The industrial process for making steel by blasting air through molten iron to burn carbon and impurities is known as what?

• A. Open-Hearth Process
• B. Bessemer Process
• C. Hall-Heroult Process
• D. Siemens-Martin Process

Answer: (B)

Oxidizing carbon and other impurities by blowing air through molten iron is the key idea here. The process that does this rapidly in a converter is the Bessemer process. By forcing a blast of air through molten pig iron, carbon content drops quickly as carbon and impurities react with the oxygen to form gases or oxides, turning brittle iron into steel. This method revolutionized steel production in the 19th century because it was fast and relatively inexpensive, though the results could vary depending on impurity levels in the ore and iron. Other options refer to different methods of refining iron or producing metals (open-hearth variants, electrolysis for aluminum, etc.), which do not center on the rapid air-blast decarburization that defines the Bessemer approach.