To make steel in a blast furnace, coal must first be turned into coke. Coke has a dual role in the steelmaking process. First, it provides the heat needed to melt the ore, and second, when it is burnt, it has the effect of ‘stealing’ the oxygen from the iron ore, leaving only the pure iron behind. In the coking plant, coal is heated in the absence of oxygen to 1250c. This removes any impurities in the coal, resulting in coke, which is a porous substance that is nearly all carbon.
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