The operation of charcoal blast furnaces in the XIXth century

Abstract

Processing conditions in charcoal blast furnaces and their related internal phenomena are described, with good precision in papers and books by Hassenfratz, Karsten, Dumas, and especially Ebelmen in 1841, using, for the first time, the newly developed techniques of chemical analyses of gases and solids. Reviewing their publications at the light of more recent physical chemistry data and further developed blast furnace models, brings about a more detailed evaluation of the internal phenomena occurring inside charcoal blast furnaces and about their operating point. As industrial measurements have been carried out on small size blast furnaces, it may also bring a contribution to the archeology of early blast furnace metallurgy.