Question:
does iron oxide can be reduced in molten form?
can iron oxide be reduced in molten form?please dont explain me how they do in blast furnace.its not what i am asking.simply if you have iron oxide powder and carbon powder which is from coal,if you mix them and melt in graphite crucible,does it reduce?no air blowing nothing.air free.melted with carbon powder.does it reduce?thank you
Answer:
The short answer is yes but the real answer is it depends. You are talking about melting iron oxide so which iron oxide do you have? There are 3 and the melting points are different. Then you need to look at the atmosphere, the stability of iron oxides as f(temp) depends on the oxygen, CO, CO2, hydrogen partial pressures (and the presence of any other reducing gases). Of course if you do reduce the oxide to iron metal, it will react with the graphite crucible to form Fe3C, iron carbide, or, depending on the atmosphere and temperature, maybe cast iron. Consult your friendly neighborhood extractive steel metallurgist.
Probably not; because without excess oxygen, the carbon would combine with iron to form a carbon iron heterogeneous mixture or a carbon-iron alloy; which is basically what cast iron is, typically4% carbon. You COULD produce a type of soft 'sponge iron', but not a stream of molten iron as in a blast furnace. The sponge iron could be beaten into a shape; which is what the primitive types of iron were like. In fact, in the traditional manner of making cast iron in a cupola furnace, carbon was added to lower the melting point and alloy with the iron to produce cast iron, The carbon could be present as graphite flakes (grey cast iron, the easiest to manufacture), or as an iron carbide alloy in white cast iron (very hard) Look up cast iron in a search engine, to see the different types. A blast furnace produces pig iron, which is basically a type of cast iron, but it takes an electric arc or gas fired furnace to blow out the excess carbon and to reach the higher temperatures required to melt steel.
The short answer is yes but the real answer is it depends. You are talking about melting iron oxide so which iron oxide do you have? There are 3 and the melting points are different. Then you need to look at the atmosphere, the stability of iron oxides as f(temp) depends on the oxygen, CO, CO2, hydrogen partial pressures (and the presence of any other reducing gases). Of course if you do reduce the oxide to iron metal, it will react with the graphite crucible to form Fe3C, iron carbide, or, depending on the atmosphere and temperature, maybe cast iron. Consult your friendly neighborhood extractive steel metallurgist.
The short answer is yes but the real answer is it depends. You are talking about melting iron oxide so which iron oxide do you have? There are 3 and the melting points are different. Then you need to look at the atmosphere, the stability of iron oxides as f(temp) depends on the oxygen, CO, CO2, hydrogen partial pressures (and the presence of any other reducing gases). Of course if you do reduce the oxide to iron metal, it will react with the graphite crucible to form Fe3C, iron carbide, or, depending on the atmosphere and temperature, maybe cast iron. Consult your friendly neighborhood extractive steel metallurgist.
Probably not; because without excess oxygen, the carbon would combine with iron to form a carbon iron heterogeneous mixture or a carbon-iron alloy; which is basically what cast iron is, typically4% carbon. You COULD produce a type of soft 'sponge iron', but not a stream of molten iron as in a blast furnace. The sponge iron could be beaten into a shape; which is what the primitive types of iron were like. In fact, in the traditional manner of making cast iron in a cupola furnace, carbon was added to lower the melting point and alloy with the iron to produce cast iron, The carbon could be present as graphite flakes (grey cast iron, the easiest to manufacture), or as an iron carbide alloy in white cast iron (very hard) Look up cast iron in a search engine, to see the different types. A blast furnace produces pig iron, which is basically a type of cast iron, but it takes an electric arc or gas fired furnace to blow out the excess carbon and to reach the higher temperatures required to melt steel.
Probably not; because without excess oxygen, the carbon would combine with iron to form a carbon iron heterogeneous mixture or a carbon-iron alloy; which is basically what cast iron is, typically4% carbon. You COULD produce a type of soft 'sponge iron', but not a stream of molten iron as in a blast furnace. The sponge iron could be beaten into a shape; which is what the primitive types of iron were like. In fact, in the traditional manner of making cast iron in a cupola furnace, carbon was added to lower the melting point and alloy with the iron to produce cast iron, The carbon could be present as graphite flakes (grey cast iron, the easiest to manufacture), or as an iron carbide alloy in white cast iron (very hard) Look up cast iron in a search engine, to see the different types. A blast furnace produces pig iron, which is basically a type of cast iron, but it takes an electric arc or gas fired furnace to blow out the excess carbon and to reach the higher temperatures required to melt steel.
