Mystery of Delhi's Iron Pillar unraveled

Press Trust of India ^ | Sunday, July 21, 2002 | Editorial Staff

[vannrox]

Nation

Monday, July 22, 2002

Mystery of Delhi's Iron Pillar unraveled

New Delhi, July 18: Experts at the Indian Instituteof Technology have resolved the mystery behind the 1,600-year-old iron pillar in Delhi, which has never corroded despite the capital's harsh weather.

Metallurgists at Kanpur IIT have discovered that a thin layer of "misawite", a compound of iron, oxygen and hydrogen, has protected the cast iron pillar from rust.

The protective film took form within three years after erection of the pillar and has been growing ever so slowly since then. After 1,600 years, the film has grown just one-twentieth of a millimeter thick, according to R. Balasubramaniam of the IIT.

In a report published in the journal Current Science Balasubramanian says, the protective film was formed catalytically by the presence of high amounts of phosphorous in the iron—as much as one per cent against less than 0.05 per cent in today's iron.

The high phosphorous content is a result of the unique iron-making process practiced by ancient Indians, who reduced iron ore into steel in one step by mixing it with charcoal.

Modern blast furnaces, on the other hand, use limestone in place of charcoal yielding molten slag and pig iron that is later converted into steel. In the modern process most phosphorous is carried away by the slag.

The pillar—over seven metres high and weighing more than six tonnes—was erected by Kumara Gupta of Gupta dynasty that ruled northern India in AD 320-540.

Stating that the pillar is "a living testimony to the skill of metallurgists of ancient India", Balasubramaniam said the "kinetic scheme" that his group developed for predicting growth of the protective film may be useful for modeling long-term corrosion behaviour of containers for nuclear storage applications.

[JudyB1938]

Maybe something was lost in the translation?

What do you think, blam? Is there something like what is being described (since you're so smart - LOL).

[aruanan]

Modern blast furnaces, on the other hand, use limestone in place of charcoal yielding molten slag and pig iron that is later converted into steel. In the modern process most phosphorous is carried away by the slag.

Too bad. Can you imagine how many vintage car bodies could still be around?

[aruanan]

Von Daniken wrote a book (it was also made into a movie or TV show) called Chariots of the Gods

I thought the book "Crash Go the Chariots" pretty much destroyed his "thesis".

[blam]

"What do you think, blam? Is there something like what is being described."

Sorry, don't know.

[aruanan]

All I can say is there's no "malawite" to be found in my mineralogical sources.

Maybe that's because it was spelled "misawite"? However, I couldn't find "misawite" anywhere, either.

[Dog Gone]

Stating that the pillar is "a living testimony to the skill of metallurgists of ancient India",

No offense to these ancient Indians, but the odds of them knowing it would create some sort of rust barrier aren't high.

[dighton]

The quality of oxygen isn't as good as it used to be.

Atoms in general are not as good as they used to be. Lousy imports!

[aruanan]

All I can say is there's no "malawite" to be found in my mineralogical sources.

Maybe that's because it was spelled "misawite"? However, I couldn't find "misawite" anywhere, either.

I found that our school has an electronic subscription to "Current Science" (a somewhat broad topic for an actual scientific journal). The most recent available issue is from May, 2002. To give you an idea of its flavor, here is the index for March, 2002. Of course, none of the links are functional from the FR page:

There are 15 articles available for "Current Science; Middletown, Mar 22, 2002; Vol.87, Iss.14".

1. Scroll the list to browse available issue articles.
   
2. Click a title to display the article.

     Click Help to learn about article formats such as Full Text and Page Image.

