US1289799A - Process of producing ferromanganese. - Google Patents

Description

JOHN TYLER JONES, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR T THOMAS J. I

, HOWELLS, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

PROCESS OF PRODUCING FERROMANGANESE.

No Drawing.

. and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a newand useful Improvement in Processes of Producing Ferromanganese, of which the following is a specification,

My invention relates-to improvements in processes for producing ferromanganeseand it consists in the steps hereinafter descrlbed and claimed.

In certain parts of the country, notably in Minnesota, there is a large depositof manganese in the form of manganese oxid wh ch is of comparatively low grade. Chief among these deposits is that known as the Cuyuna Range. p I

Various attempts have been made to'use this ore in the making of 'ferromanganese but these trials have been commercially unsuccessful because of the fact that the ore has a low proportion of manganese, and that it is high in phosphorus. Itis true that spiegeleisen has been made from th1s ore but this only contains a relatively small proportion of manganese, The specifications for a good ferromanganese require approximately eighty per cent. (80%) of manganese to twenty percent. (20%) of iron. Of late the price of ferromanganese has risen enormously owing to the great demand for metal in the makin of munitions of war as well as for use in t e domestic arts.

One of the main objects of the present invention is the provision of a process by means of which ferromanganese may be produced at a relatively low cost from low grade manganese ore such as that found in the Cuyuna Range.

A further object of my invention is to provide a process which can be carried out quickly, thereby resulting in a saving of time as well as in cost.

A further object of my invention is to pro-' vide a process for making ferromanganese which does not require the use of specially designed machinery to carry out the process,

- but which may be carried out through the use of ordinary apparatus such as a regeneratlve colilng oven and a regeneratlv'e furnace. I

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 31, 1918.

Application filed October 12, 1917. Serial No. 196,196.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the followin specification and the novel features of the lnvention will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

The deposit of the manganese ore inthe Cuyuna Range occurs in what is known as blanket formation, that is to say, the ore is found just beneath the top soil at distances approximatin twenty feet and-is substantially level with thesurface of the' ground, instead of being inclined in veins. The ore is, therefore, readily available in regions where roads have already been built. As stated before, the reason why the deposits have not been worked heretofore is because up to the present time no process has been found which would render the use of this ore commercially profitable.

The ore is mined in the ordinary way,that is to say, in the manner in which such blanket formations near the surface are mined and it is then crushed. It should be stated that accompanying the manganese oxid is iron oxid, silica and phosphorus so that the ore really contains iron and man- Assuming for the purpose of illustration that the particular ore under consideration consists of a mixture of iron oxid, manganese oxid, silica, phosphorus and "small particles of other elements, the ore, asstated above, is crushed b passin it through ordinary crushing rolls to a fineness of from twenty to one hundred mesh.

Preferably bituminous coal of a quality which has thirty-six per cent. (36%) of volatile matter, sixty per cent. (60%) of fixed carbon and the remainder of various organic and inorganic constituents, is crushed to a corresponding fineness, that is to say, to substantially twenty mesh, although the crushing of the coal to the same fineness of the ore is not necessary. The crushed ore and the crushed coal are now mixed in any suitable mixing device such as a rota-ting barrel or the like, and are thoroughly intermingled. It is necessary that an excess of coal be used and the propor-- third of ore and two-thirds of coal, although these proportions mav be varied without departing in the least from the spirit and scope of the invention. The mixed material is now put into a furnace or retort and heated. The particular kind of retort forms no part of the present invention. An ordinary Siemens regenerating coking oven or an ordinary by-product oven may be used and the temperature at which the mixture is heated is preferably the highest temperature ordinarily used in making coke.

The material, that is to say, the mixed coal and ore is left in the oven long enough to thoroughly coke the mass. The time depends, ofcourse, upon the size of the oven. With some ovens twenty-four hours is sufficient, while others require forty-eight and others perhaps seventy-two. When the mixed ore and coal is put in a small crucible and heated the mass is coked in a few minutes.

After the material has been coked it is taken out of the oven in a red-hot condition and water is turned on it as in the ordinary process of making coke. The product is a substance which has "cry much the appearance of coke. On closer examination, however, it will be found that the metal is in a metallic state, that is to say, instead of being in the oxid form, it is in the metal form and the oxygen has been substantially driven off. Furthermore, the metals to be recovered by the process are not in an alloyed state. In the example assumed above, we have taken a mixture of iron oxid and manganese oxid, but in the final product the iron appears as metallic iron, the manganese as" metallic manganese. and not as alloy. The reason is obvious; these particles are separated by particles of coke. The whole is in an agglomerated form havmg the appearance of ordinary coke, except when examined critically with a microscope.

I desire to call particular attention to the fact that substantially no air is admitted to the furnace during the coking or heating operation. Neither are any fluxes used.

