Reply #34: It is impossible to melt steel using coal

[jberryhill]

Ah.. you are one of those "blacksmith fallacy" people.

Iron:

Melting Point: 1535.0 °C (1808.15 K, 2795.0 °F)
http://www.chemicalelements.com/elements/fe.html

Charcoal:

Burns at 2012 degrees Fahrenheit
http://www.fweb.org.uk/Dean/deanhist/charcoal.htm

Therefore, if charcoal burns at 2012 F, it is more than 700 F below the melting point of Iron.

So, please, don't wander in here with your BuschCo sponsored lies about "blacksmiths" using coal fires to forge or melt Iron.

(Incidentally, if you define "burn" as an exothermic oxidation reaction, and you assert that steel does not "burn", then I invite you to enlighten me on the origin an nature of the thing most people call "rust". Sorry, but I have seen plenty of steel burn. I refer to the body panels of my 72 VW bus, which did indeed oxidize spontaneously on a regular basis.)