How did ancient civilizations make ovens so hot that they could melt metal without the kinds on materials we have today?
In: Engineering
If you make a campfire out of some branches out in the open, there is a limit to the amount of heat that will be produced, which is far below the melting points of metals like iron or steel.
However you can alter the way you build that fire to heat it up…
To start with you can enclose a fire and turn it into an oven, which contains the heat and prevents it radiating away in every direction.
You can also add forced airflow – by purposely blowing air into the fire you are adding extra oxygen to the fire, which lets it burn faster and hotter.
You can also control what you burn to get a more efficient fire – using charcoal for example will burn much hotter than normal wood (charcoal is a form of wood that has been slowly heated to remove any moisture and carbonise it).
Add these things together and you can create a fire hot enough to work steel.
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