The Iron Industry.

1. The smelting of iron using coal in the form of coke. Abraham Darby  I of Coalbrookdale was a pioneer in this breakthrough (1709)
2. The invention of the reverbatory furnace in 1766 by the Cranages separated the fuel (coke) from the iron ore and limestone. It produced iron with fewer impurities.
3. Henry Cort at his foundry in Fontly, Hampshire took the Cranages idea a step further and introduced the “puddling and rolling” process in 1784. He used the reverbatory furnace but stirred the molten iron with a “rabble” (by rod) to enable air and impurities to rise to the surface and be removed. Once ready the ingot (large blob!) was passed through a series of water (and later steam) driven rollers which further improved the quality and produced bar and sheet/plate iron of varying thickness.
4. Iron making on a large scale was first introduced by Richard Crawshay in South Wales. He used Cort’s processes and in 1812 his Cyfartha works employed 2000 people and produced 10000 tons of iron a year.
5. The introduction of a hot blast into the furnace was tried by James Neilson in 1829. As a consequence 3 times as much iron could be smelted with the same amount of coke.
6. In the same year fellow Scot, James Nasmyth introduced the steam hammer which could  be used for forging large wrought iron items such as rails, paddle wheel shafts and later, propeller shafts. In the 100 years between 1740 and 1840 the number of furnaces rose from under 400 and iron production rose from 17,350 tons to 1,387,551 tons! The main producing areas were South Wales, the Black Country (South Staffordshire), the Scottish Lowlands

The Darby of Coalbrookdale made a huge contribution to the Iron Industry. Abraham Darby I developed a method for casting iron pots and then patented the idea. He has learnt that in the malt industry, that coal was heated to produce coke, which removed many unpleasant gases from coal. He then found an answer to the problem of the charcoal shortage. He first tried using raw coal, like it came out of the mines, but it wasn’t successful. He then had the coal cooked to a cinder, which was very successful.  It was not exactly a breakthrough, but it was a big technological advance. The new method was fine for casting pots in mass production, but was not suitable for wrought iron. When Abraham Darby I died, his son in law Richard Ford managed the business until Abraham Darby was old enough to run it, as he was only 6 at the time. Abraham Darby II took over in 1738. He borrowed a lot of money to improve the business and spent his money in many ways, such as buying a Newcomen steam engine, 6 new blast furnaces, the local coal and iron-ore mines; a horse powered tramway and developed an important new market making cast-iron boilers for steam engines. He also significantly improved the quality, as the price was rising because of war, the price of charcoal was inceasing tremendously, and so Darby carried on experimenting, with different cooking methods, blast pressure, and different balances in ingredients. He once went one week without sleep. He then finally got the quality he wanted and took it to his forgers, who agreed. Over the next 20 years, the company made huge profits, and his work paid off selling pig iron to manufacturers. Again, when Abraham Darby II died in 1763, his son in law Richard Reynolds took over till 1768, when Abraham Darby III was old enough to take over. Darby II was more of an innovator, making the worlds first iron bridge, a huge advertisement for his company. He was a good employer, buying farms and good homes to attract good workers. But in 50 years time, iron had improved so much that iron could be used for boats, steam engines and wheels. Soon there was a huge demand for the goods made by the company.