The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1889-07-25
The Basic Steel Process and It's Pos
sibilities in the United States.


planatory of the difference between the
+ Bessemer process and the basic process,
and the reason why basic steel is softer
and more ductile than Bessemer steel,
and also my views of the possibilities of
the manufacture of basic steel in the
United States.
The basic process is so called because it
is conducted in basic-lined vessel and in
the presence of a basic Stag, while the
I Bessemer process is conducted in an
acid-lined vessel and in the presence of
an acid Stag. Basic material is the oxide
of metals: acid material is the oxide of
metalloids.
In the practice of the Bessemer process
the vessel is lined with canister, a kind
of sand rock. In making the steel por-
ton of this sand rock lining melts and
forms Il dirty Stag. This old Bessemer
process requires pig iron high in silicon,
because there is no eXtraneous fire in or
around the converter, and the heat nee
essary to keep the metal fluid while be
ing treated must be developed by burn
ing it out in the converter. In convert
ing the metal into steel this silicon is
changed to silica, (sand), which unites
with the Stag, making it dirtier still. The
Bessemer process is thus inseparably
connected with and the Bessemer steel
is converted in the presence of and mix
ed with dirty Stag The steel so made
always contains all of the phosphorus
contained in the pig iron, fuel and fluxes
from which it was made and a consider
able quantity of silicon and other i'm
purities taken from the dirty Stag These
impurities tend to make Bessemer steel
4 hard and brittle.
| In the practice of the basic process
Bessener dirt lining, called canister, is
not used. | line the vessel with lime,
magnesite, chrome ore, or other basic
material, SO that no dirt is brought in
contact with the metal from the lining.
4 The blast furnace is worked in such a
manner as to produce pig iron for use in
| the basic process low in silicon, and by
this means we avoid making the dirty
Stag in the converter that the acid pro-
1 cess does in burning out large amount
of silicon. In order to develop the re-
/ quired heat in the basic converter we
make the pig iron high in PHOSPHORUS,
and by burning the phosphorus into
sufficient heat, but the metal is cleansed
4 of all its impurities, and sufficient
amount of that valuable fertilizer, phos
/ phate of lime, is produced to reduce the
cost of converting in a large degree.
Thus by working the metal in vessel
having a pure lining and pure basic
| Stag, a purer and consequently a softer
and more ductile steel is produced than
can possibly be made by the Bessemer or
4 by any other process where a silicious
dirty Stag is produced and maintained.
The basic process may be practiced in
different ways. When practiced in a
basic-lined Besselner converter it is call
ed the basic Bessemer process, and re-
quires metal containing not less than
per cent. of PHOSPHORUS and less than 2
per cent. of silicon; preferably 3 per cent.
/ of phosphorus and less than One-half of
/ one per cent. of silicon. The time re-
4 quired in making a heat is twenty min
uteS; in other words, ten tons of cast
iron may be cleansed of all it's impurities
and converted into soft steel of great
ductility in that time
When the basic process is conducted
in a basic-lined open hearth it is called
the basic open-hearth process, and may
| be practiced on metal containing phos-
phorous in all degrees from .05 to 5 per
cent, and silicon in all degrees; prefer
4 ably with PHOSPHORUS from 2 to 3 per
cent. and silicon below so per cent. In
the basic open-hearth process all grades
of pig iron and of scrap iron or scrap
steel may be used and a purer and better
steel produced than can be made by the
Bessemer converter of the acid open
hearth. The steel produced by the basic
open-hearth requires from to II hours
/ to heat, and will cost about So per ton
more than that made by the basic con
verter, but the quality of the basic open
| hearth steel is superior to the steel made
by the basic converter.
The basic duplex process consists in
blowing molten metal with an air-blast
while held in an acid-lined converter I'M
til the silicon is eliminated and the car
bon is reduced to about one-half of one
per cent. then transferring the desili-
conized metal (minus the slag) into u
basic-lined open hearth, and there boil
ing the carbon and dephosphoriZing the
metal in the presence of a basic Stag.
This process will work metal of any and
every quality. Ii the metal is high in
silicon the silicon is removed in the acid
lined vessel and the phosphorus and car
bon in the basic-lined vessel, so that the
silicic acid or dirt formed in the elimina-
ton of silicon will not be present in the
dephosphori2ing period, and a purer
metal will be made than by either the
basic Bessemer or the basic open-hearth
process. The time required to make a
heat by the basic duplex process is from
three to four hours, the expense of cor
verting being about a dollar a ton less
than by the basic open hearth and Il
dollar a ton more than by the basic con-
verter.
It will thus be seen that in the invention
of the basic process | have adapted it to
the use of every quality of iron ore, and ev
cry quality of pig metal, cast iron scrap,
and wrought iron or steel scrap known to
exist in this country 1t is also adapted to
! the production of every grade of steel
made by the old processes, and in add
ton produces a metal chemically purer
and physically more ductile and tough
than can be made by any of the old pro-
cesses.
The basic Bessemer process may be
practiced to advantage at Pottstown,
Harrisburg, and at Pine Grove, Pennsyl
vania; at Waynesboro, Green Forest,
Roanoke, and New River, Virginia; at
Knoxville, Athens, Cleveland, and Chat
tanoOga, Tennessee from Dalton to
Rome. in Georgia. and from Rome to Bir-
mington, in Alabama; on Lake Cham
plain, New York at Portsmouth and
! MoXahala, Ohio, and in many other
places where metal containing from to
/ 3 per cent of phOSDhOruS can be made t.