The blast furnace is intermittently charged with ore, fuel and flux and intermittently tapped 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 Cromford mill of 1771, designed by Richard Arkwright,

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