286 



THE SCIENTIFIC PAPERS OF 



There is manifestly an analogy between this and the Bessemer 

 process, both of them being processes of decarburisation of pig 

 metal ; yet there are very important differences, both as regards 

 the nature of the chemical reactions and of the metal produced. 

 In the Bessemer process the silicon and carbon are fully oxidised 

 by the action of the blast, whereas sulphur and phosphorus are 

 known to remain unoxidised. Manganese is oxidised in the Bes- 

 semer process only to a certain extent, and therefore it is not 

 necessary to add spiegeleisen at the end of the operation, when 

 the pig metal employed contains a moderate amount of metallic 

 manganese, as is the case in Sweden and in Styria! Mr. W. 

 Hackney, the manager, and Mr. A. Willis, the resident chemist 

 at the Landore Steel Works, have analysed Bessemer metals made 

 without the final addition of spiegel, and found them to contain 

 no less than 0*3 per cent, of manganese. Notwithstanding the 

 non-oxidation of manganese, from 8 to 10 per cent, of iron is 

 oxidised in the Bessemer process, although iron has naturally less 

 affinity to oxygen than manganese. The oxidation of this amount 

 of iron in the Bessemer converter is, in so far, a fortunate circum- 

 stance, as without it the amount of heat necessary to liquefy the 

 resulting malleable iron could not be produced, and the metal 

 would necessarily set in the converter. In the ore-reducing pro- 

 cess above described a totally different result ensues, as is shown 

 by the following experiment. 



A manganiferous pig was melted, and ore charged in the usual 

 manner. After the pig was completely melted, it contained the 

 ingredients stated in the first line of the following table, from 

 which it will be seen that silicon and manganese were eliminated 

 first, and then very little change took place in the carbon until the 

 two other constituents were completely removed : 



