Bessemer, Henry

The son of the famous typographer and inventor Anthony Bessemer . Born and lived until the age of 17 in Charlton, Hertfordshire , 50 km north of London. In addition to him, the family had two sisters and a brother.

Under the influence of his father, from an early age he was interested in mechanics and metallurgy. After graduating from public school, he began to work in his father's workshop. He did not receive a university education and acquired all his knowledge and skills through diverse practical activities.

In 1834 he married Anna Allen, with whom he lived in love and harmony all his life.

Bessemer died on March 15, 1898 , in London. He is buried in London at the West Norwegian Cemetery.

Henry Bessemer was a prolific inventor, and from 1838 to 1883 he owned at least 129 patents in various fields of technology. Unlike most other inventors, Bessemer was able to realize his inventions and received fame and financial benefits from this.

Among the inventions of G. Bessemer:

• 1831 - A stamp for stamping stamps proposed by the Department of Internal Revenue of the Ministry of Finance. Subsequently, Bessemer improved the invention, having come up with the idea that to stamp the stamp on it, you should just print the current date. The introduction of this method saved a large amount of money for the Department of Internal Revenue, but since the advanced method of extinguishing was too simple, Bessemer received no reward for it.
• 1838 - Casting machine casting 60 letters per minute. This was the first invention patented by G. Bessemer.
• 1839 - A new method for the production of pencils , according to which graphite bars were proposed not to be cut, but pressed from graphite powder.
• 1841 - Railway brake .
• 1843 - A method of manufacturing a bronze powder, which was used to make golden paint. As Henry Bessemer himself ^[7] tells in his autobiography, he examined bronze powder made in Nuremberg . (This city was the only place where such a powder was then made). Then he made the same powder and improved it somewhat, and also came up with the technology for its manufacture on a simple production line. Thus, he managed to circumvent patent protection and patent "his" product. The production process of bronze paint was a trade secret , and only members of the inventor's family had access to the factory where it was manufactured. Handmade Nuremberg powder was sold in London at a price of 5 pounds 12 shillings per pound. Henry Bessemer sold the powder of his production at a price 40 times lower and actually conquered the market ^[7] . Profit from the sale of paint allowed him to tackle other inventions.
• 1848 - A method for producing flat glass by rolling molten glass between two rollers and producing a continuous glass ribbon that was cut at the exit. This invention of G. Bessemer was not a commercial success, although currently sheet glass is made in this way.
• 1849 - Sugarcane pressing machine.
• 1850 - Centrifugal pump .
• 1851 - A method of squeezing patterns on velvet , fabric and leather .
• 1853 - Production of waterproof fabric.
• 1854 - Heavy artillery shell of a new type. This work prompted Bessemer to the idea of ​​making gun trunks of cast steel .
• 1856 - Converter for processing molten iron into steel by blowing air without fuel consumption. This invention became the basis of a new process for the production of steel, called Bessemer ^[8] .
• 1857 - Metal casting between rotating rolls. This invention is the precursor of modern continuous casting devices. It is noteworthy that Bessemer's original idea was realized in his time, but did not take root, since it was not yet needed.
• 1860 - A rotary converter with air supply through the bottom and trunnions , the design of which has largely been preserved to date.
• 1868 - Passenger ship, in which the cabin was suspended on gimbal suspensions . According to the inventor, such a suspension was supposed to ensure the immobility of the cabin when the sea is rough and to prevent sea sickness among passengers. A ship with such a device was never built ^[9] .

The main invention of Henry Bessemer is the process of redistributing cast iron into steel, which was named Bessemer by the name of the inventor.

Before the introduction of the Bessemer process in the middle of the 19th century, steel was obtained in small quantities during the labor-intensive pudding process. Therefore, steel was considered a scarce material, and many metal parts were made of cheaper cast iron . Cast iron was extremely inconvenient as a structural material because of its fragility. Often, cast-iron beams and bridge supports could not withstand the load and suddenly collapsed. Steel structures were much more reliable, but also cost more.

Henry Bessemer became interested in the steel production process while working on one of his inventions ^[10] .

In 1854 , he invented a new projectile for firing from non-threading cannons. The projectile had an elongated shape and special channels, thanks to which, as it exited the barrel, it twisted, which ensured its further stable flight. When developing the idea, it turned out that for firing such shells it was necessary to increase the powder charge. The cast-iron guns of that time could not withstand the explosion of a charge of such a force. So Henry Bessemer came up with the idea that guns should be made steel, and steel production - mass ^[11] .

For this, G. Bessemer developed an original system that provides for the burning of impurities from molten iron by blowing air through it. Molten iron was poured into a converter , a pear-shaped crucible lined with refractory bricks from the inside. Then, air was blown through molten iron, which oxidized harmful impurities, and also burned off excess carbon. The oxidation reaction was exothermic , the heat released during its course heated the metal and kept it in a liquid state. The conversion process lasted several tens of minutes. As a result, steel was obtained from cast iron ^[12] .

The process proposed by G. Bessemer made the production of steel simple, fast and cheap. As a result of improving the quality of steel and expanding its offer on the market, the Second Industrial Revolution took place: they began to use the introduction in mechanical engineering and construction.

On August 24, 1856, Bessemer first described the process he had invented for redistributing cast iron at a meeting of the British Science Association in Cheltenham in a report that he called "Iron-Free Production." The report was fully published in The Times .

A few years before this, James Nesmith was working on a similar idea. Having heard Bessemer's report at a meeting of the British Scientific Association, Nesmith, who had not completely solved some problems of his method, refused to continue work. Henry Bessemer, recognizing the importance of the work of Nesmith, offered him one third of the proceeds of the future patent, but Nesmith refused this offer ^[13] .

• Bessemer was knighted by Queen Victoria for his contribution to science on June 26, 1879 , and in the same year became a member of the Royal Society ^[14] .
• Honorary membership at the Institute of Engineers and Shipbuilders of Scotland was awarded to Bessemer in 1891 ^[15] .
• In 1895, he was elected a foreign honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences ^[16] .
• G. Bessemer was in 1871-1873 the president of the British Institute of Iron and Steel. The institute established the Bessemer Gold Medal as an annual award for outstanding services in the steel industry. At present, this institute has entered the Institute of Materials, Minerals, and Mining , which annually continues to award the Bessemer medal.
• In 2003, Bessemer was named among the top 10 inventors from 800 BC. e. until 1950.
• Cities in the USA are named after G. Bessemer: in the state of Alabama , in the state of North Carolina and in the state of Michigan, .
• In 2009, the Fountain Pub in downtown Sheffield was renamed Bessemer in honor of Henry Bessemer, who had a huge impact on the development of the city.
• In honor of G. Bessemer, the Wetherspoons Pub in Workington, Cumbria was also renamed.

• Bessemer process
• Bessemer, Alabama
• Bessemer (airport)
• Bessemer City, North Carolina
• Bessemer, Michigan
• William Kelly
• Krupp , metallurgists