How is steel produced in a steel mill

Not every one of us has the opportunity to visit a steel mill and find out how steel is smelted. However, the algorithm of the production process of smelting has become familiar in general terms to many of us since school.

Instruction manual

1

Typically, steel is smelted in open-hearth, electric arc furnace (induction, electric arc) furnaces, as well as in converters. The starting material for steel is solid pig iron, steel scrap and waste from the forge or foundry. There are cases when cast iron is used only in liquid form (in converter processes).

2

The main tasks of steel production are as follows:

- melting of materials;

- alignment of the chemical composition of the metal;

- oxidation and removal of impurities (phosphorus, sulfur, gases, as well as non-metallic inclusions);

- subsequent deoxidation;

- bringing the chemical composition of the metal to the required parameters (in this case, add various chemical components);

- heating to the temperature necessary for pouring steel into the molds and molds.

3

After melting the materials, the metal is refined (i.e., purified), freeing it from impurities, as a result of which it reaches uniformity in chemical composition.

4

The oxidation process is as follows: carbon, previously dissolved in a liquid metal, is oxidized by oxygen from the air introduced into the furnace, ore oxygen or oxygen from the compressor air. It also helps to clean the metal from impurities.

5

The deoxidation process is necessary for the final removal of impurities (especially sulfur) from the metal. For this, in the working space of the furnace, the temperatures of slag and metal are increased or components are added directly to the metal that restore the oxygen, silicon, carbon and manganese dissolved in it.

6

The field of how enough time has passed for the deoxidation process, the chemical composition of the steel is brought to the required level and alloyed with appropriate additives (for example, chromium).

7

After that, steel, heated to a certain temperature, is poured into a ladle. Using a bucket, the metal is released into molds or into a mold. In order not to start the oxidation process, the formation of the steel composition is carried out by its deoxidation in the ladle, for example, using aluminum.