open-hearth process

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: open-hearth process

Steelmaking technique that for most of the 20th century accounted for most steel made in the world. William Siemens made steel from pig iron in a reverberatory furnace of his design in 1867. The same year the French manufacturer Pierre-Émile Martin (1824 – 1915) used the idea to produce steel by melting wrought iron with steel scrap. Siemens used the waste heat given off by the furnace: he directed the fumes from the furnace through a brick checkerwork, heating it to a high temperature, and then used the same path to introduce air into the furnace; the preheated air significantly increased the flame temperature. The open-hearth process furnace (which replaced the Bessemer process) has itself been replaced in most industrialized countries by the basic oxygen process and the electric furnace. See also reverberatory furnace.

For more information on open-hearth process, visit Britannica.com.

Search unanswered questions...

Browse: Unanswered questions | Most-recent questions | Reference library

Copyrights:

	siemens-martin process
	basic open-hearth process (metallurgy)
	Bessemer iron (metallurgy)

	On Littlebigplanet. can you hearth me as author hearth my levels and i will hearth you and you levels? Read answer...
	Power windows or sunroof wont open on a rover Can not reset them as they will not open to begin this process? Read answer...
	What factors should be considered when opening a textile processing unit? Read answer...

	How much domestic steel is produced by open hearth process?
	How the open hearth process became obsolete?
	Why steel scrap is added during open hearth process?