blast furnace
type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals
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A blast furnace is a large industrial oven used to heat metal-containing rocks at extremely high temperatures in order to extract pure metals from them. This technology is fundamental to modern manufacturing because it enables the mass production of metals like iron, which are essential materials for building everything from skyscrapers to vehicles.
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Former AHM blast furnace in Port of Sagunt, Valencia, SpainA blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. Blast refers to the combustion air being supplied above atmospheric pressure.
In a blast furnace, fuel (coke), ores, and flux (limestone) are continuously supplied through the top of the furnace, while a hot blast of (sometimes oxygen-enriched) air is blown into the lower section of the furnace through a series of pipes called tuyeres, so that the chemical reactions take place throughout the furnace as the material falls downward. The end products are usually molten metal and slag phases tapped from the bottom, and flue gases exiting from the top. The downward flow of the ore along with the flux in contact with an upflow of hot, carbon monoxide-rich combustion gases is a countercurrent exchange and chemical reaction process.