Manufacturing of

Steel
Process involved in manufacturing

• Carbonization of COKE
• Blast furnace
• Basic Oxygen Steel making [BOS]
• Electric arc method
 Carbonization of COKE

• Well graded coal is selected

• Heated or carbonized to COKE
• Heated coal is cooled
• And Proper COKE are fed into the
Blast furnace for the farther process.
 What is a Blast Furnace?
•The purpose of a blast
furnace is to reduce and
convert iron oxides into
liquid iron called "hot
metal".
•The blast furnace is a huge,
steel stack lined with
refractory brick.
•Iron ore, coke and
limestone are put into the
top, and preheated air is
blown into the bottom.
 Why does Iron have to be extracted in a Blast
Furnace???
•Iron can be extracted by the blast furnace because it
can be displaced by carbon.
•This is more efficient method than electrolysis because
it is more cost effective
•Here the continues process can be achieved, i.e. Till
the detoriation of refractory bricks occurs (nearly about
10 years)
 The Method

Three substances are needed to enable to extraction of iron from

its ore. The combined mixture is called the charge:
Iron ore, haematite - often contains sand with iron oxide, Fe2O3.
Limestone (calcium carbonate).
Coke - mainly carbon
The charge is placed a giant chimney called a Blast furnace. The
blast furnace is around 30 metres high and lined with fireproof
bricks. Hot air is blasted through the bottom.
Several reactions take place before the iron is
finally produced...
•Oxygen in the air reacts with coke to give carbon
dioxide:
C(s) + O 2(g)  CO2(g)

•The limestone breaks down to form carbon dioxide:

CaCO3(s)  CO2 (g) + CaO(s)

•Carbon dioxide produced in 1 + 2 react with more

coke to produce carbon monoxide:

CO2(g) + C(s)  2CO(g)

• The carbon monoxide reduces the
iron in the ore to give molten iron:
3CO(g) + Fe2O3(s)  2Fe(l) + 3CO2(g)
• The limestone from 2, reacts with the
sand to form slag (calcium silicate):

CaO(s) + SiO(s)  CaSiO3(l)

•Both the slag and iron are drained from the
bottom of the furnace.

•The slag is mainly used to build roads.

•The iron whilst molten is poured into moulds

and left to solidify - this is called cast iron and
is used to make railings and storage tanks.

•The rest of the iron is used to make steel.

• Hot metal from the blast furnace and steel scrap are the principal
materials used in Basic Oxygen Steel making (BOS)
• Modern furnaces, or ‘converters’ will take a charge of up to 350 tonnes
and convert it into steel in around 15 minutes.
• A water-cooled oxygen lance is lowered into the converter and high-purity
oxygen is blown on to the metal at very high pressure.
• The oxygen combines with carbon and other unwanted elements,
eliminating them from the molten charge.
• These oxidation reactions produce heat, and the temperature of the metal
is controlled by the quantity of added scrap.
• The carbon leaves the converter as a gas, carbon monoxide, which can,
after cleaning, be collected for re-use as a fuel.
• lime is added as a flux to help carry off the other oxidized impurities as a
floating layer of slag .
• the converter is tilted and the steel is tapped into a ladle. Typically, the
carbon content of the steel at the end of refining is about 0.04%.
• uses only cold scrap metal.
• employed in making more widely used steels, including alloy and
stainless grades as well as some special carbon and low-alloy steels.
• Modern electric arc furnaces can make up to 150 tonnes of steel in a
single melt.
• The electric arc furnace consists of a circular bath with a movable
roof, through which three graphite electrodes can be raised or
lowered.
• At the start of the process, the electrodes are withdrawn and the roof
swung clear. The steel scrap is then charged into the furnace from a
large steel basket lowered from an overhead travelling crane.
• When charging is complete, the roof is swung back into position and
the electrodes lowered into the furnace.
• A powerful electric current is passed through the charge, an arc is
created, and the heat generated melts the scrap.
• Lime and fluorspar are added as fluxes and oxygen is blown into the
melt. As a result, impurities in the metal combine to form a
liquid slag.