The Industrial
Revolution took place between the 18th and 19th
centuries. It meant that many rural and agrarian cultures in Europe and America
became industrialised and urban due to the new viabilities of manufacturing
products on industrial levels. The developments in the iron industry meant that
alongside the creation of the steam engine there was far more opportunity for
transportation, banking and communication.
Prior
to developments in the industrial revolution cast iron was first produced in
China about 550 BCE, where finery forges were used for production and charcoal
was the only available fuel.
In
1709 Abraham Darby led innovations by developing a method to produce pig iron
(which is the intermediate product of smelting iron ore), in a blast furnace with
temperatures around 1900 °C which was fuelled by coke (A fuel derived from coal made of
a solid carbonaceous material) rather than charcoal- which became increasingly
expensive at the time.
Jess (13/02/2012)
Interesting. So was the key step forward the use of coke instead of charcoal? We all know how to make charcoal by now, but what about the manufacture of coke? Why does it burn so hot? Interesting to see that charcoal was getting too expensive - is this because the forests we disappearing through over harvesting???
ReplyDeleteYou need to make a point of going to Ironbridge in shropshire where Abraham Darby did all this - very very interesting place - especially as the developments had so many implications worldwide.
Duncan
Yes, that's what I was suggesting. Coke is made from the the heating of charcoal when there is an absence of air, this conversion, known as pyrolysis, would remove many of the impurities from the charcoal such as gases and liquids and some sulfur is also removed. Coke is defined as "the carbonaceous residue of the destructive distillation of bituminous coal, petroleum, or coal tar pitch."
ReplyDeleteCoke burns at around 700 degrees/1292 farenheit. This is because all impurities have been removed and the remainder product is mainly carbonic.
The reason for charcoal becoming too expensive, I have found through research is that yes it was being over-harvested, and therefore there is no real practical solution to replacing the source (tree) product in the time frame for which it is needed.
I'd personally quite like to visit the place could be interesting for a future research project to get some background. Hope this answers your questions.
Jess
http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/eng99/eng99390.htm
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/fuels-ignition-temperatures-d_171.html
http://www.vaclavsmil.com/wp-content/uploads/docs/smil-article-20090917-iron-age.pdf