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this post was submitted on 16 Sep 2026
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There's some sort of electrolytic process similar to aluminium available, but yes the reaction that turns iron ore into iron is:
Iron oxide + carbon monoxide + heat ->
A redox reaction where oxygen atoms are transferred from iron oxide to carbon monoxide ->
Iron + CO2.
Heat and CO is conveniently provided by burning coal/coke in a blast furnace in the presence of a lot of oxygen.
You can pretty much just chuck layers of coke and iron ore in the top of your blast furnace, pump high pressure oxygen into the centre, and get molten iron straight out the bottom.