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| | Jerrie Swoboda is what users can call me I totally dig the fact that name. What me and my family will always love is acting but Naturally i can't make it all my profession really. The job I've been taking up for years is an actual people manager. Guam is where I've always been having. You can sometimes find my website here: http://circuspartypanama.com<br><br>My blog :: [http://circuspartypanama.com clash of clans Hack tool] |
| {{Expand German|Hochofen|date=July 2012}}
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| [[File:Alto horno antiguo Sestao.jpg|right|250px|thumb|Blast furnace in [[Sestao]], Spain. The furnace itself is inside the central girderwork.]]
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| [[File:Old Blast Furnace 2012-05-02.jpg|right|250px|thumb|Part of the gas cleaning system of a blast furnace in [[Monclova]], Mexico. This one is about to be de-commissioned and replaced.]]
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| A '''blast furnace''' is a type of [[metallurgy|metallurgical]] [[furnace]] used for [[smelting]] to produce industrial metals, generally [[iron]], but also others such as [[lead]] or [[copper]].
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| In a blast furnace, fuel, [[ore]], and [[Flux (metallurgy)|flux]] (limestone) are continuously supplied through the top of the furnace, while [[air]] (sometimes with [[oxygen]] enrichment) is blown into the lower section of the furnace, so that the [[Blast furnace#Process engineering and chemistry|chemical reactions]] take place throughout the furnace as the material moves downward. The end products are usually molten [[metal]] and [[slag]] phases tapped from the bottom, and [[flue gas]]es exiting from the top of the furnace. The downward flow of the ore and flux in contact with an upflow of hot, carbon monoxide-rich combustion gases is a [[countercurrent exchange]] process.
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| In contrast, air furnaces (such as [[reverberatory furnace]]s) are naturally aspirated, usually by the convection of hot gases in a chimney flue. According to this broad definition, [[bloomery|bloomeries]] for iron, [[blowing house]]s for [[tin]], and [[smelt mill]]s for [[lead]] would be classified as blast furnaces. However, the term has usually been limited to those used for smelting [[iron ore]] to produce [[pig iron]], an intermediate material used in the production of commercial iron and [[steel]], and the shaft furnaces used in combination with [[sinter plant]]s in [[base metals]] smelting.<ref>P J Wand, "Copper smelting at Electrolytic Refining and Smelting Company of Australia Ltd., Port Kembla, N.S.W.", in: '' Mining and Metallurgical Practices in Australasia: The Sir Maurice Mawby Memorial Volume'', Ed J T Woodcock (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne, 1980) 335–340.</ref><ref>R J Sinclair, ''The Extractive Metallurgy of Lead'' (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne, 2009), 9–12.</ref>
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| ==History==
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| {{See also|History of ferrous metallurgy}}
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| Blast furnaces existed in China from about 1st century AD<ref name="Golas1999">{{cite book|author=Peter J. Golas|title=Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 5, Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Part 13, Mining|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=TSiII7s2wLkC&pg=PA152|date=25 February 1999|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-58000-7|page=152|quote=earlist blast furnace discovered in China from about the first century AD}}</ref> and in the West from the [[High Middle Ages]]. They spread from the region around [[Namur (province)|Namur]] in [[Wallonia]] ([[Belgium]]) in the late 15th century, being introduced to England in 1491. The fuel used in these was invariably [[charcoal]]. The successful substitution of [[coke (fuel)|coke]] for charcoal is widely attributed to [[Abraham Darby I|Abraham Darby]] in 1709. The efficiency of the process was further enhanced by the practice of preheating the combustion air ([[hot blast]]), patented by [[James Beaumont Neilson]] in 1828.
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| === China ===
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| [[File:Yuan Dynasty - waterwheels and smelting.png|thumb|250px|An illustration of furnace bellows operated by [[waterwheel]]s, from the ''Nong Shu'', by [[Wang Zhen (official)|Wang Zhen]], 1313 AD, during the [[Yuan Dynasty]] of China]]
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| The oldest extant blast furnaces were built during the [[Han Dynasty]] of China in the 1st century BC. However, [[cast iron]] farm tools and weapons were widespread in China by the 5th century BC,<ref name="ebrey 30"/> while 3rd century BC iron smelters employed an average workforce of over two hundred men.<ref name="ebrey 30">Ebrey, p. 30.</ref> These early furnaces had clay walls and used [[phosphorus]]-containing minerals as a [[flux (metallurgy)|flux]].<ref>[http://www.staff.hum.ku.dk/dbwagner/KoreanFe/KoreanFe.html Early iron in China, Korea, and Japan], Donald B. Wagner, March 1993</ref> The effectiveness of the Chinese blast furnace was enhanced during this period by the engineer [[Du Shi]] (c. 31 AD), who applied the power of [[waterwheel]]s to [[piston]]-[[bellows]] in forging cast iron.<ref>{{Citation | last = Needham | first = Joseph | title = Science and Civilisation in China, Volume 4: Physics and Physical Technology, Part 2, Mechanical Engineering | place = Taipei | publisher = Cambridge University Press | page = 370 | year = 1986 | isbn = 0-521-05803-1 }}</ref>
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| [[File:Chinese Puddle and Blast Furnace.jpg|thumb|left|220px|The left picture illustrates the fining process to make [[wrought iron]] from pig iron, with the right illustration displaying men working a blast furnace of smelting iron ore producing pig iron, from the ''[[Song Yingxing|Tiangong Kaiwu]]'' encyclopedia, 1637]]
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| While it was long thought that the Chinese had developed the blast furnace and cast iron as their first method of iron production, Donald Wagner (the author of the above referenced study) has published a more recent paper<ref>[http://staff.hum.ku.dk/dbwagner/EARFE/EARFE.html The earliest use of iron in China], Donald B. Wagner, 1999</ref> that supersedes some of the statements in the earlier work; the newer paper still places the date of the first cast-iron artifacts at the 5th and 4th centuries BC, but also provides evidence of earlier bloomery furnace use, which migrated in from the West during the beginning of the Chinese [[Bronze Age]] of the late [[Longshan culture]] (2000 BC). He suggests that early blast furnace and cast iron production evolved from furnaces used to melt bronze. Certainly, though, iron was essential to military success by the time the [[State of Qin]] had unified China (221 BC). Usage of the blast and cupola furnace remained widespread during the [[Song Dynasty|Song]] and [[Tang Dynasty|Tang Dynasties]].<ref name="The Coming of the Ages of Steel">{{cite book|title=The Coming of the Ages of Steel|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=uMwUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA54|publisher=Brill Archive|page=54|id=GGKEY:DN6SZTCNQ3G}}</ref> By the 11th century AD, the [[Song Dynasty]] Chinese iron industry made a remarkable switch of resources from [[charcoal]] to [[bituminous coal]] in casting iron and steel, sparing thousands of acres of woodland from felling. This may have happened as early as the 4th century AD.<ref>Donald B. Wagner, 'Chinese blast furnaces from the 10th to the 14th century' ''Historical Metallurgy'' 37(1) (2003), 25–37; originally published in ''West Asian Science, Technology, and Medicine'' 18 (2001), 41–74.</ref><ref>Ebrey, p. 158.</ref>
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| The Chinese blast furnace remained in use well until the 20th century. The [[backyard furnace]]s favoured by [[Mao Zedong]] during the [[Great Leap Forward]] were of this type. In the regions with strong traditions of metallurgy, the steel production actually increased during this period. In the regions where there was no tradition of steelmaking or where the ironmasters knowing the traditional skills or the scientific principles of the blast furnace process had been killed, the results were less than satisfactory.
