<P> A system akin to the Bessemer process has existed since the 11th century in East Asia . Economic historian Robert Hartwell writes that the Chinese of the Song Dynasty innovated a `` partial decarbonization '' method of repeated forging of cast iron under a cold blast . Sinologist Joseph Needham and historian of metallurgy Theodore A. Wertime have described the method as a predecessor to the Bessemer process of making steel . This process was first described by the prolific scholar and polymath government official Shen Kuo ( 1031 -- 1095 ) in 1075 , when he visited Cizhou . Hartwell states that perhaps the earliest center where this was practiced was the great iron - production district along the Henan -- Hebei border during the 11th century . </P>
who invented the process to remove impurities by blasts of cold air blown through heated iron
Song Dynasty