Hot air is indispensable in a blast furnace.

As much as four and one-half

Ladle
tons of it may be needed to make one ton of pig iron. It is blown in at the
bottom of the furnace and roars up through the charge of iron ore, coke, Molten Iron
and limestone that has been dumped in from the top. Fanned by the air,
the coke burns. Its gases reduce the ore to metallic iron by removing
oxygen from it while the limestone causes the earthy matter of the ore to
flow. Freed, the heavy metal settles to the bottom. From there, 4,000 to
10,000 tons of pig iron are drawn off per day. Pigs of Iron

Pig Casting
Machine

Stoves For convenience in shipping, liquid

iron is ladled off into continuously
moving molds, and is then quenched
and turned out in pig form. Each year,
Combustion Brick a small percentage of the pig iron
Chamber Checkerwork output is shipped in solid pigs to
thousands of foundries where it is
made into a variety of castings.

Flow of Cold
Air to Stove

Air for the blast furnace is heated in huge stoves. At least two stoves are needed for each blast
furnace. One stove heats while the other blows hot air into the bustle pipe and through tuyers to the
bottom of the furnace. In a combustion chamber in the stove being heated, cleaned exhaust gases Ladle
from the blast furnace are mixed with air and burned to raise the temperature of refractory brick. A ladle full of molten iron joins
limestone, scrap steel and alloying
materials in a basic oxygen furnace
to form a special heat of steel
meeting rigid specifications.

Fig. 3-9 The blast furnace process. (Concluded)

into steelmaking furnaces. A small amount is solidi-
fied and transported to iron foundries that remelt it.
Then the iron is cast into a wide variety of products
ranging from toys to cylinder heads for automobile
engines.
A modern blast furnace may be as much as 250 feet in
height and 28 feet in diameter. The furnace shaft is lined
with refractory materials, and this lining is water cooled
to withstand high temperatures. Flame temperatures as
high as 3,500F and gas temperatures of 700F are gen-
erated. As much as 10 to 12 million gallons of water per
day may be used to cool a furnace. A furnace may oper-
ate for several years before relining is necessary.
The number of blast furnaces in the United States
has declined over the past 30 years, but the total annual
pig iron production has increased greatly. Enlarged fur-
naces, refined and controlled raw materials, and much
higher blast temperatures are responsible for increased

48 Chapter 3 Steel and Other Metals

 Cementation Process
One of three
or four stoves Skip Car One Cementation is the oldest method of steel-
for heating air. making. It consists of heating wrought iron
Hot Gas to
Scrubbers with carbon in a vacuum. This increases
the carbon content of surfaces and edges
Coke
Brick
Checker Ore which can then be hardened by heating and
Work Limestone quenching. The metal is not molten during
Air is H Refractory steelmaking. Hence impurities are not re-
heated o Skip Incline
as it t
Brick Lining moved from the iron, and only the surface of
rises
through
B
l the metal is affected. It is probable that most
hot a
s of the steel of ancient times was produced in
brick
work.
t Molten Slag
this way.
Molten
Air Iron Tuyere
Coke
Bins
Ore and
Limestone A later improvement of this process was
Hot Blast
the stacking of alternate layers of soft, carbon-
Bins
from
Turbo
Blower free iron with iron containing carbon. The lay-
ers were then heated so that the pieces could
Hot Iron Slag Car
Skip be worked. The layers of soft and hard metal
Car
Car Two strengthened the internal structure of the steel.
Much of this steelmaking was centered in Syria
during the Middle Ages, and the steels became
Fig. 3-10 Schematic diagram of a blast furnace, hot blast stove, and known as the famous Damascus steels, used
skiploader. Ore, limestone, and coke are fed in at the top of the furnace.
widely for swords and spears of the highest
Preheated air, delivered at the bottom, burns the coke and generates
gases and heat required to separate iron from the ore. Source: American quality.
Iron & Steel Inst. The steel made by this process was further
improved by the crucible process that came into
production. The number of furnaces probably will con- use in the eighteenth century.
tinue to decrease as the production rate for leading fur-
naces exceeds 3,000 net tons per day. Crucible Process
The crucible process was revived in England during the
Steelmaking Processes early 1740s. Steel produced by the cementation process
was melted in a clay crucible to remove the impurities.
You have read that steel was used in a primitive form While fluid, the slag was skimmed off the top. Then the
for several thousand years. However, this early steel was metal was poured into a mold where it solidified into a
not strong nor did it have the variety of properties neces- mass that could be worked into the desired shape. In the
sary for extensive use. It was produced by the cemen- United States graphite crucibles, with a capacity of about
tation and the crucible processes. In recent times two 100 pounds of metal, were used in a gas-fired furnace.
major developments have made it possible to produce This process produced a steel of uniform quality that was
large quantities of steel with a variety of properties at a free of slag and dust.
competitive cost.
The first of these developments was the Bessemer Electric Furnace Processes
furnace invented in 1856 in both Europe and the United
Electric furnaces are of two types: (1) the electric arc
States. The second was the open hearth furnace which was
type and (2) the induction furnace. The first electric
invented 12 years later in the United States. Figure 3-11,
arc furnace had a capacity of 4 tons. It was put into
pages 5051 shows the modern steelmaking process from
operation in France by the French metallurgist Paul
raw materials to finished product.
Heroult in 1899 and introduced into the United States
in 1904. The modern furnace, Fig. 3-12, page 52, has a
charge of 80 to 100 tons. A few furnaces hold a charge
For video on steelmaking operations, please visit of 200tons and produce more than 800 tons of steel in
www.mhhe.com/welding. 24 hours. These large furnaces are made possible by
the increase of electric power capacity, the production

