| Abstract from DBPedia | A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. Blast refers to the combustion air being "forced" or supplied above atmospheric pressure. In a blast furnace, fuel (coke), ores, and flux (limestone) are continuously supplied through the top of the furnace, while a hot blast of air (sometimes with oxygen enrichment) is blown into the lower section of the furnace through a series of pipes called tuyeres, so that the take place throughout the furnace as the material falls downward. The end products are usually molten metal and slag phases tapped from the bottom, and waste gases (flue gas) exiting from the top of the furnace. The downward flow of the ore along with the flux in contact with an upflow of hot, carbon monoxide-rich combustion gases is a countercurrent exchange and chemical reaction process. In contrast, air furnaces (such as reverberatory furnaces) are naturally aspirated, usually by the convection of hot gases in a chimney flue. According to this broad definition, bloomeries for iron, blowing houses for tin, and smelt mills for lead would be classified as blast furnaces. However, the term has usually been limited to those used for smelting iron ore to produce pig iron, an intermediate material used in the production of commercial iron and steel, and the shaft furnaces used in combination with sinter plants in base metals smelting. Blast furnaces are estimated to have been responsible for over 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions between 1900 and 2015, but are difficult to decarbonize.高炉（こうろ、blast furnace）は製鉄所の主要な設備で、鉄鉱石を熱処理して、鉄を取り出すための炉。鉄溶鉱炉（てつようこうろ）と呼ばれることもある。大型のものでは高さ 100 メートルを超え、製鉄所のシンボル的存在となっている。 鉱石から銑鉄を取りだす高炉、その銑鉄を鋼鉄に処理する転炉、生産された鉄を圧延や連続鋳造で製品加工する設備を持つ、銑鋼一貫製鉄所のみが高炉を所有している。このような大規模施設を持つ鉄鋼会社は高炉メーカーと呼ばれている。 (Source: http://dbpedia.org/resource/Blast_furnace) |
