Backyard furnace
Encyclopedia
Backyard steel furnaces were used by the people of China
during the Great Leap Forward
(1958-62). These small steel blast furnace
s were constructed in the backyards of the communes
, hence their names. People used every type of fuel
they could to power these furnaces, from coal
to the wood
of coffins. Where iron ore was unavailable, they melted any steel objects they could get their hands on -- including pots and pans, and even bicycles -- to make steel girders, but these girder
s were useless, as the steel was impure and of poor quality, and thus cracked easily. Unbeknownst to the Communist Party officials, the result was not steel, but high carbon pig iron
which needs to be decarburized to make steel.
The results varied from region to region. In regions where the steelmaking tradition had survived unbroken, and where the old skills of the ironmasters had not been forgotten, the pig iron was indeed further refined into steel, and the steel production actually did increase. In regions without traditions of steelmaking, where the old ironmasters had been killed, or where there was no theoretical understanding of the blast furnace process and refining of the pig iron, the results were unsatisfactory. At worst, the fuel used was high-sulfur coal, rendering even the resulting pig iron useless.
The Backyard Steel Campaign was one of the major failures of the Great Leap Forward, and a factor in the Great Leap Forward's overall failure.
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
during the Great Leap Forward
Great Leap Forward
The Great Leap Forward of the People's Republic of China was an economic and social campaign of the Communist Party of China , reflected in planning decisions from 1958 to 1961, which aimed to use China's vast population to rapidly transform the country from an agrarian economy into a modern...
(1958-62). These small steel blast furnace
Blast furnace
A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally iron.In a blast furnace, fuel and ore and flux are continuously supplied through the top of the furnace, while air is blown into the bottom of the chamber, so that the chemical reactions...
s were constructed in the backyards of the communes
People's commune
The people's commune was the highest of three administrative levels in rural areas of the People's Republic of China during the period of 1958 to 1982-85 until they were replaced by townships. Communes, the largest collective units, were divided in turn into production brigades and production teams...
, hence their names. People used every type of fuel
Fuel
Fuel is any material that stores energy that can later be extracted to perform mechanical work in a controlled manner. Most fuels used by humans undergo combustion, a redox reaction in which a combustible substance releases energy after it ignites and reacts with the oxygen in the air...
they could to power these furnaces, from coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
to the wood
Wood
Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...
of coffins. Where iron ore was unavailable, they melted any steel objects they could get their hands on -- including pots and pans, and even bicycles -- to make steel girders, but these girder
Girder
A girder is a support beam used in construction. Girders often have an I-beam cross section for strength, but may also have a box shape, Z shape or other forms. Girder is the term used to denote the main horizontal support of a structure which supports smaller beams...
s were useless, as the steel was impure and of poor quality, and thus cracked easily. Unbeknownst to the Communist Party officials, the result was not steel, but high carbon pig iron
Pig iron
Pig iron is the intermediate product of smelting iron ore with a high-carbon fuel such as coke, usually with limestone as a flux. Charcoal and anthracite have also been used as fuel...
which needs to be decarburized to make steel.
The results varied from region to region. In regions where the steelmaking tradition had survived unbroken, and where the old skills of the ironmasters had not been forgotten, the pig iron was indeed further refined into steel, and the steel production actually did increase. In regions without traditions of steelmaking, where the old ironmasters had been killed, or where there was no theoretical understanding of the blast furnace process and refining of the pig iron, the results were unsatisfactory. At worst, the fuel used was high-sulfur coal, rendering even the resulting pig iron useless.
The Backyard Steel Campaign was one of the major failures of the Great Leap Forward, and a factor in the Great Leap Forward's overall failure.