US359700A - Furnace for refining iron - Google Patents

Description

2 Sheets-Sheet l.

(No Model.)

CT.I B. WIIESTLNG. FRNAGE POR REPINING IRON.

Patented Mar..22

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

G. B.- WIESTLING. URNAGEPOR REFINING IRON.

No. 359,700. Y Patented Mar. 22, 1.887

UNITED 1 STATESf kPATENT OFFICE..

GEORGE B. VVIESTLING, OF MONT ALTO, PENNSYLVANIA.

FURNAOE FOR REFINING IRON.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 359,700, dated March 22, 1887.

Appncnuon eied'inay 19, 1885. semi No. 166,031. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it 11m/,y concern.- Be it known that I, GEORGE B WrEsTLING, a citizen of the United States, residing at Mont Alto, in the county of Franklin and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Furnaces for Rening Iron, of which the following is a specication, reference being had therein to the accompanyingdrawings. My invention relates to that kind of furnace generally known as a knobbling-re. fo1ge-re, or bloom-furnacebut more properly it is a Lancashire hearth or charcoal blomary furnace orforge-fire,in which pi g-iron, run-out metal, or wrought scrapiron is melted with charcoal fuel urged by eithera hot or cold blast of air by which the metal is oxidized, decarbonized, sank, and refined by the action of the blast; and my improvement upon the furnace consists in a different construction of some of its parts and the addition of other parts, wherebya great saving of labor, metal, time, and a more uniform quality of iron is the result of such change, as will be fully hereinafter described.

In the drawings, Figure l represents a side View ofthe furnace. Fig. 2 represents an upright sectional View of same. Fig. 3 represents an upright transverse views, partly in section, on line xx of Fig.' 2,.and Fig. 4 represents a horizontal view, partly in section, on line y y of Fig. 2. A represents the usual bed-plate having the water sink or well a, which is supplied with water from a pipe or trough, ce', through apertures a and the waste water to pass off at a, as seen in Fig. 3. Upon the bed-plate A is built the side walls, A', and front wall, A, of

wall, and other openings necessary and usualA in this kind of furnace for charging the hearth with charcoal and'for working or manipulating the lump of fused or plastic metal onthe charcoal, and for other purposes necessary to this kind of hearth. These openings may be closed by proper gates, if necessary, and the ygates have openings through which the bar l for lifting the mass can be operated, or bucky ment.

. Crepresents an arched roof over the fur nace extending from front to rear and to the iue 7o or stack, 'andC is an outer arched plate over roof C, leaving a space or chamber Cfbetween the two plates or yroofs C and G. These two arched roofs are formed from curved metallic plates,or of two flat or corrugated plates hav-y ing the blast-chamber C between them ,which is closedair-tightat both its ends.

. D is the pipe through which the forced blast of air is blown into chamber' C direct; or the blast may be.divided,so that aportion will be forced-to pass through a branch pipe, D', to be delivered into thefront part of chamber C" by turning the cut-off valve d in pipe D and valve d in branch pipe D', or the whole blast can be forced through branch pipe D into the chamber C", when required, by closing Valve d and opening valve d.

E E are bent pipes on opposite sides of the furnace, with their upperY ends bent, and pass through the outer arched plate, C', of the roof 9o to connect with chamber C, toward the rear end thereof, bending downward the proper" distance, then turn horizontally toward ea other, and at a short distance apart termina in tuyeres E', that enter the furnace through a removable plate, F, in the rear or back wall of the furnace, in apertures f f in plate F and opposite the plastic metal.

E E are bent pipes on opposite sides of the furnace, with their upper ends bent, and pass through the outer arched plate, C", ofthe roof, bending downward the same distance as do IOO pipes E, then bend toward each other, terminating intuyeresE, which enter the furnace through apertures f f in the removable tuyereplates F', on opposite sides ofthe furnace,which glves a blast of air on opposite sides and toward the front of the furnace, to force air directly upon opposite sides of the plastic metal. This description of the construction of the furnace shows the blast of forced air -applied upon three sides or directions to impinge against and act upon the fused or plastic metal in three directions; but without departing from the principle of my invention blasts of air can be made to act upon the iron on the fourth, or any number of sides that the furnace may have.

In order to clear the outside of the nozzles of the two rear tuyeres, E', of adhering cinders or clinkers, -holes f are made in the removable tuyere-plates Il" in line with the nozzles, through which holes an implement is forced that will remove such cinders or clinkers or other obstructions to their complete action and efficiency.

The two side tuyeres are kept clear from cinders by passing the implement through a front opening in the furnace.