1.		Ask Professor Ossolotch; Anonymous; Current Science, Middletown; Mar 22, 2002; Vol. 87, Iss. 14; pg. 15

2.		Bend your mind; Anonymous; Current Science, Middletown; Mar 22, 2002; Vol. 87, Iss. 14; pg. 16

3.		Brave heart; Laura McClure; Current Science, Middletown; Mar 22, 2002; Vol. 87, Iss. 14; pg. 6

4.		Cat man; Rene Ebersole; Current Science, Middletown; Mar 22, 2002; Vol. 87, Iss. 14; pg. 10

5.		Cave woman; Rene Ebersole; Current Science, Middletown; Mar 22, 2002; Vol. 87, Iss. 14; pg. 4

6.		Giant mystery cracked; Anonymous; Current Science, Middletown; Mar 22, 2002; Vol. 87, Iss. 14; pg. 13

7.		Oh, snap!; Anonymous; Current Science, Middletown; Mar 22, 2002; Vol. 87, Iss. 14; pg. 2

8.		Pigging out for science; Anonymous; Current Science, Middletown; Mar 22, 2002; Vol. 87, Iss. 14; pg. 12

9.		Robopillar wriggles to the rescue; Anonymous; Current Science, Middletown; Mar 22, 2002; Vol. 87, Iss. 14; pg. 14

10.		Sky walker; Rene Ebersole; Current Science, Middletown; Mar 22, 2002; Vol. 87, Iss. 14; pg. 8

11.		Slime to fight crime; Anonymous; Current Science, Middletown; Mar 22, 2002; Vol. 87, Iss. 14; pg. 12

12.		Surgery fixes girl's face; Anonymous; Current Science, Middletown; Mar 22, 2002; Vol. 87, Iss. 14; pg. 14

13.		Wacky world; Anonymous; Current Science, Middletown; Mar 22, 2002; Vol. 87, Iss. 14; pg. 13

14.		Whatizit?; Anonymous; Current Science, Middletown; Mar 22, 2002; Vol. 87, Iss. 14; pg. 16

15.		Win a trip to space camp; Anonymous; Current Science, Middletown; Mar 22, 2002; Vol. 87, Iss. 14; pg. 3

[AM2000]

Thought you guys might like this.

[Rockpile]

I wonder if this pillar could be hollow and if anyone has ever tried to look inside it. Maybe the builders left a time capsule with messages or something.

[Bernard Marx]

I checked for "misawite;" I didn't have the word in front of me when typing the sentence you quoted and misremembered the spelling.

[Erasmus]

Did a vehicle
Come from somewhere out there
Just to land in the Andes?
Was it round
And did it have
A motor
Or was it
Something
Different

Did a vehicle
Did a vehicle
Did a vehicle
Fly along the mountains
And find a place to park itself

Or did someone
Build a place
To leave a space
For such a vehicle to land

Did a vehicle
Come from somewhere out there
Did a vehicle
Come from somewhere out there
Did the indians, first on the bill
Carve up the hill

Did a booger-bear
Come from somewhere out there
Just to land in the Andes?
Was she round
And did she have a motor
Or was she something different

Guacamole Queen
Guacamole Queen
Guacamole Queen
Guacamole Queen
At the Armadillo in Austin Texas, her aura,
Or did someone build a place
Or leave a space for Chester's Thing to land
*(Chester's Thing... on Ruth)*
Did a booger-beer
Come from somewhere out there
Did a booger-bear
Come from somewhere out there
Did the Indians, first on the bill
Carve up her hill
On Ruth
On Ruth
That's Ruth

------- Inca Roads, Frank Zappa

Unfortunately, it is completely impossible to get any idea of how this song sounds by just reading the lyrics.

I think this site has a usable realaudio version of the song--scroll down a bit to see it.

[palo verde]

thanks vannrox for posting this
I find it interesting
Love, Palo

[blam]

"I wonder if this pillar could be hollow and if anyone has ever tried to look inside it. Maybe the builders left a time capsule with messages or something."

Don't know but, my instinct is that it is solid.

[SunkenCiv]

Von Daniken my ***. That said, here's one of the hits from Googling:

TITLE
by AUTHOR

Balasubramaniam... did Mossbauer spectroscopy of the rust samples. He shows that the phosphate was crystalline iron hydrogen phosphate hydride... The rust is composed of iron hydrogen phosphate hydrate (FePO 4.H3PO 4.4H2O) in the crystalline form in addition to a-, y-, o-FeOOH and magnetite, all in amorphous form. The process of protective rust formation on DIP iron has been outlined based on the rust analysis. The passive film formation on the Delhi iron pillar has been contrasted with rusting of normal and weathering steels. The critical factor aiding the superior corrosion resistance of the Delhi iron pillar is the formation of crystalline iron hydrogen phosphate hydrate, as a thin layer next the metal-scale interface, which drastically lowers the rate of corrosion due to its low porosity content. The formation of protective crystalline phosphate is aided by alternate wetting and drying cycles, which is the important contribution of the atmosphere to the pillar's corrosion resistance. Therefore, the corrosion resistance of the Delhi iron pillar is due to both Delhi (the environment providing alternate wetting and drying conditions) and iron (with its high P content conferring protection by the formation of the crystalline iron hydrogen phosphate).

Nothing about this mineral name, so A) perhaps it never caught on, or B) it was just a problem with the translation.

Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on, off, or alter the "Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list --
Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
The GGG Digest -- Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)

[SunkenCiv]

****. Forgot the link and title:

Review: Delhi Iron Pillar: New Insights. Balasubramaniam, R.
2002. Delhi: Aryan Books International.
Pp.168, figures 33.

by D.P. Agrawal

http://www.infinityfoundation.com/mandala/t_rv/t_rv_agraw_delhi.htm

[AnalogReigns]

What about "corten" steel (what they make the "rusty" guard-rails and bridge beams out of)?

Wonder what the composition of that stuff is. Supposed to never need painting--as the rust forms a protective barrier. Sounds like the same process as what "misawite" is.

[ruoflaw]

thanks for the picture!

[Henchman]

One PILLAR doesn't testify to any skills but to an accident of chance. If there were hundreds of examples around, then they could crow. ...but perhaps those in the business will change their iron making methods or a chemist will develop a spray that will prevent rusting.

[PoorMuttly]

So...is this just ancient "rust blueing" as on fine, vintage firearms ?.....not that little Muttly would necessarily know about such things.......