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| === Elsewhere in the ancient world ===
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| {{see also|Bloomery}}
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| <!-- Please do not expand this section: it is about bloomeries, not blast furnaces -->
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| In most places in the world other than in China, there is no evidence of the use of the blast furnace (proper). Instead, iron was made by direct reduction in [[bloomery|bloomeries]]. These are not correctly described as blast furnaces, though the term is occasionally misused in referring to them. An exception would the [[Haya people]] of northwestern Tanzania, who are renowned for creating steel using a blast furnace process and refining process very similar to [[open hearth furnace|open hearth process]] for possibly as long as 2000 years.
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| In Europe, the [[Greeks]], [[Celt]]s, [[Ancient Rome|Romans]], and [[Carthage|Carthaginians]] all used this process. Several examples have been found in France, and materials found in [[Tunisia]] suggest they were used there as well as in [[Antioch]] (south-central Turkey, between Syria and the Mediterranean Sea) during the [[Hellenistic Greece|Hellenistic Period]]. Though little is known of it during the [[Dark Ages (historiography)|Dark Ages]], the process probably continued in use.{{Citation needed|date=February 2009}} Similarly, smelting in bloomery-type furnaces in [[West Africa]] and [[forging]] for tools appear in the [[Nok culture]] in Africa by 500 BC.<ref>Duncan E. Miller and N.J. Van Der Merwe, 'Early Metal Working in Sub Saharan Africa' ''Journal of African History'' 35 (1994) 1–36; Minze Stuiver and N.J. Van Der Merwe, 'Radiocarbon Chronology of the Iron Age in Sub-Saharan Africa' ''Current Anthropology'' 1968. Tylecote 1975 (see below)</ref> The earliest records of bloomery-type furnaces in [[East Africa]] are discoveries of smelted iron and carbon in [[Nubia]] and [[Axum]] that date back between 1,000–500 BCE.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Robert O. Collins |author2=James McDonald Burns |title=A History of Sub-Saharan Africa |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=PZcX2jQFTRcC&pg=PA61 |accessdate=12 July 2012 |year=2007 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-86746-7 |page=61}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=David N. Edwards |title=The Nubian Past: An Archaeology of the Sudan |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=6tsaBtp0WrMC&pg=PA173 |accessdate=12 July 2012 |year=2004 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-0-415-36987-9 |page=173}}</ref> Particularly in [[Meroë]], there are known to have been ancient bloomeries that produced metal tools for the Nubians and Kushites and produced surplus for their economy.
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| Bloomeries have also been discovered and recorded to have been created in medieval West Africa with some of the metalworking [[Bantu people|Bantu]] civilizations such as the [[Bunyoro]] Empire and the Nyoro people.<ref>{{cite book|author=Eugenia W. Herbert |title=Iron, Gender, and Power: Rituals of Transformation in African Societies |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=BVn5Nq7MIIgC&pg=PA102 |accessdate=12 July 2012 |year=1993 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-253-20833-0 |page=102}}</ref>
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| === Medieval Europe ===
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| ====Catalan forges====
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| The simplest forge, known as the Corsican, was used prior to the advent of Christianity. Improved bloomeries as the {{link-interwiki|en=Stückofen |lang=fr|lang_title=Stückofen}}<ref>{{cite book|author=Julius H. Strassburger |title=Blast Furnace-theory and Practice |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=n7oOAAAAQAAJ |accessdate=12 July 2012 |year=1969 |publisher=Gordon and Breach Science Publishers |isbn=978-0-677-10420-1 |page=4}}</ref> (sometimes called wolf-furnace<ref>Douglas Alan Fisher, [http://www.davistownmuseum.org/toolPreBlastFurnace.html Excerpt from The Epic of Steel], Davis Town Museum & Harper & Row, NY 1963.</ref>) or the [[Catalan forge]], which remained until the beginning of 19th century. The Catalan forge was invented in [[Catalonia]], Spain, during the 8th century. Instead of using natural draught, air was pumped in by a ''[[trompe]]'', resulting in better quality iron and an increased capacity. This pumping of airstream in with bellows is known as ''cold blast'', and it increases the fuel efficiency of the bloomery and improves yield. The Catalan forges can also be built bigger than natural draught bloomeries.
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| Modern [[experimental archaeology]] and history re-enactment have shown there is only a very short step from the Catalan forge to the true blast furnace, where the iron is gained as pig iron in liquid phase. Usually, obtaining the iron in liquid phase is actually undesired, and the temperature is intentionally kept below the melting point of iron, since while removing the solid bloom mechanically is tedious and means batch process instead of continuous process, it is almost pure iron and can be worked immediately. On the other hand, pig iron is the [[eutectic]] mixture of carbon and iron and needs to be decarburized to produce steel or wrought iron, which was extremely tedious in the Middle Ages.
