Open Source Charcoal Blast Furnace

Basics

• Blast Furnaces are one of the two main methods of Smelting (producing pure metals from oxides) (Along with Reduction Gasses such as hydrogen or syngas from an external source (See Hydrogen Direct Reduction / Direct Reduction Iron ))
• A Conventional Induction Furnace or Electric Arc Furnace can't do this (Although Hydrogen Plasma Smelting Reduction seems to be an emerging technology along these lines)
• Using hydrogen and/or syngas for reduction via producing the gas separately can work as well, but this is more complex and probably doesn't scale down well (Needs More Research)
• Blast Furnaces are an older "tried and true" method
• Will most likely use Charcoal or Charcoal Pellets, Pellet/Briquette Morphology's Impact on Function is an interesting route to investigate
• A dual function unit that could be used as a gasifier when not in use as a blast furnace is another interesting prospect to investigate

Industry Standards

• Most (or all? needs research) designs are larger scale that what OSE will most likely need (Large scale will most likely be via reduction gas as it is cleaner, yet is more complex and larger scale)

Existing Open Source Designs

• To an extent old Primary Sources, and the sort of Living History Museums / "Primitive Survival" type examples of small Blast Furnaces can be used as a starting point

Minimum Viable Product

• Should be able to make from moulds and hand/tool work, or be able to be printed with a large Ceramic Printer
• Mainly Ceramic Construction
• Uses Biomass or more likely some form of Charcoal
• Most likely Hot Blast , but also look into Cold Blast and perhaps Reduction Gas Injection

Basic Design

Main Body

• A Ceramic Tube/Cylinder With a Throat around the middle for holding the contents temporarily

Tuyres

• Need to determine how many, what diameter/overall shape etc
• Tuyres

Forced Gas System

• Air or Pure Oxygen, or Mix (Or Air-Oxy, or Air-Syngas, or Air-Hydrogen, or Hydo-Oxy? NEEDS MORE RESEARCH)

Charcoal/Bio-Petcoke Auger + Storage

• A Simple Auger+Bin System

Ore/Feedstock Auger + Storage

• A Simple Auger+Bin System

Collection=

• Via Seperate Spouts, or Via A Funnel/Hole at base?
• Water Collection?

Insulation + Recovery

• Double Wall
• Basalt Fiber/Fiberglass Insulation?
• TECs?
• Water Heating/Steam Generation?

External Links

• The Wikipedia Page on Blast Furnaces
• Important Terminology: "Cohesive Zone" is where the mixture of oxides and carbon source begin to soften and mix, "Dead Man" is an accumulation of near-pure coke below the Cohesive Zone and above the Molten Slag+Metal, related is the "Raceway" hot zone caused by tuyres around the "dead man". Tracking the location+morphology of these is key to Optimal Blast Furnace Design+Operation
  • A 2019 Paper Titled "Effect of Hearth Liquid Level on the Productivity of Blast Furnace" (has a great diagram as figure 1)
  • A 2018 Paper Titled "A numerical study on the softening process of iron ore particles in the cohesive zone of an experimental blast furnace using a coupled CFD-DEM method" (Another good diagram)
• A Diagram from the 2022 Publication Titled "Hydrogen Ironmaking" (Locked behind a paywall...) showcasing what appears to be a Hydrogen Assisted Blast Furnace
• A 2020 Open Access Paper Titled "Dead-Man Behavior in the Blast Furnace Hearth—A Brief Review"