The product is now in a state in which the iron and manganese ca I be readily brought to the proper proportions. 'Iniorder to do this I may crush the coked material and may separate substantially all of the iron out magnetically. ,The residue containing manganese, silica and other elements is treated for the separation of themanganese. This is accomplished by means of a gravity separator such as a lVilfiey table or similar device. This separation leaves the greater portion of the phosphorus in the residue.

The final step is the reduction of the iron and manganese to the alloyed state; this is .done in any suitable retort or furnace, by

mixing the iron and manganese thus separated in the desired proportlons. No flux is used; all that is necessary is to heat the mass to such a temperature as will consume the coke and cause the fusion of 'the iron and manganese, whereupon there will be formed a ferromanganese alloy of the proportions desired.

The process'described herein, it will be noted, requires that the ore be in a finely divided state. The whole tendency of modern metallurgy at least up to the time of applicants invention, has been to get away from the finely divided state, that is to say, to carry out the operation with lumps of ore, not small particles of ore or ore dust. The reason is obvious; in the ordinary operation dust is blown out of the furnaces. Whole sections around metal reduction works are covered with this fine dust and therefore, the tendency has been to exert every effort to keep down the dust, because not only does it forma nuisance in the surrounding community, but it causes an actual loss of material. In my process I make use of ex'ery bit of the crushed material. The crushed material is put into an air-tight heating device, no dust can possibly escape, the finer the material, the better is the coked product. but the latter 'comesout in the form of an agglomerated mass which may be. handled without inconvenience and which is in the state from which the metal may be easily obtained as described.

I desire to call particular attention to'the fact that in the particular example set forth above the production of the agglomerated mass consisting of the metals separated by particles of carbon is effected by the volatile constituents of the coal and that there remains just as much coke as would ordinarily be produced when coal of the given weight is treated in the ordinary manner. Now this cokeitself has, of course, amarketable value. The reduction of the metals has been accomplished by the volatile constituents of which hydrogen and various hydro-carbons are important factors. Furthermore, when a byproduct oven is used not only are the volatile portions of the coal used in bringing the metals to the metallic state, but certain constituents of the excess of volatile matter may be recovered in addition. This again renders the process still more economical.

I claim 1. The herein described process of producing ferromanganese which consists in heating material containing iron oxid and manganese oxid with coal, substantially out ducing ferromanganese which consists in heating ore. containing iron and manganese weaves with an excess of coal, substantially out of the presence of air, separating the iron from the resulting product, separating the manganese from the residue and fusing the iron and manganese to form the alloy.

3. The herein described process of producing ferromanganese which consists in heating finely divided ore containing iron and manganese with coal, substantially out of the presence of air, separating the iron from the resulting product, separating the manganese from the residue, and fusing the iron and manganese to form the alloy.

4:. The herein described process of producing ferromanganese Which consists in heating finely divided ore containing the oxids of iron and manganese With an excess of finely divided or pulverized coal, substantially out of the presence of air, separating the iron from the resulting product, separating the manganese from the residue, and fusing the iron and manganese to form the alloy.

5. The herein described process of producing ferromanganese Which consists in heating finely divided ore containing the oxids of iron and manganese With an excess of finely divided or pulverized coal, substantially out of the presence of air, crushing the resulting product, magnetically separating the iron from the crushed product, separating the manganese from the residue and fusing the iron and manganese to form the alloy.

6. The herein described process of producing ferromanganese which consists in heating finely divided ore containing the oxids of iron and manganese with an excess of finely divided or pulverized coal, substantially out of the presence of air, crushing the resulting product, magnetically separating the iron from the crushed product,

separating the manganese from the residue by gravitational means, and fusing the iron and manganese to form the alloy.

7. The herein described process of producing ferromanganese Which consists in heating finely divided ore containing the oxids of iron and manganese With an excess of finely divided or pulverized coal, substantially out of the presence of air, crushing the resulting product, magnetically separating the iron from the crushed product, separating the manganese from the residue by gravitational means, and fusing definite proportions of the iron and manganese to form an alloy of the desired composition.

8. The herein described steps in a process of producing ferromanganese which consists in crushing an ore containing iron oxid and manganese oxid, mixing the crushed ore With crushed coal and heating the mixture out of the presence of a flux to bring the iron and manganese into the metallic state.

9. The herein described steps in a process of producing ferromanganese which con sists in crushing an ore containing iron oxid and manganese oxid, mixing the crushed ore with crushed coal and heating the mixture out of the presence of a fiux to bring the iron and manganese into the metallic state, and to coke the coal.

10. The herein described process of producing ferromanganese which consists in heating material containing iron oxid and manganese oxid with carbonaceous material, substantially out of the presenceof air, separating the iron from the resulting product, separating the manganese from the residue and fusing the iron and manganese to form the alloy.

JOHN TYLER JONES.