Talk:Cupola (disambiguation)

I have addded further disticnt uses of the term. The foundry cupola (like the architectural feature) had the notional arrel standing on its end. The lead smelting cupola had a domed (barrel) roof, and the norional barrel was evidently on its side. Peterkingiron 21:16, 10 April 2006 (UTC)

Cupola - reverberatory furnace

Some one has recently removed my inclusion of reverberatory furnace within the list of possible meanings of cupola. I have undone this change, because the person amending this is merely displaying his own ignorance. It is possible that the word should be cupiloe rather than cupola. Please read the article 'The cupola at Bristol' (cited under reverberatory furnace) before changing this again. This is an article in a peer-reviewed journal, as is Transactions of Newcomen Society where that article is put in a wider context. This use of cupola may be an obsolete one, but it certainly exists. Peterkingiron 17:02, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

Cupola furnace

I am glad that User:Mfields1 has provided the above article. It was one that was needed, and the previosu link to blast furnace was not the best possible link, but it was previously the best available. However he is wrong in saying that it is not a blast furnace. His article says "When the coke is ignited, air is introduced to the coke bed through ports in the sides called tuyeres". I do not disagree, bu my understanding is that it is blown in from some kind of bellows device. This means that the furnace is to be classified as a blast furnace, as opposed to an air furnace. In an air furnace the draught is provided through the convection of hot gasses upa chimney. I appreciate that the term blast furnace is mainly applied to those used for the primary smelting of iron, and I certainly do not seek to imply that the cupola furnace is used for that. I hope my recent edit, with this comment can resilve the issue. Peterkingiron (talk) 17:09, 17 February 2008 (UTC)

I disagree with User:Peterkingiron. To call a cupola furnace a blast service causes confusion to people using Wikipedia. Blast furnaces are used by steel mills to make pig iron for seelmaking. The raw material used is iron ore, coke and limestone. The cupola furnace is used only in the foundry, and the raw materials are cioke, limestone and melting stock, be it steel, pig iron or scrap (ferrous) materials. Some people have successfully used cupolas to melt bronzes and nickel bearing cast irons. A blast furnace refines iron ore but a cupola furnace is in the strict sense of it's usage an metal melting device and not primarily a refining device. Mfields1 (talk) 20:32, 17 February 2008 (UTC)

http://www.lindsaybks.com/bks3/chcup/index.html

I agree that the functions of the (smelting) blast furnace and of the cupola furnace are quite different, but in concespt they are similar, except that are modern foundry cupolas often open at the bottom to facilitate cleaning. The difficulty is of finding a succinct way of saying that. There have been a small number of "snapper furnaces" (for example one at Coalbrookdale). That one is never included in statistical lists of blast furnaces, but to all appearances it could be so classified. I therefore assume that it was used for remelting pig iron; if so, it could be classified as a foundry cupola. I see no point in having an edit war: how about "a small furnace, somewhat like a blast furnace, used ... Peterkingiron (talk) 22:58, 18 February 2008 (UTC)