The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-12-09

that is the zone of fusion and above
that the zone Of reduction. These zones
have no well-defned boundaries, for
they merge into each other almost in
sensibly. AS the iron passes thru
these divisions or zones it makes des-
perate love to the oxygen, carbon:
silicon, sulphur and phosphorus, leav
ing one to take up the other. flirting
and coquetting until at last, welded
for the time being to carbon, it
energies quietly from the tapping
hole" a steady, substantial citizen of
the industrial world.
The iron ore, coke and limestone
are not thrown into the blast furnace
haphaZard. On the contrary, the mix
ture is made on we'll considered plan
determined by chemical analyses. The
proper proportion of ore to coke and
limestone is established by the chem
ical makeup Of the fuel, t1uX and ore
When the mass is once in the furnace
and the oxygen bearing blast Is roar
ing thru the tuyers and driving hot
gases and air up thru the spongy coke
and ore the iron, warming up, begins
to shake off the Oxygen which has
| been it's companion underground for
| years. AS the metallurgists put 1t, the
ore parts with its oxygen to the car,
| bonic oxide, forming : 'carbonic acid.
The ore, shedding it's oxygen, descends
into the zone, of reduction, and here
the iron begins making violent love to
the carbon absorbing it greedily That
! is, if there is not much silicon present.
Silicon and sulphur have the effect Of
! lowering the amount Of carbon which
| iron will take up. Sulphur is not
wanted in iron, so the ironmaker is
careful that his fuel shall not contain
sulphur, at least not enough to injure
the iron. Iron has such affinity
for silicon that it will take up as high
as 80 per cent of the metalloid. There
| is apparently no limit to the extent to
which manganese will combine with
iron. and it has the effect Of increas-
ing the power Of carbon to unite with
iron. So If it is present in the blast
furnace it not only restraints the oxi-
dalton Of iron, but by preventing the
sulphur and silicon from mOnOpollzlng
iron gives carbon chance to combine.
/ Phosphorus is one of the elements
which iron cannot shake off in the
blast furnace, and phosphorus is a bad
thing for the useful metal. PhOs-
phorus clings to iron, no matter how
many combinations the metal makes
on it's turbulent way down the blast
| furnace. The mass Of ore, coke and
flux descends, getting hotter and hot
ter, the chemical actions become more
rapid. and soon the particles Of iron,
separated at last from the dross, drip
down thru the zone of fusion, passing
thru an inferno where the gas blast
reaches temperature Of $500 to 1000
degrees Fahrenheit.
The iron is now a carbide, for it
has taken up about per cent Of it's
own weight of carbon. The foreign
matters which with the iron formed
the ore, fuse, and the. melted Stag
with the molten iron drips down thru
the incandescent coke to the hearth
the lighter Stag floating quietly on
~, 1l,0 ID
drawn off from the top; the clay
plug removed from the tapping hole.
the liquid metal gushes out and
soon the sand floor Of the furnace
| house is a network of flowing iron.
That which went into the blast fur
mace as ore is now pig iron, ready for
, the Bessemer steel mill, the foundry
man or the pudding furnace.
) Altho iron is one Of the lightest of
metals it is nearly twice as strong as
the strongest of the other metals.
Altho it is the least yielding of metals
, in common use it is so ductile that it
can be rolled into the thinnest sheets
and drawn into the finest wire. With
the exception Of platinum it is the least
fusible Of the useful metals. DR.. IRE
in his Dictionary of Arts. Manufac-
lures and Mines prOnounces the fol-
lowing eulogy on this most wonderful
Of metals:
? every person knows the manifold
uses Of this truly precious metal. II
is capable of being cast into molds OF
= any form, of being drawn out into
8 wires Of any desired strength or fine.
ness Of being extended into plates OF
= sheets, of being bent in every direction
$ of being sharpened hardened anC
1 softened at pleasure.
Iron accommodates itself to all oul
, wants, our desires and even our ca.
S prices. 1t is equally serviceable to the