The Guardian And Evening Star, with, which is incorporated the West Coast Times. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1927. A BRITISHER'S ACHIEVEMENT.

Hokitika Guardian, 5 November 1927, Page 2

The Guardian And Evening Star, with, which is incorporated the West Coast Times. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1927. A BRITISHER'S ACHIEVEMENT.

new process ini* the manufacture ot steel sn lree from inpuritit-s that it will he practically rust-proof is attraeiing the attention of British engineers. The new method has been perfected by Lindley Duflield, a Londoner, and has emerged favorably from tests applied hy independent authorities. It is reported that negotiations are under way for the purchase of the American rights of the process at a figure understood to be £500,000 down, plus royalties. The Duflield process, .says the New York Herald-Tribune, utilizes what is technically known as a “rotary furnace,” which operate at comparatively low temperatures. H,v a series ol operations in which the ore at different stages is subjected to treatment with gases, it is claimed that iron and steel of anv desired grade of purity can be produced, until finally there is secured a product practically free from impurities The cost of production is estimated at less than £4 per ton, or about half the present English cost. Dr F. Mollwo I’erkin, a widely-known scientist and metallurgist, to whom. Mr Duflield submitted his data, has said : “I am of the opinion that in this process we have a revolution somewhat similar to the Bessemer process for the production of steel.” Ralph C. V. Whitfield, a similar authority and member of the Iron and Steel Institute, says: ‘I consider that the Duflield Rotary Furnace offers the best possible mechanical solution whereby the special conditions attaching to successful iron oxide reduction at low temperatures can he economically effective. The Duflield process is a gaseous one, and the inventor’s starting point is entirely different from that of any previous resareh on the subject.” The inventor asserts that if his claims arc made good the blast furnace method of steel production will Ire rendered obsolete. He declares that the life of high purity iron or steel i.s practically unlimited, and mentions the famous Iron Pillar of Delhi, India, which has withstood 1,500 years’ exposure to the open air, as a proof of this contention. Another example which he advances is that of the nails in the Fairbanks homestead at Dedham, Mass, (one of the oldest colonial residences in the country), which were found to l>e in perfect condition 280 years after their manufacture On the other hand, says Mr Duffield, impure metal deteriorates with great rapidity. “One railroad system in the United States alone, he added, suffers through rusting a daily loss of more 'than eighteen tons of steel. Throughout the world rust destroys each year between 30,000.000 and 40.000.000 tons of iron. The pros] ~ t of cheap high-purity steel therefore promises a saving to the world of many millions of dollars yearly.” Additional advantages which Mr Duffield claims for his invention are that it will extend the field of application of pure steel so enormously ns to revolutionize trie galvanizng and tinplate industries; that it makes use of cheap slack coal, or coal of any sort, instead of special expensive coal or coke, and that it can deal with low-grade iron ores which are unsuited for use in the blast furnace. The latter too. he believes, will simultaneously open up the possibility of working iron ore deposits in the neighbourhood of coal mines, hut where there is no coke at hand," and will render possible the exploitation of great deposits of low grade ore which have at present no commercial value. Iron ore occurs under these conditions in many parts of the United States and England.