Especially after World War II, governments vigorously supported the growth of an iron industrial market, which significantly contributed to the development of a global economy.
Blast furnaces keep on improving with adaptations arising from new technologies driven by rising global demand, yet the main chemical process remains the same.
The rate of iron production is highly influenced by fluctuations in the world economy, and improving the operational efficiency of the process is of major concern.
However, the biggest drawback of blast furnace operation is the inevitable carbon dioxide production from iron reduction processes, which is considered one of the major contributors in global warming.
The PCI method is based on the simple concept of primary air (termed the "conveying gas") carrying pulverized coal which injected through a lance to the tuyere (mid-bottom inlet of a blast furnace), then mixed with secondary hot air (termed the "blast") supplied through a blowpipe in the tuyere and then piped to a furnace to create a balloon-like cavity called a "raceway", which then propagates coal and coke combustion and melts the solid iron ore, releasing molten iron.