Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1919-11-27
STORY OF !:
bESSEmER STEEL
Geographic Society Gives Inter.
esting Chronicle Of Indus
try's Origin.
CHANGED MAKING Of STEEL
Two Men Working In Different coun-
tries, Without knowledge Of Each
Other, Arrive at Same conclu.
sion About Same Time.

sion ABOUT Same Time.
Washington view of the nation
wide attention directed toward the
strike of steel workers. the National
Geographic society has issued bull
letin based on communication from
William Joseph Showalter, concerning
the making Of steel, which he terms
'industry's greatest asset"
1.-THE story of Bessemer steel is one
of the fascinating chronicles of the
industrial world" the bulletin says.
at seems to have been one of those
cases where two men working in diff
ferent countries, each without knowl-
edge Of what the other was doing,
reached the same conclusion about the
same time. Both were granted Amer
lean patents; but upon application for
renewal, the patent held Kelly to be
the inventor. The world, however,
gives the credit to Bessemer, and the
process Is known as the Bessemer
process.
: Made We oIden Cook Pots.
''Kelly was a maker of old-fashioned
cooking pots and kettles. 1t is re-
lated that one day he was sitting In
front of his furnace and observed a
point of incandescence where there
was no charcoal-only the metal and
the air. This led him to contend that
air alone would burn out the impuri-
ties from molten iron.
"When he developed his fitting con-
verter his engineer blew such a tre-
mendous blast through the first
charge that iron and all went up as
sparks to his discontinue and the
crowds amusement. He finally sue
ceeded in getting the amount of air
regulated, and poured out Of his con-
verter the first Bessemer steel. Peo-
pie said Kelly would soon be burning
ice. Since his old converter was first
used, billions of dollars worth Of steel
has flowed out Of the worlds convert
ers.
Both Kelly and Bessemer were baf-
fed by the problem of regulating the
supply of air SO that it would not burn
out all the carbon, little Of which is
essential to steel. Furthermore, their
products frequently proved to be brit
tile. owing to the fact that the molten
metal absorbed oxygen from the air
blast. The first difficulty was solved
eventually by the expedient of burn
ing out practically all the carbon, then
adding exactly the amount required
for the specific quality Of steel de-
sired.
1.-THE second difficulty was overcome
through the addition Of manganese to
take care OF the hurtful oxygen. The
latter suggestion was the contribution
Of Robert F. Mushet, Scotch steel
maker Goranson, Swedish ironmas-
ter, had previously achieved the same
results by using a pig iron initially
rich in manganese. Thereafter IN
derd0ne and overdone steel disap
reared.
More Fire Than In Dante's Inferno
ITO go into great building where
there is battery Of Bessemer convert
ers is to see more heat than Dant'
ever pictured "A converter is hug
egg swung 'amidships' on trunnions
The great egg of steel lined with fir
brick has the top off. Twenty tons o
molten pig are poured into it, and thel
through some 200 little holes in the bot
] tom pumping engines pump in
stream of cold air. AS the oxygen
laden air sweeps up through the mol
] ten iron, 1t touches the molten carbon
and silicon, which constitute the i'm
purities, and carries them away.
millions of red and white spark
fill the air, as if some demon With
the fiery fluid We're giving pyrotect
mic performance. A thousand eI
gines, with safety valves Kissing ur
der tremendous pressure, have TIL
voice of a zephyr in comparison. Firs
, the flame that pours forth is viole
then shades into orange, becomes
dazzling white, burning finally to
J, faint blue, which is sign that a
, the impurities are gone.
, "Then the blast ceases, the carlo
that is necessary to replace the needle
, portions burnt out is added. the grea
, brick and steel egg swings back
position, the carbon is mixed with tn
fervent fluid, and then the egg tip
over on it's side, and out Of the TO
flows the liquid steel into a grea
, ladle. The whole operation take
: about 20 minutes-a ton of steel in
; minute. Bessemer steel is used fl
: structural material, railroad rails, VIII
and pipe.
SIN 1900 there was twice as muc
steel produced in the United States b
: the Besseher as by the open-heart
process. But with the rapid exhau
: ton of ores having the proper amount
: of phosphorus for converter practic
: the open-hearth furnace. which ca
use with equal success ores which col
e tain either large or small amour
e of phosphorus. largely replaced Il
Bessemer converter
s.
"