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| ====Oldest European blast furnaces====
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| [[File:GermanyFirstBlastFurnaceMiniatureDM.jpg|thumb|300px|The first blast furnace of Germany as depicted in a miniature in the [[Deutsches Museum]]]]The oldest known blast furnaces in the West were built in [[Dürstel]] in [[Switzerland]], the Märkische [[Sauerland]] in Germany, and at [[Lapphyttan]] in [[Sweden]], where the complex was active between 1205 and 1300.<ref>Jockenhövel, Albrecht ''et al.'' (1997) [http://www.uni-muenster.de/UrFruehGeschichte/forschen/maerkischessauerland_engl.html "Archaeological Investigations on the Beginning of Blast Furnace-Technology in Central Europe"] Abteilung für Ur- und Frühgeschichtliche Archäologie, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster; abstract published as: Jockenhövel, A. (1997) "Archaeological Investigations on the Beginning of Blast Furnace-Technology in Central Europe" pp. 56–58 ''In'' Crew, Peter and Crew, Susan (editors) (1997) ''Early Ironworking in Europe: Archaeology and Experiment: Abstracts of the International Conference at Plas Tan y Bwlch 19–25 September 1997'' (Plas Tan y Bwlch Occasional Papers No 3) Snowdonia National Park Study Centre, Gwynedd, Wales, {{OCLC|470699473}}; archived here [http://www.webcitation.org/665wzuKOG] by [[WebCite]] on 11 March 2012</ref> At Noraskog in the Swedish parish of Järnboås, there have also been found traces of blast furnaces dated even earlier, possibly to around 1100.<ref>A. Wetterholm, 'Blast furnace studies in Nora bergslag' (Örebro universitet 1999, Järn och Samhälle) ISBN 91-7668-204-8</ref> These early blast furnaces, like the [[Chinese history|Chinese]] examples, were very inefficient compared to those used today. The iron from the Lapphyttan complex was used to produce balls of [[wrought iron]] known as [[Osmond iron|osmond]]s, and these were traded internationally – a possible reference occurs in a treaty with [[Novgorod]] from 1203 and several certain references in accounts of English customs from the 1250s and 1320s. Other furnaces of the 13th to 15th centuries have been identified in [[Westphalia]].<ref>N. Bjökenstam, 'The Blast Furnace in Europe during the Middle Ages: part of a new system for producing wrought iron' in G. Magnusson, ''The Importance of Ironmaking: Technological Innovation and Social Change'' I (Jernkontoret, Stockholm 1995), 143–53 and other papers in the same volume.</ref>
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| The provenance of the technology is not certain. One possibility involves technology transfer from China. [[Al-Qazvini]] in the 13th century and other travellers subsequently noted an iron industry in the [[Alborz|Alburz]] Mountains to the south of the [[Caspian Sea]]. This is close to the [[silk route]], so that the use of technology derived from China is conceivable. Much later descriptions record blast furnaces about three metres high.<ref>Donald B. Wagner (continuing from [[Joseph Needham]]), ''Science and Civilisation in China: 5. Chemistry and Chemical Technology: part 11 Ferrous Metallurgy'' (Cambridge University Press 2008), 349–51.</ref> As the [[Varangian]] [[Rus' people]] from [[Scandinavia]] traded with the Caspian (using their [[Volga trade route]], it is possible that the technology reached Sweden by this means.<ref>Wagner 2008, 354.</ref> However, since blast furnace has also been invented independently in Africa by the [[Haya people]], it is more likely the process has been invented in Scandinavia independently. The step from [[bloomery]] to true blast furnace is not big.
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| This Caspian region may also separately be the technological source for at furnace at [[Ferriere]], described by [[Filarete]].<ref>Wagner 2008, 355.</ref> Water-powered bellows at [[Semogo]] in northern Italy in 1226 in a two-stage process. In this, the molten iron was tapped twice a day into water thereby granulating it.<ref>B. G. Awty, 'The blast funace in the Renaissance period: ''haut fournau'' or ''fonderie'' ', ''Transactions of Newcomen Society'' 61 (1989–90). 67.</ref>
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| ====Cistercian contributions====
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| One means by which certain technological advances were transmitted within Europe was a result of the General Chapter of the [[Cistercians|Cistercian]] monks. This may have included the blast furnace, as the Cistercians are known to have been skilled [[Metallurgy|metallurgists]].<ref name="Woods34">Woods, p. 34.</ref> According to Jean Gimpel, their high level of industrial technology facilitated the diffusion of new techniques: "Every monastery had a model factory, often as large as the church and only several feet away, and waterpower drove the machinery of the various industries located on its floor." Iron ore deposits were often donated to the monks along with forges to extract the iron, and within time surpluses were being offered for sale. The Cistercians became the leading iron producers in [[Champagne (province)|Champagne]], France, from the mid-13th century to the 17th century,<ref name="Gimpel">Gimpel, p. 67.</ref> also using the [[phosphate]]-rich slag from their furnaces as an agricultural fertilizer.<ref>Woods, p. 35.</ref>
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| Archaeologists are still discovering the extent of Cistercian technology.<ref name="Woods36">Woods, p. 36.</ref> At [[Laskill]], an outstation of [[Rievaulx Abbey]] and the only medieval blast furnace so far identified in [[Great Britain|Britain]], the slag produced was low in iron content.<ref name="Woods37">Woods, p. 37.</ref> Slag from other furnaces of the time contained a substantial concentration of iron, whereas Laskill is believed to have produced cast iron quite efficiently.<ref name="Woods37"/><ref>{{cite journal|author=R. W. Vernon, G. McDonnell and A. Schmidt|title=An integrated geophysical and analytical appraisal of early iron-working: three case studies|journal=Historical Metallurgy|volume=32|issue=2|year=1998|pages=72–5, 79}}</ref><ref name="Woods">David Derbyshire, [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1397905/Henry-stamped-out-Industrial-Revolution.html 'Henry "Stamped Out Industrial Revolution"'], ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' (21 June 2002); cited by Woods.</ref> Its date is not yet clear, but it probably did not survive until [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]]'s [[Dissolution of the Monasteries]] in the late 1530s, as an agreement (immediately after that) concerning the "smythes" with the [[Thomas Manners, 1st Earl of Rutland|Earl of Rutland]] in 1541 refers to blooms.<ref>{{Citation | last = Schubert | first = H. R. | title = History of the British iron and steel industry from c. 450 BC to AD 1775 | publisher = Routledge & Kegan Paul | pages = 395–397 | year = 1957}}</ref> Nevertheless, the means by which the blast furnace spread in medieval Europe has not finally been determined.
