James Beaumont Neilson

British iron-making inventor. While working as a gas engineer in Glasgow, he began working on improving blast furnaces at the request of ironworkers. It was believed that blast furnaces performed better in winter than in summer because the air was colder. Neilson attributed this to the difference in humidity between summer and winter, and that if the humidity was the same, a higher temperature for the blast would be more efficient, so he came up with the idea of ​​preheating the blast to improve the combustion effect. Blast furnace manufacturers were hesitant to adopt this proposal, which went against conventional wisdom, but it was proven that coke consumption decreased and production speed increased with an increase in blast temperature, and he obtained a patent in 1828 and the idea spread rapidly. Neilson performed preheating by passing air through tubes inside the hot furnace, but this was later replaced by a brick lattice hot-air stove, and became the basis of modern blast furnace operation.

[Mamoru Nakazawa]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

イギリスの製鉄発明家。グラスゴーのガス技師であったとき、製鉄業者からの依頼で高炉の改良に着手した。それまでの高炉が夏季より冬季のほうが成績がよいのは、空気が冷たいためと信じられていた。ニールソンはこれを夏と冬の湿度の差によるもので、湿度が同じなら送風は高温のほうが効率がよいと考え、送風を予熱して燃焼効果を高めることを着想した。高炉業者は従来の常識と反対の提案に採用をためらったが、送風温度の上昇とともにコークス消費量が低下し、生産速度も増すことが実証され、1828年には特許を取得し、急速に広まった。ニールソンは予熱を高温の炉内の管に空気を通すことによって行ったが、のちにれんがの格子積み熱風炉にかわり、現代溶鉱炉操業の基礎となった。

［中沢護人］

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