caption death_date birth_place image_size nationality field birth_date image article_title name alma_mater
percy gilchrist 16 december 1935 lyme regis 150px united kingdom chemistry 27 december 1851 replace_this_image_male . svg percy gilchrist
 percy gilchrist felsted
percy gilchrist

percy carlyle gilchrist frs -lrb- 27 december 1851 -- 16 december 1935 -rrb- was a british chemist and metallurgist .
he was born in lyme regis , dorset , the son of alexander and anne gilchrist and studied at felsted and the royal school of mines .
he is best known for his collaboration with his cousin , sidney gilchrist thomas on what became the standard `` basic process '' for making steel .
this enabled the production of low-phosphorus steel from local high-phosphorus ores by changing the standard acidic process to a basic process which meant that steel became cheaply available to british industry -- low phosphorus ores being available by importation only .
he developed the process in 1875-77 together with his cousin .
it involved melting pig iron in a converter similar to that used in the bessemer process and subjecting it to prolonged blowing .
the oxygen in the blast of air oxidized carbon and other impurities , and the addition of lime at this stage caused the oxides to separate out as a slag on the surface of the molten metal .
a side benefit was that the phosphorus containing slag could be used as an agricultural fertilizer .
he was elected vice-president of the iron and steel institute and in 1891 a fellow of the royal society .
he died in 1935 .
he had married nora , the daughter of captain l n fitzmaurice rn .
