US4540A - Improvement in the manufacture of iron and steel - Google Patents

Description

. PATENT CHARLES LOW, on THE COUNTY OF MIDDLESEX, ENGLAND.

IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTUREOF IRON AND STEEL.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 4,540, dated May 28, 1846.

To all whom it may concem:

Be it known that I, CHARLES LOW, of Robinsons Row, Kingsland, in the county of Middlesex, in that part of Great Britain called England, have invented an Improved Method of Making and Manufacturing Iron and Steel; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description-that is to say- Iuse manganese in the state of the black oxide of commerce, or in any other state of oxidation, plumbago or graphite, commonly called black-lead, charcoal, and nitrate of either potash, soda, or lime. That which I commonly employ is the saltpeter of commerce. These four ingredients mixed well togetherin the following proportions, and apply in the following manner, viz: Of oxide of manganese I take forty-two pounds; of wood charcoal, fourteen pounds; of plumbago, eight pounds; and of saltpeter, two pounds. In the blastfurnace I add to every charge of ore likely to produce four hundred and eighty pounds weight of met-a1 sixty-six pounds of the above mixture either with the iron, stone, or fuel, it

, being immaterial which, so that the proportions are attended to and regularly applied with each charge. In the puddling-furnaceit can be applied with equal advantage when the pig-iron is in a fused state by throwing upon the surface of the metal, a few pounds at a time-say two or three, and continuing doing so at intervals of a few minutes, the puddler incorporating it by stirring it with the metal till the whole sixty-six pounds are used, oruntil the metal begins to thicken, or, as the workmen call it, comes to nature. It is then ballcd and sent to the tilt hammerand rollers,

and put through the usual process so well understood and practiced in making malleable iron. This being attended to, I have never found the result fail; but I have always obtained an iron of uniform quality, admitted to be much more fibrous and possessing a greater tenacity than any with which it has been compared, and capable of making excellent steel by the usual process of cementation or. other process by which steel is made.

Another part of my invention consists in the use of the aforesaid mixture forimproving' the quality of iron by being applied in any of the processes of smelting, puddling, and casting in the blast-furnace, the puddling-furnace, and cupola-furnaee, or other furnace that may be used by the iron master or founder in like proportions, as above described, adding more or less of the compound, according to the quality of the metal used, of which quality the iron master or founder or his workmen will be able to judge; but I have found the quantity above named sufficient for the worst ore or metal. 7

' Another part of my invention consists in the application of the above mixture to the manu-' the workmen to ascertain) will fuse the iron 7 in contact with the mixture and immediately convert it into cast-steel. lrecommend as the best way of preparing the ingredients for use that they should be ground in a mill suitedto such purpose. For the puddling-furnace they should be ground to a moderately-fine powder, and I should prefer their being applied from the top of the furnace through a hopper or tube, or such like means as would spread them more evenly than if applied by hand from the furnace-door; but for the blast-furnace and cupola-furnace they would bebetter applied in a coarser state. I have made my calculation upon four hundred and eighty pounds weight of metal, having found that to be the charge of pig-iron usually applied at one time to the puddling-furnace; but the workmen will have no difliculty in judging by the working of the metal whether a less or greater quantity of the ingredients should be used.

I do not claim the exact proportions as above described, as they must somewhat vary for different qualities of iron-ore and iron or of the ingredients themselves; nor do I claim the use of any of the aforesaid ingredients separately, as they may huve been made'u'se In witness whereof I, the said GHARLESLOW,

of before; but have hereunto set my hand this 30th day of I claim---- November, 1844. The use of them collectively andiu the pro CHARLES LOW.

portions herein substantially set forth in the manufacture of iron or steel, either in the Witnesses: blast-furnace, pudclling furnace, cupola, or WM. FIELD, other furnace, or in the melting-pot. WM. JNO. ARNOLD.