Blast furnace
device · 1150 · Middle Ages
A shaft furnace for smelting pig iron.
What it is made of
- Bellows — has part. Air was blown in by bellows, later by blowers.
Principles and materials it uses
- Coke — uses. The fuel and reducing agent is coke (formerly charcoal).
- Stone — is made of. The shaft of a blast furnace is stone.
- Charcoal — uses. Before coke, blast furnaces ran on charcoal.
Where it is used
- Cast iron — is used in. Pig iron is smelted in a blast furnace.
- Steel works — is part of. Blast furnaces.
History: what it evolved from and what it influenced
- Bloomery — evolved from. The blast furnace grew out of the bloomery.