Biography

Paul-François Huart was born in Charleroi

Charleroi

Charleroi is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. , the total population of Charleroi was 201,593. The metropolitan area, including the outer commuter zone, covers an area of and had a total population of 522,522 as of 1 January 2008, ranking it as...

 in 1770. He married Mary Chapel, the daughter of an industrialist.

In 1806 he inherited the factories of the Chapel family. He introduced a reverbatory furnace for melting metal in 1807, in 1821 the first Puddling furnace

Puddling (metallurgy)

Puddling was an Industrial Revolution means of making iron and steel. In the original puddling technique, molten iron in a reverberatory furnace was stirred with rods, which were consumed in the process...

 in Belgium (with J.M. Orban).

Shortly after John Cockerill had built the first blast furnace in Belgium in Liege

Liege

Liège is a municipality and a city of Belgium. The term Liège or Liege may also refer to:* Liege, a party to the oath of allegiance in feudalism .* Liège Island, in the Antarctic...

, he built a coke fired blast furnace in 1827 in Charleroi

Charleroi

Charleroi is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. , the total population of Charleroi was 201,593. The metropolitan area, including the outer commuter zone, covers an area of and had a total population of 522,522 as of 1 January 2008, ranking it as...

, 12m high and producing 6 to 10tonnes of pig iron

Pig iron

Pig iron is the intermediate product of smelting iron ore with a high-carbon fuel such as coke, usually with limestone as a flux. Charcoal and anthracite have also been used as fuel...

a day.

Between 1831 and 1834 he was Mayor of Charleroi. He died in 1850 aged 80.