Smelt Diary for Smelts 21-27 updated Oct. 3, 2000

Smelt #21
Date: 3/02/00

Furnace configuration: 41" shaft height above tuyere, air preheater on, tuyere 7" above floor
Fuel type: hardwood charcoal
Ore type: goethite - dixie mine
Flux: limestone
Other additions:

Time Charcoal Ore Slag (Recharged) Giblets, Gromps, & Muselo Flux Air Temp
16" above tuyere, 4" in Notes

hh:mm lbs lbs lbs lbs lbs l/min Deg C

2:10 Start preheat with gas.

2:35 0 Start preheat with wood.

2:55 1275 Start blast.

3:05 Start charcoal.

3:25 18 15 1.5 1125 Charge #1.

3:50 18 15 1.5 Charge #2.

4:00 1275

4:15 18 15 1.5 Charge #3.

4:40 18 15 1.5 Charge #4.

5:00 18 15 1.5 Charge #5.

5:20 18 5 10 Charge #6.

5:55 Spongy slag scraped from bottom of furnace and recharged.

6-7 The notes go totally to hell here, but indicate that we were able to recharge very little slag, but continued to add charcoal and some limestone.

7:10 Bloom out.

200 80 10

Bloom weight: 28 lbs.

Billet weight:

Final art(ifact) weight:

Carbon Content:

Notes: The notes ( and my memory) are poor for this smelt, but this was the first time we worked up the courage to try and run the furnace really fast and hot, with an abbreviated preheat. This was inspired by the poor results from low blast smelts, and from rereading Busch's "Ironmaking at Nornas" (see bibliography). The bloom was quite dense, and we were encouraged by the excellent result in a shorter time period.

Helpers:

Smelt #22
Date: 3/24/00

Furnace configuration: 41" shaft height above tuyere, air preheater on, tuyere 7" above floor
Fuel type: hardwood charcoal
Ore type: goethite - victoria mine
Flux: none
Other additions:

Time Charcoal Ore Slag (Recharged) Giblets, Gromps, &Muselo Flux Air Temp
16" above tuyere, 4" in Notes

hh:mm lbs lbs lbs lbs lbs l/min Deg C

12:50 started preheat with gas burner

1:20 started preheat with wood strips

1:40 80 1275 started preheat with charcoal

2:20 Tap arch blocked. Preheated air blast 130 C.

2:28 18 15 Charge #1

2:33 1025

2:46 Preheated air blast reaches 200 C, and remains at this temperature.

2:50 18 15 Charge #2

3:17 18 15 Charge #3

3:51 18 15 1030 Charge #4

4:05 18 15 1500 Charge #5. Slag not very liquid, so blast increased. Tap arch unblocked to alter heat distribution..

4:34 18 15 1040 Charge #6.

4:41 First slag drips from tap arch. The slag is very gooey, green, and glassy and low in iron content.

4:58 1625 Trying to raise slag temp.

5:01 1275 Slag temp adequate.

5:04 6 6 Recharge #1. Slag contained pellets of iron.

5:11 3 3 Recharge #2

5:29 4 4 1500 Recharge #3

6:00 12 6 Lime charge, followed by burndown charcoal.

6:10 1625

7:06 Bloom out.

213 75 13 15 6

Bloom weight: 33lbs., 27 lbs after hammering off all loose material possible. Density 329 lbs/cu ft.

Billet weight: 21 lbs

Final art(ifact) weight: 13 lbs total. The billet was sawed in two. One half was forged to a 1/8" thick plate, the other to a 5/16" thick plate, leading to lots of scaling loss.

Carbon Content: med/low (mild steel)

Notes: The most interesting thing about this smelt was the slag. Most of it, well before the lime addition, looked like blast furnace slag. We attribute this to calcium in the ore, though increased calcium from the larger charcoal charge may have contributed. ANALYSIS

Helpers: Wayne Raynal acted as scribe, so these notes are more thorough than usual. Also present- Mike & John Smitka, and some students from Mike's Industrial Revolution class.

Smelt #23
Date: 4/2/00

Furnace configuration: 41" shaft height above tuyere, air preheater on, tuyere 7" above floor
Fuel type: hardwood charcoal
Ore type: goethite - victoria mine
Flux: none
Other additions: rain

Time Charcoal Ore Slag (Recharged) Giblets, Gromps, &Muselo Flux Air Temp
16" above tuyere, 4" in Notes

hh:mm lbs lbs lbs lbs lbs l/min Deg C

2:10 Preheat with gas burner.

