Can Wood & Gas Power a Smelting Furnace?

Liquid petroleum gas (LPG), natural gas and wood are commonly used as fuel in household furnaces, which provide domestic heating. However, all three fuels can also be used in furnaces designed to smelt---that is, fuse or melt---metal ores to separate the metal they contain.

  1. Gas

    • On a small scale, LPG or natural gas can be used to power a smelting furnace. Such a furnace is capable of smelting aluminum, which has a melting point of 1,220 degrees Fahrenheit; silver, which melts at 1,763 degrees Fahrenheit; and copper, which melts at 1,981 degrees Fahrenheit.

    Reduction

    • LPG or natural gas does not provide any excess carbon to bond oxygen and reduce metal ores. Wood can therefore be added to a furnace fired by gas as a source of organic carbon.

    Wood

    • Wood, in the form of charcoal (obtained by heating wood in the absence of air), can also be used to power a smelting furnace. Unrefined, or pig, iron can be produced on a small scale using wood as a fuel.

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