The bessemer process reduces molten pig iron in so-called bessemer converters—egg-shaped, silica, clay, or dolomite-lined containers with capacities of 5 to 30 tons of molten iron. An opening at the narrow upper portion of the bessemer converter allows iron to be introduced and the finished product to be poured out.
How did the Bessemer process effect workers?
The Bessemer process had an immeasurable impact upon the US economy, manufacturing system, and work force. It allowed steel to become the dominant material for large construction, and made it much more cost effective. Thereof, what was the Bessemer process and how did it improve industry?
Why was the Bessemer process so important?
the Bessemer Process was an extremely important invention because it helped make stronger rails for constructing the railroads and helped to make stronger metal machines & innovative architectural structures like skyscrapers. The United States Industrial Revolution moved from the Age of Iron to the Age of steel.
How did the Bessemer process impact the Society?
Towns became major cities with steel skyscrapers and steel fabrication companies giving jobs to thousands. The Bessemer steel process changed how the world produced from the smallest of household products to skyscrapers. Not only did the Bessemer Process impact the society of the time but also sent ripples throughout the years.
How did the Bessemer steel process affect the economy?
How did the Bessemer process affect the US economy? It allowed steel to become the dominant material for large construction, and made it much more cost effective. Countless millions of tons of steel were manufactured in this manner and countless buildings, bridges, and boats were made with the resulting steel crop, stimulating the US economy in ...
How did the steel process work?
The Bessemer Steel Process was a method of producing high-quality steel by shooting air into molten steel to burn off carbon and other impurities. It was named after the British inventor Sir Henry Bessemer, who worked to develop the process in the 1850s.
What is the Bessemer process simple definition?
Definition of Bessemer process : a process of making steel from pig iron by burning out carbon and other impurities by means of a blast of air forced through the molten metal.
What was the Bessemer process a method for producing?
Bessemer process, the first method discovered for mass-producing steel. Though named after Sir Henry Bessemer of England, the process evolved from the contributions of many investigators before it could be used on a broad commercial basis.
What was the Bessemer process and how did it fuel production?
How did it fuel steel production? The bessemer process was when someone injected air into molten iron, removing carbon and transitioning into steel. It fueled steel production it became in high demand from all the new uses.
What is the Bessemer process quizlet?
The Bessemer Process was the use of a blast of hot air to purify molten iron and converted it into steel. This made it easier to produce mass amounts of steel, so the price was low.
How did the Bessemer process contribute to the industrial growth in the Gilded Age?
In 1855, Bessemer patented an inexpensive way to process steel, so it could be produced and used on a massive, industrial scale. The Bessemer steel process, in turn, allowed for the mechanization of industry. This alone began to change the composition of the labor force.
How steel is manufactured from cast iron by Bessemer process?
Principle: In bessemerisation process, the impurities present in cast iron are removed by air oxidation and calculated amount of carbon is added in the form of spigelesien (Fe + Mn +C) is added to obtain Steel. The lining of Bessemer converter depends upon presence or absence of phosphorous.
What is the process of turning iron into steel called?
Steelmaking is the process of producing steel from iron ore and/or scrap.
How did the Bessemer process contribute to industrialization?
The oxygen aided in the steel burning at a much higher temperature thus burning any impurities of the process. This allowed for steel to be manufactured in a high quantity and in a much quicker fashion. Bessemer's innovation changed the steel industry and allowed for much more efficiency in the steel industry.
Why was the Bessemer process necessary?
The Bessemer process greatly reduced the cost of producing steel. Steel, which is lighter and stronger than iron, became an important material as America industrialized. It was used extensively in rails, bridges, and skyscrapers.
What is the Bessemer steel process?
The Bessemer Steel Process was a method of producing high-quality steel by shooting air into molten steel to burn off carbon and other impurities.
What did Bessemer's experiments show?
Bessemer's experiments indicated that injecting oxygen into the steel-making process would heat the steel to such a level that impurities would burn off. He devised a furnace that would inject oxygen into the steel. The impact of Bessemer's innovation was dramatic.
