METALS. 



515 



Per cent. 



Carbon 0.272 



Silicon none. 



Sulphur the barest trace. 



Phosphorus none. 



Manganese none. 



Iron, by direct determination 99.500 



Total 99.772 



New Smelting and Puddling Furnaces. 

 The Mechanics' Magazine notices approvingly 

 a furnace for smelting, puddling, and heating, 

 with a new description of fireplace, the inven- 

 tion of Mr. J. M. Stanley, of Sheffield. Fur- 

 naces of his pattern are in successful operation 

 at nearly all the iron and steel works in that 

 city and neighborhood, and are said to effect a 

 saving of from 30 to 50 per cent, of fuel, and a 

 reduction of 80 per cent, in the quantity of 

 ashes made. 



The fireplace is generally constructed of 

 brickwork, and has no fire-bars, but is pro- 

 vided with a lateral opening for the admission 

 of a forced blast, obtained by means of a jet 

 of steam, injected into the centre of a pipe, 

 inducing a strong current of air ; the steam- 

 blast is conducted through channels provided 

 in the brickwork, and passes directly into the 

 fire, producing combustion at any required 

 rate that may be necessary for the purpose of 

 melting or heating. The blast is regulated by 

 means of a valve, under the control of the 

 furnace-man, and the heat of the furnace may 

 be raised or lowered at pleasure, quite inde- 

 pendently of the draught of the chimney. 



A cross-bridge is also provided in the mid- 

 dle of the fireplace, having about an equal 

 space above and below, with one or more 

 apertures at the back for the passage of heated 

 air and steam into the fire at a point just above 

 the incandescent fuel lying in the lower part 

 of the fireplace, and the volatile 'gases passing 

 from the upper part. The space between the 

 first and second bridge forms a combustion- 

 chamber, where the gases meet in a highly- 

 heated state and produce thorough combus- 

 tion. By this means it is found that the whole 

 of the fuel is consumed in the fireplace, and 

 nothing but incombustible refuse left, and, by 

 the arrangement of the combustible gases in a 

 highly-heated state, the whole of the heat is 

 evolved from the fuel that it is capable of giving 

 out, and is forced directly into the heating or 

 melting chamber, as may be required. 



Rotary Puddling. At the Morgan Iron- 

 Works, Marquette, Mr. 0. Donkersley has 

 erected a rotary puddling-furnace of his own 

 invention. It has a combustion-chamber about 

 4 feet square and 30 inches high. New fuel is 

 introduced in the form of pulverized charcoal, 

 by means of a No. 2 Sturtevant blower. Here 

 the fuel is entirely consumed, and its results, in 

 the form of heated gas, pass over an arch into 

 the puddler, and through that into the chim- 

 ney-stack. 



It is found, by various severe tests, that this fuel, 

 thus applied, will generate sufficient heat to act upon 

 ores or pig-metal very quickly ; the intensity of the 



heat depending upon the amount of fuel and the 

 quantity of oxygen introduced through the blower. 

 And there appears, too, to be so perfect a combus- 

 tion, that by the time the flame has reached the 

 stack it has lost its vitality and emits no gases. Be- 

 sides, the coal used is the waste of coal-kilns and 

 furnace-yards, which has not heretofore been util- 

 ized. 



The puddler is four feet in diameter and five feet 

 long, lined with a conglomerate and fettled with ore. 

 It revolves up^on four bearings, one set under each 

 quarter, and is driven by a connection with the 

 principal engine of the works through a shaft and 

 gear which engages with toothed segments, which 

 pass around its circumference at either end. A 

 chamber is stationed between the puddler and the 

 chimney-stack, which is raised at right angles with 

 the axis of the puddler by a counter-weight, and 

 gives access to the interior of the puddler. 



The puddler is charged directly from the blast- 

 furnace, and handles a half-ton ball with perfect fa- 

 cility. The balls for the present are bloomed under a 

 powerful hammer, but it is the intention to erect a Sie- 

 mens reheating furnace, and carry the stock to the 

 rolls without losing its virgin heat. 



Dormoy^s Mechanical Puddler. This ar- 

 rangement has been introduced into about forty 

 furnaces in Austria and France, and is highly 

 spoken of in European scientific journals. Its 

 chief novelty consists in placing a rabble, ro- 

 tated by steam-power, directly in the hands 

 of the puddler. The crowning furnace is left 

 unchanged, except that the riders of the bed 

 are set on an angle instead of being vertical. 

 The Mechanics' Magazine says : 



To adopt the plan to any common existing pud- 

 dling furnace, a shaft conveying power from any 

 prime mover is carried about six feet above the fur- 

 nace. A belt from a pulley transmits the rotation 

 of the shaft to another pulley or sheave below, which 

 rests on the belt a little in front of the furnace-door. 

 One end of the boss of the pulley is so jointed to a 

 handle held by the puddler, that the pulley can rotate 

 without carrying around the handle. The other end 

 embraces the outer end of the rabble, to which it is 

 held by a cross-pin. The belt is thus made to ro- 

 tate the rabble in any required position, in a some- 

 what similar way to the well-known rotating hair- 

 brush. The number of revolutions employed is 

 from three to five hundred per minute for white pig- 

 iron, and from eight hundred to one thousand for 

 gray pig-iron. The belt, while carrying and rotating 

 the rabble, endows it with mechanical energy, and 

 allows the stirring and pudding action to be directed 

 to any portion of the molten metal. The rapidity 

 with which the tool can be worked round gives the 

 metal such an impulse that it turns horizontally on 

 the bed, continually renewing the surfaces in con- 

 tact with the atmosphere. The point of the rotating 

 rabble, instead . of being hooked, carries a disk. 

 When the iron has come to nature, this is replaced 

 by a rabble having a short twisted point. The fol- 

 lowing are figures giving the work done at Eimau- 

 court by one of these furnaces, during the first two 

 weeks of last December : 



Working day of 24 hours. 12341567.. 



Number of charges 23 23 23 24 1 24 24 25 .. 



Days of 24houre.... 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 



Number of charees 28 26 25 26 | 26 25 24 23 



Total 369 charges, during which the furnace was 

 fettled only nine times, or on an average of one fet- 

 tling to 40 charges. The charges of pig and of ham- 

 merslag for the furnace -bed amounted to 97,060 

 kilogrammes. The amount produced is, 81,921 kilog., 

 with an expenditure of coal of 45,240 kilog., which 

 gives 1,185 kilog. of pig per 1,000 kilog. of wrought- 



