Bloomery furnace iron ore

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kjavanb123

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Apr 1, 2009
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All,

As mentioned in my previous posts, I have partnered in a low grade 44% Fe hematite iron ore mine. After some reseach I noticed that ever since 2000 BC they have been using what is referred to as "Bloomery furnace", that takes charcoals and iron ore in ratio of 1:1 and a air blower, and after few hours it produces iron 90% + that can be turned into iron crafts.
Now the problem with this types of furnace is producing the smokes, I also looked up on different types of bloomery furnace that hot gases produced by it is fed into it as it increases the furnace temprature even more, here is a hand written design I did, if it is readable by you all, please advise if this going to work, also might be the same work for incineration of ewaste?
 

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A true bloomery did not use forced air. It was made in two major styles, upright like a free standing chimney or a trench dug in the side of a hill.Logs were placed inside and black sands poured in around the logs. In the trench style, after loading, the trench was covered with sod. After loading the charge, the logs were lit on the bottom and it was allowed to burn out. The left over slag contained the newly formed steel which was forged into billets could then be formed into tools or weapons.
 
Kjavanb123,
The link below has some really interesting history about iron production a lot more than the title might lead you to believe. It's a great read with links to all the others methods you mentioned.
You can look at plans for a really interesting cupola furnace and lots of burner ideas in the second link.
The question about what would work is mostly a question of scale. If you want to make artesian iron from your ore or to prove to yourself you can, I say swing for the fence and don't let anyone talk you out of it. If you want to do this commercially, I think you have to process a huge amount of material to make a profitable venture. There are not many more competitive operations out there.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blast_furnace
http://www.backyardmetalcasting.com/index.html

One last word of free advice, sure to be worth all you pay for it. As in most thing discussed here on the forum there are some real hazards involved in this. However the temperatures and volumes you work with doing iron work will greatly increase those. The risk to your vision from the UV radiation at these these temperatures is often overlooked, especially when working out in the bright sun. No matter which method you choose you will consume lots of O2 and create lots of CO2 (maybe CO) so you should monitor your atmosphere. My son uses a Kidde brand CO monitor ($40) and a flammable gas detector for his forge and they work well for this purpose and have shown CO gas building in a three sided work space with the wrong breeze.
Losing your fingers, toes, limbs, sight or your life is not outside the realm of possibility unless you follow all the precautions and ask all the right questions. This has been done for a couple thousand years so there is lots of information out there now you just have to find it.

Stay safe and have fun.

All the Best,
John
 
You can try CaCO3....iron is known to form sulphites ...and you can try heat exchange of hot gases(the smoke)....with a heat exchanger(similar to those in heaters)....but in those pipes will "stuck" with ..... recovered more "metals".....as a coating inside the pipes of the heat exchangers...
 
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