What did Bessemer do when he was 21?
When he was 21 years old, he devised a stamping machine which would be useful to the British government, which routinely stamped important legal documents. The government praised his innovation, yet, in ...
Why did Bessemer and Kelly want to refine the methods of manufacturing steel?
Both Bessemer and Kelly were responding to a pressing need to refine the methods of manufacturing steel so it would be entirely reliable. In the decades before the Civil War steel was produced in great quantities. But the quality of it often varied widely.
What did Bessemer's father do?
Bessemer's father operated a type foundry, which made mechanical type used in printing presses. He had devised a method of hardening the metal he used, which made his type last longer than type made by his competitors. Growing up around the type foundry, young Bessemer became interested in building things of metal and in coming up ...
Who was the first American to use Bessemer steel?
The manufacturing of reliable steel created a revolution in business. The American businessman Andrew Carnegie, during his business trips to England in the years following the Civil War, took special note of the Bessemer process.
Who invented the sanding machine?
It was named after the British inventor Sir Henry Bessemer, who worked to develop the process in the 1850s. While Bessemer was working on his process in England, an American, William Kelly, developed a process using the same principle, which he patented in 1857. Both Bessemer and Kelly were responding to a pressing need to refine the methods ...
What is the Bessemer process?
Bessemer process, the first method discovered for mass-producing steel.
Where was the Bessemer furnace invented?
Bessemer furnace, Kelham Island Museum, Sheffield, England. Wikityke. In 1856 Bessemer, working independently in Sheffield, developed and patented the same process. Whereas Kelly had been unable to perfect the process owing to a lack of financial resources, Bessemer was able to develop it into a commercial success.
How high is a Bessemer converter?
The Bessemer converter is a cylindrical steel pot approximately 6 metres (20 feet) high, originally lined with a siliceous refractory. Air is blown in through openings (tuyeres) near the bottom, creating oxides of silicon and manganese, which become part of the slag, and of carbon, which are carried out in the stream of air.
What was the first method of mass production?
Bessemer process, the first method discovered for mass-producing steel. Though named after Sir Henry Bessemer of England, the process evolved from the contributions of many investigators before it could be used on a broad commercial basis.
What is the Bessemer process?
The Bessemer process was the first inexpensive industrial process for the mass production of steel from molten pig iron before the development of the open hearth furnace. The key principle is removal of impurities from the iron by oxidation with air being blown through the molten iron. The oxidation also raises the temperature of the iron mass and keeps it molten.
Where did the Bessemer process originate?
A system akin to the Bessemer process has existed since the 11th century in East Asia. Economic historian Robert Hartwell writes that the Chinese of the Song Dynasty (960-1279 CE) innovated a "partial decarbonization" method of repeated forging of cast iron under a cold blast. Sinologist Joseph Needham and historian of metallurgy Theodore A. Wertime have described the method as a predecessor to the Bessemer process of making steel. This process was first described by the prolific scholar and polymath government official Shen Kuo (1031–1095) in 1075, when he visited Cizhou. Hartwell states that perhaps the earliest center where this was practiced was the great iron-production district along the Henan – Hebei border during the 11th century.
What is the process of pig iron?
The blowing of air through the molten pig iron introduces oxygen into the melt which results in oxidation, removing impurities found in the pig iron, such as silicon, manganese, and carbon in the form of oxides. These oxides either escape as gas or form a solid slag. The refractory lining of the converter also plays a role in the conversion — clay linings are used when there is little phosphorus in the raw material – this is known as the acid Bessemer process. When the phosphorus content is high, dolomite, or sometimes magnesite, linings are used in the alkaline Bessemer limestone process. These are also known as Gilchrist–Thomas converters, after their inventors, Percy Gilchrist and Sidney Gilchrist Thomas. In order to produce steel with desired properties, additives such as spiegeleisen (a ferromanganese alloy), can be added to the molten steel once the impurities have been removed.
How much did Bessemer buy back?
Bessemer licensed the patent for his process to four ironmasters, for a total of £27,000, but the licensees failed to produce the quality of steel he had promised—it was "rotten hot and rotten cold", according to his friend, William Clay —and he later bought them back for £32,500.
