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"a Bessemer converter, which is an egg-shaped furnace built of wrought iron plates and lined with a thick layer of refractory material. The bottom is perforated with holes so that streams of air can be blown through the molten metal." -Brownlee 1907

Bessemer Converter

"a Bessemer converter, which is an egg-shaped furnace built of wrought iron plates and lined with a…

"Matte is converted into blister copper by means of a process called Bessemerizing, in a furnace called a converter." -Brownlee 1907

Converter Furnace

"Matte is converted into blister copper by means of a process called Bessemerizing, in a furnace called…

An illustration of the exterior of the Bessemer converter. The Bessemer process was the first inexpensive industrial process for the mass-production of steel from molten pig iron. The process is named after its inventor, Henry Bessemer, who took out a patent on the process in 1855. The process was independently discovered in 1851 by William Kelly. The process had also been used outside of Europe for hundreds of years, but not on an industrial scale. The key principle is removal of impurities from the iron by oxidation with air being blown through the molten iron. The oxidation also raises the temperature of the iron mass and keeps it molten.

Bessemer Converter (Exterior)

An illustration of the exterior of the Bessemer converter. The Bessemer process was the first inexpensive…

An illustration of the interior of the Bessemer converter. The Bessemer process was the first inexpensive industrial process for the mass-production of steel from molten pig iron. The process is named after its inventor, Henry Bessemer, who took out a patent on the process in 1855. The process was independently discovered in 1851 by William Kelly. The process had also been used outside of Europe for hundreds of years, but not on an industrial scale. The key principle is removal of impurities from the iron by oxidation with air being blown through the molten iron. The oxidation also raises the temperature of the iron mass and keeps it molten.

Bessemer Converter (Interior)

An illustration of the interior of the Bessemer converter. The Bessemer process was the first inexpensive…

"Ponsard Furnace or Forno-Convertisseur. This apparatus is essentially a combination of the Pernot furnace with the Bessemer converter, consisting of a hearth movable about an obliquely vertical axis. Instead of rotating round and round on this axis, the hearth D only moves through half a revolution." — The Encyclopedia Britannica, 1893

Forno-Convertisseur

"Ponsard Furnace or Forno-Convertisseur. This apparatus is essentially a combination of the Pernot furnace…