The Bessemer process was the first inexpensive industrial process for the mass production of steel from molten pig iron. The process was named after the inventor. His name was Henry Bessemer, He took a patent on the process in 1855. William Kelly discovered the process originally in 1851 independently. The principle of the process is the 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 man and keeps it molten. The oxidation process removes impurities like silicon, manganese and carbon which are in the form of oxides. These impurities escape as a gas or form of solid slag. When the steel had been former it was pored out into ladles and then transferred into moulds and the lighter slag is left behind. This process of conversion was called “blow”. In 1740 Benjamin huntsman developed the technique for steel manufacture. His workshop and his process had a hug impact on the quantity and quality of steel production. According to henry Bessemer’s book many English industrialists and inventors became interested in military technology and Bessemer himself developed a method for grooving artillery projectiles so that they could spin without the use of rifling in the bore of the gun. The Bessemer process revolutionized steel manufacture by decreasing its cost, along with greatly increasing the scale and speed of production of this vital raw material. The process also decreased the labor requirements for steel making. Steel was before this too expensive to make bridges or the framework for buildings and so iron had been used throughout the industrial revolution. After the introduction of the Bessemer process, steel and iron became similarly priced but most manufacturers turned to steel. It was believed that the availability of cheap steel allowed large bridges to be built and this is why railroads, skyscrapers, and large ships were built. Other important steel products also made using the Bessemer process was things like steel cable, steel rod and sheet steel which meant large, high-pressure boilers and high-tensile strength steel for machinery which made much more powerful engines, gears and axles than were possible than before. With large amounts of steel it also became much easier to build more powerful guns, tanks, armored fighting vehicles and naval ships. Industrial steel also made possible the building of giant turbines and generators thus making the harnessing of water and steam power possible.
"Bessemer Process — Infoplease.com." Infoplease: Encyclopedia, Almanac, Atlas, Biographies, Dictionary, Thesaurus. Free Online Reference, Research & Homework Help. — Infoplease.com. Web. 07 Jan. 2012. <http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/sci/A0807299.html>.
"Henry Bessemer - The Steel Man." Inventors. Web. 07 Jan. 2012. <http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blsteel.htm>.
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