The Extraction Of Iron

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The Extraction of Iron
The Extraction of Iron
This page looks at the use of the Blast Furnace in the extraction of iron from iron ore, and the conversion of the raw iron from the
furnace into various kinds of steel.
Extracting iron from iron ore using a Blast Furnace
The common ores of iron are both iron oxides, and these can be reduced to iron by heating them with carbon in the form of coke. Coke
is produced by heating coal in the absence of air. Coke is cheap and provides both the
reducing agent
for the reaction and also the
\(Fe_2O_3\), and magnetite, \(Fe_3O_4\).
heat source. The most commonly used iron ores are hematite,
The Blast Furnace
The significant reactions occuring within the Blast Furnace can be described via the following steps showing how the
reducing agent varies depending on the height in the furnace (i.e. on the Temperature).
At 500 °C
3Fe
O
+CO → 2Fe
O
+ CO
2
3
3
4
2
Fe
O
+CO → 2FeO + CO
2
3
2
At 850 °C
Fe
O
+CO → 3FeO + CO
3
4
2
At 1000 °C
FeO +CO → Fe + CO
2
At 1300 °C
CO
+ C → 2CO
2
At 1900 °C
C+ O
→ CO
2
2
FeO +C → Fe + CO
1

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