In order to clear the inside of the tuyeres and prevent cinders from obstructing a full blast through them, I construct a device by which a direct communication through the inside bore of the tuyeres is had, and with a rod of iron of proper size all cinders or obstructions in the tuyeres will be forced out of the bore of the tuyeres into the fire.' This device is constructed as follows: A metal loop, e, is placed aroundv the angle-union e and secured inlposition, with a lever, e, pivoted theretoitfrise and turn up out of the way. Lever e" hasfa weight, e', at its outer end. A lug, 1, depends from the under edge the lever, having a stopper, 2, pivoted at 3 to lug 1, the stopper having a convex inner end to t into the countersink in the outer end of the bore in tube 4, that is screwed into the angle-union e. This construction gives a straight opening from theoutside through tube 4 and the tuyere, so that a bar ofiron of the proper size will pass through the tube and tuyere and will force all obstructions out of the inside of the tuyere into the furnace. Tube 4 being countersunk at the outer end of its bore and the stopper 2 convex onk its inner end will always insure a tight joint, even when the bore in the tube is worn to be irregular in its shape by the use of the cinder bar or poker, and when the eight e is sufficient to overbalance the press- \of theair-blast in theblast-tubes and maint-ain\anairtight `joint while in that position. By having the stopper pivoted to the lug 1 it becomes self-adjusting to the countersink in the tube without further attention from the ever e" lis down ina horizontal position the lated by a proper bar or implement.v It has the proper rabbets at 'each end to admit it to enter the opening inthe front wall of the furnace a proper distance.

g g are upwardly-rising flanges, one at each end of the plate.

g g' are notches in the front edge of the table to receive a projecting part of a supportingbracket.

H H are metal removable brackets for thev support of the fore-plate G-one at each endand having at their rear edges a dovetail enlargement, h, and at their upper forwardcorners projections h h', to lit into notches g in the fore-plate.

I I are projecting lugs attached to the front of the furnace in pairs to receive thedovetails h on the rear edges of the brackets and securely hold them to the front, and I I are pairs of steady-blocks, between which the forward edges of the brackets are held in place upon the bed-plate A. This construction of the fore-plate and its supports gives a cheap and strong table to work over, and a table that can be quickly and easily removed from the furnace-front when necessary. ,f

In order to distinguish the difference between what is described as my improvement and furnaces or hearths in common use, it is proper to state that the Lancashire hearth and 'others have substantially the same bed-plate applied, and working-tables used, over whichv the ball of metal-is manipulated in its treatment, that the metal to be opera-ted upon is placed upon an inclined shelf, B, and the heat and blast generated and applied in the usual way. The metal is heated on the shelf, is brought down, and as it is fused drops through the charcoal in contact with the blast of air fromthe tuyeres, when it will become partially oxidized. By the action of the oxide of iron thus formed and of the basic silicate of protoxide of iron remaining in the hearth the metal is decarbonized to a certain extent, and in consequence becomes less fusible and more pasty, and after complete fusion the refining of the metal commences, which consists in incessantly breaking up the lump of metal by a bar of iron and carrying the metal toward the tuyeres, the

raw portions of which, being more highly car- IIC ISO

quality, after which all the metal is'brought to the top of the hearth, and is again. melted down with a lively heat,'t`o be formed into a ball or lump, when fresh charcoal is ythrown into the hearth, the heat and blast on the unmelte'd portions being kept up at intervals with the iron bar to prevent their adhering to the lump before being melted. The lump is thentaken out to be hammered into aprismatic shape or bloom.

- The principles upon which this method of refining iron and its chief advantage are that the rawer portions of the metal melt down in drops, or liqnate, and so become separate from that already fully refined by the blast; and in so liquating it becomes exposed to the oxidizing action of the blast, and is more or less decarbonized, the fully refined metal remaining aloft all the while. The mass or lump of metal being thus properly, thoroughly, and equally refined, and in the final running down in a coherent lump the slag separates from the refined iron, and if present in an injuriousdehearth or my furnace for refining iron, and

given the description andthe operation ofthe Lancashire hearth,77 and modifications in ordinary use, and with all these described processes the action of the blast and its effects upon the fused metal is, with the manipulation of the metal, the refining agent, and if from lack of skill or faithfulness, or for any.

cause the wprkman fails to bring all the metal over and above the tuyeres, so as to receive the proper action of the blast upon the metal, then the lump is not equally refined, but it is raw or unreljned iron, and such will be found in the lump. Even with the most expert manipulation and care there .is a difference in the quality of the yiron in the lump; that on the side next the tuyere, where but one tuyere is used, is always the best, or better than that on the opposite side, which becomes manifest when the lump is under the hammer, where the unrefined iron falls from the lump as hammer-scales and lessens the yield of metal.

Iam aware that an improvement upon the one-tuyere blast has been made andzis in use where two tuyeres are used to give the blast upon opposite sides of the hearth or fire, and

that such hearth or fire has two opposite openings and tables or fore-plates, always necessitating two workmen to manipulate the met-al before the blast at the Sametime and from opposite sides of the fire. Such improvement air under pressure, either hot or cold, can be introduced through tuyeres on three or more, sides of the 1ire,and having but one fore-plate, G, for a single workman, the advantages of which are manifold, both in fuel and labor, asn

unrcned iron to a minimum, as every particle treated is more surely and easily brought into contact with the action of the blast,when such blast is applied upon three or all of its sides,-than when but one or two sides are so acted upon by the blast; hence the whole mass is more uniformly acted upon and refined.