What was steel used for?
At the time, steel was used to make only small items like cutlery and tools, but was too expensive for cannons. Starting in January 1855, he began working on a way to produce steel in the massive quantities required for artillery and by October he filed his first patent related to the Bessemer process.
How was blister steel made?
The manufacturing process, called the cementation process, consisted of heating bars of wrought iron together with charcoal for periods of up to a week in a long stone box. This produced blister steel. The blister steel was put in a crucible with wrought iron and melted, producing crucible steel.
Where was the air blowing process developed?
In the 15th century, the finery process, another process which shares the air-blowing principle with the Bessemer process, was developed in Europe.
Who invented the Bessemer process?
It was named after British engineer Henry Bessemer (1813 – 1898), who invented the process. The process was also developed independently in the United States by William Kelly (1811 – 1888), ...
What did Bessemer and Kelly do to molten iron?
Bessemer and Kelly experimented with injecting air into molten pig iron (crude iron); the oxygen in the air helped rid the iron of its impurities (such as manganese, silicon, and carbon), converting the iron to molten steel, which was then poured into molds. The process was introduced to the U.S. steel manufacturing industry in 1864.
How is cast iron converted to steel?
In a Bessemer converter, cast iron is converted into steel by blowing air through the molten iron to remove impurities. Precise amounts of carbon and metals are then added to give the desired properties to the steel. Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. " Bessemer process .
What was the industry that used steel to make cars?
There was a growing market for the material; railroads needed iron to make rail gauges and the new auto manufacturing industry used steel to make cars. As a result annual U.S. steel production increased by a factor of 20 between 1880 and 1910. One of the early industry leaders was Andrew Carnegie (1835 – 1919).
Why were alloys added to the refining process?
Alloys were also added to the refining process to help purify the metal. Within two decades the method was used to produce more than 90 percent of the nation's steel; it was eventually implemented throughout the industrialized world.
Where was the first steel plant in the United States?
In 1873 Carnegie founded the nation's first large-scale steel plant at Braddock, Pennsylvania. In 1901 he sold the plant and other steel mills to the United States Steel Corporation (later to become the USX Corporation, the largest steel producer in the United States). The Bessemer process continued to be used until after World War II (1939 – 1945).
Overview
Technical details
Using the Bessemer process, it took between 10 and 20 minutes to convert three to five tons of iron into steel — it would previously take at least a full day of heating, stirring and reheating to achieve this.
The blowing of air through the molten pig iron introduces oxygen into the melt which results in oxidation, removing impurities found in the pig iron, such as sili…
History
A system akin to the Bessemer process has existed since the 11th century in East Asia. Economic historian Robert Hartwell writes that the Chinese of the Song Dynasty (960-1279 CE) innovated a "partial decarbonization" method of repeated forging of cast iron under a cold blast. Sinologist Joseph Needham and historian of metallurgy Theodore A. Wertime have described the method as a …
Importance
In 1898, Scientific American published an article called Bessemer Steel and its Effect on the World explaining the significant economic effects of the increased supply in cheap steel. They noted that the expansion of railroads into previously sparsely inhabited regions of the country had led to settlement in those regions, and had made the trade of certain goods profitable, which had previously bee…
Obsolescence
In the U.S., commercial steel production using this method stopped in 1968. It was replaced by processes such as the basic oxygen (Linz–Donawitz) process, which offered better control of final chemistry. The Bessemer process was so fast (10–20 minutes for a heat) that it allowed little time for chemical analysis or adjustment of the alloying elements in the steel. Bessemer converters did not remove phosphorus efficiently from the molten steel; as low-phosphorus ore…
See also
• Cementation (metallurgy) process
• Methods of crucible steel production
External links
• "Progress in the Manufacture of Steel" in Popular Science Monthly Volume 19, October 1881
• "Bessemer's explanation of his process". The Engineer. 15 August 1856.
• "How the Modern Steel Furnace Does Its Work". Popular Science: 30–31. February 1919.