Steel and Other Metals Chapter 3 49

 Electric Arc Furnace
Produces Molten Steel. Steel Refining Facility

Iron Ore

Continuous Casting:
Coal Injection

Natural
Gas Direct Reduction
Produces solid,
metallic iron
from iron ore.

Slabs Thin Slabs

Coal

Recycled Steel

Basic Oxygen Furnace

Produces Molten Steel.
Blooms Billets

Coke Oven
Coal
By-Products

Slag Molten Iron

Limestone Pig Iron Casting

Blast Furnace
Produces molten pig iron from iron ore.

A FLOWLINE ON STEELMAKING
This is a simplified road map through the complex world of steelmaking. Each stop along the routes from raw materials to mill
products contained in this chart can itself be charted. From this overall view, one major point emerges: Many operationsinvolving
much equipment and workersare required to produce civilization's principal and least expensive metal.

The raw materials of steelmaking must be brought together, often from hundreds of miles away, and smelted in a blast furnace to
produce most of the iron that goes into steelmaking furnaces. Air and oxygen are among the most important raw materials in iron and
steelmaking.

Continuous casting machines solidify steel into billets, blooms, and slabs. The metal is usually formed first at high temperature, after
which it may be cold-formed into additional products.

Fig. 3-11 A road map of raw materials to mill products. Source: American Iron & Steel Inst.

50 Chapter 3 Steel and Other Metals

 Pipe
Slabs and Thin Slabs Plates
Products

Hot Rolled Hot Rolled

Sheets Coils
Hot
Reheat Furnace Strip Mill

Pickle
Line
Pickled and Oiled Coils

Cold
Mill

Cold Rolled Coils and Sheets

Heat Treating,
Coating and Finishing Lines

Seamless
Tube

Blooms and Billets Structural

Mill

Rolling Mill
Bars and
Rods

Fig. 3-11 A road map of raw materials to mill products. (Concluded)

of large graphite (carbon) electrodes, the development
of improved refractory materials for linings, and better
furnace design.
Electricity is used solely for the production of heat
and does not impart any properties to the steel. These
furnaces have three electrodes ranging from 4 to
24 inches in diameter. They produce a direct arc with
three-phase power and are supplied with electric current
through a transformer. Newer furnaces have electrical
capacity between 9001,000 kVA per ton of steel being
processes. This could amount to 42,000 amperes thus a
very high energy arc. Keep this in mind next time you
are welding at a few hundred amperes. The electrodes
enter the furnace through the roof. The roof is remov-
able and can be swung aside to charge the furnace.
The charge consists almost entirely of scrap with small
amounts of burned lime and mill scale. The furnaces
are circular and can be tilted to tip the molten steel into
a ladle, Fig.3-13, page 53. They may be lined with ei-
ther basic (magnesite, dolomite) or acid (silica brick) re-
fractory materials, Fig. 3-14, page 53.
For video showing an electric furnace in operation,
please visit www.mhhe.com/welding.
Before World War II practically all alloy, stainless,
and tool steels were produced in electric furnaces. Today,
however, ordinary steels may also be produced in those

Steel and Other Metals Chapter 3 51

 Direct Evacuation
System

Graphite Electrodes
During Furnance Charging

Furnace Shell
Molten Steel

EST Tapping

Rocker Tilt

Tilt Cylinder Teeming Ladle

Water-Cooled Roof Roof Suspension Beam

Water-Cooled
Cables

Working
Platforms

Power Conducting Arms

Fig. 3-12 The electric furnace process. Source: American Iron & Steel Inst.

