Blast Furnace

• Iron is extracted from Haematite or Ironsand in a Blast Furnace
• A charge is a mixture of limestone, coke (carbon) and iron oxide (as well as it’s impurities, mainly consisting of SiO2)
• The charge is placed in the top of the blast furnace and hot air is blasted through at the bottom, making the charge glow white
• The following reactions take place:

If the iron from the blast furnace solidifies, it is called cast iron and is mostly turned into steel. Steel is manufactured the following way:

• Unwanted impurities are removed in an oxygen furnace where the molten metal is poured into a furnace along with some scrap iron (to recycle it). Calcium oxide is added and a jet of oxygen is blasted into it. The calcium oxide reacts with the impurities forming slag that can be skimmed
• Oxygen reacts with the excess carbon, burning most of it away as CO2, leaving some to mix with the iron to make the metal hard but not
• Other elements are then added to gain the desired steel