History
The oldest continuous flow processes is the blast furnace for producing pig iron. The blast furnace is intermittently charged with ore, fuel and flux and intermittently taped for molten pig iron and slag; however, the chemical reaction of reducing the iron and silicon and later oxidizing the silicon is continuous.
Semi-continuous processes, such as machine manufacturing of cigarettes, were called "continuous" when they appeared.
Many truly continuous processes of today were originally batch operations.
The Fourdrinier paper machine, patented in 1799, was one of the earliest of the industrial revolution era continuous manufacturing processes. It produced a continuous web of paper that was formed, pressed, dried and reeled up in a roll. Previously paper had been made in individual sheets.
Another early continuous processes was Oliver Evans'es flour mill (ca. 1785), which was fully automated.
Early chemical production and oil refining was done in batches until process control was sufficiently developed to allow remote control and automation for continuous processing. Processes began to operate continuously during the 19th century. By the early 20th century continuous processes were common.
Read more about this topic: Continuous Production
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