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| == Origin and spread of early modern blast furnaces ==
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| [[File:HautfourneauXVIII 1nb.jpg|thumb|Period drawing of an 18th-century blast furnace]]
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| The direct ancestor of these used in France and England was in the Namur region in what is now Wallonia (Belgium). From there, they spread first to the [[Pays de Bray]] on the eastern boundary of [[Normandy]] and from there to the [[Weald]] of [[Sussex]], where the first furnace (called Queenstock) in [[Buxted]] was built in about 1491, followed by one at [[Newbridge, East Sussex|Newbridge]] in [[Ashdown Forest]] in 1496. They remained few in number until about 1530 but many were built in the following decades in the Weald, where the iron industry perhaps reached its peak about 1590. Most of the pig iron from these furnaces was taken to [[finery forge]]s for the production of [[bar iron]].<ref name="Queenstock">B. Awty & C. Whittick (with P. Combes), 'The Lordship of Canterbury, iron-founding at Buxted, and the continental antecedents of cannon-founding in the Weald' ''Sussex Archaeological Collections'' 140 (2004 for 2002), pp. 71–81.</ref>
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| The first British furnaces outside the Weald appeared during the 1550s, and many were built in the remainder of that century and the following ones. The output of the industry probably peaked about 1620, and was followed by a slow decline until the early 18th century. This was apparently because it was more economic to import iron from [[Sweden]] and elsewhere than to make it in some more remote British locations. Charcoal that was economically available to the industry was probably being consumed as fast as the wood to make it grew.<ref>P. W. King, 'The production and consumption of iron in early modern England and Wales' ''Economic History Review'' LVIII(1), 1–33; G. Hammersley, 'The charcoal iron industry and its fuel 1540–1750' ''Economic History Review'' Ser. II, XXVI (1973), pp. 593–613.</ref> The [[Backbarrow]] blast furnace built in [[Cumbria]] in 1711 has been described as the first efficient example.{{who|date=November 2010}}
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| The first blast furnace in Russia opened in 1637 near [[Tula, Russia|Tula]] and was called the Gorodishche Works. The blast furnace spread from here to the central Russia and then finally to the [[Urals]].<ref name="dwip">{{Citation | last = Yakovlev | first = V. B. | title = Development of Wrought Iron Production | journal = Metallurgist | volume = 1 | issue = 8 | page = 545 | publisher = Springer | location = New York| year = 1957 | doi = 10.1007/BF00732452}}</ref>
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| === Coke blast furnaces ===
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| [[Image:Blast Furnaces at Blists Hill.jpg|thumb|The original blast furnaces at Blists Hill, [[Coalbrookdale]]]]
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| [[File:Eisenerz - Hochofenarbeiter um 1910.jpg|thumb|right|Workers in [[Eisenerz]], 1910]]
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| In 1709, at [[Coalbrookdale]] in Shropshire, England, [[Abraham Darby I|Abraham Darby]] began to fuel a blast furnace with [[coke (fuel)|coke]] instead of [[charcoal]]. Coke's initial advantage was its lower cost, mainly because making coke required much less labor than cutting trees and making charcoal, but using coke also overcame localized shortages of wood, especially in Britain and on the Continent. Metallurgical grade coke will bear heavier weight than charcoal, allowing larger furnaces.<ref>
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| {{cite book
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| |title=The Unbound Prometheus: Technological Change and Industrial Development in Western Europe from 1750 to the Present
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| |last=Landes
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| |first= David. S.
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| |authorlink= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Landes
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| |coauthors=
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| |year= 1969|publisher =Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge
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| |location= Cambridge, New York
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| |isbn= 0-521-09418-6|pages=90–93
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| | postscript = <!--None-->}}
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| </ref><ref>
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| {{cite book
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| |title=The Most Powerful Idea in the World: A Story of Steam, Industry and Invention
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| |last1= Rosen
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| |first1= William
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| |authorlink=
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| |coauthors=
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| |year= 2012 |publisher = University Of Chicago Press
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| |location=
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| |isbn= 978-0226726342 |pages=149
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| | postscript = <!--None-->}}
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| </ref> A disadvantage is that coke contains more impurities than charcoal, with sulfur being especially detrimental to the iron's quality.
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| Coke iron was initially only used for [[foundry]] work, making pots and other cast iron goods. Foundry work was a minor branch of the industry, but Darby's son built a new furnace at nearby Horsehay, and began to supply the owners of [[finery forge]]s with coke pig iron for the production of bar iron. Coke pig iron was by this time cheaper to produce than charcoal pig iron. The use of a coal-derived fuel in the iron industry was a key factor in the British [[Industrial Revolution]].<ref>{{Citation | last = Raistrick | first = Arthur | title = Dynasty of Iron Founders: The Darbys and Coalbrookedale | place = York | publisher = Longmans, Green | year = 1953}}</ref><ref>Hyde</ref><ref>{{Citation | last = Trinder | first = Barrie Stuart | last2 = Trinder | first2 = Barrie | title = The Industrial Revolution in Shropshire | place = Chichester | publisher = Phillimore | year = 2000 | isbn = 1-86077-133-5}}</ref> Darby's original blast furnace has been archaeologically excavated and can be seen in situ at Blists hill, Coalbrookdale, part of the [[Ironbridge Gorge]] Museums. Cast iron from the furnace was used to make girders for the world's first iron bridge in 1779. [[The Iron Bridge]] crosses the [[River Severn]] at Coalbrookdale and remains in use for pedestrians.
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| ===Hot blast===
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| Hot blast was the single most important advance in fuel efficiency of the blast furnace and was one of the most important technologies developed during the [[Industrial Revolution]].<ref>
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| {{cite book
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| |title=The Unbound Prometheus: Technological Change and Industrial Development in Western Europe from 1750 to the Present
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| |last=Landes
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| |first= David. S.
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| |authorlink=David Landes
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| |coauthors=
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| |year= 1969|publisher =Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge
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| |location= Cambridge, New York
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| |isbn= 0-521-09418-6|pages=92
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| | postscript = <!--None-->}}
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| </ref><ref>{{Cite journal
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| | last1 = Ayres
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| | first1 = Robert
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| | author1-link = Robert Ayres (scientist)
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| | title =Technological Transformations and Long Waves
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| | year = 1989
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| |page=21
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| | url = http://www.iiasa.ac.at/Admin/PUB/Documents/RR-89-001.pdf
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| | postscript =<Fig. 7 shows C/Fe ratio time series>}}</ref> [[Hot blast]] was patented by [[James Beaumont Neilson]] at [[Wilsontown Ironworks]] in Scotland in 1828. Within a few years of the introduction, hot blast was developed to the point where fuel consumption was cut by one-third using coke or two-thirds using coal, while furnace capacity was also significantly increased. Within a few decades, the practice was to have a "stove" as large as the furnace next to it into which the waste gas (containing CO) from the furnace was directed and burnt. The resultant heat was used to preheat the air blown into the furnace.<ref name="Neilson">Birch, pp. 181–9.</ref>
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| Hot blast enabled the use of raw [[anthracite]] coal, which was difficult to light, to the blast furnace. Anthracite was first tried successfully by George Crane at [[Ystradgynlais|Ynyscedwyn]] ironworks in south Wales in 1837.<ref>Hyde, p. 159.</ref> It was taken up in America by the [[Lehigh Crane Iron Company]] at [[Catasauqua, Pennsylvania]], in 1839.
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| ===Modern furnaces===
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| ====Iron blast furnaces====
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| The blast furnace remains an important part of modern iron production. Modern furnaces are highly efficient, including [[Cowper stove]]s to [[hot blast|pre-heat]] the blast air and employ recovery systems to extract the heat from the hot gases exiting the furnace. Competition in industry drives higher production rates. The largest blast furnaces have a volume around 5580 m<sup>3</sup> (190,000 cu ft)<ref>{{Citation | title = Only together we shall susseed!| url = http://web.archive.org/web/20090201162239/http://www.madeinua.info/view.aspx?type=ja&lang=2&jaid=261 | accessdate = 2008-05-20}}</ref> and can produce around 80,000 tonnes (88,000 short tons) of iron per week.{{update inline|date=May 2013}}
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| This is a great increase from the typical 18th-century furnaces, which averaged about 360 tonnes (400 short tons) per year. Variations of the blast furnace, such as the Swedish electric blast furnace, have been developed in countries which have no native coal resources.
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| ====Lead blast furnaces====
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| Blast furnaces are currently rarely used in copper smelting, but modern lead smelting blast furnaces are much shorter than iron blast furnaces and are rectangular in shape.<ref name = "Sinclair75">R J Sinclair, ''The Extractive Metallurgy of Lead'' (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne, 2009), 75.</ref> The overall shaft height is around 5 to 6 m.<ref name = "Sinclair77">R J Sinclair, ''The Extractive Metallurgy of Lead'' (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne, 2009), 77.</ref> Modern lead blast furnaces are constructed using water-cooled steel or copper jackets for the walls, and have no refractory linings in the side walls.<ref name = "Sinclair75"/> The base of the furnace is a hearth of refractory material (bricks or castable refractory).<ref name = "Sinclair75"/> Lead blast furances are often open-topped rather than having the charging bell used in iron blast furnaces.<ref>R J Sinclair, ''The Extractive Metallurgy of Lead'' (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne, 2009), 76.</ref>
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| The blast furnace used at the [[Nyrstar]] [[Port Pirie]] lead smelter differs from most other lead blast furnaces in that it has a double row of tuyeres rather than the single row normally used.<ref name = "Sinclair77"/> The lower shaft of the furnace has a chair shape with the lower part of the shaft being narrower than the upper.<ref name = "Sinclair77"/> The lower row of tuyeres being located in the narrow part of the shaft.<ref name = "Sinclair77"/> This allows the upper part of the shaft to be wider than the standard.<ref name = "Sinclair77"/>
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| ====Zinc blast furnaces (Imperial Smelting Furnaces)====
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| The blast furnaces used in the [[Zinc smelting#Blast furnace process (Imperial Smelting Process)|Imperial Smelting Process]] ("ISP") were developed from the standard lead blast furnace, but are fully sealed.<ref name = "Sinclair89">R J Sinclair, ''The Extractive Metallurgy of Lead'' (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne, 2009), 89.</ref> This is because the zinc produced by these furnaces is recovered as metal from the vapor phase, and the presence of oxygen in the off-gas would result in the formation of zinc oxide.<ref name = "Sinclair89"/>
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| Blast furnaces used in the ISP have a more intense operation than standard lead blast furnaces, with higher air blast rates per m<sup>2</sup> of hearth area and a higher coke consumption.<ref name = "Sinclair89"/>
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| Zinc production with the ISP is more expensive than with [[Zinc smelting#Electrolysis process|electrolytic zinc]] plants, so several smelters operating this technology have closed in recent years.<ref>R J Sinclair, ''The Extractive Metallurgy of Lead'' (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne, 2009), 90.</ref> However, ISP furnaces have the advantage of being able to treat zinc concentrates containing higher levels of lead than can electrolytic zinc plants.<ref name = "Sinclair89"/>
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| ==Modern process==
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| [[File:Blast furnace NT.PNG|thumb|right|250px|'''Blast furnace placed in an installation'''<br />1. Iron ore + limestone sinter<br />2. Coke<br />3. Elevator <br />4. Feedstock inlet<br />5. Layer of coke<br />6. Layer of sinter pellets of ore and limestone <br />7. Hot blast (around 1200 °C)<br />8. Removal of slag<br />9. Tapping of molten pig iron<br />10. Slag pot<br />11. Torpedo car for pig iron<br />12. Dust cyclone for separation of solid particles<br /> 13. Cowper stoves for hot blast<br />14. Smoke outlet (can be redirected to carbon capture & storage (CCS) tank)<br />15: Feed air for Cowper stoves (air pre-heaters)<br />16. Powdered coal<br />17. Coke oven<br />18. Coke<br/>19. Blast furnace gas downcomer]]
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| [[File:VysokaPec.jpg|thumb|right|250px|'''Blast furnace diagram'''<br />1. [[Hot blast]] from [[Cowper stove]]s <br />2. Melting zone (''bosh'')<br />3. Reduction zone of [[ferrous oxide]] (''barrel'')<br /> 4. Reduction zone of [[ferric oxide]] (''stack'')<br /> 5. Pre-heating zone (''throat'')<br />6. Feed of ore, limestone, and coke<br /> 7. Exhaust gases<br /> 8. Column of ore, coke and limestone<br /> 9. Removal of [[slag]]<br /> 10. Tapping of molten [[pig iron]]<br /> 11. Collection of waste gases]]
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| Modern furnaces are equipped with an array of supporting facilities to increase efficiency, such as ore storage yards where barges are unloaded. The raw materials are transferred to the stockhouse complex by ore bridges, or [[Hopper car|rail hopper]]s and [[Railcar|ore transfer cars]]. Rail-mounted scale cars or computer controlled weight hoppers weigh out the various raw materials to yield the desired hot metal and slag chemistry. The raw materials are brought to the top of the blast furnace via a [[skip (container)|skip]] car powered by winches or conveyor belts.<ref name="AISI">American Iron and Steel Institute (2005). [http://web.archive.org/web/20070510164459/http://www.steel.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home&template=/CM/HTMLDisplay.cfm&ContentID=5433 How a Blast Furnace Works]. steel.org.</ref>
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| There are different ways in which the raw materials are charged into the blast furnace. Some blast furnaces use a "double bell" system where two "bells" are used to control the entry of raw material into the blast furnace. The purpose of the two bells is to minimize the loss of hot gases in the blast furnace. First, the raw materials are emptied into the upper or small bell which then opens to empty the charge into the large bell. The small bell then closes, to seal the blast furnace, while the large bell rotates to provide specific distribution of materials before dispensing the charge into the blast furnace.<ref name=et>{{Citation | last = McNeil | first = Ian | title = An encyclopaedia of the history of technology | publisher = Taylor & Francis | page = 163 | year = 1990 | url = http://books.google.com/?id=WW4Q-vMA6IMC | isbn = 0-415-01306-2}}</ref><ref>{{Citation | last = Strassburger | first = Julius H. | title = Blast furnace: Theory and Practice | publisher = Taylor & Francis | page = 564 | year = 1969 | url = http://books.google.com/?id=xLsOAAAAQAAJ | isbn = 0-677-10420-0}}</ref> A more recent design is to use a "bell-less" system. These systems use multiple hoppers to contain each raw material, which is then discharged into the blast furnace through valves.<ref name=et/> These valves are more accurate at controlling how much of each constituent is added, as compared to the skip or conveyor system, thereby increasing the efficiency of the furnace. Some of these bell-less systems also implement a discharge chute in the throat of the furnace (as with the Paul Wurth top) in order to precisely control where the charge is placed.<ref>{{Citation | last = Whitfield | first = Peter | title = Design and Operation of a Gimbal Top Charging System | url = http://web.archive.org/web/20090305185028/http://www2.sea.siemens.com/NR/rdonlyres/FFA8AF1C-1791-46E8-AA09-917BB28D8701/0/038.pdf | accessdate = 2008-06-22}}</ref>
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| The iron making blast furnace itself is built in the form of a tall structure, lined with [[refractory]] brick, and profiled to allow for expansion of the charged materials as they heat during their descent, and subsequent reduction in size as melting starts to occur. Coke, [[limestone]] flux, and iron ore (iron oxide) are charged into the top of the furnace in a precise filling order which helps control gas flow and the chemical reactions inside the furnace. Four "uptakes" allow the hot, dirty gas high in carbon monoxide content to exit the furnace throat, while "bleeder valves" protect the top of the furnace from sudden gas pressure surges. The coarse particles in the exhaust gas settle in the "dust catcher" and are dumped into a railroad car or truck for disposal, while the gas itself flows through a [[venturi scrubber]] and/or electrostatic precipitators and a gas cooler to reduce the temperature of the cleaned gas.<ref name="AISI"/>
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| The "casthouse" at the bottom half of the furnace contains the bustle pipe, water cooled copper tuyeres and the equipment for casting the liquid iron and slag. Once a "taphole" is drilled through the refractory clay plug, liquid iron and slag flow down a trough through a "skimmer" opening, separating the iron and slag. Modern, larger blast furnaces may have as many as four tapholes and two casthouses.<ref name="AISI"/> Once the pig iron and slag has been tapped, the taphole is again plugged with refractory clay.
