Bismuth: Sweated Out of Native Ore in Inclined Iron Tubes, the Schneeberg Way (Thorpe, 1912)

The old way of getting bismuth from ore that holds it as the metal: heat the lumps just enough in sloping iron tubes and the bismuth, which melts easily, runs out of the rock into pots under charcoal. It takes 30-60 minutes a charge but gets only about two-thirds of the metal. Not given: the furnace temperature. Source: E. Thorpe, Dictionary of Applied Chemistry vol. I (1912), Bismuth, p. 458. Picture: Thorpe's Fig. 1, the furnace in plan.

중급

30-60 minutes per charge

안내

Pick and break the ore

Sort the ore (7-12 % bismuth) by hand from the waste rock as far as possible and break it into pieces the size of a hazel nut.

이 단계의 재료:

자연 비스무트 광석1 12 cwt per tube charge

필요한 도구:

망치

산업용 판 저울

Charge the tubes

Load about 12 cwt into each inclined iron tube of the furnace, leaving room to stir from the upper end. Close the upper ends with iron plates and the lower ends with plates pierced with round holes. Under each lower end stand an iron pot holding powdered charcoal, kept gently warm by a small charcoal fire.

이 단계의 재료:

숯1 powdered, in the pots and for the pot fire

필요한 도구:

비스무트 용리로

주철 도가니

Sweat out the bismuth

Fire the furnace with wood so that the metal flows easily. In about 10 minutes the bismuth begins to run into the pots, where the charcoal covers it from the air. Stir the ore now and then with an iron rod from the upper end; in 30-60 minutes the charge is done. 20 cwt of ore burns about 63 cubic feet of wood.

이 단계의 재료: