Definition of blast furnace in US English:
blast furnace
nounˈblæst ˈˌfərnəsˈblast ˈˌfərnəs
A smelting furnace in the form of a tower into which a blast of hot compressed air can be introduced from below. Such furnaces are used chiefly to make iron from a mixture of iron ore, coke, and limestone.
Example sentencesExamples
- The traditional method for extracting pure iron from its ore is to heat the ore in a blast furnace with limestone and coke.
- The roasting process uses oxygen in a blast furnace to convert the metal sulfide into the metal or the metal oxide plus sulfur dioxide.
- The explosion occurred when molten iron leaked from a blast furnace.
- It was extremely hot, like standing in front of a blast furnace at a steel works.
- At last it was now possible to use the gas, which was produced by the blast furnace in gigantic quantities in the process of smelting iron, to drive engines.