Thermodynamic and Kinetic Aspects of Ancient Iron Making Technology in India

Abstract

Indian tribals and artisans produced quality iron products much earlier than the developed countries, making use of local iron ore reserves and wood charcoal. In those days iron making was more an art rather than a science. These iron making practices have undergone very little change over the centuries and even today they reflect the ancient art of iron extraction. Melting was not permitted to take place in primitive furnaces, there was no proper separation of slag and metal and the end product was semi viscous mass . The percentage of carbon in the metal was quite low around 0.111 to 0120 and it had about 1.5 percent iron oxide inclusions , uniformly distributed throughout the mass. The thermodynamics and kinetics of ancient iron making is still not fully understood. An attempt has been made to discuss different probable concepts which explain the thermodynamics and kinetics of low grade iron ore reduction in tribal iron making process.