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A bloomery is a type of metallurgical furnace once used widely for smelting iron from its oxides. The bloomery was the earliest form of smelter capable of smelting iron. Bloomeries produce a porous mass of iron and slag called a bloom.
bloomery process, Process for iron smelting. In ancient times, smelting involved creating a bed of red-hot charcoal in a furnace to which iron ore mixed with more charcoal was added. The ore was chemically reduced ( see oxidation-reduction ), but, because primitive furnaces could not reach the melting temperature of iron, the product was a ...
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
The tiny particles of iron metal formed during bloomery smelting did not melt, but instead stuck together to make a spongy lump known as a ‘bloom’. The next stage of ironworking was to shape the iron by smithing (forging). The metal was heated in a hearth until it was red hot and malleable, and it was then hammered into shape on an anvil.
The earliest device for producing iron, the Bloomery, was a small furnace most probably built of clay. Charcoal, made from wood, was the fuel and the fire was fed air with manually or foot operated bellows.
- Iron, Steel and Medieval Metalwork
- Let A Thousand Iron Flowers Bloom
- Put on Blast
- The Pre-Industrial Revolution
What are the differences between iron and steel? Iron is a dull-grey metallic element, and when pure it is reasonably soft and, on its own, not all that useful. It doesn’t hold an effective edge for tools or weaponry, and can be bent fairly easily. Steel is an alloy (metallic mixture) of iron and another element: carbon. It is much harder, and extr...
Ever since ancient times, the primary way of making iron and steel was the bloomery furnace. This method involves creating a conical ‘chimney’ from clay, usually between three and six feet in height, filling it with a mixture of charcoal and crushed iron ore, lighting it at the bottom, and fanning it constantly with either one or two pairs of hand-...
The blast-furnace changed this entire process. Starting around the middle of the 13th century, a qualitative change in iron production took place. Bloomeries had gotten larger and larger throughout the High Medieval era as the population had grown, warfare and the economy had scaled up, and demand for iron increased. Large bloomeries are exponentia...
The Late Medieval steel revolution boosted steel production exponentially, and created industrial environments which (although on a far smaller scale) are much closer to those seen at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution three centuries later. It was this fundamental shift from artisanal to industrial production which created the material basis fo...
bloomery furnace. metallurgy. Learn about this topic in these articles: design. In iron processing: History. Another design, the high bloomery furnace, had a taller shaft and evolved into the 3-metre- (10-foot-) high Stückofen, which produced blooms so large they had to be removed through a front opening in the furnace. Read More.
Definition. Bloomery furnaces are early forms of iron smelting technology that were used to extract iron from its ore, producing a spongy mass of iron known as 'bloom.'. These furnaces played a crucial role in the development of iron metallurgy during the Zhou dynasty, marking a significant advancement in material culture and technology.
