Blast Furnace

Also called

extraction of iron · haematite · iron ore · coke · limestone · slag · calcium silicate · pig iron · reduction of iron oxide · carbon monoxide reduces ore · tuyeres · hot air blast · flux · metallurgy · smelting · वात्या भट्टी · लोहे का निष्कर्षण · धातुमल

Topics

• A blast furnace is charged from the top with iron ore (haematite, Fe₂O₃), coke (carbon) and limestone (CaCO₃).
• Hot air blown in through tuyeres near the bottom burns the coke: C + O₂ → CO₂, giving the furnace its heat.
• Higher up, the carbon dioxide meets more hot coke and becomes carbon monoxide: CO₂ + C → 2CO.
• Carbon monoxide is the reducing agent: Fe₂O₃ + 3CO → 2Fe + 3CO₂ in the cooler upper part of the furnace.
• Limestone breaks down to quicklime, CaCO₃ → CaO + CO₂, and the CaO removes the sandy impurity (SiO₂).
• CaO + SiO₂ → CaSiO₃ (slag). Molten slag is lighter than iron, so it floats on the iron and protects it from air.
• Iron melts near the bottom and collects in the hearth; it is tapped off as pig iron, slag from a higher notch.
• The furnace is hottest at the tuyeres (above 1500 °C) and cooler towards the top (a few hundred °C).

About this model

A GLB file of about 580 KB, shown in Lably's 3D viewer and, on a phone, placed in your room with AR. Credit: Model, science and animation: Lably (built procedurally with three.js; no downloaded meshes). | CC BY 4.0. Original geometry and animation made for Lably.

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