Have you remember to put iron in the blast furnace, and a fuel in the solid heat generator?
Also, don't forget you need compressed air cells in the blast furnace 
PS : I think to make refined iron aka steel with the new blast furnace more realistic, we also need a new slot for charcoal or coal (if possible coal coke), you should add that Player & Thunderdark 
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Also, don't forget you need compressed air cells in the blast furnace
Not to make it start accepting heat, but it is needed for progress
But what do you think about my idea with the coal slot, is it a good idea ?
I ask you cause you are the expert here (2 macerators ><').
Logically yes since you are making steel, but with a requirement of already needing compressed air and the GUI being rather full already, I'm not sure it would actually add anything for the extra effort. Since compressed air makes it so it's not just heating the iron, but making it need coal as well just makes it more awkward. If it was added though, I wouldn't complain.
Well, I think it will be more logical to make a coal slot rather than an air one, more logical than making steel out off iron and air and having a slag byproduct ( I don't remember how it's really called) that you can put in a ore washer/thermal centrifuge (I don't remember which one is used) and having some stone dust and coal dust.
Edit : I know it's minecraft and it wasn't mean't to be realistic but in this case, a lot of mod use coal based items to make steel, like calclaviacore/resonant engine use 1 iron and 4 coal in a crafting table, mekanism use a metallurgic infuser that use 2 coal and 1 iron and RailCraft have a BlastFurnace that require coal coke or charcoal, I hope you understand what I mean ^^.
Quotecalclaviacore/resonant engine use 1 iron and 4 coal
Quotemekanism use a metallurgic infuser that use 2 coal and 1 iron
QuoteRailCraft have a BlastFurnace that require coal coke or charcoal
All of these examples use coal as a energysource.....IC2 BlastFurnace use a external Energy Source (Heat Source) if you use a Solid Heat Generator you need for example Coal
And Air in very logical you need it to remove CO2 ... the only difference between Iron and Steel is the Carbon portion... Steel is and remain physically Iron and not a new Element
After a bit of reading it seems that IC² uses the most realistic production line, where it burns away the excess carbon (and other impurities) from the iron, turning it into "steel".
@Greg if you happen to read this:
Maybe change Electric Blast Furnace to have an alternative process where you use Oxygen (fluid) as a reactant to remove impurities, where the outcome is Steel and Carbon Dioxide.
The energy costs would raise accordingly, as no more coal dust is used.
@Thunderdark But I thought steel was an iron and carbon alloy, and from what I remember the old GregTech also required coal dust for making steel in his E Blast-Furnace, that's why I thought adding a coal slot would be better ^^.
You are right for the fact that we need air to remove CO2, but steel is still a iron and carbon alloy :b.
And also, I have an idea, can you add CarbonNanotubes/Damascus steel as a new metal for top tier machinery ?
The amount of carbon in iron (from regular iron ore) is too high (also the amount of other impurities like nitrogen, silicon and such) for it to be considered steel.
Steelmaking process actually decreases the amount of carbon in iron, and it is still an iron-carbon alloy.
I think of the air cells on the blast furnace as a reactant, so you burn the Carbon (and other impurities) into oxides like carbon dioxide, silicon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, which gets released into the atmoshpere.
And also, I have an idea, can you add CarbonNanotubes/Damascus steel as a new metal for top tier machinery ?
That would fit more in Gregtech than IC2, but Greg's already decided on material tiers.
@Thunderdark But I thought steel was an iron and carbon alloy, and from what I remember the old GregTech also required coal dust for making steel in his E Blast-Furnace, that's why I thought adding a coal slot would be better .
You are right for the fact that we need air to remove CO2, but steel is still a iron and carbon alloy :b.
And also, I have an idea, can you add CarbonNanotubes/Damascus steel as a new metal for top tier machinery ?
Isn't IC2 "steel" refined iron?
Even if steel is a form of refined iron, you can assume that IC2 Blast Furnace refines iron in a different manner using Minecraftian mechanics to yield a stronger version of iron equivalent to steel.
IC2 uses the most modern steelmaking technique if compared to other mods.
It is derived from the industrial era, where you oxidize the excess carbon (and impurities) using air (bellows).
Nowadays we use pure oxygen for greater efficiency *stares at Greg's Electric Blast Furnace again*
Railcraft and others seems to use the old blister method, where iron is carbonized with charcoal/coal.
I think that the name "refined iron" have been preserved for nostalgia or something like (alblaka was the first to introduce it, right?).
Steel IS the product of iron refining anyway.
Steel is iron after refining, after all.
You can assume that refined iron in IC2 is a special, atypical kind of steel.