Second. Theprocessisexpedited. The output of refined iron from the same sized hearth in the sametimeis aboutthirty-seven per cent. greater than when Vthe blast is given on one side, and also greater than when blasts are given on two sides with two or more workmen manipulating the lump at the same time.

Third. The fuel is more uniformly consumed, performing better duty, and resulting in a great saving in the quantity of charcoal consumed per ton of blooms.

Fourth. The entire lump being properly and uniformly refined, there is less falling away at the hammer, less waste, substantially none at all, resulting in a material economy or saving of metal.v

Fifth. A larger mass of metal can nipulated and be refined at a time, if desirable, than' is practicable with an ordinary fire, as heretofore used with one or two blasts,which, always resultedina lump of unequally-re fined iron.

Sixth. This improved construction of the bc ma- First. It reduces the probabilities of raw or a IOO fire or'hearth works equally well with hot blastv or cold blast.

Myimprovement further consists in the con-- struction of the roof of the furnace, which is formed of two arched metallicplates with an air space or chamber between them, or of two fiat or corrugated plates with a space between. them, through which space or .chamber thc blast is made to pass on its way to the tuyeres. The constant fiow of air under pressure be tween the plates protects them, which will materiallyrprolong their existence,while in the passingof the air. through the space betweeny the plates the blast of air absorbs heat from the plates, and is by this means converted into a hot-air blast. The heating ofthe airin this manner interferes less withthe freepassage of'v IiO the blast toward the tuyeres than when the air is heated in the usual siphon-pipes, 'as the passage is lcss tortuous and the construction over the plates or between them.

As ordinarily constructed, the roofs of re-` fining-i1es are made of cast-iron 'plates or, sows, or of an arched or dat ire-brick vcovering, either of which methods are objectionable by notbeing durable, and hard to replace.

I have heard that an iron box had been used as a cover, the boX being either open at top or closed and a circulation of water maintainedv therein to protect the cover from destruction. The objectionable "feature in this is that if a leak occurs in the boXthe Water will go into the fire, and such an overhead quantity would result in a dangerous explosion.

I am aware that blasts of air have been introduced from three or more directions into blast-furnaces and cupolas for the purpose of promoting the combustion of fuelin the smelting of ores and melting iron. I am also aware that blasts of air from several different directions have been introduced into a mass of molten metal ina con verter for converting the mass into steel.

I am further aware that air has been and is now introduced from two directions only into a charcoal blomary furnace or forge-fire for the purpose of eliminating the metalloids. The introduction of air in this way from only two directions requires more skill and faithfulness of the workman to secure the action of the blast on the molten drops of metal, and

' at best allows many of such molten drops to escape the contact and action of the air, and always has and doesstill result in unreliable and unequal refining, in slow work, and eX- travagant cost.

I wish to confine my claim to the invention as it is applied to charcoal blomary furnaces or forge-fires, and in the construction of such furnaces .as will permit an increased numberv of air-blasts and from different directions into the hearth, thus insuring a blast of air in contact with all the molten drops of metal to be more surely, more easily, uniformly, quickly, and economically effected by the oxygen of the air, which deprives the metal of impurities and converts it into malleable or wrought iron. It expedites the process of rening the metal. The consumption of fuel, waste, and labor are lessened, all being accomplished by my improved introduction of blasts of air into the hearth of a charcoal blomary furnace or forge-hre, and which has never, as I believe, been done before in such a furnace.

Having thus fully described my invention,

what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a charcoal blomary furnace or forgeiire, the combination of the plates C and C', forming an air-chamber, C, between them, the direct air-supply pipe D, connected with the chamber C through plate C', the outgoing air-pipes E E, terminating in tuyeres E and E, plates F F', and single working-front, all constructed substantially as described.

2. In a charcoal blomary furnace or forgefire, the combination of plates C and C', forming an air-chamber, C, between them, the direct air-supply pipe D, having turn-valve d therein, branch pipe D', having valve d and connecting with air-chamber C", blast-pipesE E, terminating in tuyeres E and E", plates F and F', and singleworking-front, constructed substantially as described.

3. In a charcoal blomary furnace or forgefire, the combination of the three side walls provided with tuyere-openings, the arched plates C and C', forming an air-chamber, C, between them, with the inlet air-pipes D and D and exit air-pipes E E and E E and their tuyeres E and E, substantially as described.

4. In a charcoal blomary furnace or forgefire, the combination of a single workingfront, three side walls having tuyere-openings, as described, with the air-pipes E E, tuyeres E E', air-pipes E E, and tuyeres E E, constructed and operating substantially as described.

5. In a charcoal blomary furnace or forgefire, the removable metal brackets II, having dovetail edges h, in combination with the lugs I, that receive the dovetail edges on the brackets, and the steady-blocks I, all constructed to operate substantially as described.

6. In a charcoal blomary furnace or forgefire, the fore-plate or table G, having notches g in its front edge, in combination with the removable brackets H, having the upwardlyprojecting points ZL', in the manner substan tially as described.

In testimony whereof I afx my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE B. WIESTLING.

` Vitnesses:

NEWTON CRAWFORD, CHIS. E. Comun.

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