Talk:smelt

Request: definition of the meaning regarding the chemical process used to extract metals from metal ores. w:smelting --Connel MacKenzie 05:40, 2 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Not a noun

Surely under meaning three, fusing of metals, smelt is not a noun but a verb. If it is then, slag does not apply, slag is the waste material produced by the process of smelting. I'm not entirely sure about this so will wait a bit for any thoughts before removing the noun part altogether. --Kylemew 11:37, 25 July 2007 (UTC)

This was already in the entry when I came upon it - all I did was formatting. I've marked both the metalworking noun senses for verification. Thryduulf 20:01, 25 July 2007 (UTC)

Seeing the verifications (thanks Thryduulf), it is a noun and, digging a bit deeper, I found that it refers to the mixture (usually charcoal and ore) used for smelting. From here if anyone's interested. --Kylemew 16:13, 3 August 2007 (UTC)

RFV discussion

This entry has survived Wiktionary's verification process.

Please do not re-nominate for verification without comprehensive reasons for doing so.

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Requesting verification for both metalworking noun senses ("slag" and "the process of producing iron and steel from iron ore"). Thryduulf 20:02, 25 July 2007 (UTC)

Yes, I think so... or rather, it has some metallurgical sense...

• 1968: Metals Abstracts, by the Institute of Metals and American Society for Metals

  [...] the reacting agents for the smelt being fed to the metal bath through [...]

  [...] below and above the bath surface, and the gases escaping from the smelt being [...]

• 1996: Arthur J. Wilson, The Living Rock: The Story of Metals Since Earliest Time and Their Impact on Civilization

  When the smelt was complete the crucible could be lifted out and the metal poured directly into the moulds, thus avoiding the need to break it up and remelt [...]

• 1997: Applied Scientific Research, page 386

  When the bulk amount of the base metal of the alloy is smelted, the small amount of solute metal is added to the smelt by turning the reservoir around the [...]

• 2000: Julian Henderson, The Science and Archaeology of Materials: An Investigation of Inorganic Materials, page 280

  [...] can vary in different positions in the furnace and during the smelt.

• 2000: Transactions, by the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy (Great Britain) and the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy

  [...] the cakes of metal from all the smelts can then be melted together, [...]

• 1842: John Jay Smith, Robert Walsh, Eliakim Littell, eds, The Museum of Foreign Literature, Science, and Art

  [...] and forty-eight of brass, afforded a beautiful metal, which possessed time qualities I sought

  [...] and that the smelts had continued to [...]

• 2000: Julian Henderson, The Science and Archaeology of Materials: An Investigation of Inorganic Materials

  Furnaces are unlikely to survive the smelts; all that often remains on metal production sites is just furnace bases and broken fragments of furnaces [...]

— Beobach972 05:04, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Here's one more, one I didn't quite understand (look it up, it's quite peculiar) :

• 2000: Linda Hurcombe, Moira Donald, Gender and Material Culture in Archaeological Perspective, page 130

  Women are allowed to play some small part in the smelt If they are breastfeeding [...]

— Beobach972 05:04, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

• I think it means the mixture used for smelting, usually ore and charcoal. Have I put this comment in the right place please? --Kylemew 15:48, 3 August 2007 (UTC)
• Slag it seems is the waste product after smelting, so smelt is a noun but is not slag. I started from here. --Kylemew 16:21, 3 August 2007 (UTC)

The noun (1) sense is the output of the smelting process (sense 2). The smelt is the (semi-)liquid you get from heating up the ore, and the slag is the waste portion of that output (often in the form of solid or semi-solid inclusions.) You would take your smelt (sense 1) and then further refine or amend it into your desired alloy. Hence, while the smelt may contain slag, it is not (just) slag. Most of the quotes above that are metallurgical in context refer to the process.

I can't find a good illustrative quote in online sources at the moment, but here are some using the "result" rather than the "process" sense, for documentation purposes.

• 1982, Raymond E. Kirk and Donald F. Othmer, Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology

  The green liquor, ie, the solution obtained on dissolving the smelt, contains an insoluble residue called dregs...

• 1997, Anthony Lawrence Kohan, Boiler Operator's Guide

  ...[it] reacts with the smelt in the furnace...

• 1998, Deanna J. Richards, Greg Pearson, National Academy of Engineering, The Ecology of Industry: Sectors and Linkages

  Dissolving the smelt liberates some hydrogen sulfide and particular matter...

I haven't added these at the article, as the definition "slag" needs to be rewritten. --Jeffqyzt 16:11, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

Also, smelting is not solely confined to the production of iron; you can, for example, smelt lead ore to produce lead (don't breathe the vapors :-) --Jeffqyzt 16:16, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

Senses merged and RFV passed; thanks, all. —Ruakh_TALK 21:29, 30 October 2007 (UTC)