20S 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND|ARCH1TECT S JOURNAL. 



[June, 



Scale i inch to a foot. 



A. The Hopper to contain the charge oi 



ore anil coal. 



B. Preparatory oven or bed. 

 ( . Wheels to regulate the supply of the 



mixture. 

 D, Shaft to which the perforated bottom 



E is attached. 

 F. Chimney, nearly double in area to that 

 which is require 1 on the old system of 



puddling. 



Scale J inch to a foot. 



I m at** 



bars, iron is produced, of a quality in every respect equal, and in powers of 

 tension superior, to that which results from the second piling and reheating 

 in the common mode; it is therefore contended that the two processes pro- 

 duce from the hsematite nearly one-third more iron, of as good a quality as 

 is usually obtained by the six processes of the old system. The iron thus 

 produced bears a high polish, is very uniform in its texture, is ductile and 

 fibrous, having more than an average amount of tensile strength, and at the 

 same time appears to be more dense, as it possesses a peculiar sonorousness, 

 resembling that of a bar of steel when struck. It has also been converted 

 into steel of a good quality. 



The paper is illustrated by a drawing of the furnace necessary for the pro- 

 cess, and by specimens of the iron and steel produced. 



Remarks. — Mr. Clay contended that the ordinary method of making iron 

 was neither so scientific, nor so practically good as there was reason to ex- 

 pect it would have been, when iron formed so considerable an item in the 



productive industry of the country. His invention was in some degree based 

 upon the old Catalan fire, wherein malleable iron was produced direct from 

 the ore, although by a considerable expenditure of fuel : by his process the 

 ore was also reduced at one operation into the state of malleable iron, by 

 combination with a large portion of carbonaceous matter; and as the deoxy. 

 dation of the ore could proceed simultaneously in an adjoining preparatory 

 bed, through which the flame of the puddling furnace traversed, there was 

 necessarily a great saving of time, labour, and fuel in the production of the 

 metal, while the quality was at the same time improved. He argued, there- 

 fore, that if the system was generally adopted, a large portion of the capital 

 now sunk in the expensive constructions of blast furnaces, blowing engines, 

 &c, would be dispensed with. 



Mr. Taylor observed, that the process appeared to be only applicable to 

 the rich qualities of iron ore, which were now used in comparatively small 

 quantities, as a mixture with the clay ironstones of the coal fields, from which 

 iron was generally produced in this country. There existed large quantities 

 of haematite in Great Britain, equal in quality to that of Nassau, or of the 

 Hartz mountains, from which so much iron was made, for converting into 

 steel. The mines of Ulverstone alone now produce 50,000 tons annually, 

 and at least 25,000 tons more could be shipped from Cornwall; and if a de- 

 mand existed, there was scarcely a limit to the quantity that could be raised. 

 He apprehended that the iron made by this process could be converted into 

 good steel : this was very desirable, as it would render this country indepen- 

 dent of Sweden and Russia, whence nearly all the steel-iron was now im- 

 ported. 



Mr. Heath had examined Mr. Clay's process of iron-making, and found 

 that the wrought iron produced from a mixture of Scottish pig-iron and 

 haematite ore, was of a superior quality, bearing severe tests without injury. 

 The iron made by this method, from India pig-iron and specular iron ore 

 fper-oxyde of iron) from Devonshire, which was identical in quality with the 

 celebrated Elba ore, when converted into cast steel, by a process which he 

 had accidentally discovered, possessed the quality of welding like shear steel, 

 without any of its defects. The method he alluded to, was to combine man- 

 ganese with the cast steel in the crucible, and when drawn out under the tilt 

 hammer it could be worked and welded to iron, like shear steel : the conse- 

 quence of this discovery was, that the latter quality of steel was almost 

 abandoned for cutlery, and the former was now generally used, as it did not 

 exhibit the laminated appearance when polished, which shear steel frequently 

 did. The metal was sounder, and fewer wasters were made. All the brown 

 haematites contained manganese, anil there was little doubt that, by selecting 

 the proper kinds of ore, malleable iron might be made in Great Britain by 

 this process, as good for converting into steel as any of the Swedish iron. 

 There was abundance of specular iron ore on Dartmoor, equal to the Elba 

 ore, and which would (he had little doubt) produce as good iron as that from 

 the Dannemora ore. 



Dr. Faraday remarked, that the process invented by Mr. Clay was 

 founded on sound chemical principles. It was desirable to abandon the use 

 of limestone as a flux : it was proved that the purest limestones contained 

 phosphates, which, although advantageous in agricultural processes, were de- 

 trimental in iron making. 



Mr. Fox had tried some specimens of Mr. Clay's iron, and found them to 

 bear severe tests, as well as the best cable bolt iron made in the ordinary 

 manner. 



Mr. Clay explained that Mr. Heath's process was not indispensable for 

 converting into steel the iron made by his method ; and also that argillaceous 

 iron ores, after calcination, could be treated in lus furnace, like the haematite 

 ores, but not so advantageously. 



Mr. Taylor said that 25,000 tons of steel were converted annually in this 

 country, and of that quantity not more than 2500 tons were made from the 

 best Swedish iron; for the remainder, inferior qualities of iron, such as Rus- 

 sian iron, marked CCND, from the forges of Monsieur Demidoff, were used. 

 All that iron was made with charcoal, and could only be called inferior when 

 compared with that made from the Dannemora ore. If Mr. Clay's process 

 was successful in treating the haematite ores, as had been stated, it was of 

 great importance, as it would emancipate the country from a dependence 

 upon foreign products. He had recently seen in Germany, a process of pro- 

 ducing steel by stopping the operation of puddling pig-iron at a certain 

 point, or intermediate state between cast and wrought iron, and hammering 

 the mass at once into bars. The operation was one of much delicacy, and 

 depended entirely upon the skill of the workman. 



Mr. Heath believed the manufacture of steel was involved in unnecessary 

 mystery; it was the general opinion that foreign iron was essential to pro- 

 duce good qualities. Iron as now made from coke furnaces certainly con- 

 tained too much foreign matter to be used for steel, and it would require 

 more attention to the selection of the materials, before pure iron coedd be 

 obtained; some of the Low Moor iron, the good quality of which was uni- 

 versally admitted, had been made into blistered steel, but although the 

 springs made with it appeared perfect, it was said that they did not answer 

 so well as those made with steel from charcoal iron. The Sheffield manu- 

 facturers required that steel should possess " nature and body ;" the first 

 quality to enable it to be rolled and drawn out without cracking, and the 

 second that it might receive and retain a fine edge. Steel made from Garn- 

 derris iron (South Wales) possessed " nature," but if made into cast-steel it 

 fled into pieces in working, as it did not possess " body." Steel from Ger- 

 man ores appeared to have " body," K "' —■»♦•* " nature " 



but wanted " nature." Steel from 



