US123191A - Improvement in the manufacture of iron and steel - Google Patents

Description

CHARLES M. NES, OF YORK, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 123,191, dated January 30, 1872.

, To whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES MOTIER N us, of York, in the county of York and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful improvements in refining or purifying iron and manufacturing wrought and cast steel, of which the following is a specification:

My invention is directed to the refining of iron or the production of cast or wrought steel in a reverberatory or puddlin g furnace. The invention involves the two following features, both of which, in conjunction, are necessary to the successful accomplishment of the object I have in view: First, the employment of an ore, essentially a magnetic silicide of iron, found in Heidelberg Township, York county, Pennsylvania, and in other localities, the properties of which are fully described in several Letters Patent granted to me within the past two years, this ore being mixed in proper proportions with the iron to be refined or converted; and secondly, the subjecting a charge of this mixed iron and ore to a blast of oxygen or atmospheric air in a reverberatory furnace. By this means-that is to say, the conjoined action of the ore and the blast-I am enabled to refine or convert the iron on the hearth of the furnace in a very short space of timemuch shorter than has heretofore been practicable and also to produce an improved quality of metal.

To enable those skilled in the art to understand and use my invention, I will now proceed to describe more particularly the manner in which the same is or may be carried into effect.

Th e puddling or reverberatory furn ace which I employ is in most respects of the usual con struction. from being injured by the intense heat which is generated by the blast, I use chill-boxes for the sides and insert watertuyeres through them, as in an ordinary refinery. To prevent the burning out of the bottom of the furnace I line the whole of the inside of the furnace, with the exception of the tuyere-holes, with fire-brick composed of kaolin, plumbago, and asbestos; and I afterward spread over the tirebrick a thick paste, mortar, or composition of the same materials, thus rendering the lining exceedingly refractory and enabling it to with- In order, however, to prevent itstand an intense heat. From the water-tuyeres, which are so located as to blow directly into the mass of the charge in the furnace, I blow from a pressure-blast into the charge, for the purpose of decarbonizing the metal, the oxygen of the blast uniting with the carbon in the iron, thus settin up combustion and causing rapid decarbonization to take place. It will, of course, be understood that other means may be employed for rendering the furnace refractory. 'Ihe above-mentioned means I have found highly effective.

To purify or refine iron I charge the furnace with pi g-iron or other iron to be purifiedsay live hundred pounds, more or lessthe ordinary quantity of hammer-slag or mill-cinder, and from five to ten per cent. of magnetic silicide of iron-ore. I then turn on the blast, at the same time stirring the metal as the charge melts until it thickens or comes to nature. I then ball up the metal and put it under the hammer. Owing to the rapid dcca-rbonization effected by the blast, the heat occupies but about thirty minutes. The silicon in the ore unites with the iron, and a superior quantity of metal is obtained.

When I wish to make wrought-steel, I put in the furnace a charge consisting of, say, from live hundred to one thousand pounds of pig or other iron, mixed with from fifteen to twenty per cent. of the magnetic silicide of ironore, and a suitable quantity of hammer slag or mill-cinder. This charge I proceed to melt and blow into, as above described, stirring the metal slightly with a rabble to insure a thorough intermixture of the charge and to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the furnace. WVhen the metal gran ulates or comes to nature I cease blowin g in air, shut the damper, ball up the metal, and bring it to the hammer. In this way a very superior quality of wrought-steel is made.

WVhen I wish to produce cast-steel, I charge the furnace with pig-iron, magnetic silicide of iron-ore, and hammer-slag or mill-cinder in the proportions above given for making wrought-steel; and I then proceed to melt and blow into the mass. Just before or when it tends to come to nature I throw into the melted mass in the furnace from ten to twenty pounds of fine charcoal, which keeps the metal intensely hot and preserves its fluidity. I take some of the metal out and test it under the hammer to ascertain when it has come to proper condition; and when it has reached this state I draw it off through a tap-hole formed in the furnace and cast it into molds of any desired shape or size.

To prevent the inclosing of air in the ingots, forming what is termed honey-comb. which is so common in all cast-steel, I divide the molten metal as it passes to the molds into small streams. This mode of dividing thelarge stream of molten metal makes provision for the escape of the air before the metal reaches the mold, and is, I have found, very effective in preventing honey-comb. For the purpose of producing this division of the molten metal I have found it preferable to use a sieve made of some refaotory material-such as asbestos. In practice I plait or otherwise form a rope or cord of asbestos, and from this, as from ordinary wire, I make a sieve, using a wrought-iron frame. Through the sieve the molten metal is poured into the molds. The openings or meshes, which may be about of a size to admit the finger, produce separate streams, and the molten metal being thus divided the air is allowed to escape, and the ingots become solid; Other meansfor dividing the molten metal will readily suggest themselves; and I would also state that this feature of my invention is not necessarily dependent upon the process above described for making cast-steel, but may be employed in all cases where molten cast-steel is being run into molds.

I have above given the proportions of ore which I prefer to use for the purpose of refining iron or making steel. These proportions may, however, be somewhat varied without materially affecting the result, and I do not, therefore, limit my claim to the precise proportions stated.

The steel made by the above process is much superior in quality to ordinary steel made in a puddling furnace; and the time required for a heat is much less than that ordinarily consumed. Tne whole operation can be completed in about thirty minutes.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is- 1 1. The mode herein described of refining or purifying iron in a reverberatory or puddling furnace. 4

2. The production of wrought-steel in a puddling or reverberating furnace substantially in the manner herein described.

3. The production of cast-steel in a puddling or reverberatory furnace, substantially in the manner herein described.

4. In the manufacture of cast-steel, sieving or dividing the molten metal into small streams as it passes to the mold for the purpose of preventing honey-comb, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I hav e signed my name to this specification before two subscribing witnesses.

' CHAS. M. NES.

Witnesses:

M. BAILEY, O. B. NOTTINGHAM.