Bulk Blast Furnace
Feed the beast
<&multiblock>
The Bulk Blast Furnace smelts crushed ore into §lmolten metal§r in large batches,
a significant boost in speed and output than the <link:immersiveengineering:improved_blast_furnace;Blast Furnace>

The multiblock has a GUI with a 4x4 input grid, everything within the grid is considered a single §lbatch§r.

A batch needs three things to work:
- §lOre§r, which sets the size.
- §lBlast Furnace Fuel§r, such as §lCoal Coke§r from the <link;cokeoven;Coke Oven>. Anything the Blast Furnace burns works here.
- §lCalcium Oxide§r for flux, burnt from calcite in the <link;immersivegeology:rotary_kiln;Rotary Kiln>.
<np>
§lRatios§r
Coke and flux are measured §lper unit of ore§r.

When making a batch, it's output is a ratio between metal and slag, slag is always a partial output, however, bad ratios in the batch will turn more of the metal to slag.
The green band on the fuel and flux gauges is a range that will provide a mostly metal output provided everything is within that range.

<np>
§lHeat§r
Fuel sets the §lheat ceiling§r. Without any fuel, this ceiling is zero and the furnace isn't possible to operate.

Heat carries over between batches. So continuous use will discount the coke cost of a followup batch.

Each batch has a minimum heat:
<np>
§lPreheaters§r
<link;improved_blast_furnace;Blast Furnace Preheaters;preheater> fit on either side. They create a minimum level of heat.

This means that:
- The furnace can start smelting sooner.
- With both preheaters you can reach §l160§r heat.

You need at least one preheater running to start a recipe.

<np>
§lInput and Output§r
- §lItems§r are inserted from the §ltop§r.
- §lMolten metal§r is extracted from the §lback§r, whilst §lslag§r is extracted from the §lfront§r.
- Both outputs will eject into any connected tank or pipe.
- A §lredstone signal§r will prevent any operations from starting whilst powered, it will not pause one in progress. This can signal can be input from any part of the multiblock.

Fuel is measured by burn time, any fuel that's valid in the <link:immersiveengineering:improved_blast_furnace;Blast Furnace> will be accepted.
Ore can be added in as pellets from the <link;immersivegeology:pelletizer;Pelletizer>, which require less coke and create less slag.
<np>
§lPig Iron and Steel§r
Create a batch with iron and §lmore coke than is initially required§r the furance will then output §lMolten Pig Iron§r instead of Molten Iron.

You can tell when this works as the fuel gauge will change it's requested amount of fuel.

If Pig Iron is extracted, it can instead be cast into normal iron in the <link;immersivegeology:foundry;Foundry>.

If you leave the pig iron within the bulk blast furnace, and then follow it up by adding additional flux and a small amount of coke, it will create §lMolten Steel§r.