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| [[File:Blast furnace tuyeres.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Tuyeres of Blast Furnace at [[Gerdau]], India]]
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| The [[tuyere]]s are used to implement a [[hot blast]], which is used to increase the efficiency of the blast furnace. The hot blast is directed into the furnace through water-cooled copper nozzles called tuyeres near the base. The hot blast temperature can be from 900 °C to 1300 °C (1600 °F to 2300 °F) depending on the stove design and condition. The temperatures they deal with may be 2000 °C to 2300 °C (3600 °F to 4200 °F). [[Oil]], [[tar]], [[natural gas]], powdered [[coal]] and [[oxygen]] can also be injected into the furnace at tuyere level to combine with the coke to release additional energy and increase the percentage of reducing gases present which is necessary to increase productivity.<ref name="AISI"/>
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| ==Process engineering and chemistry==
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| [[File:VysokePece1.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Blast furnaces of [[Třinec Iron and Steel Works]], Czech Republic]]
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| Blast furnaces operate on the principle of [[redox|chemical reduction]] whereby carbon monoxide, having a stronger affinity for the oxygen in iron ore than iron does, reduces the iron to its elemental form. Blast furnaces differ from [[bloomery|bloomeries]] and [[reverberatory furnace]]s in that in a blast furnace, flue gas is in intimate contact with the ore and iron, allowing carbon monoxide to diffuse into the ore and reduce the iron oxide to elemental iron mixed with carbon. The blast furnaces operates as a [[countercurrent exchange]] process whereas a bloomery does not. Another difference is that bloomeries operate as a batch process while blast furnaces operate continuously for long periods because they are difficult to start up and shut down. (See: [[Continuous production]]) Also, the carbon in pig iron lowers the melting point below that of steel or pure iron; in contrast, iron does not melt in a bloomery.
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| Carbon monoxide also reduces [[silica]] which has to be removed from the pig iron. The silica is reacted with [[calcium oxide]] (burned limestone) and forms a slag which floats to the surface of the molten pig iron.
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| The intimate contact of flue gas with the iron causes contamination with sulfur if it is present in the fuel. Historically, to prevent contamination from sulfur, the best quality iron was produced with charcoal.
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| The downward moving column of ore, flux, [[coke (fuel)|coke]] or charcoal and reaction products must be porous enough for the flue gas to pass through. This requires the coke or charcoal to be in large enough particles to be permeable, meaning there cannot be an excess of fines. Therefore the coke must be strong enough so it will not be crushed by the weight the overhead material. Besides physical strength of the coke, it must also be low in sulfur, phosphorus and ash. This necessitates the use of metallurgical coal, which is a premium grade due to its relative scarcity.
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| The main chemical reaction producing the molten iron is:
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| :Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> + 3CO → 2Fe + 3CO<sub>2</sub><ref name="Formulae">{{cite web | title = Blast Furnace | publisher = Science Aid | accessdate = 2007-12-30 | url = http://www.scienceaid.co.uk/chemistry/industrial/blastfurnace.html}}</ref>
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| This reaction might be divided into multiple steps, with the first being that preheated blast air blown into the furnace reacts with the carbon in the form of coke to produce [[carbon monoxide]] and heat:
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| :2 C''(s)'' + O<sub>2</sub>''(g)'' → 2 CO''(g)''<ref name="InorganicChemistry">{{Citation | last = Rayner-Canham & Overton | title = Descriptive Inorganic Chemistry, Fourth Edition | place = New York | publisher = W. H. Freeman and Company | pages = 534–535 | year = 2006 | isbn = 978-0-7167-7695-6 }}</ref>
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| The hot carbon monoxide is the reducing agent for the iron ore and reacts with the [[iron oxide]] to produce molten iron and [[carbon dioxide]]. Depending on the temperature in the different parts of the furnace (warmest at the bottom) the iron is reduced in several steps. At the top, where the temperature usually is in the range between 200 °C and 700 °C, the iron oxide is partially reduced to iron(II,III) oxide, Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub>.
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| :3 Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>''(s)'' + CO''(g)'' → 2 Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub>''(s)'' + CO<sub>2</sub>''(g)''<ref name="InorganicChemistry"/>
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| At temperatures around 850 °C, further down in the furnace, the iron(II,III) is reduced further to iron(II) oxide:
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| :Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub>''(s)'' + CO''(g)'' → 3 FeO''(s)'' + CO<sub>2</sub>''(g)''<ref name="InorganicChemistry"/>
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| Hot carbon dioxide, unreacted carbon monoxide, and nitrogen from the air pass up through the furnace as fresh feed material travels down into the reaction zone. As the material travels downward, the counter-current gases both preheat the feed charge and decompose the limestone to [[calcium oxide]] and carbon dioxide:
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| :CaCO<sub>3</sub>''(s)'' → CaO''(s)'' + CO<sub>2</sub>''(g)''<ref name="InorganicChemistry"/>
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| As the iron(II) oxide moves down to the area with higher temperatures, ranging up to 1200 °C degrees, it is reduced further to iron metal:
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| :FeO''(s)'' + CO''(g)'' → Fe''(s)'' + CO<sub>2</sub>''(g)''<ref name="InorganicChemistry"/>
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| The carbon dioxide formed in this process is re-reduced to carbon monoxide by the [[coke (fuel)|coke]]:
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| :C''(s)'' + CO<sub>2</sub>''(g)'' → 2 CO''(g)''<ref name="InorganicChemistry"/>
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| The temperature-dependent equilibrium controlling the gas atmosphere in the furnace is called the [[Boudouard reaction]]:
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| ::2CO <math> \rightleftharpoons </math> CO<sub>2</sub> + C
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| The decomposition of limestone in the middle zones of the furnace proceeds according to the following reaction:
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| :CaCO<sub>3</sub> → CaO + CO<sub>2</sub><ref name=AISI/>
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| The calcium oxide formed by decomposition reacts with various acidic impurities in the iron (notably [[silica]]), to form a [[fayalite|fayalitic]] slag which is essentially [[calcium silicate]], [[Calcium|Ca]][[Silicon|Si]][[Oxygen|O]]<sub>3</sub>:<ref name="Formulae"/>
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| :SiO<sub>2</sub> + CaO → CaSiO<sub>3</sub><ref name="form2sci">Dr. K. E Lee, Form Two Science (Biology Chemistry Physics)</ref>
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| The "[[pig iron]]" produced by the blast furnace has a relatively high carbon content of around 4–5%, making it very brittle, and of limited immediate commercial use. Some pig iron is used to make [[cast iron]]. The majority of pig iron produced by blast furnaces undergoes further processing to reduce the carbon content and produce various grades of steel used for construction materials, automobiles, ships and machinery.
