Scotch hearth

As noted above, the roasting of most metal sulfides yields either the oxide or sulfate. However, a few metals can be obtained directly by oxidation of their sulfides, and these all have the characteristic property that their oxides are much less stable than SO2. Examples are Cu, Ag, Hg and the platinum metals. In addition, metallic Pb can be extracted by partial oxidation of galena to form a sulfate (the Scotch hearth or Newnham process, p. 370). The oversimplified reaction is ... 

Smelting in Blast Furnaces.—The use of the blast furnace involves the necessity of a somewhat different treatment. The Scotch furnace or ore-hearth, described at page 465, may be taken as the type of this kind of furnace when adapted to the smelting of lead ores. Generally very rich ores are operated upon where the Scotch furnace is employed end these are subjected before smelting to a preliminary roasting in a furnace of the reverberatory class,... 

Scotch Block. One form of gas port in an open-hearth steel furnace, the distinguishing feature is that it is monolithic, being made by ramming suitably graded refactory material around a metal template. 

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