Hot blast

Hot blast refers to the preheating of air blown into a blast furnace or other metallurgical process. As first developed it worked by alternately storing heat from the furnace flue gas in a firebrick lined vessel with multiple chambers, then blowing combustion air through the hot chamber. This is known as regenerative heating. This has the result of considerably reducing the fuel consumed in the process. Hot blast was invented and patented for iron furnaces by James Beaumont Neilson in 1828 at Wilsontown Ironworks in Scotland, but was later applied in other contexts, including late bloomeries. Later the carbon monoxide in the flue gas was burned to provide additional heat.