The burden is the carefully calculated recipe of raw materials fed into a blast furnace. It typically consists of iron ore, metallurgical coke, and limestone. The ratio, sizing, and distribution of the burden dictate the chemistry of the resulting pig iron and the efficiency of the gas flow rising through the furnace.
Heard on the job
The sulfur levels in the hot metal are creeping up, so we need to adjust the limestone in the burden.
Also heard as
- charge
Related terms
Blast furnace
A massive vertical smelting reactor used to reduce iron ore into liquid pig iron.
Pig iron
The crude, high-carbon iron tapped directly from a blast furnace.
Smelting
The extractive process of heating an ore with a reducing agent to produce base metal.
Scaffold
A solid mass of fused material that forms a blockage inside a blast furnace.