64 



NA TURE 



[May 20, 1897 



the South Wales district was no less than 8 tons i hundred- 

 weight ; while the average make of pig iron per furnace per 

 week was 20 tons. Last year the maximum output of blast 

 furnaces at Dowlais was 1600 tons per week, the consumption 

 of fuel (coke) being equal to about i^ tons of coal per ton of 

 pig. The description of the manner in which the steel industry- 

 was introduced at Dowlais and its subsequent increase was com- 

 mented upon by the President ; one of the first works to take 

 up the Bessemer process being the Dowlais Ironworks. Sir 

 Henry Bessemer himself has stated that the first ingots \yere 

 made from grey Blaenavon, which was converted into soft iron 

 or steel without spiegel or manganese, the converter being lined 

 with Stourbridge bricks. Menelaus, Edward Williams, and 

 Edward Riley made successful tests at Dowlais immediately after 

 Bessemer read his historic paper at the Cheltenham meeting of 

 the British Association ; the latter only of the three gentlemen 

 named survives, he being present at the meeting and taking 

 part in the discussion. When Mr. Bessemer came to Dowlais 

 to continue the experiments a convenient refinery happened to 

 exist opposite the furnace making cinder pig, and the iron from 

 this furnace was by a singular and most unfortunate mischance 

 employed for Mr.Bessemer's trials. The result, naturally, was 

 very disappointing ; and it is characteristic of the troubles 

 inventors have to meet, that it was then contended such accidents 

 were inherent to the process. Mr. Martin states that some time 

 ago he came across one of these Bessemer ingots, which he 

 analysed. As might be imagined, the phosphorus was extremely 

 high — in fact, ridiculously so, being nearly 2 per cent. Un- 

 fortunately, the mistake in regard to the pig iron was not ascer- 

 tained until some time after, so that, though the Dowlais Iron 

 Company was one of the first to take up a licence to make 

 Bessemer steel, they did not begin to roll steel rails till 1864. 

 It will surprise a good many people to learn that large quantities 

 of iron rails were rolled at Dowlais as late as the year 1882. 

 The substitution of Bessemer and Siemens steel for wrought 

 iron has reduced the number of puddling furnaces at Dowlais 

 from 25s to 15. 



The statistical part of the address was extremely interesting, 

 especially that relating to American competition. American iron 

 and steel makers exceed those of this country enormously by the 

 output they obtain from their appliances. The Carnegie Steel 

 Works have, the President stated, again surprised the world by the 

 tremendous strides they have made. The Duquesne furnaces hold 

 the world's record. Their best month's work has been 17,182 tons, 

 or 572 tons per day, the actual best day's output being 690 tons, 

 with a consumption of coke, as an average of a month, of 1700 lbs. 

 per ton of pig iron. That is with a 57 to 60 per cent, ore, but in 

 our country with a 48 to 50 per cent, ore we look on a make of 

 a little over 1600 tons per week with satisfaction. " When this 

 is compared with the gigantic outputs obtained from the 

 Duquesne furnaces," the President said, "during the same 

 period, it must be admitted that the results achieved here leave 

 much to be desired." It may be added that still larger furnaces 

 are being erected in America, and it is confidently expected that 

 these will produce 1000 tons of pig iron per furnace per day. 

 The Bessemer Steel Worksat Duquesne are on the same huge scale 

 as the blast furnaces, and other American works mentioned by 

 the President are on a similarly imposing plan. In spite of the 

 high wages paid in America, it has been possible by working in 

 this wholesale manner to bring the cost of production to a very 

 low ebb, until, as has been recently stated, it is a question now 

 not how much steel we should send to America, but how far we 

 can meet American competition within our own boundaries. 

 The details as to freights, iron ore supply, by-products, wages 

 and labour cost, railway rates, and other matters of a like 

 nature were also discussed in the address. 



Mr. Mollis' contribution was the first paper to be read. 

 The Weardale furnace is of the re-heating type — that is to say, 

 it is used for heating slabs, &c. It would be difficult to give a 

 description of the design without the drawings by which the 

 paper was accompanied. The author's object was to obtain 

 continuous working without reversing, and yet to dispense with 

 the regenerating chambers altogether, on account of their cost. 