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| Although the efficiency of blast furnaces is constantly evolving, the chemical process inside the blast furnace remains the same. According to the [[American Iron and Steel Institute]]: "Blast furnaces will survive into the next millennium because the larger, efficient furnaces can produce hot metal at costs competitive with other iron making technologies."<ref name="AISI"/> One of the biggest drawbacks of the blast furnaces is the inevitable carbon dioxide production as iron is reduced from iron oxides by carbon and there is no economical substitute – steelmaking is one of the unavoidable industrial contributors of the CO<sub>2</sub> emissions in the world (see [[greenhouse gases]]).
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| The challenge set by the greenhouse gas emissions of the blast furnace is being addressed in an on-going European Program called ULCOS (Ultra Low [[Carbon Dioxide|CO<sub>2</sub>]] [[Steelmaking]]).<ref>http://www.ulcos.org</ref> Several new process routes have been proposed and investigated in depth to cut specific emissions (CO<sub>2</sub> per ton of steel) by at least 50%. Some rely on the capture and further storage (CCS) of CO<sub>2</sub>, while others choose decarbonizing iron and steel production, by turning to hydrogen, electricity and biomass.<ref>ICIT-Revue de Métallurgie, September and October issues, 2009</ref> In the nearer term, a technology that incorporates CCS into the blast furnace process itself and is called the Top-Gas Recycling Blast Furnace is under development, with a scale-up to a commercial size blast furnace under way. The technology should be fully demonstrated by the end of the 2010s, in line with the timeline set, for example, by the EU to cut emissions significantly. Broad deployment could take place from 2020 on.
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| ==Manufacture of stone wool==
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| Stone wool or [[Mineral wool|rock wool]] is a spun mineral [[fibre]] used as an [[Thermal insulation|insulation]] product and in [[hydroponic]]s. It is manufactured in a blast furnace fed with diabase rock which contains very low levels of metal oxides. The resultant slag is drawn off and spun to form the rock wool product.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20100210081645/http://www.rockwool.co.uk/about+rockwool/what+is+stone+wool-c7- What is stone wool?] rockwool.co.uk</ref> Very small amounts of metals are also produced which are an unwanted [[by-product]] and run to waste.
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| ==Decommissioned blast furnaces as museum sites==
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| {{main|List of preserved historic blast furnaces}}
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| For a long time, it was normal procedure for a decommissioned blast furnace to be demolished and either be replaced with a newer, improved one, or to have the entire site demolished to make room for follow-up use of the area. In recent decades, several countries have realized the value of blast furnaces as a part of their industrial history. Rather than being demolished, abandoned steel mills were turned into museums or integrated into multi-purpose parks. The largest number of preserved historic blast furnaces exists in Germany; other such sites exist in Spain, France, the [[Czech Republic]], Japan, [[Luxembourg]], [[Poland]], [[Romania]], [[Mexico]], [[Russia]] and the United States.
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| ==See also==
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| *[[Basic oxygen furnace]]
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| *[[Zinc smelting#Blast furnace process|Blast furnace zinc smelting process]]
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| *[[Extraction of iron]]
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| *[[Water gas]], produced by a "steam blast"
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| *[[FINEX (steelmaking process)|FINEX]]
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| *[[Flodin process]]
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| *[[:Category:Ironworks and steelworks in England|Ironworks and steelworks in England]], which covers ironworks of all kinds.
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| *[[Laskill]]
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| <!--please do not list individual ironworks here: the article is quite long enough. --> | |
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| ==References==
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| {{reflist|35em}}
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| ===Bibliography===
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| {{Refbegin}}
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| *{{Citation |last=Birch |first=Alan | title= The Economic History of the British Iron and Steel Industry, 1784–1879 |year= 2005 |publisher= Routledge |isbn=0-415-38248-3}}
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| *{{Citation | last = Ebrey | first = Patricia Buckley | last2 = Walthall | first2 = Anne | last3 = Palais | first3 = James B. | title = East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political History | place = Boston | publisher = Houghton Mifflin | year = 2005 | isbn = 0-618-13384-4}}
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| *{{Citation | last = Gimpel | first = Jean | title = The Medieval Machine: The Industrial Revolution of the Middle Ages | place = New York | publisher = Holt, Rinehart and Winston | year = 1976 | isbn = 0-03-014636-4}}
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| *{{Citation |last=Hyde |first=Charles K. |title=Technological Change and the British iron industry, 1700–1870 |year=1977 |publisher= Princeton University Press |location=Princeton |isbn= 0-691-05246-8}}
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| *{{Citation |last=Woods |first=Thomas |title=How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization |year=2005 |isbn=0-89526-038-7 |publisher=Regnery Publ. |location=Washington, D.C.}}
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| {{Refend}}
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| ==External links==
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| {{Commons|Blast furnace|Blast furnace}}
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| *[http://www.steel.org/Making%20Steel/How%20Its%20Made/Processes/How%20A%20Blast%20Furnace%20Works%20larry%20says%20to%20delete.aspx American Iron and Steel Institute]
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| *[http://www.scienceaid.co.uk/chemistry/applied/blastfurnace.html Science Aid: Blast Furnace] How iron is extracted, for high school level
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| *[http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/launch_ani_blast_furnace.shtml Blast Furnace animation ]
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| *[http://www.davistownmuseum.org/toolPreBlastFurnace.html Precursors of the Blast Furnace]
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| *[http://www.stahlseite.de/ Extensive '''picture gallery''' about all methods of making and shaping of iron and steel in North America and Europe. In German and English.]
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| *[http://www.radwerk-vordernberg.at Blast Furnace Museum Radwerk IV]
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| *[http://www.britannica.com/eb/art-1535 Schematic diagram of blast furnace and Cowper stove]
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| *[http://www.ironfurnaces.com ironfurnaces.com – a free wiki dedicated to preserving the history and location of historic blast iron furnaces]
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| *[http://www.ulcos.org ULCOS Program, a European Research endeavor sponsored by the EU under its FP6 and RFCS programs and supported by 48 partners in 14 countries, including most of the major Steel producers in Western Europe]
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| {{Iron and steel production}}
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| {{Good article}}
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| {{DEFAULTSORT:Blast Furnace}}
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| [[Category:Blast furnaces| ]]
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| [[Category:Smelting]]
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