areas where there are large supplies of scrap and favorable
electric power rates.
The electric induction furnace, Fig. 3-15, page 54, is
essentially a transformer with the molten metal acting
as the core. It consists of a crucible, usually made of
magnesia, surrounded by a layer of tamped-in magnesia
refractory. Around this is a coil made of copper tubing,
forming the primary winding that is connected to the
current source. The coil is encased in a heavy box with
a silica brick bottom lining. A lip is built into the box to

52 Chapter 3 Steel and Other Metals

 allow the metal contents to run out as the f urnace
is tilted forward.
The charge consists of scrap of the approximate
composition desired plus necessary ferro-alloys
to give final chemical composition within speci-
fications. Scrap may be any size that will fit into
the furnace. A 1,000-pound charge can be melted
down in 45 minutes. After melting is complete, the
metal is further heated to the tapping temperature
in about 15 minutes. During this time small addi-
tions of alloys or deoxidizers are added. When the
proper temperature is obtained, the furnace is tilted
and liquid metal runs out over the lip into a ladle or
directly into a mold.

Fig. 3-13 Making a pour from an electric furnace. Note the large electrodes
through which the electric current flows to provide the arcing that produces the
heat to melt the metal. United States Steel Corporation
Electrode
Mullite Brick
Oxygen Process
The oxygen process, also known as the Linz-
Donawitz process, was first established in Linz,
Austria, in 1952 and in Donawitz, Austria, a short
time later. The process was first used in the United
States in 1954.
The Linz-Donawitz process is a method of pig
iron and scrap conversion whereby oxygen is in-
jected downward over a bath of metal. A fairly
large amount of hot metal is necessary to start the
Electrode
Silica Brick

Unburnt Metal Encased

Magnesite Chrome Brick

Magnesite Brick
Tapping Hole
Sleeve, 20 GA.
Steel Cylinder
Filled with Dolomite
Work Door

Water-Cooled
Arches & Jambs
Silica
Top of Sill Plate
Brick
Fireclay Brick

Magnesite Brick

Fireclay Brick
Grain Magnesite Ground Silica Canister

Basic Furnace Lining Acid Furnace Lining

Fig. 3-14 The electric arc furnace produces heat through arcing action from electrodes to metal. Electrodes
move down as metal melts.

Steel and Other Metals Chapter 3 53

 T D B M F S

S R
L

B Bath of Molten Metal L Refractory Lining for Coil

C Copper Tubing Coil M Crucible
D Pouring Spout R, S Asbestos Lumber
F Firebrick T Trunnion
G Powdered Refractory

Fig. 3-15 Cross section of an electric induction furnace.

Heat is generated by means of transformer action, where the
bath of molted metal (B) acts as the core of the secondary
winding; water-cooled copper coil (C) carries the primary Fig. 3-16 Charging hot metal into a 150-ton basic oxygen
electric current. furnace. H. Mark Weidman Photography/Alamy Stock Photo

Dust Reclaimer
oxidizing reaction so that the scrap content is limited to
about 30percent of the charge. A pear-shaped vessel is
Retractable
charged with molten pig iron and scrap while the vessel Oxygen Lance
is in a tilted position, Fig.3-16. Then the vessel is turned
upright. Fluxes are added, and high purity oxygen is di-
Refractory
rected over the surface of the molten metal bath by the Lining
insertion of a water-cooled lance into the vessel mouth,
Fig. 3-17. High Purity
Oxygen at
The chemical reaction of the oxygen and fluxes re- Supersonic
fines the pig iron and scrap into steel. The temperature Speed
reaches 3,000F, and the refining continues for 20 to
25 minutes. Slag
When the refining is complete, the lance is with-
drawn. The furnace is tilted, and the steel is tapped
Molten Metal
through a hole in the side near the top. The slag is Bath
also removed, and the furnace is ready for another
charge. The complete process is shown in Figs. 3-18
and 3-19 (page 56). Converter
Vessel
The main advantage claimed for the process is that it
takes only 45 minutes to complete. Heats as large as 300
Fig. 3-17 Basic oxygen steelmaking furnace. After scrap and hot
tons are made. Steels of any carbon content can be pro- metal are charged into the furnace, the dust cap is put on, and oxy-
duced. While alloy and stainless steels have been made gen is blown through the lance to the surface of the molten metal in
by the oxygen process, the holding time in the vessel to order to burn out impurities.

54 Chapter 3 Steel and Other Metals