 It was also a point kept in view to introduce the flame in 

 such a way as to obtain equal heating over the whole floor of 

 the heating chamber. The broad principle upon which these 

 ends was eff'ected was by constructing the furnace so that the 

 gas-flame would be introduced through, and surrounded by, a 

 stratum of highly-heated air in the roof of the furnace. The 

 flame would pour down on the slabs or piles to be heated, and 



NO. 1438, VOL. 56] 



would pass along the floor of the working chamber to an out- 

 let port at each end. Judging by the details given by the 

 author in his paper, and from the testimony of many competent 

 judges during the discussion, the Weardale furnace seems to give 

 satisfactory results. 



The next paper read was the contribution of Messrs. Arnold 

 and Knowles. The authors stated that in passing pure car- 

 bonic oxide over white-hot aluminium the metal became coated 

 with a grey mixture of aluminal and carbon. Also, on blowing 

 forty gallons of carbonic oxide through molten mild steel, con- 

 taining about 4 per cent, of aluminium, the percentage of carbon 

 was raised ; this power of aluminium, to reduce carbonic oxides 

 at high temperatures, has since been used to measure the per- 

 meability to furnace gases of clay steel melting crucibles. The 

 experiments were carried out by melting ingots of Swedish 

 iron, containing 99*85 of iron, with calculated quantities of 

 aluminium. The ingots were broken up and re-melted, and 

 it was found that in each case the greater part of the aluminium 

 had been oxidised, and that the carbon liberated had converted 

 the iron into hard steel ; in one case remarkably high in 

 silicon, doubtless reduced from the clay of the crucible during 

 the prolonged time the steel was maintained in a molten state. 

 The most important practical feature of the experiment was 

 the fact shown that the walls of a crucible form little protection 

 against the absorption of sulphur by the metal inside it. A 

 good discussion took place on the reading of this paper, it 

 being opened by Prof. Roberts-Austen, who gave what was a 

 valuable supplement to the paper, consisting of details of work 

 of a similar nature carried out by previous investigators. This 

 question of the porosity of crucibles was, Prof. Roberts- Austen 

 said, the dominant problem in the minds of metallurgists early 

 in the century. The reading and discussion of these two papers, 

 and of the President's address, occupied the first sitting of the 

 meeting. 



The first paper taken on the Wednesday was that of Mr. 

 Jeremiah Head, in which he described an apparatus worked by 

 electrical power, which has been introduced in America for 

 charging Siemens furnaces. In this country hand labour is 

 universally adopted for the purpose, although mechanical means 

 are about to be introduced in some works. It is by such ap- 

 pliances as those described by Mr. Head that the American 

 steel-makers are enabled to obtain the enormous output to which 

 reference has already been made. It would be difficult to 

 describe the machine without the diagrams which Mr. Head 

 had shown upon the wall, or the very beautiful working model 

 which Mr. Archibald Head exhibited at the conclusion of the 

 reading of the paper. It 'must suffice to say that a powerful 

 frame or gantry is run up in front of the furnace ; by means of 

 an electric motor a massive arm is projected from this. The 

 arm is provided with what might aptly be called a hand, 

 which grasps the bojjes containing the furnace materials 

 entirely by automatic means. The furnace door is then opened 

 and the arm carries the iron box, with its charge of pig iron, ore 

 or scrap, into the furnace ; by another electric motor the arm is 

 rotated, depositing the materials into the glowing bath of the 

 furnace. The box is then withdrawn by the arm, the operation 

 being continued until the whole charge is in position on the 

 hearth ; the apparatus is then moved on to the next furnace. 

 The speakers during the discussion who had seen the apparatus 

 at work gave testimony as to its efficiency. 



The last paper read and discussed at the meeting was that of 

 Mr. Bertrand. The combined process, to which reference is 

 made in the title, consists of two open-hearth furnaces. The 

 operations are divided into two stages, the metal being run, when 

 half-treated, through a header from the primary to the secondary 

 furnace, the latter being of the nature of a finery furnace. The 

 perfect elimination of the phosphorus is not intended in the 

 upper furnace, and therefore less lime may be added than would 

 be otherwise necessary, and the quantity of slag to be melted is 

 materially diminished. The plan of working adopted consisted in 

 charging nearly all the siliceous and phosphoric pig iron into the 

 primary furnace, and nearly all the scrap into the finishing 

 furnace, adding in each such quantities of ore, lime, &c., as they 

 were demanded. The advantage claimed is an increased 

 output and a material reduction in the consumption of lime and 

 basic material for lining the furnace hearths ; a saving of fuel 

 also takes place, it is thought. A long discussion followed on 

 the reading of this paper. 



The summer meeting this year will be held at Cardiff. 



The annual dinner of the Institute was held on Tuesday, 