2:40 Preheat with wood.

3:05 1275 Start charcoal preheat, block tap arch.

3:45 15 15 Charge #1.

4:05 15 15 1350 950 Charge #2.

4:25 15 15 1060 Charge #3.

4:45 15 15 1020 Charge #4.

4:50 1500 Increased blast.

5:05 15 15 Charge #5, tap arch unblocked.

5:25 15 15 Charge #6.

5:45 15 15 Charge #7. Notes unclear- this charge may have incuded gromps.

6:05 10 12 Recharge #1.

6:15 10 6 Recharge #2

6:35 9 10 Recharge #3.

7:00 10 3 Recharge #4.

7:15 10 10 Recharge #5.

7:20 10 Burndown.

8:30 Bloom out.

164 (after preheat) 105 41

Bloom weight: 40 lbs as pulled from furnace, 33 lbs after hammering off all loosely consolidated material. Density measured at roughly 215 lbs/cu ft.

Billet weight:

Final art(ifact) weight:

Carbon Content:

Notes:

Helpers:

Smelt #24
Date: 4/28/00

Furnace configuration: 41" shaft height above tuyere, air preheater on, tuyere 7" above floor
Fuel type: hardwood charcoal
Ore type: goethite - victoria mine
Flux: none
Other additions:

Time Charcoal Ore Slag (Recharged) Giblets, Gromps, &Muselo Flux Air Temp
16" above tuyere, 4" in Notes

hh:mm lbs lbs lbs lbs lbs l/min Deg C

2:00 Preheat with wood.

3:00 1275 Charcoal preheat.

3:40 15 15 Charge #1

4:00. 15 15 Charge #2.

4:20 15 15 Charge #3.

4:30 1500

4:45 15 15 Charge #4.

5:10 15 15 Charge #5.

5:20 15 15 Charge #6.

5:35 13 13 1275 Charge #7.

5:50 11 11 Recharge #1.

5:55 11 11 Recharge #2.

6:05 11 11 Recharge #3.

6:30 13 13 Recharge #4.

6:45 11 11 Decarburizing charge.

7:05 20 Burndown.

8:00 Bloom out.

180 (after preheat) 101 46 13

Bloom weight: 28 lbs., density 255 lbs/cu ft.

Billet weight: 20 lbs. ( forged to 3/4 inch plate)

Final art(ifact) weight: 17 lbs.

Carbon Content: very low (wrought iron)

Notes: This smelt resulted in the softest piece of iron we'd made so far. It was also one of our densest blooms. This was the first time we added a late raw ore addition, which we believe reduces carbon content.

Helpers and spectators: Lee Mason, Bob DeMaria, Elizabeth Sauder, and a W&L kid whose name we've forgotten.

Smelt #25
Date: 5/26/00
Picture of bloom
Furnace configuration: 41" shaft height above tuyere, air preheater on, tuyere 7" above floor
Fuel type: hardwood charcoal
Ore type: goethite - victoria mine
Flux: none
Other additions:

Time Charcoal Ore Slag (Recharged) Giblets, Gromps, &Muselo Flux Air Temp
16" above tuyere, 4" in Notes

hh:mm lbs lbs lbs lbs lbs l/min Deg C

12:50 start preheat with wood

1:20 50 1275 switch to charcoal, blast on

2:05 850

2:18 15 15 Charge #1

2:38 15 15 980 Charge #2

2:52 1500 935 first molten in front of tuyere

2:58 15 15 Charge #3

3:18 15 15 1625 930 Charge #4

3:30 15 15 1275 furnace hot enough, Charge #5

3:48 15 2 13 1045 Charge #6

4:05 11 11 1025 Recharge #1

4:25 10 10 Recharge #2

4:39 10 11 Recharge #3

4:44 10

5:00 10

5:04 10 12 decarburizing charge and burn down

5:35 remove preheat section

6:00 remove shaft section, consolidate visible bits onto bloom

6:15 0 remove tuyere, blower off

6:20 remove bloom

200 89 32 13

Bloom weight: 31 lbs

Billet weight:

Final art(ifact) weight:

Carbon Content: mild steel

Notes: This was last smelt before ABANA. We sliced the bloom for a show piece.

