Tuyere

A tuyere or tuyère (French pronunciation: [tɥijɛʁ]; English: /twiːˈjɛər/)[1][2] is a tube, nozzle or pipe allowing the blowing of air into a furnace or hearth.

[3] Air or oxygen is injected into a hearth under pressure from bellows or a blowing engine or other devices.

This causes the fire to become hotter in front of the blast than it would otherwise have been, enabling metals to be smelted or melted or made hot enough to be worked in a forge, though these are blown only with air.

This applies to any process where a blast is delivered under pressure to make a fire hotter.

[3] Around the year 1500 new ironmaking techniques, including the blast furnace and finery forge, were introduced into England from France, along with the French technical terms relating to the new technology.

Picture of the outlet of a tuyere
A tuyere, seen from inside a blast furnace
An old tuyere in Nok , Nigeria
General arrangement of the Tuyere (2), Tuyere cooler (1), Tuyere-cooler holder (3), Blowpipe (4) and Bustle Pipe (9) in a Blast Furnace. [ 6 ]