I was wondering if iron sulfate would be suitable to smelt, I've looked around my area and it's the only kind of iron ore I can get my hands on. Will the sulfer impact the smelting process at all?





I believe it's pretty rich in iron, but I'm not a geologist. Can anyone here chime in?

Sulfur is considered one of the worst contaminants you can have in iron and it's the main reason all modern alloys pretty much have Mn added to them.

 

Traditionally sulfur containing ores were roasted to drive off the sulfur and change them to oxide ores and then that was smelted.  The roasting process will endear you to any neighbors who will be glad to come over and help and even bring their own pitchforks, torches, brushwood and a nice stake  for you.

Iron ores that contain sulphur have to be combined with manganese in the blast furnace or the hot iron becomes "hot short".

 

The WIkipedia entry on iron ore has a section on the significance of sulfur in ores and the coals used in blast furnaces - it's right at the bottom of the article. It also has some references to blacksmithing.

If you have a small blast furnace (a cupola I suppose) you could melt down the iron with some magnesium. The magnesium will bond with the sulfur to form magnesium sulfide. The reaction will result in a lot of heat (it'll bring the iron past 3000°F) so you want to have your furnace lined with good refractory. The magnesium sulfide will be slag and you'll want to remove it.

If you want to remove any silicon and phosphor you can add crushed limestone and iron oxide.

If you're using a regular foundry I guess you can charge the crucible with the iron, magnesium, limestone, and iron oxide. Make sure you use a good crucible because the magnesium-sulfur reaction could melt right through a crucible not made for those kind of temperatures.

 

I've never actually melted iron or tried any of this out. This is all based on reading.