In Cumberland, Northumberland, Durham and latterly the United States, the reverberatory furnace is used only for roasting the ore, and the oxidized ore is then reduced by fusion in a low, square blastfurnace (a "Scottish hearth furnace") lined with cast iron, as is also the inclined sole-plate which is made to project beyond the furnace, the outside portion (the "work-stone") being provided with grooves guiding any molten metal that may be placed on the "stone" into a cast iron pot; the "tuyere" for the introduction of the wind was, in the earlier types, about half way down the furnace.
The smelting zone always has a bosh and a contracted tuyere section.
R, Keys holding lid of tuyere E, Goose-neck.
In the simplest cases the functions of two or more of these parts may be combined into one, as in the smith's forge, where the fire-place and heating chamber are united, the iron being placed among the coals, only the air for burning being supplied under pressure from a blowing engine by a second special contrivance, the tuyere, tuiron, twyer or blast-pipe; but in the more refined modern furnaces, where great economy of fuel is an object, the different functions are distributed over separate and distinct apparatus, the fuel being converted into gas in one, dried in another, and heated in a third, before arriving at the point of combustion in the working chamber of the furnace proper.
In iron-smelting the ore is laid in a heap upon the fuel (charcoal) filling up the hearth, and is gradually brought to the metallic state by the reducing action of the carbon monoxide formed at the tuyere.