

page_text: with or neutralize the sulphur and phosphorus in the metal, so that in
the after course of melting or manufacture their injurious effects may
be lessened or removed. To perform this I either granulate the metal
into water containing in solution the beneficial chemical salts, such as
chlorides, or into other fluids which would be absorbed with similar
effect; or red-hot cast iron in the shape of pigs or in other form
may be immersed in or otherwise suitably treated with the water
fluid.
or
In a former Patent for puddling granted to me, and dated the 8th day.
of March 1866, No. 702, I described a method of treating cast metal
granules or particles with oxide or cinder to bring them into a malleable
condition. In this case the cinder had to be squeezed out in the
subsequent processes of hammering and rolling the iron produced.
to
My second improvement is to remove the greater part of the cinder
or oxide from the granules after they are brought to the malleable state
and before they be hammered or compressed together and then
compress the granules into moulds, or into shapes to produce articles of
iron that will possess greater strength than if made of cast metal (these
may be so
when first made, or may perhaps require reheating and
hammering). The moulds or shapes may be of the form or approximately
of the form of the required article; or the form of the article may result.
from subsequent hammering or other processes; or I may remove all
or nearly all the cinder first used and add a sufficiency of other cinder or
an artificial cinder or welding substance before moulding; or the process
of decarburetting the granules may be conducted with so little cinder
that the removal of a portion of it before moulding the granules may
not be required. I prefer to have the original granules or particles made
of refined cast iron. In place of decarburetted granules of cast iron
mixtures of malleable iron and cinder otherwise obtained
may be
similarly treated by separating a portion of the cinder or otherwise
suitably adjusting its quantity and then hammering or pressing the iron
at or above a red heat into moulds or forms. Thus puddle balls may be
crushed and so treated.
In the melting or making of steel cast iron has been granulated and
the iron granules or particles have been decarburetted by cementation
with oxide of iron and charcoal, or cast iron has been added in preparing
the mixture and the entire melted down together.

page_text: My third improvement is to heat the granules (preferring those of
refined cast iron) and oxide together in the first instance without melting
the granules, in order that the carbon of the metal and the oxygen of
the oxide may react upon each other, and afterwards without separating
the oxide add to the iron and oxide mixture carbon or metal containing
carbon, and it may be such other minerals or fluxes as are commonly
used by steel melters, and melt the whole together in order to produce
steel of the desired temper. This separation of the process into two
parts will allow of an average sample being experimented upon to
ascertain the proper amount of carbon or metal and flux to add' before
the melting down of the steel; by this means I obtain products of greater
uniformity in different meltings.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Jacob Geoghegan Willans the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 6th April 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JACOB
GEOGHEGAN WILLANS, of Saint Stephen's Crescent, in the County of
Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of October in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-second
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Jacob Geoghegan Willans, Her special licence
that I, the said Jacob Geoghegan Willans, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Jacob Geoghegan Willans,
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," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Jacob Geoghegan Willans, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or

page_text: the date of the sand Letters atene.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Jacob Geoghegan Willans, do
hereby declaro the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner.
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture
of iron and steel. Having observed that the immersion of heated
cast-iron, either crude or refined, in water causes an absorption of the
fluid into the interior of the metal, my first improvement is to
supply chemical salts or other solution in this manner, not for the
purpose of depriving the metal of carbon but of such a nature as to
combine with or neutralize the sulphur or phosphorus in the metal, so
that in the after course of melting or manufacture their injurious effects
may be removed or lessened. To perform this I either granulate the
metal into water containing in solution the beneficial chemical
salts such as chlorides, or into fluids which wou'd be absorbed with
similar effect; or red-hot cast iron in the shape of pigs or other
forms may be immersed in or otherwise suitably treated with the water
or fluid.
In carrying out this the first part of my Invention, I prefer to
granulate the molten cast iron crude or refined into water containing
hydrochloric acid and waste liquor from the chlorine stills; the latter
generally consists of chlorides of manganese and iron. These materials
are obtainable of different degrees of strength, and the quantity added
to the water may vary as no great accuracy is required. I do not
confine myself to any particular proportion, but prefer that the water
be not rendered so acid as to act energetically on dissolving the iron. A
useful proportion of materials may be found by adding to a gallon of
water sufficient hydrochloric acid to give it when stirred an acid taste,
and to another gallon of water sufficient waste liquor to be when stirred
strongly, perceptible to the taste, and having noted the quantities of these
materials required I add them both in these proportions to every gallon

