Lee
I do not disagree with anything you are doing except any comparison with
archaeological furnaces. I think that you may have a process that is more
like an early water-powered bloomery. I don't think we know a lot about how
those worked either.
If you want to see why Ronnie used low flow rates shut down your blower and
get yourself a bellows and see how much air you can blow with that for any
length of time. They were trying to simulate early iron age furnaces. Then
think about how your bellows is made and consider whether a bellows in
antiquity would have been as efficient. Certainly a couple of goatskins
underfoot will not work so well. No-one has yet found any part of a bellows
at one of these sites, so the use of wooden
boards must be conjecture, and ceramic blowing vessels unlikely.
Increasing the temperature and therefore slagging of the lining will
increase the silica load on the furnace. By how much and whether it would be
significant it is difficult to say. The inserted tuyere should move the
highest temperatures away from the wall, as should higher blowing rates.
Peter Hutchison
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