Methods of Crucible Steel Production
Various methods were used to produce crucible steel. According to Islamic texts such as al-Tarsusi and Abu Rayhan Biruni, three methods are described for indirect production of steel. The medieval Islamic historian Abu Rayhan Biruni (c. 973-1050) provides us with the earliest reference of the production of Damascus steel. He describes only three methods for producing steel. The first two methods have a long history in Central Asia and in the Indian subcontinent while the third is exclusive to South Asia. These three methods are generally considered to have originated from the Indian Subcontinent. The first method and the most common traditional method is solid state carburization of wrought iron. This is a diffusion process in which wrought iron is packed in crucibles or a hearth with charcoal, then heated to promote diffusion of carbon into the iron to produce steel. Carburization is the basis for the wootz process of steel. The second method is the decarburization of cast iron by removing carbon from the cast iron. Another indirect method uses wrought iron and cast iron. In this process, wrought iron and cast iron may be heated together in a crucible to produce steel by fusion. In regard to this method Abu Rayhan Biruni states: "this was the method used in Hearth". It is proposed that the Indian method refers to Wootz carburization method i.e. the Mysore or Tamil processes.
Variations of co-fusion process have been found preliminary in Persia and Central Asia but have also been found in Hyderabad, India called Deccani or Hyderabad process. For the carbon, a variety of organic materials are specified by the contemporary Islamic authorities, including pomegranate rinds, acorns, fruit skins like orange peel, leaves as well as the white of egg and shells. Slivers of wood are mentioned in some of the Indian sources, but significantly none of the sources mention charcoal.
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