The production of Iron and
Steel
The Blast Furnace
The Basic Oxegen Furnace
The Electric Arc Frunace
The
Blast
Furnace
Downcomer
Receiving hopper
Charging
Conveyor
Tuyere –For
Hot air Blasts
Supporting
Column
Slag Hole
Slag Trolley
Blast Furnace
Gas to
Cleaning plant
Distributing
Chute
Water Cooled
Refractory
lining
Hot air
Blast
Tap hole
Iron Trolley
The Production of Iron
1. First the ore is graded and crushed and the fine
particles sintered. Sintering is the process of
converting fine particles into a continuous mass
2. Iron ore powder is compacted and then heated to a
temperature below the melting point of the metal in
the ore, this results in the waste being removed and
the particles of iron ore gathering into ball shaped
masses or agglomerates.
3. Conveyor buckets take iron ore, limestone and coke
to the top of furnace
4. Once inside the furnace the whole mixture is ‘fired’,
this brings it to a white hot temperature.
5. Smelted iron runs to the bottom of the furnace and is
tapped off
6. The limestone combines with impurities and forms a
slag and as this is lighter than the iron it floats to the
top and is tapped off
A blast furnace can run for 2 years before the refractory
lining has to be replaced.
Most of the molten iron goes directly to steel mills
although some is cast into Buckets (Pigs). This is known as
pig iron and is used to make Cast Iron
Video Clip Blast Furnace
Steelmaking Blast Furnace.flv
The Basic Oxygen Process
Fluxes and coolants
Moveable seal
Tap Hole
Steel shell
Fumes to cleaning
plant
Water-cooled fume
hood
Water-cooled
lance
Refractory lining
(Dolomite)
The Sequence
1.
Charging
• Scrap Iron and Steel form
30% of the charge
• Molten Iron from the blast
furnace makes up the rest
Blowing
• A water cooled pipe carries
oxygen to the surface of the
hot metal
• Oxygen blows at high
pressure which increases
temperature and burns off
impurities
Sampling
• Samples are taken to check
the composition of the steel
Tapping
• Once chemical analysis
indicates correct composition,
lance is lifted out
• Molten steel is poured
through TapHole
Removing Slag
• Once chemical analysis
indicates correct composition,
lance is lifted out
• Molten steel is poured
through TapHole
Video Clip Basic Oxygen Process
Video Basic Oxygen Steelmaking (BOS).rm
The Electric Arc Furnace
Power Cables
Swivel Roof
Water cooled
panels
Carbon electrodes
Refractory lining
Tapping Spout
Furnace Door
Steel Scrap
The Electric Arc furnace is a circular vessel
that sits on a set of rollers which allow it to be
tipped for Tapping and Slagging
The Sequence
1.
Charging
• The charge consists solely
of Scrap Iron
2.
Melting
• The electrodes are
lowered, and the arc is
started, by raising the
electrodes a little above
the surface of the scrap
3.
Slagging
• The furnace is first tilted
on rollers to allow Slag to
be raked off or poured
into slag ladles.
4.
Tapping
• The furnace is then titled
in the other direction and
then the molten steel is
poured out through a
spout into the pouring
ladle.
Video Clip Electric Arc Furnace 1
Video Electric arc furnace 1.rm
Video Clip Electric Arc Furnace 2
Video Electric arc furnace 2.rm