IRL blast furnaces require flux and hot air, not just hot air...
gravel as flux for blast furnace
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What is "flux" exactly?
As far as i know steel is produced through carbonification of iron (carbon-iron alloy). -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flux_(metallurgy)
I'm neither for nor against this idea. It would depend on just how much refined iron we'll be making once uses for it have been added. (are there any uses for it now?) If we'll be making stacks and stacks of it, then this may be a way to add another resource limitation to it that has to be mined. (unless you have other mods installed that allow its creation, which would render the whole feature largely moot, or have UUM) Though then again, iron is a lot less common then gravel deposits, so even then it would only be relevant if the player had renewable iron before UUM, (basically an iron golem farm) AND used enough refined iron to use up all the gravel they found getting to that point.
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Refined iron is crucial to making advanced machine casing and refined iron item casings are used to make the kinetic steam generator. You're unlikely to need more than a stack at most. Unless you make refined iron windmills or turbine blades, as they take quite a lot, but last a long time.
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What is "flux" exactly?
As far as i know steel is produced through carbonification of iron (carbon-iron alloy).Steel is usally made from grey iron (cast iron) and/or scrap steel. industrially air is used to burn the carbon out of the iron. refined iron is a joke,
