IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR TREATING STEEL INGOTS
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George James Snelus of Workington in the County of
Cumberland, Metallurgical Engineer for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR TREATING STEEL INGOTS "
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George James Snelus at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 22nd February 1883.
GEORGE JAMES SNELUS, of Workington, in the County of Cumberland,
Metallurgical Engineer. " IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR TREATING STEEL
"
INGOTS
"
My invention has reference to treating steel ingots to facilitate the rolling or
otherwise working the same and has particular application to what are known as
Gjers soaking pits." At present these pits are lined with bricks and it is found
that the tops of the ingots do not get sufficiently heated to enable them to be rolled
or hammered into rails or other objects on all occasions at one heat.
According to my invention I line these pits with a cast steel casing extending
about twelve inches, more or less, above the top of the ingot so that the heat from
the bottom of the pit, where it has heretofore been always hotter than necessary,
is conducted to the top and there given out to the ingot, so that the top of the
ingot is kept hot.
I make this casing of steel with low carbon, so that its melting point is very
high, and I prefer that the said casing should be of considerable thickness, so that
there may be a good reservoir of heat to keep the heat of the pit uniform or
regular. I also make the steel casing rather less in sectional area than the top
part of the pit, so that the said casing forms a ledge upon which a cover can rest
within the pit, and thus close more effectually the chamber in which the ingot is
kept There should be a considerable thickness of brickwork built upon these steel
casings, so as to prevent the heat being carried up to the surface, and the surface
aperture should be covered with a close fitting cover to prevent any circulation of
air in the pita. These cast steel linings or casings must be surrounded by a
considerable thickness of refractory material to prevent the heat being carried away
from them. It is obvious that the said metal linings can be applied to any form of
Boaking pit, to equalize the heat of the chamber and give it out to the surface of
the ingots where necessary.
--

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said George James Snelus in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
22nd August 1883.
GEORGE JAMES SNELUS, of Workington, in the County of Cumberland,
Metallurgical Engineer, "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR TREATING STEEL
INGOTS.
"
My invention relates to apparatus for treating steel ingots to facilitate the
operation of rolling or otherwise working the same, and is designed to improve
what are known as "Gjers' soaking pits," that is to say, chambers or pits sunk in
the ground, into which chambers or pits the steel ingots are put as soon as they
are removed from the moulds. The surplus heat which the ingots then contain is
communicated to the sides of these pits, so that the excessively hot central portion
of the ingot cools, while the temperature of the outside thereof is raised, and the
ingot is thus caused to attain a uniform, or approximately uniform, temperature
thoughout The successive additions of surplus heat transferred from the hot
ingots to the pit sides render the latter so hot that they in turn will impart heat to
an ingot if the same happens to be of lower temperature than usual. By these
means the ingots are brought into a proper condition for rolling without the aid of
any extraneous source of heat.
Heretofore the sides of these pits have been made of brickwork and in using the
said pits so constructed I have found that, while the bottom of the pit becomes
excessively hot, the top remains comparatively cool, and there is consequently some
difficulty in keeping the top of the ingot as hot as the bottom thereof. Moreover
the brick sides of the pit are liable to be rapidly destroyed by the putting in and
taking out of the heavy steel ingots.
Now I make the sides of the pit of steel, preferably in the form of a single
rough casing made from ordinary Bessemer or Siemens steel, low in carbon. The
steel, being a better conductor of heat than brickwork, conducts the surplus heat
from the bottom of the pit to the top thereof, and, having a high melting point, the
said casing is not injured by the great heat in the pit. I usually employ a series
of these steel casings placed about nine inches apart, the spaces between the casings
being filled up with brickwork, and the whole being then surrounded with two or
more courses of brick work connected by thin fire-clay joints. A heavy iron casting
is then placed over these casings leaving openings above the same slightly larger
than those in the said casings. The openings in the said casings should be large
enough to leave a space of about an inch wide around the thickest ends of the
ingots to be treated. The top of the steel casing or lining serves as a rim upon
which to place the inner lid or cover in order to enclose the ingot. A second iron
casting with bevelled edges is bolted to the top of the aforesaid iron casting to
receive the outer covers which may also be of cast iron. Between the steel casings
and the first iron casting and between the two iron castings, I sometimes place
layers, consisting of a mixture of fire-clay and tar, about an inch thick, to form a
non-conducting and close joint. The fire-clay should be dried, passed through a fine
sieve, made red hot, and then ground with the tar to mix them thoroughly and
form a very stiff mass.
In the accompanying drawing I have shown how the said invention may be
conveniently and advantageously carried into practice.
Figure 1 is a vertical section of a series of soaking pits constructed according to
my said invention, the said section being taken through the centre of two of the
said pits.

page_text: Figure 2 is a plan of the same with some of the covers removed, two of the pits
being shown in horizontal section on the line x, x Figure 1.
A represents the steel ingot; B, B the steel linings or casings of the pits; O the
brickwork between and around the same; D the lower heavy iron casting, which
is cored out as shown; E the top iron casting to receive the outer lids or covers F;
G, G the layers of fire-clay and tar; and H H the inner lids or covers resting upon
the steel linings which extend about twelve inches above the ingots.
In using these pits constructed according to my present invention, I place a piece
of clean coal, say about two cubic inches, into the pit directly an ingot is removed.
The gas volatilized from this coal serves to protect the steel lining and ingot from
oxidation and to slightly cool the bottom of the pit. Soaking pits constructed in
the manner herein specified last a very long time without any repair and are more
advantageous than those heretofore employed.
Having thus fully described my said Invention and the manner of performing
the same I wish it understood that I do not claim broadly or irrespectively of the
improvements herein set forth & soaking pit formed of brickwork, nor do I claim
the treatment of steel ingots in the manner specified, but I claim :-
The above described improvements in soaking pits or apparatus for treating steel
ingots in the manner berein specified, which improvements consist essentially in
lining the said pits with steel and providing them with the cast iron tops, with or
without the separating layers of fire-clay and tar, all substantially as, and for the
purposes, set forth.
In witness whereof I the said George James Snelus have hereunto set my hand
and seal this twenty first day of August in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and eighty three.
An Il
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GEORGE
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