Metallurgical furnace
A metallurgical furnace, more commonly referred to as a furnace, is an industrial furnace used to heat and melt metal ore to remove gangue, primarily in iron and steel production. The heat energy to fuel a furnace may be supplied directly by fuel combustion, by electricity such as the electric arc furnace, or through induction heating in induction furnaces. There are several different types of furnaces used in metallurgy to work with specific metal and ores. Smelting furnaces are used in smelting to extract metal from ore. Smelting furnaces include: The blast furnace, used to reduce iron ore to pig iron Cold blast Hot blast Steelmaking furnaces, including: Puddling furnace Reverberatory furnace Open hearth furnace Basic oxygen furnace Electric arc furnace Electric induction furnace Various smelting furnaces called converters for converting (metallurgy): A Bessemer converter for the Bessemer process A Manhès–David converter for the Manhès–David process Furnaces used to remelt metal in foundries. Furnaces used to reheat and heat treat metal for use in: Rolling mills, including tinplate works and slitting mills.
