<P> Before about 1860 steel was an expensive product , made in small quantities and used mostly for swords , tools and cutlery ; all large metal structures were made of wrought or cast iron . Steelmaking was centered in Sheffield , Britain , which supplied the European and the American markets . The introduction of cheap steel was due to the Bessemer and the open hearth processes , two technological advances made in England . In the Bessemer process , molten pig iron is converted to steel by blowing air through it after it was removed from the furnace . The air blast burned the carbon and silicon out of the pig iron , releasing heat and causing the temperature of the molten metal to rise . Henry Bessemer demonstrated the process in 1856 and had a successful operation going by 1864 . By 1870 Bessemer steel was widely used for ship plate . By the 1850s , the speed , weight , and quantity of railway traffic was limited by the strength of the wrought iron rails in use . The solution was to turn to steel rails , which the Bessemer process made competitive in price . Experience quickly proved steel had much greater strength and durability and could handle the increasingly heavy and faster engines and cars . </P>
<P> Before about 1860 steel was an expensive product , made in small quantities and used mostly for swords , tools and cutlery ; all large metal structures were made of wrought or cast iron . Steelmaking was centered in Sheffield , Britain , which supplied the European and the American markets . The introduction of cheap steel was due to the Bessemer and the open hearth processes , two technological advances made in England . In the Bessemer process , molten pig iron is converted to steel by blowing air through it after it was removed from the furnace . The air blast burned the carbon and silicon out of the pig iron , releasing heat and causing the temperature of the molten metal to rise . Henry Bessemer demonstrated the process in 1856 and had a successful operation going by 1864 . By 1870 Bessemer steel was widely used for ship plate . By the 1850s , the speed , weight , and quantity of railway traffic was limited by the strength of the wrought iron rails in use . The solution was to turn to steel rails , which the Bessemer process made competitive in price . Experience quickly proved steel had much greater strength and durability and could handle the increasingly heavy and faster engines and cars . </P>
who dominated the steel industry in the late 1800s
who dominated the steel industry in the late 1800s
Bessemer
Bessemer