98% of mined iron ore is used to make steel. As iron occurs only as iron oxides in the earth’s crust, the ores must be converted, or ‘reduced’, using carbon. The primary source of this carbon is coking coal. Coal is a key raw material in steel production.

IRON AND STEEL PRODUCTION The production of iron requires three important raw materials: iron ore, coal converted to “coke”, and limestone. The coal is converted to a product called coke in coking ovens. The three raw materials are added to the top of the blast furnace.

Examples of raw materials include: steel, oil, corn, grain, gasoline, lumber, forest resources, plastic, natural gas, coal, and minerals.

The three main raw materials used to make pig iron (which is the raw material needed to make steel) for primary steel production in a blast furnace are the processed iron ore, coke (residue left after heating coal in the absence of air, generally containing up to 90% carbon) and limestone (CaCO3) or burnt lime (CaO).

A raw material, also known as a feedstock, unprocessed material, or primary commodity, is a basic material that is used to produce goods, finished products, energy, or intermediate materials that are feedstock for future finished products.

Blast furnaces are used to produce pig iron from iron ore for subsequent processing into steel, and they are also employed in processing lead, copper, and other metals. Rapid combustion is maintained by the current of air under pressure. A zinc-lead blast furnace and lead-splash condenser. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Although the construction industry does use some slag as an aggregate, most is simply discarded. However, slag could be used to treat acid soils or acid mine drainage. Doing so would both offset the cost of restoring abandoned mine areas, as well as decrease steel manufacturers’ current waste footprint.

The purpose of a blast furnace is to chemically reduce and physically convert iron oxides into liquid iron called “hot metal”….The Process.

Coke is used as a fuel and as a reducing agent in smelting iron ore in a blast furnace. The carbon monoxide produced by its combustion reduces iron oxide (hematite) in the production of the iron product.

The hot air blast to the furnace burns the coke and maintains the very high temperatures that are needed to reduce the ore to iron. The reaction between air and the fuel generates carbon monoxide. This gas reduces the iron (III) oxide in the ore to iron.

Carbon is more reactive than iron, so it can displace iron from iron(III) oxide. Step 2 – More coke is added to the furnace and reduces the carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide, a good reducing agent.

The rediscovered recipe includes extract of coca leaves, caffeine, plenty of sugar (it specifies 30 unidentified units thought to be pounds), lime juice, vanilla and caramel. Into that syrup, the all-important 7x flavourings are added: alcohol and six oils – orange, lemon, nutmeg, coriander, neroli and cinnamon.

Why Natural Gas is the Clean Fuel of Choice Compared with some other fossil fuels, natural gas emits the least amount of carbon dioxide into the air when combusted — making natural gas the cleanest burning fossil fuel of all.

(i) Coke produces more heat than an equal mass of coal. (ii) It produces ni smoke on burning and leaves no residue and as such does not cause air pollution. (iii) It is used as a reducing agent in the extraction of metals from their ores.