Sujet
Smelting the Ore
Légende
This early 1900s photo shows the first process in smelting the ore, that is, melting the ore in a blast furnace in order that the iron may be separated from the earthy matter. A blast furnace is a huge retort built from fire brick, inside a heavy steel jacket. In the picture, you see the blast furnace behind the inclined railroad. It is 85 feet high. It is charged by dumping into it first a charge of coke, next a charge of limestone, to act as a flux, that is, to make the ore melt and flow more quickly, and then several tons of ore. The combustion of the coke is aided by a fierce blast of hot air, which is forced through it, securing a heat of 3000 degrees, which is necessary to melt the ore. The white hot liquid iron sinks to the bottom and is drawn off; the impurities pass off in slag and gases. Every 12 minutes, day and night, a charge is made by means of steel ‘skip cars’ that run up the inclined railroad and dump their loads into the top of the blast furnace. The four tall steel tanks on the left in the photo are called stoves and are filled with a checker work of fire brick. Waste gas from the top of the blast furnace is carried into these stoves and furnishes a heat that brings the fire brick to a white heat. The gas is switched off, and cold air forced through is heated to 1000 degrees by the white hot brick. It is then driven to the hearth of the blast furnace and assists in reducing the ore. The photo was taken at the Inland Steel Company, whose business was reducing iron ore to steel. Its only steel mill was located in East Chicago, Indiana, on the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal and a large landfill protruding out into Lake Michigan.
Crédit
Photo12/Universal Images Group
Notre référence
UMG24A34_298
Licence
Droits gérés
Format disponible
33,8Mo (1,9Mo) / 38,1cm x 22,2cm / 4501 x 2622 (300dpi)