reverberatory furnace

method, process, technology

A type of hot-air furnace that is designed so that the material being heated does not come into contact with the fuel but is heated only indirectly by the flame.

Furnaces such as these were used, for instance, to calcinate ores in order to remove sulphur, arsenic, water and carbonic acid. In the Pattinson process, the solidified silver is smelted again in the reverberatory furnace so that the remaining lead is oxidised and pure silver is obtained.

One type of reverberatory furnace works with the air flow from an attached high flue. The hot flame is drawn over the iron to be heated by means of the air from the flue, and the heat is reflected onto the iron by the roof of the furnace.

Traveljournal 1814

Traveljournal 1825

Traveljournal 1825–1827

Father and son visit the Woolwich Arsenal, 26 September 1827

Traveljournal 1845

Low Moor Ironworks, 28 July 1845

Traveljournal 1851

Further highlights of the Exhibition, 29 June 1851

Fischer, Johann Conrad: Tagebücher. Bearbeitet von Karl Schib. Schaffhausen 1951.
Reverberiren. In: Pierer’s Universal-Lexikon, Band 14. Altenburg 1862, S. 87 (Zeno.org, Stand 13.2.2023).

Cite as: reverberatory furnace. In: Travel Reports of a Pioneer: Digital Edition of the Travel Journals of Johann Conrad Fischer 1794–1851. Published by Franziska Eggimann. Edited by Franziska Eggimann, Nicolau Lutz, Valerija Rukavina und Christopher Zoller-Blundell. Schlatt 2023, Version 1.2, https://johannconradfischer.com/en/keywords/gfa-keywords-8480, viewed on 6 June 2025.

[[title]] — Reverberatory furnace (plate from Blumhof, 1821)