Salamander
Salamander turns up in 2 fields: refractories, building. Here is what it means to the people in each one.
Salamander in refractories
Pool or mass of iron left in a blast furnace hearth below the taphole, tapped or dug out at a reline.
The body of iron that sits in the blast furnace hearth below taphole level, which never drains during normal casting. At the end of a campaign it is drained through a special salamander tap low in the hearth wall; whatever freezes, mixed with coke and slag, has to be cut, drilled or blasted out before the hearth can be rebuilt. Its size and shape also reveal how far the hearth erosion had gone.
"Salamander tap is scheduled for Tuesday, after that the hearth crew starts lancing out what's left."
Salamander in building
A portable forced-air heater used on construction sites to warm unfinished spaces.
These cylindrical, fuel-fired heaters burn propane or kerosene to blow intense heat into uninsulated buildings during winter work. Crews rely on them to keep pipes from freezing and to maintain the minimum temperatures required for curing concrete, drying mud, or applying paint. Because their glowing orange elements are visible from a distance, they frequently trigger false alarms from passersby who mistake them for structural fires.
"Grab another tank of propane for the salamander before the mud freezes on the drywallers."