Science & Technology During Industrialization

The Creation of Steel

One of the pioneers of the industrialization of America was Andrew Carnegie. He wasn't skilled in the process of making steel, but he invested large amounts of capital to install Bessemer converters in factories. The Bessemer converter transformed wrought iron (pig iron) into steel by blowing cold air through the vessels and then through the molten iron, ridding the iron of any impurities which made it mandible and weak, forming steel. This process was a very simple one where unskilled workers were able to operate it with ease. One of the very first Bessemer converters was installed in Carnegie's own Edgar Thompson Steel Works in Braddock P.A. The factory was able to produce a great amount of steel which cost less by the ton. McClure's magazine documented the results:

"Out of each pot roared alternately a ferocious geyser of saffron and sapphire flame, streaked with deeper yellow. From it a light streamed -- a light that flung violet shadows everywhere and made the gray outside rain a beautiful blue. A fountain of sparks arose, gorgeous as ten thousand rockets, and fell with a beautiful curve, like the petals of some enormous flower. Overhead the beams were glowing orange in a base of purple. The men were yellow where the light struck them, violet in shadow.... The pot began to burn with a whiter flame. Its fluttering, humming roar silenced all else.... A shout was heard, and a tall crane swung a gigantic ladle under the converting vessel, which then mysteriously up-ended, exploding like a cannon a prodigious discharge of star-like pieces of white-hot slag.... Down came the vessel, until out of it streamed the smooth flow of terribly beautiful molten metal. As it ran nearly empty and the ladle swung away, the dropping slag fell to the ground exploding, leaping viciously, and the scene became gorgeous beyond belief, with orange and red and green flame."

Steel Ladle