IMPROVEMENTS IN SMELTING ORES, AND IN ROASTING AND EXTRACTING PRODUCTS THEREFROM.
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Coope Haddan, of No. 4, Cannon Row, in the
City of Westminster, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN SMELTING ORES, AND IN ROASTING AND EXTRACTING PRODUCTS THEREFROM.
1
A communication.
Sealed the 10th July 1857, and dated the 14th January 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Coope Haddan
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
14th January 1857.
I, JOHN COOPE HADDAN, of No. 4, Cannon Row, in the City of Westminster,
Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN SMELTING ORES, AND IN ROASTING AND EXTRACTING PRODUCTS
THEREFROM," to be as follows:-
The causing or producing the current of air necessary to the reduction of
the ores in a furnace, by exhausting or removing the air and gases as produced,
the exhaust being effected by means of a fan or otherwise.
Also, the roasting or partially roasting ores by means of the heated air and
gases; one or some of them thus collected, or otherwise passing off from
furnaces; and also the employment or application of the said heated air and
gases, one or some of them, to the smelting process, or otherwise, to the
extraction of products from the ores.
Also, the constructing furnaces, and more particularly those intended for

page_text: smelting the ores of iron, with the interior passage or chamber of the furnace
lying at an inclination or angle, and with hoppers or feeding places com-
municating therewith at different parts, so as to afford the means of making
special additions to particular portions of the contents, and so as to assist in
the reduction, or to give a different character to the metal, perforations being
made in different positionsfor inspecting the progress, for tapping the furnace,
and for ingress of air.
The Invention includes the separate or combined use of any portions of the
above-mentioned improvements.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Coope Haddan in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 14th July 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
COOPE HADDAN, of No. 4, Cannon Row, in the City of Westminster, Civil
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most. Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eighthundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Coope Haddan, Her special licence that I, the said John
Coope Haddan, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said John Coope Haddan, 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 SMELTING ORES, AND ROASTING AND EXTRACTING PRODUCTS
THEREFROM," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Coope
Haddan, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 1, the said John Coope Haddan, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is

page_text: to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say:-
The said Invention consists, firstly, in causing or producing the current of
air necessary to the reduction of the ores in a furnace, by exhausting or
removing the air and gases as produced, the exhaust being effected by means
of a fan or otherwise.
Secondly, in roasting or partially roasting ores by means of the heated air
and gases, one or some of them thus collected, or otherwise, passing off from
furnaces; and also the employment or application of the said heated air and
gases, one or some of them, to the smelting process, or otherwise, to the
extraction of products from the ores.
Thirdly, in constructing furnaces, and more particularly those intended for
smelting the ores of iron, with the interior passage or chamber of the furnace
lying at an inclination or angle, and with hoppers or feeding places com-
municating therewith at different parts, so as to afford the means of making
special additions to particular portions of the contents, and so as to assist in
reduction, or to give a different character to the metal, perforations being
made in different positions for inspecting the progress, for tapping the furnace,
and for ingress of air.
And the Invention further includes both the separate and the combined use
of any portions of the above-mentioned improvements.
And having thus set forth the nature of the said Invention, I will proceed
to describe the manner in which the same is to be and may be performed,
reference being had to the accompanying illustrative Drawing, and to the
figures and letters marked thereon for the purpose of such reference.
And in order the more clearly to exhibit and explain the said Invention, I shall
allude (as occasion may require) to the hitherto existing mode of operation
and furnaces and apparatus hitherto employed, for smelting purposes, and shall
contrast its peculiarities therewith.
Figure 1 in the accompanying Drawing is a sectional elevation of an
improved furnace for smelting the ores of iron, constructed in accordance with
the Invention, and drawn to a scale of about one-fortieth of the actual
dimensions; and Figure 2 is a sectional plan view or horizontal section on the
same scale, taken just above the hearth of the furnace.
The ordinary plan of smelting iron ores consists in putting into the furnace
the ore,carbon, and limestone, the hot or cold blast is then applied, and the ore
is reduced, no further care or trouble being taken there being no means of ascer-
taining how the process is proceeding until the metal flows into the receptacle
1 the bottom of the furnace. But by thearrangement of the improved furnace

