Since the year 1872, the large iron works at Ougrée, near Liege, have
applied the Bicheroux system of furnaces to heating, and, since the
year 1877, to puddling. The results that have been obtained in this
last-named application are so satisfactory that it appears to us to be
of interest to speak of the matter in some detail.
The apparatus, which is shown in the opposite page, consists of three
distinct parts: (1) a gas generator; (2) a mixing chamber into which
the gases and air are drawn by the natural draught, and wherein the
combustion of the gases begins; and (3) a furnace, or laboratory (not
represented in the figure), wherein the combustion is nearly finished,
and wherein take place the different reactions of puddling. These three
parts are given dimensions that vary according to the composition of the
different coals, and they may be made to use any sort of coal, even
the fine and schistose kinds which would not be suitable for ordinary
puddling. The gases and the air necessary for the combustion of these
being brought together at different temperatures, and being drawn into
the mixing chamber through the same chimney, it will be seen that the
dimensions of the flues that conduct them should vary with the kind of
coal used; and the manner in which the gases are brought together is not
a matter of indifference.
[Illustration: THE BICHEROUX SYSTEM OF FURNACE.