Helpers:
Martha Goodway of the Smithsonian Institution
Wayne Raynal

Smelt #26
Date: 7/11/00

Furnace configuration: 41" shaft height above tuyere, air preheater on, tuyere 7" above floor
Fuel type: hardwood charcoal
Ore type: goethite - victoria mine
Flux: none
Other additions:
Notes: In Flagstaff AZ, at 7000' elevation.

Time Charcoal Ore Slag (Recharged) Giblets, Gromps, &Muselo Flux Air Temp
16" above tuyere, 4" in Notes

hh:mm lbs lbs lbs lbs lbs l/min Deg C

1:45 start preheat with wood

2:30 40 1275 switch to charcoal. blast on

2:50 20

3:15 15 15 Charge #1

3:50 15 15 1500 950 Charge #2- increasing blast due to thin air at 7000'

4:17 15 15 Charge #3

4:41 15 15 Charge #4

5:02 1625

5:06 15 15 1500 Charge #5

5:30 15 5 10 Charge #6, with gromps

5:55 10 10 1625 Recharge #1

6:17 10 10 Recharge #2

6:20 5 extra charcoal to fill furnace

6:30 10 9 Recharge #3

6:48 12 12 Recharge #4

7:00 10 10 decarburizing charge

7:20 burn down

7:43 remove preheat section

8:05 remove shaft section, consolidate visible bits onto bloom

8:20 0 remove tuyere, blower off, tip out bloom

207 90 41 10

Bloom weight: 29 lbs, density 264 lbs/cu ft

Billet weight:

Final art(ifact) weight:

Carbon Content: low carbon (wrought iron)

Notes: Test run for the ABANA demonstration. You may notice that we rarely measure temperature, as we go by eye and feel.

Helpers:
The Mighty Bruce Anderson
Wally Yater
Elizabeth Sauder

Smelt #27
Date: 7/14/00

Time Charcoal Ore Slag (Recharged) Giblets, Gromps, &Muselo Flux Air Temp
16" above tuyere,
4" in Notes

hh:mm lbs lbs lbs lbs lbs l/min Deg C

3:00 start preheat with wood

3:40 40 1275 switch to charcoal. blast on

4:10 40

4:45 15 15 Charge #1

5:15 15 15 Charge #2

5:40 15 15 1500 Charge #3

6:05 15 15 Charge #4

6:33 15 15 Charge #5

6:45 1625

7:00 15 15 Charge #6, which included a speck of meteoric iron oxide for extra mojo

7:08 10 10 Charge #7

7:30 13 13 1500 Recharge #1

7:58 9 10 Recharge #2

8:16 5 5 Recharge #3

8:27 12 12 Decarburizing charge

8:52 10 Burn down

9:20 remove preheat section

9:40 remove shaft section, consolidate visible bits onto bloom

9:55 0 remove tuyere, blower off, remove bloom

6:55 229 102 28 10

Bloom weight: 32 lbs

Billet weight:

Final art(ifact) weight:

Carbon Content: lower layer of mild steel, upper layer of high carbon steel

Notes: This was the demonstration smelt for the ABANA conference in Flagstaff, Arizona, so our notes for this run are sketchier than most. About 400 people lined up to take a few hammer blows on it before it cooled.This smelt ran exretemely hot. The bloom subsided due to the extra heat and too vigorous tapping and scraping, leading to a two layered bloom.

Helpers:
Bruce Anderson of Phoenix Arizona did all the damn work while we visited and talked. His vigor and awareness here was deeply appreciated. Betsy Houlton of NYC kept us from burning ourselves or the onlookers. Jan Rappe also gave assistance during the burn-down and bloom removal. Elizabeth Sauder did whatever needed to be done, as always.

Time	Charcoal	Ore	Slag (Recharged)	Giblets, Gromps, & Muselo	Flux	Air	Temp 16" above tuyere, 4" in	Notes
hh:mm	lbs	lbs	lbs	lbs	lbs	l/min	Deg C
2:10								Start preheat with gas.
2:35						0		Start preheat with wood.
2:55						1275		Start blast.
3:05								Start charcoal.
3:25	18	15			1.5	1125		Charge #1.
3:50	18	15			1.5			Charge #2.
4:00						1275
4:15	18	15			1.5			Charge #3.
4:40	18	15			1.5			Charge #4.
5:00	18	15			1.5			Charge #5.
5:20	18	5		10				Charge #6.
5:55								Spongy slag scraped from bottom of furnace and recharged.
6-7								The notes go totally to hell here, but indicate that we were able to recharge very little slag, but continued to add charcoal and some limestone.
7:10								Bloom out.







	200	80		10