page_text: of water used for granulating.
Instead of water to which liquid
hydrochloric acid had been added water in which sufficient hydrochloric
acid gas had been condensed will answer. Instead of granulating the
molten cast iron into the solution the cast iron in granules or other
forms or shapes may whilst at a red heat be immersed therein or covered
therewith. Solutions of an oxidising nature, such as those that contain
nitric acid or nitrates, will also act beneficially. The purified metal
thus obtained is to be manufactured into wrought iron or steel by any
of the processes employed for that purpose, or it is to be melted and
castings may be made therefrom.
I claim as an improvement in the manufacture of. iron and steel;
the immersion or covering heated cast iron in water to which the
materials such as those above set forth had been added that will by
acting on the sulphur or phosphorus have an improving effect on the
wrought iron or steel or metal castings manufactured from such cast
iron as above described. Granules or particles of cast iron reduced to
a malleable condition with oxide or cinder intermixed therewith have
heretofore been balled up and the cinder squeezed out by subsequent
processes of hammering and rolling.
My second improvement is to remove the greater part or it may be
all of the cinder from the granules after they be brought into the
malleable condition and before they are hammered or compressed together
and then to compress the granules or particles into moulds or shapes to
produce articles of iron or it may be of steel that will possess greator
Strength than if made of cast iron. These may be so when first made
or may perhaps require reheating or hammering. The moulds or forms
may be of the shape or approximately of the form of the required articles,
or the form of the article may result from subsequent hammering or
other processes, or I may remove all or nearly all the cinder first used
and add a sufficiency of other cinder or a specially prepared artificial
cinder or welding substance before moulding.
In carrying out the second part of my Invention I prefer that the
granules or particles be of refined cast iron and not exceeding in.
diameter or thickness, and to puddle them at a moderate heat with half
their weight more of a cinder rendered fluid at that heat by containing
about 8% (eight per cent.) oxide of manganese. So soon as the granules

page_text: are brought into a malleable condition, or as technically called "to nature,"
I withdraw them together with any adhering cinder without subjecting
them to any such pressure as would weld the granules together, and I
leave them to cool with as little access of air as possible. After they
are cold I crush and grind them under stampers or under edge runners
so that the greater part of the adhering cinder be detached and finely
ground. This cinder is then separated from the granules by a sieve or
other convenient means, and the granules are then in a condition to be
reheated and whilst hot to be compressed into moulds or forms. The
reheating may be done in a retort or pipe or reverberatory furnace with a
smoky flame, it being highly desirable not to allow any access of air that
would oxidise the granules, and that the granules be not too highly heated so
as to weld together and prevent their being separated before compression.
The moulds or forms may be of cast iron, the interior of which should be
smeared with a carbonaceous or other substance to prevent the adhesion
of the granules to the metal. I prefer that the moulds should be heated
up to nearly a red heat and that they be placed as near as possible to the
heated granules while being filled. They are then to be subjected to
pressure by hammers or a press. After that the moulds are emptied in
any convenient manner, the compressed granules may be reheated and
hammered to solidify them or rolled and otherwise treated to form them
into the shape or size required when finished. Cast iron reduced to a
fine state of division by having cinder rabbled through it may also after
being decarburetted be similarly treated, but I prefer that the metal be
first granulated and that the granules be of a uniform size in each
charge and not exceeding in. diameter or substance. I do not confine
myself to these proportions or details; but I claim as my Invention as
an improvement in the manufacture of iron and steel, the compressing of
granules or particles of iron and steel into shapes or forms after the
removal of oxide or cinder that had been used in rendering them malleable
as above described. In the melting or making of steel cast iron has
been granulated and the iron granules or particles have been decarburetted
by cementation with oxide of iron. Charcoal has also been added in
preparing the mixture and the entire mass heated and melted down
together in crucibles or in open furnaces or in cases of fusible material.
My third improvement is first to heat the granules and oxide,together
in one place, removing them thence before the granules are molten, and

page_text: then afterwards melting them with cast iron, charcoal, or other
materials commonly used by steel melters.
This will allow of the
carbon of the cast-iron granules and the oxygen of the ore to react upon
each other, leaving both materials in the condition
more or less of
malleable iron. The mixture may be sampled and tested (if desired)
preparatory to its being melted with cast iron, charcoal, or other
materials commonly used by steel melters, so that the necessary pro-
portions may be arrived at with greater accuracy than if all the materials
were mixed with the granulated cast iron and oxide. In the first instance
I prefer to use granules of refined cast iron not exceeding th of an inch in
diameter or substance, and to mix intimately therewith so much oxide of
iron in a more minute state of division as will contain at least sixteen lbs.
(16) of oxygen for every six (6) lbs. of carbon in the granules; but I do
not confine myself to these proportions; I prefer to use a rich hæmatite
ore containing less than 6% of earthy matter. The proportionate
quantity of each material may be ascertained by a previous analysis. I
heat the mixtures in gas retorts or pipes from which atmospheric air is
excluded as much as possible, and gradually so as not to fuse the ore
before its deoxydation. So soon as the granules when fairly sampled and
cooled show malleability on the anvil the mixture may be withdrawn,
but it may be left longer with advantage. I then either place them
whilst still hot in the open furnace along with the cast metal or other
materials and melt them down, or I allow the mixture to cool before so
doing. If intended to be melted down in crucibles I prefer to cool the
mixture with as little access of air as possible and to accumulate a
number of retort charges in stock before taking and testing an average
sample in order to decide upon the suitable additions. Should the heated
mixture be placed in the open steel furnace for melting down the pipes
or retorts used for heating it may communicate with the furnace, so as
to avoid loss of heat or oxidation in the removal of the mixture, or the
mixture after being cooled might be re-heated in this way so as to render
its fusion with the metal both more speedily accomplished.
By the words granules or particles in the foregoing I mean metal
reduced by any means to a fine state of division.
I claim as an improvement in the manufacture of steel, the heating
iron granules and oxide of iron together so as to bring them more or less
to the condition of malleable iron and then subsequently the melting of

page_text: such granules and reduced oxide with cast iron, charcoal,
iron, charcoal, or other
materials commonly used by steel melters, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jacob Geoghegan Willans, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of April, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
nine.
J. G. WILLANS. (L.S.)