page_text: I am enabled to ascertain at various points how the ore is being reduced, and
I have the power to apply at different parts of the furnace any body, either
gase us or solid, which I may require, to assist in the reduction of the ore, so
as to make the metal of the quality required. The ordinary pressure of the
blast as now used is about from one to three pounds per square inch, obtained
at great cost of power, and impinges or strikes upon one spot with such force
as to injure the metal by burning it. In this improvement, however, I dis-
pense with the ordinary blast bellows, and cause the atmospheric air to rush
upon a larger space or surface of the ore and materials by exhausting the air
and gases at the upper part of the furnace. By this method the deleterious
gases are drawn off at the top, and fresh air supplies their place at the bottom
or lower end, or other parts of the furnace, accordingly as it may be thought
desirable, and is admitted thereto. No tuyeres are requisite in the improved
furnace, but a series of openings are made in various parts, which I close or
open by means of plugs, and from these openings I am enabled to collect a
sample of the materials, so as to judge in what state they may be as they
descend the furnace, or to admit air, gases, or solid substances that may assist
in the making good metal. And I also erect or place on the sides of the
improved furnace, the interior passage or chamber of which lies or is con-
structed at an angle to receive them, several large receptacles, hoppers, or
feeding places over entrances into the furnace, by which I can introduce solid
bodies to any amount required to assist in the reduction of the ores. These
materials, however, are only necessary at certain points of the reduction, and
would be either injurious or partially or wholly wasted if added with the bulk
of ore at the commencement. Some qualities of ores may be roasted by the
arrangement of the upper part of the improved furnace, and the gases arising
from the furnace may be conducted to any convenient place to be used for
that or any other purpose, such as extracting from them any useful products
that they may contain, or they may be conveyed to any high chimney to be
disposed of.
In the Figures before referred to, a represents the interior passage or
chamber of the furnace; b, an opening in the dome or upper portion to
receive the ore, &c.; c, a hopper or receptacle in which the ore, &c. is first
put; d, a sliding stop plate, which supports the ore, &c. until the receptacle c
is filled, and which is withdrawn when the ore, &c. is to be let into the body
of the furnace; e, a cover at the top, which is opened when desired by the
chain and weight 7; 6 is a portion of the domed cover of the furnace; and i,
a pipe attached thereto, which unites with the pipe of the exhausting apparatus,
represented in the Figure 3. This apparatus, which is simply an ordinary

page_text: fan, exhausts the air in the direction of the arrows 2, and carries it away in
the direction of the arrow 3. The fan is boxed or closed in, so as to drawthe
air only from the inside of the furnace, and is worked or driven by the band 4.
The dome top of the furnace is double. The upper cover, marked 8,is pierced
with holes, so that should it be desirable to send heated air into the lower
part of the furnace, this object may be attained by allowing the air for
supplying the furnace to pass down the pipe 5 and enter into the lower part
att, see Figure 2; it will then pass into the circular passage s, s, s, and
may be admitted as desired to cause a reduction of the ores in the direction
of the arrows, the doors or partitions s*, s*, s*, s*, being opened or closed
according to the wish of the workman to direct a heated or cold current,as
may he desired, one in one place and another in another, or all cold or all
warm. The heated current is obtained by the air becoming warm in passing
through the holes in the upper dome 8, and coming into contact with the
covered dome 6. k, k, l, are the receptacles,hoppers, or feeding places, before
alluded to, for introducing special additions of any material thatmaybedesired
to or near to particular portions of the contents; and these feeding places
may,if it should be preferred, be furnished with sliding stop plates, as above
described with reference to the hopper c; 1, 1, 1, are pulleys and chains, with
weight 7, 7, 7, attached, for raising the covers over the feeding plates k,k,k;
m,m,m,represent the perforations or holes for inspecting the progress of the
operations of the furnace and for procuring samples therefrom,aud for the
ingress of air or gases as may be desired, and they may be also employed for
allowing the workmen to stir or move about the materials inside the furnace
with a rod. Plugs or stoppers are adapted to each hole m for closing or
opening them at pleasure, but two only of such plugs marked u,u,are repre-
sented in the Drawing; o is the receptacle for the melted metal; p, the
lining of the furnace; q, the boshes; t is simply an archway for lightening
the brickwork; is the floor of the furnace; w,air holes, to prevent the damp
from injuring the furnace; and y, y, y, are recesses for the same purpose.
The Figure 4represents an improved method of causing the exhaust, which
is applicable also to blowing the ordinary blast furnace. When employed for
blowing it is to be used as represented; but when employed for exhausting,
then the drum or head g, which moves round, must be enclosed, and a pipe
from the inclosure must be attached to the pipe i, Figure 1, on the dome
cover, so that the air may be exhausted and pass out at i, Figure 4. In this
Figure, gx is a tube in continuation of and from one side of the drum
revolving therewith, the opposite side of the drum being closed.
stationary tube ia further continuation; and a collar connecting the tubesg*
and
k is a

page_text: and ; c, c, c, is a shaft or axis on and with which the drum g and tube g
revolve, one end being supported in the bearing or standard d,and the other
on an upright piece or bearing over and in continuation of the standard d*,
and within the tube k; e is a pulley for driving the apparatus, which may be
effected by means of steam power or otherwise; h, h, are two projecting
pieces, of which there are four or more round the drum, each being of the
form represented. They are closed at each side but open underneath, and
a slit or long hole is cut in the sheet metal of which the drum is made so as
to make a communication with the inside of the drum. It is evident that if
the drum moves rapidly in the direction of the arrow the air must be collected
by the projecting pieces h,h,and conveyed into the interior of the drum, and
as it has no means of escape while the drum revolves but at the end i in the
direction of the arrow, the apparatus will blow if constructed as represented
in the Diagram, and will exhaust provided the revolving drum is inclosed,
and a pipe from the box or case inclosing the drum communicates with the
pipe i on the dome (see Figure 1).
The roasting or partially roasting of the ore will be effected by the first
action of the furnace upon it immediately upon and after its discharge into
the furnace from the hopper or receptacle con withdrawing the stop plate d
or the heated air and gases exhausted or drawn off from the furnace may be
conveyed to any convenient place for the above or any other useful purpose
or may be discharged by a chimney shaft, which if very high may be
used instead of a blowing or exhausting apparatus, as above set forth and
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Coope Haddan, have hereunto se
my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of July, One thousand eigh
hundred and fifty-seven.
J. C. HADDAN. (L.S.)