| The transition from renewable vegetable fuels to non-renewable mineral fuels is one of the greatest economic changes of the last few centuries. By sixteenth and seventeenth century, most of fuel-consuming sectors in Britain had successfully adopted mineral coal as its supply of heat. The substitution of coal for charcoal was sought even before the time of Dud Dudley in the1620s. However, the iron industry was one of the last to make the change, partly because of undesirable impurities in coal, such as sulphur and phosphorus.For iron, this transition happened in three stages. Firstly, coke pig iron was used to make cannon balls at Coalbrookdale in the1690s. This is followed by Abraham Darby who started to make pots and other cast iron goods with coke in1709and succeeded in about1715. Secondly, coal is first adopted in the chafery in the1730s. The final stage of the transition happened first with the start of the widespread adoption of the new mineral-fuelled processes "potting and stamping" to replace the finery forge, then with puddling and rolling and its refined version known as "Welsh Methods", coupled with the application of steam power, to enable the great expansion of British iron manufacture and its release from its dependence on imported iron.Chapter1mainly discusses the technology, location, production and fuel shortage of British iron industry in the early eighteenth century. The first part of this chapter will introduce minutely the details of "Indirect Process", ranging from the preparation of charcoals and ores to the underlying chemical principle. The second part mainly deal with the geological and economical factors—charcoal, ore, water supply and market—that the impacted the distribution of iron industry and consequently its regional distribution due to a combinations of these factors. The third and dernier part will examine the conditions of charcoal iron industry in the first half of the eighteenth century and refutes the popular belief that output declined during this period due to an increasing shortage of charcoal.Chapter2focuses on the adoption of coke-smelting. The first part will introduce the invention of coke-smelting and Abraham Darby’s success. The second part centers on the slow takeup of coke-smelting before1750and try to explain it in terms of cost. The third part will discusses the triumph of coke after1750and its diffusion, the persistence of charcoal technology will also be considered.Chapter3centers on the final stage of the transition, especially the gradual technology progress from potting, puddling to "Welsh Methods". The first part will introduce the early use of coal in chafery fire due to the rising cost of raw materials. The second part will discuss the technology breakthrough of potting and stamping. The diffusion of potting process and significance of its widespread application in the1780s will also be considered. The third and fourth part will deal with serious technological problems of puddling and successful modifications, later known as "Welsh Method"Chapter4concentrates on the technology and location of coke iron industry in the early nineteenth century, with a special consideration given to the conditions of charcoal technology of the same time. The first part discusses the technological improvements such as blast furnace operation and mechanization while the second part describes the locational change rendered by the new coke technology and steam power. The last part tries to piece together the conditions of charcoal technology in the early nineteenth century.The Conclusion part maintains while the technological and economical change of British iron industry in18th century have certainly been substantial, it is not what historians used to believe, a triumphant march both in terms of technological change and locational change, but a gradual path that the new technology was slowly adopted and improved both in the furnace and forge practice and the practice of Indirect process persisted and fitted in with the changes better than we imagined. |
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