A blowing engine is a large stationary steam engine or internal combustion engine directly coupled to air pumping cylinders. They deliver a very large quantity of air at a pressure lower than an air compressor, but greater than a centrifugal fan.
Allis vertical blowing engine
The 1817 Boulton & Watt blowing engine, formerly used at the Netherton ironworks of M W Grazebrook, now preserved on the A38(M) in Birmingham, UK
Cockerill engine of 1900
Horizontal blowing cylinder connected to a steam engine at Backbarrow ironworks
A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. Blast refers to the combustion air being supplied above atmospheric pressure.
Former AHM blast furnace in Port of Sagunt, Valencia, Spain
Blast furnaces of Třinec Iron and Steel Works in Czech Republic
Charcoal burning iron blast furnace in Jackson County, Ohio, 1923
Rising carbon monoxide reduces iron oxides to pure iron through a series of reactions that occur at different areas within a blast furnace.