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Henry Bessemer - The Steel Man
Henry Bessemer
and the Production of Steel
by Mary Bellis
Sir Henry Bessemer, an
Englishman, invented the first process for
mass-producing steel inexpensively in the 19th century.
It was an essential
contribution to the development of modern day skyscrapers.
The First System for
Manufacturing Steel
An
American, William Kelly, initially held a patent for "a system of air
blowing the carbon out of pig iron," a method of steel production known as
the pneumatic process.
Air was blown through molten
pig iron to oxidize and remove unwanted impurities.
This
was Bessemer’s starting point. When Kelly went bankrupt, Bessemer – who had
been working on a similar process for making steel – bought his patent.
Bessemer patented "a
decarbonization process utilizing a blast of air" in 1855.
Modern Steel
Modern
steel is made using technology based on Bessemer’s process.
On the making of the first
steel ingot, Bessemer said:
"I
well remember how anxiously I awaited the blowing of the first 7-cwt. charge of
pig iron. I had engaged an iron founder's furnace attendant to manage the
cupola and the melting of the charge.
“When his metal was nearly all melted, he
came to me and said hurriedly, 'Where be going to put the metal, maister?’
“I said, ‘I want you to run it by a
gutter into that little furnace,’ pointing to the converter, ‘from which you
have just raked out all the fuel, and then I shall blow cold air through it to
make it hot.’
“The
man looked at me in a way in which surprise and pity for my ignorance seemed
curiously blended, and he said, ‘It will soon be all of a lump.’
“Notwithstanding this prediction, the
metal was run in, and I awaited with much impatience the result. The first
element attacked by the atmospheric oxygen is the silicon, generally present in
pig iron to the extent of 1 1/2 to 2 percent; it is the white metallic
substance of which flint is the acid silicate. Its combustion furnishes a great
deal of heat, but it is very undemonstrative, a few sparks and hot gases only
indicating the fact that something is going quietly on.
“But
after an interval of 10 or 12 minutes, when the carbon contained in grey pig
iron to the extent of about 3 percent is seized on by the oxygen, a voluminous
white flame is produced which rushes out of the openings provided for its
escape from the upper chamber, and it brilliantly illuminates the whole space
around.
“This chamber proved a perfect cure for
the rush of slags and metal from the upper central opening of the first
converter. I watched with some anxiety for the expected cessation of the flame
as the carbon gradually burnt out. It took place almost suddenly, and thus
indicated the entire decarburisation of the metal.
“The
furnace was then tapped, when out rushed a limpid stream of incandescent
malleable iron, almost too brilliant for the eye to rest upon. It was allowed
to flow vertically into the parallel undivided ingot mould.
“Then came the question, would the ingot
shrink enough, and the cold iron mould expand enough, to allow the ingot to be
pushed out? An interval of eight or 10 minutes was allowed, and then, on the
application of hydraulic force to the ram, the ingot rose entirely out of the mould
and stood there ready for removal."
Bessemer
was knighted in 1879 for his contributions to science. The "Bessemer
Process" for mass-producing steel was named after him.
Robert
Mushet is credited with inventing tungsten steel in 1868, and Henry Brearly
invented stainless steel in 1916.
Mary Bellis
· New
York-based film producer and director
· Singled
out by Forbes magazine for her writing on inventors.
· Known
in art and independent film circles by the name CalmX
· Creator
of computer-generated art
Experience
Mary
Bellis was a former writer for ThoughtCo, where she covered inventors for 18
years. She was a freelance writer, film producer, and director. In
addition, Forbes Best of the Web credited her for creating the number one
online destination for information about inventors and inventions. Her
writing has been reprinted and referenced in numerous educational books and
articles. She was known for her short independent films and
documentaries, including one on Alexander Graham Bell. She specialized in
making and exhibiting computer-generated art, while working as an animator,
journalist and an independent video game developer. She died on March 28,
2015.
Education
Mary
Bellis held a Master of Fine Arts in film and animation from the San
Francisco Art Institute.
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