Consider the extraction of iron in a blast furnace. Which substance acts as the primary reducing agent that converts iron oxides into liquid metallic iron?

💡 Solution & Explanation

Carbon monoxide, generated by the incomplete combustion of coke in the lower cooler regions of the blast furnace, acts as the primary reducing agent that strips oxygen from hematite ore at high temperatures. Calcium carbonate is added separately as a flux to remove acidic silica impurities in the form of slag. Pig iron is the primary crude product obtained directly from the blast furnace.