IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1873

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Theodore Anthony Rochussen
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 15th February 1878.-A communication from abroad by
Reiner Daelen, of Neuss, in the Empire of Germany.
I, THEODORE ANTHONY ROCHUSSEN, of 23, Abchurch Lane, King
William Street, in the City of London, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND
STEEL, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN,” to be as follows:—
The object of this Invention is to enable a larger yield of metal to be
obtained from a Bessemer converter for each charge of molten iron
treated in it. For this purpose in addition to lining the sides and
bottom of the converter with "ganister," or such like refractory
material, I thickly line the lower half of the converter with iron ore
previously reduced to small pieces and mixed with some binding
material, so as to form a plastic mass, and in order that the proper
volume of air for acting upon the charge of metal may at each stage
of the converting operation be passed into the converter I cause the
inner lining of ore to cover over some of the tuyeres at the commence-

page_text: ment, the central tuyeres only being left open, as shown in the Drawing
hereunto annexed, but as the operation proceeds and the ore is gradually
reduced and melted, more and more of the tuyeres will be uncovered and
a greater volume of blast delivered to the charge in the converter.
After the termination of the process and when the contents of the |
converter have been discharged the bottom half of the converter is
taken off and again lined with a plastic mass of ore, or the mixture in a
thick liquid state may be poured into it, the outer tuyeres being stopped
from below whilst the inner ones which project up to a higher level than
the others have air blown through them to keep them open. The lining
obtained in this manner is allowed to dry and is warmed by coke in
order to serve for the next charge. Several of such bottom parts of á
converter may be held in readiness lined with ore dried and warmed, so
that after each charge has been delivered from the converter the bottom
half may be removed and another substituted for it, and if the necessary
cranes are available this operation of replacing may readily be performed
and the converter be again shortly got ready for a fresh charge.
In order to be able readily to attach and detach. the upper and lower
halves of the converter an angle iron flange is formed around the top of
each lower half, as shewn in the Drawing, and pins are passed up through
this flange and through a flange surrounding the upper half of the
converter, and are secured by cotters passed through them, iron distance
pieces being placed between the flanges where the two pins pass through
them so that no strain may be placed upon the flanges when the cotters
are driven in. By thus lining the lower half of a Bessemer converter
with iron ore, it will be possible to turn a large quantity of ore direct
into steel; a greater yield of metal will be thus obtained for each charge
of molten cast iron which is run into the converter and by disposing
thelining of ore in the manner above described a saving of blast power
will be effected, as the oxygen required for the combustion of the carbon
and silicon contained in the iron will be derived in a large measure from
the iron ore.